This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita didn't rush out with Shadow.Q right away. Instead, she set up a table in the backyard and took out some food from her game backpack. The two of them, plus a dragon and a group of cats, enjoyed breakfast under the shade of a parasol.

Occasionally, voices could be heard from the roof—the players fighting in the dungeon. It wasn't that they were loud, but Rita's senses had grown sharper and more sensitive recently.

Shadow.Q pointed toward the roof and asked, "Ever thought about selling this dungeon?"

Rita instantly caught Shadow.Q's underlying message. If she wanted to represent the Special Affairs Bureau and clear up the payment once and for all, they could have talked yesterday. For instance, trading the ownership of this Level 3 dungeon for temporary use of a Level 15 dungeon. So she asked, "How would that work?"

Shadow.Q explained, "We recently discovered a Divine Gift that allows us to move dungeon portals. If you feel the one on your rooftop is affecting your life, you could sell it to the Special Affairs Bureau."

Rita asked, "And who would cover the cost of moving the portal—me, or the Special Affairs Bureau?"

Shadow.Q didn't hesitate, "That's an extra service, a convenience for the public. Of course, you'd have to pay."

Rita scoffed, "Oh, then just leave it up there. It's a nice way to keep an eye on the place."

She was sure that if it weren't for the players coming and going on her rooftop, who knows how many people might have shown up here already. The *Shielding Water Curtain* alone wouldn't be enough to scare off everyone with ill intentions.

Installing a security camera in a store versus having a police station on the rooftop—it's not the same level of protection, right?

Rita felt good and enjoyed watching Shadow.Q's slightly choked expression as she ate. After a couple of bites, she suddenly asked, "Is that skill stone that can move dungeon portals for sale?"

She couldn't control her thoughts. Devious ideas kept pouring out of her brain by the ton!

Shadow.Q put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and cleared her throat for a formal reply. "That's a strategic-level Divine Gift. You can understand how powerful it would be in the wrong hands. In the Special Affairs Bureau's possession, it allows us to plan ahead. But in the hands of someone with bad intentions…"

Rita sighed internally, *Oh no, this explanation is longer than Nivalis's casting of Aurora Shield.*

Shadow.Q continued, "Imagine someone moving a dungeon portal about to unlock, right into the city center. Or someone stealing a Special Affairs Bureau-controlled portal and hiding it in their home…"

Rita zoned out a little, continuing to eat as Shadow.Q's explanation dragged on, filled with dramatic scenarios. When Nivalis finished her last bite of food, she couldn't bear it anymore. The little dragon took off and flew inside to play on her phone.

It wasn't until Nivalis disappeared inside that Shadow.Q finally named her price: "One skill stone costs 10 milliliters of dragon blood."

Rita immediately rejected, "No way. I will never sell dragon blood."

She wasn't angry or disappointed by Shadow.Q's request. She knew both the Special Affairs Bureau and research institutes were curious about dragons. If dragon poop excited them so much, dragon blood would send them over the moon.

They didn't know her bottom line, so making this offer was understandable. But she had always expected a day like this would come.

Rita met Shadow.Q's eyes, making her stance clear. "Aside from dragon poop, everything else from Nivalis—everything—is off-limits. If you want something researched, you can commission me. I'll do my best to find what you need in Lania Kaia. But no matter what you offer, dragon blood is not up for trade."

"And just to be clear, any dragons not under contract are neutral. Even in this invasion, the dragon race only sent a single hatchling under the pressure of the Twelve Tribes. After that, there won't be any more dragons coming to Blue Star."

"There are countless other magical beasts you can study, but Nivalis is off the table. She's my dragon."

Shadow.Q listened attentively and gave a solemn reply, "I will relay your words and your boundaries to them without omission. Don't worry, the Special Affairs Bureau won't force you into anything you're unwilling to do."

Rita didn't feel much about that final reassurance. At this point, no one could force her into anything against her will.

Behind the curtains, Nivalis, holding her phone, did a little loop in the air, then started chasing her tail, spinning in circles again and again.

When she was a bit younger, an elder dragon once took her on a trip to a town. Just like how Rita had taken her across rooftops, introducing her to all the food and toys, the elder dragon had flown her over buildings, introducing her to the passersby below, explaining which of the Twelve Holy Tribes they belonged to.

That day, she had seen a small creature in the sunlight, chasing its tail in circles. She had asked the elder dragon, *What is that little creature doing?*

The elder dragon replied, *It's happy.*

*Do you chase your tail when you're happy?* she asked.

*Maybe it's too happy, with no one to talk to and no one who would understand. So it can only chase itself. When it finally catches its tail, it can tell itself about the happy thing and feel that joy all over again.*

…

After breakfast, Shadow.Q took Rita and Nivalis to three different places. The Special Affairs Bureau had already been working on the Level 12 dungeons for a week.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The dungeons at these three locations were all Level 13, and they were all large-scale. The Bureau's manpower was spread too thin, which was why they sought Rita's help.

However, Shadow.Q didn't give Rita any formal documentation for this work.

The Special Affairs Bureau had done a psychological profile on Rita. By analyzing her behavior after the game invasion, they'd concluded that she was someone who made others want to befriend her. She was cheerful, resilient, eager to learn, loved animals, valued family, had stable emotions, and her morality was flexible.

Of course, there were some less favorable aspects to her personality, too. She was always concerned with fairness, calculated things carefully, and disliked rules and restrictions.

Another distinctive trait was her extreme caution. To put it more plainly, Rita had a deeply ingrained distrust of others.

When the Special Affairs Bureau saw this result, they were actually relieved.

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They had done psychological profiles on all the top-ranking players and those with Divine Gifts of A-level and higher.

The results had been all over the place, revealing personality flaws that could fill a hundred novels about domineering CEOs: people who were starved for love, obsessive, extreme, violent, envious by nature, cold-blooded, control freaks, power-hungry, vengeful, or prone to feeling betrayed at the slightest difficulty…

The list went on—almost a full set of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Compared to all these traits, Rita's "low trust in others" seemed refreshing!