This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

The moment Rita was frozen, she immediately guessed what Ghost·Sang Cup was planning to do. In that instant, her mind flashed through countless strategies.

She could use Survive Until the End to turn into Feather and fall silently, but she couldn't move.

Calling Nivalis to help her press the skill icon? But Nivalis's wings made a loud sound with each flap, even without changing form.

Rita: "Nivalis, help me! Gently place me on the ground."

Without hesitation, Nivalis left the pet space, grabbed Rita by the collar, and gently placed her back on the ice.

After doing this, the 3 seconds were just about over, and Nivalis died due to the violation.

The 4147 restaurant was eerily silent.

After a few seconds, the freezing effect wore off.

With 70% of her health remaining, Rita slowly stood up and looked around. She realized that the restaurant had been entirely cleared by Ghost·Sang Cup's chaotic moves. Now, the 4147 restaurant had only Rita left.

Just then, the time reached 14:09.

As soon as Rita had spent 5 hours in the restaurant, a voice echoed in her mind:

"You have completed your meal at 4147 restaurant. From now on, every additional minute you stay will cost 5◆ from your sales as seating fee."

300◆ per hour? With less than 10 hours remaining in the game, Rita glanced at her balance: 9815◆.

She could afford this.

Rita immediately altered all her previous plans. She placed B8017913 into a crack in the ice sculpture at the restaurant entrance, leaving it outside to monitor the situation.

The environment was now safe. She didn't need to worry about running out of mana and being helpless.

She used her first Survive Until the End, turning into Feather, then canceled the skill. Her health was down to 17 points.

She activated Mysterious Power.

Flying to the cooking station, she examined the items on the other plates. After using Survive Until the End again, she transformed into an identical plate and modified the information to match exactly.

If she became dinnerware, there was no safer place than the blue food tent with its highest rule of no sound allowed.

There was no better time to transform than now.

Though she regretted choosing the three food tent rules earlier instead of a divine skill, she hadn't known if the penalty for staying over five hours would be something unbearable. Now, she could accept the regret.

After all, overthinking could sometimes lead to missed opportunities.

In the dark room, Rita opened the battle chat channel.

[Sakura·Oolong]: Who has BS-Rita's location info, bounty.

[Ghost·Sang Cup]: One SS-level skill, bounty on BS-Rita's location info.

It was a few scattered lines of conversation about her.

It made sense. If these players were teaming up to watch her, why would they discuss it in the chat channel? No need to chat openly.

Rita quietly eavesdropped, not showing off or provoking anyone. She remembered how Pine Bloom didn't like chatting in the battle channel because she had been tracked by other players because of it.

Nivalis had already resurrected in the pet space: "Did I help you?"

Rita: "Yes, a lot. Without you, I would've failed this time."

Nivalis' cheerful laughter echoed in her mind, and Rita's tense mood relaxed a little.

She began calculating the time in her head.

B8017913 occasionally updated her about the restaurant's situation.

"A player arrived, oh, it's the chef."

"You won't believe it, it's TingoJE!"

"A player has set up a stall."

"You're being used to hold food."

"You're being served at a table."

Rita was pleasantly surprised to see her earnings on the leaderboard increasing.

What did this mean? Even as a plate, she could earn from the restaurant's sales?!

But after a few attempts, she realized that only the dish she was holding counted toward her earnings.

18:00.

[Sakura·Oolong] entered!!! "She's asking the players here if they've found anything that doesn't belong to the restaurant."

The battle chat channel buzzed with increasing bounties for her location.

21:00.

Now, they weren't just offering a bounty for her location. They were directly asking if anyone had found a small White Boat.

Many players were asking, including MarmangCrab, Sakura·Oolong, Lania KaiaPine Bloom, and even TingoAutumn Deer.

The [Midnight Exile] series skills and her theft skills were more attractive than Rita had imagined.

21:30, a new issue arose.

[Marmang·Crab]: I opened my eyes, and earlier a mechanical race stopped me, asking where BS-Rita is.

[Sakura·Oolong]: Did it ask you too?

[Lania Kaia·Maple Syrup]: Was it the Y-series from the diamond miners?

Rita had a bad feeling. Could it be?

She immediately instructed B8017913 to return to the pet space.

B8017913 returned obediently, then questioned her: "Don't you need me to continue monitoring? I can block Y128's signal."

Rita: "I'm worried it might cooperate with the players. It's fine; if I can't avoid it, I'll just move to another restaurant."

She glanced at her earnings, realizing that TingoJE's dishes were quite expensive—each one earning about 100◆. Though she wasn't used as a plate often, the total earnings nearly covered her expenses at restaurant 4147.

23:00.

Suddenly, Rita heard a system notification in her mind.

[Player BS-Rita, based on your performance this round, you have unlocked a new identity: 'VIP'. For the remainder of this game, all props, oddities, and attack skills will have no effect on you.]

[Every time you taste a dish prepared by a 'Dark Chef', you have a 35% chance of randomly acquiring one of their skill icons.]

Rita's heart raced for a moment but then quickly settled.

Something was wrong. While "Wandering Chef" required a food duel to gain rewards, why did the "VIP" identity let her get a skill icon just by eating? Even if it was a chance, it was still too high and too easy.

The rewards for being killed as these two identities were both 5000◆ in sales, which shouldn't be the case theoretically.

Rita: "Can you imitate the game system's notification sound?"

B8017913 switched voices and mimicked the system's notification exactly: "I can, but I can't make my voice appear in someone's mind without targeting them."

Rita's heart calmed. A mechanical race couldn't do it, but players might be able to.

She decided—unless she returned to the initial room, she wouldn't leave!

After all, she couldn't waste [Survive Until the End] like that!

23:30

The battle chat channel had already deduced that she was likely in a certain restaurant based on her sales data change. Emerald Crane·Gale was investigating, looking for players with similar sales growth.

23:50

For the first time, her health fluctuated.

From 1% to 0.996%.

Rita's heart tightened. This might be the beginning.

[Sakura·Oolong]: Want to cry, Y128 found her!

[Winter Sea·Frenzied Shark]: Where?!

[Marmang·Crab]: Where?!

[Lania Kaia·Pine Bloom]: Where?!

[Ghost·Sang Cup]: Where?!!

[Emerald Crane·Gale]: Where?!!!

Rita: ...Everyone seems really upset.

[Sakura·Oolong]: Meet at 4147 restaurant entrance!!! Hurry!

Rita: ...Why are they suddenly so fired up?!

23:51

A group of high-ranking players and a bald little robot resembling a mailbox surrounded a plate.

They took turns throwing the plate to the ground, picking it up, and passing it to the next player to throw...

Crash — "Hurry up!"

Crash — "What kind of skill is this? Don't you have anti-magic skills?"

Crash — "I don't have it, cooldown's too long. Where's Y128?"

Crash — "I don't have to follow game rules, I can only carry 2 skills."

Crash — "Is this really the plate?"

Crash — "Aren't we being kind of foolish?"

Crash — "How many more times? I don't have a health-check skill."

Crash — "This skill's way too cheating!"

Crash — "Why aren't we using skills? Why must we throw it?"

Crash — "Isn't this waiting for other players? Don't

you think it's more satisfying to throw?"

...

"How long has Deceitful Bloom been laughing at the screen?"

"Since Y128 rushed out of the food tent shouting 'I found her!'"

"I think it started when Y128 spent 1000◆ to buy the plate, and that 1000◆ counted toward BS-Rita's sales."