Rita had no idea whether hiding her Player Relic inside the gacha machine could have avoided this forced-loss chanic, but she didn’t regret not doing it. The only reason she never stored it there was because she suspected that, in the second phase of the Divine Ga, if the system failed to detect a Player Relic on her, it might imdiately mark her as unqualified for the battle royale and eject her from the ga entirely.
If the gacha machine could block Divine Ga rules well enough to let her smuggle in piles of items, then blocking the ga’s key item might just as easily get her disqualified. The more soone relied on exploiting loopholes, the more they feared being caught by the sa kind of loophole.
These thoughts flashed through her mind only briefly. Rita didn’t dwell on the problem already in motion. Instead, she began scanning the trading zone, trying to locate L175246—and ideally Y128 as well.
She was almost certain Y128 would appear here too.
She’d already sensed the gods’ amusent. As long as they didn’t interfere with the core gaplay or alter any rules, they clearly enjoyed stirring trouble.
Rita asked B80 in her mind, "That question you asked earlier—why the painting only had two event bundles—was that really your own curiosity, or did soone tell you to ask?"
B80 replied, "Hard to say."
Rita smiled faintly. B80 was getting better and better at slipping around technicalities.
A burst of fireworks lit up the sky, signaling the start of the ga.
Rita observed only briefly. After confirming that every chanoid was carrying an item that absolutely did not match their usual design style, she imdiately dismissed the golden rain curtain to avoid influencing other players. Then she triggered a ti-stop.
The penalty hit her again—another punishnt for violating a personal ga rule. And because she’d broken that particular rule too many tis, the penalty beca harsher: the stolen-goods return window now stretched all the way back to one week before the ga began.
But she had practically done nothing but deal with BS-related business during that entire week. The only things she had stolen were a few attribute points off dungeon creatures. Losing them barely mattered, and it was still far less painful than getting hit with divine punishnt for breaking universal rules.
It took multiple tests for her to realize she had one ordinary rule too—she wasn’t allowed to step out of a ga zone with her left foot first.
Walking through the area, she examined every chanoid and the items they carried.
The ga wasn’t trying to make players completely desperate. At the very least, chanoids couldn’t store the Player Relic inside spatial inventory nor hide it away. That alone justified why she entered ti-stop without hesitation.
She activated Fishing Master, letting her see the nuric ID floating above every chanoid’s head.
Not even halfway across Oasis Town, she found both L175246 and Y128 frozen in mid-step in the sand. L175246 had a tiny violin strapped to its back. Y128 held a tal case no bigger than a wallet.
Rita paused for just a second before moving on—she still needed to find the chanoid holding her gem-ring Player Relic.
But after inspecting every chanoid in the entire trading zone, she still couldn’t find her transford painting. She even double-checked the chanoid count and player count; they matched perfectly. She hadn’t missed anyone.
She returned to L175246, tapped its head as she passed, and then once again stopped in front of Y128.
Dropping down cross-legged beneath a tree, she sat barely half a ter from it.
She reached out to touch the tal case, but her fingertips slipped right through it. Just like the other Relics in chanoid hands, it couldn’t be touched—aning brute force wouldn’t work.
She shaped her right hand into a gun, fingertip pressed lightly against Y128’s chest.
Should she use The End of the Story and kill Y128? And if it died, would its Player Relic vanish with it?
This tal case was one of the few Relics still labeled as unknown. She had no idea what was inside. And as long as it remained unopened, it could still be hers.
Her right hand remained raised; her left hand propped her chin as she studied Y128.
After a long silence, she finally spoke. "You’re conscious during ti-stop, aren’t you?"
Y128 didn’t answer.
Rita continued, "You hide it well. But a very adorable friend gave a hint."
Every ti she walked past L175246, its displayed emotion shifted. That emotional display was clearly sothing that could be toggled on or off, otherwise it wouldn’t be the only chanoid revealing its feelings.
As soon as she finished speaking, the text above Y128 shifted from "Calm" to "Confused."
It was talking to her in the only way it could, asking what exactly BS-Rita intended to do.
Rita finally voiced what she had been considering for a long ti. "That last match matters to you too, doesn’t it? How about working with ? My Player Relic should be pretty good."
It took a long ti before Y128’s display changed—"Confused" followed by "Shocked?"
There was even a question mark after shocked, as if it were asking: Are you out of your mind?
"Yes. I want to cooperate." Rita’s voice grew calr. She lowered the "gun," shifting into a more relaxed posture—one knee bent, her right arm draped loosely over it, her left hand supporting her as she leaned back slightly.
"With your ability, you could have found a partner long ago. Even a tier 17 or tier 18 player would be thrilled to pick you. Yet you still ca to this zone."
"Whether soone directed you here or you simply refused to let go of our grudge, it ans you intend to settle things in this ga."
She waved her hand, cancelling the ti-stop. Golden rain crashed down as the world ca alive again. Rita remained seated under the tree, and Y128 still didn’t walk away.
It stared at her, voice cold. "You’re full of yourself. Why would I fight for soone I hate?"
Rita asked, curious, "Then what did you plan to do when you found ?"
Y128 shot back instantly, "Obviously, to get revenge. To stop you from entering the battle royale. To make sure you don’t get first place in the Divine Ga, and to make you lose your bet."
Rita felt a headache coming. Why did it seem like literally everyone in the world knew about that wager?
The zone had already erupted into chaos. After discovering they couldn’t touch the Relics in chanoid hands, players resorted to the obvious next step: attacking. Player skills didn’t work on other players, but no rule said they couldn’t be used on chanoids.
Rita asked, "Is that tal case my Player Relic?"
Y128 nodded, then looked at her with open challenge. "Yes. And here, only if you satisfy a chanoid’s requirent can you touch your own Player Relic."
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