This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

The last two dishes, with a score of 98, were casually handed to the Special Affairs Bureau guards stationed outside, letting them decide what to do with them.

Eleanor enjoyed the perks given to her by the Special Affairs Bureau, so naturally, she took on some work for them. However, this work wasn't mandatory—she could choose the tasks she wanted to do freely, and the Special Affairs Bureau would present her with a variety of tasks, big and small.

The Special Affairs Bureau's approach was quite reciprocal, following a "you respect me, I'll respect you" attitude. Initially, the tasks presented to Eleanor were mostly intermediate or advanced-level, with a substantial workload.

Eleanor would often choose tasks that would benefit many players, but she was careful not to overburden herself. She would complete one task every two days, and if she accepted a task that involved joining a team for an instance run, she'd space them out to three days.

Over time, the Special Affairs Bureau figured out Eleanor's nature: she wasn't lazy or evasive, disliked seeing others gain too much from her, but also wasn't interested in burning herself out for the benefit of others.

Additionally, she avoided creating food for individual players, no matter how generous the rewards were—likely to avoid getting involved in factional disputes.

As a result, the tasks given to her by the Special Affairs Bureau became more varied, allowing her full flexibility.

Eleanor remained the same: if she was in a good mood, she'd take on more work, but if she felt tired, she'd rest.

After all, she was a 72-year-old grandmother—what more could they expect from her?

Given her personality, she should've gone to bed early that night. However, she had seen a task to create food that could increase attribute points specifically for Rita, and she had eagerly accepted it. She spent the day leveling up in instances and spent her evenings preparing for this task.

Even for her, it wasn't a guarantee that every dish would score above 98.

In fact, this task had been forcibly pulled from the Los Angeles Special Affairs Bureau by the B City Bureau specifically for Eleanor to handle—it was only visible to her.

In game terms, this was undoubtedly a unique hidden task.

Eleanor's background had long been investigated, and her family situation was known to the top officials. Her estranged son and his family had left B City 19 years ago, and they had never returned. Even when Samuel had business trips to B City, he never visited his childhood home.

On August 29th, when Samuel and his wife had shown up crying and kneeling in front of Eleanor's gate, the B City Special Affairs Bureau had even held a meeting!

Was this some underhanded scheme by the Los Angeles Special Affairs Bureau to steal their talent by orchestrating a family reconciliation?

If Samuel and his mother reconciled, could they bring Rita to settle in B City and reunite the family?

But not even ten minutes after Samuel and Scarlett were allowed into Eleanor's house, Samuel had already been tied up and hung from the roof to "air out" overnight...

The B City Special Affairs Bureau had lost hope.

But then, the very next day, Rita appeared on the Honor Board!

The B City Special Affairs Bureau was reinvigorated. If Eleanor wouldn't forgive her son, maybe she'd forgive her granddaughter? Rita was only 8 years old at the time—what could she have done wrong? According to the records, when Rita had worked in B City, she had met her grandmother a few times for meals, though their relationship was distant.

This was the perfect opportunity to reconnect the grandmother and granddaughter!

And Rita was from Los Angeles? What nonsense—this is the United States! They're all from the same country! What's wrong with a grandma cooking for her granddaughter? Why were the Los Angeles Special Affairs Bureau so small-minded?

To their delight, Eleanor not only accepted the task, but she also took it very seriously.

If Samuel had returned to B City even once over the years, he would have known that Eleanor had never remarried.

She had certainly dated a few handsome older gentlemen but never remarried. Samuel was her only child—at least on the surface—and Rita and Rick were her only grandchildren.

The B City Special Affairs Bureau had grand ambitions. They hoped this mission would bring Rita, and maybe even Nivalis, to B City.

But instead of Rita, Rick had shown up first…

To the Special Affairs Bureau, Rick was marked with the label of "Lopez family son-in-law from Los Angeles." There was no need to recruit him to B City, and in fact, they needed to be wary that he might be trying to poach talent for the Lopez family.

---

Meanwhile, Rita had no idea that her reward was still simmering in her grandmother's kitchen. She was busy clearing a Level 13 instance with Nivalis. Upon entering, she immediately activated [Hunter's Eye] to ensure that no one followed her into the instance. However, she couldn't be certain if someone had already entered before her.

As long as no one killed any monsters after entering, the instance wouldn't lock down, giving them plenty of time to hide.

During the process of clearing monsters, Rita left most of the fighting to Nivalis while she found a quiet corner to practice cooking. Every time she finished a dish, Nivalis would fly back, eat a bite, then continue soaring through the air and bombarding the enemies below.

Nivalis was in her element, regaining her confidence.

See? Big moves are the best!

This afternoon, Rita's role was mainly that of moral support. Although Nivalis absorbed all the experience points, it wasn't a total loss. After clearing out over five thousand monsters, Rita had collected six pieces of equipment, one item, and even a recipe for **Strawberry Pancakes**.

**[Strawberry Pancakes] (C-Grade)**: Eating this dish boosts happiness for the next half-hour, making the eater incapable of becoming angry.

Rita learned the recipe immediately. It didn't seem very useful at the moment, but who knows? Maybe one day she'd encounter a Divine Gift that relied on anger.

The item she found was an earring that made the wearer appear more radiant. Rita gave it to Nivalis, threading it onto a chain and hanging it around the dragon's neck. Nivalis instantly sparkled, much to her delight.

That afternoon, Rita spent the entire time in the Level 13 instance.

The monsters weren't particularly tough or numerous, but like in the large-scale instances Nivalis and Rita had cleared before, the map was vast, and the enemies were scattered. Hundreds here, hundreds there. If Nivalis couldn't fly, the process would have taken much longer.

---

"Any updates? Did you see what cards she's holding?"

"No, the dragon did all the fighting. She just cooked meals for it, and the dragon ate before going back to fight." Find your next read at empire

"Did she poison the dragon with mushrooms?"

"...What kind of melodramatic romance novel logic is that? Befriending a dragon with a few meals? Is that how she made a contract with it?"

"No way! In those stories, it's always about a sincere heart."

"...Stop reading those novels already!"

---

"Any updates? Did you find anything?"

"Nope, just the dragon fighting, while she cooked."

"Huh?"

"Is she the dragon's personal chef?"

"Should I start practicing cooking too?"

"Ahh! I didn't have enough money during the beta to learn the cooking skill!"

---

"How'd it go, bro?"

"Nothing to see—just the dragon up there casting massive spells. It's so slow! Takes six or seven seconds to charge up, then it mindlessly blows everything up. By the time it's done charging, half the monsters have run off! And after the blast, it tilts its head back and roars like it's all proud. The dragon's having a great time...

but I'm so done with how bad it is."

"So, uh, why'd you change your avatar to a picture of Nivalis casting a spell? Did you secretly snap a photo?"

"...Ahem, when I said it was bad, I meant it's totally my type. I'm drooling over that dragon."

"You're drooling, alright! And you think you've discovered something? At least seven other groups snuck into that instance today!"