If Ophelia chooses the ending where she never relinquishes the Book of Fates, then she and Quince never leave the time loop. But Quince, in between losing the book to Simona and then starting Ophelia's loop, put the still-living King Hamlet in a time loop. That loop was said to have concluded after the King gave up and lay perpetually for years of 3-day time loops until Claudius murdered him in the last one. So how did Quince end the King's loop without the Book?
As far I can tell Quince's magic runs on Jumanji rules. Ie. until the book is returned to Quince / the current human player chooses a fate, the game is still on. He owns the stage (place), actors, can start/stop loops etc.. Giving Simona the book the second time was a mistake because it extended the game without a clear goal (loop to close/fate to choose) and her running away just trapped him in Elsinore without an opponent to play against or even meaningfully leave (because for that to happen the human player's Choice is needed). He tried to set up a new player in King Hamlet, but the King failed, didn't find the book and didn't get to chose a fate, just resigned to it. His loop could be ended because he wasn't a real player to begin with. Enter Ophelia... who still isn't a real player either until she gets the book.
