Chapter 1381 1381: 1381 A New Player Relic!

Although there were no gods left capable of truly guiding Rita anymore, she still occasionally visited Cat's Ideal to sit in on the public lectures.

By now, that had become a regular tradition aboard the ship.

Every day, either a Starsea god or a Quiet Mountain god would teach a class on the deck, open to every Divine Game player.

Rita often picked up fresh ideas there.

And whenever the topic covered something she already understood, she would lower her head and quietly sketch instead.

Recently, she had been drafting concepts for a new Player Relic.

Even though she no longer needed to obey the six-item limitation imposed on players.

Even though she could now easily obtain artifacts far superior to anything she once possessed.

She still wanted to redraw her Player Relic.

If every Divine Game truly existed to shape players, then the concept of a Player Relic could not have been arbitrary either.

Back then, [Echoes of the Snowbound Realm] and [Aria of the Setting Sun] genuinely represented who she was.

But now?

Now she could obtain better magical canvases.

Better materials.

And more importantly, she now possessed artistic skill and emotional depth that her former self could never have imagined.

So she decided to follow that old flash of inspiration and create it again from the beginning.

Today's lecture was being taught by Foolishness.

The topic was skill recombination.

Quex, Rita, and Cicada sat in the very back row, each busy doing their own thing.

Onstage, Foolishness had already glanced at the three of them several times.

She genuinely could not understand why these three idiots refused to leave.

Cicada's eyes kept drifting toward the paper resting on Rita's lap.

Rita: "..."

Her pen paused.

Then she casually drew a pig whose head was shaped like a hair dryer, complete with pale golden hair and Heartless Temptation vines.

Quex leaned over from the side.

"Hm? Isn't that what's-her-name?"

Cicada saw it too and immediately exploded.

"Are you insane?!"

Rita replied calmly without even lifting her head.

"What? You recognize her?"

Cicada: "..."

"You're already this strong and you still play dumb?!"

The next second, three gemstones shot across the room and smacked all three of them directly in the forehead.

Foolishness's gaze swept across BS Rita, who was quietly rubbing her forehead.

"If you want to chat, go outside."

After that day, Rita discovered something strange.

Almost every teacher aboard Cat's Ideal seemed to have developed the same weird habit.

They all liked finding excuses to throw small objects at her.

It was as though they wanted to test whether she would dodge.

But this little game between gods ended quickly enough.

Because BS Rita only ever sat still and took the hits when they came from Starsea Deceitful Bloom's vines or Starsea Foolishness's gemstones.

Just like how, no matter how strong she became, Lightchaser and Cinders could still smack the back of her head whenever they pleased.

Rita also liked visiting Apache from time to time.

Little Kayden had grown up.

At fifteen, she no longer carried the restless energy she once had, nor did she constantly talk about becoming nobility anymore.

Today, Rita sat by the window repairing a minotaur alarm clock while Kayden rested her chin in her hands across from her, watching quietly.

"We could just buy another one," Kayden said casually.

"But Apache refuses."

"Mm. This one still works if you fix it."

Kayden looked at her.

"You keep taking her to BS to play. What about me?"

"You can come stay for a while too."

Rita tightened a screw without looking up.

"Don't worry. BS players can check faction reputation."

"You never participated in that war. BS players won't hate you."

Kayden lowered her head after having her thoughts exposed so directly.

She stayed quiet for a while before suddenly saying,

"The other day, Apache said everyone in Lania Kaia suddenly started living like every day might be their last."

Rita set her tools down and flipped the minotaur clock over for inspection.

A faint satisfied smile appeared on her face.

Not only had she repaired it, she had also added several strange new functions.

She stood up and rehung the clock on the wall.

"That's how people should live in the first place."

Kayden quoted Apache's favorite classroom saying.

"You mean treating every potion like it's the last potion you'll ever brew?"

"Exactly."

Rita laughed softly and rubbed Kayden's head.

And in that moment, she realized what kind of painting she wanted to create.

The final moment.

The instant before worlds shattered completely.

Beacon Youwo's philosophy had been extreme.

But it was also correct.

Compared to happiness, only ultimate suffering and despair could truly force living beings to Brilliance.

And at that exact moment, Rita finally determined the form her new relic would take.

Illustrations for the World Sigh.

Only moments like those deserved the name World Sigh.

She would paint one perspective from every world just before destruction.

Each world would become a tiny puzzle piece.

Every piece would have carefully planned color palettes and themes.

And when ten thousand pieces finally came together, they would form an entirely different grand illustration.

A Cat's Ideal carrying countless tiny worlds.

Those miniature glowing worlds would float throughout the ship like decorative lanterns or dreamlike fragments of light.

Rita spent an entire year merely designing the draft and organizing the color structure.

That did not even include sketching the individual world fragments themselves.

It was an absurdly massive project.

Fortunately, she still had a hundred years.

Sometimes Rita painted at home.

Sometimes she painted aboard Cat's Ideal.

But whenever she worked on the illustration aboard the ship, players would immediately gather around her in swarms.

Her drafts were extremely organized.

Every puzzle piece included the world's name, number, and rough color composition.

Most players stayed silent.

They simply stood there quietly, memorizing where their world belonged and observing how the pieces connected.

But occasionally, some players would sneak over with small requests.

Rita looked down at the gift box someone had quietly shoved into her hands.

Inside were hundreds of neatly arranged vines of different varieties.

Deceitful Bloom leaned close beside her ear and whispered softly,

"You've made Vineborne cry so many times."

"Don't you think you should make up for it a little?"

Rita: "..."

After Deceitful Bloom left and Rita finished putting away the vines, another massive box appeared before her.

This one contained top-grade limited edition gemstones.

Foolishness adjusted her glasses and spoke quietly.

"Brilliance shouldn't be hidden away in corners."

Rita: "..."

And once she actually started painting the individual worlds, things became even more ridiculous.

Whichever world she happened to be drawing, the players and gods from that world would immediately stick to her like clingy little fish.

Autumn Deer was especially terrifying.

Mud bears sat beside her munching potato chips loudly while an entire army of Little Bear Cookies crowded across the table, standing on tiptoe to stare at her painting.

Every time Rita added a stroke, the cookies would collectively gasp.

"Whoa?!"

Even Rita had not gotten annoyed yet, but Nivalis already had.

She glared at Autumn Deer.

"Why don't you all just go back to Tingo?!"

Mud bears paused mid-crunch.

He scratched one of his rounded bear ears awkwardly.

"Tingo is all desert."

"There are no flowers there. We can't chase bees."

Then he silently pulled out a jar of honey and handed it to Nivalis.

"Please don't be angry. Have some honey."

For three consecutive days afterward, Nivalis would suddenly sit upright in the middle of the night and slap herself across the face repeatedly.

Sometimes she would even stretch a wing toward Rita's head and ask thoughtfully,

"Baby, want me to slap you a few times too?"

Rita kicked her straight off the bed.

"Get lost! I didn't say anything stupid!"