This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Halfway through the conversation, Rita more or less figured out what her future self was doing. And she understood why that version of her had to tell Sakura·Orange White just how special the Dull Game was.

Boasting about an item that she might frequently use later on? That was definitely not something she would normally do.

Unless she had no choice.

Unless doing so helped her obtain the final piece of the Dull Game.

She rummaged through her gacha machine and tossed down a specialized item she had picked up in It's Not the Craft That Sucks—a flower taken from a player of the Sakura world: the Lisianthus.

A flower that could swap a player's HP and MP.

After backing up a few steps, she tucked a single duck feather into the nearby maze wall.

She was coordinating with her future self, like playing two sides of the same chessboard.

To avoid making her "second encounter" with Sakura·Orange White seem too abrupt, she continued to back away down the corridor until she reached a fork in the path. From there, she could still see the flower she had left behind.

Five minutes passed. A system message told her she had lost a game item fragment due to inactivity. Then came the sound of footsteps.

A few seconds later, a lion-sized cat and several players sprinted around the corner mid-fight, heading in her direction.

"Want to play the gacha game?" she called out. "My gacha machine has complete Divine Relics inside."

The players paused and turned toward her, skeptical.

Temporary ceasefire.

Sakura·Orange White's whiskers twitched. In the blink of an eye, it teleported in front of her.

"What Divine Relics? Cat's Ideal?"

A familiar question—she'd heard this just a few seconds ago.

"No, of course not Cat's Ideal," Rita answered, giving the exact same response as before.

Before Sakura·Orange White could ask more, Rita spoke first. "It's a surprise. I'll only be staying in the 10th Month Theme Park for another half hour before I move on."

"A full seven-piece game item set can be exchanged for ten pulls. The rules are: if you want to buy a second ten-pull, you'll have to give me a specific game item fragment that I name. Don't worry—it'll be something you definitely have. If you don't want to give it up, you're free to decline."

It wasn't a bad deal. For someone at this level, extra seven-piece sets were abundant and largely unused. The rules weren't unfair either. The event bundle even gave players the option to say no.

Sakura·Orange White handed over a full seven-piece set. Rita's bundle took it and turned around, pushing the gacha machine up to the cat's face.

"Go ahead."

Sakura·Orange White tapped ten times in quick succession. Ten capsules dropped into the slot.

It cracked open nine in a row—mostly Blocks and duck feathers, though one contained a fragment of a nine-piece item. A bit of a loss, but not outright scam territory.

The other players followed suit, each trading a seven-piece set for ten pulls and opening their capsules nearby. From their reactions—"Whoa," "Eh," "Tch"—you could tell the loot was mixed.

Sakura·Orange White paused before opening the tenth capsule, rolling it under its paw. "If I want a second ten-pull, what item do you want?"

Rita replied, "Dull Game."

"You want that too?"

Rita thought about what she had heard her future self say back near the maze entrance. She decided to play along with that version's plan. "Yes. It's special. We're trying to retrieve it."

Sakura·Orange White's eyes glowed red as it stared directly at the event bundle, clearly trying to use some form of mind control. But after a few seconds, nothing happened. The capsule machine didn't spit out any Divine Relics.

And despite the cat having unleashed enough hidden damage to take down a Demon Lord, the bundle still stood unharmed.

It had taken down event bundles before—but this one, and the one before, were... different.

With a flick of a claw, the cat cracked open the tenth capsule. Inside was a prize called Through Thick and Thin.

Useful enough. Once activated, it let you bind to another player, and during gameplay, any loss of two Blocks would be split—one each between the bound pair.

Sakura·Orange White tucked the prize away and pulled out a golden Block shaped like a butterfly. But before it could speak, another event bundle walked out from a fork in the path.

It stopped at a cautious distance, eyes fixed on the butterfly-shaped Block.

"Give it to me," the new bundle said calmly. "I'll let you draw fifty capsules."

Rita's eyes narrowed. Who was this?

The one who'd placed an absurd price tag on the Dull Game fragment to block her from getting it?

She raised her voice. "Twenty pulls. Hand it to me, and you can draw twenty. And for the record, their gacha machine doesn't have any Divine Relics."

The bundle replied without missing a beat. "Trust me. You could pull from her machine for the rest of your life and never get a Divine Relic. But mine? I've got the one thing you want most: a fragment of the Talent Can. I'll trade it directly for that Block."

Rita held the bundle's gaze, eyes sharp. It stared back—unflinching, silent.

In a flash, Sakura·Orange White leapt over and dropped the golden Block at the new bundle's feet.

But a beat later, both the cat and the bundle froze.

The butterfly-shaped Block was gone.

Sakura·Orange White turned back toward Rita, confusion in its eyes.

Of course. The Block it had just dropped had vanished.

Rita's eyes lit up. A sudden realization hit her hard.

She stared intently at the second bundle, then disappeared behind the cover of Teletubbie Camouflage, retrieved the Wrathful Moon, and activated it.

She rewound time by 6 minutes and 27 seconds—back to 17:59.

Darkness closed in, broken only by the soft glow of the lantern moon inside the weapon. In the shadows, she thought she could still see that bundle's eyes.

When light returned, she stood in the same spot. But the other players were gone. She had returned to the past.

She deactivated the Teletubbie Camouflage, stored the Wrathful Moon back into her primary gacha machine, and bolted toward the nearest maze entrance.

If she wanted the final Dull Game fragment, there was another option besides gacha and I Just Want to Improve So Badly.

The Free Stuff Always Costs the Most.

She called out to B8017913 in her mind, asking it to guide her past self through the next steps.

She reached the maze entrance with time to spare—no one else was there yet. She moved forward to stand at the front, waiting for Sakura·Orange White.

...

Sakura·Orange White had just finished listening to the game rules when a bundle appeared in front of it.

"Want to play the gacha game?" the bundle asked. "My machine has complete Divine Relics."

Its pupils widened—something interesting.

It padded forward with grace. "What Divine Relics? Cat's Ideal?"

The system couldn't pull any data on the bundle. Still, Sakura·Orange White didn't lower its guard.

It never underestimated anyone.

If memory served, BS-Rita had disguise skills. If she could become a Divine Relic, then why not a bundle?

She also happened to own a gacha machine.

Sure, the buzz said Cat's Ideal had already been pulled by someone else—but the cat hadn't seen it happen with its own eyes, so it wasn't taking that on faith.

Was there something on it that the other player wanted?

"What Divine Relics? Cat's Ideal?"

"No, of course not Cat's Ideal."