This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

——"How many people know about my talents? How many people know about those events?"

——"Are you here to steal my talents, my gold, my treasures? Who sent you to harm me?! Will you speak or not?!"

——"Which organization are you from? Do you have any accomplices? What are your plans? Tell me everything!"

Rita: "That's enough, I'll speak now…"

Rita wasn't a child, she wouldn't just believe everything Maple Burn said. She gave Nivalis a signal, prompting her to continue.

Another strike.

Maple Burn's voice was weaker now. She said, "My king, I have something to say…"

Rita's murderous intent immediately dissipated. The mindset was clearly off, and she became alert.

But even though she realized something was wrong, she still couldn't summon any desire to kill Maple Burn! No, it wasn't even just a lack of murderous intent; there was no hostility left at all…

Was this the effect of a skill? Or was it the influence of the wings?

But for now, it seemed that Maple Burn could only hear voices, not see what was going on around her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have waited until Nivalis used the skill a second time before pleading. Rita, though still tense, allowed her emotions to ease a bit and said, "I'll give you five seconds to convince me."

Nivalis immediately tucked one bone under her arm and twirled another in the air.

Rita looked at Nivalis, puzzled at what kind of madness she was up to now.

Nivalis: "I'm borrowing a bit of oil, gotta cook some vegetables."

Rita: "......"

The brat dared call it oil! Rita grabbed a flower from the vase on the table and threw it at Nivalis.

Maple Burn: "The Cheers your mother taught you isn't complete. If you help me revive, I can teach you the full version of Cheers. I'll also leave you the orange-red wings. And not only that, I can give you knowledge that I accidentally obtained, [Fluency in 666 Races' Languages]!

"Trust me, if you want to enter the World Battlefield, you'll definitely need [Fluency in 666 Races' Languages]! Even my mother couldn't find the source of this knowledge, and she tried many methods to get me to share it with her. Unfortunately, I could only give her 333 of the languages back then."

Given Maple Syrup's transparency with her three daughters, Rita wasn't surprised that Maple Burn knew about the World Battlefield. But she couldn't help but feel suspicious about the offers Maple Burn made, as everything she mentioned happened to be something that intrigued her.

Even the full version of Cheers, Maple Burn knew about that too? Did she awaken in the High Tower?

And the [Fluency in 666 Races' Languages], though she was hearing about this skill for the first time, just the combination of "races' languages" and "World Battlefield" was enough for anyone to understand its importance. In Rita's plans, the World Battlefield was something she had to go to.

Knowledge was the most precious thing to her. Its importance and priority came before even equipment and items.

Rita considered the method for igniting the orange-red wings again. Could it be that Maple Burn had a backup plan all along?

Maple Burn: "I don't know." But then, she repeated the method and told Rita to check for herself.

Rita was very satisfied with Maple Burn's attitude. She then asked the question that had been bothering her: "You know what I fear, but why do you know I'll need all of these?"

Maple Burn obediently answered, "I have a skill called [I Was Terrified], which lets me know what can move the target I'm about to be killed by."

Another "I have a skill"…

Rita: "… Besides [What Are You Afraid Of] and [I Was Terrified], what other similar skills do you have? Let me see them."

She was sure Maple Burn understood what she meant by "similar"—the more Rita thought about it, the more she realized how much they were alike in certain ways...

Maple Burn's voice sounded pleased at last: "I also have [My King, I Have Something to Say], [Enemy's Calm Period], [Help Me Up], [Turn Enemies Into Friends], [Let's Be Friends], [We're All Family], [The Virgin's Smile], [Mouth Defense]…"

Rita's heart was pounding as Maple Burn listed these skills. Every time a new one was mentioned, her heart would skip a beat. This… this was a feeling she had never experienced before!

Was this a skill set? No, this was clearly her wish list!

Nivalis lowered her head and twisted the Soul Catcher's thumb, flipping her bones 180° down.

Rita's eyes were still glowing, but she had already started threatening the child: "I'm watching."

Nivalis silently flipped her bones back into place.

Rita decisively said, "I want all those skills, plus your previous reward. I'll help you revive! I can even throw you an 888-firework revival ceremony if that's what you want."

Maple Burn: "… Do you know why you woke me up?"

Rita said gently, "Tell me, sister is listening~"

Maple Burn was caught off guard by Rita's attitude and hesitated for a few seconds before replying, "Because our personalities are very similar. Many of the things you said and did in the High Tower were incredibly similar to things I've said and done in the past. Many moments, our souls resonated and synchronized. Only like this could I be awakened by you, and ultimately, my wings became parasitic on your body."

That statement felt like a thunderclap in Rita's heart.

She almost whispered to herself: "Only by becoming like you, by having similar actions and words, could your souls synchronize, could they be awakened… and could you be revived?"@@novelbin@@

No wonder the owls considered it an honor to ascend the tower. To them, having their spirits reborn in someone else was probably seen as a form of glory.

Maple Burn answered, "Yes, the similarity needs to be at least 50%, and for many important events for spirits, you must make the same choices as they did. It's very difficult. Is there a problem?"

Is there a problem?

Maybe there was.

Rita suddenly asked, "Did you also love baking cookies when you were young? And didn't you once make some failed cookies into a necklace for Maple Cang?"

"Yes, that was another moment of synchronization. It's really a coincidence. And you gave it to Maple Cang. This necklace is only with Maple Cang. Maple Syrup and Maple Mu don't have it."

"What kind of cookies were they?"

"Bear Cookies. I drew them myself. They were super cute!"

"Weren't the little bears drawn by Maple Cang for you?"

"Of course not! Forest Sea didn't even have those little bears. I imagined them myself as little pets."

So, the little bears that Maple Cang had drawn for her back then weren't just fragmented memories. Perhaps the Maple Cang inside the High Tower had some small part of its true consciousness. Maple Syrup likely did too. Their role wasn't just to monitor or spectate. It wasn't as simple as accompanying their deceased family in another form…

Rita was now sure that Zoey, whom she had met as "Maple Mu," was not the same at all. Their souls didn't resonate! Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

If Maple Syrup and Maple Cang within the High Tower truly had consciousness, and if they noticed that this reincarnating "Maple Mu" was the same person… Then Zoey's three hundred years of dreams might just have been Maple Syrup's preparation to awaken Maple Mu.

Had Zoey realized that? She was so sensitive and serious, there was no way she couldn't tell the difference.

Had she accepted it willingly, cooperating in a way that allowed her to continue pretending to be naive, like a second-rate fool? Or was she desperately trying to hypnotize herself not to think about those flaws?