This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 548 - : Divine Game: Chaotic Restaurant 68

Rita didn't rush out right away; instead, she quickly completed some of the tasks that needed to be done inside the restaurant—washing plates, earning Mischief Score, tidying the cashier's desk, and more.

The other three players were also busy. In the World Battlefield, there was no room for idle hands. Everyone had their own plans and regarded the other players with disdain, like they were fools.

After finishing her tasks, Rita didn't hurry to leave the restaurant. Outside, things were already chaotic with players dying constantly. At first, everyone held back.

Some didn't want other players to successfully become black-market players and skip the surprise egg. Others preferred collaborating with their own race, choosing to gamble with the surprise egg rather than die at the hands of enemies. But after things went wild, all those initial hesitations were forgotten.

Rita knew that if she just stepped outside, she wouldn't have to worry about dying.

She was stalling, waiting just a bit longer before leaving.

At this point, Nivalis also entered the restaurant. Since Rita had officially joined, Nivalis followed suit and became a staff member as well. She took the dish Rita handed her and began eating, healing and gaining buffs.

Rita stood at the door of the restaurant, arms crossed, watching the players battling the air and each other outside. The sight was almost comical.

Occasionally, a fruit customer passed by, but no matter if they were employees or black-market players, attacks on customers had no effect.

Everything felt oddly harmonious and yet out of place—something didn't quite sit right.

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She stood there until 9:50.

Rita sensed an ominous signal. The game mechanism was clearly filtering out high-powered players, much like panning for gold.

Though there were still many red light columns on the field, there were noticeably fewer than at the start. As for the restaurants, more and more players were choosing to stay inside rather than risk going out for higher difficulty challenges.

The death rate of black-market players was also quite high.

In the beginning, black-market identities were held by players who had been eliminated in the previous round. Even though there were occasional unlucky players like TingoJE, they were the exception, not the rule.

Simply put, the black-market was the pool for weaker players, and those with restaurants and positions were in the stronger pool.

However, with the boldness of stronger players, they started giving up their positions to become black-market players to avoid penalties. In the first round, this worked fine, but in the second round, players who had skipped an elimination round started snatching positions and joining the workforce.

Now the situation had flipped—black-market players had become the stronger pool, and employees had become the weaker one.

Would employees be willing to leave their positions to make way for others? Not likely. For them, becoming a black-market player felt safer than gambling on the surprise egg.

How many positions would flow into the market with this situation?

After the next hour, many positions would be released into the market, but beyond that, they'd have to wait for the 1,000 Inspectors to clear the restaurants.

This was about to be a major turning point in the high-level battlefield, and it was a time that lower-level players couldn't touch.

As for supply players going out to restock? Players who understood what being a black-market player meant would never risk it. It was like stepping into a field full of invisible assassins, where stepping out was essentially a death sentence.

From now on, becoming a black-market player was easy, but getting a job again would be nearly impossible.

At 9:55, Nivalis, having understood the game rules and Rita's plans, looked at the time anxiously. "Aren't we going out yet?"

Rita waved her hand. "You go back to the space. I'll let you out again after I respawn."

Training was important, but there was no need to rush into death. B80234615, that clever little trickster, always found ways to get back in time after Rita died, ensuring they could live on together, though never dying together.

Once Nivalis disappeared, Rita walked out of the restaurant. She still had time, and she could still skip two rounds.

However, as she walked out the door and almost collided with a lychee customer, she realized something strange she had noticed earlier—these customers all avoided stepping into the red light columns!

Even the plump customers, whose bodies occasionally brushed the columns, never stepped on them.

A thought quickly crossed her mind. With the mindset of "better safe than sorry," she quickly grabbed the lychee that was about to pass her, took a few steps forward, and pushed it into the red light column, ensuring its feet made contact with the light.

At the same time, Rita didn't hesitate to crush a piece of white coral, triggering her 5-second invincibility.

She wasn't about to leave anything to chance.

How could there be no way out of this game?

Three seconds.

The lychee didn't resist; instead, it stared at her.

In just three seconds, the white coral's illusion hadn't even fully dissipated when Rita heard a voice in her mind:

"Congratulations, player! You've discovered a hidden Easter egg·3 (1/20)."

"Just you, food customer: Guide the food customers to pick up position markers."

"Easter egg reward: Lock a skill icon so it cannot be lost under any circumstances."

"Each hidden Easter egg reward can only be used once by each player."

An egg-shaped icon the size of a watermelon seed appeared on her left arm, marked with a "3." She could use it by pressing the same way she used her skill icon.

Without hesitation, Rita used the Easter egg reward on Mysterious Power.

Previously, the rabbit fur only helped prevent theft, but this new reward was far more versatile.

She silently released the lychee customer but quickly returned to the restaurant.

B80234615: "What happened?"

Rita touched her face. "This Easter egg hunt... has some potential."

It wasn't just her who had discovered this. Everyone was quietly getting rich, but who knew if the Easter eggs were limited.

At 9:58, Rita counted down another 30 seconds in her mind before flying into the air.

Earlier, she had been darting around to fight players, but now she was after the hidden skills launched in the chaos between black-market players.

It couldn't be too hidden, but it couldn't be too obvious either. With the limited map space, there wasn't much room to hide. There were only 20 Easter eggs, so how many possibilities could there be?

She tried to think from the perspective of the game designers.

Anyone who had played a few years of games would know how to find Easter eggs and achieve accomplishments.

With only 10% health left, Rita checked the time: 9:59.

Fourth death.

Rita stood in the starting room, not hurrying to choose an SS-level skill for revival but waiting.

At this moment, she was neither an employee nor a black-market player...

At 10:00, time froze, and the third round of eliminations began.

She looked at the game leaderboard that appeared before her.

A voice sounded in her ears:

"Congratulations, player! You've discovered a hidden Easter egg·12 (2/20)."

"Where did that temp go?: Experience the end-of-round elimination without a status."

"Easter egg reward: Guarantee that you'll draw a gift box in the end-of-round elimination."

Another Easter egg appeared on her left arm.