Old People Don’t Hold Hands - Chapter 173



Only Krnovel

Episode 173, The Puppet Show of the Dead (2)

“… … Ugh, what the hell is this?”

Biella just kept muttering as she looked at the dazzling dress she was wearing.

Then she looked at a jewel attached to the hem of her dress.

“What, what is this? Why is this just a piece of cloth? How much is this… … !”

She struggled to take off the dress with the jewels stuck on it, her mouth hanging over her ear.

“… … This is something you should just keep, why are you sticking it on your clothes and making a fuss about it?”

No matter how hard I tried, the jewel wouldn’t fall, so I gave up.

She just looked down at her skirt and grumbled again.

It seems that Biella is not very happy about this sudden situation.

On the other hand, Nowen.

“… … .”

Just like Biella, as soon as he heard my explanation, he reacted differently than usual.

To be precise, Nowen had already visited this place, the Puppet Show of the Dead.

I already knew the method of conquering this world line where you have to complete the play.

But the reason why Nowen was so nervous was… … .

The Romeo and Juliet I explained is a story about two men and women in love.

The person in question is the person that Nowen has a crush on.

It must be because it’s Bielai.

Well, it’s a shame that among the love stories between a man and a woman, it’s a tragic story.

anyway.

The rabbit carrying the roulette wheel seemed to think that it was time.

Let’s clap our hands together.

The lights on the bright circular stage went out at the same time.

And then naturally.

The red curtains surrounding us came down again.

“What, what?!”

When Biella, wearing a flowing dress, looks flustered.

I approached her carefully and comforted her.

“It’s nothing. The play is just about to begin.”

“Oh, no. Already like this?”

When he heard the explanation of the topic, Biella also seemed uncomfortable in another sense.

Even in the darkness, he only glanced at Nowen, who was still stiff.

“It won’t be a big deal.”

“Well, that’s because you didn’t get caught in anything!”

“No, there’s really nothing special here.”

It seemed as if he didn’t understand what I said after that.

Biella frowned, but I.

“You’ll end up taking care of everything anyway.”

“… … ?”

… … All he could answer was like this.

Well, even with my words, Biella still doesn’t seem to understand.

But he was just looking at me.

Additionally, before I could explain, the stage went dark.

When the lights went out again.

Diana and I, with no assigned roles, sat in the audience.

Inogen, who was still sitting, was also the same as him, whose time to appear had not yet arrived.

There were also dolls sitting around us as we sat in the audience.

“… … .”

But, the ones we can see while sitting in the audience.

It was no longer the same doll as before.

Fingers and joints with bones sticking out here and there.

With prominent cheekbones and sunken cheeks.

The people sitting there looked exactly like corpses.

Diana remained silent as she watched the dolls around her.

When I read the gaze, I was surprised at the doll’s changed appearance.

Well, on the contrary, Inogen didn’t seem to care how the dolls changed.

I already knew.

To be exact, this is the puppet that is widely spread in the puppet show of the dead.

… … No, the true form of the dead.

The play began shortly after we sat down.

The play was similar to the plot of Romeo and Juliet, which I was familiar with.

Romeo and Juliet, children of feuding families, fall in love.

… … The two of them try to find love but end up falling into tragedy.

Wait, now that I think about it, that’s strange.

How do Romeo and Juliet come into play here?

Because EndWorld often relies on modern plays.

When I vaguely thought of it as a game, there was no problem, but if this place was not a game but a world in another dimension… … .

The story would have been different.

Before I could even finish these thoughts, the red curtain that had been hiding our view from the audience rose again.

Immediately afterwards, a bright light shone on the stage.

Biella and Nowen standing in the center.

No, Juliet and Romeo finally came into view.

Red doll strings were wrapped around the bodies of the two people.

And as if someone was controlling the puppet show, or as if it were a real puppet.

He started to move awkwardly.

“… … , … … , … … !”

Biella doesn’t seem to like this situation at all.

He seemed to be shouting something as he looked at us and Nowen in the audience.

Biella’s words, which were outside the script, were not heard by us in the audience.

Instead.

“Ah, Romeo!”

Significantly different from Biella’s voice.

A hoarse voice was heard above the two people’s actions, almost like a narration.

“Oh, Juliet!”

The same goes for Nowen’s lines that appeared afterwards.

Squeaking like a doll against a backdrop that looks like a ballroom.

The two continued their dialogue while swaying back and forth.

After the speech, they held hands and started dancing.

Even while dancing, Nowen’s face can be seen clearly from afar.

It was bright red.

… … It’s probably embarrassing.

After the two people finished dancing and speaking, the story of Romeo and Juliet was reaching its climax.

“… … I hereby formally declare the marriage of the two people!”

Before I knew it, I was dragged out onto the stage.

Inogen, who is tied to puppet strings and controlled like Nowen and Biella.

A deep, out-of-place male voice covered it like a narration.

Inogen also seemed to dislike it, and shouted something while looking at me and Diana in the audience.

“… … , … … , … … !”

This also did not reach the audience.

Romeo and Juliet’s marriage was consummated by Inozen, or rather, an unknown priest.

Not long after that, tragedy struck.

Juliet took poison and pretended to die, but… … .

Romeo went to her funeral without knowing that fact.

Romeo, who returned after confirming Juliet’s death, hugged her body and cried.

Juliet, who had already taken the medicine and was fast asleep, could not wake up.

To be exact, he was talking to Nowen with his eyes wide open.

It was a strange situation, with the body hanging limply because of the doll strings.

The story ended with Romeo, who was mistaken, pretending to stab himself in the chest with the sword.

After the curtain came down again, we all returned to the stage.

After that, I was able to complete the second and third stages safely as well.

The fourth stage that came like that is the final stage.

It was a structure directly connected to the boss room.

On the fourth stage, unlike the other stages, people designated as audience members can also be on stage.

There is a hidden gimmick that can be performed thanks to that.

This gimmick allowed you to skip the fourth stage and go straight to the boss room.

I had already hinted at this gimmick to other people in advance.

After being forced to finish several plays, everyone was so tired that they just stood still.

Are they not interested in our condition?

The white rabbit ran over and rolled the roulette again.

The point where the roulette wheel finally stopped spinning was… … .

It was a breakup.

As soon as the roulette settled on ‘farewell’, the clothes changed in an instant.

I was wearing a dark, torn robe.

Diana strangely remained her original self.

… … No, to be specific, it seems like some of the equipment has been downgraded to a slightly worse level.

Biella was wearing a robe wrapped around her body, her hair cut short by a handful.

Since then, it seems that Nowen and Inozen have not been assigned roles.

I was wearing black clothes.

……okay.

If these two are the audience, it’s more than enough to get by.

At the moment when I was calculating how to get to the boss room.

The play began right away.

Suddenly, Biella, her body tied with red doll strings, looked at me.

My struggling body was caught by me, who was also tied up with the doll strings.

It seems like this is what Biella says from now on.

A narration that was familiar yet somehow alien was heard.

… … The damn voice was clearly saying this.

[Ugh, d, … … Clean, sir?]

From now on, my lines are.

[… … Mr. Homer.]

This was it.

From the actions of me and Biella and the dialogue that followed, the three of us couldn’t help but realize at the same time that this was a scene they were trying to reenact.

Diana closed her eyes as the tragedy was about to happen again.

Biella, who couldn’t even close her eyes, bit her lips tightly and looked into my eyes.

I, too, wanted to stop this moment at all costs.

Once I was assigned a role and tied to a doll string, I couldn’t do anything.

After that, the dialogue continued cruelly.

[Hey, is this what I made, huh, yo… …?]

no.

stop.

Because I somehow don’t want to spit out the next line.

I know it will come out anyway, but I still want to stop it for this moment.

The moment I clenched my teeth.

Crunch.

The red doll string that had been binding me was forcefully cut away.

The same was true for Biella’s doll strings.

The one who cut the strings that bound us was none other than… … .

It was Nowen’s sword.

It was Nowen, who had not been assigned a role, who hurriedly cut the doll strings that were binding us.

Soon, Nowen, who had fixed his sword, cut off the doll strings connected to Biella.

Gyaaa …

Suddenly a scream was heard from the stage.

After the screaming stopped.

Heheheehe!

… … A high-pitched female laughter was heard.

As if the circular stage we were on was being released.

The space began to open up.

First of all, the ceiling covering this place was lifted up and disappeared.

As the ceiling disappeared, the walls collapsed outward in unison.

While the space was changing like that, the audience seats disappeared without a trace.

I raised my head as I heard laughter faintly from above again.

Kki, kkihihi, kkihihihi… … .

A monster in the form of a woman with a very large body.

was looking down on us.

The guy was wringing his hands back and forth.

There was a red doll string wrapped between each of her knuckles.

Then the bastard poked his head towards us, revealing his face.

He had sunken, dark eyes with shadows as black as dark circles.

His face was covered with long, black, shaggy hair that was enough to obscure his vision.

… … It’s a visual you’d often see in horror movies.

The guy looked at us with his big eyes rolling around.

When we saw that all of our puppet strings had been cut by Nowen’s sword, he seemed displeased.

Gyaaaaaaah!

Scream one more time.

I waved my hand towards the stage we were standing on.

Even with the bastard’s sudden actions, we skillfully avoided him.

Each of them fixed their weapons.

That makes sense, he’s on the 4th floor.

The boss who guards the puppet show of the dead.

… … He was a black puppeteer.