This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

From the moment Rick and Zoey got the location of the dungeon, they began gathering allies. The news of Zoey planning to capture the dragon soon reached the White family.

From the White family's perspective, if Zoey got her hands on the dragon, the first thing she'd probably do was blow off Sanchez's ear—and maybe take Josephine's ear along with it. There was no way Sanchez and Josephine were going to stand by and let someone from the White family's biggest enemy rise to power.

The White family started making moves.

In the previous life, the Lopez family revolved entirely around Rick and Zoey. Their two powerful Divine Gifts sustained the entire Lopez family, so it was no surprise they were strong. But this life?

Rick was busy swinging a spatula and dragging the Lopez family down, making them unbelievably unlucky. Matthew had already started pulling strings to reserve the first incense offering at Los Angeles' XX temple for next year.

In short, the Lopez family's power was far weaker than it had been in the past.

On the other hand, while the White family did face consequences in June after killing the Minotaur prince and getting placed on the Minotaur's most-wanted list, it hadn't caused any substantial harm.

No one would go to war with a major faction just for the reward of a single item from the Minotaurs.

People without brains don't have the strength, and those with strength wouldn't be so foolish.

So while the White family did sacrifice quite a bit to take out the Minotaur prince, it didn't cripple them.

In mid-July, Sanchez's mother, Ariana, managed to sneak back into the country after years of being in exile.

With the game invasion, her past crime of killing her husband was easily solved. Hand over a few resources to the special bureau, give her husband's family some compensation in the form of items, and with Ariana's useful A-Class Divine Gift, the matter quietly faded away.

Now, with Josephine, Ariana, and Sanchez united, the White family was far stronger than the Lopez family.

The White family had no internal strife or lingering resentment. They worked together to push the family forward, already making them several times stronger than the Lopez family.

The recent clashes between the two families showed that their strength was about equal.

As for Ariana, Rita didn't know her well. In her past life, she had never even met the woman. But she knew that Ariana was the brains behind the White family.

Ariana's intelligence surpassed Josephine's, her schemes were more ruthless, and it was said her temper was worse than Sanchez's.

Whenever Sanchez threw a tantrum, all Zoey had to say was, "Your mom, Ariana, is here," and Sanchez would immediately quiet down like a well-behaved child.

It happened so often that even Rita learned to use the line.

During fights with Sanchez, if Rita was ever on the losing end, she'd shout, "Aunt Ariana!" and Sanchez would pause.

Rick wasn't afraid of Matthew, Josephine, or Han Wanli—but he was afraid of Ariana.

She was a woman of legend.

When Ariana returned, the White family's aggressive expansion slowed down. Her first move upon coming back was to clean house, eliminating traitors, deadweight, and the foolish troublemakers who couldn't cover their tracks.

The White family's growth rate slowed, but they became much more stable.

Rita was already looking forward to January when the Taylor family would arrive.

Perhaps because this was a "scorned husband" genre of story, the Lopez, White, and Taylor families were all ruled by women who were anything but soft.

When the three families eventually clashed—one family against two others—it was going to be incredibly entertaining.

Humming a little tune, Rita took Nivalis to grind experience in a level 10 dungeon in the city center.

But after a while, she had to send Nivalis home to play on her phone.

It was terrifying. After grinding a third of the dungeon, her experience bar had only increased by 0.3%—the rest was being absorbed by Nivalis.

Nivalis had looked so innocent.

What could Rita do? She could only beg Nivalis to go home and play games. "You're still a child. Such brutal dungeons aren't suited for you."

...

Meanwhile, Rick and Zoey didn't go straight to the top 100 players for help—they reached out to Shadow.Q from the special bureau first.

For one, it was more efficient. Reaching out to an organization was faster than gathering individual players to form a team.

The dragon deal couldn't be delayed. The seller was auctioning off the dungeon's location every ten days, and they were being so cautious that Zoey couldn't even find a way to silence them.

Secondly, partnering with the special bureau was safe. The bureau was massive and represented the government—they wouldn't dare pull something as disgraceful as breaking a deal midway.

More importantly, there was no risk of White family infiltrators sabotaging them from the inside.

The stakes were too high, so Shadow.Q arranged a face-to-face meeting with Rick and Zoey. Asher also attended.

Negotiations like this weren't something that could be finalized in one sitting, and the special bureau didn't just want to hear from one faction. Shadow.Q was chosen because she had a way with words, and most deals she brokered had been favorable for the bureau.

This negotiation was crucial.

The domestic special bureau was adept at mobilizing resources and unifying players. They prioritized the overall strength of their players rather than focusing on individual power. Even after the game's invasion, they took care of the general populace.

This had its pros and cons.

On the positive side, it allowed them to mobilize quickly and have players infiltrate the game's internal testing, setting up connections in *Lania Kaia*. For a long time, domestic players dominated the top 100 in both the level and wealth rankings.

But recently, international players had started catching up. Seven foreign players had broken into the top 100 on the level leaderboard, and three non-domestic players were now in the top ten of the wealth rankings.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

However, the bureau had no plans to change its strategy.

They controlled tens of thousands of Divine Gifts and 680,000 dungeon portals. They didn't lack manpower, dungeons, or boss-level monsters. Compared to a dragon, they were more interested in assets like the "Hymn of Hope," which could boost the power of many players at once.

When negotiating with Rita, Shadow.Q could skip the small talk and throw in a few jokes. But when talking to Zoey and Rick, things had to be more formal.

The four of them sat at the table, drinking tea and exchanging pleasantries for half an hour before finally getting to the point.

Asher was almost asleep.

*This is so tedious*, he thought. *How did these two women start talking about Los Angeles' GDP? Does that even exist after the game invaded? Doesn't everyone just store their money in their game inventory?*

*Taxes? What are taxes?*

He glanced at Rick, who was sitting across from him, paying full attention to the conversation. Rick occasionally refilled the women's teacups as they spoke.

Whenever Shadow.Q or Zoey said something witty, Rick would let out a soft, pleasant laugh that wouldn't disrupt the flow of their conversation.

When things got tense, Rick would offer to order some desserts, his gentle tone helping to ease the atmosphere and give both sides a way out.

Once the desserts arrived and the tea was refilled, Rick pushed the sweets toward the women with a smile. "Please enjoy, ladies. There's no need to be upset."

*No wonder he's known as one of Los Angeles' top sons-in-law,* Asher thought.

*This guy is a master!*

Asher could only marvel at Rick's skill.

*I need to take notes.*

His thoughts were interrupted as the discussion between Zoey and Shadow.Q heated up again.

Zoey snapped, "500 casts of the Hymn of Hope? You might as well give me a position in the special bureau! This is an S-Class Divine Gift, not some common man you can find on every street corner!"

Rick: *Gives a doting smile and shakes his head, amused.*

Asher: *Wait, what?*