This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Aside from her starter Blocks, the vast majority of Rita's current Blocks were 1cm cubes. Her inner core was still made of her initial Blocks and various unique-colored ones, but the outer layer—head, limbs, and torso—had been meticulously rebuilt using only the smallest standard-size Blocks.

She'd even gone so far as to color-code the layers.

After selling off a mountain of game item shards and raking in an avalanche of Blocks, Rita had run into the Divine Penalty repeatedly. Through that, she discovered a new rule:

She couldn't have more than 30 different colors of Blocks on her body.

To avoid punishment and keep things stylish, she trimmed her color palette down to the bare minimum.

Only shades of red remained, complementing her Blazing Wings of Light perfectly.

At this point, Rita looked like a miniature fire dragon—bald head and all, but undeniably adorable.

All the other-colored and odd-sized Blocks were tucked safely inside her belly.

That soft-toned, rounded stomach now housed a triple-layered defense shielding her items and artifacts.

From all her Ferris wheel spoils, Rita chose to keep just two pieces of equipment.

One was a 9-piece earring set called [Where's the Owl Already]. It was the only set where she'd managed to collect two matching fragments—and now a third, purchased from the vending machine.

What made it special wasn't rarity—it was pure utility. Among all the nine-piece shards she'd tried assembling before listing them for sale, this one stood out.

If she'd gotten her hands on this earring first, she might have skipped the Game Addict's Console entirely and gone all in on this.

The item took up the accessory slot. It looked like a tiny owl—plain coloration, the kind you'd see in any old owl roost.

[Where's the Owl Already – Incomplete] (3/9)

Skill 1 – Where's the Owl Already: I know you're in a hurry! While equipped, reduces all skill cooldowns by 30%.

Skill 2 – The Owl Got Lost: But don't be too hasty! Randomly ends the cooldown of one skill instantly, or lets you transfer the remaining cooldown of a selected skill to another skill of equal tier.

No cost. 30-minute cooldown. (Unaffected by any reduction modifiers.)

A cooldown-centric relic—every skill revolves around reducing cooldown.

She could only imagine how insane the other three skills must be.

Rita stashed the owl earring deep in the center of her body, right next to her console.

To the left: [Soul Catcher].

To the right: Teletubby fragment.

Above: her Sleepy Dragon Eggshell Hat.

Below: the Pocket Watch.

The newcomer had quickly earned elite status in her core loadout.

The weapon she kept was a silver handgun.

Originally, she had a complete five-piece set called [The World Begins to Sway], but it required Tier 15 combat power to equip.

To work around that, she dismantled three of the pieces and replaced them with standard Blocks, sacrificing stats to lower the requirement.

Even though the resulting version was technically incomplete and lost at least half its attributes, she could actually use it.

It couldn't disguise itself as a ring like [Betrayal], but what earned it a place on her belt was sheer practicality.

+300 Agility. +300 Strength.

Not to mention a suite of high-tier passive bonuses.

[The World Begins to Sway] didn't require ammunition. Every shot fired would bounce to a second and third target after the initial hit.

Even in its incomplete form, the weapon came with a skill:

[The Party Has Started] –

Fires a magical bullet that instantly splits into 1,000 mini bullets upon leaving the barrel.

Each mini bullet bounces twice.

Each hit has a 20% chance to restore 10 mana.

That was huge.

Three thousand potential hits, and each one had a shot at restoring mana.

Now imagine pairing it with [Steady Happiness]…

She could fully restore her mana bar almost instantly.

And since the effect triggered on any hit, not just hits on players, she didn't even need a proper target.

That basically doubled the skill's value—just fire into space and watch her mana refill.

Rita didn't sell the remaining three shards of the weapon. If she could bring them back to the real world, she'd eventually complete the set and wield the full version herself.

Right now, the mini handgun hung on her belt, next to a pouch made of Blocks.

On the pouch's outside: a Ferris wheel sticker.

Inside: whole-grain steamed buns.

It was nearing 10:30 PM.

Rita drove her Bumper Car toward the BBQ food cart with her two pets. Time to restock.

B8017913 proved quite the genius.

When she explained the Ferris wheel's game rules and asked it to help pick two food items similar to popcorn, the thing nailed it on the first try.

Lightweight, easy to carry, and easy to eat.

Rita now planned to carry jerky into every future game session.

Nivalis fiddled with the name-tag-shaped Block in her hand.

She'd understood Rita's plan the moment she handed it over. "You want me to go to a different Month Theme Park, don't you?"

Rita didn't beat around the bush. "Exactly. This game's a rare chance. I don't want you wasting time stuck here."

Nivalis hesitated. She didn't want to leave Rita. She knew this was Rita looking out for her, but still…

"I'm doing fine with the car rentals, you know? I already earned enough to cover three more hours of game time for me and 913!"

Rita shook her head. "I'd rather you lose Blocks than miss this game. This is… it's a hidden realm. An opportunity. If we want to hang out, we can do that back in the real world."

B8017913, capable of taking down a Tier 17 enforcer, clearly had combat skills and game experience.

Even if it didn't, Rita mostly saw it as her admin and support.

Nivalis was different. She had raw talent.

She'd gained a skill just from driving a Bumper Car.

Keeping her idle in this park was a total waste.

In her past life, the ability Nivalis used to teleport her away from Yu Xunhuan's control hadn't shown up at all.

To awaken a skill while under suppression said a lot about her potential.

Rita added, "Let's get you fed and recharged first. Then you're off."

Nivalis knew once Rita made up her mind, she wouldn't change it.

"…Okay."

Suddenly, B8017913 announced, "They just posted the Bumper Car project's top ten leaderboard."