This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

A single fragment had reached the previous price ceiling for a full 9-piece set. But the new normal was clear—individual fragments of 9-piece sets were now going for 700g at the top end.

In that light, the price of the game console fragment didn't seem unreasonable anymore. Maybe, like the gameplay fees, it had been listed directly by the Divine Game itself.

Regardless of the price hike, Rita had no choice—it had to be bought.

In fact, it was a higher priority than even [Blocks Conversion].

She didn't hesitate.

Quickly, she began breaking down her collected Blocks. As soon as she gathered the required 630g, she hit the purchase button.

A black Blocks container popped out from the vending machine. Rita and Nivalis took turns feeding in the required Block pieces.

The container closed, then popped open again. Inside lay a black, raised-block-shaped piece.

Rita snatched it up and snapped it into her incomplete device:

[Game Addict's Console – Incomplete] (5/9)

No new fourth skill appeared—but the third one was now fully unlocked.

[Skill 3 – Event Pack]:

Play any game for 2 hours to receive one Event Pack. The pack randomly pulls from all existing consumables stored in the current game's data pool.

(Limit: 3 per day. Resets daily at 00:00 in the player's source world.)

Consumables… probably healing items, food, buffs?

The fact that it pulls from existing stock meant the outcome would be manageable. Even if she pulled something basic, she could use it right away.

Anyway, the system wasn't dumb enough to drop something like an apple or a giant turnip. No way.

With the console fragment secured, Rita turned to organizing her item shards.

After obtaining [Cat's Ideal] from Verdant Whisper · Windrush , she'd hoped to use the same approach to hunt down other 9-piece relics. But the results were… less than ideal.

Most players, even if they didn't know the rules going in, would quickly adapt. They'd hide their Blocks better, build in decoys, reinforce layers with other items. Verdant Whisper · Windrush had been sloppy—that kind of unpreparedness wouldn't happen again.

Besides, everyone had their own trump cards. Once they figured out Rita's game, they either:

Popped their ultimates,

Blocked her from resetting duel progress,

Or bailed out of the cabin via explosion.

And Rita couldn't afford to keep repeating the "explode and chase" strategy.

She didn't have the energy to burn like that.

Each cabin explosion cost her 5 Blocks—

She'd blown up 9 cabins. That was 45 Blocks gone.

Plus the lost fragments…

The losses were adding up.

So she shifted strategies:

If a player with a full set happened to show up, she'd fight hard. If not, she moved on.

Right now, she had 11 nine-piece fragments on hand—but all scattered. None had come together like Cat's Ideal.

Weapons, on the other hand? She had plenty. Eight complete ones, ranging from 3-piece to 5-piece sets.

Problem was, they were all unusable—every single one required combat power above tier 15.

She assembled each of the 9-piece shards she'd looted from the Ferris wheel. If nothing caught her eye, she listed them immediately for sale.

Each was posted at 600g Blocks, with a note:

"Only accepting purchases from players Tier 15 or higher."

These were going toward her [Blocks Conversion] plan. The requirement was strict, but fair—after all, they'd been taken from Tier 15 players. Those people could afford it.

For attribute exchange purposes, she didn't need to care about the weight of Blocks—only their count.

If a player died and reset, it was the number of Blocks lost that determined the attribute penalty, not the grams.

Rita spent until 9:50 PM organizing. She kept listing unwanted item shards and collecting sales.

Along the way, she unlocked a new item:

[Century-Old Brand]

While waiting, she used one charge of [Double Return] to send [Cat's Ideal] straight into divine storage. The system would safeguard it and return it to her once she left the Divine Game and returned to her origin world.

She sold off:

Most 9-piece shards from the Ferris wheel,

Most of the weapons,

49 miscellaneous item fragments.

The corner where she stood had basically become a tourist spot in the Month Theme Park.

Once she mounted all the Blocks onto herself, she was taller than some of the smaller game attractions.

With this deliberate hoarding, Rita unlocked an achievement she'd missed earlier:

[Congratulations to Player BS-Rita for unlocking Hidden Easter Egg – Oh, Capitalism!]

[Oh, Capitalism! – Reach over 5000 Blocks]

Choose 1 of 3 rewards:

90% Off Coupon

Forced Return

It's Time

Rita barely glanced at the new options and instantly picked:

[It's Time]

[It's Time] – Time to start franchising!

Use this reward to send one of your pets or teammates to a Month Theme Park where the average player combat power matches theirs.

A name-badge-shaped Block dropped into her hands. She shoved it at Nivalis to hold onto for now.

With this goal reached, Rita handed over her next 5 hours' worth of food budget to B8017913, who was in charge of household funds.

As soon as he took over, he grew to 40 cm tall.

Then, at last, Rita used her [Blocks Conversion] reward.

In an instant, the small storage-box-sized Block ballooned into something that looked like a supermarket freezer. A 30-minute countdown appeared on top.

She didn't dare waste a second.

Rita began throwing Blocks in. First in line:

The 15 large Blocks she'd earned from selling the console fragment.

Nivalis, who already understood what this thing did, sighed. "If only they were all from the 10th Month Theme Park."

Rita echoed the sentiment. "Tell me about it."

She'd considered a flip strategy: buy a few 9-piece shards, re-list them with a note specifying that she only accepted Blocks from 10th Month players.

But she had no way to tell which players those shards came from.

Even if she had a hunch, the increasing number of shards on the market made it clear:

There weren't many like the console's former owner, still trying to buy their set back.

Most had either quit or lacked the resources to recover what they lost.

If she gambled on the wrong batch, she'd be stuck holding the bag.

As she kept tossing in Blocks, her body shrank steadily in size.

Every toss had to be carefully followed by adjustments to her structure.

Thirty minutes felt barely enough.

By the time the [Blocks Conversion] container finally disappeared, Rita stood at barely a meter tall.

Shorter than she was before she entered the Ferris wheel.

But exponentially richer in stats.