"Daddy, daddy, are you having breakfast? Did you stay up late again? Or are you still out of inspiration?"
A little girl's voice reached Duke's ears.
"Who's calling me? Daddy? Since when do I have a daughter?"
Dizzy, Duke groggily climbed up from a desk and opened his eyes. "Where am I?"
He found himself in a strange study, sitting at a desk facing the door. A laptop was on the desk, its screen still on, with a cursor blinking on a document titled "Derek Storm". Looking around, he murmured, "Isn't this the study of Richard Castle from that show 'Mystery Writer' I was watching last night?"
Just then, a little girl with bright red hair and dazzlingly pale skin came in with a cup of coffee, "Daddy, did you pull an all-nighter again? It's okay to be out of inspiration, but you shouldn't sleep at the desk!" She handed over the coffee with a beaming smile.
"Alexis?"
Duke was utterly confused, his head buzzing.
"Daddy, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale?"
"Oh, nothing, probably just uncomfortable from sleeping in the chair after staying up late writing. I'm fine, you go ahead and have breakfast."
It took all of Duke's willpower to keep from jumping out of his chair as he spoke in a flawless New York accent to his 'daughter'.
The immediate priority was to get 'his daughter' out of the room so he could confirm a suspicion that was already forming in his mind.
"Alright then, I have a chemistry class at 9 AM and it's almost 8 now, so I'd better go. Make sure you rest up. Gina didn't push you for the manuscript, did she? Don't wear yourself out!" Alexis set down the coffee, closed the laptop, came over, hugged Duke around the neck, and said affectionately.
"OK, OK, go on, do you have enough pocket money?"
"Hehe, your wallet's in the jacket in the living room, I can get it myself."
With a smile, Alexis kissed her dad goodbye, "I'll be going then, you get some rest!"
Watching the little girl hop out the door, Duke finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Calm down, I need to think this through…"
With the house quiet again, Duke's thoughts drifted back to before his consciousness faded…
Duke, born under the red flag and raised in new China, was a child of the 80s who had served in the military and joined the Party. After retiring from the army, he went back to university, perhaps enlightened by his military service, completing his bachelor's and master's degrees in one go. His career post-graduation was smooth sailing. The only regret was that at nearly 40, he was still single.
Aside from work, his biggest hobbies were reading novels and binge-watching TV shows—not because Duke was a homebody, but because he was content with his simple life. Though he often fantasized about what a different life might be like.
Since the next day was a weekend, Duke planned to spend the evening indulging in his favorite books and TV shows. While he found plenty of good books, the shows were lacking, and he ended up watching "Mystery Writer," an old favorite.
The reason he loved this show was that he envied the goofy protagonist, Richard Castle, who was successful, had a smart and adorable daughter, and could flirt and solve crimes with the stunningly leggy detective, Kate Beckett. Every time he watched the show, Duke was green with envy.
Last night, as he binge-watched the show and his consciousness began to blur, his last thought was, "How great would it be to be Richard Castle..."
"Let's check again, this isn't a hallucination or a dream! Ow..." Duke, who had unintentionally sipped the coffee and burned his tongue, confirmed he had hit the jackpot. He had indeed become Richard Castle, and the girl who had just left was indeed his daughter, Alexis.
"Hahahaha, thank you, Qidian, thanks to your transmigration gods... wait, am I forgetting something? Right, where's the essential system for transmigrants? System, system!!"
As Duke celebrated in 'his' study, he became greedy for more!
He closed his eyes, there was no virtual screen in front of him, he muttered silently, and shouted out loud, nothing happened...
"Where's my system? A transmigrant's necessity? Never mind, never mind, a snake swallows an elephant from never being satisfied, the transmigration gods have already fulfilled my wishes, what more do I need?!"
Duke wasn't a naive youngster who hadn't been toughened up by society. He was already very content.
"OK, from now on, it's the start of my 'CASTLE' life. What
time is it now?"
The digital calendar on the desk brightly displayed the date: May 8, 2009.
"May 8th, the plot hasn't started yet, right? Aren't I supposed to be writing the last part of the Derek Storm series?" Duke opened the laptop his daughter had just closed and looked at the document saved on it.
"No wonder the previous 'Castle' is a winner in life; the guy's writing isn't bad!" With the eye and appreciation of a reader who had followed online novels for over 20 years, Duke quickly scanned through the new book that 'Castle' had written about 90% of.
It seems the previous 'Castle' was stuck on inspiration because 'he' didn't know how to end it. Should Derek continue adventuring, or should his life end? Because 'Castle' was tired of the Derek Storm series.
"Hehe, isn't that convenient, buddy? I've been a super fan from the very first episode of the first season of 'Mystery Writer' all the way to the last episode of the eighth season, watched it no less than twenty times. How could Derek Storm's series end unfinished, and how would I get a chance to hang around Miss Beckett and write the Nikki Heat series?"
"So, Storm bro, take care..."
With the fastest speed, Duke finalized his writing plan and decisively sentenced Derek Storm to death.
"Alright, decided, let's do it... huh, what's happening?"
Just as Duke decided to "kill off" his series' protagonist, his mind suddenly underwent a change. His memory became much clearer, even to the point where he could remember almost all the novels and TV series he had watched. Could this be my golden finger? Super memory?
"Hahahaha, thanks again, Qidian gods, transmigration really does come with perks. Even without a system, if I have super memory, I could make a fortune just by being a writer, hahahaha..."
"GOGOGO, time to write, write, write, I need to finish off Derek Storm first, then I can meet Miss Beckett at the new book launch dinner."
Thinking of meeting the long-legged detective he had always coveted after finishing Storm's story, Duke was energized as if he'd been injected with adrenaline.
"Ding ding ding, ding ding ding," from 10 AM, he wrote non-stop until 4 PM, ending his most successful novel series' protagonist, Derek Storm, with a large caliber bullet. Duke was basking in the thought, 'Aren't I awesome?' when the phone rang.
"I am Castle."
"I know you're Castle, where's the manuscript? The promotion plan starts in early June! You know what will happen if it's delayed. If I don't see your new book by next Wednesday, I..." the voice of Gina, his publisher and ex-wife, came through menacingly.
"Oh, Gina, my dear vampire publisher, I've already finished, just doing the final spell check!"
"What? You finished? I heard you were out of ideas?" Gina said sarcastically.
"Nonsense." Duke was indignant.
"Is it? My sources are usually very accurate," Gina continued in that tone.
"I can submit the draft by tomorrow at the latest." Duke's voice was calm.
"OK, tomorrow morning at 10 AM, is that alright?"
"No problem."
"Good, dear Castle, I'll be waiting for your manuscript tomorrow!"
"Click," Duke hung up the phone and poured himself a glass of whiskey, comfortably leaning back in his chair.
"Hehehe, remember in the series, the first time I saw Beckett was at my last Storm book launch dinner, which means the plot will start at the beginning of next month. That gives me plenty of time to get used to 'Castle's' habits. After all, whether I've entered the show or this is a real world, I probably can't go back..."
"Ding ding ding, ding ding ding." The phone rang again.
"Gina, didn't I tell you I'd send you the draft tomorrow morning? I need to do the final spell check!"
"Rick, it's John..." a voice, deep and dejected, came through.
"John?" Duke was puzzled.
"Rick, someone killed the dog Helen left me, and they stole my car..." The deep voice on the phone seemed to suppress something.
"No way? John... the killed dog... the stolen car..." Duke's heart rate began to speed up, his blood pressure rising.
"Where are you? Calm down, John." Duke didn't have time to think any further, if this 'John' was really the 'John' he was thinking of, the most important thing right now was to find out where he was.
"I'm in New Jersey, in my home's garage, I was just attacked." John seemed calm, but Duke knew that if he really was the person from his memories, this kind of calm was terrifying.
"Just wait at home,
I'll be right there, John, my friend, promise me you'll wait for me!" Duke cradled the phone with his shoulder while grabbing his jacket and rushing out the door.
"Okay, I'll wait!" John hung up the phone.
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