This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

As Rita squeezed the turtle jade and continued to scroll through the auction listings, her mood soured until she spotted a basic pet contract scroll listed for just 58 gold.

**Rita: !!!**

Her reflexes kicked in faster than her mind, and she hit the buy button instantly, securing the deal at the "buyout" price. Moments later, a confirmation arrived in her mailbox, and she opened it to find the attachment.

**[Basic Pet Contract Scroll] x1.**

Satisfied, Rita relaxed. There was no chance the auction house had made a mistake. The system was designed not to allow errors, so the only explanation was that the seller must have missed adding another "8" to the price.

**Looks like this turtle jade is the real deal!**

Rita searched for more, but all the remaining contract scrolls were listed at their normal prices. Still, she wasn't disappointed and bought a second scroll at 588 gold.

With two scrolls in hand, her total cost was 646 gold. Selling them to Rick for 1,595 gold? In less than five minutes, she had pocketed a sweet 949-gold profit.

After tucking the scrolls away, Rita skimmed through the auction house's selection of S-level skill books. Unfortunately, none suited her—they were all attack skills, which she didn't prioritize right now. What she really needed were utility skills to boost her stealth or provide more life-saving options.

When it came to offensive skills, Rita believed: **"Enough is enough. No need to bite off more than I can chew."**

But when it came to escape or survival skills, her motto was: **"Why haven't I collected 100 of them yet?"**

---

Early the next morning, Rita took Nivalis out for a stroll. The young dragon had expressed interest in seeing more of Blue Planet, and of course, Rita obliged. At Nivalis' request, she also brought along three of the dragon's favorite cats, who, being former strays, were far more adventurous than typical house pets.

So, there they were: Rita, a dragon, and three cats, out cruising in the luxury car that The Jones Family had gifted her.

While waiting at a red light, Rita sensed someone in a nearby car taking pictures of them. She ignored it.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Later, at the mall, she gave Nivalis an invisibility potion before they entered. However, halfway through their shopping, Rita noticed the mall becoming unusually crowded. More and more people seemed to be sneaking glances at her, which was hardly surprising given Nivalis' occasional reappearance due to the invisibility potion's cooldown.

Whenever the dragon became visible, the nearby shoppers would audibly gasp and immediately start snapping photos on their phones.

Nivalis, though not one to be easily bothered, started feeling uncomfortable amidst the chaotic mix of emotions—admiration, envy, greed, and desire—from the onlookers. It wasn't that she feared them, but the noise of it all grated on her nerves. She much preferred the pure affection and gratitude she felt from Rita.

Sensing Nivalis' discomfort, Rita swiftly changed course. Pushing her cart, which now held the three cats, she headed straight for the mall manager, marked down everything the dragon and cats had shown interest in, and bought them by the boxload.

The mall's manager, understanding the viral sensation a dragon could bring, graciously invited her to the VIP lounge and informed her that, due to the tremendous traffic Nivalis had brought to the mall, all of Rita's purchases were on the house. Moreover, she was welcome to bring the dragon back anytime.

Checking her status screen, Rita noticed that her financial luck buff was still active, though only for another two minutes.

**Could it really be this effective?**

Grinning, she accepted the offer. After all, she had purchased quite a lot.

Though the trip was mundane for Rita, it was all new and exciting for Nivalis. In her previous life, Rick had tried various ways to win over the dragon with food and entertainment, but Nivalis had never shown him the slightest warmth. Maybe she had sensed Rick's ulterior motives or simply refused to be patronized by a weakling.

Watching the little ice dragon happily floating in the air with a bubble tea in hand, Rita couldn't resist reaching out to poke her pudgy belly. "Good, right?"

Nivalis chewed on the tapioca pearls, pondering for a moment. "I still prefer meat."

Rita chuckled, "Well then, after we finish here, we'll go get some meat."

Everything she did for Nivalis came from a genuine place of gratitude and affection. Rita admired the dragon's unyielding spirit and stunning beauty from her past life, and she was thankful for the help Nivalis had given her.

As they waited for their purchases to be packaged, Rita received a message from Shadow.Q.

**[Shadow.Q]: Taking your dragon out shopping?**

**[Rita]: Yeah, saw me on the forum? My only problem now is that I'm too famous.**

**[Shadow.Q]: … You're in LA? Let me take you to lunch.**

**[Rita]: You're paying, right?**

**[Shadow.Q]: What do you think I am?**

**[Rita]: I feel like if I shook hands with you, you'd charge me for a handshake ticket.**

**[Shadow.Q]: That's actually a great idea! If I ever hit number one on the leaderboard, I'll start selling those.**

**[Rita]: ?**

**[Rita]: Okay, so, lunch is on you, right? If not, I'll charge you for my time.**

**[Shadow.Q]: ?????**

**[Rita]: I mean, come on. Don't tell me you expect a free lunch with a dragon?**

**[Shadow.Q]: How about you join the Special Affairs Bureau as a special agent? You don't have to do anything except think of ways to make money.**

**[Rita]: I'm already making money without joining. Look at me now.**

The conversation stalled for a moment, and Rita wasn't sure if she'd managed to irritate Shadow.Q into silence.

Just as she was about to close the chat window, a message from Rick popped up, eager for updates.

**[Rick]: Sis! Did you get the contracts yet?**

**[Rita]: You think these things come overnight? It takes time! Getting through interstellar customs isn't exactly fast, you know.**

She wasn't lying, though her real priority at the moment was to track down the dragon.

Half an hour later, Rita discreetly left the mall through the employee entrance, taking her hundreds of boxes of goods with her.

That day, Rita had no other plans—this was her day off, spent entirely with Nivalis for some well-earned relaxation.

She didn't entirely reject Shadow.Q's offer, though. Their relationship had developed into a friendly banter, and both understood the other's humor. Joking around was a sign that there were things to discuss seriously. So, following the address Shadow.Q had provided, Rita and Nivalis made their way to a restaurant, taking the VIP entrance to their private room.

Inside, Shadow.Q was waiting alone. When the dragon entered, she immediately stood and greeted Nivalis with a big, welcoming smile. She extended her hand towards the ice dragon. "Hello, hello! It's an honor to meet you, Lady Nivalis. I'm Shadow.Q."

**Rita:** "..."

Nivalis sniffed the air around Shadow.Q, finding her scent neutral and unthreatening. With a tilt of her head and a regal air, the dragon extended the tip of her wing to shake hands, responding, "I am Nivalis."

Since Shadow.Q had her own high-level translator device, she understood the dragon perfectly. Pulling out a chair, she offered it with a flourish. "Nivalis, please have a seat."

Before Rita could even clear her throat to remind them of her presence, Shadow.Q had already pulled out another chair for her. "And you too, Rita. Please, take a seat."

Shadow.Q didn't stop there. She pulled out three more chairs for the three cats that had accompanied them, smiling warmly. "And, of course, for our lovely feline guests. Please, sit."

**Rita:** **Sis, please don't. You're scaring me…**