At this moment, Rita was running for her life, shoulder to shoulder with a rabbit. The two small animals were about the same height, at least their ears were level with each other.
After running for a few minutes, the rabbit was still running next to her, occasionally turning its head to glance at her.
Rita couldn't shake the feeling that the rabbit looked familiar, but she didn't recognize it.
"You following me for a reason?" Rita asked.
The rabbit replied in English, "I've been watching you for a while. Want to team up?"
Rita coldly refused, "No thanks. Find another player."
The rabbit responded, "You're very capable. Other players aren't up to it."
Rita switched directions and slowed down, returning to run side by side with the rabbit. "You're honest. How do you propose we team up?"
The rabbit said, "I'll block the event gift pack skills for you, and you block Ginger Bear's skills for me."
Rita hesitated, "Let's try it for 5 minutes. If it doesn't work, we split."
As soon as she finished speaking, both of them dropped to the ground, their ears pressed close to their heads, narrowly dodging a hammer spinning above them.
The hammer flew past, and the two small animals immediately got up and continued running, always wary of the group attack skills that were shot out from their own positions.
After 3 minutes, Rita casually grabbed the rabbit by the neck and held it in front of her to block a skill.
The rabbit said, "...This feels so familiar. It really is you."
The rabbit responded, "Give me some credit. You're the C-position on the battlefield, just enjoy the success."
Rita remained silent for a moment before forcing out, "…Is your life really that tough?"
She had used this rabbit as a shield for so long, even launching big attacks and killing so many rabbits, yet she never managed to kill this one?
The shield rabbit was momentarily unsure if this was a compliment or a backhanded remark. It scratched its ear awkwardly and said, "Thanks, you too."
Rita was left speechless for a moment.
The two small animals then teamed up temporarily, and their coordination became more and more seamless.
BS-Rita had [Bedtime Tale], while the shield rabbit's attributes changed depending on the player who attacked it. It didn't matter who teamed up with it, so cooperating with BS-Rita was just as good as with anyone else, especially since the rabbit seemed quite interested in Rita.
The most important thing was that their gameplay and goals aligned perfectly—both were focused on survival and self-preservation, never aiming too greedily for more.
The only thing that puzzled the shield rabbit was: "It seems like you've been following that neck-snaking beast?"
Several times, when there was a safer route, BS-Rita insisted on following one of the neck-snaking beasts, maintaining a distance that was neither too far nor too close.
Rita neither confirmed nor denied it, "Huh? Really?"
She looked at the skill she had just copied from that neck-snaking beast, called [Twisted Lollipop].
This skill, when used, fired a stream of colorful syrup that would circle the player until it completed a 30-meter radius lollipop.
This skill was quite famous in this game. Since the third round, many neck-snaking beasts had fallen victim to it because of its fast casting speed—making it one of the best skills for this game.
However, its biggest weakness was the long cooldown time. The speed of the syrup made it disappear after a few circles, usually coinciding with a Match-3 and disappearing with the player. Without that, the neck-snaking beasts wouldn't even get a chance to use it.
Rita looked at the skill description: 30-minute cooldown. Not only was this an attack skill, but it was also a healing skill.
Each target caught by the colorful syrup restored 5% of the player's health, and any overflowed health could be stored for later use.
She had always coveted this skill but had missed it several times due to the cooldown of [Repay] or being too far from the enemy.
This time, she had waited patiently for over 20 minutes in the perfect gap to use it.
There were only 5 minutes left until the round ended.
Rita turned to the shield rabbit and said, "Sorry, but I'm about to use my ultimate."
The shield rabbit replied, "?"
Was it some sort of ultimate tool for Rita?
Next, Rita used [Twisted Lollipop].
The colorful syrup shot out rapidly, spiraling in circles, hitting various players and pets. It pulled in both the raccoons who had just arrived and those attempting to escape.
Match-3 caused a 0.5-second lag, which allowed Rita to successfully complete a four-match and a three-match combo.
[Congratulations to player BS-Rita for completing a brilliant elimination]
[You have eliminated Ginger Bear X4 and Snail Scorpion X3.]
[You can now choose your elimination reward.]
[1. Randomly receive the death penalty of a player; 2. Draw from the death penalties of two players, and you will receive one skill from each; 3. Choose the player with the most deaths and take one skill from their death penalty.]
The first elimination reward was risky—unless the player drawn happened to be on their sixth or ninth death, otherwise, it was a loss.
The second elimination reward was a fair bet—she had already made two eliminations, so the outcome here should be about the same.
However, the third option wasn't necessarily a win, as it was often random, and most players she had eliminated had died six or seven times.
With only 15 seconds left in the 1-minute revival countdown, Rita made her choice.
In the end, restraint won over greed, and she selected the second option. This was the least risky, as it guaranteed two skills, unlike the first and third options, where the worst-case scenario could yield just one skill.
[Congratulations to player BS-Rita for obtaining the death penalty of player Lania KaiaWither Monarch.]
[Player Wither Monarch has exchanged an SSS-level skill for their seventh revival opportunity. You will receive this skill as your prize.]
[Ding — You have received Wither Monarch's SSS-level skill — Bone Shield Armor.]
[Congratulations to player BS-Rita for obtaining the death penalty of player Furious Biscuit.]
[Player Biscuit has exchanged two SSS-level skills for their eighth revival opportunity. You will receive one of the skills as your prize.]
[Ding — You have received Biscuit's SSS-level skill — Hyperdrive.]
One defensive skill and one buff skill that could triple agility for a short period.
Rita was satisfied—after all, these were both SSS-level skills.
Back on the battlefield, appearing at her earlier position, she faced off against a raccoon holding a thunder gun, with less than half a meter between them.
As the raccoon raised its gun to skewer her, Rita stopped the motion with a raised hand and quickly said in Owlspeak: "Maple Syrup, don't act impulsively, it's me, Pine Bloom!"
That Forest Sea northern accent…
Maple Syrup chuckled.
Rita immediately turned and ran.
In the next second, she jumped high into the air, effortlessly executing a smooth and graceful split, narrowly dodging the thunder gun that almost impaled her on the way down.