When the plot-skips players into the game world

"You are all not newcomers to the ritual, so I won't bother with the basics..."

Merlin's expression grew a bit more stern, "Many of you are participating in a ritual constructed by the Great Sage for the first time. Therefore, to be fair, let me introduce the venue and the victory rules for this ritual.

"All of you will find yourselves within seven overlapping dreamscapes—originally they should have been nine, which is a pity.

"From the first layer to the seventh, each person will appear randomly within a layer. The higher the number, the more the dreamscape defies reality and common sense, and the easier it is to see through. The zeroth layer has no mistakes.

"Dying in any way within the higher dream layers will result in falling down one layer. If by the end of the ritual's countdown you stop at the zeroth layer— which is the reality layer—you win. Staying in any layer other than the zeroth layer means indulging in the dreamscape, and is counted as a failure to advance.

"If more than six people remain in the zeroth layer at the end, those with the shortest stay will be eliminated in turn until only six remain.

"To die again in the zeroth layer, or 'reality layer,' will also result in falling to the negative first layer.

"There is only one true way to die in this ritual, which is to fall to the negative first layer. That is to suffer the 'True Death,' incurring the cost of death."

At this point, Merlin paused slightly and revealed an inscrutable smile, "The above—are the original rules of this ritual.

"The additional rule I've added is that I will enter the body of any character in any dreamscape layer at any time to play their role and mislead you. The goal is to prevent you from remaining in the zeroth layer.

"But I will not snatch characters already under your control, nor will I appear in two layers at the same time. And once I'm unmasked and killed in one layer, I will not reappear a second time from that layer. I also will not flee after being unmasked unless the person advancing from the layer above dies and falls into me, forcing me out."

"The rules are simple, right? Your goal is to find and remain in the zeroth layer, while my goal is to make you doubt that it's the zeroth layer...

"If there are no questions, we should get ready to start."

Finished speaking, he slowly vanished from his seat like ripples in water.

And the old man statue in the middle slowly opened its mouth, issuing a grave voice and announcing the rules of the ritual by rote:

"This ritual is limited to two hours, with a real-time ratio of one to one."

"You will play the role of a specific character within the venue and complete your own tasks; each completed target will earn you corresponding points."

"As this ritual is undermanned, all your previous resistance categories are nullified."

"The ritual permits mutual slaughter, and it will not result in point deductions."

"Given that this ritual takes place on a full moon, cooperation is allowed but will not earn cooperative points."

"The difficulty of this ritual is a 'Challenge'; truly dying within the ritual will result in 30 days of weakness in the real world, a demotion by one level, and a very small chance of soul damage."

"This ritual's dreamscape is constructed by the 'Sage' Great Sage, task and role assignments, point addition and deduction details are the responsibility of the 'Orderer' Hourglass. I am merely responsible for maintaining the fairness of the ritual to the best of my ability—"

The elder paused briefly, lifting his staff, and issuing the final proclamation:

"In the year 1839, in an inn of a small town in Avalon, seven travelers appeared seeking shelter from a storm…"

As the staff emitted a severe glow, Aiwass suddenly felt an intense dizziness.

His visage of the world, frozen in place, remained undisturbed, but the seven sitting in the chairs disappeared without a trace like ripples in the water.

When he awoke again, he found himself standing at the entrance of the inn's lobby.

Behind him, the storm roared on, the wind violently rattling the windows in a cacophony that evoked the fear of marauders violently knocking from outside.

And Aiwass was soaked to the bone. Though he held a large, black umbrella, it was all but useless against the raging tempest at his back.

Clutched in his arms was a seven or eight-year-old girl; her leather coat was worn inside out—meaning its back was at her front, and the buttoned side behind her, crudely covering the child.

Aiwass's hair was wet through, rainwater dripping down his chin. His face and neck felt ice-cold.

His back had been completely drenched by the storm… But the girl in front just had her hair slightly dampened, her body still warm.

—Wrong.

From his experiences caring for Yulia, Aiwass immediately evaluated the girl's temperature to be more than just "warm."

…She had a fever.

The moment he realized this, a somber voice resonated in Aiwass's mind:

"You are Agni Siva, a teacher. Thirty-four years old.

"During a rare vacation, your daughter Daiya clamored to play in the countryside of Shepherd Bay County. Thinking it had been a while since you'd spent time with her, you agreed.

"But you'd only been playing for half a day when Daiya started to feel unwell. Realizing she might have a fever, you wanted to take her to the doctor or perhaps seek healing from a Priest.

"But this place is too remote, with no doctor or Priest in sight. What's more, a sudden storm trapped you here. Without a doubt, Daiya's condition cannot withstand traveling in the rain.

"Luckily, you've come across an inn. You hope to find medication there, or at the very least, shelter from the rain…"

The next moment, several lines of text leapt before Aiwass's eyes.

[Mandatory Task—]

[Return to Reality (Points: 100)]

[Additional Tasks—]

[The Heart Is a Sanctuary: Without hiding in a room, actively engage and introduce yourself to others in every layer of the dream (Points: up to 700)]

[Village Teacher: Continue to play the role of teacher Agni Siva, and try not to be exposed (Points: up to 600)]

[Eagle-Eyed: Discern the true identities of all individuals (Points: 500)]

[My Unforgotten Nature: Have six people undergo the ritual (Points: 1000)]

[Incubus Catcher: Kill "Merlin" at least once (Points: 500 each time)]

[Incubus Slayer: Kill "Merlin" in the real world (Points: 1000)]

[Judgment with Restraint: Try not to mistakenly kill anyone other than "Merlin" (Points: up to 500)]

[Fatherly Love: Find a reasonable way to heal Daiya (Points: 500)]

[Father's Protection: Ensure Daiya is not killed by others (Points: 500)]

[The True Self: Recall your own true identity (Points: 1000)]

[Source of the Nightmare: Find the starting point of the dream (Points: up to 2000)]

These words seemed to be branded in Aiwass's eyes. As he finished reading, they slowly faded away on their own.

He did not have time to analyze—his body was completely soaked, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.

First, find a room and change his clothes. Continue reading stories on empire

"—Is anyone there?"

Clutching the spiritually unwell girl in his arms, Aiwass called out loudly, "Is anybody there?"

The rather dilapidated inn's lobby was deserted, save for a young front desk clerk.

He looked frail and thin, wearing a thin garment, with his hands folded in front of him, resting on the desk, napping.

He was woken by Aiwass's voice and lifted his head to see a tall man standing at the entrance.

Just then, lightning struck outside the door—illuminating the tall figure at the entrance in a flash.

The front desk clerk was startled. Only then did he notice that the man was holding a girl in his arms.

Without waiting for him to ask, the man hurried over and asked urgently, "Do you have a room? Preferably with hot water—and, do you have medicine? My daughter has a fever!"

"...Sorry, we don't have medicine or hot water. But we do have clean towels... If you need, you can also have a steaming hot dinner."

The front desk clerk gave a wry smile, picked up the register, and said offhandedly, "You're staying overnight, right? A clean room with dinner for two will be Four Red Coins Three Copper Coins. What's the name?"

"That expensive? Does anybody stay here?"

The man complained but still opened his wallet. Since the wallet had been tucked against his chest, it luckily wasn't wet from the rain.

"You think this is expensive? A better inn in Shepherd Bay now charges Five Red Coins a night... How about I lend you some clean clothes?"

But as the front desk clerk spoke, he suddenly paused, in sync with the man.

—Inside the wallet, there was a thick bundle of twenty brand-new White Crown Coins, still bound by paper thin as wire, clearly just withdrawn and not yet spent. Besides that, there were a few slightly crumpled Red Coins, some Copper Coins, and several brass-colored coins.

The front desk clerk's brow tightened suddenly, and he looked up at the man. But he said nothing.

"Agni. Just write down that name."

The man spoke nonchalantly, producing five Red Coins, "The rest is your tip."

Having said that, the man tucked his wallet back against his chest.

"Room 202," the clerk said, passing the key across.

"I'll leave the umbrella here for now."

Picking up the key, the man promptly carried his lethargic daughter upstairs.

The front desk clerk kept his gaze on the man's back, deep in thought.

And facing away from him, Aiwass also narrowed his eyes slightly.

Room 202... was I the second to arrive?