This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1197: Divine Game, Divine Instruction 11

At 9:45 PM, the exam that Foolishness had mentioned before class began. Foolishness sat in her recliner, and one by one, the players came up to her. She would give them five skill runes, and Rita and the others had to combine them into a functioning skill within one minute.

The available "parts" were more diverse, but the skills to be assembled were more targeted. They couldn’t just combine any parts; Foolishness would only assign skills from four categories: attack, defense, healing, and control. For now, the questions were simple enough. But this was only the fifth day of the game, and it was clear that in the future, there would be even more complicated skill requirements, tighter time limits, and even level restrictions for the temporary skills they created.

Foolishness raised her index finger, pointing at Kessa, sitting at the far right. She simply said, "Come."

The one-on-one exam in front of the other classmates instantly gave Rita the same anxious feeling she used to get in high school exams. She felt more nervous now than she ever did when facing ten opponents at Quiet Mountain.

The weaknesses of the Vineborne were apparent at that moment. As the Flower Crown Murder around her tightened, Dawn Cicada immediately looked at her and said confidently, "You’re nervous."

Rita’s gaze landed on the Snakebone Vine that was tightening around Dawn Cicada’s waist. "I’m better than you."

Dawn Cicada laughed and tossed her long hair over her shoulder. The ends of her hair unintentionally flicked at Rita, but she managed to dodge it. "I’m not nervous."

Rita smirked. "I’m as relaxed as if I’m back home."

The next moment, two small gemstones hit their foreheads, and Foolishness’s slow voice echoed, "Quiet, or you’ll be sent out."

The Vineborne in the room fell silent, and Maple Syrup scoffed disdainfully. The third gemstone hit Maple Syrup’s forehead.

—"You too."

Maple Syrup’s face stiffened, but she took a deep breath. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Rita and Dawn Cicada both smiling brightly at her.

Foolishness withdrew her gaze, and the fourth gemstone flew out, hitting Kessa, who had been watching the commotion. Kessa quickly stopped smiling and turned around.

The players’ progress wasn’t uniform. Each of them excelled in different areas, but Foolishness’s skill runes and questions were designed in such a way that each student would take roughly 55 seconds to finish.

Once was a coincidence, twice an accident, but five times? That was definitely a case of a top student controlling the score. What’s more, each player’s health at the end of the session was exactly 55.

At 10 PM, all of them passed the exam. Foolishness stood up promptly.

"Tomorrow, look neat. If not, you’ll stay here to guard the place. Wear these during the joint training," she said, and with a wave of her hand, a pair of glasses appeared on each of their desks. The glasses had a delicate long chain hanging from either side, each with a small blue gemstone.

"They will help you record the entire process of dismantling and assembling the runes for later review after the joint training."

After Foolishness left, the players eagerly picked up the glasses and tried them on. The allowed tools could only be used within the game, but no one knew if they would be allowed to keep them after the game ended.

Thinking about tomorrow’s joint training, Fury Prayer carefully put his glasses away and asked, "Do you think it’s better to have the skill to control other players or the ability to dismantle and reassemble various skills?"

The group fell silent, not because they didn’t want to answer, but because they weren’t sure themselves. After days of being together, they had all grown accustomed to one another. While some relationships were still delicate, they generally got along well and sometimes discussed rune combinations.

At first glance, it seemed that controlling another player’s skill was superior. After all, no matter how you rearrange your own skills, they would be useless if the opponent controlled them.

However, when they thought about it, the ability to dismantle and reassemble skills was full of possibilities. Would they prefer to create their own customized skills, or control a skill they weren’t familiar with?

The players favored the first option, but as they thought about tomorrow’s joint training, their minds began to waver.

After a long pause, Rita said, "Maybe it takes time for them to control our skills. Even if we’re controlled, we could still dismantle and reassemble, right?" As soon as she said it, she realized the others were taken aback as well.

Kessa murmured, "If that’s true, what would it look like if Foolishness and Deceitful Bloom fought?"

Foolishness releases a skill—Deceitful Bloom takes control—Foolishness disassembles the skill rune, causing it to lose control—Foolishness reassembles the skill—Deceitful Bloom takes control again—Foolishness keeps disassembling and reassembling...

Rita’s mind wandered, and she pictured Deceitful Bloom and Foolishness sparring in the park, playing Tai Chi for three days and nights without disturbing their hair.

As they continued to chat, they headed out, ready for tomorrow’s joint training. They knew they had to prepare for it today, or Foolishness might make them stay behind to guard the place.

The next morning at 7 AM, Foolishness entered the classroom early. She stopped at the door, her gaze sweeping over the five students. Purple hair, blonde hair, black hair, red hair, and blue hair—now all smooth and shiny. They had even changed into new clothes.

Even Maple Syrup, with her curly hair, and Kessa, whose hair was usually a mess, had clearly tidied up.

Foolishness coldly remarked, "We’re going for joint training, not a social event."

The five students turned around at the same time, and the blue gemstones on their glasses swayed as they moved. Their faces were radiant, but their eyes behind the glasses seemed to have a touch of resentment.

Flattering compliments had backfired.

Fury Prayer said, "Didn’t you ask us to look neat? Otherwise, we’d stay here and guard the place."

Indeed, it was Nivalis and B80 who had found the toys for them. To use the hair and skin care toys, they had even wasted about ten minutes of study time.

Foolishness: "..." Well, that was true. Yesterday, these five had been so disheveled from the intensity of the lessons that they all looked quite sloppy, even with the cleaning toys. Now, they looked much better.

She turned and started walking. "Follow me."

Behind her came the sound of furniture scraping. Then, a voice called out, "Can you control your Vine? It’s always messing up my hair!"

"That’s because BS Rita’s Vine keeps provoking me!"

"It provokes and runs away—does it get scared?"

"Could your Vine not be so busy? It’s both provoking Dawn Cicada and trying to pull out my feathers..."

"I can understand BS Rita’s behavior because you always flap your wings for no reason."

"...That’s because snow keeps drifting towards me from your side!" The squabble continued.

Foolishness quickened her pace, eager to get to the Flower Island and make it lively!

As they passed the workshop, she raised her voice slightly and called out to the dragon and robot rummaging through boxes inside, "Nivalis, B80, you’re coming too."

The rummaging stopped for a moment, followed by the excited sound of running.

"I thought we weren’t qualified to go, Foolishness is so kind! I wonder how Sea Pony is doing on the Flower Island."

"Yeah, I wonder if it’s still alive."