This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

The conveyor belt resembling a rotating sushi bar had a switching track feature that functioned like high-speed trains, and it was quite random. This meant that even the discs on the left and right were not fixed in place. With frequent track switching, you could end up changing neighbors three times within ten minutes.

Luckily, Octopus Bucket and Marmang-Crab were holding their ground. Plus, since this was still the first phase of the competition, most players were still conserving their energy, with only some light banter going on.

Rita focused on her cooking, not letting the chaos distract her. She knew the last hour would be when the real battle would begin, so she planned to complete the three most difficult dishes first.

Although the completed dishes couldn't be stored in her bag and had to be placed on the cooking station, she didn't worry about them spoiling over time, since Octopus Bucket had advanced preservation skills.

For each dish she completed, she left a small portion, dividing it into four parts—one for herself to taste, and the other three for Marmang-Crab, Octopus Bucket, and even Sea Pony. The portions were small, just enough to restore some energy and add a little buff. She blended in, making herself inconspicuous.

As soon as the dishes were plated, the mechanical arm appeared immediately, but it was knocked back by TingoJE.

To Rita's surprise, when TingoJE hit the mechanical arm, a ghostly image of the player appeared, and the player began shouting insults.

No need for Rita to speak; Sea Pony had already covered the trash talk.

TingoJE cursed Marmang-Crab and Rita while focusing most of his insults on their parents. Rita didn't know if Marmang-Crab was annoyed, but she certainly enjoyed it.

Marmang-Crab tried to retort but had to deal with Sea Pony instead.

Rita noticed Sea Pony knew a lot of languages, even the Wind Whale language of TingoJE. It wasn't just speaking nonsense; Sea Pony was pulling out extreme levels of insult, only attacking and never defending. When TingoJE cursed Marmang-Crab, it even clapped its hooves.

—"Your master Marmang-Crab is trash!"

—"TingoJE, I admire your honesty."

Marmang-Crab and Sea Pony were throwing vegetables and food at each other.

After two dishes were finished, Sea Pony had already attracted all of TingoJE's focus.

Sea Pony didn't stop for over an hour. It wasn't just words; its actions were equally relentless.

Rita found herself getting agitated too.

She didn't know how this potential was being triggered, but she could feel her hands, holding the knife and spatula, trembling.

The Sea Pony was now completely out of control. It came up with a new way to create chaos. It started loudly telling every passing player about the gossip it heard from the Kart Racing game.

—"Did you guys know? Lania Kaia Maple Syrup, yes, that Maple Syrup from Lania Kaia, she stole BS Rita's daughter-in-law!"

Rita immediately retorted, "It's brother's wife!!"

Sea Pony, flying in the air, pointed at Rita and screamed, "Oh, it's the brother's wife! She stole your brother's wife!"

It spun around in the air, shouting, "BS Rita's brother's wife even ran off to Lania Kaia with Maple Syrup, killing her whole family!"

Marmang-Crab, a bit slower on the uptake, corrected, "It wasn't stealing, it was tricking. Can you be more accurate with your gossip?"

Rita: "..."

Players on the opposite conveyor belt overheard and joined in the conversation: "Hey, didn't they walk into marriage together?"

Sea Pony immediately responded, "Yeah, I was there at the scene."

Rita's hands shook. It was hard to tell if she was more angry or shocked. She glanced around, hoping not to see any familiar faces.

Marmang-Crab corrected again: "It wasn't them, it was BS Rita and her brother's wife's sister!"

Sea Pony, in distress, cried out, "What? How many times has BS Rita gotten married?!"

The player from the neighboring disc couldn't hold back and replied, "Huh? Isn't the Oak Owl known for being faithful and single-minded?"

Another player from a disc about fifty meters away shouted, "Yeah, how many Oak Owls are there in this gossip? It's getting too chaotic!"

Sea Pony, with a tiny sad face, sighed: "Sigh, when it comes to love, who can really say for sure?"

Rita silently endured it all, not wanting to refute that she was actually human.

Her already broken Oak Owl reputation was being trashed again...

Rita muttered to Marmang-Crab, "I can't tell you're afraid of Lania Kaia Maple Syrup."

Marmang-Crab, feeling wrongly accused, said, "I'm just trying to correct things!"

Meanwhile, the soup was simmering, vegetables were reducing, and the desserts were baking. Rita, with nothing better to do, caught every piece of fruit and vegetable the Sea Pony knocked over, all while keeping an eye on the battle chat channel.

She shared the latest update: "Look at the chat, Maple Syrup is having us three wash our necks and wait."

Immediately, Sea Pony released a water-based magic spell and started washing its neck. It still remembered its task of causing trouble, flying over Rita's pot to wash.

Rita was starting to suspect this Sea Pony was mentally unstable.

B80234615: "I've developed a new emotion."

Rita: "Huh?"

B80234615: "I'm jealous of its talent."

Rita: "...If you do that too, I'll die for you."

...

By the fourth hour of the competition, Rita had finished 12 dishes, all neatly arranged on the cooking station to the left, with Octopus Bucket guarding nearby.

Out of the 12 dishes, 5 were ★ delicacies, 4 were ★☆ rated, and 3 were ★★ rated.

Rita knew this was her limit. The God of Cooking domain had indeed unlocked her potential and talent. She now understood where the issues lay and had come up with countless new ideas.

But the ingredients were too high-class.

With 18th-tier warriors as ingredients, her control wasn't enough to fully tap into their power or manage them well.

In fact, if she had used a weaker ingredient, her control would have been stronger, and the rating might even have been higher.

And new problems had already emerged.

Each dish she prepared, after escaping the mechanical arm's collection, caused the corresponding part of TingoJE to disappear.

This meant that as more dishes were prepared, TingoJE's strength would weaken, and it would become less and less effective.

Rita had to save the two dishes made from whale bones for the last.

But no matter how much she delayed, the inevitable was approaching.

If the last couple of dishes failed to hold up, it would definitely affect her scores.

Using a whole creature as the main ingredient had its issues; 18 dishes were like a painting or a song—each step added to the whole, and losing one color or part of the chorus could ruin everything.

Octopus Bucket had also tried attacking the mechanical arm, but even it couldn't harm it under the rules.

However, this didn't affect Rita's plan. Before plating, she'd always leave a portion to trigger the [Who is Hannibal?] skill effect.

She just wasn't sure if her bad luck would affect the outcome...

Once she received her Divine Game rewards, she was definitely going to change the line about "you will randomly learn one of their skills" to "you will randomly learn one of their divine abilities!"