This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita sat in her car, staring at the few short strands of hair in her hand—hair she'd pulled from Rick's head when she patted him earlier. Without hesitation, she clutched the hair tightly, then crushed the skill stone of *"Got It, Came For Me"*, beginning to insight into the secret Rick most didn't want her to know.

**—"Should I use this curse that absorbs luck on Zoey or my sister? My sister's luck stat seems lower than Zoey's, but she always feels luckier. Is it because of her *Wheel of Fate* Divine Gift? But it seems easier to get Zoey's blood than hers..."**

Rita: *You've got to be kidding me...*

Even with a trust level of 89.5, he's still thinking of going after me? Trusting me and stealing my blood are two different things, huh?

*This guy's a real piece of work...*

Rita swallowed her anger and started thinking about curses that could absorb someone's luck, but her knowledge in this area was limited. In her past life, she was just a struggling player, and in this life, while she'd learned a lot about alchemy, curses weren't her forte.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Alchemy, jewelry crafting, engineering, and even tailoring could all potentially create cursed items. But it didn't matter—Rick's thoughts had already revealed the most critical part of the curse: it required blood as a medium.

Rita glanced at her own outfit. Her combat style was focused on long-range attacks, relying on agility and mobility. Her clothes were usually lightweight and practical, not for show. However, her *"Made Money Today?"* outfit was an ancient robe that practically covered her entire body.

Ever since the game invaded reality, people walked around wearing all kinds of gear, so her outfit wouldn't stand out.

Her outfit, coupled with how often she met Rick, made it understandable why Rick thought getting Zoey's blood might be easier than hers.

But Rita made a mental note to stay extra vigilant. She already took great care to prevent her blood from falling into the wrong hands—even burning her used sanitary pads. But now, she'd be even more cautious, not just around Rick but also around Samuel and Scarlett.

Though Samuel and Scarlett's relationship with Rick was currently in a strange place, she believed that if Rick offered them enough, they wouldn't hesitate to help him get her blood.

And for Rick? Even if he grew to resent Samuel and Scarlett, it wouldn't stop him from using them.

With one last glance at the three people who had just left the restaurant, Rita stepped on the gas and headed to her training ground.

When she arrived at the training camp, only her instructor and a woman in tight-fitting clothes and a black mask were there. Seeing Rita, the woman raised a hand in greeting.

Rita smiled and nodded back. She wasn't lacking in connections—this woman was one of her former escape buddies from her past life, named Skylar.

Skylar wasn't on the leaderboard, but in the second year after the game invasion, she became quite famous.

Back then, Skylar's close friend was betrayed by Zoey's cousin. In retaliation, Skylar snuck into the Lopez family's estate and assassinated him...

It was a huge slap in the face for the Lopez family—having one of their own killed, and not just anyone, but someone of importance.

The twist? The friend whom Skylar avenged, who had been devastated by the betrayal, turned around and backstabbed Skylar. During the Lopez family's investigation, she sold out Skylar's information...

And she didn't stop there. For a while after, she continued to backstab Skylar, either leaking Skylar's personal information or revealing her whereabouts.

Of course, Skylar didn't just sit back and take it. She retaliated by publicly dragging her friend, exposing secrets about Zoey's cousin and sharing other gossip about the Lopez family. It became a full-on public feud, with both women being hunted by the Lopez family...

The drama gained a lot of attention. A friend complains about her ex-boyfriend, and in a fit of loyalty, you kill the guy? The execution was impressive, if terrifying.

Opinions on Skylar were divided. Some admired her sense of loyalty, while others thought she was reckless.

After all, if her friend still had feelings for the guy, she'd naturally be upset that Skylar killed him. No wonder she turned on her.

But Skylar's friend came off worse—people called her a fool. No one believed she hadn't known about Skylar's plans, and the fact that she waited until afterward to betray her just made her look worse. She ended up hurting both Skylar and the guy she supposedly still loved.

As with any viral story, multiple versions of the truth eventually emerged. Some said Skylar was secretly in love with her friend's ex. Others speculated that Skylar had feelings for her friend. A third version claimed the guy had been cheating on both women.

Rita had followed the drama closely back then, entertained by all the twists and turns. That was until, during her third year on the run, she encountered both Skylar and her infamous friend.

The three of them fought together, fending off several waves of Lopez family pursuers. During a lull in the action, Rita had asked them for the real story, since, at that point, Skylar's friend was still "betraying" her online.

To her surprise, the two women, arms linked, told her that all the rumors were false. Skylar had indeed killed a member of the Lopez family to avenge her friend, but her friend had never actually betrayed her.

**—"Su Linfeng deliberately got close to her, even sending people to try and seduce her. At first, we didn't realize what was going on, but then the number of handsome guys confessing their love to her got ridiculous. She was attracting more suitors than we had gold coins, so we figured something was up."**

**—"Her Divine Gift is weird. Every time she betrays a friend and puts them in danger, they gain an attribute point. And every time she is betrayed and put in danger by someone she trusts, she gains an attribute point."**

Rita hadn't been able to hold back her reaction at the time: *You two are really bugging the system, huh?!*

She was beyond envious.

She suspected that Su Linfeng had known about this—that's why he had plotted to send people to seduce Skylar's friend. Even the Lopez family had caught on at some point—why else would they occasionally call off the pursuit? But every time they did, these two women would publicly taunt the Lopez family, rubbing their faces in the dirt.

If the Lopez family didn't respond, the sisters would camp out at the Lopez family's dungeon and ambush one of their members.

Rita had always thought Skylar and her friend's hatred for the Lopez family ran as deep as her own... but the two had never shared the full story with her.

Still, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Besides, in her past life, Skylar and her friend had caused the Lopez family no end of trouble, which made Rita naturally inclined to like her.

Skylar, for her part, didn't understand why a leaderboard player and former celebrity like Rita was so friendly toward her, but she liked Rita too. After all, she was a sucker for good looks, and Rita was one of the most beautiful, elegant people she'd ever met. Plus, Rita was kind and easygoing—what wasn't to like?

In just half a month, the two had grown quite close. They weren't exactly best friends, but if either of them needed to rally a group for a mission, they could count on the other.

It was a shame Skylar's friend wasn't around. If she were, Rita would've loved to befriend her too!

Not for any specific reason—Rita just wanted to experience that kind of *playstyle*.