Chapter 234
Sure-Win Method
If the roles played by the seven people die prematurely on a certain layer, then the Ascenders descending from a higher layer will skip that layer and jump directly to a lower one.
“This means that judging the layer number by the number of descents is no longer accurate,” Pure White said calmly. “In other words, each descent could result in descending any number of layers. Therefore, we can only know the relative relationships of up and down.”
The Old Supervisor then drew an Elven Short Sword from his waist and picked up a few empty cups from beside the Round Table. With unparalleled skill and lightness, he carved several people’s names into the rims of the cups with the sword tip in Elven Language. Fox. Pure White. Wisteria. Quicks. Detective. The writing was small but exquisite and clear.
“According to everyone’s testimony, the current situation is as follows,” Pure White said softly, arranging the cups starting from the one furthest from himself. They were Quicks, Detective, Wisteria, Fox, and Pure White.
“Detective and Wisteria killed Quicks in the middle twice. Therefore, he directly descended at least three layers, jumping directly to Fox’s layer, and then came to my layer with Wisteria. Wisteria also descended twice, but only dropped two layers. Detective descended three times consecutively, to Wisteria’s, Fox’s, and my layers, respectively.”
“Three times…” Eivass sighed. “There’s no way to cover this up for you. How could you make such a simple mistake?”
Under everyone’s gaze, Eivass looked at “Detective.” “The first time you met, you told me… ‘Wisteria came down from a higher layer to my layer before.'”
— Did you meet that arguing couple in room 204? That woman is Wisteria, but she isn’t yet. She came down from a higher layer to my layer before, and we’ve already exchanged information. I think she’ll be descending to this layer soon… She can corroborate my words.
The reporter’s words echoed in Eivass’s mind.
“But you soon realized that I was Fox, and on your side. So you immediately modified your testimony. You said you had actually descended twice. You met Wisteria after the first descent and killed the receptionist. After the second descent, you met me.”
“Because we hadn’t recognized each other’s identities yet back then,” the reporter said with a smile. “I didn’t know if you were friend or foe… Of course, I had to tell a few lies. If you could see through my lies directly, it would mean you were Merlin — that’s reasonable, right?”
It was indeed reasonable. Without any evidence, Eivass’s train of thought should have followed the reporter’s. Because that was the only information he could obtain then, his only logical basis.
“See, after I found out you were Fox, I immediately changed my testimony…” the reporter said, looking pleadingly at Wisteria. “I did see you, didn’t I? Not only that, but I also killed the receptionist in front of you—”
“…That’s right.” Wisteria also hesitated. “I did see Mr. Reporter back then.”
“But it’s also possible that both ‘reporters’ were played by Merlin,” Pure White said calmly and rationally.
Eivass, with his arms crossed, leaned back in his chair. “You did change your testimony, but new loopholes appeared.”
— I didn’t see anyone on my initial layer. To avoid missing meetings with others, I immediately committed suicide and went down to the next layer. On the previous layer, I met Wisteria. And at that time, I suspected the receptionist was Merlin… because he was deliberately delaying, making excuses to make me wait a bit longer. This was the reporter’s testimony in its updated version.
“You didn’t see anyone, so how did you kill Quicks?” Eivass asked.
“Ah, that can also be explained,” the reporter said, interlacing his fingers on the table and smiling. “This is a trap, a blatant scheme. If I tell you that I killed, or induced others to kill, certain people on certain layers according to a certain pattern, making their descent counts irrelevant to the layer numbers. How would you deduce which layer you are currently on?”
At this point, the reporter slightly raised his chin and pointed at Pure White. “Take him for example. He says he was born on this layer, is that true? Perhaps he was actually born on the layer above, and after killing everyone with that sword, he committed suicide… and you are now on an even lower layer? In this way, one layer would be missing from all your cognitions. And only Pure White would know of this layer’s existence. So, is there a possibility that we are actually on the Zeroth Layer?”
“So you admit it?” Pure White said calmly, pointing the blade in his hand at “Detective.”
But at that moment, Eivass suddenly raised the gun in his hand and pressed the muzzle against Pure White’s temple.
“Don’t move, Mr. Pure White… or Miss.” Eivass narrowed his eyes and said softly, “It’s best not to resort to force before figuring everything out… alright?”
“You believe it?” Pure White turned back and asked Eivass.
“Because it’s possible,” Eivass nodded, a slight smile on his lips. “Who do you think Merlin was revealing his identity to when he said those things?”
“He was talking to you,” Quicks suddenly spoke, a grin on his face. “Because he knows you’re very suspicious.”
“He was indeed talking to me, but not because I’m suspicious,” Eivass replied. “It’s because he knows my companions aren’t around. So I can’t afford to gamble.”
If the current reporter was Merlin, it would mean three people were still missing from the scene. Besides Topaz, Eivass’s two teammates were not present. In other words, they were all on other layers now. Although everyone had different missions, there would still be some common ones. In this mission, “kill Merlin” and “kill Merlin on the Zeroth Layer” should be tasks assigned to everyone.
“If someone dies on a certain layer, causing the Ascenders from the upper layer to skip that layer when descending… Does that mean that as long as this is the Zeroth Layer, the real layer, then even if Merlin is killed, the person he possesses will be eliminated directly?” Eivass said slowly. It was like punching a hole in the Zeroth Layer. Someone from the first layer would descend, and before they even landed, they would fall directly through this hole into a bottomless abyss.
“Similarly, if this is the Zeroth Layer, then no matter what Merlin says, you just need to stay alive. And by killing any one person, the person whose identity Merlin stole can push Merlin out if they descend to the Zeroth Layer before the end.” Eivass narrowed his eyes and looked at the calm-faced Pure White. “In other words— If this is the Zeroth Layer, then it doesn’t matter to you who Merlin is. You just need to find an excuse to kill any one of us three. It doesn’t matter if he is Merlin or not, you all have a chance to clear the game.”
This was the underlying logic hidden within this Ritual. Or rather, this was the Sure-Win Method of this Ritual.
