This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

A hexagonal Block and a hollow rectangular frame Block dropped in front of her, labeled respectively as [Early Exit] and [Game Simulation].

Rita caught the two Block cards in delight.

There's actually this kind of luck?!

[Early Exit]: Allows the player to exit the current Divine Game six hours early without affecting final game rewards or rankings.

[Game Simulation]: Aim this card at a game station to fully frame the structure. Allows one simulated gameplay session for ten minutes; only one second will pass in real time. Number of simulations: 3.

Rita raised both cards high and gave them loud, exaggerated kisses.

The Six-tailed Moon Fox and the extended-term Owlcrow exchanged glances.

Does this action have hidden meaning? Should we report it?

After locking eyes for a moment: Let's report it.

Rita, satisfied after her card-kissing ritual, stashed them away. [Game Simulation] would be immensely useful, and she already had plans for [Early Exit]—she'd use it to trade for another game console fragment. Just not yet.

She needed to wait until the original owner had given up more of the game console pieces.

If she acted too early, it might mess with the owner's mental state and push them into actively giving up their fragments. There was a difference between someone passively losing pieces and someone voluntarily dismantling an item. That shift in mindset might prompt them to sell all their remaining pieces at high prices.

The more Rita wanted to complete her console, the more cautious she had to be.

Including the one she had copied, there were currently six console pieces out there. The best time to act would be when only four remained—or, if she wanted to be bold, when only three were left.

After putting the two new Blocks away, Rita returned to the food truck and explained her plan to her pets. Then, while Nivalis was recalling the Bumper Car and the Star Pirate Ship, she used the [Teleport Ticket].

Five options floated before her, built from Blocks into the letters "BS": January, July, October, Month 13, and Month 16.

Below them was another line:

Bring pets? (Yes/No)

There were five amusement parks beyond 15th Month and March, all clearly higher-tier.

What Rita hadn't expected was that this system would actually ask if she wanted to bring her pets.

Of course she didn't!

After selecting "No," she smashed the Block representing October.

The moment it shattered, she was thrown into the Bumper Car. Before she could even sit properly, the vehicle sped off.

The Bumper Car raced her through the starry sky and came to a stop at the gates of a new amusement park—October Theme Park.

Rita's first instinct was to read the park's entry board.

An hourly play fee of 70g, a game item unlocking every 20 minutes, and if the number of non-item Blocks dropped below 60% of your starting count, you'd be forced back to the initial room with a reset. Each reset meant a 12% attribute loss and cost 5 game item fragments to restart.

Not only were the numbers more brutal, but even the failure conditions were detailed and harsh.

Rita felt her chest tighten.

This wasn't an amusement park—it was hell.

She wouldn't be surprised if just breathing here cost Blocks.

Thank god she hadn't brought Nivalis and B8017913. Even if they could survive the reset mechanics, their stats would be devastated.

She drove the Bumper Car directly into the park.

Just like when she'd entered March Theme Park, there was no need to pay the entrance fee again—she had already done so at her previous location.

If July Theme Park was a city of fog and March was a city of blossoms, then October was a city of snow.

The instant she stepped in, Rita felt a chill bite through her. All the Block surfaces were topped with white, pillow-soft snow like frosted buns.

There were far fewer players here than in 15th Month or March—maybe half as many.

And the number of attractions was also significantly reduced. Many of the game stations she'd seen in earlier parks didn't exist here.

The Blocks making up the players here were also fewer. Though they carried many weapons and tools, most players only had around 20 main body Blocks.

But those Blocks were massive.

Rita's standard body Blocks were 2cm x 2cm x 2cm.

In March, players like Mistblade used 3.5cm Blocks.

But here? The standard size was 6cm x 6cm x 6cm.

As a result, even when decked out in gear and relics, their figures remained minimalist and refined. It made the accessories look more like ornamentation than equipment.

Each player looked picture-perfect, as though they were display models from a high-end Block shop.

But beneath that beauty was an unbearable truth: brutal fragility.

If their regular Blocks dropped below 60%, they had to restart. Each reset cost them dearly—and they even had to pay in item fragments.

One mistake here meant tumbling into the abyss.

Rita glanced toward the vending machines. Maybe here, even selling game items was restricted.

If she were a native of this park, she'd sell a few item fragments immediately to exchange for smaller Blocks—to bump up her total count and avoid forced resets.

Driving through the park with her hundreds of Blocks, Rita turned heads.

Everyone stared at her—scrutinizing her, some with visible hostility. She looked like a sheep who'd wandered into a pack of wolves. Her Blocks were too small, too many—an obvious outsider, an easy mark.

As she sped through, she saw—for the first time—another Bumper Car.

Curious, she made her way to the Bumper Car game station in this park.

But again, nothing. No leaderboard, no player ranks.

If Bumper Cars were truly this rare—less than ten in total—then what even defined the global ranking list?

Did the gods decide it themselves?

She found no answers, but her energy had already drained by 7 points in just a short time.

She queued up for a game station with the fewest players.

It only took two minutes to reach the front. After purchasing a ticket, she stood in the ability-activated game zone and immediately grabbed her head.

"No. I didn't mess up!"

In her mind, the last five minutes of her actions replayed at lightning speed.

She chose to cancel the transaction.

The Block she had just paid flew back from little gingerbread's hands into her own.

Little gingerbread: …?

Other players: ?