This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Chapter 233 Clearing Suspicion & 【Bear Cookies】

Shadow.Q replied without hesitation, "Settling the income is no problem. We've left everything untouched, but I need to report something first."

After reassuring Rita of her cooperative stance, she asked, "Did someone in the bureau upset you?"

"No," Rita said, before adding a reminder. "It's related to the management of blank crystals."

Shadow.Q's expression immediately turned serious. Had the situation become so severe, or was it just Rita being overly cautious to sever their partnership?

It didn't take long for a reply from above: the bureau agreed to all of Rita's conditions. Additionally, the blank crystals sent to Rita in early September would be considered a gift and wouldn't be deducted from her profits.

Shadow.Q pulled out the ledger for Rita to review.

60 to 80 skill crystals to the Special Affairs Bureau. Occasionally, when she was too busy, there would be delays in producing them.

In less than nine months, she had delivered a total of 596 skill crystals.

The ledger not only recorded the sale prices but also detailed when each crystal had been sold. Even resources that couldn't be converted into direct profits—like dungeon access time or temporary deployment of special players—had been calculated into Dragon Coins.

The final earnings amounted to 812 Dragon Coins and 1,727 Gold Coins.

This was far more lucrative than Rita had anticipated.

After signing the accounts, the earnings were transferred to her mailbox immediately.

Shadow.Q handed over a large bag of Dragon Coins. "Here's an even number for you. Didn't you have over a thousand coins already? Adding this batch, we've rounded it up to 2,000 as a gesture of gratitude from the bureau for your willingness to fulfill the contract ahead of schedule. Feel free to verify."

Rita directly stored all the Dragon Coins and Gold Coins in front of Shadow.Q.

Instantly, the name [Rita] entered the Top 100 of the Wealth Leaderboard.

With the contract fulfilled on both ends, Rita asked if Shadow.Q had brought any exchange catalogs with her. She wanted to spend some of her earnings—mostly because keeping so much money on a virtual character made her uneasy due to [Talking While Pooping]'s time limitations.

Without hesitation, Shadow.Q produced two catalogs—one for items that could be purchased with Gold Coins and another for those requiring Dragon Coins.

Rita skimmed the lists, starting with the [Unknown Items] section.

She wanted to see if the Special Affairs Bureau had found any "mahjong tiles."

After flipping through over twenty pages, she found nothing.

She wasn't exactly disappointed. After all, had she not stolen her first mahjong tile from Mistblade Moon Emperor, she likely wouldn't have realized its significance either.

After all, the tiles came with no descriptions, not even a question mark after using an Identify skill. They seemed utterly mundane, their only distinctive traits being their indestructibility and intricate designs. It was hard for anyone to recognize their true value.

Shadow.Q noticed Rita's purposeful flipping and asked, "Are you looking for something specific? If you'd like, you can describe it to us, and we'll keep an eye out for you."

At that moment, Rita understood why Mistblade Moon Emperor had tried to "kill" her the moment she showed interest in the tile.

If something seemingly ordinary was actually a priceless treasure, the best course of action would be to keep it hidden, rather than drawing attention to its value. It was better to spend more time and effort quietly collecting the items than to risk chaos by revealing their importance.

Even if it meant taking longer and working harder, it was worth avoiding unwanted attention from powerful rivals and opportunists.

Rita shook her head. "I just heard it was important, so I wanted to check. But I didn't find it."

Recognizing her unwillingness to elaborate, Shadow.Q wisely dropped the subject and focused on her meal.

Rita continued flipping through the catalog until she came across something she had almost forgotten about—Bear Cookies (Unknown), listed at a quantity of 1,214,875.

There were plenty in stock, and the label "Unknown" indicated that even after being acquired by players, the cookies provided no additional information—not even whether they were food, items, or curios.

But Rita knew exactly what they were.