This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Chapter 112 Revenge Must Be Fair

What terrified Samuel and Scarlett the most was the realization that if the Lopez family discovered Rick's illness, it could spell total disaster for the Wilson family. The once cherished Rick would be loathed by his parents, who might only refrain from hating him as long as they retained any semblance of parental love.

Samuel had already decided that they needed to have another child with Scarlett. Until then, Rita, as their only healthy offspring, was someone they couldn't afford to alienate. In fact, they were even discussing how perfect it would be if Josephine were into men—then they could hand Rick over, using him to help the Lopez family fight against the White family.

That way, Rick could at least redeem himself in some way.

All their plotting was relayed to Rita through the little spider she had left in the Wilson household.

She couldn't help but marvel at the power of the **God of the Culinary Arts** skill that allowed her to deflect all the malice aimed at her onto someone else so seamlessly. It was no wonder the people in her past life had gone insane—this skill transferred the blame so perfectly that no one suspected a thing.

She wasn't worried that Rick would catch on. First, the skill was truly worthy of an SS-rank Divine Gift, deflecting blame with such grace that it created a plausible logical chain, making the transfer of malice seem reasonable. Even if there were slight inconsistencies, the targets wouldn't overthink it.

Second, if Rick ever began to suspect that this was related to his missing skill or that it might involve Rita, his trust score would immediately plummet, and she'd know right away. That day would also mark Rick's end.

...

The statue theft had triggered a new wave of people searching for mutated items across Blue Star.

Indeed, many people found items, and while most tried to conceal identifiable features when posting on forums or social media, the images revealed more than they intended. Plenty of people posted their items one day and got visited the next.

Rita didn't bother joining in the commotion—she was too busy setting traps for the White family.

She considered herself fair. Revenge had to be served evenly. Zoey had lost an ear, Aaron, Ezra, and Julian were like stray dogs, and Rick was already a wreck, struggling with his illness and stats as low as a level-zero player.

But Sanchez had enjoyed a long stretch of good days, which was unfair to Zoey and Rick, wasn't it?

The White family certainly had the strength to clear a level-four instance, though it would cost them significant resources and carry some risk.

In the previous timeline, the minotaur bounty had appeared in August. This time, Rita planned to bring it forward by three months, waiting until later to reveal the sacred relic's existence.

...

First, Rita used **Phantom Shift** to quietly approach a nearby cattle ranch and find a calf to touch, adding it to her **Animagus** transformation forms. Since obtaining **Animagus**, Los Angeles' bird markets, farms, pet stores, and aquariums had practically become her second, third, and fourth homes.

As for her second and third homes? They were Zoey's and Sanchez's bed frames—too bad she hadn't visited in a while.

Once she confirmed she could transform into a calf, she flew to the White family's seaside villa.

The White family had guards stationed outside every instance, but this wasn't a problem for Rita. She transformed into a bird and flew through a second-story window, quickly locating the instance mirror on the second floor.

Upon passing through the mirror, she found herself in a tent. A gust of wind opened a small gap in the tent, through which she could see a vast grassland and blue skies beyond.

Rita transformed into a cat and sprinted across the grassland for over ten minutes before spotting a cluster of tents—the gathering place of the foreign race.

Just like the instance at the top of her own villa, players could choose not to fight immediately upon entering. They could converse with the foreign race and even accept tasks from their leaders. These tasks usually helped players understand the history of the foreign race, which was often tragic, heroic, or emotional, with the foreign races usually portrayed in a positive light.

But without any enticing rewards, Rita wasn't interested in doing any quests. As she neared the tented area, she ate a healing dish and transformed into a calf, slowly making her way forward.

To the minotaurs, calves were sacred and untouchable.

Each calf was considered an unblessed young minotaur. Rita brazenly walked through the towering three-meter minotaurs, making her way toward the largest tent in the center. There, she finally spotted the most distinct calf—a small minotaur prince standing outside the tent.