This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita didn't even bother returning home and went straight to Rania Kaya Star. After dropping off the five green-tier items at the auction house, she went to the alchemy shop for her lesson. Ever since helping Rita with the Ginseng Essence and earning a hefty sum, the little undead Kayden eagerly looked forward to Rita's visits.

Even if Rita didn't give her more side jobs, Kayden would remain as pure-hearted as ever.

It seemed Apache was also pleased with Rita letting Kayden earn some extra cash. Since that day, Apache had begun sharing some of her unique alchemy techniques during lessons. Another day of becoming even more awesome, Rita thought.

After her lesson, when Rita returned to Blue Star, she received a message from Rick.

**[Rick]: Sis, do you know of any items that can steal other people's attribute points?**

Ah, asking the expert herself, huh?

**[Rita]: Haven't heard of an item like that, but I've seen skill stones that can.**

**[Rick]: What skill?!**

**[Rita]: It's called something like 'This Looks Familiar.' But the chance to steal an attribute is low, around 5%, I think.**n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

**[Rick]: Does the Special Affairs Bureau sell it?**

**[Rita]: Yeah, but it's pretty pricey. One gold per stone. With that kind of money, you'd be better off buying gear. If you want, I can help you purchase some.**

**[Rick]: Got it, Sis. Can you buy me five of them? I've sent the money over.**

Rita didn't waste any time. This wasn't a lie, after all. The Special Affairs Bureau really did have this stone. She took the 5 gold Rick sent and passed it straight along to **Shadow.Q**—her go-to contact. Shadow.Q had practically become her personal supplier at this point. Rita often sent Shadow.Q high-profile clients, so the latter was more than happy to oblige.

Rita used her own Special Affairs Bureau quota for Rick's purchases, but since she was bringing in big customers like Zoey and Rick, Shadow.Q benefited greatly. It wasn't against the rules either. No one in the Bureau was strictly required to buy for themselves—if they could resell to others at a markup, why not?

The more Shadow.Q sold, the more she earned, often making more than her salary from these side deals.

After receiving the five **[This Looks Familiar]** stones, Rita examined them. She had almost picked this skill herself back in the day.

- **[This Looks Familiar]:** When used, there's a 10% chance to steal an item from the target and a 5% chance to steal 1 attribute point (randomly chosen). Regardless of success, this skill can only be used on the same target once. Find exclusive stories on empire

Rita recalled that **Light Fingers**' second skill was called **"Fate Changer"**, which allowed one to steal other people's Divine Gifts. However, it had an incredibly low success rate of 0.05%. Unlike **Thief God**, which had a cap, **Fate Changer** had no limit on the number of uses.

Luckily, the Special Affairs Bureau didn't openly sell any skill stones capable of stealing Divine Gifts. Even the **[This Looks Familiar]** stone was capped—each person could only buy five.

Rita resolved to use **Insight** on any player who tried getting too close to her in the future.

After sending the five skill stones to Rick, she added a word of caution.

**[Rita]: These stones are in high demand. Be careful not to get caught using them, or you might end up dead.**

With that, she kept her message brief—professional and caring, yet with the casual air of a dependable big sister.

Rick received the stones and immediately gave three to Zoey. The next day, they didn't join Aaron and the others for dungeon runs. Instead, they joined the Lopez family in a group dungeon, stealthily using the skill stones on their unsuspecting relatives.

Naturally, Rick and Zoey's protagonist luck kicked in. Rick used only two stones and managed to steal one attribute point, while Zoey succeeded once after using three.

Meanwhile, Rita was enjoying a delicious lunch when she received a surprising notification: **110 gold** sent by Rick.

**[Rick]: Sis! This stuff is amazing! Get me 100 more of these stones!**

Rita nearly choked on her food. Did this fool really think she could pull that off?

**[Rita]: There's a five-stone limit per person. I already used up my quota for you. You might have to contact Shadow.Q directly, though it'll probably be a bit more expensive.**

Rita casually tossed a handful of gold from her pouch, accepting the 110 gold but refunding 100 back to Rick. While she might be his doting big sister, she wasn't about to overlook Rick's uncanny luck. Better to play it safe.

Caught up in his excitement, Rick didn't even notice that Rita had taken a 10-gold cut from his payment. In fact, he felt so appreciative, he thanked her with a smile.

Grateful for her help, Rick and Zoey immediately reached out to Shadow.Q.

Only to be hit with a serious price shock.

Zoey nearly spat in disbelief. "Five gold per stone?! Why not just rob us outright?"

Sure, they made more than most players from their dungeon runs, but after paying just 1 gold per stone with Rita, seeing the price jump to five times that stung hard. Suddenly, they both realized Rita hadn't been profiting off them at all…

Rick completely forgot about the 10 gold Rita had quietly pocketed. As far as he was concerned, giving his sister a little pocket money wasn't theft—it was an investment!

Zoey sighed, feeling a new level of respect for Rita. "From now on, we'll just buy from your sister. Honestly, I don't mind paying a little extra if it goes to her. Your sister's really something. She may act a bit stingy, but when it comes down to it, she doesn't try to fleece us."

Rick nodded. "Yeah, that's just how she is. But deep down, she's a good person."

After their little chat, they had Aaron and Lincoln try their luck with Shadow.Q. While Aaron successfully got his hands on more stones, Lincoln wasn't so lucky.

Shadow.Q's response was… blunt.

**"Not everyone can buy these skill stones from the Special Affairs Bureau. Rita has connections with us, which is why we sell to her. While the Lopez family and The Jones Family don't have any direct partnerships with us yet, we respect your status and are willing to make an exception. But for anyone else? Sorry, they don't qualify."**

A blatant, shameless flattery—but one that landed perfectly.

Even Zoey found herself at a loss for words.

Aaron, instead of being offended, felt like he'd been complimented with just the right touch.

As for Lincoln, he just silently lit a cigarette: **Fine.**