A Ridiculous Side Mission
last update2026-03-25 19:22:56

While he was still on the floor, the pigs stared at him.

Judgingly.

Quinn stood ankle-deep in muck, clutching his single wooden clog like it might magically turn into a sword. His robes if you could call burlap with holes "robes" clung to him like disappointment.

A bell rang somewhere up the hill. Loud and ugly.’. Like a dinner gong being murdered.

[System Alert: Mandatory Servant Assembly in 10 seconds.

Warning: Late arrival will result in 50 whip lashes, public shaming, and a loss of 30 SP.]

“Oh, come on!” Quinn bolted, slipping through the mud like a baby deer on ice. He lost the clog within two steps.

He arrived just in time to wedge himself into the back of a sweaty, terrified crowd of other servant disciples, most looking just as miserable. All wore the same potato-sack uniform. The training square was completely packed.

A tall, broad-shouldered man stood at the front of the square. His robe was black, his expression sharp, and his whip longer than Quinn was tall.

The man’s gaze scanned the group like a vulture picking which carcass to start with.

“You are not cultivators,” he barked. “You are worms. You are dirt. You are unpaid labor with dreams far too big for your weak little souls.”

A silence followed.

The man snapped the whip once. The crack echoed across the field.

“My name is Elder Feng. And until the day you die or miraculously advance, you will call me Master.”

Quinn exhaled slowly.

Yep. Definitely a cultivation novel.

And not the fun kind.

“WELCOME, MAGGOTS,” the elder barked then continued.

“Here at the Wulan Outer Sect, you will clean, suffer, and maybe if you don’t die like the last hundred idiots, serve a purpose.”

Quinn whispered, “Inspiring.”

[Ding! Passive Skill: ‘Sarcastic Commentary’ activated.

Effect: Provides zero benefit. Makes you feel slightly better.]

He sighed.

Elder Feng began pacing. “We are a great sect! But even greatness must be scrubbed. Literally. Latrines don’t clean themselves.”

A few around Quinn groaned quietly. He joined them.

[New Mission Available: Volunteer for the Worst Job]

Reward: +50 SP, potential hidden stat boost.

Optional Bonus: Look eager. That’ll freak them out.]

“No,” Quinn whispered.

[Auto-accept engaged.]

A second later, Elder Feng’s eyes locked onto him.

“You! The one with cow dung in his hair.”

Quinn blinked. “Me?”

“You look like the kind of fungus that thrives in filth. Good! Report to the Beast Stables. The spirit boars have diarrhea again.”

A collective groan rippled through the group. One girl whispered, “That’s a death sentence.”

Quinn raised a shaky hand. “Quick question—do I get gloves?”

“No.”

Quinn gagged as the stench hit him. Spirit boars were sacred beasts were massive, tusked, and radiating low-level spiritual energy.

They also had very angry bowels.

He scrubbed, scooped, dodged tusks, slipped, fell, gagged again, and cursed the system eight times in three languages.

At one point, a boar sneezed on him.

He cried a little.

[SP Gained: +80]

[Bonus Pain Multiplier: Toxic Shame x1.5]

[Total Suffering Points: 143]

[New Passive Unlocked: “Turd Sense” – Can now detect incoming manure 0.5 seconds before impact.]

“I’m going to kill you,” Quinn muttered to the system.

[Such language. Emotional distress: +6 SP.]

He collapsed in the servants’ quarters, too tired to move, caked in stink and trauma.

The others avoided him like he carried plague. Maybe he did. He didn’t really care.

He stared at the ceiling. His body ached. His pride was dead. His hands looked like they’d aged forty years.

But then….

[Ding! SP Threshold reached.

Unlocking Minor Cultivation Technique: Pain-Forged Body – Stage 1]

Description: Your body begins adapting to physical punishment.

Effect: +5% resistance to blunt trauma. +10% pain tolerance.

Side Effect: Occasional phantom spasms.]

Quinn sat up. “Wait. That’s... actually useful?”

[Congratulations, Fungus. You now suck slightly less.]

He laughed. Genuinely.

Not because it was funny. But because in a world trying to kill him, he just leveled up from useless trash to resilient garbage.

And somehow, that felt like progress.

Quinn woke up to someone throwing a bucket of water at his face.

He sputtered, soaked and shivering. “What the hell?!”

A boy sneered down at him, tall, sharp-jawed, and clearly enjoying himself. “Rise and shine, pig-boy. You think you get to sleep in just because you smell like ten kinds of death?”

[Ding! New Entity Identified: Lin Fei – Outer Disciple, Minor Bully, Major Insecurity Issues. Estimated Threat Level: Mild Head Trauma.]

Quinn wiped water from his face. “You could’ve just tapped me, you know.”

“Just doing my part,” Lin Fei said with a grin. “Outer sect tradition. Newbies get the boot.”

Behind him, a few others chuckled.

Quinn sat up slowly. His whole body still hurt from yesterday’s Boarageddon. “Cool. Well, tradition sucks.”

[Emotional Frustration: +4 SP]

Lin Fei leaned closer. “You’ll learn your place. Keep your head down, stay out of our way, and maybe you’ll live long enough to sweep latrines for the next five years.”

Quinn stared at him, then smiled sweetly. “Thanks for the advice, Discount Villain #3 but you’re the one that came to me.. .”

“…What?”

[Ding! Passive Skill Activated: ‘Insult Timing’ – Adds +10% sass effectiveness when low on energy.]

Lin Fei’s face twisted. “You’ve got a death wish, don’t you?”

“Not really,” Quinn said, standing slowly.

He didn’t see the punch coming.

Pain exploded across his cheek. He hit the floor, tasting dirt. Then the kicks started. Lin Fei’s friends joined in laughing, cursing, stomping.

Quinn curled into a ball. He didn’t even fight back. Not because he was that weak…though he absolutely was but because…

[SP Gained: +132]

[Pain Multiplier: Humiliation x1.2]

[Bonus: Outnumbered + Bleeding Gums = +27 SP]

[Current SP: 306]

[Congratulations, Host! You have reached Suffering Tier 2.]

New Technique Unlocked: Endure and Absorb (Passive)

Minor external injuries convert into physical defense over time

+5% injury resistance per 100 SP held

Mood: Permanently pissed off (optional)

Quinn coughed blood, smiled through a cracked lip, and whispered, “Thanks, losers.”

He passed out before they could ask what he meant.

He woke up hours later behind the stables again, face swollen, ribs bruised, soul annoyed.

[Rise and grind, Host! Pain builds character, and you’re nearly a demigod in that department!]

“I’m dying.”

[Technically, no. But your nose is now slightly left of center. Would you like to reset facial symmetry?]

“…You can do that?”

[No.]

System Status – Display Mode: Activated

NAME: Quinn

SPECIES: Human Fungus (☹️)

REALM: Mortal – Pre-Foundation

SUFFERING POINTS (SP): 306

CURRENT STATE: Bruised, Unloved, Slightly Deranged

PASSIVE SKILLS:

• Sarcastic Commentary (Lv. 1)

• Turd Sense (Lv. 1)

• Pain-Forged Body – Stage 1

• Endure and Absorb – Tier 2

• Insult Timing (Lv. 1)

PENDING QUESTS:

▪ Slap Elder Feng and shout “I claim your Qi!” – Reward: Random Technique Scroll

▪ Survive One Week – Reward: Real Cultivation Manual

▪ Bonus Side Mission: Publicly humiliate yourself in front of the entire canteen – Reward: Unknown, High SP Potential

That night, Quinn limped toward the sect’s food hall.

The air smelled like boiled despair.

Long tables stretched across the cavernous space, filled with outer disciples laughing, eating, and bragging about how many spirit beasts they’d slaughtered.

Quinn held his wooden tray.

One half-rotted potato. Two slices of tofu that might’ve once known flavor. And of course no water.

He sat in the far corner, alone, ignored, invisible.

[Ding! Side Mission Reminder: Public Humiliation – High SP Reward Potential

Objective: Do something so cringe the entire hall notices you.]

Quinn exhaled. “Like what? Strip and sing a love ballad?”

[Option Selected.]

“…You’re kidding.”

[Would you like to activate ‘Auto-Performance Mode’? Includes dramatic echo effect.]

He looked down at his tray. The food tasted like sadness. His ribs ached. His life was a joke.

But the thought of that next skill... of power...

“Fine,” he whispered. “Screw it.”

He stood.

He walked to the center of the hall.

Then, arms wide, voice cracking, Quinn began to sing:

“Youuuu left me for dead, and I smelled like a pig…

But now I’m reborn with trauma and a broken wig..

Cultivation won’t save me, but sarcasm might..

So come at me, fate 'cause I’m ready to fight!”

There was total silence.

Dozens of disciples stared.

A cup clattered to the floor. Someone dropped a bun.

Elder Feng stood at the doorway, blinking.

[SP Gained: +290]

[Bonus: Performance Debuff x2 + Social Death = +98]

[New Passive Unlocked: “Shameless Heart” – Immune to embarrassment-based SP loss.

Side Effect: Everyone hates you 12% more.]

Then Quinn bowed.

“Thank you. You’ve been a terrible audience.”

He returned to his seat, popped the tofu in his mouth, and smiled.

[You now have enough SP to unlock an active technique.]

[Choose Your Reward:

A. Spirit Pulse Strike (offensive skill – costs pain to activate)

B. Endure Reversal (convert incoming damage into counterattack)

C. Grovel Dodge (dodge automatically when hit below the belt)]

Quinn stared at the options.

“…System?”

[Yes, Fungus?]

“I’m going to burn this sect to the ground someday.”

[With pleasure.]

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