This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita wasn't ready to give up. She resorted to hand gestures, offering to help Mistblade decipher her game rules. Whatever she could translate, she would.

Of course, Rita had her own agenda. She wanted to assess the difficulty of Mistblade's tasks and the scope of the rules Mistblade had to follow.

Mistblade understood her offer and didn't hesitate. Since she'd already decided to rely on Rita's multilingual abilities—going as far as forgiving her theft—she wouldn't waste this opportunity.

She activated a skill, and instantly, both of them were enveloped in dense fog. It was the same skill Rita had seen before during their negotiation in Polar Day City when she had taken on her goblin form.

Once a temporary safe zone was established, Mistblade sat cross-legged, used a water mist to dampen the sand in front of her, and began writing down rules with her finger.

The first few rules were incomprehensible to Rita, but by the fifth, she noticed it was identical to her second rule.

Excited, Rita slapped the sand and started gesturing to Mistblade.

First, she exaggeratedly inspected their clothes, confirming neither of them wore red. Then, she lightly scratched her wrist with a fingernail, drawing a bit of blood. Pointing at the blood and then at a blank scroll, she gestured dramatically.

Mistblade, though lacking linguistic talent, was extraordinarily intelligent. The sequence of Rita's actions—inspecting their clothes for red, then using blood—made the rule clear to her instantly.

The key wasn't the blood itself but the color. Paintings must not contain red!

Mistblade's frown eased. Her game difficulty was already at abyss-level, with as many as 45 rules to follow, each violation carrying severe penalties.

No matter how long Rita survived or how many translations she managed, her proactive attitude earned Mistblade's approval.

To Mistblade, as long as Rita helped her with even one solid translation, the lost World Graveyard ticket would be worth it. Asking for ten translations was just her being greedy. She wasn't worried about Rita cheating her—smart people like Rita knew how to weigh gains and losses.

Tickets were rare and valuable, but a reliable translator? Mistblade would even consider a long-term partnership with Rita. However, she might have to convince BSRick to learn Moonfox Tongue for future dealings.

Mistblade wrote down 45 rules, each in a different language. Rita could only understand six:

Paintings must not contain red. Continue your saga on My Virtual Library Empire

Painting is forbidden in the oasis.

Painting is prohibited between 1:00 and 3:00 AM.

Do not attack players with a rank ending in 6.

Do not attack players whose painting completion exceeds 50%.

You may not use more than 10 languages during this game round.

The rules were chaotic and seemingly illogical.

Rita couldn't imagine what kind of reward could justify such convoluted rules and severe penalties.

After doing everything she could, Rita didn't leave Mistblade's side. She tagged along, wanting to see how Mistblade planned to paint.

Mistblade, of course, noticed Rita's curiosity. She wanted to explain that she hadn't played this specific game before and would need to experiment to figure it out. She'd participated in thousands of [Game of Gods] rounds and had never encountered the same challenge twice.

But that was too complex to express through hand gestures.

After some hesitation, Mistblade decided to issue a warning.

Hand gestures were commonplace in [World Battleground], where communication wasn't always verbal. She'd even used them against NightFury, pretending to have an important message to deliver, only to flee while NightFury paused to listen.

Mistblade pointed at Rita, mimicked a blade slicing her own neck, then pointed at herself and spread her hands as if to say, Your life is your own responsibility.

Rita: "..." The dignified Moon Empress suddenly feels so... rustic.

Still, she understood the message. Mistblade wasn't going to protect her.

Rita nodded obediently. It wasn't surprising. Mistblade was forthright, but not a saint. Rita's translations were payment for the World Graveyard ticket she'd taken. Expecting Mistblade to protect her in return would require a new deal.

The two began flying across the desert, searching for Mistblade's targets.

The blazing sun overhead made Rita parched, but despite her abundance of ultimate abilities, she refused to summon [Spring of Light] just for water. She gritted her teeth and endured.

Mistblade had fewer such restrictions. When she summoned water for the second time, condensing a stream to quench her thirst, she noticed Rita's gaze.

Mistblade moved the water ball to the left, and Rita's eyes followed. She moved it to the upper right, and Rita's eyes followed again.@@novelbin@@

Mistblade smirked and threw the water onto the sand, sketching out images of the Eternal Night Fortress, the High Tower, and [Fate Out of Sync]. She then drew three clock hands, pointed to them, drew an arrow, and finally a potion bottle. Condensing another water ball, she looked at Rita with what she thought was a friendly smile and gestured: One bottle of Moon Sand for a water ball.

Rita: "..." So now we're just robbing me outright, huh?

She wasn't surprised that Mistblade suspected she had Moon Sand. Everyone who climbed the High Tower that week was being hunted by the Oak Owl. Still, while Mistblade might be suspicious, she couldn't know how much Moon Sand Rita actually possessed.

The Oak Owl likely didn't know either. According to Shadow.Q, the Oak Owl had been having [Fate Out of Sync] repaired daily, suspecting that the artifact itself was malfunctioning.

Under the scorching desert sun, the Moon Empress, with her nine tails, crouched on the ground, seemingly imagining Rita pulling out a stash of Moon Sand to buy water. Her expression remained elegant, but her tails wagged enthusiastically.

Rita silently activated her ultimate ability, summoning [Spring of Light] and flashing Mistblade a smile, politely declining the offer.

Mistblade: "..."

During this time, Rita released Nivalis from her storage space. It wasn't practical to keep the companion hidden. If a crisis arose and she needed Nivalis's help, explaining the situation would waste precious time. However, she shrank Nivalis's size and perched her on her shoulder to avoid drawing attention.

Mistblade cast several glances at Nivalis, whose initial starry-eyed admiration quickly dimmed. By the time Nivalis repositioned herself to Rita's opposite shoulder, she'd gone from superfan to casual observer.

The two continued flying for hours, encountering various alien players. Most backed off upon seeing Mistblade's fox tails, but a few dared to give chase. In those moments, Mistblade abandoned any semblance of elegance, turning tail and fleeing without hesitation.