This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Chapter 232 [Talking While Pooping] (D)

Eating together always included Nivalis, but before heading out, Rita had something to take care of first.

After growing closer with Nivalis, the dragon no longer hid anything from Rita. During their trip back from B City, Nivalis, bored out of her mind, revealed all of her skills to Rita. Among them was one particularly amusing skill that Nivalis had developed after becoming addicted to online games on Blue Star. When Rita heard about it, her scheming mind immediately started working overtime.

[Talking While Pooping] (D): This skill allows you to create a virtual character that exists in reality. It has the basic stats of a player, but it cannot level up, has no independent thoughts, and every action must be controlled by the user. Duration: 24 hours.

Nivalis often used this skill to create a virtual character to take the blame in her place. For example, when teaming up with others in online games, Nivalis would sometimes feel like goofing off but knew rationally that it wasn't a wise idea as it could get her scolded. That's when the virtual character came into play:

"Hey, Nivalis, can't you use your ultimate ability already? Just go for it!"

"Is this mage even playing right? Are you still running some weird tactical build? This is a free win if you just ult!"

"Lol, do you not know you can unleash your ultimate once your energy bar is full?"

"Seriously, you're named Nivalis? Are you trying to ride on the fame of the cute, charming, and beautiful dragon on the pet leaderboard?"

At this point, Nivalis would use her actual self to say in her sweet, innocent voice, "That's not true!" Then, she'd have her game character unleash her ultimate.

Inevitably, all her teammates would start yelling at the virtual character instead of Nivalis. Even if someone used their Divine Gift to dig up the virtual character's information—a shady service that could be hired for a single silver coin after the game invasion—they'd never link it back to Nivalis.

Rita asked curiously, "Are you really that interested in the Moon Emperor?"

"Of course! Do you know how rare they are? In Lania Kaia, while everyone talks about the Twelve Sacred Clans as being equal, we actually rank them into three tiers. The Moon Foxes, Timber Owls, and Undead are considered the Upper Sacred Clans—their status and power are far above the rest."

This was news to Rita. She'd never noticed such distinctions before. All 36 major cities in Lania Kaia were about the same size and prosperity, each with its unique cultural flavor. Even among the Beastkin and Minotaurs, their tribal cities were as luxurious as royal palaces.

"What about the other clans? Who's in the middle, and who's at the bottom?"

Nivalis hesitated for a moment. "That's hard to say. Maybe Wind Scythes are stronger? But Elder Dragon always said this ranking shifts over time. The Moon Foxes, Timber Owls, and Undead have been firmly at the top for ages, though. As for why... Elder Dragon said he'd only tell me when I'm strong enough to protect myself."

When they finally arrived at the restaurant, Rita passed along Nivalis's information to Shadow.Q. Surprisingly, the Special Affairs Bureau had never heard of these rankings either. Like Rita, Shadow.Q chose to treat this as critical information and reported it immediately.

Once their meal was served, Rita started a new conversation. "Do you know why the blank skill stones are so tightly regulated?"

Shadow.Q replied, "I don't know the details. I only know it's a directive from B City. I've been asking around, but my contacts are reluctant to share anything."

Rita suspected there was more to the story but chose not to spill what Hannah had told her. Instead, she changed the subject to test Shadow.Q's sincerity.

"I want to terminate my contract with the Skill Stones early. I'll stop supplying you with [Feeling Blessed], including the quota for September. Just deduct the cost of the blank stones from my revenue, and I'd like to settle my earnings today." Experience exclusive tales on empire