[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-this-life-i-will-be-the-protagonist":3,"chapter-this-life-i-will-be-the-protagonist-this-life-i-will-be-the-protagonist-chapter-1288":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1533099,1991,"Chapter 1288: Divine Game: Graveyard of Bones 10","this-life-i-will-be-the-protagonist-chapter-1288",1288,"\u003Cp>Rita did not respond to Byme’s earlier reflection. Her attention stayed on the battlefield. The match was still unfolding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After activating her divine talent, Byme’s strength rose sharply. Her pressure on Deceitful Bloom became obvious. Even Rita had to admit it. This was no ordinary gap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the shift did not last long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deceitful Bloom’s soul fire lit up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the next instant, Byme’s Vine lost cohesion. It unraveled, transformed into Sir Camellia, and drifted away with the wind as if it had never belonged to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita pressed her fingers against her temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She still could not grasp Deceitful Bloom’s divine talent. It was too erratic, too fluid. It behaved just like its owner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In earlier matches, that same flame had produced entirely different effects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some opponents lost consciousness on the spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some fell into illusions they could not escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some had their attributes twisted mid-fight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There had even been a case where the opponent’s divine talent itself was altered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no stable pattern. No single explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was she changing talents each time?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or was this all one ability, pushed to extremes through different interpretations?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita could not tell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long silence, she spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Freeze the memory. Right at the moment you used your divine talent.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byme let out a quiet sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re looking in the wrong place. If you want answers, you should be studying her.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, she complied. Time halted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita stepped onto a strand of golden lightning and descended into the frozen battlefield. She walked straight up to Byme and studied the faint outline of the soul fire at her forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vineborne liked to describe everything through flowers and vines. Their soul fire reflected that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was only an outline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were too many kinds of Vine. Countless variations. Even after studying Beacon’s sigh multiple times, Rita could not identify a Vine from a simple silhouette.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt like trying to identify creatures from nothing but shadows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A thorn-like structure. Small blossoms shaped like birds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita narrowed her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is your soul fire... Song of Avian Cause?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byme stood at the edge of the clock arena, arms folded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Deceitful Bloom said the same thing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita exhaled slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It doesn’t suit you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That answer seemed to pull Byme out of her earlier mood. She tilted her head slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why not? Don’t I look like someone who would dedicate herself to an ideal?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can’t explain it,\" Rita said. \"Just a feeling.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even as she said it, she found it strange. She rarely trusted intuition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She shifted her thoughts back to something more concrete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Deceitful Bloom forced you to invade Tingo over and over. That tells me something.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byme looked at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"After she left Midsummer to enter Divine Game, you and Withering Midsummer didn’t invade Tingo.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...We didn’t.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita’s voice dropped as she thought through it again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byme wanted to know why she was forced to invade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Rita was asking the opposite question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why didn’t she invade back then?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That decision did not appear out of nowhere. There had to have been discussion. Debate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two possible paths had existed from the start.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Invade. Or wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, Rita assumed it was hesitation. Maybe Byme didn’t want to risk it and preferred to wait for Deceitful Bloom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the matches told a different story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byme had the strength. More than enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Top hundred in ranking. Multiple war techniques. A complete combat system with no real weaknesses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And more importantly, Deceitful Bloom had trusted her. Trusted her enough to leave Midsummer and the entire Vineborne under her command.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was not something you did if someone lacked judgment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the reason had to be elsewhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita circled back to her earlier conclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If failing to invade Tingo led to the destruction of the Vineborne, then there was only one explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Fourth Bell came too soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So soon that even after finishing Graveyard of Bones, Deceitful Bloom had no time to launch an invasion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita’s heartbeat quickened. She shut her eyes and forced herself to breathe evenly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s still time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BS has a five star world skill. There’s still time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wither of Lania Kaia and Quex of Dark Reef did not enter Graveyard of Bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They must be out there securing fragments, upgrading their worlds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was still room to act.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BS would not follow Midsummer’s path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She opened her eyes again, steady now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back to the present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back to the real question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who refused to invade Tingo?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byme?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or Deceitful Bloom?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This memory had been altered. This moment locked and repeated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone’s mistake was being corrected here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But whose?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita did not believe it was Deceitful Bloom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was not someone who ran from her own failures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She manipulated, she deceived, she controlled. But she also faced consequences directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If anything, she seemed like someone who feared stagnation more than conflict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She would rather complicate everything than let things settle into something dull.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t get it,\" Byme said suddenly, pulling Rita out of her thoughts. \"Why are you so focused on our divine talents? And now even my soul fire?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They tell me who you are,\" Rita replied. Her gaze stayed on that faint outline of flame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your personality. Your instincts. Your way of making decisions.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She paused, then continued more slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t like judging things as right or wrong based on logic alone. I look at people instead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Even if there’s a moment of hesitation... or a wrong turn...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She gave a faint smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Instinct brings you back. People always return to what they are.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Byme studied her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then what do you think she values most? The Vineborne? Or something else?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita let out a quiet breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re interesting. You say I can’t be compared to her, but you still want my answer.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She shook her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You already have one. No matter what I say, you won’t accept it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s how Variational Quicksand works.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked flexible. Soft.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once it chose a direction, it never changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita suddenly paused mid-thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something clicked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked at Byme again, more carefully this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Back then, after Divine Game began... did you always follow Deceitful Bloom’s orders?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If she was right, yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rita’s eyes sharpened slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then tell me this.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She leaned forward just a little.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When did you think she was wrong?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1056,"2026-06-06T06:15:32.213Z",1,"novelbin.me","9dcd980870b2d00b514deb59414bab1d98a92ea51e55c6d50350b169de67248f","this-life-i-will-be-the-protagonist-chapter-1289","this-life-i-will-be-the-protagonist-chapter-1287",1404,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthis-life-i-will-be-the-protagonist-cover.jpg"]