This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 598 - : Minesweeper & That Glass of Ice Wine

Rita carefully stored the Dragon Egg Shell, with the Lonely Antenna Baby still attached to it. These two items were such a perfect match that she didn't want to separate them.

However, when wearing the egg shell hat, Lonely Antenna Baby was not in use. Its energy consumption was too high—2000 mana per second, and with only 29,000 mana, Rita could only use it for about ten seconds.

But with the Regular Savings that could store up to ten times her mana, she could use it a bit longer.

Turning into Wind Scythe, Rita, Nivalis, and B8017913 made their way to the underwater city of Lania Kaia.

The first thing Rita did after passing through the teleportation array was to check on White Bone Black Jade. She found that she could still clearly perceive its presence. In fact, with enough concentration, she could even see through White Bone Black Jade's eyes and experience its view.

This discovery eased Rita's mind significantly. Now, she just needed to check if she could still communicate with White Bone Black Jade once back in the world battlefield.

She instructed White Bone Black Jade to rest in energy-saving mode at the karting track, and then flew straight to Gloom City to find Apache.

Rita wasn't entirely sure of her own alchemy level anymore, but whether it was her innovation in combining alchemy and cooking, or the numerous Alchemy lessons she'd taken over the years, she had gained much. Her mind was filled with countless ideas, and she wanted to discuss them with Apache.

Upon arriving at the teleportation array in Gloom City, she immediately sensed something was off.

This reminded her of an SSS-level skill she had obtained in the Chaotic Kitchen, [Minesweeper].

[Minesweeper] (SSS): When a region becomes highly dangerous for you, you will no longer be able to "lay low." This skill will automatically activate, consuming 2000 mana per minute, allowing you to see the world clearly.

This skill was a strange one—partly passive, but also partly active. Most passive skills were free to use, like [Midnight Exile], [Absurd Story], [Bedtime Tale], [Click, Locked], and [Absolutely Awake].

[Midnight Exile] was powerful not only in its content but also because many of its most critical battle skills were passive. This not only meant no mana cost, but also that the time to activate these skills was shortened—every fraction of a second counted during battle.

Rita was usually a fan of passive skills, as they allowed for seamless flow without worrying about resource management.

Active skills, on the other hand, consumed mana, but the player had full control over when they were used.

However, [Minesweeper] fell somewhere between these two. If the mana cost were too high, it would be a huge burden, but the skill was still usable—just very situational.

Rita's strong impression of this skill wasn't just because it was unusual, but because it was the ninth kill reward she received after killing a player, waiting for their revival time to almost run out.

It showed how undecided the other player was when choosing skills.

Since receiving this skill in the world battlefield, Rita hadn't used it due to the game's unique mechanics. Even though the world battlefield was filled with danger, the skill didn't have an icon, so it wouldn't trigger.

But back in BS, there was no danger, so it remained inactive.

Now, for the first time, [Minesweeper] was automatically triggered.

Her vision shifted. The world was now bathed in faint red and green hues, like the last strokes of watercolor from an artist whose paint had nearly run out, or like a thin fog.

It didn't obscure her view. The buildings in Gloom City and the alien players walking on the streets were still clearly visible. But the world had definitely changed.

Within the fog, she could make out faint numbers. For now, she saw numbers ranging from 1 to 5.

The red fog almost filled 98% of her vision, with green fog only occupying 2%. Most of the numbers in the fog were "1."

This made Rita think of an old computer game—Minesweeper.

Although she wasn't entirely sure what the [Minesweeper] skill meant, she immediately felt that something was wrong and told Nivalis, who had transformed into a tiny sea horse (which was a bit annoying), "Something's off. Go back to the pet space."

Nivalis obediently returned to the pet space.

At the same time, Rita immediately put on the Dragon Egg Shell Hat with the Lonely Antenna Baby attached and used the Lonely Antenna Baby skill.

Her mana drained quickly as she activated it.

The moment she used the skill, the undead guards and players who had been eyeing her for a moment seemed momentarily confused, before they quickly averted their gazes.

In the second second, Rita removed her Wind Scythe disguise and flew high into the sky, scanning Gloom City below.

She saw that almost 50% of the city was covered in red, and these red areas were concentrated around the four city gates, seven teleportation arrays, and Apache's alchemy shop.

The red number hovering over the teleportation array beneath her was 5.

Rita tried using [Phantom Shift], but it didn't work.

She targeted a small building diagonally across from Apache's Alchemy Shop and used [Romantic Tourist]. This time, the teleportation was successful, though the landing point was off, and she ended up in a strange room instead of the small building.

Inside, a circle of Lania Kaia 12 alien players, with 7 different races and two beasts, stood around her.

But fortunately, they didn't notice her presence. She was standing right in the middle of them, but it was as if she was invisible.

Rita held her breath and used [Romantic Tourist] again, this time successfully landing above the small building.

Apache's Alchemy Shop was almost completely covered in red fog, and the numbers barely visible in the mist were... "10"!

The eighth second.

She looked inside the alchemy shop from the doorway. Only Apache and Kayden were inside.

Apache was sitting by the window, frowning, with a glass of wine beside her.

Rita recognized the wine—Ice Snow Wind Bell—a sweet, icy wine that needed to be drunk quickly after pouring into the glass. When you drank it, the sound of wind chimes would ring in your mind, and each person would hear a different wind chime sound.

Apache wasn't the only one who liked it; even Kayden and Rita, who weren't big drinkers, enjoyed it.

But... the glass containing the Ice Snow Wind Bell was now devoid of frost, indicating it had been neglected for too long and missed its optimal drinking time.

This was quite a sight for Apache, who loved her wine.

[Apache Level 99 100%┃100%┃Amazement·Confusion·Worry·Helplessness·Sadness┃Taboo: Alchemy┃Weakness: Lucia]

And Kayden—he was standing behind the counter, staring at his fingers.

[Kayden Level 18 100%┃100%┃Worry·Anger·Sadness·Despair┃Taboo: Apache┃Weakness: Identity and Hierarchy]

Rita stood at the entrance, watching her mentor and friend. It seemed that she couldn't come here anymore for a while.

She felt regret and discomfort, but not anger. She could tell they weren't the ones who had planned against her.

It must have been someone stronger than them who intervened.

That day had finally come.

As BS-Rita's name became more and more special in the world battlefield, this day had finally arrived.

She was no longer just another BS human player, but a special existence capable of influencing the course of BS and the battlefield.

Perhaps Apache never imagined that the student she took on a whim would turn out to be so unique.

The 11th second... 13th second...

She watched Apache and Kayden, their troubled expressions, and the alchemy shop filled with unseen dangers.

For some reason, she felt an absurd sense of comfort.

Since establishing bonds of mentorship and friendship with the two undead, she often questioned herself—whether she was doing the right thing, whether it was truly worth it. Did Apache really have no ulterior motive?

Now, it seemed the answers had come—answers that didn't hurt, but also didn't matter much anymore.

She quietly hovered outside the window, the red glow of her wings reflecting off the icy blue wine. The wind moved her fiery wings, gently swaying with the wine.

Apache gazed at the wine that had long lost its temperature and flavor. Rita watched her mentor.