This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Right now, all she could hope for was that when Cat's Ideal eventually downgraded, its skills wouldn't change too drastically.

For a brief moment, she considered just using Absolute Freedom to leave March Theme Park. But that thought was quickly shoved down.

Absolute Freedom gave her a deep sense of security—and an endless reserve of courage.

This wasn't a dead end. Not yet. It wasn't time to leave.

If she ran now without even trying, then she'd keep running. Step by step, retreating further and further, until there was no going forward at all.

She wanted to leave this maze by playing the game—not by skipping class with an item.

And now, with Cat's Ideal in her hands, she had more than one way to break the deadlock.

She didn't know why Verdant Whisper · Windrush had been so careless, allowing herself to be exposed while holding Cat's Ideal during the Ferris Wheel game, and not even using her ultimate ability in time.

Maybe Windrush had gotten complacent due to her Tier 9 power. Maybe she truly didn't think BS-Rita would recognize a Divine Relic, much less find it in under three seconds. Or maybe she didn't expect Rita to chase her so doggedly. Or maybe "Common Prosperity" and "Asset Transfer" had emboldened her...

There was no way to be sure.

But if it had been her in Windrush's position, Rita would've never—could've never—let Cat's Ideal be exposed to even the tiniest risk of loss.

That was why she'd chosen to send it out of the game earlier without hesitation, despite knowing how much power it could grant her. She'd rather scrape and fight and scheme her way through than leave it behind in a game where items could be lost forever.

Because once lost, there was no guarantee she'd get it back after leaving the Ferris Wheel's special game.

From the moment she retrieved Cat's Ideal to the moment she finished hiding it inside herself, less than half a minute passed. But players were already beginning to close in on her.

Rita looked at the incoming players with a calm gaze and activated Cat's Ideal's third skill—No Logic.

No Logic: Because cats are like that. Temporarily distorts a single shared belief among all living beings. Duration: 30 minutes. Costs 1 point of Luck (restores in 3 Starsea days). Cooldown: 2 hours.

She whispered, "Cat's Ideal has been lost by BS-Rita. It's now in the hands of another player somewhere in the Spring Labyrinth."

The deep-blue helm reappeared, its ocean spinning in reverse, counterclockwise.

Like sunrise and moonset, every player's perception twisted. Something fundamental in their understanding of the situation snapped and rewrote itself.

The players who had been charging toward her abruptly stopped. Their expressions shifted. Interest faded. Suspicion flared—at each other. Alliances dissolved on the spot.

Even B8017913 messaged her: "Already lost it? Want me to enter the maze and help out? I still have two power banks left."

Rita replied simply: "No need. I used a skill."

For at least the next 30 minutes, she was safe.

That gave her plenty of time to test a few theories.

Even with their perception warped, a few players still tossed some casual skills her way—after all, killing a player still meant free Blocks. And BS-Rita was just Tier 9.

Rita dodged swiftly and messaged Nivalis: "Reverse summon me."

The next instant, her form flickered like a lag spike—she disappeared and reappeared.

After being pulled into February Theme Park and then bouncing back, the deep-blue helm hovered before her again. She watched a nearby player glance over, their gaze landing squarely on the helm.

It was visible.

But so what?

She turned the helm. The tide inside spun in the same direction. Rita vanished from the maze and reappeared inside Nivalis's Ferris Wheel pod.

She waited, heart pounding, half expecting to be dragged back.

But it didn't happen.

This skill didn't just teleport—it severed ties.

That's it. That's what made it absolute freedom.

She smothered her elation and looked around the pod.

Nivalis was mid-fight with another player.

And Rita—still glowing in spotlight and blaring music—just dropped into the corner of the Ferris Wheel pod like she was crashing a rave.

In an instant, the cramped little gondola turned into a nightclub. The brightest one on the wheel.

Nivalis: "What the hell is this? Why's it so flashy?!"

Opponent: "Who's that? Your pet?"

Nivalis, clearly flirting with death: "Yup!"

Opponent: "Kinda trashy but kinda cool… Where'd you contract that thing? I want one too!"

Finally, Nivalis's survival instincts kicked in. She accelerated the fight and forced her opponent into penalty time, then turned to flash Rita a grin.

Rita: "…"

She would absolutely never admit Nivalis picked up the habit of bantering mid-combat from her.

Since she hadn't received any game rule notifications after arriving, and no health bar lit up above her head, she didn't plan to interfere with the match. Entering the game this way was technically cheating. If she jumped in, it might hurt Nivalis's score more than help.

To avoid that, she perched on the roof of the gondola. When a stray skill came her way, she even dodged it, worried it might trigger a reflect-damage penalty.

Before leaving, she took the first map fragment she'd picked up in the maze and slipped it into the seat cushion crack.

She thought back to how the seahorse had guarded the map fragment and to that skill description: "If a player takes anything of yours without permission..."

Her theory was this: to leave an item in a public area and still count as its rightful owner, she couldn't stray too far. She also had to know exactly where the item was taken from. Otherwise, it would count as lost—and if it was lost, no compensation would be owed.

Then she closed her eyes and messaged B8017913 privately, explaining The Free Stuff Always Costs the Most, and said:

"I'm at Nivalis's location now. I want to test whether the skill can detect me after it activates. You get what I'm saying? Make sure she waits until it's just me and her in the pod before triggering it."

B8017913 instantly understood.

Rita needed Nivalis to take something from her without her explicit permission. But if she told Nivalis directly, that would count as consent. So she had to work around it, using B8017913 as the messenger.

Rita sat back and relaxed in the music and lights, mentally working through her next maze strategies.

Seconds passed. Then she sensed something being thrown from the gondola. She couldn't tell if it was Nivalis or the other player.

"Oh, a truly worthy opponent!"

It was Nivalis's voice. A victory signal.

Rita couldn't help but laugh a little.

Suddenly, a sharp, goblin-like voice echoed in her mind.

"The Free Stuff Always Costs the Most."

A virtual room appeared in her consciousness, along with a five-minute countdown timer.

It meant she had five minutes to choose her compensation.

Rita dropped back into the gondola and told Nivalis, "Start the timer," then sank her consciousness into the vision of the room.

In the blink of an eye, she was standing inside.

Before her was a silver balance scale, with two intricately carved pans hanging on either side.

The scale was already tilted—to the left.