This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 169 Here to Scam a Free Meal?

That morning, Rita was busy cleaning out the cat's den in her backyard while chatting with Shadow.Q about the rewards.

[Rita]: I've sent the August Another Happy Day skill crystal to your mailbox.

[Shadow.Q]: Got it. You've accumulated several months' worth of revenue from selling the skill crystals. You can collect it anytime. Special Affairs Bureau bought half, and the rest was sold to various factions and guilds.

[Rita]: No rush, you can handle it. Can I choose the A-rank skill I get as a reward?

[Shadow.Q]: Of course, otherwise it wouldn't be a reward. Tell me your preferences, the more detailed the better. I'll send you a few options.

[Rita]: Something that reduces skill cooldowns or lessens damage from mental attacks. Preferably passive.

[Shadow.Q]: Skills like that are rare. We only have three.

[Shadow.Q]: Almost There, Just Five More Minutes – Reduces the cooldown of all skills by five minutes. The skill itself has a 30-minute cooldown.

[Shadow.Q]: Unlimited Firepower – For 15 seconds, all your skills can be used without cooldown. This skill also has a 30-minute cooldown.

[Shadow.Q]: Cured but Still Drooling – Passive skill. Any enemy attempting to use a mental skill on you has a 35% chance of failing, and for the next five seconds, that enemy will enter a drooling, dazed state.

[Rita]: I'll take Cured but Still Drooling!

[Shadow.Q]: A friendly reminder: not all mental skills are harmful. Some can link you to an ally's vision, send messages telepathically, or even enhance your clarity of thought temporarily.

[Rita]: It's fine, I understand. Gains and losses come together. I just really like watching people drool.

[Shadow.Q]: Understood... It's been sent to your mailbox.

After receiving the email, Rita quickly learned the skill Cured but Still Drooling.

How wonderful! With her maxed-out luck stat, surely this 35% chance would feel more like 70%.

Although the other skills—Almost There, Just Five More Minutes and Unlimited Firepower—were tempting, they wouldn't benefit her most frequently used abilities as much.

[Rita]: Thanks.

[Shadow.Q]: ∠(°ゝ°) It's my honor to serve you, Commander Arrow!

[Rita]: … Did you write that embarrassing title in the announcement?

[Shadow.Q]: No, that was Special Affairs Bureau's top official, Landon himself. He personally crafted that message.

[Rita]: Alright, I have no further comments.

[Shadow.Q]: Understood, Commander Arrow. Feel free to reach out anytime.

[Rita]: …

Rita grabbed a spoonful of dragon dung she had just cleaned up, packed it, and mailed it to Shadow.Q.

Within seconds, she received a reply.

[Shadow.Q]: A bit salty.

Rita sighed. Here to scam a free meal, huh?

Had Rita not been in a good mood from finding some interesting items, she might have sent another full bowl of dung.

One of the items she found was:

[Whistle] (F-rank): Blow it, and the nearest animal will come running to you.

Though this was pretty useless for most players, it could be handy for someone like Rita, who had the Animagus skill. It would serve as an extra layer of safety. If she ever got trapped somewhere for more than seven days, this whistle could be a lifesaver. She tucked it into her Magician's Fake Tooth for easy access.

Another item was:

[Crushed Soda Can] (A-rank): Kick the can. Wherever it lands becomes a sound-suppressed zone. Any target that makes noise within this radius will be stunned for one second. The area of effect lasts two minutes.

This would be incredibly useful in battle, especially if her opponent got agitated and started shouting. Rita could casually toss and kick the can, potentially turning the tide of battle. She placed it in her game inventory.

Lastly:

[Rusty Spatula] (Curiosity): Said to have been used by the God of the Culinary Arts during their apprenticeship. Even though they weren't yet allowed to cook for customers, the joy they felt while flipping air was boundless. Stirring the air with this spatula will release the aroma of food.

This one was just bizarre. Cooking air?

Sometimes Rita found the God of the Culinary Arts rather strange. First, it was the drool bib, now this air-flipping spatula.

Despite the oddity, seeing the God of the Culinary Arts' name on the item convinced Rita to stash it in her inventory. She added it to the collection of seemingly useless trinkets she wasn't sure she'd ever use but couldn't bear to throw away.

Even though she had the Special Affairs Bureau's water shield protecting her house and Nivalis guarding the place most of the time, Rita never left any valuable items at home. She didn't want to form the habit. What if she needed to take Nivalis on a trip one day?

Anything valuable was stored safely in her game inventory. As for the rooftop vending machine? That was under the Special Affairs Bureau's jurisdiction. Besides, she had rigged it so that if anyone tried to move it, they'd get an electric shock.

Once she finished dealing with her random tasks, Rita started organizing the books she had stolen from the Moonfox City library. She categorized them neatly, aware that unlike skill books, these couldn't be instantly learned with a click.

In fact, all skill books originated from these magic and martial arts tomes. In Lania Kaia, skill books were formed from the experiences and insights of the beings who developed those skills. The skill books dropped on Earth were actually the condensed memories and understandings of those beings after death.

Learning from magical tomes required studying magic runes and incantations, a process that took significant effort. But once mastered, the skills would be uniquely hers. Furthermore, studying these books would enhance her understanding of a particular school of magic, increasing her damage in that field. The same applied to martial arts techniques.

Rita planned to leave the Special Affairs Bureau training camp in September to focus on self-study using these books.

That day, Rita spent her time preparing for revenge. Concerned that she might need an emergency power boost, she even experimented with drinking 50ml of her Daughter Red wine, entering a drunken battle state. She found that it left her groggy but functional, though her combat ability would be instinctive rather than strategic.

In short, using the wine in non-life-threatening situations wasn't worth it.

After a protective eight-hour sleep under Nivalis' watch, Rita began gathering the materials she would need for her confrontation with Sanchez.

By nightfall, she was ready to set off. She'd delayed dealing with Sanchez long enough and felt a bit guilty.

Nivalis asked, "Going out for fun?"

Rita replied, "No, I'm going for revenge."

Nivalis tilted her head. "You think you can win?"

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Rita shrugged. "Eh, about 0.1 of a Nivalis, maybe."

Nivalis nodded solemnly. "Terrifying. You must be extra, extra careful."

Rita: ?