This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

[Detection complete. A player of this world has opened the World Barrier. World "Isolated Isle" is entering a connectable state.]

[To permanently close the World Barrier, the players of "Isolated Isle" must participate in a Divine Game seven Starsea days from now.]

[If the players win, the barrier will close again. If the players lose, "Isolated Isle" will officially enter the invasion sequence.]

[The Divine Game will select the top 250 players of "Isolated Isle" by combat power. If any refuse, the invitation will pass to the next strongest.]

[Warning: Death in this Divine Game will be permanent.]

[Will you embrace the shift of the world, or atone for the sin your world bears?]

[Detection complete. Player Lightchaser ranks first in "Isolated Isle." Will you participate in the Divine Game?]

Lightchaser sat alone on the roof of a small wooden hut, polishing a blade.

Seven days had passed since the first notification. Today was the day she was supposed to walk into the Divine Game.

"…Feeling guilty?"

A moonbear materialized beside her without sound.

Lightchaser didn't even lift her head. "Not particularly."

"To be honest, same here. But when I said that out loud, almost got beaten senseless for giving a 'wrong' answer." Ash Cinders laughed.

After those odd trainees vanished, countless beings in Arisentna vanished as well.

Lightchaser had gone searching near the Karadom bridge—Mistblade's family was gone.

Ash Cinders visited hundreds of the trainees' homes. Eighty percent of those households had simply disappeared.

The remaining twenty percent had forgotten they ever had a child studying at Moonlight Marsh.

Their world had always been a toy box for gods—characters created at whim, memories rewritten at whim.

They didn't learn their world's true name until now.

It had never been Arisentna. Its real name was "Isolated Isle."

Would they remain obedient toys inside a harmless amusement park built by gods, or tear open the illusion and face the truth even if it killed them?

Lightchaser and Ash Cinders—and not just them, but every strong player chosen for this world's fate—chose the latter.

Powerful players don't fear war or calamity. What they fear is living a lie.

For the ordinary people of Arisentna, this fate wasn't fair at all.

But neither Lightchaser nor Ash Cinders regretted leaving the world to search for the missing trainees, even though it opened the barrier. They had seen the truth. And they intended to fix what their actions caused.

That was why Lightchaser said "not particularly."

That was why Ash Cinders said "same here."

Just then, they both heard the half-hour pre-start chime for the Divine Game. At the same moment, the rules appeared.

[Divine Game: Player Relic]

[Main Objective: Within three hours of the game's start, eliminate all The Mechanoids on the map.]

[After three hours, the game enters the Final Battle. All maps merge. All surviving Mechanoids and players of "Isolated Isle" gather in one battlefield. If any Mechanoids remain by the end, "Isolated Isle" will enter the invasion sequence three Starsea days later.]

[During the Final Battle, each Mechanoid killed by a player will delay the invasion by one Starsea month.]

[Special Rule: Each player may carry only five skills and one item.]

[Round One will deploy 110 players from Isolated Isle. Please stand by.]

Reading the full rule set, Lightchaser and Ash Cinders both relaxed slightly.

Just Mechanoids. Nothing they couldn't handle.

…

Unlike ordinary players, their combat instincts and techniques were engraved into their very code—into their genes. Thirty minutes was more than enough time for Rita and Y128 to adapt to this bizarre "two minds, one body" control method.

Their combined combat power had dropped sharply, sure, but since both BS-Rita (with all her Divine Game training) and Y128 (naturally combat-oriented) were strong, they still retained around forty to fifty percent of their original strength.

Which was already impressive.

But playing like this was suffocating.

Rita controlled only the left half of the body.

Y128 controlled the right half plus the head.

Whenever their intentions conflicted, Y128 held more authority.

And while Rita wore the Player Relic on her hand, she had no control over whether a skill activated—that decision belonged entirely to Y128.

She wasn't fighting. She was… participating.

When the final second of the countdown ticked away, Rita, Y128, and several nearby Mechanoids with players on their heads all turned toward the sky.

Five silhouettes dropped from above.

Being a full-fledged player now, Rita's enhanced senses easily caught their faces the moment they appeared.

And her expression changed instantly.

Not gods.

Not demons.

She saw—

Asao.

And Bercien.

The principals of Twilight Library and Little Hound Ranch.

The other three were also well-known players of Arisentna.

Y128 intended to flee immediately.

But when it turned, it noticed that BS-Rita—usually so calm—was staring upward, shaken, confused, even panicked.

Y128: "What's wrong?"

Rita snapped back to focus and moved in sync with Y128, sprinting away from the Hunters.

Once they'd gained distance, Rita finally asked, "Do you know a world called 'Isolated Isle'?"

Y128: "Why are you asking about that world? I can't say anything about it. Any question you ask about that place, I will stay silent."

Same as B80's answer.

Rita forced her growing anxiety down. First survive this round.

But then a broadcast cut through the sky.

[Hunter Asao has killed player Blazing Flame Wuker. Detection complete: current invasion sequence "Oddity·Amber Mark"—"Blazing Flame." Invasion progress of "Oddity·Amber Mark" +2%.]

Rita's heart slammed against her ribs.

It wasn't enough for worlds to collide.

Now they were accelerating the invasion?

As an Adjudicator, she understood the consequences of invasion progress better than anyone.

Take BS-, for example.

At 29% invasion progress, Lania Kaia could already influence BS- significantly.

At 80%, Lania Kaia could descend freely without restraint.

If being killed by Hunters increased invasion progress—

What about being killed by other players?

The thought had barely formed when the sky spoke again.

[Player Dawn-Cicada has killed player Oddity·Amber Mark Amberline. Detection complete: current invasion sequence "Dawn"—"Lania Kaia." "Dawn" invasion of "Lania Kaia" +0.1%.]

Rita felt it instantly—

the entire battlefield froze for a single breath.

Thousands of players hesitated at the same time.

Calculating.

Wondering.

If they walked into Divine Game today…

were they heading straight to war tomorrow?

And this was only the appetizer.