This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1099 Divine Game My World 44

The war cruise ship continued its journey. No one knew how much time had passed before a ripple of startled voices rose from the deck. Lightchaser caught her apprentice’s name and straightened, turning in the same direction as the other players.

At the end of the river of time, a new dock had appeared. BS. Moored before the dock named BS was a twin mast square rigged sailboat, its ridiculous cat painted on the sails puffing out its cheeks as the wind filled them.

BS Rita had just stepped out of the cabin and was looking up at the full moon hanging above the dock.

The last time they met on the river, Lightchaser already felt that her apprentice had changed. Now, seeing her again, she looked so light that even a breeze might carry her away.

She wore a loose, pale shirt and an oversized black robe embroidered with muted dark gold patterns. She looked like a bard who had wandered onto a pirate ship by mistake, stepping out for air after finishing a score.

Yet even from a side view alone, the weight pressing on her could be felt.

Her black hair spilled down as she tilted her head toward the moon, like a narrow waterfall. The long hem of her robe spread across the deck. One hand at her side clenched an open book.

When the small boat entered the war cruise ship’s view, it was noticed in return.

She looked over quietly, no one knew at what, then lifted her pen and began writing in the book in her hand.

When she finished, she let go. The night wind scattered the book into loose pages that traced spirals through the air before dissolving into light and vanishing into the night sky.

Ten minutes earlier, Rita had once again filled the vessel of her soul flame. She was dragged back into that mysterious space.

She stood at the same node as before. Her refusal to choose last time had itself been a choice. The unknown presence had expelled her then. Now, she had returned.

The three familiar paths still remained. (Killing Prohibited). (No More Than a Grain of Dust). (Beyond the Sequence).

But beyond them, a fourth path extended from beneath her feet.

(Before the Sigh Sounds) (?). (One to six stars). Using this skill allows you to generate a war skill, world skill, or unknown effect of variable strength and star rating according to your will. Each use consumes 5000 units of World Sigh and may be prepaid. The minimum payment cannot be less than 100 sighs. This skill is exclusive to BS Rita.

Five thousand units of World Sigh. Enough to fill fifty entire soul flame vessels.

The Silent Traveler. The Idealist Who Turns a Deaf Ear. You despise invasion yet refuse to leave the invasion sequence. Then let me see what you truly want before the sigh sounds.

As expected, that unknown existence placed immense importance on her role as a recorder of civilizations. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Otherwise, (Beyond the Sequence) would not have allowed her to retain her power.

Admiration or favoritism was impossible. The only explanation was usefulness. And the one role she possessed that no other player could replace was listening to sighs and recording civilizations.

Now, after the stalemate, the other side had offered a fourth option.

Rita finally stepped forward. She walked toward (Before the Sigh Sounds).

When she emerged from the mysterious space, she guided Cat’s Ideal back to the BS world dock using its skill.

She looked up at the moon. When the moment truly arrived, the resolve and fearlessness she once had seemed to drain away.

That unknown presence had kept asking what she wanted. It kept trying to give her what it thought she sought. It assumed she wanted peace, neutrality, privilege.

Or praise. Or that she was timid, afraid to bear guilt.

No. None of that.

She had seen too many World Sighs.

The despair of Vineborne. The suffering of Moon Foxes. The numbness of Sharkfin. The sorrow of Fruitlings. The relief of Wind Scythe. The fear of Celestialkin. The resentment of Landscale. The confusion of the Mountainbound.

Sighs tied to the game’s arrival always seemed soaked in tears. Yet through those tears, Rita saw other things as well.

Changed destinies. Fulfilled ambitions and ideals. The joy of wielding power. The shock of glimpsing a vast world.

She scorned the seven star skill (Beyond the Sequence) because she did not want to achieve a seemingly perfect ending by stripping players of what they possessed.

What was her ideal.

It was simple. Everyone should be able to enjoy the game in their own way, to face this divine blessing or disaster by their own choice.

She despised war and destruction, but not killing or competition. On the contrary, she enjoyed them. And she knew there were players who loved the game as she did. She could name several.

What she hated was powerless players being pushed into the invasion sequence. What she rejected was the day she would have to issue invasion orders herself and personally destroy world after world.

"Let the ambitious fulfill their dreams amid fire and ruin. Let those who loathe conflict and slaughter enjoy the miracles the game brings."

"This is what I want. The right to choose."

"I want every player to have the right to choose how they play the game."

"I am stubborn, yes. Because aside from this, I want nothing else."

That was what she told the unknown presence in the mysterious space.

She did not want neutrality. Not privilege. Not peace.

She wanted to pull her world and her players out of the invasion sequence. She wanted BS players to have the freedom to play if they wished.

Players should play the game. Join or leave.

A good question. A fair choice. What she wanted was to give every BS player that choice.

If they had to enter the game, then it could be a management game, a strategy game, an adventure game, a conquest game. Everyone could find a way to play that suited them, instead of being forced into a single path.

She had grown up, more rational, more guarded. But the brave romantic she once was had never truly died.

(Before the Sigh Sounds) was the closest option to her dream. And it was filled with uncertainty.

She wanted to drag BS into the river of time. If it could not be marked, if it were immersed in chaos, could it become unconnectable like the old Isolated Isle. Untraceable like the Moon Crown.

It was a choice with an unknown outcome. A path laden with risk.

Only now did she realize she was not as fearless as she imagined.

The sound of the war cruise ship rose in the distance, snapping Rita back to herself.

She looked toward its deck and saw one familiar face after another.

And in that moment, she opened the World Sigh book once more and wrote a passage.

"Before the sigh sounds.

Stand atop the Mu Tree and you can see an entire sea of trees. The orchestra beneath the sea has not disbanded. Seven hundred and sixty six amusement parks are still open. The Vine has not lit. The candle flames have not gone out. Mountain Isles has not yet sunk beneath the sea. Fruitlings still blanket the hills. Midsummer has more fair days than foul. Landscale spreads her arms on the deck, laughing as she welcomes the Tides. The Mountainbound Among Antlers and the wind whales are still young.

Before the sigh sounds, I want BS to deviate from its destined course.

Prologue."