Can a Sword Pierce Your Heart in a Dating Sim?

New novel now available: Do I Really Have to Catch This Ghost Myself?! Please add it to your reading list~

Blurb:

The large-scale, in-person immersive game Heartbeat opens for public beta. Ming Yuan downloads it and logs in immediately, becoming one of the first players to enter the game.

In the romance-themed exploration experience, the role she draws is a cannon-fodder supporting female character in a demon-hunting story.

And judging by the plot the game gives her, this character's future includes losing limbs, having her body destroyed, and having her soul refined into a puppet.

The tutorial says that if she wants to change the main plot and escape the fate of certain death attached to this role, she has to find a way to deal in advance with everything that will eventually kill her and stop it at the source.

Ming Yuan is curious. "How do I die in the future?"

System: "The world's villain kills you."

Ming Yuan: "Who's the world's villain?"

System: "The guy who just rescued you from the demon. You even said you'd work like a horse for him from now on. ^^"

*

According to his character profile, the villain Qiu Chengji is gloomy and ruthless, one of the craziest characters in the original story.

But the villain Ming Yuan meets seems perfectly normal. Aside from having a bit of a temper, he'll carry her over mountains and rivers to find a doctor when she's ill, and risk his life to save her when she's in grave danger.

Until she can't resist his tempting advances any longer. Determined to pursue the romance theme she'd chosen and get closer to him, she tentatively asks the villain, "Would you like to become my fated partner?"

The villain finally sheds his kindly disguise. He thrusts his sword into her heart, his eyes brimming with tears as he laughs maniacally.

At the same time, a familiar electronic voice rings out: [Congratulations, Host, you've successfully won over your target... Are you crazy? Why did you kill the person you were supposed to win over? What is wrong with you??]

Ming Yuan: ...

So you have a System too... Okay, you got me. Why didn't you say so earlier?

And wasn't she supposed to be playing a romance-themed exploration game? Why did she still end up dying at the hands of the person she liked?!

*

Even though the game ended in failure, Ming Yuan waits a while, then can't resist logging in again. She picks a different scenario and gets ready to play.

But before long, a young man from the previous world's scenario, who shouldn't even be there, suddenly tears through the night and drags her into his blood-soaked embrace.

Warm tears fall one by one onto her forehead. His arms hold her so tightly that it feels like he's about to snap her waist.

The young man keeps murmuring hoarsely in her ear. He even takes her hand and guides it over the wounds on his body.

He chuckles and tells her that he also stabbed himself in the heart to match her. He was planning to die with her, but for some reason, no matter how many times he stabbed himself, he just wouldn't die.

Ming Yuan: ...

Ming Yuan: ????

Is there no one in charge here?

Is this a bug? If not, she wants to report the game company for reusing one crazy NPC across multiple scenarios.

"Reader's note"

The heroine is a player, and the hero is a fixed NPC in the game.

The hero is bound to a System that tasks him with winning over the heroine.

A carefree sweet girl and a hot-tempered, sincere young man. There won't be a tragic romance, despite appearances: this is a pure-love, one-on-one story, and the couple spend a whole lot of time together once the romance gets going.

Pre-release novel next door: Do I Really Have to Catch This Ghost Myself?! Please add it to your reading list~~ If you're interested, check it out in the author's profile (*°▽°)

Preview:

To earn merit for her late grandfather, Chi Xia returns from the mountains with the half-baked ghost-catching skills he taught her.

Her bad luck got her sent to the mountains as a child. Now that she's going home, she's even prepared to punch her cold-hearted parents and kick her biased siblings to the curb.

Unfortunately, the moment she steps through the door, she realizes something is off...

The people in this house are cold, and there are a lot of ghosts.

Chi Xia: ?

Then Chi Xia discovers that the ghosts in her home are too powerful.

She can't beat them, and even if her grandfather came, he might not be able to either.

Chi Xia: ???

Don't those wealthy-family novels say that when a country girl like her returns to her rich family, her first battle is a power struggle full of schemes and betrayal among relatives?

How did it turn into a fight to the death between her and ghosts?!

But there's always a way out.

The good news: Before her grandfather sent her down the mountain, he called someone to protect her.

The bad news: The person he called is strong, but seems to have a foul temper.

Just as a ghost is about to grab her, a young man with a candy stick between his teeth kicks the door open.

He dispatches the ghost in a few quick moves, looks Chi Xia up and down, then laughs.

"How are you as weak as your grandpa?"

"If you're lousy, train harder. Stick with me. I'll take you to boot camp and make you stronger."

What the heck?

Her grandfather taught her ghost-catching for over ten years. At last, he'd been reincarnated, and she didn't have to keep learning.

And now she has another grandpa?

*

Chi Xia can't stand Ji Heng.

He keeps dragging her to all kinds of abandoned old houses and haunted markets. Even when there aren't any ghosts after her, he still forces her to go ghost-hunting.

He says it's for her training.

It's so annoying!

But he's powerful, and she still needs to stick close to him.

She doesn't dare complain. Not a word.

Until one day, Ji Heng gets hurt.

The once-arrogant young man, covered in blood and barely standing, knocks on her door.

The young man who usually acts like the whole world owes him two hundred thousand now looks pitiful, his dark eyes reflecting only her.

He holds her, pressing his face against her neck, and speaks in a muffled voice. "Chi Xia, can you help me? I'm hurt and have nowhere to go."

"You're the only person I know well. I could only come to you."

Chi Xia: ...

She can tell he's definitely up to no good.

What kind of person goes to her when he's hurt instead of going to the hospital? Why come to her?

She's not a doctor!

But...

He looks so sweet like this.

If this is a trap, she's already fallen for it TvT.

Reader's note:

1. The heroine is not strong. This is a story about her growth, as she gradually gets stronger through hard work.

2. The hero has a terrible personality. He's arrogant and likes insulting people. He could poison himself just by licking his lips.

If that's not your thing, read with caution!

Theme: Work hard and live well