This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Nivalis also had snow stored in her Gacha Machine. Rita just hadn’t used it yet since she ran into Byme right after entering the game.

Now, she simply sat down by the roadside and made two snowmen, one for Cinders and one for herself.

Summer Snowman was a rewind skill. It only affected the user’s state, reverting all conditions to what they were two minutes ago. It didn’t alter time itself.

Even so, Rita tested it first.

After confirming it worked, she made one for Cinders as well.

There was a difference though.

The snowman she made for herself had nine rewinds.

The one she made for Cinders only had eight.

That was already after she drew their respective soul flame marks on both snowmen’s foreheads.

Rita held her own snowman and studied it for a long time.

Cinders asked, "What’s wrong?"

"I’ve been able to make nine-rewind snowmen for a long time now," Rita said. "But it’s still just nine... Maybe I still don’t understand myself well enough."

She put the snowman away. Just as she was about to say something else, the ground beneath them trembled.

A bell rang in the sky.

Rita immediately had Nivalis open the pocket watch map.

On the clock arena, Lynx Duke’s name disappeared.

The hands and time markers remained, but now there was a flickering point of light between 4 and 5 on the lower right side.

At the same time, a faint, almost colorless map appeared beneath the clock.

Rita tapped the glowing point.

The map instantly expanded in front of them, floating parallel to the ground, about two meters across.

She treated it like a phone map, zooming in and out.

As the bell continued ringing, Rita rapidly scanned across it.

Soon, she found the castle in the lower right corner, along with the glowing point near it.

After confirming that the point represented her current location, she immediately began searching for the northern grasslands and the northwestern rainforest.

It was now 11 o’clock.

The bell had rung six times.

Rita kept zooming, sliding, memorizing.

She mapped terrain in her mind while cross-referencing it with the World Sighs she had seen before.

Snowfields, lakes, swamps, plains, flower seas, forests, cliffs, islands, hot springs...

Everything connected naturally despite the stark differences.

A snowfield led into a lake. The lake into a swamp. Beyond the swamp, hills. At the base of the hills, a sea of flowers.

And those features matched the worlds she had seen.

For example, the flower sea.

Both BS and Black Spring had flower fields, but the one she saw just now contained many Vines unique to Beacon.

Unfortunately, none of this helped her locate the gods she was looking for.

Their wills wandered freely within their own memories. Their positions constantly shifted.

Each time they briefly connected with reality, they appeared somewhere different.

But then... how did the castle fit into all this?

What she saw when leaving the castle in Byme’s memory didn’t match the Graveyard of Bones at all.

Was it because of players?

When connecting to reality, did the gods’ memories partially overlay their environments onto the real map?

She couldn’t be sure yet.

At that moment, Nivalis suddenly shouted, "The watch is heating up!"

B80 reported, "11:06:29."

"Keep watching the time!"

Rita immediately broke into a full sprint.

She ran toward the northern grasslands while scanning every flicker of light around her, searching for Lynx Duke.

The fog was everywhere.

She wanted to take to the sky for a better view, but once she rose above three meters, the ground became completely invisible.

So she had no choice but to rely on speed.

Shadow Control split off a shadow, sending it running to the left.

Nivalis synced her stats with Rita and dashed toward the right.

"Wait!" Rita shouted. "Give the watch to B80 first!"

If Nivalis died, she could respawn.

If the map was lost, it was gone for good.

Nivalis skidded to a stop, turned sharply, and rushed back.

"You only care about the watch, not me," she grumbled, tossing it to B80, who had already shifted back into a small robot form.

Golden rain scattered outward, turning into countless eyes to pierce through the fog.

It was the best method Rita had for now.

Also the dumbest.

But until she found a pattern or more information, this was all she could do.

At least she knew when Lynx Duke would appear.

Compared to King, whose form she still didn’t know, Lynx Duke was easier to track.

For example, she could prepare by eating luck-boosting food before the next appearance.

Rita had already decided. She would keep searching until Lynx Duke disappeared completely.

Byme’s window had lasted a little over five minutes.

King’s was just over four.

The mysterious time Foolishness mentioned was only three minutes.

How long would Lynx Duke stay?

Then suddenly—

Rita stopped.

Nivalis was gone.

Before disappearing, she had only managed to send a single panicked curse through their mental link.

Rita immediately tried to recall her. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

No response.

She turned and sprinted toward where Nivalis had vanished.

Maybe there was a clue.

As she ran, she couldn’t help muttering to B80, "When she watched dramas, how did she even complain about characters wasting time talking before dying? Look at her. That’s what she leaves behind..."

Rita stopped beside a street lamp.

This was where Nivalis’ presence had vanished.

She and B80 searched the area thoroughly.

Nothing.

It must have happened too suddenly.

Otherwise, Nivalis wouldn’t have only had time to blurt out a single expletive.

If she had even a second more, she definitely would’ve said more.

B80 suddenly spoke.

"11:10:56. The watch stopped heating."

11:06:29 to 11:10:56.

So that was Lynx Duke’s active window?

Rita memorized both the time and the location.

She would continue heading north.

Tomorrow, if she hadn’t entered another burial time, she would return here.

Maybe she could reconnect with Nivalis.

And maybe see the god who took her.

B80 adjusted the pocket watch around its neck and patted its chest.

"Good thing we still have the watch."

Rita: ...

Why did that sound exactly like what she was thinking?

B80 looked at her. "Were you just thinking, why did I say what you were thinking?"

Rita gave it a long look. "Did you learn that from Shadow.Q too?"

B80 nodded. "Yeah. She said if you figure out what the boss is thinking and say it out loud, it helps with communication. Also scares the boss a little."

Rita: ...

Shadow.Q clearly didn’t have enough work to do.