Chapter 233
Five People Gathered
Eivass got up and walked out the door.
The dancer, or rather… Miss “Honey Badger,” actually didn’t reveal much useful information. Other than helping him vaguely understand that he was definitely not a teacher, which Eivass had already guessed.
However, her words unintentionally revealed another piece of information.
That was that these people truly didn’t remember why they came here—not just Eivass, who was playing the kidnapper. Combined with the strangeness of that couple, Eivass could basically confirm two things.
The first was that only the Ascenders playing these roles didn’t know their true identities. Their scripts only contained the “identities they were trying to play,” and not their underlying identities.
However, in other nightmare layers, these people who acted freely would unintentionally reveal their true information.
In other words, everyone was trying their best to hide their true identities… just like Agni, who was acting as a kidnapper, like Honey Badger, who was a spy, or Jacob, who was a “reporter” and a curse ritual mage. But their performances had loopholes, and only when another person played “them who were playing these roles” would they perform even better—and that was where the flaw lay.
The second thing was… everyone’s memory was problematic, not that they were deliberately hiding something. And these confused memories would be written into their scripts as Ascenders.
Lies and illusions intertwined, like a dream. While deceiving others, they were also being deceived by something.
“…Interesting.”
Closing the door, Eivass revealed a subtle smile.
“Any key information?”
The reporter eagerly asked, “Tell us?”
“What,” Eivass retorted, “didn’t you hear?”
“I wouldn’t eavesdrop.”
The reporter said righteously, “That would be too unsightly.”
“He really didn’t lean in to listen.”
The Old Supervisor next to him nodded in confirmation, “Although the soundproofing here isn’t great, even standing here would have allowed us to hear some of it… but it was vague. Especially the latter part—after you lowered your voices, we couldn’t hear anything from this side.”
“I didn’t expect you to be quite so polite.”
Eivass looked at the reporter with some surprise.
The reporter said smugly, “Of course.”
“There is indeed key information.”
Eivass looked at the Old Supervisor, then deeply at the reporter. “I think we need to go check out room 201.”
This was not a New Moon Ritual, but a Full Moon Ritual with a plot, exploration, and puzzle-solving.
It featured such overlapping dreamscapes, and everyone’s memory had minor flaws… this had to have a reasonable explanation.
As Merlin said—
“The Great Philosopher creatively used very little space and the fewest simulated souls to create a layered structure.”
Eivass recalled Merlin’s words before entering the dream. “That is to say, the space here is indeed this large. Our rooms, plus the hall on the first floor. At most, room 201.”
“—We can’t even get into the kitchen.”
The Old Supervisor next to him, with his arms crossed, calmly added, “I investigated after I entered. The kitchen door wouldn’t open at all. I had to use force to pry it open, only to find a brick wall behind it.”
“A total of six rooms and a hall—there’s no hidden space in the hall either.”
Eivass leaned against the wall, not lowering his voice, but speaking at a normal volume. “Then we can only check out room 201.”
“I’ve already checked out room 201,”
the reporter said quickly. “It’s just an empty room… it seems to be the room of the innkeeper’s daughter, but no one is there.”
Hearing this, the Supervisor’s brow furrowed slightly. He glanced at the reporter, then deeply at Eivass.
Eivass just smiled at him, not responding.
He said briskly, “Just because you didn’t see anything on the previous level doesn’t mean you won’t see anything on this one. The closer we get to the bottom layer, the closer we get to reality. Anything can change… anyway, it’s all this big. There’s always a need to investigate again.”
“Well said.”
“You’re very reliable, Mr. Fox.”
At this moment, the door of room 204 suddenly opened, and the couple walked out.
Unlike before, when they were timid and didn’t even dare to look at Eivass, their eyes were clear, their backs were straight, and they walked steadily.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Wisteria… and currently a pharmacist.”
The woman smiled and placed her hand over her chest, introducing herself politely.
The man introduced himself concisely, “I am Quicks.”
“I am Fox.”
Eivass nodded slightly and introduced himself as well.
“I can hardly believe it…”
The woman exclaimed, “A Devotee playing such a ferocious character…”
“Perhaps it’s because his personal abilities are strong, so Merlin assigned him the most difficult role.”
The Supervisor calmly added, “Let me reintroduce myself… I am Pure White.”
“I’m Detective.”
The reporter next to him smiled and said, “Currently a reporter… Speaking of which, do we have five people now?
“This at least indicates we are on the third level or below… right? It hasn’t been an hour yet, and we’ve already completed most of it. We’re truly lucky.”
—The sudden gathering of five people.
If nothing unexpected happened, Wisteria and Quicks should have adopted the same strategy as Eivass—they died together and then respawned together. Because their rooms were originally together, they would wake up synchronously after reviving.
This was probably why Wisteria didn’t die with Detective immediately. Compared to “reporter,” the identity of “husband” was easier to verify.
However, Pure White said slowly, “No, it could also be the fourth level.
“Among us, perhaps one person is Merlin.”
As she spoke, her gaze fell upon the reporter.
“—This is not a place to talk.”
Eivass suddenly spoke, interrupting her.
He looked around, gesturing toward the dancer’s room, and revealed a chilling smile. “Let’s go to the hall on the first floor and talk while sitting… shall we?”
No one intended to argue in the narrow corridor. However, the atmosphere at this time was clearly not suitable for investigating room 201.
If Merlin was among them, they could completely tamper with things or mislead them into missing crucial information by guiding them.
—With so many people suddenly appearing, exchanging information was clearly the top priority.
Thus, they went downstairs, headed to the hall, and sat around the Round Table.
Outside, a storm raged with lightning and thunder.
Inside, the Round Table had no food, only candles. Pure White went to the reception to get some wine and placed it on the table, and Wisteria poured it for everyone. At this moment, it felt like a gathering meal.
Looking at the empty seats around the Round Table, Eivass’s lips curved slightly. “It seems our cheating has disappointed Lord Great Philosopher…”
The Round Table was neat and had nine empty seats. Looking at the four empty seats, Eivass inexplicably felt the sense of a grandfather and grandmother who had prepared a table full of delicious food waiting for their grandchildren to come home for dinner, only to not have them arrive…
“Let’s share our information first.”
Eivass began, “Let’s go one by one, starting with the most important—I experienced a descent. On the previous level, I only saw ‘Detective,’ and we perished together. Then I came to this level.”
Pure White, sitting next to Eivass, continued, “I have been investigating and have not died yet. This is the level I am on.”
Quicks followed, providing crucial information. ” I died twice.
“On my birth level, I didn’t encounter anyone. After dying once, I met Wisteria. Then we went out and witnessed the corpses of Fox and Detective perishing together, so we learned to die together and then came to this level.”
…Hmm?
Eivass raised an eyebrow, sensing something was amiss.
Pure White, who also sensed something was amiss, said, “Twice?”
“Yes, twice,”
Wisteria said calmly. “Because after I descended, I killed my ‘husband.’ I met Detective there, and he said he was from a higher level. Then I also died… in a lower level, I finally waited for Quicks.
“—This was an experiment I conducted. He directly skipped the level where he had already died and landed on a lower level.”
Upon hearing this, everyone present had already grasped the problem.
Almost all eyes turned to “Detective” with suspicion.
The reporter, however, simply smiled gently. “What a coincidence. I actually conducted this experiment too. On a higher level, I killed both of you. So, Quicks should be from a level higher than mine… Is there any problem?”
