This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Despite the obvious strategic advantage of eliminating a teammate, all four job roles were essential—and the game had designed them with impressive balance.

One person handled cooking, another took care of customers, someone had to go out for supplies, and one player needed to clean and manage miscellaneous tasks.

Each role was indispensable.

Even though this was a restaurant simulation, Rita wouldn't be foolish enough to think that just having a chef was enough to run the place.

Slowly, she turned her head towards the vine-covered walls, as if she could see through them into the neighboring restaurant.

At the same time, Pine Bloom spoke up.

"We could try stirring up trouble with the other players."

That was exactly what Rita had been thinking.

If their own resources weren't enough, what about the other restaurants?

Rita immediately translated Pine Bloom's words.

Marmang-Crab responded with a simple:

"Wait here."

Then, it vanished.

Less than a minute later, their floating data screen updated—Marmang-Crab's Mischief Score was rising.

Without hesitation, Rita grabbed a mop and started cleaning!

With the crab out of the restaurant, this was the perfect chance to leech some Mischief Score.

Otherwise, was she supposed to steal points from Black SpringMud Bears or Pine Bloom?

Black SpringMud Bears gave her a weird look, then disappeared as well, presumably to cause chaos elsewhere.

That left only two people in the restaurant—Rita and Pine Bloom.

Pine Bloom, still humming a Forest Sea tune, flicked her fingers, and the cutting board and vegetables on Rita's prep station floated over to her.

While slicing, she greeted Rita casually.

"Hello, BS Rita."

Rita gritted her teeth, aggressively mopping the floor.

Stealing my Mischief Score right in front of my face, huh?!

She took a deep breath, forced a smile, and replied:

"Hello."

B80234615: "Ah, so this is the 'repressed frustration' Nivalis warned me about."

Rita: "...You're seriously underestimating me!"

She stared straight at Pine Bloom, voice steady.

"That dish—cut it into thin strips."

B80234615: "Damn. That was intense, Master. I respect that."

Rita: "Shut up!"

Pine Bloom casually asked, "Why don't you summon your dragon?"

Rita replied, "She's resting. She won't be appearing in this game."

Pine Bloom stretched out her response. "Ohhh."

Then, with swift precision, she diced the brownish melon into neat cubes instead of strips.

Rita had expected her to bring up dragon blood, but instead, Pine Bloom asked:

"Has Lidian been saying a lot of bad things about me?"

Rita paused, then answered diplomatically:

"Do you want to know?"

"No."

"Good. There was too much—I can't remember all of it."

"…Actually, now I kind of want to know."

"It's not hard to summarize. Right now, she's your 'insult admirer.'"

Pine Bloom: "?"

Rita: "She insults you constantly, but she also likes you."

Pine Bloom: "..."

Before Pine Bloom could say anything else, Marmang-Crab returned.

The moment it entered, it saw Rita mopping the floor—and immediately got mad.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Rita glanced at her Mischief Score—now at 21.

Meanwhile, Pine Bloom, who had spent the entire time cutting vegetables, had only raised her score by one point.

Rita had been multi-tasking like crazy, alternating between dumping kitchen scraps and mopping the floor, maximizing her efficiency.

She stopped and calmly explained to Marmang-Crab:

"Sorry. Once we open, I'll be too busy to move. My rule requires me to keep my Mischief Score from getting too low. I can't afford to be penalized for three entire Starsea days."

"Besides, you're our strongest fighter. If you have to go out and farm Mischief Score later, who's going to handle the cleaning? It'll fall on us, right?"

Marmang-Crab lowered its pincers.

"…Fair point."

Especially since whatever it had been doing outside had already boosted its Mischief Score to 87.

At this rate, it could afford to share some points with the team.

Most importantly, restaurant popularity depended on the total Mischief Score—so it didn't matter who had how much, as long as the total was high.

Rita smiled. "You're the most reasonable Stage 17 powerhouse I've ever met."

She had been prepared for things to turn ugly—in which case, she would have used Master Thief Dragon to rewind time.

But she had a hunch she wouldn't need to.

Marmang-Crab, after all, was a Stage 17 Demon King with the title—

"Let's Be Reasonable."

A good crab, indeed.

Pine Bloom wiped her hands.

"I'm heading out to farm Mischief Score."

Then, she vanished.

Now, Marmang-Crab was the one staying behind.

With such cooperative and self-aware teammates, Rita was in a great mood.

She focused on preparing ingredients for the restaurant opening.

Time was running short, so she used [Shadow Control] to split off a shadow clone, letting it handle simpler tasks.

Meanwhile, other players—who had figured out the Mischief Score mechanic—tried to ambush their restaurant, but Marmang-Crab effortlessly drove them away.

While Pine Bloom was out farming Mischief Score, Rita snuck up to the front counter and shouted outside:

"Come check out our fresh rice cakes and grilled meat!"

Then, she hurried back to check their Mischief Score—

It had gone up by 1!

But before she could celebrate, something hit the back of her head.

Not hard enough to do damage, but enough to get her attention.

She looked down.

A green feather lay at her feet.

The item description showed nothing suspicious.

Rita: "Scan this. No hidden effects, right?"

B80234615: "No issues. But why are you keeping it?"

Rita: "Can't you guess?"

B80234615: "Oh, I can guess. But the idea is so devious, I refuse to believe it."

Rita: "Selling it to Lidian at a ridiculous price is devious? If I don't sell it to her, she'll throw a fit!"

B80234615: "…That's fair."

—

Starsea Calendar 6798, February 15, 1:00 AM.

A deep, whale-like sound echoed through the Chaotic Restaurant food street.

At the edge of the starry sky, countless dark figures appeared.

Pine Bloom sat behind the cash register, perched on a high stool she had conjured, sipping an icy drink Rita had made for her.

Marmang-Crab held a cleaning machine, tidying up the aftermath of Rita's cooking.

Black SpringMud Bears waited for income, unable to leave for supplies until the restaurant started making money.

Rita worked at lightning speed, plating one dish after another and setting them on the serving table between the kitchen and cashier.

Next to her, a plate of sashimi-like dish began complaining loudly:

"Too thick! Too thick! You should've sliced me 0.01mm thinner! And soak me in glacier water for five minutes to activate my full flavor! Oh, and if you're generous, sprinkle a tiny bit of Ghost Sugar on me!"

Ghost Sugar?

There was only one tiny jar in the whole kitchen—barely the size of her pinky.

Rita placed the dish (69% Deliciousness) on the serving table, then used [This Life is Unbearable] on another plate.

More complaints erupted.

No one knew what kind of customers were coming.

If players were fighting over Mischief Score, then…

Wouldn't customers be dangerous too?

What if they didn't like the food and decided to beat up the chef?