Time is Running Out

Rita wandered around the Undead capital again, picking up quests wherever she could and using her Thief God talent on every NPC she encountered. She even targeted the patrolling guards and didn't spare the beggar in the corner—after all, who knew if he might be a hidden master?

From 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM, Rita continued this routine. With just over two hours left before the game shut down, she finally stopped. In addition to gaining 1 point of Constitution, she now possessed a Level 40 purple bow.

She had stolen it from the innkeeper.

Without hesitation, Rita went straight to the weapons shop and sold it. The shopkeeper clearly recognized the bow, repeatedly emphasizing in the dialogue box how risky it was for him to buy it. But Rita held firm, lowering her price from 3,000 gold down to 1,000, refusing to go any lower. She knew that whoever bought this item would be holding a hot potato.

After five minutes of back-and-forth, just as Rita was considering lowering her price a bit, the transaction succeeded.

Rita immediately directed her character back to the alchemy master, spending 100 gold to upgrade her Alchemy skill to Intermediate. She then learned all the recipes available, which cost her another 200 gold.

Rita then traveled halfway across the city to the goblin district, where she found a goblin engineer barely taller than her knee and learned **[Engineering]**.

This was a well-considered decision. Whether it was jewelcrafting, leatherworking, or tailoring, these professions all involved crafting equipment, which could be done as long as she had the materials. But her time was precious, and the equipment made at the beginner level had limited practical use. She wouldn't need it before the game's invasion, and it would quickly become obsolete afterward.

Engineering, however, had great utility for her current situation. Even at the beginner level, she could craft firearms, bullets, and explosives.

More importantly, she knew where to get the blueprint for **[Repair Robot]**, but to learn that, her Engineering skill needed to reach Advanced.

Rita quickly paid and learned **[Engineering]**, then immediately learned all the recipes she could. She bought materials to craft 10 firearms, 500 bullets, and 100 bags of low-quality explosives.

Using the goblin's workbench, she quickly crafted 10 guns, 5,000 bullets, and 100 packs of low-quality explosives, pushing her Engineering skill to Intermediate.

After upgrading, she again learned all the blueprints available.

With only about 300 gold left, she returned to the herbalist shop and spent it all on herbs, filling every remaining slot in her inventory.

By this time, it was 8:45 AM.

In the real world, Rick was still lying on the floor snoring, and she could hear Samuel and Scarlett talking outside the door. Rita went to the bathroom in Rick's room, turned on the faucet to create the illusion that he was taking a shower, and then returned to sit by the bed.

She directed her character to the center of the Undead city, heading toward the ruler's palace.

Unlike in peaceful times, the otherworldly races had been waging war and plundering for ages, where strength ruled supreme. Rita didn't know how many cities the otherworldly races had or how their hierarchies were structured, but she knew that only those with power could become city lords—there wouldn't be any incompetent nobles like those found in novels.

Even in her world, after the game's invasion reshuffled everything, every city lord was a top-ranked individual on the leaderboard. Even though the elites had greater advantages in concentrating resources to nurture powerful individuals, in the end, strength still dictated who held power. City lords might have to listen to influential factions, but the ultimate power always rested with the strongest.

8:52 AM.

Rita's character was stopped by guards outside the luxurious palace.

A dialogue box popped up, and Rita typed in: "There's a problem with the anchor point."

When she was selling the purple weapon earlier, she realized that the game automatically translated her language into the Undead's language.

The guards remained unmoved, but the commotion quickly drew the attention of a higher-ranking guard. After Rita typed the same message again, she was brought into the palace.

The Undead city lord, clad in black armor, sat on the throne at the top of the palace.

A dialogue box appeared: "You say there's a problem with the anchor point?"

9:13 AM.

Rita typed in the dialogue box: "Yes, I'm willing to stake my life that the information I have is accurate, but I need a reward."

"How dare you!"

Rita didn't respond. She waited silently. To the ruler, she probably seemed like a dead person already, and dead people often received leniency. Soon, a high-ranking guard approached and handed her an item.

When she checked, it was 100 gold.

Tch! Rita had hoped for equipment, but this was just a quick grab for some extra loot—she wasn't picky.

9:17 AM.

Rita typed: "This is confidential. I'm only willing to tell the city lord directly."

She maneuvered her character closer to the city lord. To a Level 99 city lord, her Level 1 character was as insignificant as an ant, so no one stopped her.

9:20 AM.

The character stood beside the Undead city lord.

9:21 AM.

She clicked to use **[The Thief God's Theft, Which Can Also Be Robbery]**.

**[Betting on the name of Thief God, you attempt to steal the divine talent of Orloff D. Flesh, the Undead city lord of Ghost City.]**

**[Theft successful—Detecting target's divine talent level is too high—Theft interrupted!]**

**[You have died.]**

Immediately, the phone screen went black, as if it had run out of battery and shut down completely.

Rita looked up at the clock on the wall. It was 9:22 AM, and the second hand had just passed 12.

Exactly seven hours.

The phone made a cracking sound, first from the screen, then from the internal components, and finally, it spontaneously combusted. Rita quickly threw it to the ground, and within seconds, it turned into a wisp of black smoke, dissipating into the air as if it had never existed.

Then, a backpack, a worn-out pouch, and a coin purse appeared on the floor.

At the same time, a familiar character panel appeared in Rita's mind.

**[Character]**: I don't care (Level 0, 0.001%) 

**[Divine Talent]**: Thief God (S-Class) 

**[Divine Talent]**: Immortal (SS-Class) (Incomplete) 

**[Race]**: Human (?) 

**[Racial Talents]**: Undead Will | Feast 

**[Health]**: 100/100 

**[Mana]**: 100/100 

**[Strength]**: 5 

**[Constitution]**: 7 

**[Intelligence]**: 10 

**[Agility]**: 12 

**[Luck]**: 8 

**[Charisma]**: 9 

**[Available Attribute Points]**: 0

The sight of the SS-Class talent made Rita's eyes instantly well up with tears. Even though it was incomplete, she could see that three of the five skills under the talent were glowing, with only two grayed out. An SS-Class talent! Even if she had only managed to steal one skill, it would have been worth it. Comparing it to her S-Class Thief God talent, not a single skill was useless.

Looking at Rick, still fast asleep nearby, she could barely contain her laughter.

She quickly stashed both the backpacks inside her clothes, the coin purse taking up one slot. When she focused her attention, she could sense exactly how many gold coins were in the purse.

Rita picked up Rick's phone, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and confirmed that the game wasn't on his phone. She then moved him onto the bed, tucking him in just like she used to, before leaving the room.

Downstairs, Samuel and Scarlett were making breakfast. Rita stood by the stairs, listening quietly. Scarlett was complaining about why Samuel had agreed to let Rick buy a villa for Rita and put it in her name. Samuel replied softly, reasoning that they should think long-term—Rita could make loads of money, and a villa only cost 30 million. Over the years, Rita had brought home at least 70 million...

Rita listened silently until they changed the subject, then returned to her room expressionless.

Only then did she examine her new divine talent.

But before she could thoroughly inspect the new **[Immortal]** talent, she noticed something odd.

**Skill 2**: *The Thief God's Theft, Which Can Also Be Robbery*: Sorry, I stole everything you owned. My apologies. Bet on the Thief God's name to steal your target's divine talent. This skill can only be used once in the Thief God's lifetime.

The second skill under **[Thief God]** was still active.

In her previous life, she had used skills and items with cooldowns before. When a skill or item was on cooldown, it would be grayed out and unusable. If a one-time-use item was consumed, it would permanently turn light gray, meaning it was now garbage.

But why was this skill still active?

"Only once in a lifetime?"

Did her character's death in the game count as the end

 of its life?!

So...

So!

So this meant she could use this godly, overpowered talent again?!!!

Rita closed her eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm down, but she couldn't. She had never been so grateful for her decision!

As expected of the S-Class talent, Thief God!

She walked over to the mini-fridge by her bed, grabbed a bottle of ice water, and downed it in one gulp. Once she was completely calm, she finally opened the new **[Immortal]** divine talent.