This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 541 - : Divine Game: Chaotic Restaurant 61

Once a player loses their position and becomes a "black-market" player after being killed by an Inspector, there's another problem to face: many of the game rules that need to be completed in the restaurant will become impossible to achieve once they leave. This would result in divine punishment.

Rita calculated the game rules she had already broken. There were only five rules that required her to stay within the restaurant, like "cleaning over 100 plates per hour." These she could manage.

By now, Rita had triggered nearly forty instances of divine punishment—just from eating the energy-restoring meals she had prepared herself, she had violated a few rules. Fortunately, the achievement rewards and event gift packs helped her recover some health. Though her attributes hadn't been boosted yet, at least she could heal immediately after leaving the battlefield.

For Mistblade, a level 15 Abyssal-tier player, there were 45 rules to follow. Based on the game rules, Rita speculated that a level 16–18 Demon King had to follow 54 rules, and level 19 Sovereigns would have even more rules to follow.

With highly specific and personalized rules in place, higher-level players would find it increasingly difficult to maintain their strength in the Divine Game. Even staying at their current level would be tough.

It was understandable that players would try to minimize the amount of game participation once they'd secured enough strength to protect their power. They would rather play less and ensure their place than risk a decline.

Rita didn't think these players were without solutions, though.

The ruling monarchs could easily gather various divine gifts to boost their attributes, recruiting the gift bearers and consolidating their power to cover losses in the Divine Game. In fact, if Rita wasn't so fixated on doing everything herself, she could easily ask Eclipse Vanguard for help right now.

Unfortunately, she had a natural tendency to prefer solo play in any game, even though it wasn't the most beneficial approach. She could list hundreds of reasons why playing solo wasn't ideal, but that instinct wouldn't change.

Rita gathered her thoughts and began planning how she would handle the possible situations.

If her three colleagues didn't want to risk the surprise blind box, and if her assumptions were correct, Octopus Bucket, Marmang-Crab, and Rabbit 4 formed an interest group. Even if they disagreed slightly with each other, she wouldn't have any say in it. She had no authority.

What she could do was focus on how to grab a position icon after becoming a black-market player. However, she wasn't sure how hard it would be to find these icons once they were scattered.

As she thought about this, she heard a loud sound in the distance, like a large bag of coins dropping heavily onto the ground. It was both heavy and ear-piercing.

At the same time, she caught sight of a red beam of light piercing the sky from the horizon.

The restaurant was still open-air, so she flew up above it and looked outward. The red beam quickly faded from sight.

She immediately opened the battlefield chat channel, where players were still discussing the harsh game mechanics. However, some players had started asking about the red beam.

Perhaps this information wasn't hidden, or perhaps it was the players who hadn't gotten the chance to act yet, but soon enough, someone in the chat had answered.

[Ball Li·In Time]: It's a position icon.

[Lania Kaia·Fat Goose]: What a grand way to get fired.

"I thought someone's skill icon was lost."

"So it's starting already? Who's in such a hurry, rushing to get hired now..."

"How do you even get hired, just touching it?"

As they spoke, the same loud sound, the coins falling and the red beam of light shooting up, happened again.

[Marmang·Crab]: Fired again? Already?

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

[Ball Li·In Time]: You need to stand in the red beam for 3 seconds to successfully pick it up.

What a cruel system!

[Lania Kaia·Maple Syrup]: If you don't want players to get hired, just say so.

[Winter Sea·Whale Full]: This isn't even the worst part. The worst part, Ball Li·In Time, you haven't mentioned yet.

[Winter Sea·Whale Full]: Once you become a black-market player, you automatically enter a stealth state.

[Lania Kaia·Fat Goose]: Gods can eat shit!

"Game Announcement: Lania Kaia·Fat Goose asks the gods to eat shit."

"Game Announcement: Lania Kaia·Fat Goose asks the gods to eat shit."

"Game Announcement: Lania Kaia·Fat Goose asks the gods to eat shit."

[Lania Kaia·Fat Goose]: …Can you guys please disconnect?

Rita restrained herself from replying.

She felt like she, too, wanted to ask the gods to eat shit!

Becoming a black-market player automatically entered a stealth state. And in order to pick up a position icon, you had to stay in the red beam for 3 seconds...

Was this even designed to allow people to get employed?

She continued watching, and the red beam was still visible in the distance. No players had picked it up yet—perhaps they were still fighting for it or simply didn't want to get hired at that moment.

Rita went back to the kitchen to keep preparing dishes.

Sea Pony, who had been following her around and enjoying the view from her shoulder, turned off the chat channel and asked, "Are you afraid of the surprise blind box?"

Rita: "Yes, I'm afraid."

Sea Pony: "Why? The chances of being picked are so low, and even if you do get picked, there's a 30% chance you'll get a gift box. You can take a gamble, can't you?"

Rita explained, "I don't know what Marmang-Crab is thinking. I can only tell you my guess."

"Go ahead."

"This game mechanic has nothing to do with luck. It's not about whether you're willing to take a risk. The word 'random' means a loss of control for players with strong power. The initiative isn't in our hands, no matter how well we play. We just have to wait for an unknown fate to descend, and if we're picked, there's no chance to fight back. It's a horrible feeling."

"Better to die while fighting for the position icon than to be chosen at random and then die instantly."

Moreover, strong players who were confident in their abilities would naturally believe they could always win.

"Plus, you can gamble once or twice, but can you do that 12 times?"

Sea Pony: "Alright, I think I kind of get it now. Crab really doesn't like random stuff."

Rita didn't want to shut down the conversation, though. She replied, "But how the strong feel, I don't know. Some of them might like the thrill, or maybe being chosen to be killed is just another part of the game for them. It's not an offense."

For every player who didn't want to gamble, there were others who did.

Sea Pony crossed its arms and said seriously, "I get your point, but I still have one last question."

Rita patiently asked, "What is it?"

Sea Pony said, "You're right, but I still feel like... you really don't have to fear the surprise blind box. You have no control over where you go anyway, right?"

Rita: "..."

She had been too careless. The inevitable had arrived.