"None of you are participating in a ritual for the first time, so I won't waste time explaining the most basic things..."
Merlin's expression grew slightly more serious. "Quite a few of you are participating in a ritual constructed by the Wise One for the first time. For the sake of fairness, I'll briefly introduce this ritual's setting and victory conditions.
"All of you will appear in the overlapping Seven Layers of Dreams—it was originally supposed to have nine layers, but unfortunately...
"From the First Layer through the Seventh Layer, each person will randomly appear in one of them. The higher the number, the more easily the dream will contradict reality and common sense, and thus the easier it will be to see through. Layer Zero contains no errors.
"Dying in any way within a higher-layer dream will cause you to fall down one layer. When the ritual countdown ends, you'll win if you're in Layer Zero—that is, the Reality Layer. Remaining in any layer other than Layer Zero means you've become immersed in the dream, which counts as a failed promotion.
"If more than six people are still in Layer Zero when the ritual ends, those who spent the least time there will be eliminated one after another until only six remain.
"If you die again in Layer Zero, the 'Reality Layer,' you'll likewise fall to the Negative First Layer.
"There is only one true way to die in this ritual: falling to the Negative First Layer. That counts as a genuine death, and you'll have to bear the cost of death."
At this point, Merlin paused slightly and revealed an ambiguous smile. "Those are the ritual's original rules.
"The additional rule is that I may enter the body of anyone's role in any layer of the dream at