This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

With Marmang-Crab protecting the 17 dishes, Rita focused on maneuvering and evading.

The skills had been so dense and the battle so intense that she had been entirely focused on surviving, with no time to think.

Now that she was away from the cooking station, she realized that the players on the opposing plate were actually more afraid of dying than she was. Several attacks almost missed her by mere inches.

Reflecting on the rewards she received after killing Sakura Wulong, and recalling how high-level players had hesitated to attack her before, she speculated that killing her might result in a downgraded reward penalty for the higher-level players?

Upon closer observation, she realized these players were essentially playing along with each other. Their powerful skills were actually aimed at Marmang-Crab and the competition dishes. The skills aimed at her were simply to wear down her health, hoping that another player would finish the job.

Rita suddenly stopped and allowed three skills to land on her, causing her health to drop to 7%. She glanced up at the fourth incoming purple star cluster. Just before it hit, the purple cluster skill veered off course, missed her, and struck Sea Pony in the back of the head.

At the same time, a flash of white light appeared on her, and someone must have cast a healing skill on her.

From the next plate over, an angry voice rang out.

Rita didn't understand, but B80234615 kindly translated for her.

— "Ahhh, I almost got hit again!"

Rita: "So this is what it feels like when enemies are begging you not to die..."

If she had been cautiously skirting danger before, now she was confidently slacking off.

Sea Pony saw her completely let go of any effort, and of course, it wasn't going to let her off the hook. It immediately scolded her: "BS Rita! How could you slack off like this?!"

So what if she was slacking? Those two weren't any better, hiding everything!

Not only did Rita not blush from Sea Pony's accusation, but she also regretted not slacking off sooner—she could've been enjoying herself earlier.

She confidently retorted: "I don't believe you don't want to slack off too!"

Sea Pony clenched its fists, letting out an angry "Ah—!" sound: "You've figured me out!"

Two seconds later, Marmang-Crab also fell.

This had been its limit. From the moment Octopus Bucket left, it had lasted 55 seconds.

Rita immediately used her teleportation skill and arrived just in time to shield all the dishes with her light wings.

Compared to her second death penalty, this competition was, of course, more important.

However, as she shielded the dishes, she noticed that only about a quarter of the skills that had previously been aimed at her were now being used.

For most high-level players, it seemed they preferred to let her team finish the competition without actually killing her.

Rita had a faint hunch.

The remaining quarter of the skills didn't land on her because Octopus Bucket had returned.

Its tentacles repelled the incoming attacks.

This arena was clearly intelligent, just like when they were first grouped together, with Divine Game popping up a dialogue box asking if the three of them wanted to form a team. When Octopus Bucket placed the 18th dish on the counter, a new notification popped up.

— "Do you want to submit your cooking project early? Yes/No"

Rita selected "Yes," and so did Octopus Bucket.

Marmang-Crab, who had revived quickly, also selected "Yes" without hesitation.

The 18 dishes slowly disappeared. Though the competition result couldn't be revealed yet, at least they no longer had to worry about their dishes being destroyed and losing their qualification.

With 28 minutes remaining in the competition, they now had a full 28 minutes to wreak havoc on the other players.

Marmang-Crab unleashed its nuclear weapon, Sea Pony: "Go, Sea Cub! It's all yours!"

Octopus Bucket began leading the charge alongside Marmang-Crab and Sea Pony, launching a counterattack and revenge. Meanwhile, Rita continued to fire cold shots, trying to pick up any stray rewards.

Rita tried to confirm her earlier hypothesis: "Is it true that when Abyss-level and Demon King-level players kill me, they not only get a downgraded reward penalty, but are also limited in the number of times they can kill me? Only the first few kills will reward them?"

B80234615: "Yes!"

Rita: "…How many times is the limit? Three? Five?"

B80234615: "I cannot respond to a hypothesis you're uncertain about yourself."

Rita: "When a 17th-tier player kills me, my kill reward jumps five levels. Does the number of times they can kill me depend on the power gap? The larger the power gap, the fewer times they can gain rewards from killing me?"

B80234615: "Yes."

After receiving the confirmation she needed, Rita briefly relaxed, but then immediately removed the Ballroom Formalwear she was wearing.

That outfit was far from simple. If Pine Bloom wanted her Midnight Exile, wouldn't the best thing to do be to let her die a few more times out here due to lack of healing?

If the purpose was simply to track her location, there would have been no need to give her something that restores health.

Moreover, if the concern was that it might not be valuable enough to keep her, couldn't Pine Bloom have just sent her something that restored mana or added attributes instead?

Rita grew increasingly uneasy as she realized that this was connected to her own healing skill, 12-month Interest-free!

Would she have to repay all the healing received?

She asked her electronic pet: "Can you check the details of the Ballroom Formalwear skill? Or does it have any related skills?"

B80234615: "The skill information for Ballroom Formalwear is the same as what you've seen. As for related skills..."

"...Perhaps you're asking about this: Pine Bloom has a skill called Ballroom Host. She can take back anything she has given you related to the ballroom."

Rita: "Does that include the health I received through Ballroom Formalwear?"

B80234615: "Yes."

Rita dodged an incoming skill from a 10th-tier chef on the opposing side, calculating in her mind how much health she had left to repay.

B80234615: "Aren't you going to blame me for not warning you?"

Rita blinked: "No, of course not."

In her mind, B80234615 was like a portable search engine. If she wanted to know something, she'd ask.

If B80234615 volunteered helpful information, like ingredient traits, Rita would be pleasantly surprised. But if B80234615 became too proactive, acting like an all-knowing guide, Rita would definitely resent it.

Not using her brain was dangerous, and relying on an electronic pet she didn't trust yet could be fatal.

She'd rather learn the hard way about Pine Bloom than have B80234615 overstep its bounds and interfere too much in her game.

Having B80234615 point out the risks of Ballroom Formalwear and suggesting that Pine Bloom could take back all the health it had given her? No, Rita wouldn't be happy about that.

After a long time, and more and more instances, she would start to think, "If B80234615 hasn't pointed out a problem, it must be fine."