I Won't Fall for You If I Stick to the Script

As a wild player holding the script in Earth Online,

Shiozaki Hoshi only had to think about whether to eat stir-fried bamboo shoots tomorrow and how to maintain world peace.

Unfortunately, a few extraordinary newcomers around her required her to go above and beyond.

The curly-haired neighbor uncle was just about capable of taking apart an aircraft carrier with his bare hands. After graduating from the police academy, he became a renowned bomb disposal expert.

He'd say Tokyo was beyond saving and the Japanese islands would sink tomorrow, then turn around and transform into a beam of light on the Ferris wheel to save all the citizens.

Her online friend was a guy who acted like a mother hen, raised by a father obsessed with track and field. He ran so hard in high school competitions that he fractured his kneecap.

After barely managing to save both his legs, he went all out again in college to compete in a marathon relay, with no intention of escaping his fate of becoming lame.

Her childhood friend, the third son in his family and known as the scheming bespectacled one, was one of the pillars of the host club at an elite high school.

He called himself a pragmatist, first using his entire fortune to buy the family business and give it to his fishing-obsessed dad, then handing the girl he liked over to someone else.

Shiozaki Hoshi: "..."

Shiozaki Hoshi: "I'm just an ordinary wild panda. I can't watch all this tragic drama!"

Thanks to Shiozaki Hoshi's tireless efforts, the neighbor uncle wasn't blown to pieces by a bomb. Instead, he successfully arrested the culprit, got promoted and a raise, and was honored as one of Tokyo's outstanding young people.

Her mother-hen online friend didn't end up permanently disabled, either. He completed the Hakone Ekiden, became an athletic coach, and made a fortune.

Her childhood friend...

Childhood friend: "Who says I handed the girl I like over to someone else?"

Shiozaki Hoshi: "The script?"

Childhood friend: "Tear up that stupid script." (smiles)

Reader notes:

[1] Everything is in service of romance.

[2] Fluffy, sweet, and indulgently self-indulgent, with maximum push-and-pull, melodrama, slow burn, no logic, and cryptic characters.

[3] Matsuda Jinpei's characterization is based on the early TV version (= purely the author's subjective assumption).

[4] There are only two kinds of people in the world: those who love Kiyose Haiji, and those who haven't watched Run with the Wind.

[5] Pure fiction. Don't apply it to reality. Read civilly.

First draft of the blurb written on 2022/5/14 (screenshot saved)

[Coming soon]

Derivative fanfiction:

"Click Here to Date the World's Best Male Tennis Player" (a super-sweet romance, mutual devotion, guaranteed sweetness, CP: Echizen Ryoma)

[Currently serializing]

Derivative series:

"Three Sentences and I'm Responsible for the Pretty Boy" (cool, aloof female lead who is someone's one true love / Prince of Tennis / Kuroko's Basketball / Detective Conan / everyone has a one-sided crush)

Theme: Life is a vast sea, with mountain after mountain and river after river.