Adventure World Online (AWO)

Special Chapter: A Mouse's Woes

Greetings, I am Brownie. Once upon a time, I was just a thieving field mouse living in an open forest near the fox community that served the deity Inari. My daily life revolved around stealing crops from those foxes. Sure, it was risky—I might have ended up as their meal—but the rewards were always worth it. My mouse community had many mouths to feed. The females birthed litters after litters, and I myself had six siblings from the same mother. None of them were as skilled, smart, or as handsome as I am.

My mother always told me she was proud of my courage—how I dared to face danger and evade being eaten by foxes just to keep our community's food stores full. But honestly? Mice ate like there was no tomorrow. Each one of them devoured without a care for the hardship I faced, nor effort I put into stealing from the foxes. Though I was pleased with my mother's praise, I was growing weary. I wanted to leave. I longed to explore the world. But I could not just abandon my community. So, I began training the others, teaching them the skills to pilfer food and sustain the community in my stead. I succeeded. They became swift and silent, moving in perfect coordination. Together, they could steal without the foxes even noticing.

Then one day, I met a human for the first time. She came demanding the return of a golden corn cob—our crowning achievement in theft. Despite all our efforts to resist, her terrifying presence was too much for us to handle. Not only did she reclaim the corn, but I ended up trapped with her, surrounded by foxes... Honestly, I was so scared I nearly wet myself!

Little did I know, the adventure I had always dreamed of was about to begin. Fate had thrown me into her company, dragging me far from the forest I knew and into an unknown world. Freedom was scarier than I had imagined. The vast world was filled with things unfamiliar to a small field mouse like me. I seriously considered giving up and returning to my community. But then, something miraculous happened. The moment a tiny fairy floated out of that icy woman's body, I knew I could not bear to part from her.

Unbelievably, I found myself kneeling and begging the icy woman to keep me as her pet—just so I could stay close to my dream girl. That marked the true beginning of my adventure. It was thrilling. Each day brought excitement, discoveries, and challenges that were as terrifying as they were fun. What I never expected, though, was making friends. Sure, I had friends in my mouse community, but not like this. The friends I found were all part of the icy woman's entourage. They were far above my station: beast god, beast king, a master samurai, a pirate king, and a vampire queen.

It did not make sense for such a group to be together, let alone get along. And yet, they seemed to love each other deeply. No one fought for dominance or superiority—except maybe lord Hulu and lord Fluffy Head-Chan, those two were always at odds. Despite it all, they held the icy woman in the highest regard, treating her with immense respect.

Then, I learned something—Miss Ice Queen was not as cold-hearted as I once thought. She was kind, decisive, and possesses a charisma so powerful that even the Big Shots, oh! This was a nickname I came up with for her entourage. That even them, follow her in harmonious unity. Even I, just a humble field mouse, came to admire and respect her. I pledged to follow her everywhere. She never looked down on me despite my ordinary origins, treating me with the same love and kindness as her other pets. Even her Big Shots never belittled me or made me feel inferior.

And Anya, the beautiful little fairy? She was so sweet to me that I could not bear the thought of being away from her. I would gladly lay down my life to serve Master Chang Long for eternity.

Hehehe. Who would had thought that following Master Chang Long would lead me to a day as dreadful as today?

Who would had guessed that stepping out of the pet-sealing artifact—something I had eagerly awaited—would make me desperately want to crawl back in? After all this time waiting to roam free, I had to run into her.

"Eeeek. So cute. You're the cutest little thing. Where did you come from? I've never seen a mouse this adorable before."

There it was, that ear-piercing voice coming from afar. I ran as far as I could to hide, but she still managed to find me. In this vast desert, where could I possibly escape to!

"Come here, little one. Let me give you a hug. Don't worry, I won't eat you for dinner. You're too adorable for that. I just want to snuggle you to bits!"

No way. Sure, I admit I was cute, but I had boundaries! There was no way I was letting some strange dragon with a voice like blaring eighteen trumpets hug me. If Anya found out, she would be furious, and I could not bear the thought of never seeing her smile again. Without that, my life would be over. So, dream on, you overgrown lizard!

"Oh, where are you running to, little mouse? You can't escape me. You're one of Chang Long's pets, right? So, no matter what, you'll have to go back to her eventually. If I wait for you there, I'll still get to hug you, won't I?"

Oh no! Why did I not think of that? She was right. Only Master Chang Long could save me now. I had to hurry back to her before this shrieking lizard catched up. Once I was back, I would ask Master Chang Long to seal me away again. Kitsune and the others should not mind—I was useless in battle anyway. It was better for me to stay sealed and not hog any shared experience points.

I sprinted back toward Master Chang Long as fast as my tiny field mouse legs could carry me. The path ahead was clear—no beasts, no trumpet-lizard in sight. But I was wrong. That crafty dragon had shrunk herself down and buried herself in the sand, calmly lying in wait for me to pass by like a spider for its prey.

"Gotcha!"

I was bowled over and then wrapped tightly in her coils. Her delighted squeals rang in my ears, leaving me utterly disoriented. The desert spun around me, faster and faster, until I was on the verge of throwing up.

"AAARGH. MAAASSTEEERR CHAAANG LOOONG. ANYAAA. SAVE MEEEE."

I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping my master would hear me. But it seemed she was too preoccupied hunting beasts with Lord Kitsune and the others to even notice my absence. The endless cycle of being squeezed, tossed, and smothered felt like an eternity. No one seemed to care about my plight. How pitiful I was.

The lizard kept inventing new games to torment me. First, it was tag, which was really just me running frantically like a hamster on a wheel while she lazily swatted me with her tail, sinking me into the sand. Every time I tried burrowing into the sand to escape, she would use her tail to fan the sand away, exposing my tiny, adorable form again.

Then she got bored of that and decided to play catch. Before I could even wonder where she had get a ball, she had already grabbed me, tossing me into the air and bouncing me off her tail like a living ball. Oh! Of course—it turned out I was the ball. She had me fooled, looking for the ball... I screamed my lungs out. I was terrified of heights!

"This really happened to you?"

Fluffy Head-chan asked, looking utterly dumbfounded after hearing my tragic tale.

"Of course. That's why I didn't want the master to unseal me back then."

"It's a good thing she got bored. Otherwise, you'd probably had been tossed around until the master finished her quest," Lord Kitsune remarked, his expression filled with genuine concern.

"True, but I still can't believe Little Jade said you were adorable. Honestly, I don't see what's so cute about you,"

Lord Hulu muttered, casting me a skeptical glance full of doubt.

"Wha... Lord Hulu, I thought you'd be worried about me!"

"I am worried,"

he replied hastily, though he continued to squint at me, clearly unconvinced.

Well, maybe I was not cute in your eyes, Lord Hulu. But others thought I was adorable—huggable and utterly irresistible. Most importantly, my beloved Anya did. From the moment she first saw me, she exclaimed with such passion that I was the cutest thing she had ever seen!

"What's with that smug grin? Are you thinking about something mischievous?"

Fluffy Head-chan asked, noticing the joyful expression on my face as I reminisced about Anya's praise. The others began eyeing me suspiciously, clearly wondering if I was indeed up to no good.

Sigh. My life truly was tragic. Did no one care about me? Sniff, sniff. Maybe I would go find Anya to comfort me!

-----

Read 'Adventure World Online (AWO)' before anyone else with more chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en