This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Chapter 193: Cooked So Poorly It’s Like a Newborn



Rita's concern wasn't about any of the moral dilemmas she'd been facing. What really worried her now was whether Rick would even bother to buy the Magic Spoon or if he'd keep it for himself. Or worse, could the current Rick even afford it?

She wasn't concerned that the Magic Spoon would get buried in the auction listings. Right now, there were very few items and skills listed for sale in the auction house. Unlike low-level equipment, which players swapped frequently and thus had a lower market value, items and skills like these, which could be used long-term, were much harder to sell.

If you sold them too cheap, it felt like a loss, but if you priced them high, no one had enough gold to buy them. As a result, most players traded these items directly—item for item, skill for skill.

Because everyone was wary of being cheated, many players would go through official trade brokers or find players with Divines related to trade, like **[Broker]** or **[Gold Service Rep]**, to mediate. This was a worldwide trend, leading to only three pages of items in the auction house—nothing like Lania Kaia's 9,999 pages.

A quick search for **[God of the Culinary Arts]** yielded only her recently listed Magic Spoon. No other related items were available. If, by some miracle, someone actually bought the spoon for 999 gold, Rita wouldn't feel bad. After all, she could always get more **God of the Culinary Arts** items or equipment to give Eleanor in the future.

Feeling productive, Rita also removed the White family's ancestor statue from the listings. Ever since Ariana returned, the White family's outbursts had mysteriously calmed, and no one seemed to care about the statue anymore.

After listing the Magic Spoon, Rita practiced her **[Fox Shadow]** for a while before casually messaging Rick.

**[Rita]:** Buying gear? Potions? Landmines?

**[Rick]:** What's up, sis? Need money?

And with that, he sent her 8 gold.

Rick never really lacked gold. Equipment and items he had to hand over to Zoey for distribution, but the gold he earned remained his. Zoey didn't bother taking it, partly because she didn't need it and partly because Rick's weird luck often led him to find rare items he wanted to buy on impulse. He always had to carry some cash, and Zoey let him keep it as long as he reported his earnings weekly.

As for giving gold to Rita, would Zoey care?

Rick didn't care. In fact, he hoped Zoey and Rita would have a more distant relationship. That way, if the Lopez family ever needed to collaborate with Rita, they'd have to go through him.

Rita had no idea what kind of weird logic Rick was following, but she saw the 8 gold as a pleasant surprise. In her past life, Rick had often given her money, usually small amounts like 8, 88, or even 100, but always in silver coins. Rick was perhaps the most pragmatic person she had ever known.

**[Rita]:** I'm planning to bid on some recipe books. Almost had enough, and 8 gold helps a lot. Chat later.

And then she was gone.

Rick laughed at her abrupt disappearance. But halfway through his laugh, he froze.

Wait. Why hadn't he thought of sending something nice from the game to Eleanor?

He immediately opened the auction house, picked out a few recipe books, and searched for cooking-related items. The moment he saw the **[God of the Culinary Arts' Magic Spoon]**, his eyes widened.

That was his spoon!

He looked at the seller's name: **Anonymous**.

Rick clenched his jaw, glaring at the word **Anonymous**. Could it be that thief again?

But he couldn't be sure. After all, the item didn't have the "unique" label. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down and checked the price…

He burst out laughing. There was no way he could afford it.

Five minutes ago: "I have more than enough gold."

Five minutes later: "I can't even afford a spoon."

He looked through his bag... Less than 400 gold. He was short by more than 500 gold. Wait... why did it feel like his gold had been drained a bit?

That familiar feeling washed over him. Find your next read at empire

Rick, now trembling, opened his inventory again and carefully went through each section. His gear… his items… his Curios… all were missing.

It felt like the air had been sucked out of him. He grabbed his head, trying to catch his breath, and then pulled up his character stats.

**[Strength]:** 10

**[Constitution]:** 11

**[Intelligence]:** 11

**[Agility]:** 9

Rick: ??

What was this? A fresh new player?

He was reborn, in a sense. But now, his stats were so pathetic it even scared him.

Meanwhile, Rita hadn't realized that Rick was too broke to buy the Magic Spoon. After subtly nudging him in that direction, she went about her day. Shadow.Q had already informed her that the trip to Lania Kaia was scheduled for the 12th, which was tomorrow.

Rita cleaned up her house a bit—thankfully, she had purchased the **[Spotless Clean]** skill, the most cost-effective one she had ever bought.

For just 5 gold, it had made her life a hundred times better! She planned to return to Lania Kaia soon to see if there were any other domestic skills to improve her life. Wasting time on housework felt like wasting life itself.

After tidying up, Rita headed to the backyard to refill the food for the cats, clean the litter boxes, and collect dragon dung to sell the next day. As she walked into the yard, she spotted one of the tabby cats climbing into the dragon dung bin, ready to do its business.

Every time she collected dragon dung, she had to scoop out the cat poop first, or instead of getting a **[Box of Dragon Dung]**, she'd end up with a **[Box of Mixed Dung]**.

Rita knocked on the glass door, startling the tabby just as it was about to squat. "This is the second time! Am I not speaking clearly?"

The tabby glanced at her but then continued doing its business.

Rita smirked, rolling up her sleeves, preparing to remove the cat.

Then Nivalis, lounging in a chair eating ice cream, casually said, "That 'hundred-year-old shop' sign was brought back by that cat."

Rita froze mid-step, slowly rolling her sleeves back down. She folded her hands behind her back and stood by the dung bin, gazing lovingly at the tabby, as if she were a benevolent leader inspecting the daily lives of her feline subordinates.

Once the tabby finished burying its poop and elegantly leaped out of the bin with dung-covered paws, Nivalis burst into laughter. "Just kidding!!"

Rita: …

With a smile, she walked toward Nivalis, rolling her sleeves back up as she did.

Nivalis zipped around the yard, laughing, "Haha~ Living life on the edge~"

Ten minutes later…

Nivalis, now sniffling, was crouched inside the dragon's bathroom, carefully picking out the cat poop from the dragon dung with her claws.

Rita lay back in a lounge chair, eating ice cream with a large spoon. "Exciting, isn't it?" she said, mimicking Nivalis' earlier tone with a playful, exaggerated "Haha~ Living life on the edge~."

Nivalis: … Damn it! How did she get even stronger again?!


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