This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

"The strangest thing about Divine Relics," B8017913 explained, "is that the same relic will manifest different skills in the hands of different players. It changes based on the soul flame of its wielder. In truth, every Divine Relic has a compatibility factor. The higher the compatibility, the more the relic resembles the divine gift it was born from."

"If compatibility is too low, even if a player defeats the relic's previous owner, the new wielder might not gain the relic's recognition. In that case, the relic won't downgrade right away—and if the previous owner reclaims it within six Starsea days, no level loss will occur."

"After those six days, the relic drops in level if it hasn't been retrieved. So, no matter how many times Cat's Ideal changes hands in the next six days, it won't lose power. But after that... it begins to fall."

Rita sank into thought.

So maybe Verdant Whisper · Windrush wasn't being indecisive or arrogant after the Ferris Wheel. Maybe, when she had Cat's Ideal, she couldn't even access the Absolute Freedom skill at all.

She asked, "Then how do I know if I match with a Divine Relic?"

"You can try to analyze how closely the relic's name and abilities relate to yours," B8017913 said, "but that's just theory. There's no concrete way to measure compatibility."

"After all, no one—except maybe the gods—knows exactly which god a relic came from. And even they might not know what gifts other gods possessed."

"Wait—!" Rita interrupted suddenly.

She remembered something—when she first took the helm inside Verdant Whisper · Windrush's body, she'd seen its information! That shouldn't have been possible. She hadn't owned it then, and she hadn't had time to use Chavez's probing ability.

B8017913 went quiet for a long moment before replying, a bit awkwardly.

"Maybe… maybe it chose you? Maybe it was already looking for a new owner, and you caught its attention? I don't know. All we have about Divine Relics are years of player observations. The gods never uploaded that knowledge into me."

Rita: "Are there a lot of Divine Relics?"

"Once, yes. But every time one changes owners, it downgrades. When it hits D-rank, it shatters permanently."

"Now, only thirteen remain that haven't been forgotten. Of those, only two have known owners. A Divine Relic can level up all the way past SSS. It's said that at that level… the true name of the god who created it will appear."

She pressed further, "What if compatibility is low and the previous owner fails to retrieve it?"

"It vanishes," B8017913 answered. "It disappears from the game and reappears somewhere in the universe, waiting for a better match."

Downgrades… Upgrades… Random relocation…

It all clicked.

Everything matched perfectly with a certain relic she'd once heard about. Her heart started pounding as the realization set in. She quickly tried to wipe the thought from her mind, scared of confirming the truth.

She forced herself to chant a prayer—the kind she'd memorized years ago just in case someone tried to read her mind.

Too late.

The moment she thought it, it was already done.

You have guessed that Wrathful Moon is a current Divine Relic. Its Divine Relic traits are now unlocked. It will be reissued in the next relic refresh cycle.

Rita practically folded in on herself, clutching her head in the Star Pirate Ship, voice trembling in protest.

"I didn't guess! I was just imagining! That wasn't a real deduction!"

The system pretended not to hear.

She had no idea how many players were still left in the maze, but her ship was dead in the water. She sat slumped in the cockpit, taking wave after wave of incoming attacks.

Phantom Shift was blocked. Her HP was down to 0.396%.

The players had turned her into a public event.

"Anyone not slashed her yet?"

"Me! Me, I haven't gone yet!"

"Get in line—cut her once and grab some Blocks!"

"Break her buff first!"

Rita: …

She'd imagined something like this would happen the day she got the skill—but not this fast.

The allure of the Divine Relic had driven players to invent entirely new tactics. They were stacking indirect damage using every medium possible: dropping trees on her, summoning mobs, throwing explosives—anything that could bypass direct combat.

She dodged what she could, but it was only a matter of time. The whole damn maze was hunting her down.

What she couldn't wrap her head around was—why had Verdant Whisper · Windrush told everyone about Cat's Ideal?

Wouldn't it make more sense to keep it hidden?

"Common Prosperity" gave them three game attempts. Verdant Whisper · Windrush had the time advantage. Once they left the Ferris Wheel, Rita wasn't a threat anymore.

What could she possibly gain by exposing it?

Unless…

She had some method to erase player memory… or maybe even hide Cat's Ideal completely?

11:44 AM.

Rita popped Lonely Antenna Baby and squeezed out of the encirclement. She cast Phantom Shift, teleporting straight to the maze entrance.

Cat's Ideal has been unlocked.

Cat's Ideal has been reissued.

They met again.

She caught the ship's platinum helm in her hands—nine shimmering Blocks fused together—and felt a mix of emotions surge up.

She chanted silently again, "Refund! Refund! Refund!" but her hands never stopped moving. She quickly disassembled parts of her body's Blocks, preparing to hide the helm inside herself.

While stashing the relic, she tried using Absolute Freedom.

She needed to know if the skill still worked inside the Divine Game.

The answer was—yes.

She could leave!

Absolute Freedom: Even without wind, the kitty sails. Turn the helm in your heart and go wherever you wish. No skill, no item, no creature—not even a god—can stop you from leaving. In Divine Games, this skill can only send you to places you've previously visited. Costs 500 mana. 30-second cooldown.

A helm of deep blue seawater appeared in front of her, spinning clockwise, its white spray casting off each of the eight handles and their intricate path lines.

The world stretched out in her mind like a giant scroll. BS was just one glowing dot on a canvas dozens of meters long.

All she had to do was grab the helm and turn it.

She could go anywhere she'd been before—even leave the Divine Game entirely and return to BS.

Limited though it was, Absolute Freedom more than lived up to its name.