This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita didn't mind that B8017913 hadn't replied to her, as she was already focused on the battle at hand. Little did she know, the gods had added keyword sensing to the game...

The third round of the Match-3 mechanics greatly reduced the distance between players. It allowed even Nightmare Mode and Abyssal-level players to take down Demon Kings and Overlords.

In the previous round, the physical contact required for Match-3 meant that despite Rita's impressive agility (over 2,000), her speed couldn't compete with Abyssal-level players. Even without encountering the chain skill that could drag players back, she wouldn't have lasted much longer.

After her first death, she quickly changed tactics, opting to lie low. But this round was different. The skill link mechanic now allowed players who initiated the link to avoid the death penalty.

There were quite a few skills that worked with this new rule.

It didn't take long for players to catch on to the trick. Guiding skills, where the initiator could control the direction and attack multiple players, became essential. Random skills like Family Bucket, which attacked nearby players after hitting a target, also counted as links.

As long as a skill, once used, could attack multiple targets in sequence, it counted as a link. In this case, players with linking skills would avoid close physical contact. The closer the distance, the higher the unpredictability. The ideal strategy was to maintain a safe distance while chasing and wait for the right moment to activate the skill to link.

Players without linking skills had a more difficult time. They had to play defensively.

But there were exceptions.

Rita noticed a wild raccoon during her escape. The raccoon was holding a lightning spear, which Rita recognized all too well, and was running wildly across the battlefield. The lightning spear was impaling a half-dead raccoon, and when the raccoon found a target, it threw the spear, which quickly shot across the field and stabbed into the third raccoon's rear end.

It had linked up!

The three raccoons completed the Match-3.

Rita was thankful she wasn't the same species as Maple Syrup!

The game prompt didn't clarify much either. The addition of "skills can also be linked" made Match-3 more complex, but no one knew if the rules from the previous round still applied. Could players who had died in the first round still avoid the death penalty in the third?

Players might be willing to test it, but whether the result was good or bad, no one would share their findings.

This uncertainty made everyone cautious and blurred the gap between players' power levels. Now, it came down to timing and speed—who could strike first.

While escaping, Rita fully absorbed everything she had learned from the "Dodge", "Melee (Unarmed)", and "Combat Rhythm" courses. She had synchronized them with her reality. But it wasn't enough.

She watched as a group of Sandstorm Foxes approached. They weren't using any skills, but their movement was eerily precise, almost like they had some dodging skill.

Even with her new form, her body was incredibly agile.

The battlefield was a blur of colored skill beams. While most players were trying to dodge every skill that came their way, Rita knew she couldn't pull off the same feats. It was her weakness.

Her strategy was to focus on the sources of all skill beams. In the face of the Sandstorm Fox's skill chain, at critical moments, she would sacrifice some of her defense. She'd rather get hit by another player's skill than try to perfectly dodge every attack.

The existence of "Bedtime Tale" gave her a high margin for error, and "Survive Until the End" provided a backup plan. Rita had no reason to give up on this round.

The cooldown for "Repay" was only three minutes, meaning she could use any borrowed Guiding skills once every three minutes, unless the skill she borrowed had a cooldown of less than one and a half minutes.

The battlefield had plenty of linkable guiding skills, and Rita moved quickly, searching for her next opportunity.

Then, a thought crossed her mind: could skills like "I Could Just Steal It", which could only be used once in a lifetime, also be refreshed by Repay?

The thought passed quickly, but Rita didn't have time to think much about it. She grabbed a rabbit nearby with her tail and tried to pull it over to block an incoming skill, but the rabbit grabbed her tail and tossed her away.

At least she could use her enemies' attacks to stay away from danger.

Rita adjusted her position mid-air, and three skill beams came at her from different directions.

Unable to dodge them all, Rita immediately used "Survive Until the End", transforming into Pine Bloom's Feather. The large beast she had become turned into a thin, light feather and barely avoided the skills that were aimed at her.

The moment the skills were canceled, she reverted back into Sandstorm Fox, and with hardly any time to adjust her position, she struck immediately. She used the copied skill, "Lightning Chain", following the attack path she had previously chosen.

[Congratulations, player BS-Rita, for completing the elimination.]

[You will receive the death penalty of player Ghost Arcane.]

[Player Arcane chooses to exchange two SS-level skills for a revival chance. You will randomly draw one SS-level skill as your loot.]

[Ding—Loot extracted. You have received Arcane's SS-level skill—Starburst.]

"Starburst" (SS): A group attack skill.

After exiting the initial room, Rita tested it and realized she couldn't use it. She could only use the skill icons she had brought into the game. This game wasn't going to allow her to become stronger like in Cooking Adventures.

Back on the battlefield, Rita kept moving, always looking for her next opportunity. If she couldn't dodge an attack, she would use "Survive Until the End" to transform into Pine Bloom's feather again.

But unless absolutely necessary, Rita avoided doing this. "Survive Until the End" consumed a lot of mana, and though it had no cooldown, using it drained 50% of her mana. Since she hadn't brought any mana recovery skills, it was better to tank the skills from other players.

At least if her health dropped, she could heal. But if her mana fell below 50%, she couldn't use "Survive Until the End" at a crucial moment.

Unfortunately, "The Old Blacksmith" and "Starburst" were the only two rewards she earned in the third round.

The players were quick to come up with new strategies.

Once again, Rita's skill was blocked by a player's pet at the critical moment, interrupting her Match-3 link.

Rita groaned, "How shameless!"

B8017913: "Actually, you could also..."

Rita: "Nivalis can't do it."

B8017913: "I didn't make the wrong choice."

Rita: "Huh? She really can't do it. She's too fragile—one hit and she might die. It's not that she can't do it."

She had considered using Nivalis as a flying mount to help her escape the battlefield, but again, Nivalis was too fragile...

B8017913 paused for a moment before smoothly changing its tone: "I didn't make a mistake after all."