I'm quitting!

Chapter 1: I lost yet another Qingyun Sect annual competition.

Qingyun Sect, Martial Arts Arena.

The sun was scorching, as if God had turned the oven up to its highest setting. Standing on the arena, Lin Xiaofan felt like a piece of pork belly about to be roasted.

The audience was a sea of ​​heads, each person wearing the standard "spectator expression"—three parts pity, seven parts schadenfreude, and a precise 15-degree upturn at the corners of their mouths.

Standing opposite was Wang Ergou, an outer disciple, 1.75 meters tall and weighing 130 kilograms. Above his head floated a line of semi-transparent fluorescent words: "Tool A; Mission: Defeat the useless disciple Lin Xiaofan; Line: Nothing special."

Lin Xiaofan squinted, not because the sunlight was glaring, but because the words on the screen were too dazzling.

Ever since he accidentally bumped into someone's "great luck" three days ago and was sent flying into the world of cultivation, this thing has been popping up in front of him from time to time, just like a broken phone without a red cross.

"Notification." A mechanical voice sounded in his mind, "Standard loser script detected, energy +1; please cooperate with the performance: defeated → coughing up blood → exiting the stage in disgrace; the quality of the performance will affect the energy gained."

Lin Xiaofan rolled her eyes inwardly: Here we go again?! Who even wrote this lousy script?! Getting beaten up every day and still having KPIs?! Are they treating me like a masochist...?

"Senior Brother Lin, please enlighten me!" Wang Ergou clasped his hands in a fist salute, his movements as precise as a military training model soldier, even the height of his fists and palms was accurate to 10 centimeters from his chest.

Lin Xiaofan was about to say, "No need to be so polite," when his body involuntarily assumed a defensive stance. He cursed inwardly: That damned script-driven force is at it again!

"Begin!" the elder referee commanded.

Wang Ergou's fist came crashing down with a whooshing sound. Lin Xiaofan instinctively tried to dodge, but his legs seemed glued to the spot. The fist struck him squarely on the left cheek, with just the right amount of force—stunning but not damaging.

"Pfft—" Lin Xiaofan flew 5.21 meters. He remembered this number very clearly because it was the same distance when Li Tiezhu knocked him away yesterday.

He crashed into the protective array at the edge of the ring, bounced back, and knelt on one knee. 2.33 milliliters of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, not a drop more, not a drop less. Applause erupted precisely on time, lasting 6.6 seconds.

"Beautiful!" someone in the audience shouted. "Senior Brother Wang's punch truly captures the essence of the 'Qingyun Body Technique'!"

Lin Xiaofan looked up and saw the message floating above the person who had spoken: "Atmosphere Team Member; Mission: Applaud and cheer at appropriate times ×5 times/day".

The competition was in full swing, but the outcome was already predetermined, in the final few encounters—

"That's all there is to it." Wang Ergou retracted his fist, his lips curving upwards at a 15-degree angle, echoing the expressions of the audience below.

Lin Xiaofan wiped the blood from the corner of his lips, mentally assessing the completion rate of today's "business." A semi-transparent panel automatically popped up in front of him:

Energy Existence: 5/100

[Today's task: Be humiliated 3 times, completion rate 1/3]

[Special Status: Script is being performed under mandatory conditions (Remaining time: 11 hours and 58 minutes)]

A line of small text appeared in the corner of the panel: "Insufficient energy points (less than 100) will result in being formatted in 24 hours. Friendly reminder: Act seriously, live happily."

"Format it?" Lin Xiaofan sneered. "Do you think I'm a USB drive?"

He staggered off the stage, stopping deliberately as he passed the water vat.

His reflection shone in the water—bruised and swollen, blood trickling from his mouth, a classic image of a good-for-nothing. But what bothered him even more was the large text floating above his head: "Lin Xiaofan, the good-for-nothing disciple, was publicly stomped on in the face by the true disciple Shi Tiandi three years later, and left the sect in despair."

"So... I'm not a loser, I'm just the 'loser' character?" Lin Xiaofan muttered to himself, staring at the water tank.

"Senior Brother Lin!" A clear female voice called out.

Lin Xiaofan turned his head, and his junior sister, Shan Ling'er, came running over with a bowl of medicine in her hands. Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with tears, and she looked pitiful. Above her head floated the message: "Kind junior sister; Mission: Comfort your useless senior brother, gain kindness points +5."

"Don't be discouraged." Shan Ling'er handed over the bowl of medicine, her standard line flowing effortlessly. "Diligence can make up for lack of talent. As long as you work hard, one day..."

Lin Xiaofan didn't take the medicine bowl, but stared into her eyes: "Junior sister, what will happen if I don't take your medicine?"

Dan Ling'er's expression went blank for a moment, the medicine bowl trembled slightly in her hand, and her lines got stuck in her throat, creating an indescribable eeriness.

"Warning!" A mechanical voice boomed in Lin Xiaofan's mind, "Non-standard interaction detected! Energy -2 present! Please return to the script immediately!"

A sharp pain shot through Lin Xiaofan's temples; he felt as if countless needles were piercing his skin. He gritted his teeth and took the bowl of medicine, saying, "Thank...thank you, Junior Sister."

Dan Ling'er's expression immediately returned to normal, and her pitying gaze returned: "Senior Brother Lin, please drink up, you still have a competition tomorrow."

The notification above her head turned green: "Mission complete, kindness value +5".

Lin Xiaofan felt a chill run down his spine as he watched her skip away.

This isn't comforting; it's clearly assembly line work! Even goodwill can be quantified into "kindness value." What in this world is real anymore?

He returned to his small, dilapidated hut… well, it was really just a converted woodshed. The cracks in the walls were so big you could fit half a fist in them, and the roof leaked, barely covered with tiles that rattled loudly in the wind.

Hanging in the corner was an electronic salted fish-shaped pendant, his only accessory, which the mechanical voice said was a gift from the "King of the Grand Tour".

At that moment, the salted fish's eyes seemed to blink.

Lin Xiaofan didn't pay attention. He took out a worn notebook filled with "abnormal records":

The "Basic Mind Method" in the library is always opened to the first page; the old servant on the back mountain always looks up at the sky when he sweeps it for the thirty-seventh time...

Everyone has a notification above their head, including the animals—today I saw a sparrow with "Background sound effects (chirping x 10 times/minute)" written above its head.

After reviewing the events, Lin Xiaofan began to stare blankly.

"There's only one truth..."

"Everyone is a character in a grand script."

"Ding!" A notification sound suddenly rang in my mind.

[Dangering thoughts detected in the "character"!]

Initiating standard reassurance procedures:

Tomorrow's opponent: Shi Tiandi, a true disciple.

Preset ending: Defeated in one move, publicly humiliated, and vomiting three liters of blood.

Script Benefits: Energy Existence +20 (Additional Bonus +30)

Important Note: Please do not question the plausibility of the script! Taking acting seriously is the only way to survive!

Lin Xiaofan slammed his notebook shut: "The only way to survive? What if I said—I'm not acting anymore?"

The moment he finished speaking, another wave of excruciating pain struck, ten times stronger than before. He collapsed to his knees, his vision blurred, and his ears rang.

The electronic salted fish pendant suddenly emitted a blinding blue light, and a voice he had never heard before rang in his mind:

"Warning! High-purity rebellious gene detected! Script compatibility less than 1%! Initiating import...starting...starting..."

The sound abruptly stopped, and Lin Xiaofan collapsed to the ground, his clothes soaked with cold sweat. The electronic saltfish returned to calm, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a knock on the door.

"Senior Brother Lin, have you taken your medicine?" It was Shan Ling'er.

Lin Xiaofan's fingertips trembled, and he suddenly woke up. He stumbled to his feet, wiped his sweat, and poured the medicine into the flowerpot on the windowsill—the flower had already withered and died, probably just like him, a tool in the script.

He opened the door, forcing a smile: "I've had it, thank you, junior sister."

"That's good." Shan Ling'er turned to leave, but then turned back. "By the way, Senior Brother Shi asked me to tell you that he will finish the fight in the first move tomorrow, so you'll suffer less."

Lin Xiaofan nodded stiffly, his lips twitching: "Heh...heh...I really thank his ancestors for eight generations..."

In the stillness of the night, Lin Xiaofan lay in bed, staring at the electronic saltwater fish, which gleamed with an eerie blue light under the moonlight.

"What exactly are you?" Lin Xiaofan asked softly.

The salted fish didn't respond, but Lin Xiaofan seemed to see its eyes blink again.

"Stop blinking! I'm not interested in you! Say something!"

Just then, he heard the sound of a broom sweeping across the ground outside the window. It was the old servant, who passed by the window at the same time every night.

Lin Xiaofan quietly lifted a corner of the curtain.

In the darkness, the old servant slowly swept the floor, his movements mechanical and rhythmic.

"Oh...it's coming..." Lin Xiaofan muttered softly.

The old servant stopped sweeping on the thirty-seventh stroke and looked up at the sky. Moonlight shone on his face, and Lin Xiaofan saw his expression clearly for the first time—it wasn't numbness, but a deep weariness and…sadness?

What shocked Lin Xiaofan even more was that the notification text above the old servant's head disappeared, replaced by a line of flickering small text: "???; Former S-level editor-in-chief of the Script Management Bureau, active fugitive."

The old servant seemed to sense something and suddenly turned to look at Lin Xiaofan's window.

Their eyes met in mid-air. The old servant's gaze was sharp as a knife, without a trace of turbidity. He slowly raised his index finger, made a "shh" gesture, and then continued sweeping. The text above his head changed back to "Mysterious Sweeping Servant (To be activated)".

Lin Xiaofan's heart pounded like a drum, and she shrank back onto the bed. Everything that had happened tonight was like lightning cleaving through the fog—there really was something fishy going on in this world! That old servant, he knew the truth!

"But...why did I suddenly become able to see his other identity?"

[Script breakdown rate: 0.01%]

[Officially launched the "Rebellious System"]

"Holy crap, what a cool, mature female voice! Why did you turn into a girl?"

[No, I am the Script Management Bureau's test version AI, "Salt of Creation," codename: Old Salt.]

Please don't compare me... cough, please don't compare me to that tasteless... garbage... auxiliary system.