Inside the game, brewing potions was simple.
Wait for the progress bar to finish, and the potion succeeded automatically.
Reality was nothing like that.
In the real world, Rita had to follow the instructional process inside her mind step by step.
Some advanced potions took over an hour to brew.
How to process the materials.
How to control the temperature.
When to stir.
When to add the next ingredient.
Every detail mattered.
And yet, even when she followed every step perfectly, the result still often came back as failed.
Occasionally she would still gain one or two points of experience from failed attempts.
She had never studied this seriously even before the college entrance exams.
Engineering was the same.
Advanced level professions were completely different from beginner and intermediate ones.
Low and mid tier crafting felt like modern medicine.
Everything was precise and standardized.
Learn the formulas, understand the numbers, follow the process carefully, and there would always be a correct answer.
Once the illness was diagnosed, even the King of Heaven himself would get the same diagnosis.
Advanced professions felt more like traditional medicine.
Every master had different answers.
Sometimes two completely opposite methods could both succeed.
Because the relationships between materials were impossible to define cleanly.
Sometimes even the instructional videos changed.
One time, the undead instructor added twenty grams of Spiritweed powder first.
The next time, she only used eighteen grams.
Then another version replaced the herb entirely because she had accidentally added too much of another ingredient earlier.
But it did not matter.
Swap one herb for another.
Balance the interactions.
Same result.
At first Rita wanted to curse at the screen.
This was ridiculous.
Where was the rigor?
What kind of nonsense system was this?
But later...
She completely forgot about grinding experience.
Sometimes she would spend an entire day watching the alchemy lessons and neglect Engineering entirely.
The undead female instructor started reminding her of an orchestra conductor.
She controlled every property of every ingredient with complete mastery.
She never rigidly followed recipes.
Sometimes small mistakes even became opportunities.
Errors transformed into surprises in her hands.
By the time July arrived, Rita completely stopped trying to brew advanced potions.
Instead, she decided to relearn and personally craft every beginner and intermediate formula from scratch.
She suddenly remembered an interview she once saw in her previous life.
The player in it had spoken with absolute seriousness:
"The real treasure of beta testing was never levels or equipment. It was profession knowledge. The reason I can craft blue and purple gear isn't because of my talent. It's because of the tailoring techniques I learned from my nonhuman teacher. Yes, he will always be my teacher. Even if one day we meet on the battlefield as enemies. Even if people call me a traitor. I'll still say it. That nonhuman was my teacher."
...
On July 1st, Zoey suddenly announced she wanted to treat the entire Wilson family to dinner.
When a rich heiress invited you somewhere, it was not really an invitation.
It was a summons.
Rita cleaned herself up and headed to the restaurant.
When she entered the private room, she was not even the last to arrive.
Samuel and Scarlett were already seated inside.
Before coming, Rita had thoroughly checked her status panel.
She stored every piece of equipment and every item inside her bags.
Then she stuffed both thirty six slot bags into the Magician's Fake Tooth.
At the moment, she only carried the shabby four slot pouch on her body.
Another half hour passed before the private room door opened under the escort of bodyguards.
Zoey entered first.
A monocle rested over one eye.
Rita, Samuel, and Scarlett all stood politely to greet her.
Zoey had changed hairstyles.
Her former straight black hair that exposed her ears was now styled into elegant side swept waves.
Of course, the heavy curls existed mainly to cover the empty right side of her head.
Maybe because of everything recently, the grace and confidence she once carried had faded.
Now she looked gloomy.
Standing beside her, Rick wore the exact same gloomy expression.
Rita nearly laughed.
The male lead had become a nine centimeter warrior.
The heroine had lost an ear.
Who could still deny they were a perfect match?
Rita deliberately avoided looking too closely at Zoey's monocle.
She could guess with her ass that it was probably an item.
Someone missing an ear would naturally develop psychological resistance toward glasses that hooked over the ear.
Putting them on and taking them off would feel awful every single time.
Even if this one was only a monocle.
And she was right.
Zoey's monocle was indeed an Insight type item.
Not as good as the Chávez Mask Rita possessed, but still a B rank item.
Insight equipment was already extremely rare.
The Lopez family's third branch had privately assembled over a dozen teams during beta testing just to obtain it.
In truth, getting an A rank item during the first beta had been pure luck.
As for her two brothers...
Forget it.
Thinking about the previous beta only reminded her of her missing ear.
The moment Zoey entered the room, she immediately used Insight on Rita.
But all she saw was exactly what Rita wanted her to see.
[Character] Rita (Level 0, 0.001%)
[Divine Gift] Unable to Inspect
[Race] Human
[Racial Talent] Unable to Inspect
[HP]: 100/100
[MP]: 100/100
[Strength]: 5
[Constitution]: 7
[Intelligence]: 7
[Agility]: 7
[Luck]: ?
[Charm]: ?
Rita had no idea Zoey's monocle was this terrible.
All her carefully layered deception and flawless preparation had basically been wasted on a blind person.
The instant Zoey saw the 0.001% experience value, she believed over half of Rick's story.
Right before Rita's eyes, Zoey's expression visibly softened.
Meanwhile, Rick gave Rita a little wink from beside her.
Rita nearly threw up.
Recently, Rick had been fishing for information from Zoey without success.
Yesterday he finally came clean and admitted he knew about the game because Rita had told him.
Originally, he had planned to stop there.
He never intended to explain why Rita had not told Zoey directly.
But unexpectedly, Zoey asked when Rita told him.
Rick answered that it happened around the ninth or tenth.
Zoey's expression immediately relaxed.
She explained that Rita had actually messaged her that day and invited her to the hotel, saying she had important things to discuss with both her and Rick.
But Zoey had been too busy to go.
After all, she had just lost an ear and half her family's gold reserves had vanished.
Why would she bother meeting the sister of a future live in son in law?
Rick immediately said,
"Yeah, she did mention inviting you. She only trusted us because we're family. Zoey... we're family too, right?"
Because of that conversation, Zoey had completely dropped her suspicions toward Rita.
She still thought Rita was a little stupid deep down.
Who would reveal something this important to someone who had not even married into the family yet?
Then again, Zoey herself had only told family and trusted confidants.
Thinking about it that way...
Rita started seeming strangely adorable.
Like a fool who sincerely considered her family.
Today's dinner was simply Zoey's final confirmation.
Although she had already tested Rita months ago, she had not possessed an Insight item back then.
The monocle could not inspect Divine Gifts.
But Rita's experience value was only 0.001%.
So her story about barely playing the game seemed believable.
Still, Zoey never told Rick she herself had participated in beta testing.
Some secrets were easier left unsaid.
If your partner learned the truth from someone else first, it would inevitably damage the relationship a little.
Not that Zoey particularly cared what Rick thought.
She genuinely liked his face.
But only his face.