After her breakthrough, at least eighty percent of Rita’s power was back. If she could use her body as a blade to Debone the sea, then naturally she could also use her body as a blade to cast Blood Drain·Wail on other students.
It was a skill she had learned during her break in the second half of her third year. Half a year later, she had pushed it all the way to SSS.
Blood Drain·Wail (SSS): Every attack has a 50% chance of draining 2% of the target’s health to heal you. On a critical hit, the enemy’s blood and Wail will enchant your weapon for five minutes with a random effect. Up to 100 enchantnts can stack.
This directly solved her lack of a powerful healing skill.
But she didn’t rush to hunt down others. What mattered most now was retrieving as many of her core skills and items as possible. Without them she couldn’t rest easy.
Unexpected raids, sudden changes, ambushes from other students—anything could happen. The thought of facing those without her trump cards made her anxious.
As she grew more familiar with the seafloor layout, Rita began circling the harbor, prioritizing the most critical baits. Anything S-rank or above took precedence. Only when she found nothing else would she settle for lower-tier skills.
Until the very last second of this individual match, she wouldn’t quit. But she had to prepare for the possibility of being forced out early and losing half of the skills she hadn’t reclaid.
White Bear had been an accident. Now, with Hide-and-Seek recovered, her efficiency had soared.
With that skill and the Blue-striped Bluru’s trait combined, devouring bait was almost too easy.
And that was exactly what worried her.
It was all too easy.
Would the rest of the match really just play out like children pretending at a fishing ga?
The cost of failure was too steep. No one wanted to start real fights yet, afraid a single slip would get them wiped out. Death wasn’t frightening. Losing half of your unrecovered skills? That was worse than death.
Even those who had harassed her earlier, or when she’d ssed with Quex—everyone had stopped at interference, never going all in. Everyone was holding back. No one wanted to gamble everything this early.
But would the Divine Ga really allow it?
She rembered the scarlet beam that had erupted over Demon City in the last tournant, and the treasure coordinates revealed to all during the team match.
The Divine Ga thrived on pushing players forward.
At 10 o’clock, just as Rita reclaid School Rule No. 805, a voice echoed through the sea.
\[Gift from the Mysterious Anglers—Chumming Ti]
\[In five minutes, the Mysterious Anglers will chum the waters at the Whirlpool Zone. A large number of baits will be dropped. All players who wish to join the lee must reach the zone within five minutes.]
\[Chumming Ti lasts 30 minutes. During this period, all baits in the special zone are unclaid and can be freely consud. Each student can eat up to 10 baits.]
\[If you are killed during the lee, you will be ejected from the ga. Any unclaid baits you consud will be returned to the Whirlpool Zone.]
\[If you are hooked by an angler during this event, you will lose every bait you have eaten since the ga began.]
\[When the event ends, all uneaten baits return to the Anglers.]
\[Warning: So baits are tied to invisible hooks. These cannot be detected or affected by any skill.]
Rita flicked her tail and imdiately darted toward the Whirlpool Zone.
A gift? It was a trap in plain sight.
Yes, baits could be eaten freely. But that also ant clashing with others was inevitable. No one could risk their best skills falling into another’s mouth. If soone swallowed your signature skill, you had no choice but to kill them.
And then there were the hidden hooks.
But Rita had no choice. Cat’s Ideal, I Just Want to Improve So Badly, Mont of Reversal, Mystic Force, Sin of Arrogance, Bedti Tale... too many critical skills were still missing.
What if so of them were in that whirlpool?
She couldn’t stay away.
Most of the others thought the sa. Everyone had secrets, non-negotiable skills or items they couldn’t lose.
The calm sea exploded into chaos. Fish surged like a migration, all streaming toward the unmistakable whirlpool below.
A few hung back.
This was the mont of choice.
Rita was among the first to breach the spinning current and slip into the waters within.
Inside the whirlpool, the sea was eerily calm and bright, as though sunlight had pierced straight through.
The baits hadn’t fallen yet. Rita and several others circled each other warily.
More and more fish arrived, and the whirlpool widened, as if expanding to give them all enough space to fight. The system was nothing if not considerate about "player experience."
There were Keef Angel Fish everywhere. Rita couldn’t tell Maple Syrup from Mistblade, Fat Goose from Motor. Not that she cared to.
Back when Maple Syrup had shouted "Don’t hit , I’m Maple Syrup!" had she believed her?
It hadn’t mattered then. She’d needed a fish and tied her up anyway.
It didn’t matter now either. Were her friends here? Not important. They weren’t weaklings who needed her rcy.
If they feared death, feared becoming useless, then they shouldn’t have entered this ocean where only the strong clashed.
Nor would she waste ti wondering if her attackers included friends.
A ship’s horn blared.
Hundreds of glowing bubbles fell into the water.
So shone like tiny lightbulbs, others were plain. Everyone understood instantly. The glowing bubbles were their own.
And the ordinary ones? As soon as you drew within half a ter, their info appeared.
You couldn’t see rank or detail, but the na was enough.
For any famous student, their signature moves and trump cards weren’t secrets. With just a na, others could guess.
Rita ignored the rest and dove straight for hers. She had to reclaim them first.
Debone·Lightchaser.
She turned Lightchaser’s creation into a travel skill: Express Route·Rita.
Like a blade piercing the sea, she ripped forward, ignoring everyone in her path.
Her first bait made her heart lurch. Sin of Arrogance.
She swallowed it whole.
And bit straight into an invisible hook.
So this was what Luck 6 felt like?
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