This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 294: The Power of Mahjong, Three Levels!

After cleaning up the [Soul Catcher] and the seawater, Rita felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. To celebrate her upgraded Divine Gift, she took Nivalis to the entertainment district that evening. She booked a private room in the mahjong parlor, ordered five tables’ worth of barbecue and drinks, and invited the aunties and uncles from [Nameless Ones] for a full night of mahjong.

When she stepped out of the parlor at dawn, she looked up at the sky and solemnly declared, "The power of Mahjong, three levels!"

From her perch on Rita’s shoulder, mini-Nivalis patted Rita’s head with her wing, mimicking her dramatic tone. "Are you talking about the fact that you only won three hands all night? Truly tragic."

With an equally dramatic sigh, she added, "Is clearing a single suit really the pinnacle of your skills?"

Rita snapped back, "Your limit is just winning with a pong."

Nivalis roared, "And your limit is a fake win!"

Rita shot back, "At least I can reach the tiles! Your tiny little claws can’t even grab them without my help!"

"YOU—YOU’RE TOO MUCH!"

Their bickering continued all the way to a breakfast shop. Along the way, a few people mustered the courage to ask for their autographs, one even mentioning a character Rita had played before.

Rita declined but, seeing that the young girl’s Divine Gift posed no threat, she gifted her two mid-tier healing potions instead. Nivalis, unexpectedly eager, stamped her paw print on the girl’s notebook.

To avoid attracting a crowd, Rita quickly turned invisible and left with Nivalis.

"We can’t keep being this lazy," Rita said in reflection. "We wasted the whole night."

Nivalis, unconcerned, replied, "I can. I’m young, and I don’t have ambitions."

Rita fell silent.

After a moment, Nivalis frowned. "Are you silently cursing me in your head?"

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Rita, holding up the [Soul Catcher], began slowly bending the bone’s thumb in Nivalis’s direction. Stay connected through novelbuddy

Nivalis froze. "…I can’t even tell if you are or aren’t."

The Hunt for a Profit

After breakfast, Rita and Nivalis made their way to Lania Kaia. To conceal Nivalis’s scent, Rita covered her in shards of dragon scales and doused them both with [Gold-Class Assassin]. She tossed a coin onto the turtle jade stone at the entrance for luck before heading into the city.

Their first stop was the auction house, where Rita planned to sell the four pieces of gear from Miyaas. However, she quickly realized that the auction house didn’t even list equipment above level 70—it seemed such items were part of a different market altogether.

"No wonder Jameson gave me these without a second thought," Rita muttered. "Level 110 gear is completely useless right now, even for sale."

Deciding to try something else, she had Nivalis create a [Specialist] skill crystal. Rita priced it at an exorbitant 3000 gold to test the waters, intending to split the earnings with Nivalis.

"Seems harsh to charge so much," she muttered, grimacing. "But we’re broke, and desperate times call for desperate measures."

With the recent failures of her [Phantom Blink] skill due to seals, Rita sought advice from a senior moon fox working at the auction house.

The elderly moon fox explained, "Phantom Blink is highly practical but unsuitable for combat. Sealing teleportation skills is standard practice for top-tier fighters. Most teleportation abilities have been cracked, with only a rare few still able to bypass seals. Such skills or gems are exceedingly rare in the market."

"What about escape gems? Are any available?" Rita asked.

"Yes. There’s one scheduled for auction at the end of the month. However, you’ll need at least 8000 gold and a royal seal to bid."

Rita sighed. "Hecipah didn’t scam me, after all. Her gem was the real deal."

She asked about uncracked teleportation skills.

"Starting bids usually go for at least 10,000 gold," the moon fox replied patiently.

Outside the auction house, a tiny Nivalis slapped her paws on her chest. "That’s absurd! We might as well just die and respawn!"

Rita: "…" Honestly, I’m tempted to agree.

Despite over 20 months of hustling—leveraging every connection and her sharp business acumen—Rita had barely saved over 8000 gold. In the auction house, 10,000 gold was only the starting bid.

"It’s hopeless," Rita muttered, spirits crushed.

Another Round of Deals

Determined not to waste her trip, Rita sought out Lucia. Thanks to her upgraded [Disguise! I’m Whoever I Want], which lasted two hours now, she had more leeway.

First, she searched the Eternal Night Fortress’s tavern. When that turned up empty, she paid a gold coin to a baby owl in Polar Day City for Lucia’s whereabouts.

On her way to the next lead, she stopped at an herb shop to restock the materials she’d burned through during the fight with Miyaas. The cost: 200 gold.

Nivalis clutched her jade turtle stone, shaking it as if to summon its luck. "Is this thing even working?!"

Rita replied, "It should be."

The moment she spoke, a wizened scythe weasel collapsed in front of them.

The weasel-like Wind Scythe creatures were easy to recognize. They looked almost identical to Earth’s meerkats, with slender bodies, long legs, and small triangular heads. Their crescent-shaped ears, black facial markings, and elongated tails gave them a slightly mystical appearance.

Though larger than their Earthly counterparts, Wind Scythes rarely grew taller than 1.2 meters. Despite their diminutive size, they always carried scythes nearly as tall as themselves.

This particular Wind Scythe, dressed in mage’s robes and carrying a massive scythe on its back, lay sprawled on the ground, groaning in exaggerated pain.

Nivalis, without missing a beat, pointed and blurted out, "Is this a scam?!"

Rita replied, "Unlikely. The Wind Scythes are known for their business acumen. They’re nothing like us—"

"Compensation!" the Wind Scythe shrieked, cutting her off. "You crashed into me! Pay up!"

Rita looked at the creature’s status bar, feeling a wave of exhaustion.

[Wolf Castle, 103-Level, 100%┃100%]

"103 levels…" Rita muttered.

Suddenly, she sympathized with airport staff dealing with elite players bypassing security to evade ticket fees.

She had disguised herself as a low-level owl for this outing. Faced with the towering strength gap, all she could feel was a bitter sense of shared frustration.