You open the Jinjiang app and, unsurprisingly, yet still unexpectedly, see a software update pop-up.
"New version detected:
Version 24.2.1
1. ..."
You swipe to the bottom, skipping the detailed list of updates from 1 to N, and tap the button below:
"Update"
"10%...20%...30%..." A progress bar appears on the screen. As you wait, you hum a Jinjiang background tune: "I heard you're still working on something original. After all that effort, it doesn't seem any different..."
The progress bar reaches 100%.
The next moment, a new pop-up appears, unlike any you've seen before.
Hey~ You put your phone down and sit up straight. Jinjiang really has come up with something new!
"To recommend novels that suit your tastes, please answer the following question:"
You scroll down.
"1. How can an ordinary girl get a handsome guy and become the center of everyone's attention?
Answer: ______"
Hahaha, if you weren't in public, you'd be slapping the table right now. How could they ask such an outrageous question with a straight face?
But this is about novels. You~know~what~I~mean~
Your eyes shift as you smoothly type four words on the answer line:
"Take by force"
The moment you press "Confirm," the screen of your phone seems to flicker.
*
"Welcome, player, to the Love-a-Lot Game (*╹▽╹*)!"
"Matching a game mission based on your chosen game style, 'Take by force.'"
"Matching game mission..."
"Game mission: Hold a knife to the male lead's throat for one minute and make him admit, 'I lost.'
Mission hint: Twelve years together."
"Loading the game's opening scene: men's college dormitory..."
You: ???
*
Once the dizziness had completely passed, you turned your head slightly to the right to confirm whether this was indeed the men's college dormitory you had seen before passing out. But the moment you moved, you were startled by how different the feeling of your scalp against the pillow was.
You hurriedly raised a hand to touch it, feeling from the top of your head down past your ear...
Where was your long hair, which used to reach your waist?
Why did it now barely reach below your earlobes?!
Why was your chest flat, too?
Wait... Had you turned into a boy?!
*
The first level uses the girl-dresses-as-a-boy trope. You haven't really turned into a boy.
*
Qin Shiyue
S1: I only feel sorry for him because he's frail, poor, and suffers from a hidden ailment.
S2: Even though he's lusting after my... I'll let it go because he's frail, poor, and suffers from a hidden ailment...
S3: Since he's frail, poor, and suffers from a hidden ailment, maybe I can find him a beautiful, kind girl and give him a considerable sum of money to support them...
S4: Fine. It's not as if I can't look after him a little longer.
You
S1: How could I hold a knife to Qin Shiyue's throat?
S2: How could I hold a knife to Qin Shiyue's throat?
S3: How could I hold a knife to Qin Shiyue's throat?
S4: How could I hold a knife to Qin Shiyue's throat?
Before You Read:
1. Second-person narration.
2. All the male leads are sexually inexperienced, but they are not moral paragons.
3. The female lead is an ordinary person, not perfect and not a moral paragon.
4. Expect melodrama, theatrics, and chaotic love-triangle situations.
5. Treat the romance game as entertainment. If it stops being fun, quit in time. Before you leave, you can repeat after the author: "Love your country, obey the law, be courteous and trustworthy, work hard and be self-reliant, and be dedicated and giving."
Come in with an 80-point moral compass, and you can leave with a 120-point one!
Theme: Find the shining self within!
