I stumbled away from the hills on my tiny stick-legs towards the town that was nearby. When I entered the marketplace, everyone started giving me weird looks — probably because I was dirty AF, wearing rags, and looking like a totally starved lost child. I stuck out my chin and stuck my nose in the air to tell them to mind their own business.

Then I wandered around the market, seeing if there was anywhere I could snag some food.

Unfortunately, because of my ragged AF appearance, all the merchants watched me really closely and started yelling at me whenever I got close.

"Hey! Beggar girl! Get away from my fruit cart! I see you!"

"You! Little slave kid! Don't touch my candy sticks, or I'll beat your sorry ass!"

"I'm watching you, little dirty weirdo!"

I grumbled and walked away as my stomach grumbled hungrily along. My vision was starting to get black at the edges from exhaustion. If I didn't eat something soon, I was definitely gonna end up dead.

A second time.

How could this get any worse?!

What else could I do? I sat down on the side of the street to beg while internally cursing this stupid xianxia system.

When no one paid me any attention, I got up and walked around to beg, tugging on the sleeves of random people—cultivators in flowing robes, regular people in peasants' clothes—but no one paid me any attention. There was this one cultivator dude in black and red robes, whose sleeve I grabbed.

He looked down at me over his very pointy nose and sneered.

"Hmph! Weak mortal beggar! Are you begging ME for food? Know your place!" Then he ripped his sleeve away and strode off, muttering.

What a jerk!

No, everyone in this stupid xianxia world was a jerk! No one gave me, a starving little kid, any respect!

I walked for hours down streets, begging. But still, no one stopped, no one respected me, and no one cared.

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In this world, I was a beggar with no money and no power.

This...fucking sucked.

How much worse could this get?

At least, that was what I was thinking when I sat down in a dark alleyway when suddenly, out of nowhere, two big men grabbed me by the arms and hoisted me up like a sack of rice.

One of them had a short black beard and looked like a total greasey criminal.

"How about we sell you as a slave?" he laughed darkly.

The other one had a big, bulbous nose and looked like a total idiot.

"Yeah! Let's do that!" he agreed.

Shit. Apparently, things could get worse. I needed to get the heck out of here before I got sold as a slave on top of everything else!

"Let go of me, you stupid assholes!" I barked, baring my little eight-year-old teeth.

They totally ignored me and kept dragging me through dark alleyways. I bit and struggled and kicked, but this starving tiny body of mine was just too fucking weak! Not that I'd been all that strong in my previous life, but this was a thousand times worse!

I even begged them to let me go, but they just laughed and kept dragging me along! Jerks!

After a time, they pulled me straight into a secret slave market, where people were actually being sold for coins. My eyes widened at the scene: there was a line of enslaved people being herded onto a wooden platform, while buyers stood beneath it and participated in the slave auction as each slave was displayed. Men, women, teenagers, and even children were being lined up to be sold! Even some kids that looked younger than me!

I got a really bad feeling in my stomach. I needed to get out of here, pronto.

Like a tiny wild beast, I turned around and sank my teeth into the hand of that big idiot that was holding onto me.

"AH!" he yelped.

I wrenched free.

Yes! Freedom! Except that before I could get anywhere, a big foot planted itself on my back and kicked, hard.

"Oof!" The breath got knocked out of my lungs, and my body rolled down the steps we'd been standing on. There was a crack as I tried to stop my fall with my wrist, and pain shot up my hand.

Fuck! I'd broken my wrist!

Add that to the list of "How Can This Get Any Worse?"

The slavers quickly caught up with my rolling body, and they kicked me some more.

"You think you can get away like that?!"

"Yeah! You can't get away so easily, kid!"

I groaned, lying on the ground and covered in even more bruises, cuts, and dirt than before. My heart sank.

I'd used the last bit of my strength to bite that idiot. I couldn't do that again. Which meant...

Was this going to be my new life? Was I really reincarnated into this sucky, tiny body just to become a slave right away?

Shit. Fuck you, system!!!

I heard a voice in my head suddenly — that same Siri voice from before. The xianxia system was speaking.

Hello. We are sorry to hear that you are experiencing issues. Would you like to file a complaint?

Fuck you! I thought. Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you! 1000x over! Got it?

Your complaint will be added to the queue. We will take your feedback into account.

I lay on the ground, exhausted and giving up. This stupid system wasn't going to be any help.