This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

The number of players in the cabin had risen to five.

Chaos erupted once more.

Verdant Whisper · Windrush shot BS-Rita a cold glance. Without warning, she canceled her disguise skill, pulled out the final helm fragment—

And threw it out the cabin window.

At that moment, time seemed to crawl.

Rita's eyes locked onto the flying piece. She blinked toward it instantly. A lightning web surged from her hand, spreading across the window—

Too late.

The web flickered into existence just as the helm fragment sailed past the frame.

She blinked to the outside—

Too slow.

The fragment grazed her fingertips and spun past her, past the seventh player just being thrown into the cabin.

"I want Steady Happiness!!"

The words were rushed, jumbled—like the drunken rambling of someone yelling at the stars.

Rita was bounced back by an invisible barrier. As she tumbled in midair, she aimed three casts of I Just Want to Improve So Badly at the spinning helm fragment—

Missed.

———

Another explosion tore through the Ferris wheel.

The little gingerbread man looked up at the sky. Since BS-Rita had entered the ride, explosions had become suspiciously frequent.

Rita let the wind toss her about as she spun through the air. Bathed in moonlight, she lifted the completed helm high above her head and laughed—loud, triumphant.

"BS-Rita! I will make you pay for everything!!"

Verdant Whisper · Windrush's voice echoed from above.

But Rita paid no mind. Grinning like a child who had finally gotten her toy ship, she twisted the helm left and right, pretending to steer. Her rival's threat was nothing more than sea breeze whipping her sails.

"Call me Captain!" she shouted joyfully.

Across the plaza, B8017913, grilling skewers at the BBQ stand, twitched. The seasoning in its paw spilled heavily onto the meat.

As if by divine prank, Rita and Verdant Whisper · Windrush were tossed into the same cabin—again.

The duel resumed the instant their eyes met.

Verdant Whisper · Windrush didn't use her ultimate this time. But with a third player in the mix, Rita darted back and forth, dodging while trying to conceal her newly acquired Cat's Ideal.

Using her counter-damage and AOE skills, she secured the final blow against Verdant Whisper · Windrush.

But this time, she only took three surface Blocks and kept fighting. She didn't leave the cabin to reset progress.

More surprising—she removed the curse she'd placed on Verdant Whisper · Windrush.

Verdant Whisper · Windrush's eyes flickered with surprise. But the gesture did nothing to cool her fury.

That helm had been her most beloved artifact.

Rita didn't do it out of mercy or guilt. She wasn't naive or softhearted. She understood how the game worked—

She could've abused the system, constantly resetting duel progress and farming rare items off Verdant Whisper · Windrush. After all, she'd seen them—several full nine-piece sets inside her opponent's body, a true pirate's treasure trove.

But Rita knew the value of restraint. Greed without control? That wasn't her style.

She could always find a new target. What she wouldn't do was empty someone to the core.

Just like she would never use Phoenix Seat unless she had no other choice, Verdant Whisper · Windrush likely had a last resort—something she wouldn't use unless pushed to the edge.

Rita had no intention of driving her to that point.

She'd claimed her dream artifact—Absolute Freedom—and she was satisfied.

After reviewing all of Cat's Ideal's abilities, she was certain: there was nothing else in her inventory more valuable.

She left Verdant Whisper · Windrush behind, still fuming, and soared through the sky, munching on jerky. Her energy had dropped to 62; a few bites pushed it back up to 96.

By the time One-Person Party ended for the first time, 11 minutes had passed.

Rita had visited 41 cabins and completed 64 full duels.

She had won 61 of them.

Now, she landed in a cabin with two other players. One of them was Mistblade—just 6cm tall.

Rita immediately activated Yes, I'm Fish Belly, what about it?, forcing her way past cooldown to cast One-Person Party again.

"I hereby declare—during the March Month Theme Park Ferris wheel game, all players are forbidden from altering their body size using non-artifact skills. Violation will result in your size tripling."

A timer lit up above everyone's heads once more.

With Yes, I'm Fish Belly, what about it? and One-Person Party in effect, Rita followed up with Clock Reversal, halving the cooldowns of all her skills.

Thanks to her boomerang buff and the various cooldown-reducing foods she'd eaten, Fish Belly's cooldown was already under 54 minutes.

Now, with the cooldown halved—

She could reuse it in just 27 minutes.

She didn't know how long this game would last. But being prepared never hurt.

More importantly, Unchanged Fate's cooldown would also be halved.

As the new decree kicked in, Mistblade instantly ballooned to triple her original size. Now, an almost 1.8-meter-tall moonfox hunched awkwardly inside the cabin.

Looking at the oversized fluffball who had once invited her to March Theme Park, Rita gracefully drew a curve in the air with her right hand and smiled warmly.

In Oak Owl tongue, she said, "Mistblade, please have a seat."

Mistblade: "..."

BS-Rita was spouting her nonsense again.

She didn't even understand what that phrase was supposed to mean, but something about Rita's tone made her want to bite something.

With Mistblade now a giant target, Rita found it even easier to dodge. The other player hadn't broken the rules and thus wasn't punished, but with Mistblade acting as a walking wall, hiding became effortless.

Rita had been wary of being caught in another chaotic free-for-all. But she'd already ridden the Ferris wheel more than halfway. No player she'd fought so far had managed to catch up.

She suspected they were deliberately slowing down their duels to avoid her—but she had no proof.

Until now.

She hadn't even finished her current duel when she overheard the other player—Glazeweaver—muttering to Mistblade:

"Let's slow down after she leaves. I really don't want to run into her again. I feel sick. What was her title again?"

Mistblade: "...Shut up. You're making it worse."

Rita: "...I'm still here, you know!!"

What the hell!

Thirty seconds later, Rita was thrown from the cabin.

As she spun through the air, her eyes locked onto the next cabin in line.

Her duel count hadn't reached 100 yet, but there were only three unexplored cabins left.

And those three cabins were exactly the next three on her path.

No. She couldn't finish this game yet.

If she could push her duels up to 100, she could edge her win rate even higher.

More importantly—this game was perfect for her.

Despite all the explosions and lost Blocks, she'd earned over 300 Blocks so far.

Compared to players running on fumes, barely holding it together, and resigning themselves to defeat—

Her energy was still full. She wasn't ready to leave.

Rita began slowing her attack rhythm on purpose.

She was waiting—for the next wave of players to catch up.

Waiting for another explosion.

Waiting for a cabin reshuffle.