Dream Space, Is That It?

"Since this isn't your first time participating in a ceremony, I won't go into the basics..."

Merlin's expression turned slightly serious. "Many of you are participating in a ritual constructed by Weizhe for the first time. Therefore, to be fair, I will briefly introduce the venue and the rules of victory for this ritual."

"All of you will appear in Seven Layers of Dreams —it was originally supposed to be nine, which is a great pity."

"From the First Layer to the Seventh Layer, each person is randomly placed in one of the levels. The higher the number, the more likely the dream is to contradict reality and common sense, and therefore the easier it is to decipher. The Layer Zero has no errors."

"Dying in any way from a higher level of the dream will cause you to fall to the next level. Victory is achieved Time Stop at Layer Zero —that is, the Reality Layer —when the ritual countdown ends. Stopping at any level other than Layer Zero is considered being trapped in the dream and a failure to advance."

"If more than six people Time Stop on Layer Zero at the end, those who stay the shortest will be eliminated one by one until only six people remain."

"If you die again on the Layer Zero, or the ' Reality Layer ', you will also fall to the Negative First Layer."

"There is only one true way to die in this ritual, and that is to fall to the Negative First Layer. That is considered a 'true death,' and you will have to pay the price for it."

At this point, Merlin paused slightly and gave a cryptic smile, "The above are the original rules of this ritual."

"The new rule is that I will enter the body of any character in any layer of the dream at any time, assume that role, and mislead you. The goal is to prevent you from staying on the Layer Zero."

"But I will not steal the role that you have already controlled, nor will I appear in two dream layers at the same time. And once I am discovered and killed by you in a certain layer, I will not appear in that layer a second time. I will not escape after being discovered, unless the ascendant of the previous layer happens to die and fall into my body and squeeze me out."

"The rules are simple, aren't they? Your goal is to find and stop at Layer Zero, while my goal is to prevent you from believing that it is Layer Zero..."

"If there are no problems, we can get ready to begin."

Having said that, he slowly disappeared from his seat, like ripples on water.

The elderly statue in the center slowly spoke, its voice weathered by time, announcing the rules of the ceremony as per procedure. "This ceremony is limited to two hours and is a one-to-one scale replica of the real event."

You will play a role in the arena and complete your assigned tasks. You will earn points for each completed objective.

Because this ceremony was Vacancy Ritual, all your previous categories of rejection are now invalid.

[This ceremony allows mutual killing, and no points will be deducted.]

[Because this ceremony is Full Moon Ritual, cooperation is allowed but will not count towards cooperation points.]

[This ritual is rated "Challenge". Death during the ritual will result in 30 days of physical weakness, a level reduction of one level, and a very small chance of soul damage.]

[The dreamscape for this ceremony was constructed by ' The Wise One ' Wei Zhe, while the task and role assignments, as well as the details of adding and deducting points, were handled by ' The Order Keeper ' Hourglass. I am only responsible for doing my best to maintain the fairness of the ceremony.]

The old man paused slightly, raised his staff, and uttered his final pronouncement:

In 1839, seven travelers sought refuge from a storm at an inn in a small town in Avalon ...

As the staff emitted a brilliant light, Iver suddenly felt intense dizziness.

The world before his eyes remained motionless, but the seven people sitting in the chairs vanished without a trace, like ripples on water.

When he woke up again, he found himself standing in the lobby of the hotel.

Behind me, the torrential rain howled, and the wind rattled the windows, making a banging sound. It was as if thugs were violently banging on the windows from outside, sending chills down my spine.

Iver was soaked to the bone. Although he was holding a large black umbrella, it was almost useless against the howling storm behind him.

He was holding a girl of about seven or eight years old in his arms, his leather coat worn inside out—the back was on his chest and the buttons were on his back. The coat barely covered the girl.

Iver's hair was soaked, and rain dripped down his chin. His face and neck were already icy cold.

His back was completely soaked by the torrential rain... but the girl in front of him only had her hair slightly wet, and her body was still warm.

--wrong.

Based on his experience caring for Yulia, Iver immediately realized that the girl's body temperature was not simply "warm".

... She had a fever.

As he realized this, a solemn old man's voice echoed in Iver's mind, "You are Agni Silva, a teacher. Thirty-four years old."

"During a rare holiday, your daughter Daya, insisted on going to the countryside in Mubay County. You thought it had been a long time since you had spent time with her, so you agreed."

"But you've only been playing for half a day when Daya says she's not feeling well. You realize she might have a fever, so you think about taking her to see a doctor or even going to a priest for treatment."

"But this place is too remote, with no doctor or priest. Not only that, a sudden storm has trapped you here. There's no doubt that Daya's body is no longer strong enough to support you as you continue through the rain."

"Fortunately, you suddenly found an inn. Perhaps you can find medicine there, you thought. At the very least, you can take shelter from the rain..."

The next moment, several lines of text appeared before Iver's eyes.

[Necessary Task]

Back to Reality (Points: 100)

[Additional Task]

[The Mind is the Sanctuary: Don't hide in the room; actively contact others and introduce yourself in each layer of the dream (Points: Maximum 700)]

[Rural Teacher: Continue playing the role of teacher Agni Silva, trying not to be exposed (Points: Maximum 600)]

[Sharp Eyes Like an Eagle: See Through Everyone's True Identity (Points: 500)]

[My Unforgotten Nature: Guiding Six People Through the Ritual (Points: 1000)]

[Catch the Dream Demon: Kill Merlin at least once (Points: 500 each time)]

[Dream Demon Slayer: Kill "Merlin" in the Reality Layer (Points: 1000)]

[Trial Restraint: Try not to wrongly kill anyone other than "Merlin" (Points: Maximum 500)]

[Fatherly Love: Finding a Reasonable Way to Cure Daya (Points: 500)]

[Father's Protection: Preventing Daya from Being Killed by Others (Points: 500)]

[The Real Me: Recalling My True Identity (Points: 1000)]

[The Source of Nightmares: Find the Qidian of the Dream (Points: Maximum 2000)]

These words seemed to be imprinted on Iver's eyes. After he finished reading them, they slowly faded and disappeared on their own.

He didn't have time to analyze it—he was soaked to the bone and felt extremely uncomfortable.

Let's find a room and change our clothes first.

"Is anyone there?!"

Iver hugged the girl, who seemed unwell, tighter in his arms and called out loudly, "Is anyone there?"

The somewhat dilapidated hotel lobby was empty except for a young receptionist.

He looked very thin. He was wearing thin clothes, his hands folded in front of him, and he was dozing off on the table.

He was awakened by Iver's voice, and when he looked up, he saw such a tall man standing in the doorway.

Just then, a bolt of lightning struck outside the door—instantly illuminating the tall man standing in the doorway.

The receptionist was startled. He then noticed that the man was holding a girl in his arms.

Before he could ask, the man leaned closer and asked urgently, "Do you have a room? Hot water would be best—and do you have medicine? My daughter has a fever!"

"... I'm sorry, there's no medicine or hot water. But we have clean towels... and a hot dinner is also available if you need it."

The receptionist gave a wry smile, picked up the registration list, and casually said, "You're staying here overnight, right? A clean room with dinner for two will cost four Red Coin and three Copper Coin. What's your name?"

"So expensive? Does anyone live here?"

Despite his complaints, the man still opened his wallet. Because it was tucked into his chest pocket, it didn't get wet from the rain.

"This is expensive? A decent hotel in Muwan costs five Red Coin a night now... How about I lend you a clean set of clothes?"

But as the receptionist was talking, he suddenly paused, just like the man.

Inside the wallet was a bundle of twenty brand-new White Crown Coin, tightly bound with a thin strip of paper and a thin wire seal, clearly indicating they had just been taken out and hadn't been used yet. Besides these, there were a few slightly crumpled Red Coin, a few Copper Coin, and a few brass coins.

The receptionist suddenly frowned and looked up at the man, but said nothing.

"Agni. Remember that name."

The man said casually, pointing out five Red Coin: "The rest is your tip."

After saying that, the man put his wallet back into his chest pocket.

"Room 202," the receptionist said, handing over the key.

"I'll leave the umbrella with you for now."

The man picked up the keys, then picked up his listless daughter and hurried upstairs to the second floor.

The receptionist stared at his retreating figure, lost in thought.

With his back to him, Iver also narrowed his eyes slightly.

Room 202... Am I the second one to arrive? Update complete, meow...

I was feeling listless yesterday. I went to bed at 9 pm, woke up at 1:30 am, then fell asleep again at 4 am, only to wake up again at 9 am. The amazing sleep patterns of cats...

I bought a nasal irrigator and an air purifier; JD. com delivered them quite quickly. I switched to loratadine tablets; let's see if that helps...