A Grind-Happy Otome Game Player Refuses to Stay Single!

Blurb 1: You always thought you were just an ordinary kid, until you unlocked a game System and realized you were living inside a game! Urgent mission: Learn volleyball from the kid next door. Reward: [Skill: Volleyball Lv. 1] The black-haired volleyball-loving guy you aced out of bounds at the sports festival clings to you, chanting, “Teach me that, senpai!” Daily mission: Help Mom with the chores for 30 days straight. Reward: [Max Charisma Trial Pack] You used to be the kid everyone overlooked, but suddenly you’re attracting everyone’s attention and rising straight to the top of the school! Timed mission: Slap the butt of the next person who walks by. Reward: [Golden item…] The innocent red-haired cook who happens to walk by and get his butt slapped: *stares blankly.jpg* You cheerfully collect your mission reward. “That was way too easy~” But after discovering that online players can pay their way to the top and leave you, a local player with no way to spend money, in the dust, you can’t keep smiling. “Some people pay to win, others grind. If I can’t be the first, then I’ll become the ultimate grinder!” You were planning to grind your way to the top of life, but then you suddenly remembered that your game System seemed to come with a romance DLC! Unlock the extra romance System, and on top of the basic missions and achievement card pool, you’ll get a special romance mission panel and card pool! Awesome! More missions, more rewards, more grinding!!! Blurb 2: After a serious illness, you forgot a lot of things. You still feel there are unanswered questions, but as a player, you won’t stop moving forward! First, your studies! You go from a failing student to getting into a top school through endless practice problems. In the end, even upperclassmen years ahead of you come to ask for help! Next, your charisma! You go from an unnoticed nobody to the popular vice president of the student council, and even the people who used to bully you start a fan club for you! Then, your clubs! You go from being torn between all sorts of clubs to confidently finding your own path. If the rules allowed it, you’d even like to try being an advisor! Outside your studies and school life, you also need to plan ahead for your future romance missions. Your childish childhood friend number two, your upright childhood friend number three, a friend who shares your interests, your slightly mean childhood friend number one, the twin brother who confesses the moment he sees you, the twin brother who shares your taste in food, the kind older student you seem fated to meet… And all sorts of other romanceable characters waiting for you to unlock them. Who will you pursue? But before that, you still have to build up your stats one step at a time… Year after year, you’re determined to get a perfect ending in this life-management simulation! This novel is also known as Starting from Zero: The Life of an Otome Game Heroine! Reader’s guide: 1. School, daily life, personal growth, and a slow pace. The timeline spans many years, from elementary school to adulthood. The blurb mostly reflects the developments in the first few volumes. The game mechanics are just a backdrop, and game-related content makes up less than 10% of the novel. If that’s not your thing, you can simply think of the heroine as playing Earth Online. 2. Childhood development in the early part, then periodic one-on-one romances in the middle and later parts. There’s also a career storyline, and the bonus chapters have different endings. 3. The male lead candidates will generally be listed among the supporting characters, but being listed there doesn’t necessarily mean someone is a male lead. Characters the heroine dates won’t necessarily get their own ending, either. Confirmed male lead candidates so far, who may or may not be characters she dates or get a dedicated ending: Oikawa, Miyuki, Kiyose, Miya… 4. A crossover with lots of different series, but the main focus is sports anime. Approximate proportions: volleyball > baseball > basketball > running > other (Blue Lock may appear later, but might be cut). There’s a bit of food content, plus a tiny bit of non-everyday anime, mostly as part of the worldbuilding. 5. There are plotlines involving online play with other players, which add to the background and worldbuilding but don’t significantly affect the main story’s progression. 6. Because this is a long story and I revise it frequently, from around chapter 250 onward the chapter summaries will mention the main characters who appear. If there aren’t any, they’ll say what the chapter focuses on, such as volleyball, baseball, or the game. Overall, 30% of the story is locked to deter piracy. 7. Neither the main nor supporting characters are perfect. They may occasionally do immature things, so please understand. But don’t insult the characters. If you want to complain, blame my bad writing! 8. The main story is mostly in second person, with occasional third-person viewpoints. 9. Updates are currently steady at once a week, with the goal of returning to every other day. I’ll update according to the rankings if the story makes the charts. Feel free to ask for updates; it might make me post faster. 10. I can be a bit chatty, so if you find that annoying, please make sure to hide the author’s notes. Rough writing plan Volume 1: The Sound of Heavy Dew Falling on Autumn Hills [Elementary school / daily life / volleyball] (complete) Volume 2: Watching the Moon Rise Over Deep Pines at Night [Elementary school / daily life and growing up / volleyball] (complete) Volume 3: A Leaf Falls on the Clear River in the North Wind [Middle school / daily life and growing up / volleyball] (complete) Volume 4: Waking from Evening Drunkenness to Find the Moon Round [Middle school / romance and daily life / volleyball] (complete) Volume 5: The Spring Emperor’s Work Lies in the Peonies [Middle school / career and daily life / Black Clover and Forget Me Not] (complete) Volume 6: When the Flowers Bloom, Spring Is Already Fading [Middle school / romance / Black Clover] (in progress) Volume 7: Empty ** Country ** Letter [Middle school / career / mixed] Volume 8: Clouds * Wind * Won’t * Stop [Middle school / romance / Black Clover and mixed] Volume 9: Childhood *** Flying Goose [High school / career / baseball and Black Clover] Volume 10: Clear ***** Feelings [High school / romance / volleyball] Volume 11: [University / volleyball and baseball] Volume 12: [University / Blue Lock] Volume 13: [Working life / mixed] Please check out my upcoming novels: Second-person danmei, The Strongest Was Cursed by Me, Jujutsu Kaisen only, Gojo pairing Transmigration danmei, Aoba Johsai, but It’s the Baseball Club, mainly a Haikyuu and Ace of Diamond crossover, Oikawa pairing Second-person danmei, Three Sentences to Make a Hot Guy Unable to Forget Me, a crossover of Bungou Stray Dogs, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Blue Lock, with a little Haikyuu Transmigration light novel, Today I’m Still Patching the Original Story, a novel about adapting works in another world by starting a company to produce anime and games If you’re interested, click into my author’s collection to take a look~ The novels listed here are the most likely to be my next project, and I’m very interested in them. I’ve already finished the settings, worldbuilding, outline, and even detailed chapter plans, though things may change from time to time. Theme: Slowly find what you truly want while becoming a better version of yourself