This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 234: [A Big World, A Small Me]

It wasn’t an item, a Curio, or even equipment—it was a toy.

The Bear Cookies, reportedly invented by the Oak Owls, were designed for their children. When a young Oak Owl wore the Bear Cookies, it would activate whenever a larger Oak Owl attempted to harm them. The Bear Cookies would replicate the aggressor’s attributes and transform into a small bear to protect its young wearer.

However, the toy had its drawbacks. It required the laughter of children to charge, and if not sufficiently powered, the bear couldn’t complete the replication. Additionally, the stronger the aggressor’s attributes, the shorter the bear’s active duration.

Every Oak Owl child wore a Bear Cookies pendant, and even after they outgrew its protection, most Oak Owls kept their Bear Cookies as a cherished keepsake—unless they were utterly destitute and forced to sell it.

Bear Cookies worked for all species, though the definition of "childhood" varied by race. For humans on Blue Star, only children under 12 years old could see its true description.

In her previous life, Blue Star didn’t discover the Bear Cookies’ potential until the third year after the game’s invasion. It even made the news. Rita remembered glancing at the story while eating in a bridge underpass.

Rita had no intention of buying the Bear Cookies for herself but decided to share this knowledge with the Special Affairs Bureau in advance.

Pointing at the Bear Cookies, Rita asked, "I know what this is. Should I buy it?"

Shadow.Q, busy peeling crab legs for Nivalis, glanced at it and asked lazily, "What is it? What’s the price?"

"This is a Curio. As for the price…" Rita flipped a few pages and pointed at a magnifying glass-shaped item, saying, "I want to buy this one, but I’ll need an installment plan. Let’s count the discount as payment for the information. Deal?"

[A Big World, A Small Me] (Curio): Looking at the target through this Curio for more than 1 minute activates the effect. The user can shrink the target at will. The effect lasts until the user cancels it or the Curio is lost. At most, three units (0/3) can be shrunk simultaneously.

(Special Affairs Bureau note: The Curio can shrink equipment, items, or living beings, with a maximum reduction to the size of a grain of rice.)

The Bureau had priced it at 3000 gold coins or an A-rank item—a hefty price tag. It was worth every coin, though. Without the limitation of needing to stare at the target for one minute and a cap of three simultaneous shrinks, the price could easily have been several times higher.

Shadow.Q took one look at the price tag and decided immediately, "Deal."

Whatever information Rita had, Shadow.Q trusted that it would be worth it. Rita wasn’t one to exaggerate, and asking only for an installment plan instead of a discount or barter was practically giving them the information for free.

Rita handed over 1800 gold coins on the spot and signed a 1200 gold debt slip with the Special Affairs Bureau. Minutes later, the magnifying glass was delivered to her hands.

She stowed it away and straightforwardly explained the Bear Cookies’ function to Shadow.Q. The more Shadow.Q listened, the brighter her eyes became. By the time Rita finished, Shadow.Q was sitting bolt upright, unable to contain her excitement.

"This information is too important. Wait a moment—I need to report this right away."

While Shadow.Q reported the discovery and had her colleagues begin testing the Bear Cookies, Rita mulled over whether there were any similar hidden gems she could recall. After much thought and flipping through the exchange catalog, she came up empty-handed and had to let it go.

After spending 1800 gold coins, Rita had once again fallen off the wealth leaderboard. In fact, she was now only listed on the Pet Leaderboard and Honor Leaderboard. She had dropped off the level leaderboard a while ago and decided it was time to focus on leveling up over the next few days—and perhaps finally learn how to play mahjong.

Meanwhile, when the Special Affairs Bureau confirmed the Bear Cookies’ functionality matched Rita’s description, they began discussing ways to maximize its potential to protect as many children as possible. At that moment, Rita’s honor points increased by 50.

Before leaving, Rita hesitated but ultimately decided against giving the [I Really Don’t Have Time to Shower] perfume to Shadow.Q for research. While it was possible that someone in the Bureau—especially someone who had studied fragrances in Lania Kaia—could crack its secrets using modern science, it wasn’t worth the risk.

No one knew how many of these perfumes existed. If it led Mistblade to her, it would spell disaster.

After dinner, Rita and Nivalis left. Of the 38 dishes on the table, Nivalis had eaten at least 32 of them. Rita figured she needed a larger container to manage everything.

Though theoretically, body waste and personal scent shouldn’t be similar, she decided to stop selling dragon manure in Lania Kaia to avoid unnecessary risks. However, she planned to stockpile it and sell it to the Bureau at a discount once the danger passed.

Back home, Rita emptied all her gold, silver, and copper coins onto her table. After setting her wealth leaderboard status to anonymous, she retrieved all her coins from her virtual character, finally feeling at ease.

With the money in her possession, she could finally relax. Eating dinner earlier had felt like a chore.

Rita pulled out [A Big World, A Small Me] and [Wrathful Moon], shrinking the lamp to the size of a grain of rice and placing it inside her pocket watch. She snapped the lid shut, locked it, and hung it around her neck.

Now, most of her valuable possessions were hanging from her neck. The thought of someone cutting her chain one day made her shudder.

Even though her treasures were all bound to her, the image of her scrambling on the ground to retrieve them was just too undignified. If Shadow.Q or Hetchipa saw her in that state, how would she ever maintain her confidence in teasing them?

Rita decided she needed sturdier materials for a better chain and messaged Shadow.Q:

[Rita]: Got any durable string or material for a necklace?

[Shadow.Q]: Am I your secretary now?

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[Rita]: Bear… arrows… time is money…

[Shadow.Q]: Yes, I am. Stay updated through empire