When the plot-skips players into the game world

Mr. Reporter— or rather, what Merlin initially told Aiwass when they first met was not wrong.

The ritual originally had two lines.

The closer one was to the top level, the further removed from reality they became, making it easier to investigate the story from the beginning... and thus obtaining a higher score.

But the closer one was to the bottom level, the greater their chances of winning.

Because in this case, the advantage of dying quickly was the greatest.

The ritual created by the Great Sage was actually not difficult. Its main difficulty lay in the fact that it started immediately after reading the rules, giving no time for discussion or contemplation.

On their own level, there was no need for any investigation.

All one needed to do was to kill everyone immediately and then commit suicide... and then start the investigation on the next level. As long as one found corpses on the next level, they should immediately commit suicide again to chase the peers who had advanced. By doing so, one gained the initiative of "one level".

As long as one ensured they were the first to die and confirmed after their suicide that there were no advancers on this level in the first moment. Then they would have found the zero level.

Therefore, the lower the level of the person, the more say they have.

By this strategy, whoever reached the zero level first would be sure to win—not just victory, but also able to eliminate anyone at will.

"Because only those who have killed everyone on their birth level and have successfully reached and recognized the zero level know whether this is truly the zero level; all other information is necessarily flawed. All they need to do is find any person not on their team, then kill them by suspecting them to be Merlin or by scheming to descend together... Whether or not that person is Merlin, they are immediately deemed a loser,"

Aiwass said, word for word, the gun muzzle slowly pressed against Pure White's temple.

The gaze of the Jacaranda became tense, while Living Silver by their side closed their eyes to conserve energy, too lazy to speak.

Pure White sighed, "Whether you believe it or not... I didn't do such a thing."

"I didn't say you did, sorry. But you definitely had the opportunity to," Aiwass replied.

Seeing that Pure White was completely unangered and even maintained their calm under such circumstances, Aiwass's tone softened a bit: "After all, among all of us here, you are from the lowest level."

"What about Merlin?"

Jacaranda couldn't help but ask, "Hasn't this reporter already admitted he is Merlin?"

Although she had just vouched for the reporter, she was quickly convinced by the logic of Fox and Pure White.

Fox and Pure White belonged to two different camps, and Merlin couldn't possibly play two people at the same time. Thus, logic that they both agreed upon was more reliable than what the reporter had provided.

"Anyway, we can't kill him," Aiwass said calmly, "There are three scenarios. One is that this is the zero level, in which case none of you can kill the reporter— if you do, I'll kill Pure White.

"Another scenario is that this is not the zero level, but the first level. Excluding the lying reporter, Living Silver must have come from at least the fourth level above. Then Sherlock is on one of the levels 567, and when he comes down, he will bring a lot of information and will push Merlin out.

"And the worst possibility is that this is not the first or zero level, but the second or the third level. Then in the top and bottom levels, at least one of my companions is there, and the other is Topaz. We might as well wait here for the person from the top level to bring the information, and then decide—he has investigated and gathered evidence alone, presumably obtaining the most information and passing through the most levels.

"Daiya, the reporter, the dancer—one of them is surely among these three. Let's just wait for him."

"—There's no need to wait."

Just then, the reporter suddenly spoke up.

His expression turned cold in an instant.

His strong fingers crossed, his body naturally leaning back.

He said slowly, in a calm, arrogant, and level voice, "If you have any questions, ask me; I'm here."

Without a doubt, the reporter had now become the "Detective".

"How many levels did you descend?" Aiwass asked.

"Three levels. On the first level, I met Mr. Topaz, who was pretending to be a dancer, acting very stupid and investigating at a snail's pace... However, I didn't see him find out anything. On the second level, I saw the bodies of that couple, the Inspector... The third level is here," said the Detective calmly. "However, I only descended three levels, yet there are five people here... so I judge that I may have descended more than three levels.

"Seeing your current actions and the atmosphere on the dinner table... I suspect that it might have been Merlin who was just using my body. Then he must have accompanied one or several of you to descend several levels.

"But since there were three bodies on my second descent, and all present here—why not let him say it, am I right about the numbers?"

"Right," Living Silver slowly opened their eyes and replied, "I killed those people."

After a brief silence, Pure White sheathed their sword, and Aiwass, after pondering for a moment, also slowly put away his gun.

"I am Fox," he said, looking at the Detective to confirm, "If you really are the Detective... tell me, what do you most want to do right now?"

"...Of course, it's to find Miss Lulu first," the Detective expressed a hint of disdain, "My level, then Mr. Topaz's level, then Mr. Living Silver's. Then there's the three of you."

He said this, pointing to Aiwass, Jacaranda, and Pure White, "You three can't possibly be Merlin, because this body was just occupied by Merlin. That means, I must have come down from at least the sixth level.

"In other words, if Miss Lulu is not on the seventh level, then she is on the first. I fear if she is on the first level, she might directly commit suicide twice and be eliminated... so we better descend as soon as possible."

As he spoke, he seemed to realize something.

The Detective glanced around and looked at the cups on the table, then at the gun in Aiwass's hand.

It was as if something had dawned on him, he paused slightly and looked calmly at Aiwass, "If they don't want to, how about just the two of us go down first?"

Watching the Detective's gaze, Aiwass fell silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.

His eyes slowly began to shine.

"Interesting… things are getting interesting."

He murmured softly to himself.

Seeing the Detective like this, Aiwass realized that his previous conjectures still had oversights—the premise of the "Surefire Method" was the absence of Merlin.

Merlin could disguise NPCs as ascenders, making the zeroth level seem not the zeroth level, thereby luring the opponent to keep descending. From this perspective, if the ritual lacks Merlin, then it fundamentally isn't fair.

Because as long as the people on the first level choose this strategy, their chances of winning are very great. And no matter how others operate, it doesn't affect their chances of winning.

Just like a game of Jenga, removing a block from the bottom affects the blocks above; but removing a block from the top doesn't affect the ones below.

Would the Great Sage create a ritual with such a big loophole?

Moreover, there is almost always a connection between these seven people. And although there are nine seats on the first floor, the rooms only go up to 206. Where would they live if there were two more people? Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

If the number of rooms changed, why didn't the seats change?

Taking everything into consideration, Aiwass boldly came up with a possibility—

—from the beginning, this was a seven-person ritual. This is a ritual place designed for use when there is an absence.

Then the nine seats are not a surplus but a hint. Apart from the front desk, there should be another "existence" in this hotel.

In other words, Merlin is necessarily part of this ritual.

This ritual, from the beginning, was conducted with Merlin's presence!

So, who led Aiwass to come up with this Surefire Method?

—It was still Merlin.

In doing so, Aiwass understood why Merlin's acting was so poor previously.

Rather than throwing the game, it's better to say he never really played his part. Because it simply didn't matter.

So, he was waiting here for me.

"I'm pondering over a question," Aiwass said slowly, "Are you… really the Detective?"

"…What's up, you silly fox? Thinking of trickery again?"

The Detective's brows furrowed: "Do you think I'm still Merlin?"

"I don't know. I really can't tell."

Aiwass answered earnestly: "I don't know whether this is the second test Merlin has set for me."

With the "Surefire Method" existing even as a mere possibility, they could very well be on the zeroth level right now. As long as the first level's Pure White has pulled out this layer, they are now on the zeroth level.

And as long as this is the zeroth level, Aiwass cannot lay a hand on the Detective.

Otherwise, Sherlock would be directly eliminated by him.

But if this is not the zeroth level, and Aiwass takes it for the zeroth level, hence choosing to kill others or not to commit suicide anymore, he would stop at this level and then be eliminated.

This is the first level of the game.

And the journalist, who was completely unlike Sherlock before, suddenly became like Sherlock. If Aiwass follows his thoughts, then Aiwass should now commit suicide together with him. That is to say, the current "journalist" is also persuading Aiwass to act.

But the question arises...

—Is this really Sherlock descending on the "journalist," instead of Merlin with a changed tone, starting to play seriously?

Are his words trustworthy or not?

This is the second level of the game.

Now Aiwass has no place to escape. He has no place to verify things, and Pure White won't provide him with more information.

Whether or not it's the zeroth level.

Whether or not it's Sherlock.

The combinations of the two present four possibilities.

—All are challenges aimed at Aiwass, where getting one question out of the two wrong means a loss. Only by answering both correctly can he win.

"Rather than deduction, it's more like gambling… a one in four chance."

Aiwass laughed softly: "But I accept."