【The cub’s name is confirmed as Qin Xiaobao. Congratulations, host, on completing the beginner task. 1 point awarded.】
“What are points for?”
Wei Jing was squatting on the grass with a small twig, digging a hole to bury the flowers he had casually picked earlier.
Was he channeling Lin Daiyu burying blossoms? No, he wasn’t that idle.
Five minutes ago, the Chinese peony that the little dragon had scorched black with its fire had come back to life!
A dark, charred lump floated in midair, writhing and scattering black ash as it let out a high-pitched, pitiful wail.
The other five flowers, which had yet to suffer the little dragon’s fiery wrath, joined in with their own whimpering. It was quite a terrifying scene!
After a brief mental blank, he quickly remembered what was going on. Another illogical, bizarre detail from his own writing: every blade of grass, tree, flower, and plant in the Great Master Qin’s garden came with its own horror movie sound effects. Once a flower was plucked, it triggered a “mechanism” that caused a chain reaction against the intruder.
“……”
“…………”
“………………”
What chain reaction? This had to be the product of a brain full of water!
After mentally cursing himself, Wei Jing could only try to fix his mistake by laying the flowers to rest.
He tossed the “weeping” flowers into the hole he had just dug, carefully covered them with soil, and stomped the ground twice. Looking at the patch of bare earth amidst the lush green grass, it felt as jarring as a bald spot on an otherwise handsome man’s head, conspicuously out of place and hard to ignore.
【Points can be used to exchange for any item in the system mall, fulfilling all the host’s needs.】 Aside from its gentle voice, the system had no redeeming qualities, it was always half a beat too slow, taking ages to respond.
Wei Jing silently grumbled before asking, “Where’s this system mall? Let me take a look.”
The next second, a translucent screen appeared before him, framed in bright red with four gleaming golden characters at the top: System Mall.
This interface looked as flashy and over-the-top as a cheap online game.
Whatever. Packaging was secondary, the content was what mattered.
He immediately shifted his gaze. At the top of the list was a 【Wish Fulfillment Card】, with the description: Can fulfill any wish. Price: 999,999,999 points.
Wei Jing scoffed. “…So expensive. Only an idiot would buy that!”
He quickly looked further down. There was a dazzling array of pills: Whitening Pills, Height Increase Pills, Weight Loss Pills, Intelligence Pills, Stamina Pills, Indestructible Pills… all uniformly priced at 999,999 points.
Wei Jing’s eyes glazed over. “…These all look pretty good, but why are they so expensive!”
Continuing down, he found various daily consumables: diapers, formula, nutritional supplements, wet wipes, bath and skincare products, laundry care products, bottles and nipples, maternity items, infant toys, and so on. Strangely enough, these were incredibly affordable, each costing only 10 points!
But—
What use was any of that to him?
“There’s nothing I need here. This system is useless!” Wei Jing snorted in dissatisfaction. He struggled to pick up the little dragon, which had been squatting beside him in a daze. “Qin Xiaobao, you’ve had enough sun, right? Let’s go back.”
The little dragon was about to let out an “Ahh” when Wei Jing mercilessly covered its mouth and threatened, “No spitting fire!”
It tilted its head in confusion, clearly not understanding what he was saying, but obediently nodded.
Wei Jing’s mood lifted slightly. “Good.”
He was about to head back the way he came when the gentle female voice rang out again.
【System Reminder: Beginner Task 2 has been activated. Host is required to determine the cub’s gender. Completing this task will earn 1 point.】
“Male!”
Such an idiotic task—Wei Jing answered without a second thought. The Great Master Qin had called this his “son,” so Qin Xiaobao was obviously male.
【Incorrect.】
Wei Jing: “…”
Was this even a thing?
【Please take every task seriously. Slacking off will activate the self-destruct mechanism.】
Damn it!
Another threat!
He protested indignantly, “Do you really think I’m the kind of person who would easily bow down to evil forces?”
【Please take every task seriously. Slacking off will activate the self-destruct mechanism.】
“…Fine. Female.”
【Incorrect. You have one last chance.】
Wei Jing’s eyes widened in shock. “!”
Neither male nor female? What kind of gender was that?
He looked down in surprise at the little dragon in his arms and swallowed nervously. “Qin Xiaobao, are you a [1]GG stands for “哥哥” (gēge), meaning “older brother” or “boy.” GG stands for “哥哥” (gēge), meaning “older brother” or … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2112944_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2112944_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });GG or an MM?”
“Ahh.” The little dragon spat a small fireball at him.
This time, Wei Jing reacted quickly. The moment it opened its mouth, he raised his hand to shield his hair!
Perfect, no smell of burnt hair. Defense successful.
A thumbs-up was in order.
【Please determine the cub’s gender. Time limit: five minutes. Countdown begins—】
Damn it!
Wei Jing’s expression darkened. He wished he could uninstall this useless system immediately. Since when did anyone force others to complete tasks?
But he really didn’t want to have to strut around and shake his hips in embarrassment again.
He acted decisively, placing the little dragon on the grass. As he coaxed it, he said, “Be good now, Xiaobao. Don’t move around. Let me see where your little pee-pee is…”
No little pee-pee.
No little sister, either.
Refusing to accept this, he turned the little dragon over from head to tail, even scanning its tail inch by inch. He discovered that aside from the anus under its tail for excretion, there were absolutely no physical features to determine its gender!
This was bizarre.
The Great Master Qin, your son doesn’t even have a little pee-pee!
Wei Jing sat sprawled on the grass, utterly dumbfounded. The little dragon mimicked him, plopping down beside him. Sitting side by side, from a distance, the two of them actually looked like father and son.
【5, 4, 3, 2, 1…】
Just as the system’s merciless countdown was about to hit zero, Wei Jing’s overwhelming survival instinct erupted in a dramatic, earth-shattering shout: “Gender unknown! Gender unclear! Gender confusion! Gender unidentifiable! Gender neither male nor female!”
【Cub’s gender confirmed as unknown. Congratulations, host, on completing Beginner Task 2. 1 point awarded.】
Wei Jing let out a long sigh. “That scared the hell out of me.”
But what did “gender unknown” even mean? He could accept hermaphroditism, but neither male nor female? What if his “son” turned into a “daughter” someday… The thought was too much to handle.
【System Reminder: Beginner Task 3 has been activated. Host is required to determine the cub’s date of birth. Completing this task will earn 1 point.】
Wei Jing’s face twisted in dissatisfaction. “How should I know? It’s not like I gave birth to it! Why are there always such stupid questions?”
【Is the host planning to slack off?】
The moment the so-called self-destruct mechanism came to mind, he immediately deflated. “No, not at all. Is there a time limit for this task? I’ll need outside help to complete it. I can’t just guess this time. It’s useless to pressure me.”
【Time limit: 24 hours. Host, please do your best.】
“Huh?” Wei Jing noticed that this useless system seemed to have become slightly more humane, it even said “do your best.” Unbelievable!
So, he decided to try again.
“Hey, I want to go home. Do you have any way to send me back?”
【Please check the second page of the System Mall. First row, third item.】
At the same time, the garish, page-game-style mall interface appeared again. Wei Jing quickly located the item and, after a moment of stunned silence, smiled in delight: 【Return Ticket】—which could send the host back to their original world. Price: 888 points.
Compared to the Wish Fulfillment Card priced at 999,999,999 points and the various pills costing 999,999 points, this was practically a steal!
No need to wait twenty-four hours, he was going to call The Great Master Qin right now, this very instant, and ask for the little dragon’s date of birth!
References[+]