"Finally, this book ends," said an unassuming man as he finished the 10,000th chapter of a xianxia novel.
It took him years of patience for the completion of the book yet his expression was serene.
It was as if the ending of the long serialized novel wasn't satisfactory yet neither unsatisfactory.
"Sigh, the author really made too many realistic characters... as if they all existed..."
"Hah," suddenly the man smirked, finding his own words amusing before shaking his head and finally taking a long required rest.
After all, he had binge-read the last 100 or so chapters forgoing sleep, with each chapter averaging between 2000-3000 words.
Though little did he know, that his casual remark would bite him so soon in his usual rests.
However, he woke up as one of the many "realistic characters" from that same novel.
***
"Dada~"
A baby cooed, the voice startling the man wide awake.
"What?" He instantly questioned the unfamiliarity of his surroundings and the wetness on his hand...
But the baby just cooed mischievously in his arms...
How could such a cute baby have sullied his hands?
Surely, it wasn't himself!?
Wait, what baby?
Since when did he have a baby?!
He was fully single in his life, devoted to earning money and supporting various authors for their works.
That was all his life was full of.
Where would a baby come out of nowhere?
Although he wasn't a virgin, there was no way a baby would appear after so many years.
At most, it could already be a 10-or-so year old kid and the youngest could be a 4 or 5 year old.
"This is impossible," he shrieked in horror, almost dropping the baby.
Yet his grip on the baby steadied before he could even think of anything, as if protecting the baby for dear life.
"Don't you dare make an excuse!"
A shrill voice hollered out of nowhere, making his ears buzz.
"A woman's voice? An old one at tha–"
His words were abruptly cut off as a sharp pain made him yelp subconsciously.
"I dare you to say that again!"
The voice came with a higher pitch this time, and with it came a pain—familiar yet unfamiliar to him.
It was the pain of being thrown utensils or anything by one's parents for being naughty as kids.
But how?
'Didn't my parents die a decade ago?' he wondered in disbelief, still not clear about his current situation.
"Xiaolu worked so hard to give birth to such a cute little daughter for you! And you!
You can't even clean and bathe the baby!
How much must Xiaolu suffer before you learn to be thankful and responsible?!"
The old woman started nagging at her own son without any sense of remorse.
Unlike typical mother-in-laws who would be unhappy about a granddaughter, she was clearly thrilled at the thought of coddling her cute granddaughter.
Yet her useless son could only make trouble and even let her wife return to her natal family after giving birth!
How unreasonable!
"You brat! You've been like this ever since..."
His mother started once more at the thought of her daughter-in-law suffering and her eyes reddened as she continued scolding her son.
Meanwhile, her son was still trying to grasp reality and understand his situation.
And he only knew one thing.
'First things first, I need to clean the baby and replace the diaper.'
Solving how he became a father and where'd this mother come from could be done later.
Then... there was no then.
He froze in his position, unaware of how to clean a baby.
He really didn't know how to do it.
'Wasn't it supposed to be as simply as cleaning her with a warm towel after taking off her diaper and putting a new one?'
That was all he had ever seen in movies.
But how come when it was his turn, there was no soft cloth and no diapers?
How was he supposed to do it?
As if suddenly enlightened, his hands moved before his mind could process his thoughts.
In the blink of an eye, the baby sprawled naked and spread its limbs.
No one understood why babies were so mischievous, but the man didn't find it troublesome.
Rather, a helpless smile laced his face as he carefully cleaned his child before draping a new piece of cloth.
It was really just a long clean peice of cloth as there weren't any fancy baby clothing in this era.
And just as the man finished cleaning the baby, she cooed sweetly in her sleep.
Unknowingly, she had fallen asleep during the whole process.
"Sigh, so cute," the man couldn't resist rubbing her soft, small nose.
Daughters were just that cute.
As if awaiting his love to blossom, a sudden bolt of the blue landed across from him.
In that instant, the man reflexively brought his daughter in his embrace, shielding her from any harm.
Just then, confetti flared around in his vision with a smooth mechanical voice.
[Ding!]
[Suitable host found...]
[Binding begins...]
[Checking injuries and aptitude...]
[No injuries... aptitude – above average]
[...]
Many such screens filled with words passed by in his vision before one stood out.
[Binding Successful]
[Congratulations to the host of the Doting Dad System~]
The system's announcement left the man bewildered as he realised all this noise hadn't awakened the baby.
Yet before be could think anymore, one thought abruptly struck him.
'Doting Dad System? A damned system!?'
'Did I transmigrate or some shit?'
After all, only transmigrators, or otherwise, sometimes, referred to as timetravelers, were known to get golden fingers known as system.
So how come he got one?
And if he had transmigrated, where was his newbie package?
Where was the wealth and prosperity his good karma to have brought over?
In a mood of heavy doubt and confusion, he could only whisper so loud that his daughter doesn't wake up.
"System?"
[Yes, Host!] It responded cheerfully.
"Shhh! What if she wakes up?!" The man reminded the loud system while peeking at his still asleep daughter cradled in his arms.
[Host may not worry. No one other than the host may hear or see my existence.]
The system declared firmly, and as if on time, another notification rang.
[Ding!]
[For the host's enthusiastic worry about his newborn, the Doting Dad System grants you a Golden-level Newbie Package.]
[Ding!]
[Newbie Package upgraded from Bronze-level to Gold-level!]
[Gold-level Newbie Package has arrived and can be accessed anytime.]
[Ding!]
[Inventory access has been temporarily given until Newbie Package is withdrawn!]
Mindblown, the man couldn't accept his reality that easily, but this so-called newbie package ought to be tangible and could directly confirm the reality of the situation.
So he didn't spend a single moment wasting time and directly said, "Alright system. Withdraw the Newbie Package."