This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita held the golden dice, selected the "3 seconds" face, and gently tossed the dice into the air.

She was ready to cheat using Master Thief Dragon. While cheating wouldn’t help in the World Battlefield, who knows if it would work here? It didn’t hurt to try. Even if cheating meant losing this reward, she’d still try once. If it worked, it could mean a huge gain, allowing her to farm the most needed rewards by using time-based abilities.

The dice hit the table, rolling to the edge and coming to a stop.

—1!!!

In that moment, Rita felt the thrill of a gambler’s joy!

The golden dice shot towards Rita’s forehead.

At the same time, the skill description on her skill page changed.

Skill 3: I’m Getting Serious (Passive): As long as you aim at an enemy for over 1 second, this attack is guaranteed to hit. Even if it is blocked, your arrows and bullets will strive to complete their mission until the weapon you fired is destroyed.

Although this was an A-level divine gift skill, its power and practicality were no less than an S-level one.

Rita finally understood why Midnight Exile was so terrifying. It must have been evolved through repeated battlefield rewards, developed by Winter Sea Frenzied Shark over many rounds of gameplay.

The critical hit multiplier in Midnight Exile, and the 100% damage reflection in Absurd Story, were all results of countless modifications.

But if the rewards in the World Battlefield were this powerful, could Winter Sea Frenzied Shark potentially take back the divine gifts it had once stolen from her?

Rita couldn’t rule out this possibility.

Just changing a single word with a 5th-level reward... what about the rewards at higher stages?

Despite not sensing such a threat from Winter Sea Frenzied Shark for now, Rita couldn’t help but feel a looming sense of danger.

Her heartbeat quickened.

At that moment, her mind flashed through images: High Tower, "Destined Savior," Destiny Is Late, the giant sea beasts that Lania Kaia produced, and the three floating islands of Oak Owls...

But her rapid heartbeat wasn’t from any of these things. It was from I Could Just Steal It!

If "this skill can only be used once in a lifetime" could be modified, how wonderful would that be?

She immediately dismissed the idea of using Moment of Reversal to replace this already grayed-out divine skill.

She must keep it! It was essential to keep it!

After a moment of contemplation, Rita waited another 3 minutes before taking out the second Golden Tree Withered Leaf and using it again.

Congratulations, Player, you have received a 3rd Stage Reward — Death Penalty Reduction

Golden threads coalesced into a card that flew straight into Rita’s chest.

—Master Thief Dragon!

The card flew out, scattering into golden threads before solidifying back into a Golden Tree Withered Leaf.

However, when she used it again, there was no reaction.

This Golden Tree Withered Leaf was wasted.

Rita felt a tinge of regret but wasn’t too upset. This was a result she had anticipated, an outcome she could accept.

There was some regret, but more than that, there was a sense of peace. She couldn’t cheat, which meant other players couldn’t cheat either.

Old players likely had far more elaborate and powerful cheating methods than hers.

She kept the wasted Golden Tree Withered Leaf, thinking it might come in handy someday, and then took out the third one.

Congratulations, Player, you have received a 6th Stage Reward — Combat Training Course (1-star Sea Year)

This time, the golden threads condensed into a small house.

She held the house, receiving the information that she could start the course whenever she wanted.

The time flow inside the space was different from the outside world. She could enter and undergo 16 months of combat training, but only about 1 second would pass in the outside world.

Inside, the training would continually manifest the most suitable instructor based on her practical combat abilities and skills.

However, this was a solo reward; pets couldn’t join.

Without hesitation, Rita gripped the golden house, and it transformed into golden threads, wrapping around her hand and arm.

The next moment, Rita’s eyes slowly closed.

But just as she closed her eyes, they snapped open again. For a brief moment, her gaze was dazed, but the next second, it turned into sharp awareness and focus.

Once she took in the scene in front of her, it seemed like she suddenly remembered what had happened before she entered the training space...

What did it feel like to attend 16 months of combat training without stopping?

No food, no bathroom breaks, no showers. Only 2 hours of rest each day. The rest of the time was spent fighting in various conditions.

One-on-one combat, fast battles, ambushes, traps, one-armed battles, magic suppression… Sometimes, she would randomly lose her vision, hearing, or even sense of pain.

It was terrifying. She suspected that if she hadn’t spent 300 years in High Tower, greatly strengthening her mental and spiritual endurance, these 16 months of combat training might have pushed her mind to the brink of collapse. Towards the end, she wouldn’t have been able to focus on learning at all.

Rita took various mental relief potions and used healing skills on herself. She felt a little better afterward.

She shifted using Phantom Movement to the backyard, forced herself to cuddle a few of the fattest cats, then lay down on the grass, basking in the sun.

What she needed most now was mental rest.

When she opened her eyes again, Nivalis’s head filled her vision: "You’re awake?"

Thinking her mentor was attacking again, Rita almost reacted with force. "…Hmm, did Holy Cup praise you?"

Nivalis immediately burst out laughing, even flying into the air, dancing and reenacting the moment with grand gestures:

"Of course! I called Holy Cup, North Year, Snow Pile, Wind Shear, Emperor Umbrella, and Lidian! Right in front of them, I went ding ding ding ding! And held up three pieces of Golden Tree Withered Leaf! I told them, this is the reward you gave me after fighting alongside me!"

"You really should’ve joined me. Then you’d have seen how silly North Year looked when he said, ’So soon?’ Haha, Lidian didn’t believe me, and asked how many Golden Tree Withered Leaves I got. When I told her six, she was so mad!"

"Although it’s not great to boast and compare, compared to Pine Bloom, you really made me look good! They all said you’re awesome!"

Rita, her hands behind her head, stared at the stars and listened to Nivalis talk. When she heard Pine Bloom’s name, she was curious. "Is Pine Bloom not good to Lidian? When we were in High Tower, didn’t she specifically look up dragon recipes for Lidian?"

She also remembered the combined skill Decisive Moment that she had gotten from Emperor Umbrella, when Emperor Umbrella had said, "Lidian doesn’t need this anymore." That meant Lidian had used it. If combined skills required an extremely close relationship, then Pine Bloom and Lidian’s bond couldn’t be bad.

So if Pine Bloom wasn’t nice to Lidian, how did they have that skill?

She asked this question aloud.

Nivalis explained, "Pine Bloom seems very good to Lidian. She finds recipes for her, gives her many titles, builds castles for her, and even had Oak Owls build a statue of her in Four Seasons City. The skills she creates are named after Lidian."

"Every single thing Pine Bloom does, she discusses with Lidian. If Lidian doesn’t want it, she won’t do it." Your journey continues at NovelBin.Côm