This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Rita held the frozen Rick by his shoulders and dragged him over to a secluded corner, keeping a firm grip on his shoulder to ensure he wouldn't fall. She took out a small knife and vial, ready to collect some blood—nothing held more of a person's magical essence than their blood. Even if she managed to steal some of Rick's equipment within the 8-minute window, she couldn't be certain he had used it.

The syringe she held was one she'd picked up on a ranch, a vet-grade syringe with a capacity of 10 ml. She'd thought it might come in handy someday, so she took ten of them, leaving a silver coin behind. Now was exactly that time.

After filling one vial, she felt it wasn't quite enough—she might as well collect a proper amount! She took out another vial and kept drawing.

One vial... two... three... she drew a total of five full vials. If she'd had more time, Rita would likely have left Rick with barely a drop to spare.

With the blood collection complete, she poured a small dose of a weak Forgetfulness Potion into a second vial, pried open Rick's mouth, and poured it in.

A mid-tier potion would wipe out the past hour of memories, while a beginner-level one only erased five minutes. However, a secondary-grade potion—essentially an alchemical reject made by apprentices—erased just two minutes, which was perfect for this situation. Rita had specially brewed this substandard potion while waiting for her *Disguise!* cooldown. With her skills, creating a flawed batch had actually been a challenge.

Of course, she couldn't be entirely sure Rick wouldn't notice something off and investigate later, but it didn't matter. In fact, it could even work in her favor! Her other self was still likely on her way out of the terminal, giving her an airtight alibi.

Administering the Forgetfulness Potion and thoughtfully feeding Rick a minor healing potion to restore his HP, she returned him to the spot where they had crossed paths. Her tasks complete, Rita swiftly cloaked herself and used *Phantom Shift* to return home.

Instead of heading back to her bedroom, though, she went to the study to test if she would reappear at the same location once time resumed its normal flow.

She took out the lantern and waited, watching as the clock on her game interface ticked from 4:34 to 4:35. The lantern glowed briefly, and Rita found herself still in the study, though now with the room's lights on—probably because Nivalis had come in looking for a game cartridge and left them on.

The only thing that had changed was the time; her location remained unaffected, which aligned perfectly with the skill description.

Keeping her *Disguise!* active and refraining from any tasks in the study, she cloaked herself again, using *Phantom Shift* to head straight to the Flood Dragon dungeon.

Once there, she attached the lantern to her waist, marking a nearby tree about two kilometers from the Flood Dragon's lair as her "star." Only then did she use *Phantom Shift* to approach the lair, taking out a tiny pet incense burner.
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Having learned about the effects of fragrances crafted by Moonfox, she was cautious about leaving any trace of it around her territory. She filled the container with an entire vial of Rick's blood, lit the external wick according to the instructions, and held the container up to the flame.

Prepared to use a carrier for the blood in case it didn't burn, she watched as it combusted instantly, the smoke dissipating almost as soon as it appeared.

Blowing out the candle, she teleported to the lake shore, about twenty meters from the center, well within the incense's effective range. She placed the candle securely but didn't light it just yet.

Taking out the *Anti-Theft Seal - Pet Edition*, she poured in a second vial of Rick's blood, fully coating the stamp with it.

Previously, whenever she fought the dragon, she had always drawn it to the shore. Rita still couldn't teleport to the center of the lake directly, which was why she marked a large tree near the dragon's territory as her star, allowing her to use *Wrathful Moon*'s *Orbit* ability to fly there.

Using the skill for the first time, she found it exhilarating. It felt as though a strong wind buoyed her, allowing her to effortlessly ascend, descend, and change directions. Lightly testing her speed, she noticed the mana consumption remained at 10 points per second, unaffected by her pace—a limitation she was curious to test further.

After a brief test flight, she flew directly to the dragon's rear, remaining cloaked the entire time. She pressed the stamp on its tail, ensuring the seal was imprinted, then immediately teleported back to shore and lit the incense before shifting 100 meters away.

While the incense should only affect beasts, she wasn't taking any chances. After all, who knew if "beast" in Moonfox's terminology encompassed every species except Moonfox itself?

The dragon blinked groggily, glancing at its tail as if sensing something unusual. Seeing nothing there, it then looked toward the shore, where a faint fragrance wafted over. Finding the scent rather pleasant, it relaxed, closed its eyes, and dozed off again.

Rita waited until the incense had completely burned out before departing, satisfied. She returned to the tree marked as her star, noting that she couldn't approach closer than 8 meters—any closer and she'd lose her flight ability.

This likely reflected the skill's minimum range, which would increase as her level progressed. While the restriction was slightly inconvenient, it was manageable.

She stood at the 8-meter mark, hovered 2 meters above the ground, and then used a skill to destroy the tree. In that instant, she lost her flight ability, dropping back to the ground.

It seemed that with this skill, losing proximity to her star or having it destroyed would result in an immediate fall. If she were flying thousands of meters high, that could be dangerous.

However, with *Phantom Shift* and her teleportation skill *I'm in a Hurry*, she could easily mitigate the risk by shifting positions just before reaching the ground. Moreover, if she marked Nivalis as her star, there'd be no risk of her star being destroyed.

For now, *Orbit* was a skill without any major drawbacks.