This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Nivalis: "It worked!!"

Rita: "Perfect. Record the capsule machine's info, shrink it to minimum size and stash it. Don't let anyone else see it."

She really didn't want anyone else to get ideas.

Nivalis: "Got it. Should I buy another one?"

Rita: "Yeah, get one more. For B8."

But Rita hadn't even left the pod when Nivalis messaged again.

Nivalis: "Ugh, no good."

Rita: "Did they catch you??"

Nivalis: "No, they said the capsule machines are temporarily off the market. Needs patching."

Rita: ?

...

[Captain]: I just wanna know how many times this game's gonna patch the capsule machines before it ends.

[Deceitful Bloom]: ...

[Drummer]: You're so annoying.

[Maangmaang]: What if we change it so once unbound, you can only bind again once—will that fix it? BS-Rita studied for 30 star-sea years with you guys. Did she figure something out?

[Deceitful Bloom]: No way. She didn't get that far... right?

[Drummer]: .

[Deceitful Bloom]: ?

[Drummer]: Don't tell me you didn't notice her flipping through our notes during a time-stop.

[Deceitful Bloom]: .

...

Nivalis: "Nope, completely blocked now. They say they'll sell, but not to BS-Rita or her pet."

Rita: "…Wow. Just targeting me outright now? That's low."

Nivalis: "Right?!"

Rita let out a disappointed sigh and pocketed the three Blocks tossed her way by another player as she got ejected from the pod.

Fine. Two capsule machines would have to be enough. She couldn't be too greedy.

Especially now that she understood the capsule machine better—using the arcade game to extract one no longer seemed possible. Turns out the "extraction" is a skill of its own.

Which meant the only way to get capsule machines was probably from event rewards.

Rita stayed in 1March Theme Park until 7 a.m., raking in serious Blocks from the Space Pirate Ship and Ferris Wheel. Then she made a quick hop to 16th Month Theme Park.

This was the 14th-tier player zone. She'd already used all her plays on Space Pirate Ship, so she came for the Ferris Wheel.

But midway through, she got hit with some bad news.

B8017913: "Our Bumper Car score dropped to seventh."

Rita: "Plan a rerun. If we fall out of the top ten, we'll come back to 1March Theme Park and do another run."

Farming from lower tiers was off the table. Her starting Month Theme Park was already a 12th-tier zone, and even with three [One More Play] cards, replaying 15th Month wouldn't boost her score much.

The best—and most logical—move was to replay Bumper Car in a 13th-tier park.

She'd managed a high score back in 15th Month despite struggling. Now, with [Cat's Ideal], she could stack 50 top-tier buffs using [Waste Manual] before even starting the game. Even against stronger players, her performance would only improve.

Plus, both she and her pets now had three healing Balloons each. If 13th Month didn't work, they'd try again in 16th Month.

She and Nivalis had that confidence. They both had capsule machines now. One could guard the rear, and the other could flank her with the machine expanded to full size.

That Bumper Car title was going back to BS no matter what.

So far, she'd snagged four leaderboard rewards: Bumper Car, Space Pirate Ship, Ferris Wheel, and the Special Capsule.

And that Space Pirate Ship trait—[I Chase Treasure, The World Chases Me]—was reason enough not to treat these rewards as common collectibles.

With that in mind, Rita decided not to waste time on repeat games anymore.

She sped up her PvP matches and mentally reviewed all the game rules she'd heard while buying and refunding tickets at various parks.

She already had enough Blocks from reruns. It was time to shift focus—maximize prize hauls.

...

After 9 a.m., B8017913 was stirring a vat of fish soup when a very familiar name popped up in the mech group chat.

[D458132]: AAAHHH who was it that said BS-Rita has a thing for buying tickets just to refund them?!

[D458132]: She came to my booth just now!

[D458132]: I didn't even want to sell her a ticket. I asked, "You're not gonna refund this, are you?"

[D458132]: She looked super hurt, crouched down, held my hand and said, "You should get to know the real me with your own eyes, not through gossip."

[B8017913]: …What did you say?

[D458132]: I said sorry…

[D458132]: AND THEN SHE REFUNDED IT RIGHT AFTER!!

[D458132]: She grabbed her head and said, "No, I'm not wrong," and BAM—ticket refunded!!!

[D458132]: And after I apologized, she even said, "It's okay"… How could she?!

B8017913: …

Yeah, that definitely sounds like her.

Just as it was debating whether or not to defend its master, something shiny caught its peripheral vision—flickering wings glowing like firelight.

It froze mid-scoop, staring at the guest now standing in front of it, stunned.

Hovering mid-air, the guest grinned. "Huh? Why do you look different from the other Gingerbread Men?"

B8017913 pressed its lips together and said nothing. It simply handed over an extra-large serving of fish soup.

Nearby, D182263, who was collecting food payments, asked, "What's different about it?"

With exaggerated flair and just a hint of sincerity, Rita said, "It's totally special."

D182263 whispered to the group: "Okay, that's enough of that, you two."

But B8017913 replied: "I didn't tell her I was here."

Before D182263 could respond, B8017913 set down its ladle, ducked beneath the food counter, peeled off its Gingerbread skin, and grabbed the three healing Balloons it had stashed in the corner. It crawled out from under the cart.

Rita walked a few steps away with her soup when B8017913 caught up, trailing behind her. She hadn't grown much, and the 15cm-tall B8017913 only came up to her waist.

B8017913 asked, "How did you know I was here?"

Rita: "I didn't."

B8017913: "Then how did you—"

"Just passing by. Didn't mean to find you." Rita was blunt. "But I saw a Gingerbread Man stirring fish soup, and thought, 'That's gotta be you.' So I gave it a shot. Maybe it's our contract link."

B8017913 went quiet.

D182263 messaged again: "There's no way she sensed you. Location sensing uses spatial skills. That's forbidden in Divine Game zones. She couldn't have."

B8017913: "Yeah..."

Exactly. That kind of thing doesn't exist.

So then…

B8017913 bounced along behind Rita. The three healing Balloons swayed at its sides, wobbling with every step. It asked, "You really just thought that little Gingerbread Man was special, and that's how you knew it was me?"