This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1268: Standing at a Crossroads Once Again

"Why did you stop making Little Bear Cookies later?"

After finishing the Black Spring sigh, Rita finally voiced the question she had been holding back.

Maple Syrup sat atop the mast of Cat’s Ideal, her eyes fixed on the distant river of time. The wind tugged at her hair and carried her voice, softening it, making it slightly hard to hear.

"You can just consider it me sobering up."

It was not an answer, not really.

Rita was about to return to the captain’s cabin to continue her writing when Maple Syrup’s words stopped her in place.

"Let me ask you a question."

"Go ahead," Rita said.

"You said, if Black Spring still existed, would Mud Bears agree to let me turn more Autumn Deer into cookies?"

Rita understood Maple Syrup well enough to know that this was not a question seeking reassurance, nor was it a subtle way of teasing her. It was not about whether Mud Bears might regret not letting her make more cookies earlier.

This was a question about compromise, about whether to bow to reality, about whether to kneel to fate.

For all species except Autumn Deer, becoming a cookie was simply a means of survival. For Autumn Deer, agreeing to allow Maple Syrup to turn more of them into cookies was almost equivalent to kneeling before an enemy, giving in to forces they could not resist.

And given Mud Bears’ identity and the care it held for Autumn Deer, it would agree.

It would swallow its pride, suppress all the blood and tears within, and consent to the plan.

"Good thing..."

Rita looked up in surprise at the figure high above on the mast. That word, "good thing," came from Maple Syrup.

Good thing what? That Autumn Deer didn’t have to compromise? Or that Maple Syrup herself didn’t have to face that kind of heartbreak? Perhaps Maple Syrup would rather see Mud Bears storm toward her in tears, determined to strike, than see them powerless to compromise.

The ship sailed steadily toward the four-star world Verdant.

Although Verdant Verdant Whisper · Windrush had replaced the invading world in Player Relic with a lower-tier world called Earth Cage, that low-tier world had already shattered under the Bell.

Verdant had survived because it had entered an invasion sequence that contained a world skill in time. But now, Winter Sea had once again set its sights on the world.

Rita had repaid the 5,000 sighs she had borrowed previously. With just a few more, she could nearly refill her soul fire container. She didn’t ask Maple Syrup about the "good thing" anymore. Instead, she returned to the cabin to continue noting down the scattered details and observations she had gathered.

For instance, Marmang hosted an underwater wild lantern festival every year. Players had an entire year to search for the most beautiful glowing plants in the wild. The winner was awarded a house in Marmang Castle, a rare and valuable prize.

Or, in Black Spring, the springs only gushed where spring bears roamed. Hot springs appeared only in areas visited by spring bears, their presence determining the location of each natural geyser.

Or, at the end of the Black Spring sigh, Mud Bears had answered that one persistent question: "...As long as they’re alive, it doesn’t matter if Autumn Deer doesn’t chase bees."

More and more stars fell into Rita’s soul fire container, Lizi, adding tiny pinpricks of light to its glowing core.

When Verdant’s world dock appeared ahead, Rita once again found herself in that mysterious space.

The previous crossroads had split into four paths: Killing Prohibited, Just a Speck of Dust, Beyond the Sequence, and Before the Sigh Sounds. She now stood on Before the Sigh Sounds.

But in front of her, there was no road.

Rita did not feel urgency. If Unordered Starsea had nothing to offer her, it would never have brought her here.

Instead, she felt an unusual connection with Starsea, as if their thoughts were subtly aligned. She spoke aloud, seeking clarity:

"I want to know—does the pendulum exist to destroy worlds, or to destroy soul fire? Is there a limit to how many worlds can survive?"

The reply came: "Mainly to destroy soul fire. Worlds are destroyed by the residual shockwaves, not the pendulum itself. You can imagine Starsea’s beings as sparks, and Starsea as the bonfire they form. The order pendulum must reduce the flames below the safety line."

"Then why let the game arrive, allowing players to ignite soul fire? Would a crisis still occur if they didn’t?"

"Yes. Even if we didn’t grant you Divine talent to actively ignite soul fire, when each world develops past a certain stage, you would exceed the population limit and ignite it yourselves. BS is an example: even without the game’s invasion, your technology would already reach dangerous thresholds."

"If everyone waits until the late stage to ignite soul fire simultaneously, it would indeed be fair. But Starsea cannot afford the time to cultivate players to that point."

"I understand. My current plan is to concentrate worlds in a nested, doll-like structure. While sharing world skills, I can shrink, consolidate, and overlap soul fire as much as possible. Turning beings into cookie items also helps minimize fluctuations and instability."

After she spoke, Starsea remained silent for a long while. Rita could not tell whether it was consulting the gods, evaluating the feasibility of her plan, or generating skills based on her strategy.

Finally, two paths appeared before her.

Starsea Elegy (Starsea Skill★★★★★): "What’s the point? Does making the story longer matter?" Using this skill on any world increases that world’s maximum population by 10%. Each use consumes 10 World Sighs. (BS Rita only)

King of Cookies (Starsea Skill★★★★★★★): "If you are willing to become cookies, I will take you with me to escape." Creates a cookie house and invites all willing beings in a world. Those who enter automatically turn into cookie items over the next 24 hours. Beings retain consciousness and life, but all stats are 10% of their original values. They retain lifespan but cannot revert by any means. Each cookie house can bake up to 100 million cookies per day. You are the king of all cookie houses and can set the rules. (BS Rita only)

The last line of King of Cookies was somewhat complex—not for Rita herself, but because it created a subtle psychological resistance for beings willing to enter the cookie house, introducing minor complications.

Still, Rita ran straight toward King of Cookies without hesitation.

She was willing to save beings, and she did not hesitate to establish rules.

Cookies would bear the risks, and the King of Cookies would uphold order.