This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1278: The 23,171st Divine Game
At the moment Dawn completely shattered, three world fragments flew into Rita’s hands.
Immediately after, the leaders were all teleported back to BS.
What greeted them was a dense mass of Dawn players soaking in the ocean.
"BSCicada," Rita demanded, "where’s the territory you brought? Don’t tell me you think I wouldn’t deport them."
"...," BSCicada’s expression twisted. "You can just call me Cicada."
"Gross." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
"...."
She took a deep breath and used the honor points she had gained from selling world fragments earlier to purchase several territories.
In the sky above BS, several massive Flower Islands appeared, floating among the clouds with no visible boundaries.
The Homeland You Can Never Return To.
Beacon?
Rita and Smoke Tune both turned to look at BSCicada at the same time.
BSCicada stared at the Flower Islands in silence. The flowers on her Vine bloomed, then scattered. Black petals wrapped around the skeletal vine like scales.
Back when Rita had helped repair the flower fields with BSCicada on Deceitful Bloom’s Flower Island, she had studied Heartless Temptation in detail. She knew things that weren’t written in World Sigh.
When the petals of Heartless Temptation spread and wrapped around the Vine, it meant the flower had encountered something painful, something it couldn’t bear, and instinctively curled in on itself.
"I’ve always been afraid of it being ignited," BSCicada said quietly. "This is the last time. If we can’t survive the next Bell... then I hope my Vine lights up as a Beacon."
"I feel the same." Smoke Tune stepped forward and pulled her into an embrace. "All Vineborne feel the same."
Rita said nothing and walked away, leaving space for them.
As for settling the Vineborne in BS, she dumped the entire task onto Shadow.Q. When Shadow.Q tried to hide in the work group and ignore her messages due to overload, Rita simply sent an epic quest notification.
After waiting a few seconds, her dear director accepted the task.
Satisfied, Rita checked all the bonuses BS had gained after upgrading from four-star to six-star. She stored the three world fragments into the Adjudicator warehouse.
Just as she was about to return to her ship to study her Player Relic, Mistblade stopped her.
"Do you have QM Mistblade’s third fox tail?"
Rita did have it. She hadn’t figured out what it was back then and had tossed it into Magician’s Wisdom Tooth. Now she retrieved it from the warehouse.
As Mistblade reached out to take it, Rita casually lifted her hand, avoiding her grasp.
"What does this tail do?"
Mistblade sighed. She knew she wouldn’t get it without explaining.
"To you, it’s a mark of hatred from the moon fox. She can use it to track you. If needed, she can even curse you through it.
"Right now, she’s in Quiet Mountain and you’re in Starsea, so she can’t touch you. But in the next game, when we’re both in Graveyard of Bones, she’ll be able to find you.
"For me, I can use it to track her instead."
Rita handed over the tail.
"Are you confident you can beat her now?"
Mistblade draped the long tail around her neck like a scarf. It looked like part of her coat collar. Only a moon fox could wear something like that so naturally.
"I don’t know. Last time, she paid an irreversible price to win. I don’t know if she’ll be willing to pay that again."
"What price?"
"Foxification. Every day, she has to spend one hour in her original moon fox form. In your terms, her pure fox state."
"Can she fight in that form?"
"Of course. Her agility increases significantly."
"...Then how is that a cost?"
Mistblade paused, thinking.
"Maybe... she loses control over her emotions more easily?"
Rita nodded slowly.
"I see."
For someone like Mistblade, who valued rationality and suppressed personal feelings, that probably did count as a cost.
Divine Game Announcement: The next Divine Game will begin tomorrow at 10 PM. This game will last 30 Starsea days. Players will enter the same area as Quiet Mountain players. All Divine Game players who have begun separating from divine gifts, please prepare.
Rita and Mistblade immediately split up after receiving the notification, each heading off to handle matters related to their own factions.
The last game had forced everyone to participate, but that had been a rare exception. This time, there was no guarantee.
Rita planned to move BS onto the River of Time. Starsea was already in chaos. With a 30-day game ahead, she couldn’t guarantee BS would still exist when she returned, nor that other leaders wouldn’t attack it despite fearing her strength.
...
Welcome, player BS Rita, to the world battlefield.
You are participating in the 23,171st Divine Game.
This is a special Divine Game. Only players who have begun separating from divine gifts may participate.
No entry ticket is required. All players may bring all marked magical items. Skills have no usage restrictions.
This is the only game where players can reduce their fatal weakness count. Please cherish this opportunity.
This Divine Game takes place in a special zone. Each player has three chances to request assistance from Starsea deities. The deities have the right to refuse.
Rita appeared once again in the starting room.
But this time, it was completely different.
The room was still transparent, but its size was vastly larger than before. It felt as if all the separate rooms had merged into one. Every participating player stood inside the same space.
They looked at each other.
The first instinct was to count.
167 players.
Even though the number was low due to the higher entry requirements, going from countless starting rooms to a single shared space made everyone’s emotions complicated.
More importantly, there should have been far more players who had begun separating from divine gifts. Yet only 167 had entered.
Had the others lost hope for the future and chosen to spend these 30 days enjoying life instead?
Or were they using this time to launch invasions against other worlds?
