This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

While Rita was busy with her own plans, Josephine was also hard at work. It had taken great effort to finally obtain Rick's blood sample.

Ever since he overheard Wilson's parents' reactions from his third uncle, Josephine knew there was something wrong with Rick. But last time, Zoey and Rick had managed to gloss over the issue. This time, he needed solid evidence—words alone wouldn't be enough.

Going back and forth with the same accusations—"You're sick!" "No, I'm not!"—was too childish. That wouldn't solve anything.

Josephine tracked down where Zoey's group was grinding in the game and paid a hefty price to bribe the two guards stationed at the dungeon entrance. Their task was to collect Rick's blood in exchange for a full set of equipment and 30 gold coins.

Even though Zoey and Rick switched dungeons due to leveling up, Josephine was prepared to bribe new guards. But it turned out Zoey thought those original guards were reliable and brought them along to the new location.

Josephine waited from mid-July to mid-August. Then, a few days ago, his patience finally paid off. One day, when Rick exited the dungeon, there was blood at the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away and flicked his hand, scattering a few droplets, which the guards quickly collected.

Though there were only a few drops, the White family employed a maid with a Divine Gift that could replicate substances. Though it had limitations and a time constraint, replicating a small amount of blood was no issue.

Josephine also managed to acquire Samuel's blood—it was much easier. He simply had someone sneak into the Wilson family's mansion and take a sample.

And so, that morning, two documents lay on the desk: one was a blood test result, and the other was a report confirming the biological relationship between Samuel and the blood sample, showing that it belonged to Rick.

Ariana sat behind the desk, while Josephine and Sanchez sat across from her.

Ariana, unlike her daughter Sanchez, looked nothing like her. While Sanchez was strikingly beautiful and alluring, Ariana exuded a gentle elegance. She wore frameless glasses and gave the impression of a serene florist or an artist leisurely traveling the world without a care.

"Yeah, but this doesn't prove it's Rick's blood," Sanchez remarked, frowning. "What if they claim Rita's the sick one?"

Ariana couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter's naivety.

"Rita may not be a mute, but even if she were, she has the world's only dragon. She's practically a national treasure now. Do you really think Rick and Zoey would dare point the finger at her? The moment they tried to blame her, the Special Affairs Bureau would storm into the Lopez house and drag Rick in for a checkup. Once they're in the hospital, even if Rita's fine, all signs will point to Rick."

Sanchez smiled sheepishly. Though she feared her mother, Ariana's warmth and wisdom made her feel secure. She admired and adored her mother, and even when Ariana laughed at her, it was always with a kind tone.

Josephine rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Sis, when do we release this online?"

Sanchez grinned eagerly, nodding along.

Ariana chuckled softly. "Why release it online? Once we play that card, it's gone. Why not use this report to threaten Zoey and Rick instead? Blowing off steam is something children do. We should be looking for real benefits."

Josephine suddenly chimed in. "Wait a minute, sis, that broker, Brooks, contacted me again. She has some news about the Lopez family's eldest daughter."

[MightySocks]: Good news, good news. Info about the eldest daughter of the Lopez family. Wanna buy? Once in a lifetime offer.

[Josephine]: What's the rank? How detailed is it? Are the numbers precise down to percentages, or is it all "approximately" and "roughly"? Do you know all her skills, or just one? Are you doing someone else's dirty work or is this your idea?

[MightySocks]: 20 gold. You won't regret it.

Josephine sent the same reply back, word for word.

[MightySocks]: S-rank. The skill details are decent, though the numbers aren't exact. It's just one skill. But I'll throw in a bonus—what she's been up to recently.

[Josephine]: 8 gold. Take it or leave it. Knowing her Divine Gift doesn't change anything for me. It's not like I can steal it, right?

[MightySocks]: You used to be more generous. You used to throw me 10 gold as a bonus.

[Josephine]: Yeah, well, I didn't know what kind of person you were back then. Everyone else who sells information is all about trust, but you just enjoy stirring the pot. Every question I ask you is a trap I've already fallen into.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

Josephine looked up to see Ariana frowning at her.

Ariana raised an eyebrow. "Are you chatting with someone?"

Josephine squeezed her legs together nervously. "I'm wrapping it up, I promise!"

[Josephine]: 8 gold. If you're in, send it to my email.

[MightySocks]: Fine, fine. Guess I'll take the hit.

Josephine wasted no time forwarding MightySocks' email to Ariana and Sanchez.

In under a minute, the three of them were smiling from ear to ear.

...

At the Lopez residence, things hadn't been going so well for Matthew lately.

Enjoy new chapters from empire

Despite the family's early involvement in the game's beta testing and their careful planning, they had run into a string of bad luck.

First, they lost a significant amount of gold from their vault. Then, his daughter had her ear cut off. And, as if that wasn't enough, back during the game's official invasion, Matthew had received a tip from his Special Affairs Bureau informant. He had learned that, in late December of the previous year, a large sum of gold had been requisitioned by the Bureau.

That last piece of news was the one that finally convinced Matthew to convert some of the family's assets into gold.

And what happened next? The very day he made the conversion, a portion of it was stolen. Since then, all the people clamoring for gold had vanished. The Special Affairs Bureau, after taking the gold, had gone quiet.

Where were they now?

His streak of bad luck didn't end there. Whenever he and Mateo or Theodore led dungeon raids, some people in their party always had terrible luck. Although no one complained, Matthew knew they all secretly wished they could follow Zoey and Rick. Those two were famous within the Lopez family for their incredible luck.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Especially Rick. The jewelry he crafted always rolled the highest stats possible.

But those two claimed that it was faster to level up in a smaller group and didn't like taking others along. There was a time when they took 16 people from their side of the family, only to kick them all out later.

Matthew took a drag of his cigarette and asked Mateo, who sat across from him, "Do you think they just don't want to bring anyone, or are they hiding something from us?"

Mateo didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he brought up another issue. "It's been harder to get her to come back and sing *Hopeful Hymn* lately."

Matthew chuckled softly, his voice tinged with affection. "She's proud. Of course, she'd be upset about having to sing for the family. You just need to pamper her a bit."

Mateo sighed, smiling helplessly. "She already gets to pick whatever she wants from the family's treasures. What more can I offer?"

As they spoke, both of them simultaneously received a message from MightySocks.