This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 561 - : Divine Game: Chaotic Restaurant 81

Rita stood up and stretched, surveying the Food Street. The customers were nowhere to be seen, and the other black household players, some already inside restaurants resting, were mostly still out in the public areas, waiting for the closing time to arrive. From her observation, there were less than 10,000 black household players left outside.

Before the Culinary Competition, the total number of players and visitors combined was nearly 100,000, with 12,745 restaurants. Now, there were fewer than 9,000 restaurants remaining. Rita hadn't noticed this before—she had been too focused on finishing the parkour challenge and trying to avoid dying along the way.

This made her recall something she had thought about just before falling asleep—the fate of low-level players in this game.

Being a black household? After two hours without entering a restaurant, they would be sent to the Dark Food Street.

Entering a restaurant? Every round of the last-place elimination would likely kill players ranked 7999th or below, which would mostly be low-level players.

Becoming a chef? Unable to make good dishes or sell them, many players couldn't even identify all the ingredients.

Shopping for ingredients? They'd be dead the moment they step out of the restaurant door because of the black household players.

Cashiers and cleaners might be a bit safer, but even if they made it into the top 7999, they'd still have to deal with surprise egg boxes.

And then there were the 1000 Inspectors walking around Food Street, always monitoring.

No matter how Rita looked at it, low-level players had little hope in this round of the game. Even in the Cooking Adventure, they barely stood a chance.

She opened the Leaderboard and started to examine the real-time sales ranking. What she saw startled her. There were over five hundred players in the top 10,000 with combat levels of only 2-3, and over three thousand with combat levels between 4-6.

The disparity was impossible to ignore. High-level players were busy being black households, abandoning the revenue game while low-level players focused on running their restaurants. However, this didn't explain why so many low-level players seemed to be stuck in an endless cycle.

Could it be that the Dark Food Street was actually the biggest benefit for low-level players in this game? If so, that would explain the reduction in the number of restaurants. Those players who had been eliminated in the last rounds might have been sent to the Dark Food Street.

The Dark Food Street would at least allow those players to earn some revenue, and after the game ends, they could receive rewards for their efforts. Meanwhile, the reduction in the number of restaurants could be a measure to keep the competition in the Cooking Adventure from losing its intensity.

But then, what about them? How would the gods maintain the fun and balance in the game on the third day? And where would the black household players be placed during the downtime?

Rita thought about the reward for Egg #5, which allowed her to see through the identities of players. What did that mean?

As she pondered these questions, she landed and almost immediately shot back up into the air, feeling like a fire had been lit under her.

She looked to the 2 o'clock direction and noticed Maple Syrup pointing at her retreating back with their finger. The expression on Maple Syrup's face spoke volumes without a word being said. Next to them, Pine Bloom quickly finished a beer and handed the cup to Maple Syrup. "I know what you're going to say, don't say it, just refill the cup."

Maple Syrup dropped a feather into the glass, and within seconds, it melted into a fine, aromatic wine. "Drink, this happens every day in the World Battlefield. It's nothing to worry about. Maybe everyone's already forgotten about that achievement."

Pine Bloom sighed with relief and smiled at Maple Syrup, who returned the smile.

After a few seconds, Pine Bloom opened the battlefield chat channel.

[Lania Kaia·Maple Syrup]: "That rare achievement 'Gods, Please Remember My Name'—is it impossible to get once you're above level 11?"

[Marmang·Crab]: "Yeah, it's actually better to get it around level 7. At level 15, it's much easier to kill."

[Lania Kaia·Maple Syrup]: "?"

[Black Spring·Mud Bears]: "?"

[Lania Kaia·Mistblade]: "?"

[Lania Kaia·Fat Goose]: "?"

[Marmang·Crab]: "That last message was from Sea Pony, they logged into my account."

Maple Syrup looked at Pine Bloom and noticed that her hand, holding the cup, was trembling slightly. She caught the glare from Pine Bloom and saw the feather marks on her wrist.

Pine Bloom: "What's going on?"

Maple Syrup cleared her throat. "Well, I was just asking about that achievement... But, looking at it from a positive perspective, if the gods are remembering BS-Rita's name, they'll likely remember yours too."

Pine Bloom couldn't hold back any longer. She finished the rest of her drink and threw the glass at Maple Syrup.

"Go die!"

"...Calm down, calm down!"

...

[10 minutes later: Official Closing Time]

[Closing Time: 01:00~07:00]

[The Food Street will be completely closed during closing time. Only official employees are allowed to remain. All other beings must leave.]

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

Rita frowned and stood up, feeling a deep sense of unease.

Ten minutes later, with a sound of [First Round Begins], Rita's vision went black. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself on all fours. Her perspective had lowered drastically, and everything felt much smaller...

Surrounding her were various strange beasts—eight species in total, none of them particularly rare. The common denominator was that their meat was famously delicious.

Having gone through the 4-star Cooking Class with White Bear, Rita knew the name of every one of these beasts and could make at least one dish out of their meat.

Looking down at her fuzzy paws, she noticed sharp claws and black spots on her white fur. She had 9 skill icons and 7 hidden eggs on her front limbs.

She tried standing on her hind legs and found it possible, though it was hard to balance. It wasn't a big deal; she had been trained in martial arts for situations like this, where one limb would be sealed.

The problem, however, was that her light wings were gone, and she had lost her flying ability.

Luckily, B8017913 was still attached to her ears, and she could still open her bag. Her "Betrayed Vow" skill was in there too.

Rita approached a strange beast with big eyes and used its eyeball as a mirror to look at her new form.

She was two meters tall, muscular with long limbs, and a long tail—clearly a beast built for speed.

Looking at her face, however, she realized something was off.

Her face resembled that of a Sandstorm Fox, a creature from the Nuclear Flash world. It was known for its tender, sweet meat, perfect for making 2-5 star dishes.

As she stared at the beast in front of her, it suddenly looked furious and spoke in a language she didn't understand. "￥#@..."

B8017913: "It's asking you why you're staring at it."