Chapter Summaries

Iver entered a Full Moon advancement ritual as Fox and met four unfamiliar participants before Sherlock and Isabel arrived. Merlin began the Vacancy Ritual, but Fox stopped him so Sherlock and Isabel could hear everyone’s introductions.

• Iver introduced himself to Pure White as Fox, then met Topaz, Jacaranda, and Quicksilver, who all chatted with him while he wondered whether their group had joined another caravan’s ritual.
• Iver realized that Sherlock and Isabel had not appeared yet and worried they might have been separated from him.
• Sherlock arrived and introduced himself as the Detective, and Isabel followed as Lu Lu from the Path of Beauty.
• Merlin announced that everyone had rejected the Path of Adaptation and that the ritual would have no Adaptation participant.
• Fox interrupted Merlin to ask that Sherlock and Lu Lu be given a chance to hear the introductions, and Merlin agreed to let them continue.

Isabel’s question revealed that Merlin had been hiding in the waiting hall, making him the ninth participant in the Vacancy Ritual. Merlin explained that a missing representative required the host to join and balance the contest, then unveiled the Sage’s tavern setting for the ritual.

• Iver, Pure White, Topaz, and the others introduced themselves to Sherlock and Isabel, but Isabel noticed that the number of seats and participants did not match.
• Isabel asked why there were only eight seats, and Merlin appeared in the empty seat beside her.
• Merlin explained that the Vacancy Ritual required a punishment mechanism because excluding a representative violated the ritual’s purpose, and he identified himself as the host joining the contest.
• Merlin revealed a dim tavern setting built by the Sage and said the seven participants would face him in a ritual where intelligence and fair scoring mattered.

Iver entered a Seven Layers of Dreams ritual as Agni Silva, a teacher trying to protect his feverish daughter Daya while finding the Reality Layer. He checked into an inn as its second guest and suspected someone else had arrived before him.

• Merlin explained the ritual’s dream layers, victory conditions, and his role in misleading the participants.
• The old man announced the ritual rules and began the two-hour dream set in an Avalon inn during a storm in 1839.
• Iver became Agni Silva, received tasks that included finding the Reality Layer and protecting Daya, and learned that his daughter had a fever.
• Iver reached the inn lobby with Daya and asked the front-desk clerk for a room, medicine, and hot water.
• Iver paid for Room 202 under the name Agni, while the clerk scrutinized his bundle of newly withdrawn coins.
• Iver wondered whether he was the second person to arrive at the inn.

Iver cared for Daya at a poorly equipped inn and discovered a bloodstained set of clothes and a demon-hunting revolver in Agni's Travel Bag. After Daya woke, Iver went downstairs for hot soup, leaving the mystery of the gun and Agni's memories unresolved.

• Iver found that the inn had no hot water or bathing facilities, helped Daya dry off, and tucked her into bed.
• Iver found clean clothes, White Crown Coins, a silver pocket watch showing 5:11, and a revolver in Agni's Travel Bag.
• Iver noticed bloodstains and a bullet hole in the clothes, then found that one round had been fired from the revolver.
• Daya woke and said her head hurt less, and Iver told her to stay in bed while he went to get hot soup.
• Iver saw a young woman arguing in the room next door, listened after she locked the door, and then went downstairs.

Iver met Jacob Alexander, who had descended through dream layers while investigating Merlin, and agreed to descend with him by dying together. Iver awoke on another layer with Daya, whose dream suggested he had been swimming naked in a river.

• Jacob Alexander explained his theory that Merlin might possess the hotel clerk and said he had killed the clerk to reduce uncertainty.
• Iver and Jacob discussed how deaths, remembered identities, and code phrases could help them verify who had descended between layers.
• Jacob proposed that he and Iver shoot each other and descend together, so their identities could be checked against Jacaranda and others.
• Iver and Jacob shot each other, and Iver felt his consciousness sink into the Deep Sea before awakening on another layer.
• Daya told Iver she had dreamed that he was swimming naked in a river, and he reassured her and sent her back to sleep.

Iver used Agni to question Jane and her husband, then joined the detective and Pure White in the lobby to compare identities and plan their investigation. They left to check on the remaining people, while Iver addressed the reporter as his great detective.

• Agni visited Jane and her husband, asked for medicine, and accepted a counterfeit Drunken Dream Tincture.
• After leaving their room, Agni overheard Jane and her husband discuss his gun and fear that he had recognized them; two gunshots then sounded downstairs.
• Agni returned to the lobby, where the reporter playing Jacob faced off with Pure White, an Old Inspector.
• Agni deduced that the Old Inspector was Pure White, and the group agreed they had confirmed four identities while Lu Lu, Living Silver, and Topaz remained uncertain.
• Iver agreed to check on the remaining people with the detective and called the reporter his great detective.

Isabel investigated the room after waking alone and followed a star-guided clue to Room 201, where she found a book about Merlin and a teddy bear. As she climbed the stairs, the bear sang and an unseen hand pushed her, sending her tumbling downward.

• Isabel braved her fever and the storm, then saw the stars spell out "201" and made her way to Room 201.
• The door opened onto changing scenes, including a brick wall and a staircase, while a lightning flash revealed a blue-faced blonde girl outside the window.
• Isabel found a dust-free copy of "The Sage in the Oak" and a worn teddy bear, then took both with her when she left the room.
• The door locked behind Isabel, and she climbed the endless staircase as the storm faded and the teddy bear began singing.
• Isabel dropped the teddy bear to retrieve it, and a cold little hand pushed her down the stairs.

Iver concluded that the reporter was Merlin and reasoned that exposing him would only trap them both on the current floor. He decided to keep pretending he had not noticed, leaving Merlin to act as a detective until they reached Layer Zero or the First Layer.

• Iver returned to the second floor with the Old Inspector and the reporter, deciding the Old Inspector’s exact identity did not matter because they were on the same side.
• Iver ruled out Sherlock as the reporter by comparing Sherlock’s loyalty, behavior, and investigative methods with the reporter’s actions.
• Iver deduced that the reporter was Merlin, whose knowledge of Iver’s arrival and the ritual’s mechanics had revealed his perspective.
• Iver reasoned that publicly exposing Merlin would trap them together on the floor and that Merlin could not abandon his role without breaking the ritual’s rules.
• Iver chose to act as if he had not discovered Merlin’s identity, while the reporter followed him with an eager, knowing look.

Iver investigated the Dancer to identify Isabel’s ritual role and examined the frightening appearance of the “Teacher” he was playing. Daya’s strange memory made him question whether he was truly her father and wonder who he really was.

• Iver reasoned that Isabel was most likely playing either the Dancer or his daughter, while the other remaining promoters filled the ritual’s other roles.
• Iver visited the Dancer with the reporter and Inspector, and her behavior revealed that Isabel could only be playing Daya, Iver’s daughter.
• The reporter charmed the Dancer and questioned her about the Haunted Inn while Iver studied his reflection.
• Iver saw that the “Teacher” was a huge, scarred man carrying a Demon Hunting Pistol and questioned whether such a person could be Daya’s father.
• Daya’s memory of her father swimming naked made Iver suspect that his identity or memories had been altered, and he wondered who he truly was.

Jacob realized that the people gathered at the inn had hidden identities and tested the dancer, discovering that she was Honey Badger, an ally who recognized his secret affiliation. They suspected the inn’s history and their memories had been altered, but the reason they had gathered remained unclear.

• Jacob connected the cash, the gunshot wound in his clothes, and Daya’s dream, and suspected Agni had killed Daya’s father and abducted her.
• Jacob inferred that the dancer might be an undercover operative and sent Merlin and the Old Inspector away so he could speak with her alone.
• Jacob used secret phrases to identify himself, and the dancer responded with a lipstick tube marked with the code word “Love.”
• The dancer identified Jacob’s current role as Agni Shiva, an escaped bank robber who had abducted Daya, and Jacob told her he suspected their memories had been altered.
• The dancer revealed that her name was Honey Badger and that she had been in Mubay County for two weeks; Jacob confirmed that he and the Scaleless Hand were investigating while keeping his identity secret.

Iver pieced together how the nightmare’s layered scripts distorted the Ascenders’ identities and memories, then gathered the survivors in the lobby to compare their experiences. Their accounts exposed a contradiction about which layers Living Silver and Jacaranda had crossed, and Detective offered a suspicious explanation.

• Iver concluded that Ascenders playing roles lacked knowledge of their true identities, while their memories were distorted and their performances revealed flaws.
• Iver proposed investigating Room 201, but the group instead went to the lobby to share information and avoid possible interference from Merlin.
• Jacaranda, Living Silver, Pure White, Detective, and Iver introduced themselves and gathered around the lobby table.
• Living Silver said he and Jacaranda had died together after seeing Fox and Detective’s corpses, then arrived on the current layer.
• Jacaranda said she had killed her husband, met Detective, died, and later reunited with Living Silver on a lower layer, prompting suspicion about Detective’s account.
• Detective claimed he had killed Jacaranda and Living Silver on a higher layer and said Living Silver should have come from above him.

Iver exposed contradictions in the journalist’s testimony and reasoned that the group might be on Layer Zero, where killing anyone could force Merlin out and secure victory. He turned his gun on Pure White, suspecting that Pure White’s real identity was Ms. Pure White.

• Pure White arranged the cups to show the group’s relative descent order and explain how deaths could cause layers to be skipped.
• Iver recalled that the journalist had changed his testimony about meeting Jacaranda, then pointed out that the updated account could not explain how the journalist killed Living Silver.
• The journalist argued that the layer might be lower than the others believed, possibly even Layer Zero, and Pure White pointed his blade at him.
• Iver aimed his gun at Pure White and addressed him as Ms. Pure White, warning everyone against violence before they understood the situation.
• Iver explained that if they were on Layer Zero, killing anyone could make Merlin’s stolen identity irrelevant and give the group a way to clear the ritual.

Iver realized Merlin had led him to the seemingly sure-win strategy and suspected the ritual had been designed with Merlin present. He faced a four-way dilemma over whether the group was on Layer Zero and whether the reporter was truly the detective, and chose to gamble on solving both.

• Iver explained how descending quickly and identifying Layer Zero could let someone control the ritual, then accused Pure White of having the opportunity to use that strategy.
• The reporter became the detective, described descending through several layers, and confirmed that Living Silver had killed the three people whose corpses he had seen.
• The detective urged Iver to descend with him to find Miss Lu Lu, and Iver realized Merlin might be manipulating the game by disguising an NPC as an ascender.
• Iver questioned whether the reporter was really the detective and concluded that he had to determine both the current layer and the reporter’s identity to avoid losing.
• Iver accepted the risk of the four possible outcomes and decided to gamble.

Isabel endured repeated deaths and worsening pain as she descended through the dream layers, memorizing the dead and Sherlock’s strategy for Iver. She reached Iver and delivered her findings, completing her mission.

• After dying on the Negative First Layer, Isabel told Sherlock what she had found and learned the strategy he wanted passed to Fox.
• Isabel continued descending, recording the dead on each layer while suffering fever, pain, and cracking skin.
• Though a frightened girl’s illusion tried to stop her, Isabel wiped away her tears and kept moving deeper into the dream.
• Isabel recognized Iver, ran to him, and delivered the information about Room 201, the dead end, Sherlock’s warning, and the people who had died.

Iver uncovered the truth behind the Haunted Inn’s layered dreams and remembered that he was a demon hunter hired to take Daya away. Faced with tasks that demanded conflicting choices, he shot Daya and then himself, choosing to follow her into the Negative First Layer.

• Iver recognized that Daya’s purple glow came from a Dream Demon and explained that the nursery rhyme described a flawed ritual that created an Earthbound Spirit.
• Iver exposed the others’ false memories, identifying Pure White as a tax collector and Jacaranda and Living Silver as medicine smugglers.
• Iver recalled that Daya’s father had hired him to take her away, but Daya’s Dream Demon had awakened and caused them to kill her father.
• Iver received conflicting tasks to protect or kill Daya and to escape her mental control, while realizing that returning to reality without killing her would endanger everyone.
• Iver shot Daya, then aimed his gun at himself and pulled the trigger, declaring that he would accompany her to the Negative First Layer.

Iver and the others woke in a beautiful mountain inn after the storm, but the lobby revealed another dead clerk and a suspicious reporter. When Jacaranda called the reporter Merlin, Iver shot him and said he would explain.

• Iver woke beside Daya and saw that the storm had passed, revealing a forest, lake, and village outside the inn.
• Iver offered to ask Isabel’s grandmother about a trip to Mubay County, but Isabel declined and said she would train to become strong enough to help him.
• Iver and Daya joined Old Inspector, Pure White, Jacaranda, and the others downstairs, where they found the front-desk clerk shot dead again.
• The reporter claimed the clerk had taken his gun and killed himself, while Pure White proposed an Inspectorate memory examination.
• Jacaranda called the reporter Merlin, and Iver shot him in the head before explaining that the man was not Merlin.

Iver exposed Pure White as a temporary examiner and Merlin as the one manipulating the ritual, then chose to shoot Daya and restart rather than leave her behind. He awoke beside the Paradox Flame Butterfly, with golden-red radiance in his eyes.

• Iver explained why the sunny layer was still part of the dream and challenged Pure White's account of the layer deaths.
• Iver revealed that Pure White had been helping Merlin and deduced that the receptionist's corpse was Topaz and Dancer was Merlin.
• Pure White admitted he was a temporary examiner assigned by a Pillar God to test Iver, and said all six participants could win if they reached Layer Zero.
• Iver rejected Daya's offer to remain behind and shot her, intending to find a way for her to survive the ritual.
• Iver woke beside the Paradox Flame Butterfly with golden-red light blazing in his eyes.

Iver saved Daya by absorbing much of the awakening Dream Demon through a ritual of sacrifice, then negotiated with Alice to return Topaz and promised to find her in reality. After completing the dream trial with the highest score, he received three purple traits and wondered why Weizhe had not given him a Container Entry.

• Iver found Demon Hunter +3 and rushed into Room 201, where Daya was being overwhelmed by the awakening Dream Demon.
• Iver used butterflies, gunfire, and his own blood to break through Daya’s defenses and establish a ritual that calmed the Dream Demon and put her to sleep.
• Iver spoke with Alice, promised to find her in reality, and asked her to return Topaz; Alice entered his body and drained his life force until he lost consciousness.
• Iver woke to visions of the events and received 5,900 settlement points, ranking first, before a one-eyed sage pierced him with a spear.
• Iver gained Flesh Dedication, Dream Walker, and Body of Light, then wondered why Weizhe had not given him a Container Entry.

Iver weighed three rare Path Traits from Weizhe and chose Flesh Dedication to strengthen health-consuming skills, including Shepherding Method. As the trait transformed his body, he wondered whether becoming more delicious would attract werewolves, vampires, or other strange people.

• Iver ruled out Dream Walker, which granted resistance to illusions and dream infiltration and enabled the Dream Wandering Monk class.
• Iver compared Flesh Dedication’s amplified health costs and effects with Body of Light’s ability to turn contact-based healing and support skills into ranged group effects.
• Iver chose Flesh Dedication because Flame Butterfly already offered healing and dispelling, while he had few allies who could benefit from group buffs.
• The other two traits shattered, and Power from the Blood Domain transformed Iver’s body to make him even more delicious.

Iver tested his new Path Trait and welcomed Isabel, who came to check whether he had survived his advancement. Isabel revealed that she had chosen Resilient Illusion, leaving Iver to consider how her path was changing from the future he remembered.

• Iver fed the shadow demon a little of his blood, learned it tasted only average, and stopped it before it drank more.
• Isabel arrived at Iver's door before dawn, worried that she had harmed him during his advancement ritual.
• Iver reassured Isabel that he had advanced successfully and earned first place in points.
• Isabel showed Iver her Resilient Illusion Path Trait, which let her create illusions that were harder to see through.
• Iver told Isabel her choice was strong and reflected on how her new path might lead her away from becoming the Queen of Flowers he remembered.