Pretending to Have a Crush on the Second Male Lead to Get Screen Time

After dying an unnatural death, Kobayashi Shimotsuki was bound to a shady System and turned into an elementary school student.

A soul without legal identity, starting from the start with ten thousand points of debt?

System: Become a popular character and earn buzz to stay alive~

For the sake of her new life, Kobayashi Shimotsuki went all out to get herself on camera:

On the set of a Detective Conan-style mystery, she gets caught up in a brutal murder case. Is she the elementary school student with the strongest motive, or the “textbook victim”?

On the tatami mats of competitive karuta, she's an A-level player with a bizarre style, as well as the youngest reader to reach sixth dan, adored by players with excellent hearing.

In the kyudo club, she's Coach Takigawa's secret weapon. When the assistant coach steps in, the whole team's hit rate goes up, up!

The Karuta Club makes a surprise appearance at Ouran High School to poach members from the Host Club. They aim to win the competition and double their results!

Wait, how could someone who works this hard and tries so hard to get noticed be a hopeless romantic?

Why does the whole world think she's secretly in love with the male supporting character?

Kobayashi Shimotsuki: A secret crush? I'd rather die than fall for anyone!

System: Shipping buzz goes up quickly.

Kobayashi Shimotsuki: Then I'm in! A no-strings-attached crush sounds great.

But if she's only pretending to have a crush to boost her popularity, why does she run far away in a panic when Arata confesses to Chihaya, that iconic scene from the original story? Why is her heart in such a turmoil?

Arata crouches in front of Chihaya, perplexed, and asks where Kobayashi Shimotsuki is. “Why did she run away? Aren't we in love with each other?”

Pairing: Kobayashi Shimotsuki x Arata Wataya

[Reader's Guide]

1. The story combines a small amount of original characterization with lots of original plot. You don't need to know the original to enjoy it. It's not a mystery from beginning to end, but a slow-paced, heartwarming story about youth and friendship.

2. Expect out-of-character moments and lots of headcanon. The heroine isn't a paragon of virtue, and things are a little rough for her early on, but she'll grow.

3. One-on-one romance, happy ending, not a universally adored heroine. The heroine has catlike traits. No breaking up official pairings or romantic rivalry. Some male supporting characters may like her, but all she wants is to find Arata a home.

5. The story depicts karuta matches. The heroine's playing style is entirely made up by me, and my world goes by my rules.

6. If any of that bothers you, feel free to leave. Please don't offer unsolicited writing advice.

[Coming Soon] Will the Sound Hashira's Tsuguko Dream of a Hot Owl? Pairing: Flame Hashira

Amamiya Takeoto had been blind for nearly twenty years. When she heard about a full-dive game that could open up a second world by linking to the brain, she applied for a trial.

The good news: the full-dive game really can let blind people see.

The bad news: the trial machine malfunctioned and exploded. She doesn't even remember how she died or transmigrated.

So she keeps thinking that waking up at the Butterfly Mansion is part of the game, that being taken on as the Sound Hashira's tsuguko is a beginner's quest, that she can open a rhythm-game system by holding two swords, and that fighting NPCs is combat training...

Until the girl who has only just started holding a sword gets held down and beaten by the Sound Hashira's three wives, one after another, and finally realizes that this full-dive game...

has no exit button!

Sound Hashira: You're already about to cry? If you've decided to be my tsuguko, stand up and grip those twin swords with some flair!

Amamiya Takeoto: Can I still change my mind?

She joins forces with a boy whose hair is as dazzling as a flame, whom she met during the selection at Mount Fujikasane, and walks the path of slaying demons, paved with mountains of her companions' corpses.

The boy becomes a young man, then a Hashira, while it seems Amamiya Takeoto is the only one falling behind.

During training, she hears his colleague ask him about her. “What I admire most about Takeoto is that no matter how many times she's knocked down, the light in her eyes never goes out.”

Hiding in a corner, Amamiya Takeoto almost cries with frustration. That isn't some light that never goes out. It's the word “miss” flashing over and over in her rhythm-game system!

But she'll grow in this cruel world for the people she loves, using her twin blades to cut through every miss, just as she cuts off the demons' heads.

At the end of this pitch-black nightmare, will there be an orange-red owl?

Theme: Write your own life into something extraordinary