Chapter 225
Dream Thief Space, huh?
“This isn’t your first time participating in a ritual, so I won’t go over the very basic things…”
Merlin’s expression turned a bit solemn. “Many of you are participating in a ritual constructed by the Great Philosopher for the first time. Therefore, to ensure fairness, I will briefly introduce the venue and victory rules of this ritual.
“All of you will appear in overlapping seven dream layers—originally it should have been nine, which is a great pity.
“From the first layer to the seventh, each person will be randomly placed in one of the layers. The higher the number, the more likely the dream will deviate from reality and common sense, and thus the easier it will be to see through. The zeroth layer has no errors.
“Dying in any way from a higher dream layer will cause you to drop one layer down. If you stop in the zeroth layer, which is the reality layer, when the ritual countdown ends, you win. Stopping in any layer other than the zeroth layer counts as being lost in dreams and an Ascension failure.
“If more than six people are in the zeroth layer at the end, those with the shortest dwell time will be eliminated in succession until only six remain.
“If you die again in the zeroth layer, the ‘reality layer,’ you will also fall to the negative first layer.
“This ritual has only one true way of dying, and that is falling to the negative first layer. That would be considered [True Death], and you will bear the price of death.”
Merlin paused slightly here and revealed a smile of unknown meaning. “The above are the original rules of this ritual.
“The newly added rule is that I will enter the body of any person in any dream layer at any time, play that role, and mislead you. The purpose is to prevent you from staying in the zeroth layer.
“However, I will not snatch roles you have already taken control of, nor will I appear in two dream layers simultaneously. And if I am seen through and killed in a certain layer, I will not appear in that layer a second time. I will not escape after being seen through, unless an Ascender from the previous layer happens to die and falls into me, expelling me.
“The rules are simple, right? Your goal is to find and stay in the zeroth layer, and my goal is to prevent you from believing it is the zeroth layer…
“If there are no questions, we will prepare to begin.”
With that, he slowly rippled and disappeared from his seat like a wave. The old statue in the center then slowly spoke, its weathered voice announcing the ritual’s rules as per procedure:
[The duration of this ritual is two hours, with a one-to-one ratio to reality.]
[You will play the role of a certain character within the venue and complete your own mission. You will receive corresponding points for each objective completed.]
[Because this is an Absent Seat Ritual, all your previous rejection categories are voided.]
[Mutual killing is allowed in this ritual, and no points will be deducted.]
[Because this is a Full Moon Ritual, cooperation is allowed but will not be counted for cooperation points.]
[The difficulty of this ritual is “Challenge.” True death in the ritual will result in thirty days of weakness in reality, a one-level setback, and a very small chance of soul damage.]
[The dream for this ritual was constructed by the ‘Wise One,’ Great Philosopher. Mission and character arrangements, as well as scoring details, are the responsibility of the ‘Lawful One,’ Hourglass. I am only responsible for doing my best to maintain the fairness of the ritual—]
The old man paused slightly, raised his staff, and delivered the final pronouncement:
[In the year 1839, seven travelers seeking refuge from a storm appeared at an inn in a small town in Avalon…]
As the staff emitted intense radiance, Eivass suddenly felt a strong dizziness. The world before his eyes froze, but the seven people seated there vanished like ripples.
When he woke up again, he found himself standing at the entrance of the inn’s hall. Behind him, the rain roared, and strong winds rattled the windows, creating a terrifying sound as if someone was violently pounding on them. Rainwater covered the ground beneath Eivass. Although he held a large black umbrella, it was almost useless against the raging storm behind him.
He was holding a girl of about seven or eight years old in his arms. His leather coat was on backward—worn with the back facing forward and the buttons in the back, just barely covering the girl with the rest of the clothes. Eivass’s hair was already wet, and raindrops dripped from his chin. His face and neck were ice-cold. His back was completely soaked by the storm… The girl in front of him, however, only had her hair slightly damp, and her body was still warm.
—No, that’s not right. Drawing on his experience caring for Yulia, Eivass immediately judged that the girl’s body temperature was more than just “warm.”
…She had a fever.
As he realized this, a solemn voice of an old man echoed in his mind:
“You are Agni Silva, a teacher. You are thirty-four years old.
It was a rare vacation, and your daughter Daiya insisted on going to the countryside of Shepherd’s Bay Country. You hadn’t spent much time with her lately, so you agreed.
But you had only been playing for half a day when Daiya said she felt unwell. You realized she might have a fever and decided to take her to a doctor or even a priest for treatment.
However, this place is too remote, with no doctors or priests. Moreover, a sudden storm has trapped you here. Undoubtedly, Daiya’s body can no longer support you trekking through the rain.
Fortunately, you’ve discovered an inn. Perhaps you can find medicine there, you thought. At the very least, you can take shelter from the rain…”
The next moment, a few lines of text appeared before Eivass’s eyes.
[Necessary Mission—]
[Return to Reality (Points: 100)]
[Bonus Missions—]
[The Heart is a Sanctuary: Do not hide in rooms, but actively interact and introduce yourself to others in each dream layer (Points: Max 700)]
[Country Teacher: Continue to play the role of Agni Silva, the teacher, and try not to be exposed (Points: Max 600)]
[Eagle Eye: See through the true identities of everyone (Points: 500)]
[My Unforgotten Nature: Help six people pass the ritual (Points: 1000)]
[Capture the Succubus: Kill “Merlin” at least once (Points: 500 each time)]
[Succubus Slayer: Kill “Merlin” in the reality layer (Points: 1000)]
[Judgment and Restraint: Try not to kill anyone other than “Merlin” by mistake (Points: Max 500)]
[Father’s Love: Find a reasonable way to cure Daiya (Points: 500)]
[Father’s Protection: Do not let Daiya be killed by others (Points: 500)]
[The Real Me: Recall your true identity (Points: 1000)]
[Source of Nightmares: Find the origin of the dream (Points: Max 2000)]
These words seemed branded into Eivass’s eyes. After he finished reading them, they slowly faded away. He had no time to analyze—he was completely soaked and felt extremely uncomfortable. He decided to find a room and change his clothes first.
“—Anyone here!”
Eivass tightly hugged the weak girl in his arms and shouted loudly, “Is anyone here?” The hall of this somewhat dilapidated inn was empty, except for a young man at the front desk. He appeared very thin and wore light clothing, his arms crossed on the counter as he dozed. Awakened by Eivass’s voice, he looked up and saw a tall man standing at the entrance.
Just then, a flash of lightning struck outside the door—illuminating the tall man at the entrance for a moment. The front desk clerk was startled. He then noticed the girl the man was holding. Before he could ask, the man leaned in and urgently inquired, “Do you have a room? Preferably with hot water—and, do you have any medicine? My daughter has a fever!”
“…Sorry, no medicine and no hot water. But there are clean towels… and a hot dinner, if you need it.” The front desk clerk gave a wry smile, picked up the registration list, and casually said, “You’ll be staying the night, right. A clean room with dinner for two, a total of four red coins and three copper coins. What’s your name?”
“That expensive? Are there any other guests here?” the man grumbled, but he opened his wallet. Since it was tucked inside his chest, it hadn’t gotten wet.
“This is expensive? The better inns in Shepherd’s Bay are five red coins a night now… How about I lend you some clean clothes?” But as the front desk clerk spoke, he and the man suddenly froze simultaneously.
—In the wallet, there was a full wad of twenty brand-new white crown coins. They were still tied with a thin paper band as thick as wire, clearly just taken out and unused. In addition to this, there were a few slightly crumpled red coins, some copper coins, and a few brass-colored coins.
The front desk clerk’s brow furrowed, and he looked up at the man. But he said nothing.
“Agni. Just use this name.” The man said nonchalantly and took out five red coins. “The rest is for your tip.” With that, the man put his wallet back into his chest.
“Room 202.” The front desk clerk said, handing over the key. “I’ll leave the umbrella here for now.” The man picked up the key and, carrying his listless daughter, hurried upstairs. The front desk clerk watched his retreating figure thoughtfully.
Eivass, with his back to the clerk, also narrowed his eyes slightly. Room 202… Was I the second person to arrive?
Update complete, nya…
I was feeling unwell yesterday, so I slept at nine. I woke up at 1:30 AM, then fell back asleep at four, and woke up again at nine. Cat’s peculiar sleep…
I bought a nasal irrigator and an air purifier. JD.com delivered them quite quickly. I changed my medication to Chlortrimeton tablets and will see if it helps.
