This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

"Hey? Who did that? Didn't they only remove our disguise transformations? Why did they also undo the skills we were using?"

"Was it the Captain? You said you didn't care."

"I didn't do it."

"…Oh, I just overheard from the demon side, it was Deceitful Bloom who did it."

"The Captain finally laughed."

"The Captain finally laughed."

"The Captain finally laughed."

Captain: "…" Where did they learn these annoying habits? Repeating the same thing over and over like that.

Rita had the sinking feeling that the sky was falling. The atmosphere around her was eerily quiet.

She motioned for B8017913 to return to the pet space and silently used [If you can kill me], intending to trigger [Mysterious Power] as soon as her health dropped to the critical point, hoping to survive this round.

Just as Rita awkwardly stood there, unsure of what to say next, the rabbit beside her spoke up: "I knew it was fake!"

Rita cleared her throat and spoke in Owlspeak: "Actually, I'm the hidden Easter egg for this round of the game."

Great. The atmosphere around her turned even worse!

A voice broke the silence behind her: "Waaah, Crab, her mental fortitude and pressure resistance make me jealous!"

Rita: "…" That familiar childlike voice, that familiar tone... Rita didn't even need to look to know who it was.

Just as Rita was about to say something more in Owlspeak, the rabbit next to her suddenly punched her in the face.

That familiar force and claw sensation—Rita covered her eyes in pain: "It's YOU!!!"

But then, she realized something was off. She hadn't lost any health!

Rita smiled and laughed. "Heh, no damage!" The game ended, and either her health was locked, or the attack was ineffective.

The rabbit clenched its fist again. After hearing Rita's words, it knew exactly who this player was. It had been angry at first, wanting to hit her, but now it realized it didn't matter whether she was in Sandstorm Fox form or not.

The atmosphere became even darker. Rita stopped smiling, wondering if it was still possible to escape now.

Luckily, the game notification that came late saved her. With the notification came the message that she had been sent back to the initial room.

[Closing Time Ends. The normal Divine Game rules are back in effect. Violating the rules will result in divine punishment. All unassigned players will receive a new identity based on their performance and be sent to various game zones.]

This was the public announcement.

[Player BS-Rita, with 9 eliminations and 2 eliminations, will receive the "Wandering Chef" identity card. You will be sent to a corner of the Dark Gourmet Street in 3 minutes and 50 seconds.]

[Dark Gourmet Street operating hours: 07:00–00:00]

["Wandering Chef" exclusive mission: During Dark Gourmet Street operating hours, you must find the Hidden Light Chef and complete 5 food challenges, winning each one.]

[Mission Reward: Final Sales Amount +5000◆]

[Hint: Challenging the Dark Chefs in a Food Duel, whether you win or lose, will result in your death.]

[Based on your performance in this round, you will learn 3 rules related to Dark Gourmet Street.]

[Dark Gourmet Street Rules (3/10):]

[1: Attacking a chef whose cooking skills exceed yours will randomly grant you a debuff lasting for half an hour.]

[2: Eating food made from "low-quality ingredients" will result in losing one random skill icon.]

[3: Killing "Low-level Customers" will allow you to randomly obtain one of their skill icons and learn one unknown Dark Gourmet Street rule.]

Rita had the strange feeling that she had been playing this game for an entire year.

She guessed the reason why they'd been sent back to the initial room was because they were worried that players might deduce the identities of others based on the time of their disappearance.

However, she felt a bit disappointed. Why was there no option to reselect skill icons?

At that thought, Rita glanced at her arm. The next moment, her pupils dilated—she only had 8 skill icons left. She was missing one skill!

Her heart raced as she checked through her skill icons, relieved to find that the missing one was [Mango Pomelo Sago].

Was it Tingo Autumn Deer?

It had been close to her earlier, and while the other players had been watching, only Tingo Autumn Deer had been facing her with its antlers raised...

She had thought it was impossible to attack each other, but if she'd known, she would have acted sooner!

Rita lightly brushed over the remaining 8 skill icons, feeling a mix of relief and unease. With the rules of Dark Gourmet Street now in play, the last bit of regret for not bringing [Midnight Exile] completely disappeared.

She opened the battlefield chat channel with a strange sense of joy. As soon as she entered, she was immediately kicked out—again.

[Lania Kaia·Maple Syrup]: BS-Rita is my daughter? Who said that? No, we're not close.

[Lania Kaia·Pine Bloom]: She is. I can prove it.

[Lania Kaia·Maple Syrup]: How can you prove it? Did I give birth to her?

After struggling to get online, Pine Bloom was once again silenced by Maple Syrup's shamelessness.

Scrolling up, Rita saw that they were talking about her transforming into White Boat and messing with the top five on the ladder.

These players are funny. White Boat didn't even say White Boat—they had to call it "that one" in a weird way.

The chat became increasingly strange:

"BS-Rita turned into that one and messed with a few overlords."

"Which one?"

"That one! Haven't I made it clear?"

"I know which one, but I want to know which one!"

"The white one."

"There are several white ones!"

This encrypted conversation was so odd… Players who didn't understand couldn't make sense of it.

[Marmang·Crab]: But I believe she's your daughter. At the time, the top five on the ladder surrounded her. Guess what she said?

[Marmang·Crab]: She said, 'I'm actually a hidden Easter egg.'

[Tingo·JE]: Seems like a life that won't last till tomorrow.

[Lania Kaia·Fat Goose]: The language system of someone who's tired of life indeed sounds like that.

[Lania Kaia·Mistblade]: Exactly.

[Lania Kaia·Maple Syrup]: She said that stupid thing while using BS Language or Owlspeak.

[Marmang·Crab]: Wait? Owlspeak?

[BS·Rita]: Because BS Language is still pretty niche, I was worried everyone wouldn't understand.

[Marmang·Crab]: That was a bit too much. You're trying too hard to explain.

[Lania Kaia·Maple Syrup]: BS-Rita, is the crazy berry who used to speak Owlspeak in the food street you?

Rita: "…"

Maple Syrup, oh Maple Syrup... No wonder Pine Bloom hates chatting in the battlefield chat channel! You've killed the vibe!

But, of course, she couldn't say that in the chat.

[BS·Rita]: Ah, what crazy berry?

[Lania Kaia·Maple Syrup]: Clean your neck and wait for it.

Rita couldn't shake the feeling that she had heard that before, wasn't it Sea Pony who purposely cleaned their neck in front of her just for this line from Maple Syrup?

She silently closed the chat channel, pretending she didn't see.