This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

"Do you think she'll go back to 15th Month?"

"She'll visit, but it won't be her main base."

"You're that sure? She lost two crucial item fragments just from one play fee deduction. With how she freaks out the moment someone touches her tail, you're telling me she won't get scared back into it?"

"She won't."

"And if she does?"

"Then I'll give you that 'BS-Rita watering system' I built."

"If she goes back to 15th Month and spends more than three hours gaming there, you'll give it to me. Otherwise, next time she draws a cooking course, you turn into a polar bear and give her the lesson."

"…Fine."

…

"Why is Deceitful Bloom even doing this?"

"She wants to see if BS-Rita can recognize her soul, maybe."

"Ugh~ eww~!"

"Ugh~ eww~!"

"Ugh~ eww~!"

Deceitful Bloom: "…"

She often felt like the admin of a guild full of idiots.

…

The bumper car stopped in front of Rita. Little gingerbread hopped out cheerfully, thanked her, waved goodbye to B8017913, and skipped off.

B8017913 also climbed down as Nivalis whistled the car back and resumed its Block-earning rental circuit. The robot glanced left and right—at the Moon Fox and Owlcrow flanking Rita, then at Rita herself, who was zoning out while munching sushi.

B8017913 (private chat): "What's wrong? You seem… frustrated."

Rita shared her internal debate. Since they couldn't use group chat in public zones, she also explained it directly to Nivalis.

Nivalis: "You're overthinking again, aren't you?"

Rita: "I just don't believe Divine Game would let any player get by too easily or too lucky."

She was starting to suspect that those forced invitation scrolls hadn't just conveniently landed in the hands of Winter Sea·Frenzied Shark and Lania Kaia·Mistblade. Maybe Divine Game handed one to one, saw they didn't use it, and then tossed it to the other.

The weird part was that Shark used his first, and Mistblade followed.

No… not "suspecting." At this point, Rita was certain.

She thought of the shuffled bunny tail she'd received from an event loot box. The moment she made that connection, everything clicked.

She sat up straight.

Those forced invitation scrolls had definitely been divine interference.

Understanding this, her decision was immediate.

If she went back to 15th Month and treated it as her main playfield again, she was asking for more divine meddling. She might go back for a game or two, but staying too long would definitely trigger another intervention.

Sure, the last one had earned her a hidden achievement—but she wasn't counting on being lucky twice.

As for item fragment drops…

She couldn't control what dropped when paying amusement fees, but she could control what she carried during games.

Next time she played, she'd just stash anything nonessential on Nivalis.

Why hadn't she thought of this earlier?!

She headed straight to Nivalis to hand her the partially assembled game console.

But just as she was handing it over, B8017913's voice rang out.

B8017913 (private): "Don't give important item fragments to me or Nivalis!"

Rita didn't flinch. She calmly slid the console back into her body.

She patted both her pets on the head. "You two stay here and have fun. I'm gonna walk around for a bit."

Nivalis: "Okay."

B8017913: "Mm."

As she walked away, she asked in her mind:

Rita: "Why can't I leave them with you two?"

B8017913: "I can't say."

Rita: "Did that 'good friend' of yours tell you?"

B8017913: "I can't say."

Rita: "Got it. Let her take the Star Pirate Ship for a spin later."

B8017913: "Okay~"

Rita wandered down the main avenue of the amusement park, turning over B8017913's warning in her mind.

"Don't give important item fragments to me or Nivalis."

So… translated, that meant: if you don't want to lose them, don't hand them over.

Why? It's not like she couldn't take them back later.

That must mean the drop rate skyrocketed when items were carried by others.

Just like how you couldn't trick the auction system by "listing" items as a workaround for storage, Divine Game had plugged every loophole. Some were explicitly warned against. Others… weren't.

Rita glanced back at the two players—Moon Fox and Owlcrow—who had been tailing her. She wondered if Mistblade or Maple Syrup had fallen into similar traps.

She'd nearly completed half the game console. Stopping by a vending machine, she tried listing one of the fragments.

[Warning! Player BS-Rita is attempting to list a Block fragment actively being collected. This action is irreversible. If the listing fails, Divine Game will reclaim the Block.]

"…Tch." Rita frowned.

She switched and tried listing Don't Ask Me What a Potion Is.

No warning this time—just a pricing screen.

Rita removed the fragment with a sigh. "You didn't have to be that clever…"

She'd already sold off Mobile Food Truck and three other five-piece sets, and left the profits untouched inside the vending machine. Now she listed five more.

The vending system might be annoying, but it was smart enough to prevent players from losing their own profits. Even if she hadn't tried buying something while disguised as another player, she was sure Divine Game's security would catch it.

After listing her items, she checked the game console section again.

No new pieces… but the total had shot up to 79 pages. Last time she checked, there were only 37.

She moved on from the machine and resumed exploring. She wasn't planning to play any games here at March Theme Park just yet.

Instead, she'd use her Teleport Ticket to try another park. If it took her to a Tier 13 or 14 park, she'd stay.

If she got dumped somewhere worse than March?

She'd teleport back.

Sure, she could use Stubborn Mule, but there were risks. She might lose the chance to log a new park or even be locked out of the ability to switch.

Still, she couldn't act just yet. Six o'clock had passed—but the Teleport Ticket still wasn't active.

That's when she remembered the prep time at the start. The game technically began at 00:30, so six hours wouldn't hit until 06:30.

And when that moment arrived…

[Player BS-Rita is the only one to complete the hidden Easter Egg: "Fine, I Admit I'm Popular."]

[You may now claim the full reward for this hidden achievement.]

Rita: !!!