Rita handed Calico a serving of food, told her to stay in the starting room, and finally set out for the trading zone.

She still needed one more thing—a proxy.

After reconciling with L12185511 earlier, it had given her a clear answer.

It was not that it didn't want to fight for her in the battle royale.

It simply could not.

As the only Mechanoid to ever awaken a God-bestowed talent, it was forbidden from entering this stage of the Divine Game.

Once again stepping into the desert, B8017913 and Nivalis popped out of the pet space one after another, hopping onto her shoulders.

The former asked, "You're not going to look for L175246 first?"

"I want to play around the trading zone," Rita replied. "See what rewards this phase gives, and also see if I can find Y128."

The moment she finished speaking, both B8017913 and Nivalis stared at her with strange, complicated expressions.

It was the kind of look filled with understanding, judgment, relief and—honestly—a bit of schadenfreude.

If that look had to be summed up into one sentence, it would be:

"How could you be like this! Thank goodness I joined this family early."

"…" Rita rubbed her forehead. "I just want to see if I can solve that little problem before the battle royale. If I can't find it, then fine! I'm simply wondering—why is it that I disguise myself every time, but whether it's L175246 or 7777, they always find me… Has this skill fallen behind the times?"

Back then, when this disguise skill was only S-rank, even Mistblade had been fooled.

B8017913 spoke with absolute certainty.

"My calculations say it's likely because L12185511 already modified its own program and L175246's. Something like: whenever BS-Rita enters their trading zone, they get an alert."

It continued, "Your disguise can fool players, but it can't fool the Divine Game system. As long as they receive an alert, even if you mask yourself, we can always pick you out from the crowd. That's the only explanation."

Nivalis tensed. "Then if it knows Y128 is looking for you, will it help Y128 modify their program too?"

"Absolutely not," B8017913 said without hesitation.

Nivalis frowned. "That's risky. How can you be so sure?"

"Because you haven't seen the way L12185511 looks at BS-Rita!" Somehow B8017913 said this with rising irritation. "If 7777 knew Y128 had beef with her, Y128 would've been deleted already!"

Nivalis blinked. "…Why does that sound jealous?"

Rita muttered, "…It's not that extreme. 7777 is still rational…"

She stepped into Oasis Town—and instantly froze.

This trading zone was very different from any before.

Mechanoids were everywhere.

For every three players she saw, at least one Mechanoid walked past.

And every player she spotted in her field of view… was Abyss-tier or higher.

Just as she crossed the town's boundary, a pale blue thread of light wrapped around her wrist. The thread stretched forward into town.

Probably part of the local mini-game.

But instead of following it immediately, she first went to check the game stele.

Just as she expected, there was another mini-game.

And this one's reward was directly tied to Phase Two.

[Game: Don't Let It Catch You]

Countdown: 07:23

Game duration: 10 minutes

Upon entering the trading zone, every player will automatically be assigned a partner.

When the game begins, Mechanoids will start chasing every player in the zone.

You and your partner must evade pursuit while completing the Divine Game's minute-by-minute random tasks.

Any player caught by a Mechanoid will automatically be bound to it.

That Mechanoid can forcibly demand to be chosen as their battle-royale proxy.

If you and your partner fail three consecutive tasks, you lose the right to enter the battle royale.

When the game ends, any player who has not been caught and has not failed out will receive 5 minutes to freely adjust or repair their Player Relic.

All adjustments can be undone within that time.

[Current player count in this trading zone: 3178]

Rita frowned.

The tasks weren't cruel—but the penalties absolutely were.

Not to mention, she had no idea whether the Mechanoids would chase players randomly or distribute themselves deliberately.

The difficulty difference between the two approaches was massive.

As she thought this, the thread of light around her wrist tugged sharply.

Rita followed the pull—and saw Mistblade standing a few paces ahead.

This was their first meeting since leaving Card Swap.

Although everyone regained their memories during the GodDraw77 game, that had been a frantic time.

No one had the luxury to dwell on the chaos that happened during the amnesia period.

Mistblade looked calm.

Rita, however, felt like ants were crawling across her entire body.

She did not know which thought mortified her more:

Screaming "May you and I never regret!" toward Maple Syrup on the world's giant screen—

or the version of herself sobbing with a runny nose as she cried in front of Mistblade during a time stop.

She tore her eyes away, face stiff.

"…What?"

Mistblade stayed silent for several seconds.

Then, in perfectly loaded BS-language, completely serious, she said:

"I'm sorry for making you cry."

"Shut up!!!"

Rita screamed, spun around, and bolted.

Mistblade waited until she fled out of sight, then abruptly lowered her head, covering her eyes as her shoulders shook violently.

She was laughing so hard she could barely breathe, all elegance utterly abandoned.

It was too funny.

BS-Rita breaking down and wanting to die from embarrassment—

Too, too funny.

Nearby, Dawn-Cicada quietly stared.

"...…"

They had conquered Lania Kaia and BS.

Were Dawn's players going to end up like this too?

[MarmangCrab]: Oh my god oh my god oh my god I'm in the same trading zone as Lania Kaia Mistblade and BS-Rita!!! You'll never guess what they said when they met!!!

[Lania Kaia Maple Syrup]: Say it

[Winter Sea·Frenzied Shark]: Say it

[Verdant-Windrush]: Say it

[Fury Bike]: Say it

[MarmangCrab]: BS-Rita said: 'What is it?'

[MarmangCrab]: And Lania Kaia Mistblade said: 'I'm sorry for making you cry.'

[MarmangCrab]: And BS-Rita screamed 'Shut up!' and ran away while Mistblade smiled like she won the lottery!!!

[MarmangCrab]: Every word is true. Zero exaggeration. If I've embellished even a little, I'll never reach Tier 19 in my life.

The world battlefield chat froze for ten full seconds.

[Dawn-Cicada]: I was there. It's true.

[MarmangCrab]: SEE?? SEE??? Even Dawn-Cicada is backing me up!!

Dawn-Cicada stared at the message she had just typed.

Why did she type that?

How did she suddenly get involved?

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