This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita knew Sanchez well. If Sanchez had been cursed with the **Unknown Curse**, she wouldn't be in despair. To her, a curse was merely an added negative buff. So what if her health couldn't regenerate? So what if healing effects were weakened? Sanchez would still be able to defeat her enemies before she fell.

What truly tormented Sanchez now was that she couldn't use her strength. She had an S-tier talent and exceptional combat awareness, but she couldn't put them to use.

As Nivalis munched on her pastry, she asked, "Is that your enemy?"

Rita replied, "Yes, all those injuries are from me. Do you think I'm too cruel?"

Nivalis shook her head. "Of course not. If you're not cruel to your enemies, you're being cruel to yourself."

Rita was pleased. She knew Nivalis wouldn't disappoint her. "It's just a hassle. Once she finds a way to heal herself, I'll have to come up with a new way to get revenge."

Nivalis innocently yet wickedly said, "That's great! You'll always have something to play with."

Rita chuckled. "Yeah, it'd be boring if I ended her too quickly."

She sat on the edge of the rooftop, admiring her handiwork. A few minutes later, she spotted Josephine, along with a beautiful woman she hadn't seen before.

"That must be Ariana," Rita mused. The woman was nothing like what she had imagined.

Ariana sat by Sanchez's bedside, her gaze gentle until Sanchez stopped pretending to sleep. After saying something, Ariana produced several bullet casings.

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Suddenly, Rita felt the presence of someone trying to divine her location. Through the fog of mystical energy, she saw Ariana's finely arched eyebrows furrowing.

Rita's tail swished happily through the air. She watched for a moment longer, then turned to Nivalis, "Let's go. Didn't you say you wanted hot pot? Let's eat before heading back."

Nivalis grinned. "Can you rent out the whole hot pot restaurant just for me?"

Rita hesitated. "Has Scarlett been feeding you strange ideas again?"

Nivalis gave a dramatic sigh. "I know you won't do it. I was being too bold."

Rita checked the time. It was 1 PM, peak lunch hour. "I can't rent out the whole place, everyone's eating. We can't just kick them out."

A cloud formed next to Nivalis, and its center dipped dramatically. "Can't you just buy the whole restaurant and kick them out?"

Rita gave her a deadpan look. **What kind of spoiled dragon is this?**

Without a word, Rita pulled out her phone from her game inventory and began typing a message to Scarlett.

**[Rita]: Stop teaching Nivalis weird stuff!**

**[Scarlett also doesn't want to]: Aww, sweetie, your mom is getting old. I didn't mean to make you upset, but I don't know what I did wrong. Anyway, I'm sorry. Love you always…**

Rita stared blankly at her phone, then pocketed it. She told Nivalis, "She's my enemy. You're not allowed to play with her anymore!"

Nivalis immediately complied. "Okay." She lay back on her cloud, pulled out her phone, and calmly deleted Scarlett's contact.

To her, all people—whether from Earth or from other worlds—were the same. Only those who could beat her in a fair fight were worth remembering.

Rita had felt a little silly asking Nivalis to cut ties with Scarlett, but now that Nivalis had so easily done it, she felt oddly… pampered by the dragon.

The cat and the dragon had left the hospital and jumped to the roof of a nearby shopping mall. A large billboard shielded them from the afternoon sun.

Rita raised her paw and grabbed the floating phone out of the air. She opened her banking app and linked it to her game account. Now, she could buy things with the gold she had earned.

Then she pulled out 100 gold coins from her game inventory and stacked them into a small pile, as tall as her cat legs. She pushed the pile toward Nivalis with her paw. "Here's your allowance."

Nivalis, her eyes sparkling with excitement, said, "Do I get this every month?"

Her mom had taken all her coins when they arrived on Earth, saying they were safer on Dragon Island.

Rita, thinking about the money she had earned by selling dragon droppings, felt a little guilty. "Ahem, yes, every month. You can order whatever you want online, and it will be delivered through the game."

"~~♪ Go~ld~ more and more~ more and more~ gold more and more~~" Nivalis sang happily, invisible, her cloud swirling around her.

Rita knew she couldn't rent an entire hot pot restaurant, but she could easily reserve a private room. As soon as she walked in, people recognized her. Everyone was respectful and kept their distance. Only after she had been escorted upstairs did the buzz of conversation start up again.

As Rita climbed the stairs, she could hear the murmurs behind her.

"Arrow…"

"…Nivalis…"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Three leaderboards…"

"…Arrow…"

"Luck… talent…"

"Official website…"

"Arrow…"

Rita: **... In love, people. It's *in love*!**

As she ate, the news about what had happened at the White estate the night before finally leaked out.

It wasn't just the fact that Sanchez had been rushed to the hospital by helicopter that spread the news. Even with the White family's personal doctors, it was impossible to keep such a significant event under wraps, especially since many of the medical supplies and equipment needed for the surgery had to be sourced from the public hospital.

Though there wasn't an official guild leaderboard yet, the movements of powerful factions were closely followed by the community, and the White family was definitely one of the top three forces in Los Angeles.

Rumors also swirled that the White family possessed an S-tier **Divine Gift**, and there was speculation that they had obtained legendary or even epic equipment from the minotaur prince. Not to mention, the family still had that ancestral statue up for auction, which further stoked curiosity about their power.

Even Rick reached out to Rita for information.

**[Rick]: Did you hear anything last night?**

**[Rita]: I heard something, but I didn't go see. I didn't want to be misunderstood.**

**[Rick]: Sis~ If you find any clues, you've got to share with me!**

Rita knew exactly what Rick was thinking. This wasn't just idle gossip—Zoey was starting to get scared.

That enemy they shared with the White family? That mysterious threat had returned once again.