Dawn Cicada's fingers slowly tightened. The plush doll in her hand was squeezed out of shape as her voice flowed like velvet. "I've changed my mind. I'll take my time killing you."

The moment she finished, she hurled BS-Rita straight into the swarm of robots below.

The rules of the game stated that players couldn't use skills on each other—but clever players always found ways to twist the rules and do what they wanted, to defeat who they wanted.

As BS-Rita was thrown downward, Dawn Cicada dove after her. She knew her target wouldn't fall that easily.

It wasn't that she believed in BS-Rita's strength—it was that she trusted that one's judgment.

The platinum helm of the ship appeared beside the plush doll's tiny paw. A gentle flick, and Rita vanished, reappearing in the initial room.

The rules only said the game zone would be sealed, not that players couldn't leave. If she could slip out, that was her ability. She'd just return before the timer ran out.

Her stats might only be a fraction of Dawn Cicada's, and although no skills or direct damage were allowed, Dawn Cicada had clearly been planning to use the rules themselves to crush her. With the gap in their base attributes, Rita stood no chance in a straight fight.

She had no choice but to back off for now.

Inside the consciousness network, she messaged B8017913 privately, hoping to learn something—anything—about what had provoked such a dangerous opponent.

[Rita]: How much do you know about Dawn Cicada?

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: Too much. I could talk for three days and nights. Before you showed up, she was one of the top players.

[Rita]: …Speak properly. No fangirl talk.

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: My language database got corrupted while syncing with the BS-Network to learn about you. The entertainment section infected my tone. Anyway, she's a celebrity-tier player now, at the level of the Overlords and Demon Lords—kind of like you and Lania Kaia's Maple Syrup in the Nightmare tier.

[Rita]: What about Mistblade?

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: She's been quiet too long. Faded from fame.

Rita: …

Yeah, definitely corrupted. The tone was ridiculous—but, annoyingly, easy to understand.

[Rita]: Fine, answer straight. Which god favors Dawn Cicada the most?

A burst of overlapping prompts exploded in both their minds.

[You Are Being Watched] [You Are Being Watched] [You Are Being Watched]

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: …Still want to talk?

[Rita]: Huh? Why? Of course. What happened?

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: I don't know. Really, I don't.

[Rita]: Has Dawn Cicada ever reached Tier 19?

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: No, but the Vineborne are powerful overall. If "Dawn" hadn't invaded midway, "Lighthouse" could've evolved to an eight-star world.

[Rita]: Wait—Lighthouse? The Vineborne's origin world isn't Dawn—it's Lighthouse?

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: Correct.

[Rita]: When did it fall? What was her power level then?

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: About three hundred years ago. Abyss tier.

[Rita]: Three hundred years, and she's still not Tier 19?

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: She slaughtered every Divine Game player in the Dawn world who wasn't Vineborne. To keep Dawn's star rank rising, she funneled all her Divine Game rewards into developing her kin and invading other worlds. That's public gossip in the Divine Game forums.

The last part sounded like an apology, but Rita barely noticed. Her mind froze at one phrase—"She slaughtered every Divine Game player in Dawn who wasn't Vineborne."

She instinctively pulled up the Ladder Rankings—and sure enough, the top hundred Dawn players were all Vineborne.

Rita felt even more confused. How did a ruthless legend like that end up targeting her?

But another thought surfaced quickly.

[Rita]: You said she built up her race and invaded other worlds to raise Dawn's star rank. If she's that powerful, why not rebuild Lighthouse?

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: Hard to say.

[Rita]: Don't hedge. Say it boldly.

[B80234615 lots before unchanged]: Boldly speaking—it's still hard to say.

Rita: …

Right. Definitely god-level secrets involved.

By now, the game timer was nearly up. Rita stopped pressing and focused. At the final few seconds, she spun the Cat's Ideal and returned to the game zone.

She landed atop the tree barely two seconds before the end. The game's completion chime echoed immediately.

Rita's gaze met Dawn Cicada's crimson eyes.

[Ding—Game Over]

A glowing capsule, no thicker than a finger, dropped before her. Inside flowed a bright blue energy. Rita snatched it and stuffed it into her gacha device.

So the game wasn't completely hopeless. Even without skills, brute force still worked if you were fast enough.

Resuming her normal form, Rita jumped down from the tree, golden lightning crackling around her, and brushed past Dawn Cicada without a word. Both wore the same unreadable expression as they walked toward their chosen materials.

Nivalis and B8017913 popped out from the pet space and settled back on her shoulders. They hadn't been able to help during the match; the moment it began, they had hidden away.

Nivalis asked, "Do you know what you're going to make yet?"

Rita nodded, then shook her head. She hadn't decided the final form of her Player Relic, but she already had an idea for its core mechanism.

She stopped at a stall, picked up a glass jar containing white flame, and handed the blue energy capsule to the small robot behind the counter. "Got any more of these? I'll take everything you have."

She didn't need that many—but if she could carry them out of the game, it would still be a profit.

This Divine Game clearly didn't intend to limit material supply. Stock was abundant.

After buying twenty jars of the poetic white flame, Rita left fully satisfied.

If not for the system warning that there was a limit to how many materials could be carried out, she probably would have cleaned out the entire oasis. The flame was a treasure for alchemy.

Packing everything safely into her gacha capsule, Rita left the trade zone and flew toward the next oasis town.

Every time she touched the air, golden lightning cracked beneath her feet like shattered glass. Dawn Cicada flew beside her, separated only by the rain of gold, almost parallel.

Several times, Rita had the urge to ask why Dawn Cicada didn't rebuild Lighthouse—but remembering the rule forbidding her from speaking to anyone with golden hair, she swallowed the question.

Her mouth itched with restraint.

In the past, she would've said it anyway. Divine punishment be damned.

But right before leaving the last zone, she must've triggered something by accident—violating the 1-Bamboo rule. She'd received her first Nightmare-tier divine penalty.

[Buzz—you have violated one game rule. Drawing random punishment.]

[Divine Penalty drawn: You have lost 5% of your total wealth.]

That was as good as death.

Even if it killed her, she would not say a single word to Dawn Cicada today.

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