This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

On the morning of August 29th, Rita was busy restocking the rooftop vending machine when her phone started buzzing non-stop.

Rita: ?

She had already muted all the irrelevant chats—family and gaming groups—and anyone important could reach her via in-game chat. So who could it be?

She checked her phone and found herself added to a new three-person group chat with only her, Samuel, and Scarlett. The two had even changed their usernames.

**Scarlett also didn't want this**: @Rita Your dad and I are leaving for a while. Can you check on the house every few days?

**Rita**: Where are you two going?

**Samuel truly didn't expect this**: Heading south.

**Rita**: Going south to take care of the pregnancy? It's really hot down there right now.

**Scarlett also didn't want this**: Had a dream last night. The baby said it wanted to see the south.

Rita: …Are they really running away with the baby?!

She didn't need to ask further; they were clearly running to the north to hide from Rick and were also trying to keep her from snitching.

**Rita**: Does Rick know?

**Samuel truly didn't expect this**: Your brother's busy. Don't tell him, okay? If he asks, just say we looked upset, seemed distressed, borrowed some money from you, and went on a trip.

**Rita**: Got it.

**Scarlett also didn't want this**: Yeah, we borrowed some money and went on a trip.

**Rita**: 1

**Scarlett also didn't want this**: …

**Samuel truly didn't expect this**: …

**Rita**: ?

After playing dumb for a moment, Rita immediately turned around and tattled to Rick.

**Rita**: Did you upset Mom and Dad? They said they're heading south, and they told me not to tell you. Do you not want a little brother or sister?

**Rita**: Mom's only been pregnant for a month—she's still in a fragile stage. Be considerate.

After adding fuel to the fire, Rita put her phone away, got down on the floor, and was about to crawl under the bed when the game's private message alert sounded.

It never ends!

Still lying on the carpet, Rita opened her private messages and found a message from Shadow.Q. It had been five days since she had informed Shadow.Q about the deputy mayor, and during that time, she had heard rumors from the lone wolves at the training camp. Apparently, players were advised to avoid Lania Kaia for the time being.

Even those who ventured into Lania Kaia were urged to stay clear of major cities and towns.

**Shadow.Q**: Your information was accurate and arrived just in time. Thanks to you, we avoided a large-scale siege. The higher-ups are preparing a reward for you.

**Shadow.Q**: If you ever get any other intel, feel free to share it, even if it turns out to be wrong. Verifying the truth is our job, and Special Affairs Bureau takes full responsibility for all decisions.

**Rita**: I'm just glad it helped. Do you guys have powerful skills for identifying the truth?

**Shadow.Q**: Some can only verify information by seeing it firsthand, others by touching related items, and some can only be used three times a day. Each has its strengths and weaknesses.

**Rita**: Interesting.

**Shadow.Q**: If you know any talented people in this area, maybe you can introduce them to us.

**Rita**: I'll keep an eye out.

There was no way Brooks would ever join the Special Affairs Bureau—she thrived on chaos and hated being tied down. Plus, her rather unconventional ways of handling things wouldn't fit in with the Bureau's style. But who knew, maybe Brooks would be open to a similar cooperative relationship, like Rita's—independent, but available when necessary.

Rita stayed on the floor for a moment longer.

Nivalis peeked her head over the bed. "What are you doing?"

Rita muttered, "I feel like I'm forgetting something…"

Oh, right! Little Liang! Damn, I forgot about you again!

Rita smacked her leg in frustration. **Next time,** she promised. **Next time I'll find you for sure!**

Nivalis popped a chip into her mouth, watching as Rita played out her own little drama on the floor with an ever-changing expression.

Rita, barely able to take it anymore, snapped, "How many times have I told you, **no eating chips on the bed!**"

Nivalis rolled around on the bed, pretending not to hear.

Rita took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "I'll deal with you when I get back!"

With that, she crawled under the bed and transformed into a six-tailed Moonfox.

Nivalis caught a glimpse of the fluffy white tails sticking out from under the bed and tried to grab one, but missed.

…

Rita had tucked an earpiece, given to her by Apache, behind her ear. It was a discreet translator, converting the local language directly into her ear. Besides that, she wore a half-mask, beautifully crafted in Moonfox style, covering the lower half of her face. The veil was elegant and appropriately thick, just enough to hide her mouth.

She swished her gray tails around behind her, each tail moving like a flexible extra limb. When fully extended, the tails were longer than Rita's upper body, and when relaxed, they dragged on the ground. Most Moonfoxes kept their tails slightly raised to avoid dirtying them.

Today's outfit had been picked out by Apache. Made from Moonfox silk, it was opaque and beautiful, though the pants were a bit odd—they had a hole in the back, with elastic fabric around it to let her tails through without being too revealing.

In her past life, Rita had seen and even killed Moonfoxes, but those she encountered had no more than three tails, along with fox ears and whiskers on their heads.

Six-tailed Moonfoxes, like her current disguise, had no trace of fox-like features on their faces. To the Moonfox tribe, tails were a symbol of strength, while ears and whiskers represented animalistic traits and inferiority.

Her forged profile showed her as a 64th-level six-tailed Moonfox named **Frost Embroidery**.

As she passed the alchemy shop, Rita briefly made eye contact with Apache, who was sitting by the window.

Rita's expression remained stern, but her six tails swayed in greeting. Even though this face looked unfamiliar, Apache knew it was definitely that rascal. No one else could pull off that cocky, punchable vibe, coupled with an attention-grabbing aura.

A hundred percent, it was her.

Apache glanced away, flipping a page of her book.

The three main cities of the Moonfox tribe were far from the undead cities. It cost Rita 18 gold to teleport to **Moonfox City**.

Walking through the city, Rita noticed that every Moonfox she passed, unless they were royal foxes with runes on their faces, bowed respectfully to her—they even sniffed her ears. Explore more stories with empire

According to Apache, this was the Moonfox way of showing submission and offering their magical aura. The higher-ranked Moonfox could choose to remember the aura, which allowed them to find the lower-ranked fox for the next three days.

The Moonfoxes were exquisitely beautiful, rivaling the elves, and each exuded a unique, intoxicating fragrance. No two Moonfoxes smelled exactly the same.

Rita had applied the perfume Apache gave her as part of her disguise. She had smelled it before applying it, but once on her body, the scent became undetectable to her.

Being approached by these beautiful creatures, with their gentle breath on her ears, wasn't entirely unpleasant, especially since she didn't have to reciprocate. Of course, if she encountered any seven- or eight-tailed Moonfoxes, she would have to offer them the same courtesy.

But according to Apache, seven- and eight-tailed Moonfoxes were as rare as city rulers, so they were unlikely to cross paths.

As for the highest-ranked Moonfoxes, the **Nine-Tailed Moonfoxes,** there were only nine in the entire tribe—known as the **Nine Moon Emperors.**

Each main city had three Moon Emperors, keeping each other in check to ensure no one slacked off more than the others.

There was no chance of seeing one of the Moon Emperors on the streets—why would they bother walking among commoners?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om