CHAPTER 35: THE CHOSEN ONE (1)

Just now, Lord Siamelumis had spoken Mimi’s past life name.

Woah woah woah woaaaahhh!!!!

HOLD ONNNN!

"H-h-how did you know?????"

Mimi was shocked, stunned, and amazed all at the same time! Her fur puffed out like a porcupine, her tail went stiff, and her eyes widened like saucers! This development was NOT in her bingo card, nor did she even have a bingo card to begin with!

Seeing her reaction, Lord Siamelumis let out a soft snicker, one clawed hand covering her snout. The mighty dragon was clearly enjoying herself far too much.

"Hmmm? How did I know?" she said smugly. "Well, well... let’s just say we were involved in your arrival here."

Mimi’s jaw dropped.

"Wait, s-so you were the one who reincarnated me here?"

"Aaaaaahhh... not exactly!" Siamelumis replied. "I gave a little help here and there, but the one who truly brought you here was our Supreme Lord—the Goddess of Magical Beasts."

"Goddess... Fauveline?"

"Yes." Siamelumis gave a solemn nod. "It was indeed my mother who chose you, and brought you into this world. More precisely, she snagged your soul right before you reached the gate of reincarnation!!!"

"Woahhh..." Mimi gasped, her tiny body trembling.

She couldn’t believe it.

So she hadn’t just died randomly and popped into this world by chance! No! It was all the doing of a Goddess herself!

Now that... that left a TON of questions swirling in her little cat brain!

"Hihi, relax," Siamelumis said gently. "I know you must be overwhelmed right now, Claire. But we have all the time in the world. So feel free to ask any question, and if I can, I will answer to the best of my ability."

"A-alright!"

Mimi nodded.

Then, she placed her tiny paws over her mouth in thought, standing upright on her hind legs. She stayed like that for a moment, tail twitching, ears flicking as she tried to decide.

And then, at last—

"Okay! First question!" Mimi declared.

"Go ahead," Siamelumis encouraged.

"Did I... really die? Is there any chance for me to come back?"

"Oh my!" Siamelumis exclaimed, then chuckled softly. "That’s surprising! I didn’t expect you to ask that first!"

"Oh, haha, right..." Mimi muttered, lowering her ears sheepishly, her whiskers drooping as she laughed awkwardly at herself.

Truthfully, she hadn’t expected to ask that either.

Coming back to Earth? Seriously?

Because after all, what was left of her life back there, at that moment?

Almost nothing.

Her family had already broken apart after her father’s death. Her mom had moved on with someone else. The warmth of a home had slipped away a long time ago.

Now, her days were nothing but the same lifeless cycle—dragging herself through that dull, soul-crushing job, then rushing home only to lose herself in endless grinding on Arventia Online.

So really... wouldn’t it be better to just live inside Arventia for real?

Even if it was as a cat, at least life would be fun! Exciting! Challenging! Every day would be an adventure instead of a dull loop of alarms, commutes, and late-night instant noodles.

In fact, she had thought about this countless times before.

Like... right before bedtime, lying flat on her messy bed with the glow of her monitor still flickering at the corner of the room, her fingers sore from gaming. Whenever she closed her eyes, the same little wish always slipped into her heart...

’I just wish I could wake up inside Arventia.’

And now, that wish had come true.

There was really no reason for her to miss Earth anymore.

"Nah, scratch that! It was a stupid question!" Mimi flailed her paws, shaking her head.

"But it’s still a fair question," Siamelumis replied calmly. "So the answer is yes. You already died in your old world, and you cannot return."

"YES!" Mimi punched the air with both paws. "But wait, what about... ermm... my body... ah... I mean..."

"You want to ask about your corpse?"

"W-well, yeahhh?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Actually, nope! NOPE!" Mimi squeaked, shaking her head like crazy.

To that, Siamelumis snickered, one claw covering her snout.

"Yup, it’s better for you not to know that."

"Aw man!" Mimi pouted, puffing her cheeks. "Well, that answers it anyway!"

Even though Siamelumis hadn’t said it outright, her refusal to answer was an answer in itself. Mimi had definitely died ugly... and now her poor roommate had to deal with the aftermath!!!

Huhu... Mimi felt a little guilty.

But then–

"Oh wait... my roommate..."

She realized something else as she thought about her.

Despite everything, there actually were people Mimi would miss. Not many though, but there indeed were.

A few Discord friends who had always stayed up with her until sunrise, grinding dungeons, joking in chat, and spamming memes when they wiped. Her roommate, the pretty girl with shiny hair who was hopelessly addicted to K-dramas, yet somehow still managed to cook restaurant-level meals and scold Mimi for skipping dinner. And of course... her roommate’s cat, Charcoal, the chunky little menace who clawed her blankets but always curled up on her lap when she was sad.

Oh, and her beloved digital babies inside Arventia Online too.

"Ahhh... my babies... Marshmallow, Taffy, Borgir, Sandwich, Carrot... ohhh boy... I wish I could see them one last time..." Mimi muttered, her tail and ears drooping pitifully.

To that, Siamelumis only gave a knowing smile.

"I see."

The great dragon’s words carried no judgment, just quiet understanding.

A soft moment of silence passed.

"Okay, next question!" Mimi quickly moved on. "Why am I here?"

"Oh? You mean why we chose to reincarnate you?" Siamelumis tilted her head slightly.

"Yeah!" Mimi replied quickly, ears perked high. "Surely it can’t just be because I loved Arventia Online and wished to be isekaied here, right? I feel like... there must be another reason!"

And to that...

"Yup." Siamelumis nodded, her golden eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "Your intuition is correct. We need you, Claire. There is something only you can help us with."