CHAPTER 793: 793: DIVINE GAME: CARD SWAP 42

GodDraw77 assumed Rita was just shy and embarrassed to admit her goal, so she didn’t push. Instead, she gently encouraged her.

"Good. I’ll be waiting for you to come claim it. But stop charging stat points to bring classmates into the SSS class. I know it’s unfair to you. As compensation, starting now, on the 10th and 20th of each month, you can come here in the afternoon, and I’ll give you private lessons."

"Can I learn your defense techniques?" Rita asked.

"You can."

Rita kept a straight face, pretending to think for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

"Fine. I’m only doing this to save face for you, GodDraw77. It’s settled then—I won’t charge people to get into SSS classes anymore."

GodDraw77: "..."

Once they reached an agreement, Rita was ready to leave, but as she stood, GodDraw77 gently grabbed her left wrist.

Rita instantly went on alert.

What now? What’s she trying to pull?

After all, anyone who could get along with Lightchaser had to be a special kind of menace.

She knew the type—fake-humble Mistblade, wide-eyed Maple Syrup, and the crying-on-contact Fat Goose. Not a single one of them was a good influence.

Just as Rita was about to bolt using a skill, GodDraw77 spoke up. She looked Rita straight in the eyes and said softly:

"If you manage to win a championship at next year’s Divine Game in January, I’ll give you an hour of personal instruction every night for the rest of your time here."

...

[To Lightchaser — handwritten letter, unfiltered edition]

"Good afternoon, teacher.

"So... the big stat-point hustle? It’s dead. Ugh.

"I earned those stats fair and square with my own effort and skill. Why should that be banned?

"They don’t want to pay, and they don’t want others to pay either. It’s so unfair!

"Okay, okay, I get it. That business wasn’t going to last. I was actually planning to let the drama build, then negotiate with a teacher to swap it for an SSS-tier skill. But GodDraw77 beat me to it. She said if I quit now, I get private lessons from her every 10th and 20th.

"Don’t worry, I didn’t give in easily—I made her work for it! I resisted super hard, honest!

"She even said that if I win a championship next January, she’ll give me an hour of training every night until I graduate.

"Do you think that’s necessary? I already have the best teacher in the world (ahem—Lightchaser!) so it’s not like I need another one.

"But... free lessons are free lessons, you know?

"Waiting for your reply.

—Your most genius disciple,

Rita"

...

The day before the Flame Festival, third year.

Lightchaser had just snatched an SSS-tier item in Gagazine and was now celebrating in a tavern. The drinks had just arrived when it hit her—

It was the day students went home for the holiday.

She ruffled her hair in frustration, stuffed the drink into her spatial bag, slammed some coins on the table, and rushed to the teleportation array.

She used to live so freely. Ever since she took on that little gremlin of a disciple, everything changed.

Her schedule now had to revolve around school holidays!

Even worse—she still had four more years of this!

She must have been out of her mind to take that brat in...

Her face darkened as she hurried home. But on the way, when passing the Rock Locust candy shop, her steps hesitated. She turned and walked in. When she came out, she was carrying a bag of candy and wearing a wicked little smirk.

But as she got closer to home, her expression slowly changed. Her brow furrowed.

She could hear the kid’s voice outside.

She wasn’t... inside the house?

As she approached the door, she saw Rita sitting on the front steps—not alone. Mistblade was next to her, and with them were two more students.

Fat Goose—and a familiar owlkin Lightchaser remembered seeing in Gilane.

In an instant, Lightchaser knew what was going on. This wasn’t just a visit.

If it were just dinner, Rita would’ve brought them inside already. But she was staying outside and waiting.

That could only mean one thing—they were planning to stay, and not for just a night. Probably the entire Flame Festival.

As soon as the four saw her, they stood up together.

Rita quickly ran over and asked,

"Maple Syrup and Fat Goose are dealing with some stuff at home. Can they stay with us during the Flame Festival?"

Lightchaser tossed the candy bag into her arms with clear annoyance.

"What is this, a daycare? ...Fine. Get inside."

Rita was already beaming and leading her classmates in behind Lightchaser. As she handed out slippers, she explained,

"It really was unexpected. They were originally going to stay on campus."

Lightchaser lazily replied,

"Unexpected? Fat Goose’s family from Gilane tracked her down. Maple Syrup’s folks are pressuring her to manage the gemstone shop."

The four students froze mid-movement and stared at her in shock.

Lightchaser went straight upstairs.

"Call me when dinner’s ready."

As the door upstairs clicked shut, Fat Goose whispered,

"How did she know?!"

Rita had no idea.

No way... Lightchaser couldn’t have looked into her close friends, could she? Because she cared?

...Yeah, right.

At dinner, Fat Goose and Maple Syrup sat stiffly, barely speaking. Mistblade tried to ease the mood by piling food onto their plates. She knew this was exactly why she’d never crash at Fat Goose’s place—only in Lightchaser’s house could she truly relax.

As long as you were polite and respectful, Lightchaser didn’t care what or how much you ate.

She just kept a quiet tally for the bill.

Rita took the initiative to break the silence.

"After the break, I’m signing up for the Divine Game."

Now that they were in third year, all of them understood what that meant. Just this January, Mistblade, Maple Syrup, and Fat Goose had watched the Divine Game in Moonlight Marsh.

Maple Syrup asked cautiously,

"Isn’t it too early? People die in the Divine Game. You can withdraw, sure—but you’ve seen how things go. Even during class battles, people can’t always pull their punches."

She reminded her,

"Each school only gets 100 revives. In this year’s Game, students on Exile Island who died later in the event couldn’t be brought back."

Rita had heard about that rule. She used to think it was because schools didn’t have enough revival spells.

But Lightchaser had explained it—regular revives don’t work in the Divine Game. All revivals are handled by the game itself. Schools can only submit the rules they want for their revives.

Curious, Rita asked,

"Has any school ever sacrificed earlier students just to save stronger ones?"

"Of course," Fat Goose said. "Like the team from Scorching Bug Swamp. They accept every student, but during the Game, they prioritize reviving those with at least an A-level divine talent. They’ll wait till the end of the event, and only if there are leftovers will they bring back earlier casualties."

Mistblade added,

"But the revive spells have time limits. Since the Divine Game lasts days, people who die early often can’t be revived at all."

Rita nodded, cheeks puffed with food, unable to respond properly.

That’s when Lightchaser suddenly spoke up from across the table.

"Aren’t any of you curious what Moonlight Marsh’s revival rules are?"