CHAPTER 801: 801: DIVINE GAME - CARD SWAP 50

Three hours into the match, the game had reached its halfway point. Out of the top hundred players, three were from Moonlight Marsh, all ranked below sixtieth place—and none of them were Rita.

The largest screen showed a sixth-year from Exile Island named Pumpkin Pie, who was currently evading the in-game police.

This year was already shaping up differently. Among the top hundred were several third-years—not just one. Pine Bloom from Little Dog Ranch, Gale from Golden Hills, Boman from Deepsea Mines, Tempest from Burrowbug Marsh...

By the fifth hour, GodDraw77 was resting her chin in her palm, eyes unfocused, lost in thought.

Wail, who had stopped using her theft skills an hour ago, was curled up in her seat with her head down. Whether she was truly asleep or just pretending was anyone’s guess.

GodDraw77 wanted to doze off herself—anything to avoid feeling the weight of the stares from the other headmasters seated nearby.

The first-place slot had already changed hands countless times. At present, it belonged to Gale, who had just assassinated the previous leader. Her specialty was hunting down other contestants and looting their wealth. Right now, the number above her head had climbed to 78,000. The second-place player had barely 40,000.

The headmaster of Golden Hills had already chuckled twice. Subtlety clearly wasn’t his strong suit.

...

Rita, despite appearing to be asleep, had been quietly observing the city’s atmosphere.

The order in this place was even stricter than she’d imagined.

Every player had their own approach—some focused on honest ways of making money, but there were always a few sharp, daring ones who went off the rails.

Gradually, even the honest types grew restless. And once enough troublemakers appeared, the chaos spread to everyone.

It didn’t help that contestants were so easy to distinguish from native NPCs.

By the third hour, the entire city was in uproar, battles erupting constantly in the streets.

The Pokémon here were stronger than she’d expected—many contestants had already been arrested.

Fortunately, just as things began to spiral, someone had cast "Protect" over the fountain, shielding her along with it.

And so Rita had turtled comfortably until now.

She’d once asked Lightchaser, "How did you manage to trigger GodDraw77 three times in a row?"

Lightchaser had replied, "By killing every contestant except me?"

"...That’s... not going to work for me."

That would be exhausting.

By the fourth hour, the street battles had died down.

From what she’d overheard, the Pokémon Centers were overflowing, and even the stronger contestants had gone to ground. Everyone needed recovery time—both physically and for their skills to come off cooldown.

It was a standoff.

A mid-game breather?

Rita stayed put, waiting. She didn’t move until the countdown ticked to just 45 minutes remaining.

A Pokémon led by its trainer approached and refreshed the "Protect" barrier around the fountain.

Was that her cue?

As soon as the trainer left, Rita activated \[Hide-and-Seek].

Then she summoned the Deep Blue Helm and used \[Absolute Freedom] to teleport straight into the deepest vault of the bank.

She could sense dozens of presences outside.

She kept her disguise intact. Not once during her time as Cubone had she raised suspicion, so \[Not Real ID] stayed active without a hitch.

Flight wasn’t necessary. She took a snowball from her bag, carved shallow steps into it, and climbed up to the top of the stacked crystals. From there, she began harvesting from the top down, ensuring the structure wouldn’t collapse.

Her movements were light and fast, each touch of her fingers making another crystal vanish into her inventory.

She only took half from each stack before moving to the next, so no one looking from the front would see a difference.

The number above her head began to rise rapidly—60 to 70 units per second.

...

Back in the viewing stands, only one Moonlight Marsh player remained in the top hundred, sitting at rank 78.

The stares from their row made Mistblade, Maple Syrup, and Fat Goose increasingly uneasy.

The blood elf sighed heavily, a sound that felt like a whole sentence in itself.

Beside him, a black cat flicked its tail irritably. "I don’t get what Moonlight Marsh is even doing. They only accept students with A-grade divine talents or higher, yet they label some of the fastest-growing talents as ’evil’ and reject them. The result? Any truly powerful talent-user avoids Moonlight Marsh entirely."

The blood elf, unable to resist a fair comment, added, "It does have the lowest mortality rate of all the schools..."

The minotaur beside him chimed in. "And Moonlight Marsh prioritizes actual education over pure power and level-grinding."

Mistblade tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Surprisingly, it was the annoyed black cat who explained. "Most schools spend 80% of their time drilling combat. Moonlight Marsh is different.

"At least half their curriculum is dedicated to academic study and other disciplines. They have more teachers than any other school. I’ve never seen another magic academy offering music and art classes!

"Honestly, I’ve been waiting for Reyhana to get fired since my third year."

At that moment, Fat Goose suddenly jumped to his feet. "Rita!"

The blood elf shoved him back down.

Then Mistblade and Maple Syrup shot up together. "Rita!"

It started with the smallest viewing screen shifting—its school and contestant name changed, and then it began growing, sliding forward at high speed.

With most other screens static, this one’s sudden sprint forward caught every spectator’s attention.

Above it was clearly displayed: \[Moonlight Marsh — Rita]

The feed showed a room stacked high with crystals. In the middle was a small figure with a bone club, scooping up crystals with it. The number above her head was skyrocketing.

A side view showed strange creatures and police patrolling outside the vault.

The Divine Game’s broadcast system always adjusted skill effects for better viewing, masking sensitive information but giving quick notes.

A thin line extended from the little bone-helmeted creature to a tiny box off to the side: \[Disguise skill; extremely advanced stealth skill].

The screen shot forward over the river: 99... 75... 63... 51... 39...

Her wealth number was climbing just as fast: 12,000... 28,000... 33,000... 47,000... 59,000...

Her feed was practically sprinting toward the front, growing larger with each jump.

GodDraw77 sat up straighter and cleared her throat.

She glanced sideways—Wail was still "asleep." So she coughed again, louder.

When Rita’s screen blasted into the top ten, GodDraw77 spoke in her best announcer voice, crisp and booming. "Let’s congratulate the birth of a new GodDraw77. And now, let’s hear from the previous GodDraw77—Wail!"

The line hit Wail like a defibrillator shock.

Her eyes opened slowly, and she turned to glare at Cinders.

GodDraw77 feigned surprise, looking back at the screen. "Oh dear, looks like Rita’s been discovered!"

Wail: "...If you’re ever tired of living, you could just say so. No need to be this roundabout."

Only after delivering that dry threat did she turn to actually watch the feed.