No, the ticket does get cancelled automatically.

I have always understood those fees as being what you would have to pay up-front to even begin the process of "resurrecting" your ticket.

(And I would very much advise against testing the procedure. If you show up at check-in having missed an earlier segment, I doubt that the put-upon check-in staff - and even the ticket staff if you happened to be at an airport where there was still a ticket desk - would be able to rectify the situation before check-in for that next sector closed. If you want to test it - make sure to implement the "fix" as soon as possible after the missed segment, rather than waiting until the day of departure of the next sector that you wish to take.)