This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 256: Two New Skills

Nivalis: "What happened?"

Rita: "Oh, I just got to know her a bit. We had a lovely chat and became friends."

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Nivalis: "That’s great. I was worried you’d managed to provoke Mistblade Moon Emperor, and now you’ve ticked off the next Oak Owl Emperor too. That would be so unlucky, haha."

Rita: ...

This time, it wasn’t her fault—she had been as cautious as possible.

Nivalis: "Why aren’t you laughing? Was it not funny?"

Nivalis: "..."

Nivalis: "...Okay, you don’t need to say it. I get it."

Nivalis: "...Promise me, never mention my name out there."

Nivalis: "You can use my father’s name instead. His name is Beisui."

Rita: "Will he save me?"

Nivalis: "He’ll make sure you die... gracefully."

Rita: "..."

Life was hard. Rita sighed.

She flew tirelessly between nearby floating islands, taking breaks only to rest on the edges of the islands, transforming into a cat to nap and scout the area. This exploration would let her teleport directly in the future.

During her journey, she finally examined the two Skill Books she had risked her life to grab.

[Thunder Cage] (A-Rank): Create a six-sided cage of lightning to trap a target. When the cage forms, all A-Rank and below teleportation skills are disabled. Each time the target touches the lightning, they are briefly paralyzed. (No cooldown. Mana cost and cast time depend on the cage’s size; minimum cost 800 MP.)

[100,000 Volts] (A-Rank): Release a massive surge of electricity, centered on yourself, dealing non-discriminatory electrical damage to all targets within 100 meters. Damage scales with Intelligence. Each strike has a 5% chance of paralyzing targets. (No cooldown. Cast time: 0.1 seconds. Duration: 2 seconds. Each use costs 1500 MP.)

Rita stared at the second skill for a long time before reluctantly deciding to learn both.

"100,000 Volts" it is... Fine. If the skill was as powerful as its name suggested, it could prove invaluable. She just hoped it wouldn’t compel her to shout "Pikachu!" whenever she used it.

The two skills—one offensive and one crowd control—were a perfect fit for Rita.

She stayed on a small floating island near Everbright City and slept. When she woke up, it was already the night of the 11th in Blue Star’s timezone, but the faint red glow on her body from the Oak Owl curse still hadn’t faded.

Resigned to her circumstances, she ventured into the wilderness of the island to hunt monsters and level up. If no monsters were available, she brewed potions or practiced [Fox Shadow].

She sustained herself with the rations in her bag, slept curled up as an animal in tree hollows, and occasionally browsed gaming forums to relax. Anticipating that she wouldn’t be able to return to Blue Star for a while, she even recalled her Cat Nest through her tattoo to keep it safe.

[US Channel]

- "Eclipse Vanguard hasn’t claimed responsibility for the recent event yet. [dog emoji]"

- "She’s a lone wolf. She never joined Eclipse Vanguard, so what’s there to explain?"

- "I’ve never understood why she doesn’t join. Special Affairs Bureau treats her pretty well, doesn’t it?"

- "Good? You mean sending her texts and verbal thanks? If she joined, all of that would become ’her duty.’"

- "That’s such a harsh take…"

- "Agreed. Come on, it’s not the Dark Ages anymore. Stop romanticizing bureaucratic jobs!"

- "I’d be a lone wolf too if I could. Have you ever seen Special Affairs Bureau publicly thank their internal members?"

- "They do! Every week, the official site updates with a list of acknowledgments and rewards. Do you guys never check?"

- "Okay, name one person you remember from that list."

- "That’s not the point. If I were skilled enough, I’d be a lone wolf too—or I’d start my own faction!" Your next read awaits at novelbuddy

- "Can we bring the conversation back on track? What did she do to earn so many Honor Points? Are they redeemable for PvP gear?"

- "I want Honor Points too..."

- "She doesn’t seem very active, though. Never speaks publicly."

- "This is the second time she’s gained 10,000 Honor Points in one go, right?"

- "Has Eclipse Vanguard figured it out yet?"

Eclipse Vanguard had indeed not figured it out.

Shadow.Q had immediately messaged Rita to congratulate her, but it took hours to get a reply.

- Rita: "I was busy escaping. I won’t lie—I don’t fully understand the Honor Points system myself. You know me. I prioritize what matters."

Hearing that, neither Shadow.Q nor the Special Affairs Bureau pushed further. They trusted Rita’s judgment on major issues.

Shortly after Rita’s escape from Maple Cang, Nivalis emerged from her pet space to join her in Lania Kaia. She had already fed all the cats in the yard and brought plenty of food for Rita.

After hearing the full story of how Rita had offended Maple Cang and acquired a new Mahjong tile—[Nine Bamboos]—Nivalis immediately empathized.

Slapping her little legs, she cried, "Why Nine Bamboos?! How do you even play with that?"

Rita clapped her thighs in agreement. "Right?! Who designs this stuff?"

Neither of them understood the true purpose of the tiles, but that didn’t stop them from analyzing strategies and theorizing gameplay.

Rita and Nivalis stayed on the floating islands near Everbright City for three days before the red glow on her skin finally faded. Rita then disguised herself as a goblin, collected her usual daily 3 Gold, and returned to Everbright City with an invisible Nivalis in tow.

She made a point to stroll past the 10-meter-long Wanted Board, scanning it with feigned casualness. Unsurprisingly, there was now a bounty for [Mistveil], the Fogtail Moonfox. The poster featured a slyly grinning Mistveil, with a bounty of 3000 Gold for capture—alive.

Beside it was another poster for [Cookie], the little Oak Owl, but the bounty was much lower at 100 Gold—likely because they assumed Mistveil’s true identity was Cookie.

Rita stared in silence.

From her perch atop Rita’s goblin head, Nivalis remarked, "Let me guess: those ’sisters’ you mentioned before—the ones you said had no hope—were all ’like this,’ weren’t they?"

Rita sighed. "Yeah… pretty much."

Nivalis, already small, shrank herself further and whispered, "Can you come up with a stage name for me? I’m scared."

Rita retorted, "What good would a stage name do? You’re the only little dragon in Lania Kaia. As soon as they post your photo, everyone will know it’s you. You don’t even have transformation skills. Just breathe deeply and try to unlock a shapeshifting ability. Then I can bring you on my adventures."

Nivalis puffed out her chest proudly. "I look a lot like my mom. She was an Ice Dragon too. If I dress up, I could pass for her! Oh, by the way, her name was Holy Grail—the most beautiful and powerful dragon in the lair."

Rita: …