This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

After surviving so many divine courses, Rita was no longer the clueless beginner she once was.

She pulled a roll of contract-grade rune parchment from her gacha machine, along with a brush, and began writing the terms.

The contents were straightforward:

As long as it did not violate game rules, both sides must give their all, and neither was allowed to betray the other during the game. Otherwise, BS-Rita would permanently lose one god-given ability, and Y128 would forever lose the chance to ignite soulfire.

Then she passed the parchment to B8017913, who carefully drew the Mechanoid-style program-lock symbols along the edges. After that, Rita added golden thunder sigils herself—knowledge she had learned in the gacha-machine courses—creating a barrier that prevented any skill from interfering with the contract.

Y128 examined the runes. It might not fully understand the entire structure, but the symbols for "block," "lock," and "no modification" were clear enough.

"So you're guarding against L12185511?"

Rita gave an honest nod. "Yes."

Y128 didn't comment on that. It simply had more questions—ever since meeting BS-Rita, it found itself having many unusual thoughts.

"I still don't understand. Why invite me twice?"

"Because when I asked which Mechanoid series was the strongest in combat, both 7777 and B80 mentioned the Y-series. And 7777 specifically mentioned you."

Rita reviewed the contract one last time before handing it back.

"That means in its calculations, choosing you increases my odds of winning. Otherwise, it could've named any Y-series unit that doesn't have a grudge against me."

She repeated, "You are the best choice."

"But you still killed me!" Y128 fumed, pressing a finger crackling with electricity onto the parchment to sign its ID. "And the worst part is—you killed me and then invited me!"

"Because only then did I realize you also wanted to team up."

Rita took the contract back, ensured no details had been altered, and signed her name.

She lifted her eyes, smiling. "Otherwise why pretend to be dead until the moment I was about to invite L175246?"

"Maybe." Y128's gaze followed BS-Rita as she stood. "But what truly convinced me was when you said victory matters more than affection. This match is important to me. I need a player who won't drag me down."

Rita paused, brushing sand from her sleeves, her eyes lowering slightly.

"Oh. I learned that line from another player."

With the Player Relic recovered, she headed in a particular direction with Y128 jogging beside her.

The Mechanoid kept looking back and forth between the two pets on her shoulders before asking another question.

"Why didn't you ask whether I would still team with you if you had killed L175246?"

"No need to ask," she said. "Because that would never happen."

"Why not?"

"You're the best option. But L175246 is my fallback."

Whether a player could continue in the game did not truly depend on the Player Relic. Even with limited materials and time, any player could produce a crude version if needed.

The real gatekeepers were the Mechanoids.

Almost every rule so far included one clause:

The player must agree to one request from a Mechanoid.

Even this zone required fulfilling a Mechanoid's demand before reclaiming the Player Relic.

The initiative of the Divine Game sat entirely in their hands.

There was no universe in which she would give up L175246 for Y128.

On her shoulder, B80 muttered, "Can you add a little polish when you say things like that?"

Nivalis quickly added, "Yeah, give the outside children some hope."

Rita: …

Even though it barely knew BS-Rita, Y128 understood perfectly what her two pets meant. It nodded solemnly.

"Then I should tell you," it said, "if you had killed L175246, I would've admired you greatly."

Rita stared at it with an expression of helpless disbelief.

"But killing me so cleanly wasn't bad either," Y128 added generously. "Only a player like that is qualified to work with me."

Rita realized Y128's personality was unlike any Mechanoid she had met before.

"…Thanks," she said dryly.

She suspected the Mechanoids knew more about the final stage of the tournament than they were allowed to reveal. Otherwise why keep mentioning "cooperation"? Weren't the Mechanoids supposed to fight on behalf of players? Did players also have to fight?

She didn't ask. Clearly, there were rules restricting what they could disclose.

"Where are we going?" Y128 asked.

"To find L175246. See if it needs help."

Because if one of the random Mechanoids died, she wouldn't care much—but if L175246 died here…

She didn't want to finish that thought.

The moment she rounded the corner, she found L175246 sitting on the ground, crying—big tears of blue electric current splashing onto the sand.

Rita stepped into a golden rain curtain. Her form dissolved into the falling gold and reformed beside the sobbing Mechanoid.

She crouched down and poked it gently. "Why are you crying so hard?"

Seeing her, L175246 burst into even louder sobs.

"Dawn-Spring Guest… Dawn-Spring Guest pulled out my antenna!!"

Only then did Rita notice—L175246's head was bald. The antenna was gone.

B80 and Nivalis, who had fallen off Rita's shoulders when she transformed into rain, rushed over. They climbed up her back like mountain goats, stepping deliberately hard to express their annoyance at being tossed off earlier.

At the same time, a chill crept up from her right side—something ominous staring at her.

Ah. Ghostly Curse 3.0 again.

Rita didn't dare turn her head. She scratched her chin awkwardly and tried to comfort him.

"Well… okay, that is a little excessive. Did he say what he needed it for? Maybe it was urgent?"

She admitted—she was making excuses for the offender. She couldn't help it.

Y128's eerie whisper came from beside her ear. "Yes. What exactly did he use it for?"

L175246 angrily said, "He used it to tie down Vine! Vinespawn are so annoying!"

Rita said, "Too much."

B80 said, "Way too much."

Nivalis said, "Absolutely too much."

As the topic drifted further, Y128 shoved itself aggressively between Rita and L175246, blue lights flashing rapidly across its cube-like face—clearly furious.

It demanded again, "Where is my antenna? What did you do with it?"