This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

After getting information about the Taylor family, Rita wasted no time. She found a massage parlor and booked a three-hour session. As she relaxed and got massaged, she caught up on some sleep—she didn't plan on resting later tonight. Time was of the essence, and she wanted to finish up quickly so she could return home and continue leveling up her alchemy skills.

It was already July 3rd, and the third beta test would begin on October 10th. She had to level up her alchemy as much as possible before then.

The massage therapist, number 88, really lived up to the expectations of having such a prestigious number. By the time Rita's three hours were up, it felt like she had slept the entire night. She glanced at the therapist and mused that when the game invaded, this person's massage skills might just become an actual game skill.

Rita didn't bother looking for a hotel afterward. The massage parlor allowed overnight stays for an extra fee. After confirming that the room had no surveillance cameras, she booked it for the night and instructed the staff to wake her at 8 a.m. the next day.

After the staff left, Rita double-checked the room for any hidden cameras. Satisfied that there were none, she locked the door, placed her bag on the massage bed, and went to the bathroom. She activated **Phantom Cloak** and then used **Phantom Shift** to teleport near the underground market entrance, close to a nearby delivery station.

She wasn't a fan of relying on others to run deliveries to sketchy places. It wasn't a good habit to develop, especially when she didn't want anyone tracing her movements.

Rita quickly acquired the station's delivery schedule. Every day, at this time, a delivery truck would stop at the station before moving on. The seventh stop on the route was only 5 kilometers from the Taylor estate.

It was a bit of a hassle, but she had never been to the Taylor estate before, so **Phantom Shift** wouldn't work without a clear image in her mind. She didn't want to risk teleporting straight into Camila Taylor's lap.

Hitching a ride on the real "express delivery," Rita arrived outside the Taylor estate by nightfall.

"These days, you're not qualified to be the male lead's wife unless you live in a mansion, huh?" Rita thought with a smirk.

Taking a deep breath, she let her experience in breaking and entering guide her to Camila Taylor's room without issue. As for Henry Taylor, like her, he was also a relative of the male lead, but their situations were worlds apart. Camila and Henry were practically inseparable, even after Camila fell for Rick. She would never harm Henry for Rick's sake.

Rita had been so envious of their bond in her previous life.

Tonight's main goal, however, wasn't revenge—it was acquiring the final piece of the Chávez set. Using her potions, she walked directly into Camila Taylor's room, but instead of hiding under the bed as usual, she realized—damn it—the bed was solid wood underneath.

With no other choice, she sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, thankful that she had learned **Phantom Cloak**.

She kept her gaze low, knowing that sometimes, even in their sleep, people could sense being watched.

First, she used **Wheel of Fate** to reduce Camila's luck to 1. Then, just to be safe, she hit her with **Sleep Spell**. Rita didn't hold back and began gulping down low-level mana potions as she cast **I Want This, This, and This** over and over on Camila.

**Intelligence +1.**

**Intelligence +1.**

**Chávez Hat +1.**

Bingo! She stopped immediately.

This hat—she had seen it in her previous life. It was the final piece of the Chávez set. How cliché—of course, this would be the heroine's standard gear!

Excited, Rita quickly examined the hat.

**[Chávez Hat] (3/3) (A-Rank)**

*Even a seer who can traverse the river of fate—well, if their skills and equipment are A-rank or below—cannot discern your whereabouts. Must be worn to take effect.*

When she pulled out the **Chávez Glasses** and **Chávez Mask** and placed them alongside the hat, a soft glow emanated from the three items. Slowly, they fused into a delicate silver pocket watch.

**[Chávez's Time] (S-Rank)**

*You don't need to know who I am, where I am, or what I'm doing. I'm just in a hurry.*

**Skill 1: Disguise** – *You can disguise anything about yourself, and it takes effect instantly.*

**Skill 2: Insight** – *You can discover whatever information you want. Detailed information consumes 10 mana per second; an economy mode only shows basic info and consumes 1 mana per minute.*

**Skill 3: Concealment** – *You cannot be divined by anyone or anything. If someone attempts to scry you, you will sense their presence.* *(Chávez is the best. Even against SSS-rank seers, all they'll see is fog—Chávez.)*

**Set Skill: I'm In a Hurry** – *Instantly teleport to any spot within your line of sight (up to 5 meters away). Cooldown: 10 seconds.*

**Jackpot!**

Rita took a deep breath, quickly activating the watch's economy mode for insight. Immediately, she saw faint blue text floating over players, just like in the game—names, levels, and percentages for health and mana.

For example, over Camila's head was:

**Camila Taylor, Level 0, 100%┃100%.**

Rita suppressed her excitement and used **I Want This, This, and This** a few more times.

**Constitution +1.**

Time to leave!

She slipped out and headed downstairs to Henry Taylor's room. **Wheel of Fate** was still on cooldown, so she had to rely on **Sleep Spell** and the Thief God combo.

After working through the night, she only managed to get +2 Constitution from Henry.

By the time she left the Taylor estate at dawn, her updated stats were as follows:

- **Health**: 150/150

- **Mana**: 200/200

- **Strength**: 8

- **Constitution**: 8+3

- **Intelligence**: 12+2

- **Agility**: 21

- **Luck**: 10 (Max)

- **Charisma**: 10 (Max)

Her health had finally started to increase. Constitution was a vital stat, influencing health, defense, magic resistance, mental resistance, and recovery rates. Her initial Constitution had been 6, and while previous boosts didn't increase her health, now that she had exceeded 10, every additional point of Constitution added 50 health points.

Each level up would also increase these numbers, though the exact growth wasn't fixed—those with higher Constitution would receive greater bonuses.

Her mana had also risen to 300 thanks to her increased Intelligence.

Rita tucked the pocket watch under her shirt and into her bra. If she could, she'd sew a small, locked pocket onto her bra to keep the watch even safer.

While just having the watch in her inventory would allow her to disguise herself, wearing it was necessary to avoid being scryed. Plus, to use its skills, she had to wear it, and Chávez's abilities were far too useful to go without.

Since she'd taken the delivery route to the Taylor estate, she had seen enough of the area to teleport back. Even though the massage parlor was over 30 kilometers away, her Intelligence now allowed her to teleport 14 kilometers at a time. After three uses of **Phantom Shift**, she was back in the parlor's bathroom.

She showered, changed clothes, unlocked the door, and crawled back into bed to avoid collapsing from exhaustion.

At 8 a.m., when the staff woke her, she booked another three-hour session and slept until noon. Afterward, she grabbed lunch.

Now she had to decide what sort of gift to leave for Camila and Henry Taylor.

She couldn't let them off easily—not after they had once inscribed a slave contract on her back. Back then, Rick had swooped in to save her, but looking back with clearer insight, Rita realized something had been off about the timing. Why had he waited until the ritual was completed?

He didn't want Camila dead—he couldn't have. He needed her alive for revenge to be satisfying.

**I need to make them suffer first. Then, and only then, will killing them bring me peace.**

Killing an enemy too quickly felt like going into an all-you-can-eat buffet after starving for ten days, only to fill up on chicken salad for the sake of health.

If she took them out with one clean strike, she'd wake up in the middle of the night, slapping herself: **You really just killed them that easily?!**