This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita had always admired this dragon in her previous life—beautiful, proud, and most importantly, it never bullied her. With that in mind, Rita couldn't wait to engage in a proper battle with the creature.

While staying at the back of the fight, Rita expertly slacked off. She occasionally mimicked shooting an empty bullet, aiming her guns at the ground and muttering "biu," saving her precious ammunition. Every now and then, she would perform dramatic rolls as if avoiding a long-distance attack from the young dragon, 50 meters away.

She left the heavy lifting to the undead squad, while she roamed around the battlefield, lighting up the map of the area. This would allow her to teleport freely using her Phantom Shift when she faced the dragon in a one-on-one fight.

At the same time, she closely observed the dragon's attack patterns. Single-target strikes, area-of-effect skills, flight height, the little motions the dragon made before casting spells, and how the flapping wings could affect the trajectory of arrows and bullets—Rita studied them all.

But something felt off. When she turned around, she noticed all the undead around her were staring. They were swinging their weapons into the air, but their eyes were all on her.

Rita: "?"

What is this, a period drama?

She glanced up at the dragon. Sure enough, it was spewing fire into the sky but sneaking glances in her direction with its eyes.

Alright, so she was the only outsider here, huh?

An undead soldier next to her shouted, "Soldier! Why aren't you fighting?"

Rita calmly holstered her guns in her tactical belt and responded with righteous indignation, "Ahem… I can't bring myself to hurt the dragon. A dragon's life is still a life."

Wait, that's not in the script.

The undead, encountering a Blue Star human for the first time, were confused.

Blue Star humans… are they this easy to fool?

The undead captain immediately asked, "Then are you willing to sign a peace contract with us?"

If Rita's *Malice Detector* hadn't been vibrating like crazy, she might have believed them.

But she was done with the charades. Even though both sides had been playing actors, she had gathered enough intel. She knew over a dozen of the dragon's most commonly used skills and had a good idea of its defense and attack strength. Conclusion: she could win.

Most of the map within 20 meters of the dragon was now illuminated. For the closer areas, she could use the *I'm In a Hurry* ability from her Chávez Pocket Watch to teleport as needed.

Unfortunately, *Insight* only revealed the dragon's *Divine Gift* and attributes, not specific skills. Otherwise, she wouldn't have needed to go to such lengths.

Without wasting any more time, Rita used Phantom Shift to teleport back to the dungeon entrance. Once outside, she activated Phantom Cloak, rendering herself invisible as she left the dungeon.

After waiting two minutes, Rita re-entered and proceeded to eliminate any witnesses.

All the undead and villagers in the town, whether they had seen her or not, were killed.

Even though it was unlikely anyone would randomly interview the dungeon's inhabitants to ask who had visited recently, Rita always preferred to be thorough.

There were over 5,000 creatures in this 100-player dungeon. Rita didn't want to trigger a full-scale battle, so she methodically killed those who were isolated.

Whenever she encountered a lone target, she would steal their attributes. She only stole once from each to avoid losing too much health. While the probability of success was low, by the end of the night, she had gained 5 points in Constitution, 2 points in Strength, 7 points in Intelligence, and 6 points in Agility.

By the time she was done, it was already late at night. Rita found an empty room, settled in, and slept soundly. Tomorrow was going to be a big fight, and she needed to be at her best.

The next afternoon, fully rested, Rita teleported back to the mountaintop and faced the young dragon.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Rita: "Sorry, I leveled up a bit—now I'm scary strong!"

The young dragon, who remembered the human that had fled the previous day, sniffed disdainfully. As a noble dragon, she naturally had *Insight* and could see Rita's stats.

A measly level-7 human?

The pale blue dragon snorted, her shimmering scales catching the sunlight, but she didn't even bother speaking.

Rita wasted no time, pulling out the top-tier pet contract scroll and stating her challenge: "The nuisances are gone. I want a one-on-one duel with you. If I lose, you can have me for lunch. But if I win, we'll sign this equal contract, and you'll become my pet and friend."

In theory, a smarter approach would be to use a regular pet contract scroll first. After beating the dragon, she could then bring out the top-tier scroll, offering friendship to gain favor through the contrast.

But as the dragon book had advised—dragons hated mind games. Rita opted for honesty.

Dragons appreciated directness. The young dragon's initial disinterest softened. The human's straightforwardness made her impression of Rita more favorable. She decided that if she won, she would at least let the human live.

The dragon, standing as tall as an airplane, gazed down at the human who barely reached her knee. "I accept."

Rita immediately pocketed the scroll, then jumped into action, shoving a skewer of meat into her mouth. With one bite, all five or six small pieces slid off the stick and into her mouth.

The dragon was momentarily stunned: Why is she eating now?

Each piece of meat was deliberately small, designed for quick consumption in battle. With just a few chews, Rita swallowed, and thanks to her *God of the Culinary Arts* talent, the food's effects were tripled. Her attack power skyrocketed by 15%.

She downed a bottle of *High-Grade Constitution Potion*, boosting her Constitution by 30% for the next five minutes.

*Shadow Control*! A shadowy figure, identical to Rita, split from her body.

*Now I'm Scary Strong*! For the next few minutes, every bullet she fired would carry magical attributes.

Rita skipped any testing phases, going all out from the start.

The dragon, named Nivalis, was primarily ice-elemental, but her magic wasn't limited to just that.

Rita dodged the dragon's frost breath the moment she saw a white mist forming in its mouth. She cast spells whenever the dragon flapped its wings, using abilities like *Rain of Hatred*.

Whenever black smoke puffed from the dragon's nostrils, Rita prepared to defend against fire-based attacks.

One… two… three… seven…

Every seventh shot, Rita took three extra seconds to aim carefully, ensuring that her guaranteed critical hit landed squarely on the target.

Rita's combat instincts had been honed through relentless solo dungeon runs and nonstop training.

Nivalis had over 20,000 HP and thick skin. Even when Rita scored a critical hit, she only shaved off 800 HP. Against a regular level-14 monster, Rita's current stats could have wiped them out with just a basic attack.

But the dragon had absurd regenerative abilities.

No wonder the book called dragons the "chosen of the heavens."

Rita: "This dragon is basically cheating."

But Rita wasn't much better. With multiple S-rank *Divine Gifts*, an endless supply of potions and meals, legendary weapons, and countless escape tools, she had plenty of tricks up her sleeve.

And she hadn't even shown her full strength yet.

Worried that the dragon wouldn't submit if she felt slighted, Rita hadn't used her *Immortal* ability to control the dead. Otherwise, she could have brought back the fallen villagers to fight on her behalf.