Rita stored away all her equipment, then ate a chocolate cream puff she had cooked herself.
It was an extremely simple F-rank dish.
But after obtaining the God of the Culinary Arts Divine Gift, food now displayed an additional score rating.
Apparently, it was a unique evaluation system tied specifically to this Divine Gift.
[Chocolate Cream Puff] (F Rank┃64 Points):
Restores a total of 30 HP over 5 seconds.
If you spend 10 seconds savoring it, you will Feast completely and gain +3 Constitution for 5 minutes.
A basic low-level dessert.
But under the effects of God of the Culinary Arts, all food effects were tripled.
After eating the puff, her Constitution increased by 9.
Her Constitution stat had originally been:
[Constitution]: 11 → 4.4
Now it had become:
[Constitution]: 20 → 8
Her HP did not increase, but instantly, her body no longer felt as weak.
She followed it with a glass of milk that boosted mental stamina.
A little disappointing.
Only triple effect.
Looks like once the God of the Culinary Arts bonus triggered, the effect from [Gourmet's Bib] could no longer activate afterward.
Still, the bib itself made excellent cover.
Two minutes later, Rita vanished from the Wilson family estate.
After several Phantom Shifts, she returned to her own villa.
But she did not contact Rick or the others immediately.
After all, once the beta ended, everyone's phones and SIM cards would turn to ash.
There would naturally be a period where nobody could reach each other.
Rita locked the doors and slept properly for the first time in a while.
After the cooldown on Disguise finally ended again, she transformed into an elderly person and Phantom Shifted into an airport restroom.
She located a flight headed for Las Vegas, wandered through the restroom for a bit, then activated Phantom Cloak.
Invisible, she slipped into the baggage loading area beneath the plane.
At the deepest corner, she activated [Animagus], transforming into a tiny kitten.
She curled herself into the gaps between suitcases and hid.
Finally able to rest, the first thing she did was use a Binding Stone on the Chávez pocket watch.
Only then did she finally relax enough to lie down.
The flight even had a layover midway.
Departure: 17:45.
Arrival in Vegas: 9:00 the next morning.
After landing, she returned to her hotel first, then exited through the front entrance and went to a nearby carrier store to replace her SIM card.
After buying a new phone and getting online, the first thing she did was message the group chat:
"Rick, did it work yesterday?"
Rick was not online yet.
Only Samuel and Scarlett were there.
After exchanging a few messages, Rita immediately started a video call and asked whether they had played the game.
Samuel and Scarlett looked radiant.
They nodded enthusiastically and kept expressing concern for Rita through the screen.
They praised her thoughtfulness.
Praised her for caring about her parents.
Rita suddenly felt her chest tighten painfully.
Back in her previous life, she had treated them so well.
Had she ever received even one sincere compliment?
No.
She admitted she could never fully devote herself to anyone.
Not even biological family.
But whenever she obtained anything valuable, she always thought of them first.
Anything she could give, she gave.
Equipment that could be sold for resources.
Because they said they needed it, she handed it over.
Battle pets that increased combat power.
Because they were afraid to fight outside without protection, she gave those too.
Rare high-level quest items worth fortunes outside.
Because Zoey wanted them, they helped drug her unconscious.
They knew perfectly well that Sanchez's uncle possessed a Divine Gift that drained attributes from sexual partners.
Yet they still persuaded her to marry him.
Rita wiped at her reddened eyes and smiled at the people on screen.
"As long as you're all doing well, that's enough."
Seeing their daughter emotionally moved by a few sweet words, Samuel and Scarlett ended the call in satisfaction.
As long as you're satisfied.
Rita sniffed once and smiled faintly before stuffing lamb into her mouth.
This was honestly the most delicious meal she had eaten since her rebirth.
Meanwhile, where was Rick?
After smashing things in rage all night, he had exhausted himself and fallen asleep.
No matter how powerful Thief God's passive abilities were, they still could not compete with the owner obsessing over them every second.
The instant the beta ended, Rick had begun repeatedly trying to summon his Divine Gift.
And he succeeded.
Then he saw it.
Five shining skills.
Only one remained lit.
The four most important ones were all greyed out.
The cruelest thing was not losing something.
It was obtaining it...
And losing it before ever truly experiencing it.
An SS-rank Divine Gift.
Now reduced to practically nothing.
Rick lost control instantly.
Everything inside the secret room that could be smashed was smashed.
Jewelry.
Destroyed.
Antiques.
Shattered.
Paintings and calligraphy.
Torn apart.
Gold bars.
Thrown to the ground and stomped on.
He had never felt this mentally broken in his life.
He knew he looked insane.
He did not care.
He honestly felt like he was only one step away from madness.
If he had originally drawn only an A-rank Divine Gift...
Or even just a B-rank...
He would never have spiraled this badly.
Destroying the treasures inside the vault still was not enough.
He staggered upstairs and smashed apart everything in the study and living room too.
Only after exhausting himself completely did Rick collapse onto the floor in despair.
Then he fell asleep.
After finishing their call with Rita, Samuel and Scarlett searched everywhere for their son.
Eventually they arrived at the Wilson family house.
The moment they opened the door, they saw total devastation.
Debris everywhere.
And their son asleep on the floor.
Scarlett woke Rick immediately and began questioning him.
But no matter what she asked, he refused to speak.
Meanwhile, Samuel followed the trail of destruction upstairs.
Then he entered the study.
And saw the shattered remains of antiques and paintings scattered all over the secret vault floor.
He let out a strangled cry...
And fainted on the spot.
...
Rita received Scarlett's call while changing hotels.
Until the weakened status ended, she planned to stay directly across from a police station.
Hearing that both Samuel and Rick had been hospitalized, Rita immediately asked anxiously:
"Is it serious?"
Please don't let them be okay.
Scarlett sighed.
"Your dad just fainted. Do you still have any of that medicine?"
Honestly, after seeing all those smashed antiques, she had wanted to faint too.
What did she think it was, ginseng soup...
Rita replied, "I do. I already learned how to make it. Ask Rick if he still has any first. He can use that for now. The family won't lack this medicine anymore in the future."
After all, Rick had learned alchemy too.
Bringing it up proactively would earn her another wave of goodwill.
Ever since stealing Rick's Divine Gift, the monstrous hatred inside her had already faded by half.
Now she could almost treat revenge like a game.
Of course, in reality, [The Thief God's Theft, Which Can Also Be Robbery] would forever remain reserved for Rick.
Just in case he ever staged a comeback.
Until the day he died.
After chatting a little longer, Rita hung up.
Then she holed herself up in the hotel room.
She even kept the curtains and windows wide open, making sure that if she shouted, the police officers across the street would hear her immediately.
She sat by the hotel window reading [Apache's Alchemy Notes].
All three meals were ordered as takeout.
But once the food arrived, she never touched it.
She only ate food from her own inventory.
Sometimes she even felt as if she had returned to the fugitive life from her previous life.
Only on the afternoon of the 12th, when the severe weakened status finally disappeared and all her HP, MP, and attributes fully recovered, did Rita finally leave the hotel.
There was no need to drive back herself anymore.
She simply paid someone to return her car to Los Angeles for her.
Then she boarded a plane home alone.