This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Before diving into the game, Rita found a secluded spot and activated the World's Grave Forest · Charge, placing Blazing Flame Civilization's Tiger Chess into the ticket window.

[Player BS Rita has activated the qualification for Divine Game round 23284] [Game countdown: 08:53:25] [Please be patient, the game is entering the preparation phase, and you will be able to enter the battlefield's initial room once ready]

Nivalis: "Is it really working?"

Rita: "Yeah, I feel a lot better now."

The two of them split up to handle things. Nivalis urgently needed to steal some seashells, while Rita cleaned out some of the equipment she felt was of little research value, even selling some high-rated dishes. The two, one human and one dragon, managed to gather nearly 5000 seashells just before the game countdown hit half an hour, exchanging them all for umbrella seed lamps.

Then, they found another quiet spot to wait for the game to begin.

[Welcome BS player Rita to the world battlefield] [You will participate in Divine Game round 23284] [Detecting World Graveyard·You will be granted a one-minute early exit to the main battlefield] [Detecting World Graveyard·Green Dragon, you will unlock one weapon or piece of equipment] [Detecting World Graveyard·East Wind, both you and your pet will unlock one skill each] [You enter the world battlefield with a two-star key - World's Grave Forest·Charge. This grants you the Legendary Prologue and War Horn skills. Please select two divine skills and three battle skills to unlock]

Rita chose Absurd Story and Bedtime Tale. Midnight Exile, though passive, was an attack skill, and she preferred to save its special technique for when it was more useful.

As for Nivalis' skills, Rita left it up to her to decide. She already had a plan: once her special technique ran out, she could always go back to High Tower, and then maybe figure out a way to quit mid-game.
Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

Once they entered the initial room, Rita quickly checked her ranking and tier in the world battlefield. She was still a 6th tier player, which made her breathe a sigh of relief. However, her ranking had dropped to 59978, with a 7th-tier player right ahead of her. Among the 6th-tier players, she was now one of the top contenders. If this round ended with more gains than losses, she would likely reach 7th tier in the next game...

After waiting a little while, the game rules and details for this round of Divine Game appeared in the center of the room.

[Divine Game round 23284: Diamond Miner] [Game countdown: 00:09:59] [Game Objective]: Within 24 hours, mine as much ore as possible and sell it to the mineral merchant for diamonds. At the end of the game, the bottom 5000 players will have their divine skills sealed for 30 days.] (The value of the ore you sell determines your ranking. You can check your current ranking via the leaderboard at any time.) [Game Difficulty]: Hardcore Player Rule 1: ??""??"-40-）** Rule 2: ?κΨληκρΘΔηκΨΦΩΔηκΨ Rule 3: The total amount of ore on players and their pets must not exceed 10 … Rule 6: ε?ναι η του τουαλ?τα? ε?ναι ηα Rule 7: ○⊙●o◎O●o Rule 8: When negotiating with the mineral merchant, lying is prohibited … Rule 17: ...…&%...&%@」』」 Rule 18: ≌∝≈≡∝≡≈≡≌∝≈ …

Rita wasn't lucky enough to understand many of the rules. Only two were clear, and while two other rules seemed to be written in English, she couldn't make sense of them at all. They even gave off a strange vibe, like they had some kind of radiation.

This game, like the one with the little painter, also had a punishment for the last-place players.

As for why Kart Racing didn't have a punishment, Rita could only attribute it to the fact that racing itself was a competition—whether through speed or kart coin collection, players would inevitably collide on the track. But in Diamond Miner, there was less direct competition. Perhaps the game didn't require players to actually kill each other; a simple pose might even suffice to win the game?

But now, Rita couldn't confirm any of that. She had participated in too few games to fully grasp the pattern.

At the moment, the battlefield chat was filled with activity, most of it just insults flying back and forth... Nobody was really going after Rita and Nivalis, though. After all, it had been more than a month since Kart Racing, and every game was a mess of mutual sabotage. No one was particularly bothered by this one. It wasn't like when Winter Sea Frenzied Shark lost their divine skill, where even after several rounds, people still talked about it.

Rita thought about the game's content and opened the leaderboard to check on familiar names. MistbladeMaple Syrup's rank hadn't changed much, but Winter Sea Frenzied Shark had dropped again, now behind Withered and down from 17th tier to 16th. The consequences of losing core divine skills were becoming more serious.

Rita had only had Midnight Exile for a few months, but her combat style had changed drastically. The more she fought, the stronger she became, and now she had a kind of fearless, reckless confidence—an overwhelming belief that her enemies would fall before her. She had begun to understand why Winter Sea Frenzied Shark's title was "Going to Death Calmly"—because their enemies were the ones who were always dying first!

For Rita, only when entering the world battlefield did her caution and carefulness take over. This kind of bold, fearless fighting style was easy to cultivate, but once it became ingrained, it was hard to shake. Winter Sea Frenzied Shark was now bound to be hesitant and careful, their confidence shattered by repeated failures. Of course, Frenzied Shark hadn't gotten this far because they were weak-willed. But Rita knew she had to catch up quickly, close the gap, and deal with Frenzied Shark once and for all before their divine talent was restored.

At that moment, Nivalis reappeared from the vanished game screen with two mining picks in hand. She handed one to Rita, saying, "Shall we use these to mine?"

Rita checked the mining pick's description:

[Common Mining Pick] (Upgradeable): Durability (10/10)

The two exchanged a glance, both of them having a bad feeling about it. This pick couldn't be used just a few times, could it? Would they need to buy new ones or upgrade them to mine better ores?