This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1204: Divine Game, Divine Instruction 18

"Pain" was not the right word.

It was too narrow. It could not contain Nuclear Flash NightFury’s brilliance. It was too fragile to define her entire life.

She had not betrayed NightFury’s sacrifice. She stood at the top of the ladder. She rebuilt Nuclear Flash into something like a fairy tale. She was the strongest warrior. The bravest NightFury.

And yet she was also the last NightFury left in the world.

"Hollow" was the only word Rita could find.

The moment she said it, she let go.

She was not used to holding someone like that.

Then her eyes widened.

A faint lavender glow shaped like a NightFury lit up between NightFury’s brows.

Foolishness, who had already lifted off to leave the flower island, and Deceitful Bloom, who had been privately messaging Dawn Cicada, both appeared behind BS Rita at the same time. Their gazes locked onto Nuclear Flash NightFury, who had not yet fully stepped out of Rita’s embrace.

The other players rushed over.

Perched on Rita’s shoulder, Nivalis whispered, "Evo... evolution?"

Rita pinched the dragon’s snout shut and looked back at Foolishness, silently asking for an explanation.

Foolishness’s eyes were bright with surprise. She even removed her glasses.

"She found the direction of her divine talent."

Found. Nothing more.

As if to confirm her words, the light at NightFury’s brow dimmed. She blinked in a daze, then hugged Rita back tightly.

"Thank you! I know which direction to pursue for my divine talent now."

Rita was slow for once. "Oh."

Before she could ask what that feeling had been like, what "pursue" even meant in practice, several hands shoved NightFury aside.

A crowd of players surrounded BS Rita.

"Master, look at me!"

"Rita, you understand me, right? How would you summarize me?"

"What about me?"

"Rita, want to hear my story?"

"Master!"

Rita was still crouching on the ground and now completely boxed in. She could not even stand.

Foolishness and Deceitful Bloom were physically pushed out of the circle.

In the end, Foolishness decided she had no intention of wasting time. She grabbed BS Rita by the back of her collar, lifted her out of the mob, and left with her own class.

After they were gone, Deceitful Bloom stared at her students, who were still gazing at the sky as if hoping Rita would reappear.

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"There will be another joint session on Day Twelve. You can ask her then."

Ash Cinders frowned. "Is the word really that hard to find? I’ve summarized myself so many times, and none of them felt right. I should know myself best."

Deceitful Bloom had already turned and was walking back into the island.

"Most beings cannot accurately summarize their own lives," she said lightly. "Either they have never truly understood themselves, or they choose words without knowing their weight."

Hollow.

She rolled the word over in her mind. It fit Nuclear Flash NightFury perfectly.

A small figure suddenly blocked her path.

Deceitful Bloom lowered her gaze to Sea Pony and raised a brow.

Sea Pony gave her the brightest smile it had shown all day. Then it produced a cushion embroidered with Deceitful Bloom’s half-length portrait and held it up.

"She sent this to you."

One sentence. Worth every word.

Deceitful Bloom looked at the cushion, unreadable.

Crab, who had noticed too late while chatting with classmates, nearly screamed.

Just as it thought it was about to lose Sea Pony forever, Deceitful Bloom smiled.

The cushion vanished into thin air as she stored it away.

"Very good."

She disappeared the next instant. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Mistblade said to Ash Cinders, "I thought after Quiet Mountain she would’ve grown up."

Ash Cinders replied, "The moment she called me Sister Ash Cinders, I knew she hadn’t."

...

Before Rita and the others even returned to the Toy Palace, the news had already spread.

Divine talent evolution. The fact that she had helped Nuclear Flash NightFury find her direction.

On the battlefield chat, "Master" became the most frequent word.

By the time Rita finished washing up and sat down in the classroom, the rumor had evolved into: "BS Rita awakened Nuclear Flash NightFury’s divine talent with a single hug."

She had not even opened the battlefield chat to see the chaos when she felt it.

The air around her turned cold.

The moment she sat down, both classmates at her sides turned and stared at her silently.

Rita was not unwilling to help.

Just as Mistblade had immediately shared the key insight about divine talent advancement with other Starsea players, Rita did not mind helping if it truly made Starsea stronger. At least for now, the competition was not life or death.

But she did not know everyone.

"That was a coincidence," she said helplessly. "I happened to see Nuclear Flash NightFury in a World Sigh. I just knew a little about her."

Tiger Ear Kessa immediately said, "Then what about me? You called me Midsummer Kessa."

Rita’s pen paused.

She did know something there.

Maple Syrup spoke next. "What about me? Don’t you understand me?"

Rita felt sweat bead at her temple.

That one... she knew a little too.

Dawn Cicada added, "You said I was still so young when I left Beacon. You said Wrathful Moon didn’t understand me."

Finally Rita found a foothold. "We’re not that close."

Fury Prayer asked gently, "Interested in hearing my story?"

"No," Rita answered instantly.

But she was trapped.

She set her pen down with a sigh. "I can only give my understanding. It might be wrong. If I were that accurate, I wouldn’t still be searching for my own direction."

Maple Syrup spread her wings to block Tiger Ear Kessa.

"Me first."

Rita had no choice but to look at her.

It was only the second time they had met each other’s eyes in days. After a second, Rita looked away.

Unlike with NightFury, there was no long silence this time. The answer came quickly.

As if she had not thought at all.

Or as if she had known for too long.

"Forest Sea."

There was no better word.

Vast. Majestic. Boundless. Wild.

But also cold and merciless. To survive in the Forest Sea, one must obey its law.

The word was too large.

Maple Syrup’s eyes burned. She closed them, composed herself, then slowly shook her head.

"That’s not me."

Rita did not look offended. She actually felt relieved.

"I never said I could summarize any of you."

Mistblade once said Divine Game players stood above the abyss, each one carrying heavy sins.

Their stories were vast and turbulent. How could one word define a Starsea player?

"Hollow" had been luck.

The others did not back down.

Tiger Ear Kessa walked around to the other side of the table and leaned over it, staring straight at BS Rita.

"What about me? Midsummer Kessa. You know her, don’t you?"