Just then, a gunshot suddenly rang out from downstairs. This was followed by another shot.

Ivus's heart tightened slightly. But his pace of going downstairs did not become faster, but much slower.

He crept down the stairs silently against the wall. At the same time, he pulled out the pistol from under his coat and lowered it slightly, hiding it in the shadow of his slightly larger cuffs.

Unlike when Ivas came, the door was already lit with an oil lamp.

From a distance, he saw a handsome young man with tan hair and deep facial features standing in the foreground with a gun. The smoke from the muzzle has not completely dissipated.

And the thin young man who was lying at the front desk collapsed backwards on the shelf in a twisted posture and lost his life. He was shot in the forehead and chest, and blood slowly seeped out.

He looked slightly and saw Eivas standing quietly by the wall.

The tall, strong black-haired man stood as straight as a sculpture. The lights of the hall shone through, hiding half of his body in the shadows.

Seeing this, the young man's pupils shrank slightly.

He dropped his gun directly on the counter and spread his hands out as a gesture of friendship.

"Calm down...... Mr. Agni. Don't attack me, my weapon has been laid down. ”

The young man said in a deep voice, "We are on one side. ”

"You know me?"

Agni said slowly, and walked down the stairs step by step.

His steps were slow, creaking as he stepped on the somewhat worn wooden floor. But it also gives people huge psychological pressure because of this.

Just then, a burst of electric light fell from outside the house, illuminating Agni's face through the window for a moment. This was followed by rumbling thunder.

"I'm Jacob Alexander. A reporter from the newspaper "Cow and Harbor" ......"

Speaking of this, he saw that Agni's slow and heavy footsteps still had no intention of stopping, so he subconsciously took a half step back and said more accurate information: "I mean, I know you on the next level.

"I know you're different from the one on the previous floor, so I'm guessing we're on one side. I think you're ...... Live silver? ”

"Go on."

Agni said briefly.

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief.

"Since you say that, I guess we're really on one side, right?"

He hurriedly continued to explain: "That's the case...... You may not know that the speed of time flow, or the point of entry is different, for each layer. At least asymmetrically. Because in another history, I've spoken to you, I've done some experiments, I've figured out some rules—"

"Have you ever seen the couple arguing in room 204? That woman was Jacaranda, but she wasn't yet. She's descended from the higher levels to my level, and we've already checked the information. After that I think she'll be down to this level soon...... She can back it up for my words.

"The reason I killed this front desk was simple. Because I think he's Merlin — or rather, I don't think he can be Merlin.

"According to my investigation, the people in this hotel are you and your daughter Dai Ya in room 202, plus the old supervisor in room 203, the couple in room 204, the dancer in room 205, and me in room 206...... Exactly seven people. 201 is vacant, and if you count the front desk, there is no one else - no one in the kitchen, no one in the basement, I have already looked for it. ”

Mr. Reporter raised his hands and said seriously at a very fast pace: "In this case, this extra front desk is an unstable factor.

Merlin said that he would 'enter the body of any person's character in any layer of the dream at any time'. But he doesn't say 'it must be the body of one of the seven of us that enters,' so we can't rule out the foreground.

"And considering that Merlin can't enter a body that we've manipulated, he'll be squeezed out if someone comes, so you can immediately see if he's Merlin. With that in mind, we need to exclude all but the seven of us as much as possible. Because he is a marginal person, he is a person who will not come to the 'right Lord' and therefore cannot verify the authenticity...... Can you understand me? ”

Seeing that Agni was still slowly walking towards him, the reporter's forehead was sweating.

He sighed helplessly and put down his hand: "Forget it, kill me if you want to." Doesn't seem to make sense with you...... This is also a kind of intelligence. ”

Agni put a pistol to his forehead. Feeling the approach of the cold muzzle, the reporter closed his eyes.

"-Bang."

Ivas simulates the sound of gunfire with his mouth.

He looked at the "reporter" who closed his eyes and opened them in astonishment: "My dear Mr. Detective, it seems that he has no confidence in my brain." ”

“…… You are? ”

"I'm a fox."

Ivas said with a smile, not caring about revealing his identity.

"It's you, kid—"

The reporter gritted his teeth and said, "You like to scare me if you have nothing to do, right?" ”

"No one has come down yet."

Ivas did not reply to the reporter: "It's quite calm." Or is it ...... They don't have good ears and can't hear gunshots? ”

"Maybe I'm scared, so I'm hiding in the house."

The reporter calmed down and continued to analyze: "Fox...... No, in order to prevent your identity from being revealed, I'd better call you Agni first.

"Listen, Agni. Long story short—since each of us appears in different dreams, it means that there is only one primitive inhabitant of each dream realm. And as long as there is another person, it means that this is at least not the top floor. In the same way, the more people appear, the closer you are to the bottom. ”

"Not bad."

Ivus nodded, "But there's one more problem. As you said – on the one hand, the time flow rate of each layer is different, or the point at which it begins. This can lead to inconsistent progress.

"And if one of us is at the top, we don't have the courage to come down...... For example, Lulu. Does that make us think that we haven't reached the bottom yet, but in fact there are just people who haven't arrived yet? ”

"Then it's time to use elimination."

The reporter thought for a while and said seriously: "Because considering that if you don't quickly explain the principle to others...... Maybe someone will kill everyone on this level. So I decided to go down quickly...... In fact, I've descended two floors.

"I didn't see anyone on the first floor. In order to meet the other people, I immediately committed suicide and went down the next level. And on the upper floor, I saw the jacaranda. And at that time, I suspected that the front desk was Merlin...... Because he was deliberately procrastinating, making excuses to make me wait a little longer. ”

Young Jacob narrowed his eyes, "I want to do an experiment." So after I said yes to Jacaranda, I first killed the front desk and then came to your side by committing suicide. ”

"You're verifying that the two front desks are the same, right?"

Ivas replied, "If the two receptionists are different, then one of them is Merlin. ”

"That's right. And as long as you go down one level, you can know which is the normal front desk. ”

"But you're ignoring another possibility – the front desk could also be one of us."

Aihuas said slowly, "And with your verification, Merlin may also be more perfectly disguised as the foreground." ”

"-So, I chose to kill the front desk."

The reporter replied: "In any case, the variables can be reduced. Not only that, but I'll kill the foreground on every floor. If he's a promoter, let him tell me himself. ”

“…… I see. I see what you're thinking. ”

Ivus narrowed his eyes.

If the foreman is not a promoter, then killing the foreman can increase Merlin's possession cost; If the foreman is the one who is promoted, then if he is killed, he will fall to the next floor with his memory.

"Judging by this line of thinking, we can also kill anyone like this once. Since we are born on levels 1-7 and the goal is level 0. In other words, even if I'm on the 1st floor, we can die at least once. ”

Ivus pondered, "As long as you have memories after death, you can prove that you are true, right?" ”

"But there's one variable to exclude here."

The reporter then calmly said: "If someone claims to have committed suicide and come down to this level, but there is no one on the upper level to verify his identity - then there is a possibility that he is Merlin who pretended to be the one who came, but in fact disguised as the one who came."

"I took this into account, so I decided on a secret order when I communicated with the jacaranda. This proves that we have indeed communicated with each other, and we have all fallen from above.

"But even then, there is another problem......"

"—time difference."

Ivas continued, "The process of waiting for the jacaranda to come down is also delaying time. According to the previous reasoning, the more time is delayed, the more unstable the lower levels become. ”

Mr. Reporter snapped his fingers and smiled with satisfaction: "Exactly." ”

"So what are your plans?"

Ivas asked.

"—it's simple."

Mr. Reporter, who has the same name and surname as Ivus's grandfather, replied: "We die together and live together." ”

As he spoke, he picked up the revolver on the table and aimed it at Ivus's forehead.

"If you're not Merlin, you're a real fox."

The reporter said calmly: "Let's go directly to the next floor - when the jacaranda comes down, you will definitely understand what is going on when you see our posture." She will also find a person to kill each other in a group and confirm each other.

"Jacaranda and I can seal each other, I and you can seal each other, and she can bring a person. In this way, we have identified four people...... All it was necessary to remove Merlin from the remaining three. ”

“…… Heh, a team of two? Yes, then listen to you. Then let's go to the next level and investigate, mate. ”

With a chuckle, Ivas fearlessly raised his pistol, aiming it at the reporter's forehead, and then moved the reporter's forehead down to his heart with his other hand.

"You shoot first."

Ivas said indifferently: "Even if I am shot in the heart, I can shoot it instantly." ”

"Okay."

The corners of the reporter's mouth rose slightly.

After a brief pause, two gunshots rang out in quick succession from the hall.

Just like at the beginning of the ceremony...... Evas felt his consciousness sink slowly into the dark depths of the sea.

Then, he suddenly felt a little suffocating. He woke up suddenly, as if he had come out of the water and stirred up a wave.

- He seemed to take a nap and opened his eyes.

A very soft voice came from behind him: "Dad......?"

“…… Why don't you get dressed? ”

Ivus looked at the water-soaked clothes that had been changed in front of him, and the corners of his mouth slowly rose.

He turned around, opened his arms, and showed off the new clothes he had changed: "Aren't I dressed properly, Daiya?" ”

Dai Ya was stunned for a moment, and nodded slowly: "Yes......"

"Why do you think I'm undressed?"

Ivus wasn't angry, just asked patiently.

“…… I do not know. ”

Dai Ya covered her forehead with some distress: "I seem to have had a nightmare...... I dreamed that my dad was naked and swimming in the river......"

Ivus walked over and gently stroked her hair.

"It's okay."

He said softly, "Sleep well, good night." ”

Between his fingers, Daiya's brown hair was thin and soft, giving people a warm feeling to the touch.

Update complete!

(End of chapter)