This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita had to use several acceleration skills to keep up with Mistblade, noticing that Mistblade seemed to be searching for something specific rather than hunting other players. The alien players they encountered on the way also appeared to be doing the same.

Finally, Mistblade's eyes lit up as she picked up speed. Rita followed her gaze to see a vast oasis in the distance, with a towering blue light pillar rising from its southeastern corner.

The oasis was enormous, filled with trees, small huts, a marketplace, and watchtowers. It resembled a small city, enclosed by a transparent dome-like shield. Inside, numerous alien players and their pets were already moving around.

The moment Rita stepped into the shield, a notification sounded in her ears:

Welcome, player, to the Safe Zone. Attacks are prohibited within the Safe Zone.

But then came two more messages:

Beep—You have violated a game rule. A divine punishment will be randomly assigned. Divine punishment determined: You have lost 4 points of Constitution.

Rita stared at her left foot, which had just stepped into the oasis, lost in thought.

Mistblade had already moved ahead, and Rita hurried to catch up. They headed straight for the center of the oasis, where a stone tablet stood. At the top of the tablet was an 8-minute countdown, while its surface displayed the following text:

Game: Kings and Thrones

When the countdown ends, this Safe Zone will transform into a Battle Zone. Players will be automatically divided into Red and Blue teams within the Battle Zone. Each team will have 1 minute of preparation time to determine the location of their throne. At the end of the preparation period, the throne's location will be set based on the location of the team's Flagbearer. The game will then officially begin.

Victory Conditions:

Red Team: Insert the Red Flag into the opposing team's throne. Blue Team: Insert the Blue Flag into the opposing team's throne.

Rules:

If the Flagbearer dies, their team immediately loses. Each game lasts 10 minutes. At the end of each round, all players will be randomly reassigned to new teams. Players who win three times will be forcibly removed from the Battle Zone and receive the ability to translate one of their game rules. The game consists of five rounds in total. Once all rounds are completed, the Battle Zone will disappear within 2 minutes.

Current Safe Zone Player Count: 815

Rita glanced around and noticed that all the aliens seemed able to read the text, though the characters likely appeared differently to each player.

She tugged on Mistblade's sleeve, pointed at the tablet, and began counting on her fingers: One? Two? Three? …Nine?

Mistblade shook her head and spread her hands as if to say, Who knows how many there are?

Rita hesitated for a moment but decided to stay.

Meeting Mistblade so early in the battlefield had been incredibly lucky, but Rita couldn't ignore the World Battleground's Law of Balanced Luck: luck in the Battleground was never consistent. If someone experienced extreme good fortune, misfortune was bound to follow.

If she joined this game, she was likely to encounter bad luck—such as being chosen as the Flagbearer.

It was the safest and yet most dangerous role.

Leaving the Safe Zone wasn't an option either. At least here, teammates had a vested interest in protecting her to win the game. Outside the Safe Zone, she'd have no such protection.

Without Mistblade, she wouldn't have even made it to the Safe Zone alive. Besides, she still needed to uncover her other two rules.

Having made her decision, she separated from Mistblade. Staying together would be awkward if they ended up on opposing teams. After saying goodbye, she took to the air with Nivalis to survey the terrain, plotting escape and hiding routes. Most players were doing the same.

Some aliens ran toward the blue light pillar to investigate, but Rita avoided it, worried it might involve her past self meddling in the timeline.

The 8 minutes passed quickly.

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A fiery meteor shot up from the center of the oasis and exploded in the air.

The game had begun.

A blue triangle appeared above Rita's head, and just as she feared, a flagpole with a glowing blue flag materialized behind her. The flag's light shot skyward, making her location unmistakable.

She was the Blue Team's Flagbearer.

As soon as the flag appeared, every alien in the vicinity turned to look at her.

A few strong Blue Team players immediately rushed over, pointing in different directions and urging her to follow them.

Although Rita was willing, the fact that they all pointed in different directions was problematic. Fortunately, these experienced players weren't foolish enough to let pride get in the way. After exchanging a few glances, some of the alien players backed down, deferring to a 15th-tier scorpion-tailed alien to lead.

Rita followed the scorpion-tailed alien, while others formed a protective circle around them.

When the 1-minute preparation time ended, Rita entered a small hut. A throne appeared beneath her feet, emitting a blue beam that shot into the sky.

She stepped off the throne and realized the blue beam from the flag hadn't disappeared but was instead following her. Turning to her teammates, she waited for instructions on how they planned to escort her to the enemy throne.

Just then, a purple-skinned humanoid returned from scouting the Red Team. Without speaking, he displayed the leaderboard and pointed to a name before gesturing outside.

The meaning was clear: that player was on the Red Team.

The name made everyone's expression change.

19th-tier Overlord, Frenzied Shark.

Rita: "…" Of course. Being the Flagbearer is just pure bad luck.

The other aliens in the room looked at her with pity. The message was obvious: Give up this round.

However, a few aliens had a sudden realization, their expressions shifting.

Rita tried using the ultimate version of [Illusion Body Curse] to turn invisible, but it was useless. Even while hidden, the blue beam from the flag remained, impossible to remove or conceal.

Refusing to linger, Rita left the sandy hut.

Staying wasn't an option. If Frenzied Shark escorted the Red Team's Flagbearer here, her teammates had already decided to forfeit, which meant they wouldn't put up a fight. If the Red Team decided to kill her, no one would protect her.

Her departure didn't surprise the others. Only a complete novice would remain fearless in the face of Frenzied Shark. Eventually, she'd understand his terror and insanity and realize surrendering was the smartest choice.

In this Safe Zone, the game wouldn't truly begin until Frenzied Shark had won three rounds and left.@@novelbin@@

Rita wasn't about to give up on herself so easily. The game allowed three wins to unlock rule translations, but with only five rounds, giving up the first round was too risky. If something went wrong in the second round, what then?

From the moment she entered this area, she'd been walking a tightrope. She had to try.

Her only option might be to go back in time. Thinking back to the blue light pillar she'd seen earlier, she felt certain it was tied to her future self returning to the past.