This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 283: If It Were You, Where Would You Set the Trap?

Rita, now practically broke, started experimenting with her new skill, [Moment of Reversal]. She asked Nivalis to attack her.

Immediately, she sensed she could exchange any single attribute between herself and Nivalis—whether it was a Divine Gift skill, health points, or mana. However, she could only select one term at a time.

For example, swapping the names of their Divine Gifts wouldn’t change the associated abilities. But she could exchange Skill 1 of her Divine Gift with Skill 1 of Nivalis’s.

If Black Jade’s original form was just a "lucky little snake," his current Divine Gift must have been meticulously cultivated through countless calculations and schemes.

She also discovered a hidden condition within [Moment of Reversal], cleverly hinted at by its name. The skill required the user to be at a disadvantage before activation; otherwise, it wouldn’t trigger the "reversal."

For instance, after being attacked by Nivalis, she could use the skill at any time. However, if she drank a Daughter’s Whiskey, causing her attributes to skyrocket far beyond Nivalis’s, the skill would become unusable unless her health dropped to a critical level, putting her in a disadvantaged state.

Looking back on the day Black Jade was cornered by a hundred-player team, she realized that the circumstances allowed him to reverse the contract with Rick. Black Jade’s overall situation was at a disadvantage, enabling him to use the skill to exchange identities.

With this discovery, Rita felt a sense of relief. One more problem solved. She decided to reward herself by personally preparing a meal for the backyard cats, something she hadn’t done in ages.

Meanwhile, Nivalis gathered the cats in the backyard, even teaching them to wash their bowls using the sensor-activated faucet.

As Rita stirred the meat soup, the laughter and play outside contrasted sharply with the quiet of her kitchen. The peace offered her a moment to reflect on her journey from encountering Jameson to the present.

Jameson had been truthful, but what he knew might not have been the whole truth.

The Whale’s Secret

What exactly lies inside the whale?

If there was a trap in the whale’s body, why didn’t Miyaas set it in the ship’s cabin instead?

Was the dragon scale disrupting his plans, or was the whale’s body a deliberate part of the scheme?

Jameson’s role couldn’t be that simple. And why did Miyaas specifically need the dragon scale?

Rita retrieved the container holding Miyaas’s remains and tried listing it on the in-game auction house.

The auction house displayed the item as:

[A whale containing numerous treasures and artifacts]

What’s more, an alert popped up indicating that, after the 48-hour listing period, the item could only remain in the auction house for 8 days and 17 hours.

Would it disappear after that? Or something else?

She frowned and tested listing Jameson in his box.

This time, no expiration message appeared. However, it was surprising that Jameson could be sold at all.

She carefully put the two relics back in her inventory. She wanted to look for dungeons related to Miyaas, but considering he shared her [Thief God] abilities, he’d never leave a high-profile trail. Finding a dungeon tied to him among tens of thousands of options would be nearly impossible.

A Web of Doubt

Each step seemed logical at first glance, yet under scrutiny, every stage felt like it could hide a trap.

Sensing Rita’s unease, Nivalis left the backyard and flew to her side. "What’s wrong?"

"It’s all too smooth," Rita murmured. "Don’t you think everything has gone suspiciously well?"

Nivalis looked genuinely shocked. "This is what you call smooth? Just finding the siren script on the fishing boat was a headache, not to mention locating Soul Catcher. Then there was exposing Jameson and Miyaas’s traps, getting the dragon scale, and capturing Miyaas’s remains."

Hearing it laid out like that, the journey did sound arduous.

There had been battles, rewards, and moments of triumph. And those victories filled her with a sense of accomplishment.

But weren’t those the very things that dulled vigilance?

It felt like a game designed specifically for her—a trail where every step offered some benefit.

Just like how Jameson’s "flawlessness" became his greatest flaw, Rita now began to doubt Miyaas.

The Perfect Trap

A royal sea creature. A thief capable of stealing a dragon’s scale without being discovered.

Every twist and turn felt scripted. Jameson’s intricate schemes, Miyaas’s timed manipulations, the layers of connection between The White Family and herself—all of it seemed too well-crafted. Your journey continues on novelbuddy

It was as though countless threads were weaving a net to entrap her completely.

Where would she set the trap if she were Miyaas?

Not at the obvious places where enemies might suspect it.

No, the most dangerous trap would be hidden in plain sight—somewhere unassuming, even comforting.

It would be concealed at the point where the prey didn’t yet realize they were being hunted.

It would be in the beginning.

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Soul Catcher

Rita’s eyes snapped open.

Soul Catcher.

That was the first step—the first item she acquired without suspicion.

The process of obtaining it had been seamless.

At the time, Miyaas’s identity and intentions were still unknown to her. To Rita, it was just a "normal grave" with faint ties to sirens. It shouldn’t have been overly tied to Lania Kaia.

Had it not been for Black Jade’s unexpected arrival on Blue Star, she would have instinctively relied on Soul Catcher, believing it to be an infallible artifact.

After all, something without its own consciousness or agenda seemed trustworthy—who would suspect a "neutral" item?

Even now, her first major decision had relied on Soul Catcher.

Rita finished cooking the meat soup and set it out for the cats. Without hesitation, she and Nivalis activated their invisibility and returned to Jameson’s graveyard.

This time, she meticulously searched every corner of the cemetery, layer by layer.

It took nearly five hours, but she finally found it—hidden within the intricate carvings behind Jameson’s tombstone.

Breaking the relief revealed a cluster of metallic runes embedded inside.

The sound of the metal striking the stone floor felt like a weight falling onto her chest.

A Lingering Puzzle

Rita wasn’t well-versed in magical runes; they were primarily used in enchanting and tailoring. She sketched the symbols and posted an anonymous inquiry on the game’s forums.

Before she even made it home, her phone buzzed with responses.