This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita looked at the scene with a blank expression as she gathered up the ingredients. It seemed that none of the players planned to continue managing the restaurant.

At that moment, a voice spoke in Dragon Tongue, one that all four employees could understand.

—"Can you let me go now?"

The three temporary colleagues turned to look behind Rita, and only then did she remember that she was still carrying the crepe-shaped customer on her back.

These customers were harmless—player attacks had no effect on them, and they would never attack players for any reason. Just like when Rita had pushed the lychee customer into the employment channel earlier without any resistance.

Rita set the crepe customer down, patted its non-existent dust off, and said gratefully, "Thank you for your protection. You're so kind. Would you like to stay for a meal?"

The crepe customer gave her a resentful look before turning and walking away.

The little rabbit remarked, "It doesn't seem like it volunteered."

Rita rubbed her ear and pretended not to hear.

She hadn't let Nivalis out. Nivalis didn't have any skills to change her size, and the restaurant simply couldn't accommodate her right now.

While Rita was cooking, the little rabbit sat by the counter and asked, "Are you still going to become a black-market player?"

Rita replied, "Of course."

The little rabbit suddenly said, "The reason things went so smoothly this time is that I helped you."

Rita raised her gaze, recalling that she had noticed a white orb under one of the tables when she entered the restaurant. She didn't say whether she believed it or not but smiled and asked, "How did you help?"

The little rabbit said, "I removed the barrier that blocked teleportation skills. Aren't you going to thank me?"

Ah, a paid service. Rita immediately shook her head, "You're trying to trick me. I'm not falling for it."

The little rabbit seemed to chew on a sour lemon, its rabbit mouth twisting with annoyance.

After silencing the little rabbit, the topic passed.

At 12:08, Rita officially joined the restaurant. By 12:48, she had made all the ingredients into dishes and divided them according to the agreed proportions.

However, Rita didn't take the little rabbit's 20% labor fee.

Whether she was obligated or not, since the little rabbit said it helped her, Rita figured it was only fair to show appreciation. After all, it only cost her a bit of effort.

The most important thing was that her backpack was already full...

With 33 slots, ingredients were wrapped in beast skin and stored in one compartment, while the rest were stacked with various dishes.

The little rabbit sighed. "I originally planned to test you. If you had shown gratitude, I would've given you a gift."

Rita was looking at the battlefield chat, checking if anyone was talking about hidden eggs. Hearing the little rabbit's comment, she replied, "It's a coincidence, I didn't want to trouble you, that's why I didn't thank you."

The little rabbit gave up on arguing with Rita's sharp tongue.

It didn't dwell on the matter and raised its left arm, saying, "Let's exchange this information. How many do you have?"

Rita realized it was about hidden eggs. She led the rabbit to a corner and pulled out a hollow beast bone.

This ingredient was a toy from its original planet—a person would place one end of the bone near their ear while someone else spoke into the other end. The sound would travel inside the bone, acting as a simple soundproof device.

This bone was nearly as large as the little rabbit's head, and Rita directly shoved both of the rabbit's ears into the bone, saying, "I have 3, 8, and 12."

The little rabbit responded, "I have 1, 8, 9, and 17."

Only two could be exchanged for two, and then Rita suddenly said, "I'm not swapping the hidden egg task for entering four different professions, I'll swap the other two."

The little rabbit groaned, holding its head and swaying from side to side. It felt insulted by Rita's method of tricking it. "Ah, ah, ah... Could you at least make your tricks a bit more complicated?!"

Rita, slightly embarrassed, replied, "Heh, it was a slip of the tongue, I guess there's one, right?"

The little rabbit jumped up and kicked Rita hard before swapping its 9 and 17 eggs for Rita's 3 and 12.

Hidden Egg 9: Parkour – Step on the roofs of all the restaurants in the food street.

This was easy—over 10,000 restaurants. It was just a few minutes' run.

Hidden Egg 17: Thousand Slaughter – Kill 1,000 players.

It looked pretty real, but whether it was true or not had to be tested. Without a lie detection skill, there was no way to be certain.

Rita put the beast bone away and shook hands with the little rabbit before preparing to leave the restaurant to find death.

The little rabbit hopped over the tables, walking beside Rita and asking, "Aren't you going to stay and gamble?"

Rita shook her head. Her Fourfold Spring was now off cooldown, and she could go out again to steal more skill icons.

The little rabbit said, "If I tell you that 6 is a magical number, and the sixth round is special, wouldn't you want to stay?"

Rita sneered, "The magical number is 7."

The little rabbit didn't understand Rita's bad joke and said, "Sigh, I thought I had been kind enough to you. Do you know that when kindness is repeatedly rejected, it can turn into disdain and anger?"

This seemed like casual chatter.

Rita stood at the entrance of the restaurant, and it was already 12:55.

There was still time. She had to prevent the imminent shift from "pink" to "black" right before her eyes!

Rita didn't joke around this time. She crouched down, picked up the little rabbit, and placed it in her palm. She looked into its eyes and spoke seriously:

"You've seen how I treated Rabbit 3. You know I'm stubborn. Unless I have enough evidence or tempting benefits, I won't easily change my plans or decisions. Even if I choose wrong, I won't admit it.

"If you don't like this part of my personality but still help me, I'd have to question if you're really helping me.

"If you're helping me because you like this part of me, then I definitely shouldn't change."

The little rabbit's tense expression softened. It nodded but then shook its head, "You're really good at cheering up living beings."

Rita, satisfied, put the little rabbit down.

Great! Another successful "fan service" day.

At 12:58, Rita deliberately sought out death.

Fifth death, Rita gave up two SS-level skills.

At 13:00, the sixth round of eliminations began.

After the familiar lottery round, nothing much happened.

Was she being played?

But when Rita looked at Restaurant 3035, the little rabbit was still inside.

Rita flew to the food street's entrance and started running at full speed on Restaurant 1's roof.

Minutes later, she got a notification that she had completed Hidden Egg 9.

Congratulations, player discovered Hidden Egg 9 (4/20)

This is Parkour: Step on the roofs of all restaurants in the food street

Egg reward: After use, you will be able to see the outlines of other black-market players for 30 minutes.