In This Life, I Will Take Back Everything That Belongs to Me

RUMBLE...

Outside the Ten Thousand Beasts City, dust and thunder rolled across the earth.

As the grand gathering approached, countless beasts of the air and earth surged from every direction—some beating wings, some thundering forward on heavy paws—kicking up dirt and grit, each one showing the untamed nature of the wild.

"Mommy, why are we here?"

A young fancy mouse kit tilted her head up, curiously gazing at the powerful beast masters radiating pressure all around them.

"Because the Beast Clan Grand Assembly is about to begin," her mother said, gently stroking her little head with a paw. "They're all here to take part. Together, they'll choose one outstanding young beast from within the city to become the future leader of our kind—to guide us back to glory."

"From... from the young beasts in the city?"

The little fancy mouse nodded, half understanding.

Then, suddenly, she squirmed out of her mother's embrace, scampered onto the main road, spread her two tiny paws wide, and her eyes sparkled.

"Then I'll join too!"

"I want to be the leader!"

The little mouse spread her arms wide and laughed with pure joy.

But her mother cried out in alarm: "Careful! Don't stand in the middle of the road!"

"Huh? Why?"

Before the little mouse could react, she tilted her head in confusion. The next moment, a towering foot descended from the sky, whistling past her ears, slamming into the mud with a deep thud, leaving a massive imprint. Dust and wind howled past, and the tiny fancy mouse was blasted onto her back, covered in grime from head to tail—even her long whiskers were coated in tiny grains of dirt.

"COUGH COUGH..."

The little mouse squinted, spat out the dust, and finally looked up at the owner of that massive foot.

The leg was impossibly wide and tall.

Wider than a human's rice jar, taller than a house beam.

"So... so BIG..."

The little mouse stared, frozen, forgetting even her fear.

The owner of the foot seemed to sense something.

It slowly lowered its head, revealing its true face—a wedge-shaped face, ears like banana leaves, each flap sending a gust of wind, and a pair of towering, mighty curved tusks, like gleaming white spears in a knight's hands.

It was a Mountain-Elephant!

The great elephant gave the little mouse a brief, indifferent glance.

"Little one, you'd best go back. This place isn't for a cute thing like you."

With that, it turned and strode into the city.

The little mouse sat there, not stirring for a long while.

The beasts passing by saw her dazed look and began to tease her: "Tiny thing, still want to be a leader?"

"You can't even walk steady, and you want to join the assembly?"

"Careful—one misstep, and you'll be squashed into mouse paste. HAHAHA!"

"Little girl, not every beast is meant to be a leader."

Some kind-hearted beasts spoke with weight: "You're young and naive, so I'll tell you plainly—look at your race. Your bloodline isn't exactly noble, is it? Even if you grow to your absolute limit, you'll be lucky to reach Tier Six."

"Tier Six might be something outside these walls."

"But here in Ten Thousand Beasts City, it's not even enough to qualify as someone's mount!"

"Just be a spectator."

"Stop dreaming."

The surrounding beasts nodded in approval.

After Tier Three, all beasts gained sentience, and they had long outgrown the age of reckless ambition. They no longer chased impossible dreams.

"Child, this is reality."

The beast world was cruel.

Bloodline governed everything. The Mountain-Elephant's bloodline was nobler than the fancy mouse's, so from birth, it was destined to travel farther.

No matter how hard the fancy mouse struggled, reaching her limit,

she'd still be at the elephant's starting line.

Race, bloodline—none of this was ever fair.

The little mouse sat there, stunned.

That small flame she had just kindled with her careless words—before it could even catch—had been drenched dry by the surrounding beasts' chatter.

"Child, learn to accept reality."

"We are just small figures among the countless beasts, fated to be dust beneath the feet of greater ones."

"If you must blame something, blame the fact that you don't have some ancient bloodline."

The beasts around her meant well.

But that kindness stung even more. It crushed the very idea of her standing up and shouting, "Thirty years east, thirty years west—don't bully a young mouse for being poor!"

"Child! My child!"

The mother mouse rushed over, scooped her up, and began brushing the dust off her with worried eyes, muttering in a frantic, loving voice: "Why did you run onto the road? Didn't Mommy tell you not to run off?"

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you hurt?"

The mother's paws hurriedly checked every inch of her little body, terrified something was wrong.

"I'm not hurt, Mommy."

The little mouse shook her head, but her eyes no longer held their former brightness.

She looked up at her anxious mother and whispered, "Mommy... Am I really like they say? That I can't become a great beast?"

Her mother's paws paused.

She had heard what the other beasts said. As an ordinary mouse bloodline, there wasn't even a single ancestor worth reverting to. At best, she'd cap out at Tier Five or Six.

But looking at her daughter's dim eyes, the mother was silent for a moment, then gently rubbed her head and forced a smile.

"That's not true, my child. That's not true."

"You can definitely become a great beast. Mommy believes in you!"

Hearing that, a spark of hope reignited in the little mouse's eyes. She lifted her head, clenched her tiny paws, and nodded firmly.

"Mm!"

"I'm going to be a great mouse!"

Her mother looked at her newly bright smile and smiled from the bottom of her heart.

The child was still young. She didn't understand the cruelty of the world.

When she grew just a little older, she would naturally come to see that there were many things that could never be changed. But for now, this mother only wanted her child to be happy.

Just then—

A figure hurried past them, dust on her shoulders, heading straight for the Ten Thousand Beasts City gate. Dressed in coarse hemp robes, light on her feet, radiating an aura of keep-your-distance.

She stopped before the city wall and tilted her head up.

Beneath her hood peeked a slim chin and a pair of golden, vertical slit pupils.

"Ten Thousand Beasts City... I've returned."

The hemp-robed girl murmured softly.

"I've struggled so hard to live a second life, awakened with the memories of my past life—this time, I WILL take back everything that belongs to me!"