This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

The roar of the crowd nearly drowned them as five apprentices floated inside the golden pillar of light.

Motor still shimmered in liquid-metal form. That special state, the one that spiked all his stats sky-high, would take six full hours to recover from. It had also burned through ten of his attribute points. But for him, the cost was nothing compared to the prize they had just won. The team match championship reward far outweighed any personal sacrifice.

Below them, on the enormous card platform, stood all the apprentices who had already been knocked out.

Rita let her eyes sweep over the crowd. Some faces were missing entirely—apprentices who had fallen in the Divine Game and, for one reason or another, had not been revived by their academies.

Others stared at them with open resentment. Some glared at Rita. Some at Maple Syrup. But most fixed their hate on Mistblade.

Too many had fallen to her ultimate. It had been far too strong, catching dozens off-guard. Many had been too slow to quit out, and they had paid the price.

Winners always had comrades to celebrate with. Losers had theirs too. Even though everyone had entered the Divine Game prepared to die, when it really happened, it was only human to hate.

In the midst of deafening cheers, Rita suddenly asked, almost to herself, "If one day I die in the game and can't be revived… would you avenge me?"

Her teammates all went silent.

Rita: ???

She had just said it casually, half a joke, half a thought—but what was this? Why the silence?

She turned her head, eyes narrowing, silently scolding them.

Mistblade finally answered, without a hint of shame, "You've got Lightchaser. She'd definitely avenge you. But if even she couldn't, then we sure wouldn't be able to either."

The other three nodded at once. Even Motor's liquid-metal body tilted and rolled as if to nod agreement.

Maple Syrup urged, "Pick your rewards already."

Rita sighed, turned back, and opened her prize screen.

[Team Match Champion Reward: Every member of the champion team may select three SSS-ranked skills from the skill library, and receives 200 free attribute points.]

She distributed the 200 evenly, pulling all four major stats above 620.

Then she opened the library.

And froze.

No wonder her teammates had been so entranced, barely looking up to talk.

The list glittered before her:

[Phoenix Seat], [Unchanged Fate], [Fourfold Spring], [Romantic Tourist], [Mine Sweeper], [Steady Happiness], [Repay], [Family Bucket], [Target Locked]…

[Doormat Balloon Maker], [Romantic Tourist], [Spring Scenery & Flowers]…

[Beyond the Rules], [I Was Wrong, Teacher!], [Mad Bone], [Risk Assessment]…

[Sin of Arrogance], [The Struggle of the Wretched]…

[Midnight Exile], [Bedtime Tale], [Ancient Curse], [Absurd Story]…

Her breath caught. Was this a skill library or a dream wish list?

Her chest ached with equal parts desire and pain. Why only three choices?!

She glanced at the others. They wore the exact same tortured expressions.

Seeing a treasure vault and being allowed to take only three… it was agony.

Rita clenched her jaw and picked [Absurd Story] first. A skill that reflected 100 percent of incoming damage—perfect for breaking an enemy's spirit.

Second, she locked in [Bedtime Tale], the one that guaranteed she couldn't be one-shotted.

For the last slot, she lingered, heart twisting as she scrolled past option after option, until she finally chose [Sin of Arrogance].

[Sin of Arrogance] (SSS): "I cannot tolerate mediocrity—neither mine nor my enemy's. I gamble. I gamble I will win!"

When activated, all of your base and advanced stats adjust to mirror your opponent's. Your stats become 80 percent of theirs. If theirs are more than five times yours, your stats become 50 percent of theirs. No cost. No cooldown. Once triggered, Sin of Arrogance lasts six Starsea days and cannot be canceled.

(When facing multiple targets, your stats adjust to whichever target your current effective attack lands on. Once you strike another, they shift again.)

At first glance, it seemed like a nerf.

But what if the opponent was Lightchaser? Or Wail?

She would gain 80 percent of their power.

If she dared. If she had the courage.

Sin of Arrogance gave her the right to stand before enemies that should have been untouchable.

If Lightchaser had possessed this skill back then… maybe she wouldn't have left regrets.

And the clause—stats persisting until you attacked another target—had possibilities. If she struck Wail first, her stats became half of Wail's. And until she hit someone else, she would remain at that power level.

It was dangerous. It demanded precision.

Inside the Divine Game, where apprentices were near-equal, it was more of a burden: a flat 20 percent nerf.

Once activated, it ran for six days. No retreat. No second thoughts.

Sin of Arrogance. Just as its name implied, it wasn't confidence. It was arrogance elevated to sin.

And Rita smiled as she locked it in.

She closed the reward screen, satisfied. She still wondered if her teammates had seen the same library.

The stands were still buzzing, debating the treasure, the choices. On the platform behind, Mistake Answer had gotten into a fistfight with Bug Marsh's headmaster.

Rita nudged Mistblade with an elbow. "So? What'd you pick?"

Mistblade answered with a straight face, "Oh, a C-rank Spark. You?"

Rita said, "D-rank Water Gun. Maple Syrup, you?"

Maple Syrup: "D-rank Snowflake."

Rita gasped in mock horror. "Then Mistblade's way stronger than us!"

Maple Syrup groaned, "Don't rub it in. I'm already terrified."

Fat Goose leaned toward Motor. "…Are they insane?"

Motor shrugged. "Hard to say. What did you pick?"

Fat Goose: "E-rank Sleep Talk."

Motor: "You're just as sick."

Only after half the spectators had filed out did the five finally descend from the golden light, landing back at Moonlight Marsh's windmill lodge.

GodDraw77 came at once, gathering Motor and the other apprentices who still suffered lingering status effects. She led them off to Mistake Answer, who had ways of undoing such conditions ahead of time.

Rita parted ways with her teammates, then went to her own room to review the match.

Every scrap of useful or useless information needed to be written down.

The layout of shops in the port city. The strange skills apprentices had used. Every detail mattered.