This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

On her way north, Rita would occasionally take detours.

Whenever she spotted a good hiding spot, she would transform into an orchid mantis and slip inside, marking the location so she could return with Absolute Freedom if needed.

After watching her repeat this for who knows how many times, B80 finally couldn’t hold back.

"You’re already number one in Starsea. Why are you still doing this?"

Rita immediately narrowed her eyes at it.

"Did she say something to you again?"

"...I’m asking on my own," B80 insisted, refusing to name names.

Too many gods had figured out this new trick. They could gossip about Rita through B80 while still maintaining their dignity.

"This is called a fighting style, you wouldn’t get it," Rita said, rambling as she explained. "When I actually need to escape, from the enemy’s perspective I’ll just vanish and reappear at key moments. Instant mystery bonus. Who’s going to guess I’m hiding in a tree hole as a bug? As long as I look cool enough..."

She stopped mid-sentence.

Rita froze, staring ahead.

Not far away, a small spider jumped out of a tree hollow.

As it descended, all eight legs stretched out, like it was lazily stretching or briefly revealing its true nature.

The moment it landed, it transformed back.

A high ponytail with slight waves.

A dark-toned silver metal mask.

Black chainmail gloves and boots.

A long, slender blade resting point-down.

And a pair of black eyes identical to her own, staring at her coldly.

The entire atmosphere of the Graveyard of Bones seemed to darken with her presence.

For a moment, Rita felt like she had stepped into some kind of grim souls-like world.

Rita sneered.

"The spider was cute. Didn’t expect Quiet Mountain’s number one to fight so timidly."

QM Rita stared back coldly.

After a few seconds, she let out a low laugh from behind the mask.

Then her figure slowly faded away.

Rita: ?

B80 said, "Did she just leave because she couldn’t think of a comeback?"

Rita: "..."

Yeah. That did sound like something she would do.

But just like QM Rita, Rita herself had no intention of fighting here either.

At least not in the first half of the game.

Graveyard of Bones was a rare chance to grow stronger.

Fighting other Quiet Mountain players was a bonus.

Fighting QM Rita was just a waste of time.

She could already feel the pressure from the other Rita had grown stronger.

Thinking of that, she glanced back at the Wrathful Moon floating behind her.

Since leaving Quiet Mountain, her ultimate energy had been depleted.

After that, she kept the lantern active at all times, trying to maintain Dark Side of the Moon and convert moon sand into ultimate energy.

Whenever she collected rewards from other worlds, she prioritized moon sand.

Especially after shattering Dawn, she had BSCicada hand over all her stored moon sand.

Now her ultimate energy had climbed back to over thirty thousand.

Enough to unleash several full-scale bursts like she did in Quiet Mountain.

Back then, she had needed to control Quiet Mountain players mentally just to manage a one-against-ten situation.

Now... she wondered how things would turn out.

She kept moving at full speed.

By 5 AM, she found one of the plains Byme had mentioned.

Rita circled the area, marking it thoroughly so she could return instantly with Absolute Freedom if needed.

Only then did she continue north.

If everything past the three and nine o’clock positions counted as "north," then the Graveyard of Bones had at least seven plains.

That alone was reason enough not to waste time fighting QM Rita.

Time wasn’t enough.

Close to 7 AM, she used Let It Die to create a lucky bento and ate it as breakfast.

Right as she finished, it hit the time window Foolishness had mentioned.

She was crouched by a river brushing her teeth when she muttered through the toothbrush,

"She didn’t even say whether 7:22 is AM or PM... do you think she did that on purpose, by accident, or on purpose pretending it was an accident?"

A familiar voice came from behind her.

"Who are you talking about?"

The moment the voice appeared, everything around them began to lose color.

Rita’s body reacted instantly.

Multiple defensive skills triggered at once, and the ship’s wheel spun, teleporting her away.

She reappeared on the opposite side of the river.

But when she looked back, there was nothing there.

No.

The other party had followed.

A hand rested lightly on her shoulder.

The fingers were long, unnaturally so, nails trimmed neatly.

The color was pale, almost like a projection rather than something real.

Rita’s gaze fell on a small mole on the third joint of the index finger.

Combined with the voice...

She already knew who it was.

Should she leave?

Or was this exactly the person Foolishness wanted her to meet?

That brief hesitation was enough.

Color returned to the world.

She had already been pulled into the other party’s time.

Rita gave up resisting and calmly spoke.

"Ababa." Quiet Mountain Foolishness.

QM Foolishness frowned slightly.

"...Starsea Foolishness lets idiots play with her toys now?"

Unlike the flat, emotionless tone of Starsea Foolishness, this version had warmth.

Every word carried a clear mood.

The hand on Rita’s shoulder dropped.

With a flick of her fingers, the revolver tied to Rita’s thigh flew into her hand.

Since it was bound, there was no concern about it being stolen.

Rita glanced at the toothbrush in her hand and simply crouched back down to keep brushing.

After spitting out the foam, she spoke in Brilliance language.

"Ababa." Starsea Foolishness operates on a level you wouldn’t understand. Her dream is to make games even idiots can play.

QM Foolishness paused, then gave Rita a more serious look, as if only now taking interest in her.

"Did you steal this gun from another player, or earn it yourself?"

Rita thought for a moment, then answered.

"Ababa." First time I took it from Starsea Foolishness, then she took it back. Second time she forced it into my hands. Honestly, I didn’t even want it.

QM Foolishness: ?

She didn’t respond, probably assuming it was a joke.

Rita finally finished brushing and turned around to look at her properly.

At first glance, she was very similar to Starsea Foolishness.

Even with a faint smile, there was an underlying cold detachment.

But the differences were obvious.

Dark blue wavy hair that shimmered like gemstones.

Eyes like blue glass reflecting sunlight.

A monocle over her left eye.

Loose white robes with blue patterns.

She sat cross-legged on the grass, examining the revolver with clear interest.

Rita’s eyelid twitched.

She thought of someone else.

If not for the lack of a Vine...

B80 suddenly said, "The origin of the undead Wildfire remains a mystery."

Rita: "......Ababa." Shut up.