The Brightmoon Sect was unusually quiet the next morning, as if the entire mountain was holding its breath. Training had left the chosen disciples sore but invigorated—except for Arin, who had discovered a new muscle that existed solely to scream in protest.
"I didn't even know humans had this many bones," Arin muttered, dragging himself toward the sect's mission hall. His robe was askew, hair untied, and a single leaf was somehow stuck to his cheek.
[System Comment: Host resembles a discarded side character.]
"Bold talk from a glorified gacha app," Arin grumbled.
He stepped inside the hall. The mission board towered over him, etched with glowing talismans and rotating jade slips, each one detailing a task approved by sect elders. Everything from escorting caravans to investigating spiritual anomalies.
He wasn't here by choice.
Earlier that morning, the system had popped a quest into his face:
[Recommended Side Quest: Accept a Sect Mission]
[Reason: You need contribution points. Also, stop being lazy.]
[Reward: Experience, random loot, and possibly personal growth.]
Now, standing in the dim wooden chamber filled with cultivators browsing tasks like customers in a divine supermarket, Arin wondered how badly this would go.
"Pick something easy," he muttered. "Preferably involving zero life risk, mild walking, and perhaps spiritual snacks."
Just then, the sect elder in charge—an aging man named Elder Hao, with eyebrows longer than most snakes—glared at him.
"You," Elder Hao growled, "finally decided to work?"
"I was training," Arin lied.
"You were napping beside a waterfall while arguing with yourself."
"That was spiritual introspection."
The elder snorted. "Here. One mission. Go fetch a spiritual herb from the Whispering Cliffs. Shouldn't be too hard unless you're exceptionally incompetent."
"Oh," Arin said. "So I'm doomed."
He wasn't the only one in the mission hall. Nearby, Jun Bai leaned against a pillar, arms folded, eavesdropping without even trying to hide it.
"You're taking a real mission now?" Jun asked, half amused, half surprised.
"I was peer pressured by my system."
Jun smirked. "Don't die. It'd be embarrassing if I had to explain that the idiot on our team got eaten by a flower."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
Serenya walked in behind them, her eyes scanning the mission board with icy focus. When she saw Arin holding his mission slip upside down, she sighed.
"Do you even read?"
"I skim with emotion."
"You'll need a guide."
Yura entered next, twirling a stick of candied fruit. "I'll join," she said cheerfully. "Sounds fun. Whispering Cliffs has cute wildlife."
Jun Bai looked at her sideways. "You mean the giant venomous rabbits?"
"They're misunderstood."
Arin blinked. "Wait. Why is everyone suddenly interested?"
Yue Lan arrived last, arms crossed. "Because the elders said this is a team-building opportunity."
Arin stared. "No. Don't say it. Not that word—"
"Group mission."
He sighed.
"I swear the universe hates me."
[System Remark: Correction — the universe is amused.]
By noon, the five stood at the base of the mountain path that led to the Whispering Cliffs. Mist coiled around sharp stones. Strange sounds echoed from the forest above.
"I thought this was a solo mission," Arin mumbled.
Yura threw an arm around his shoulder. "Now it's a party."
Jun Bai stretched, lightning qi crackling around his knuckles. "Let's hope something does attack. I'm itching for a fight."
Serenya unsheathed her blade silently.
Yue Lan simply started walking without a word.
Arin looked at the sky.
"Why does it always feel like I'm the protagonist in someone else's disaster?"