I Just Won't Play By The Book
chapter-3

Once they ascended the mountain, Jiang Beiran quickly learned the content of his trial from the Taoist.

"Beiran, cultivation is something that requires the endurance of hardship and perseverance, and mining is the best way to hone these two traits. As long as you press on and pass the test of the Guards of the Mountain, I will come to fetch you and welcome you into the sect."

Leaving these words and the motivated Jiang Beiran behind, the black-robed Taoist turned and descended the mountain.

‘Sir, I will definitely go all out and work hard to repay you for your kindness!' Jiang Beiran thought to himself.

After secretly making an oath in his heart, Jiang Beiran followed one of the Guards of the Mountain into the mine.

However, such ambition was completely extinguished on the second day, for the simple reason that mining was really too tiring!

Before crossing over, Jiang Beiran was just an ordinary second-year student in junior high, who hadn't even attended many physical education classes. His physical fitness could be considered very poor.

After crossing over, his body was not really any stronger. Moreover, the food he ate had little nutrition, and his body could be described as scrawny and bony.

Without receiving any training, Jiang Beiran was taken to a mine by two Guards of the Mountain early the next morning. After getting to know several quiet workers, the Guards of the Mountain gave him a basket and a mining pick and told him to work hard.

In Jiang Beiran's imagination, mining would probably be similar to the simulation in computer games where one simply had to smash a piece of ore a few times, making it clang.

However, in reality, the foul-smelling, stifling, dark, and cramped environment in the mine shaft shocked him immediately. Not long ago, he was still in junior high school. How could he possibly have experienced such a situation?

But the two Guards of the Mountain obviously did not intend to give him time to prepare mentally, and they pushed him towards the trail propped up with wooden planks.

Because of the uneven surface of the trail, Jiang Beiran sometimes walked upright and sometimes walked with his back bent. Occasionally, he even had to roll on his back like a golden beetle, so by the time he reached the mining site, his physical strength had almost been exhausted.

Without any time to rest, he was urged by the two Guards of the Mountain to start mining as soon as he reached the place. As a Chinese saying goes, tasks look easy when someone else is doing them. Back when Jiang Beiran used to watch workers wielding hoes on television, he always thought that surely it wouldn't take that much effort.

However, in reality, he was so tired that it felt like his throat was on fire after just a dozen smashes. His hands were like lead, and they felt so heavy that he couldn't lift them up.

"Ha… ha…"

With both hands sore, Jiang Beiran used the mining pick as support, desperately trying to inhale a bit of fresh air. However, the mine shaft smelled like gas, so the more he sniffed, the dizzier he felt.

"Has anyone allowed you to rest? Do you still want to pass the trial?"

Just when Jiang Beiran was about to faint, one of the Guards of the Mountain came up to him and gave him a push.

Hearing the word trial, Jiang Beiran once again took a deep breath and wanted to continue the fight. However, he couldn't lift his hands no matter how hard he tried.

‘Ugh! I'm so useless. I'm sorry, sir. I've let you down as a disciple,' he thought.

Cursing himself in his heart, Jiang Beiran shook his head and said, "I… I really can't dig any further."

"How little have you dug, huh? And you're already telling me that you can't dig anymore? Yet you still think someone like you could enter the sect?" the Guard of the Mountain asked.

"Yes… I'm useless. I will apologize to the Taoist. I've let him down. I'm sorry," Jiang Beiran replied.

Jiang Beiran sighed deeply after finishing his sentence. He lamented in his heart over how he could be so weak when the protagonists in the novels he had read could clearly demonstrate an incredibly tough will for the sake of cultivation. That crappy system wasn't exactly helping him.

Jiang Beiran, who had admitted in his heart that he was weak, was about to accept his failure when he felt a sudden sharp pain in his abdomen.

"D*mn it! What a useless idiot. The first few who came in had been working hard for months to get into that stupid sect, yet you dumb piece of sh*t couldn't make it past the first day," the Guard of the Mountain said while giving Jiang Beiran another kick.

Jiang Beiran was dumbfounded by the two kicks. He felt a spinning sensation, his head buzzing, and a sense of foreboding hit his heart.

However, before he could figure it out, the Guard of the Mountain squatted down, grabbed his hair, and roared, "Useless idiot! Listen to me properly. Do you really think you are some sort of talented genius who can enter a sect and become an elite? I'll tell you; you are just a piece of sh*t. Now, mine properly. If you can't, I will have your life. Do you understand!?"

Jiang Beiran shook his head vigorously after hearing this and shouted, "I want to see my mentor, I want to see my mentor!"

"Your mentor? Hahahahaha." The Guard of the Mountain laughed wildly for a while and asked, "What's your mentor's name?"

"My mentor's name is… my mentor's name is…"

Jiang Beiran was once again flummoxed. After two days together, that Taoist had never told him his name, and he had never asked.

"My… my mentor is a Taoist of the Sect of Shying Fire! He was the one who brought me here yesterday. I want to see him, I want to see him!" Jiang Beiran replied.

"Hahahaha." The Guard of the Mountain's laughter became even wilder. Then, he kicked Jiang Beiran in the stomach again. "Still rambling about the Sect of Shying Fire, huh? Dream all you want. I'm giving you two choices now. You can either continue to stand up and mine, or lie on your belly and be kicked to death by me. You only have three seconds to decide."

As soon as the Guard of the Mountain stopped speaking, three options appeared in front of Jiang Beiran.

[Option One: Continue to lie on your belly. Reward for completion: Secret Records of the Green Lotus (Earth Grade Low Tier)]

[Option Two: Beg the other party to let you descend the mountain. Reward for completion: Technique of the Earth Fire (Black Grade High Tier)]

[Option Three: Pick yourself up and continue mining. Reward for completion: Random basic attribute point +1]

"Two!"

While Jiang Beiran was looking at the contents of the options, the Guard of the Mountain had already counted to two and kicked him in the stomach again.

At this moment, Jiang Beiran was enlightened! He realized that the content of these options was not important at all; he just needed to look at the reward. The better the reward, the more dangerous the option!

Judging from the strength of the kick just now, Jiang Beiran fully believed that the other party dared to kick him to death. If he continued to lie on his stomach, he would definitely die.

So, before the Guard of the Mountain could get to three, Jiang Beiran immediately chose Option Three, and with a strong will to live he managed to stand up.

"Very good. See? You still have some strength after all. If you do not want to die, then hurry up and mine! Do you hear me!?"

Although Jiang Beiran's whole body was trembling at this moment, he still raised his mine pick and smashed it down with all his strength in order to live.

[Chosen Quest completed. Reward: Physique +1]

Looking at the system prompt floating before him, as well as the slight traces of strength surging in his body, Jiang Beiran froze for a moment.

‘It's completed directly just like that?' he thought to himself.

Previously, when he chose [Please take me as your apprentice, Father], the system didn't give him a reward immediately at all. Instead, it turned into a quest. But now, he just received the reward directly after doing what was in the option.

The difference in difficulty simply left him dumbfounded.

"Why are you zoning out again!?"

Hearing an angry shout from the Guard of the Mountain…. no, the supervisor, Jiang Beiran hurriedly raised his pick and continued to chip at the ore.