Isn't This an Otome Game?

The immersive otome game Heartbeat Countdown took the interstellar world by storm as soon as it launched. Ning Qinghe’s best friend sent her dozens of messages every day, urging her to try it.

[Bestie! It’s seriously so much fun! I’m not lying! You can romance every character! It has everything you could want!]

[The combat system is amazing too! The impact feels incredible, better than a AAA game! There are so many maps!]

[Bestie, bestie, come be a player with me! If you’re not into humans, there are nonhumans too!]

One night, after a rough day of overtime, Ning Qinghe was in a bad mood and bought the game. She skipped the opening story, skipped the tutorial, and skipped the background introduction.

The first thing she did after logging in was use the gun in her hand to blow the head off a chatty character who looked just like her awful boss.

Then, without changing expression, she looted the gear, picked a useless item, gave it to the handsome NPC beside the corpse, and requested [A Deeper Connection].

From then on, the forum for the real-time interactive survival game Heartbeat Countdown was often flooded with massive threads.

[Who is this female player? Her character looks so cute, but she’s ruthless. She won’t listen to a word anyone says and just shoots people in the head! And why does she only kill me and not my teammates? Why?!]

[Are there really still people who don’t know that legendary player from Blue Star? A 100% hit rate, god-tier movement, and, most importantly, she’s a player.]

[I’m guessing the OP is average-looking, while their teammate is tall and handsome. The famous Blue Star player is a total looks-obsessed woman. She might spare a handsome guy, but if you’re average-looking, especially if you’re average-looking and have a bad personality, sorry, she’ll kill you without mercy.]

[If I remake my character, do I still have a chance? I want to cling to her coattails. At least her character really is cute, and she’s totally my type.]

[Go ask those few killing machines on the rankings. They’re all candidates to be her official partners :)]

[Latest news: Those killing machines have decided to go meet her in person and demand a relationship status. They’re all flying to Blue Star. Their identities are highly classified by the Interstellar Federation, so all I can say is: I hope the big shot can take care of herself.]

A timid repairwoman in real life, a sharpshooting player in the game, she thinks she’s playing an otome game and is choosing everyone.

x

Proud, fragile elites who think they’re dating her, when really she’s just treating them like otome-game NPCs and keeping them on the hook.

Reader’s Guide:

Interstellar setting with many species living together, so the male leads are from different species too.

The immersive game and reality intertwine, with forum posts mixed in.

The heroine comes from humble beginnings. In real life, she’s a timid repairwoman; in the game, she’s a sharpshooting player who dates around. The game will gradually change her real life, and she’ll grow as the two worlds blend together. Her career will change too, as she works her way up from the bottom.

The heroine isn’t a strong, powerful woman. The antagonists are both male and female. I won’t change the wording or accept writing advice. Please don’t read if that bothers you.

Please add my next novel to your reading list:

Mistakenly Married to My Fated Rival

Native Female Side Character x Transmigrated Male Lead

She had lost count of how many times this had happened.

Su Miaoyi carefully opened the expensive secret medicine she had bought from the Western Regions and poured it into the sweet soup she had made herself. Carrying the food box, she timed her arrival on her beloved’s usual route and gave him a deliberately gentle smile.

Then she presented him with the drugged sweet soup.

Her beloved had grown up with her and had never been on his guard around her. He gave her a touched smile, just as she’d planned, and went with her to the pavilion. Under her eager gaze, he picked up the bowl of sweet soup.

A second before her beloved’s lips touched the porcelain bowl,

A figure suddenly appeared like a ghost, snatched the bowl from his hands, and drained it in one gulp. As Su Miaoyi watched in horror, he gave her a cold smile that showed he saw right through her, then leaned down and whispered in her ear:

“It’s broad daylight. Why are you trembling, my lady?”

After transmigrating, Xiao Pingye copied out the original novel again and again, memorizing every plot point and how each cannon-fodder character affected the story. Naturally, he also learned every weakness of the original’s main villainess, Su Miaoyi: spoiled, overbearing, stupid, wicked, irresponsible, and easily swayed.

The System had warned him many times that he must not change the plot on his own, and must never alter the fates of the characters, even if he could do it flawlessly. He must not make the wicked female supporting character leave the story early.

Xiao Pingye lazily agreed, but didn’t take the warning to heart.

It would be all too easy to remove a foolish, spineless villainess from the story.

Until one spring day in the third month, Su Miaoyi came rushing over in a brocade gown, like a fluttering butterfly. Mistaking him for the male lead, Xiao Ru, she called him “Brother Xiao” in a sweet, tender voice. Her scent wafted over him, and her face was seven times more radiant than the spring peach blossoms.

His heart stirred, and he changed his mind.

Much later, the System challenged him:

“I told you to stop the wicked female supporting character. What do you mean by marrying her, spoiling her, and sharing a bed with her every day? Did I give you the plot so you could use it to fall in love?”

Reader’s Guide:

Romance between a man and a woman, both leads are each other’s first and only. The heroine used to like the second male lead, but the male lead only loves her.

The heroine isn’t exactly kind and virtuous. The male lead will set her straight. It’s a story where wicked people get what’s coming to them.

Theme: Live for yourself.