NOVPUBWhile firing at the treasure chests, Rita kept a close eye on the shadow clone she had split off.
To her relief, even the shadow clone was made of Block phantoms. It could pick up Blocks for her and even attach them to its body.
The only downside? If the shadow got hit by a treasure chest, it could drop Blocks too.
But thanks to the clone, Rita could stay focused on attacking without wasting time dashing around to collect Blocks. That tradeoff was more than worth it.
With I'm Getting Serious and Target Locked, she locked onto the chests. And now she had a new weapon—her boomerang.
While it couldn't hit chests that had vanished, it allowed her to keep dealing damage even when she didn't have a clear shot. Perfect for when treasure chests ducked below the ship or got buried under other players.
Everyone on the pirate ship was busy chasing treasure chests. Aside from the sounds of skills going off, the only voice heard was BS-Rita talking to herself:
"Who's the treasure chest on this ship?"
"It's me!"
"Who's the one getting focused right now?"
"It's me!"
Mistblade: "…"
Maple Syrup had once told her that BS-Rita had a habit of using Owlgroan when doing something that embarrassed her. Mistblade hadn't believed it—until now.
…
A few bold players tried to intercept her boomerang, hoping to snatch it mid-air.
But every time someone reached for it, the boomerang would blur into a phantom and dodge away. As long as it wasn't dismantled and still flying, it would always return to her.
This made Rita value it even more.
While blasting treasure chests, Rita also watched for the ones with the longest dodge durations and used Repay to borrow their evasive skills.
Even if the cooldown meant she couldn't always nab the best skill, even if she didn't end up needing it, she wanted to make sure she always had a dodge in her pocket.
Round 8.
A golden beam shot down on Rita.
Her eyes snapped to her shadow clone—no golden glow. She wouldn't need to activate Plan B.
The players instantly shifted targets, aiming at the new chest. Mistblade charged right for her.
Rita calmly executed the sequence she'd mentally rehearsed hundreds of times.
—Lonely Antenna Baby!
—Ultimate Family Bucket, which replicated her split attacks to hit 110 targets!
—Ultimate Balanced Nutrition, with auto-tracking meat slices!
—Ultimate Hyperdrive, multiplying her agility by five!
Even though HP was locked during the match, the agility buff let her pick up Blocks and launch skills much faster.
By the time all four skills were cast, two seconds had passed.
—At second 3:
Rita and her shadow scattered, sweeping up Blocks.
With a 50% drop rate from chests hitting players, the deck was a glittering mess of Blocks.
To play it safe, she had her clone make loops around the ship, returning after each sweep to attach its collected Blocks to her front.
—At second 7:
She raised her hand and cast Cheers, summoning beer mugs packed with lightning orbs that exploded with a bang. No tracking, but the splash radius made up for it.
—At second 11:
She launched Dragon Dance at the nearest player. Each kick summoned a tornado that tracked enemies automatically.
It was mana-hungry, but that homing effect was exactly what Rita needed.
Block rain resumed across the deck.
The biggest difference between her first run and now wasn't just her improved strategy—it was her fearlessness. She danced on the razor's edge.
Last time she'd gotten one haul of Blocks and gone into hiding. This time, she wasn't just after loot—she wanted a spot on the Pirate Ship leaderboard.
Every 3.5 seconds, she cast a single-target skill.
This rhythm ensured there were always Blocks on the ground. If she waited until after the usual five-second despawn window, she'd risk wasting time while waiting for more drops.
More importantly, the players she attacked weren't pushovers. Even with special-effect skills, each wave of split attacks only hit maybe a third of the players.
To keep Blocks coming, she had to up the pace.
Rita was willing to burn through extra ultimates if it meant maximizing every second of her 30-second chest window.
When the golden glow vanished from BS-Rita, a collective sigh of relief swept through the ship.
To survive her barrage, most players had already burned their best escape skills.
At second 30, Rita deactivated Lonely Antenna Baby. Her Regular Savings mana pool was down to 210,000.
Stray Blocks still floated through the air—residue from her final cast before the timer ended.
Now back to being a regular crewmember, she and her clone swept up every last one.
Nine rounds of damage, with at least 20 Blocks picked up by her and her clone each time.
These players had superb evasion skills. Rarely did half the ship get hit in any round.
But with a guaranteed drop rate after a chest hit someone twice, the Block count stayed high.
The last two rounds were the most lucrative—players saved their skills and relied on pure dodging, fearing they'd end up as the next chest.
Her shadow returned with 12 more Blocks and stuck them to her frame.
Now, Rita looked like a massive, lumpy abomination of Blocks—like something a toddler would build out of sheer chaos.
Thirty seconds, 189 Blocks.
She backed to the edge of the ship, watching the new chests while rapidly reorganizing her build.
Not far away, Mistblade stared at BS-Rita with a complicated look.
She thought: At this rate, Lania Kaia might end up with a 13th Saint-rank player.
…
Round 16.
Golden light rained down again—on Rita.
At least half the players took a step back in unison.
But this time, the golden light wasn't so much a beam as it was a focused gleam—shining on her left foot.
Rita looked down.
The light was coming from the Block box by her left foot.
This time, the chest was B8017913!
She raised her bow and aimed at the others. "913!"
The box shot out razor-thin beams like needles. Rita fired at the chest, while 913's bolts zipped toward crewmembers. Her clone darted through the chaos, scooping up Blocks—or buns when it found none.
Mistblade couldn't help herself—she typed in the battle chat:
[Lania Kaia · Mistblade]: This game mode is disgusting.
[Verdant Whisper · Miji]: No, it's not. We weren't playing dirty—this is a BS-Rita problem.
[Glazeweaver · Ask Moon]: I'm here too. Can confirm—it's a BS-Rita problem.
[Verdant Whisper · Listen Voice]: Same. Also on-site. It's BS-Rita.
[Black Spring · Mud Bears]: I'm here. I think the real problem is the entire Owlgroan species.
[Lania Kaia · Maple Syrup]: ?
[Lania Kaia · Pine Bloom]: ?
[Lania Kaia · Peach Crown]: ?
