I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Chen Junqian nodded, but half of his attention was already focused on an achievement that suddenly lit up—not a preview, but an indication that it had been unlocked.

That's a related achievement called "Absolutely Must Not Be Detected".

The specific title is: "Why did you hide here too?"

In short, hopefully the two people under the bed can keep quiet.

P.S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

I'm currently filming a romantic comedy for the next few years, so I'm taking a day off.

Take a day off and catch up on some romantic comedies that haven't been particularly famous in recent years.

I read both the good and the bad, because I'm also a master of Akashi (Red Stone).

If you call yourself a master of romantic comedy, then I'm about to start listing my dishes:

"My Friend's Sister Only Likes to Annoy Me", "Love Can't Be Eliminated by Geminis", "Shikimori-kun is More Than Just Cute", "Kubo-kun Won't Let Me Go", "The Calm Kashiwada and the Overjoyed Ota", "The Teino Sisters Are Actually Easy to Handle", "Don't Bully Me, Nagatoro-kun", "Fumimi-kun Has Communication Disorders", "The Children of the Shiunji Family", "My Cuteness Doesn't Work on Kuroiwa Metaka", "I Married the Girl I Hate Most in My Class"...

The anime adaptation of the manga "Midnight Melody" is also a cheap production this season, which is bad news.

This season also features "There's No Romantic Comedy Between Childhood Friends," a collection of model operas. It's actually quite funny, and the production quality is better than "Childhood Friends Never Lose Romantic Comedy" from a few years ago. It felt like all the money in that one went to hiring voice actors.

That's all for now. I hope you all have a good time.

Chapter 20: The Ultimate Move That Only Happens Once in a Lifetime (Part 2)

Why did you hide here too?!

The idea of ​​forcing a beautiful girl into a cramped space to hide her away is definitely one of the most heart-pounding moments in romantic comedies. Whether it's the shadows under the bed or the darkness of the closet, this absolute exclusion of others creates a more private and urgent world for the two of them. In the confined corner where only one person can fit, the sounds of breathing and heartbeats are amplified infinitely, and every physical contact that occurs to avoid being searched carries a thrilling sense of complicity.

However, when a panicked newcomer suddenly flung open the closet door or crawled under the bed, only to find themselves staring into the darkness at a pair of equally terrified or speechless eyes, the originally enchanting atmosphere instantly transforms into a suffocatingly chaotic comedy.

In this situation, the cramped space is no longer enough to allow a third person to breathe, and the overlapping of limbs is no longer due to ambiguity, but simply a lack of physical space. In this desperate situation where there are pursuers ahead and ambushes behind (or even friendly forces), not only must one maintain absolute silence, but one must also silently and frantically question the other party in the darkness with one's eyes, "Why are you here too?" For the protagonist, this is also a great test of his psychological endurance and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

Of course, seeing these women, who are usually rivals, forced to suppress their urge to question each other and squeeze together to look at each other in bewilderment is perhaps a unique sight in itself.

Condition for completion: While attempting to cover the hiding place of any one of the female protagonists in a romantic comedy, you unexpectedly discover that the designated hiding place (such as a wardrobe, under the bed, cardboard box, etc.) has already been occupied by another female protagonist.

Chen Junqian wasn't really surprised by this new achievement that suddenly appeared in his mind. Rather, it was the result of his own efforts. After all, compared to his sister, who at least knew how Lin Mu woke him up, Gu, who claimed he would cosplay his childhood sweetheart waking him up next time, would obviously be more interested in his real-life childhood sweetheart and their morning interactions.

So by simply shifting the timing slightly, it would be easy for these two best friends to reunite under the bed a little before Lin Mu arrived. Actually, if it were a few months ago, the conditions probably wouldn't have been like this. The main reason is that back then, his bed was filled with Gu Lin Guo's belongings. Now, most of them have been moved to the new house, otherwise there wouldn't be enough space for two people.

As for Chen Xi, who was the second to hide under the bed and had no idea that someone was already waiting inside, Gu Lingguo's appearance was completely unexpected. When she first discovered him, she almost shouted out loud. But before she could ask any questions, Lin Mu had already pushed open the door and entered the room.

Faced with this seemingly sudden event, which was actually clearly the result of some self-proclaimed male protagonist of a romantic comedy's delusional behavior, Gu Linguo reacted quite quickly. She casually pulled out her phone from her pocket, opened Notepad, and began typing a message to Chen Xi:

"I'll explain why I'm here later. Let's check on Sister Lin Mu first."

It was clear that crawling out from under the bed at this moment would only make the situation more difficult to explain, so Chen Xi had no choice but to adjust her position as the other person suggested. The two of them lay there side by side, peering out through the gap under the bed, while also pricking up their ears.

The first thing that came into view was a pair of small feet wearing white cotton socks and pink slippers that Chen Xi recognized very well. They were slippers that his brother, or rather Chen Junqian's family, had specially prepared for Lin Mu. And in Lin Mu's home, there was also a pair that belonged to him.

The feet stopped by the bedside, but quickly moved away, seemingly heading towards the bookshelf next to them. Then came the sound of the curtains being drawn back, and the previously dim room instantly brightened. A beam of light shone directly in front of the two people, making even the dust motes dancing in the air visible in minute detail.

Then, the white cotton socks reappeared in their field of vision, and the two of them finally heard Lin Mu's voice.

"Qianqian?"

A girl's voice came from above. Lin Mu's voice didn't seem to have changed much over the years. Chen Xi always felt that using 'gentle' to describe it wasn't quite right, because the word 'gentle' itself inherently makes people feel that the other person is some kind of older sister. So, the description Chen Junqian had given before, like cotton candy, might indeed be more appropriate, as it's soft and sweet at the same time.

Although such a beautiful voice singing "Cotton Candy" is a completely different story...

Then, the mattress made a slightly muffled creak, indicating that Lin Mu had sat down on the edge of the bed.

Visiting someone's house, playing in someone's room, and being able to sit naturally on someone's bed—these three things always symbolize different levels of intimacy. They are things that even elementary school students know and care about. This place has always been Chen Xi and Lin Mu's exclusive territory, but now it seems that Gu Lingguo is also starting to move here.

Thinking of this, Chen Xi unconsciously glanced at her best friend next to her, only to find that her friend was also listening intently with her eyes open and chin propped up.

Are you feeling unwell?

"...No, I just really want to sleep. I'm so sleepy."

"Did you play games with Zhong Yu until late last night?"

"Mumu seems quite happy today. It looks like she did well on the test?"

"One reason is this, umm... I think I did pretty well on this exam. When I go to my tutoring class this afternoon, I should be able to see my math test paper with the teacher. It's a pity she doesn't teach Class 4, otherwise I could have helped Weiwei check how she did. She's been working really hard lately, and I feel like she's been playing with Qianqian less often. If I had a big new house where no one would care about me, I would definitely invite everyone over to play every day."

Feeling her arm being nudged by the person next to her, Chen Xi turned her head and saw that Gu Lingguo had already typed the words "Empress's Aura" into her phone's memo app. However, Chen Xi just rolled her eyes at this, too lazy to pay attention to her best friend, and continued to listen to the commotion.

On the bed, Chen Junqian had already sat up. Looking at his childhood sweetheart, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, swinging her legs and looking at him, he subconsciously said:

"The seventy-eighth time."

What does "seventy-eight times" mean?

"How many times has Mumu woken me up since we met?"

Startled by Chen Junqian's offhand remark, Lin Mu didn't even bother to ask if the number was made up or a hoax; instead, he simply believed it and, based on that belief, curiously inquired:

"Qianqian remembers so clearly, does she keep a diary like me?"

"Does Mumu write things like this in her diary?"

“Sometimes I do remember, for example, ‘I went to Qianqian’s room to wake him up this morning.’ If I count from the first book to the current one, I should be able to keep track. But that counts from when I started writing the diary. I can’t find the entries from before. I’ll count them when I get back today. If it’s less than 78 times, that’s fine. If it’s more, then Qianqian missed it. We can compare them then.”

At this point, Lin Mu himself became a little embarrassed:

"But only seventy times? That's less than ten times a year."

Well, all I can say is that in her own life story, their childhood friendship naturally started back in first grade. Anyway, she can't remember now. Maybe she and Chen Junqian were already playing together back then, and they were even in the same after-school care center, which is why the other person took the initiative to help her when she lost money.

The logic is completely sound!

"But there are many scenarios. I can think of many just by recalling them. I pretended to be asleep and you woke me up by whispering in my ear. I woke you up by climbing up the ladder on the upper berth of the high-speed train. I woke you up when we shared a room in a hotel. I woke you up the next morning when we stayed at your house for the Chinese New Year. Right?"

"Uh-huh!"

Even though Chen Junqian didn't say anything special, just hearing these ordinary topics made Lin Mu feel naturally cheerful. On the contrary, it made her younger sister, who had been grinding for the "wake-up achievement" for over a year but whose scenarios were limited to this place and Chen Junqian's rural hometown, chuckle unconsciously.

The reason she didn't unlock new scenes can only be said that when someone left Guoning to run around, he never thought of taking her with him. Even when she was with Guoning, there were occasional instances like the time she didn't come home at night for Xu Youwei's birthday during the summer vacation. If Chen Junqian hadn't always made sure to coax her and give her a heads-up beforehand, Chen Xi herself would have been tempted to quit.

Of course, this was just wishful thinking, after all, just a few days ago she had shown Gu Lingguo how sacred and inviolable her territory was when a younger sister woke her older brother up.

Although there's another childhood sweetheart currently violating her deeply.

Turning around to see Gu Lingguo's reaction, Chen Xi saw that the other person was typing something on the phone's memo app. He leaned closer to take a look and saw words like "unprepared," "absolute defense," "childhood friend," and "my memories with XX are of course unforgettable."

Just then, Chen Junqian on the bed seemed to be getting up to put on his shoes.

"Mumu, haven't you woken up my lazy son yet? The food is ready. If you don't want him to sleep, let him go back to sleep. Come and eat a bite first, don't go hungry."

Then, Wang Hongling's voice came from outside the door.

"Qianqian is already up, we'll be there soon."

Lin Mu first responded slightly loudly to the door, then took the other person's coat and socks from the bedside table, and got up from the bed himself.

"Qianqian, come with me to buy clothes this morning. It's already mid-October, and it feels like it's about to get colder."

"Yeah, I'll also buy a set of autumn clothes while I'm at it. Last year's clothes are starting to fit too."

"...You're doing it again! You're not allowed to grow any taller!"

"If I could, I would definitely be willing to share some with Mu Mu, even just a few centimeters."

"That's why I said that because I know we can't break up. And I've heard you say that so many times, but in the end, you're the only one who's growing taller."

The two voices faded into the distance. The door clicked open and closed, and Chen Junqian and Lin Mu walked out of the room together, leaving the bedroom quiet once more.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

After confirming that the two had indeed left the room and gone downstairs, the two people under the bed crawled out together. Although there wasn't much dust under the bed because it was cleaned every day (especially by Gu Lingguo herself), they still coughed lightly twice, covering their mouths in unison. Then Chen Xi sat down in the chair in front of the desk, looked at Gu Lingguo standing there with the eyes of someone scrutinizing a criminal, and said in a low voice:

"I think I need to hear your explanation. I just said that last week."

Seemingly having already prepared her entire explanation while under the bed, Gu Lingguo remained silent, instead continuing to defend herself via typing:

【Yes, I only promised Xiaoxi that I wouldn't wake up the senior again, but I didn't come to wake him up today, so I haven't broken my promise to you at all.】

"Then what are you doing here, and under the bed...? And why aren't you saying anything? Is your throat sore?"

[Simply typing without speaking is also one of the charm points of anime. It's a favorite trick of female protagonists who are not good at talking to people face-to-face, whether it's drawing, emoticons, or YES or No pillows. I'm playing that role right now.]

[As for why I was under the bed, it was simply because I wanted to see how Sister Lin Mu woke up Brother. However, this was just for research purposes for my future role as a childhood sweetheart, completely different from that of a certain Xiao Xi who had ulterior motives.]

"Another anime/manga story... and a childhood sweetheart story."

Chen Xi rubbed her forehead, feeling a bit of a headache. It wasn't because she had any opinion about anime, but because she was thinking about a childhood friend character from the only anime series she had ever watched. But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't match Lin Mu at all. In every sense, they were like two extremes.

"Reality and the world of anime are completely different things. My sister is like that, and so is Lin Mu, my childhood friend. If you want to conflate them like that, why don't you just tell Lin Mu all those nonsense thoughts like you told me back then?"

To the question that Chen Xi blurted out instinctively, Gu Lingguo shook her head solemnly, speaking for the first time today:

"This is definitely something that can't be done."

"what?"

Chen Xi was unconsciously swayed by her imposing manner and asked her directly.

"Because in most romantic comedies, the childhood friend is designed to end up as the loser, so they are either the 'tsundere' type who 'clearly likes but refuses to admit it,' waking up the male lead every morning with violence or reluctance to cover up their shyness; or the 'frenemy' type who 'always accompany but has no sexual tension,' seemingly very close to the male lead, but without any specific memories, making them seem like a naturally likable character, so in the end they can only watch helplessly as the new female lead steals the male lead away."

"But Sister Lin Mu is different. It's not just a simple difference between the two-dimensional world and reality. It's more due to her personality and the personality of her seniors."

"So in my opinion, if someone were to announce now that they are in a relationship with a senior, Sister Lin Mu would probably not think anything of it at first, but all sorts of problems would definitely arise later, and no one can say for sure what would happen in the end."

At this point, Gu Lingguo turned around and looked at the various items on the bookshelf. Compared to her own items, which had once been in the same room but could only be hidden under the bed or in the closet, these items were undoubtedly more glamorous and dazzling, able to be displayed openly.

But in the past, if it really disappeared one day, it would never disappear so silently like her things.

"It's not about jealousy because a rival has appeared. Rather than saying that the rival stole her childhood sweetheart, it's more like the person who did it was trying to change her lifestyle, destroy her habits, and disrupt all her daily routines in the most direct and forceful way."

P.S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

Chapter Twenty-One: Imagine what Youyou would do! (Two chapters combined)

To be honest, although his childhood sweetheart, who was now leisurely holding his hand and looking around the mall, hadn't realized it yet, Chen Junqian was indeed preparing for everything that might happen in the future. After all, he was never one to fight a battle unprepared. After several years of experience with rebirth and watching all sorts of romantic comedies, good and bad, Chen Junqian had gained some insights into how to become the male lead of a real-life romantic comedy.

In his current thinking, Lin Mu, who was first included in the system's achievements as the female protagonist and was also the first person he came into contact with after his rebirth, is the most indispensable. So much so that even at this point in time when she herself has not yet realized anything, the relevant groundwork, or rather the publicity work, needs to begin and proceed silently. The scene that happened in his room this morning, in which the two met under the bed, was also based on this consideration.

In fact, by mid-October 2014, Chen Junqian's mindset had indeed changed considerably compared to the beginning. However, this was not the so-called "whether or not to have a harem" that other romantic comedy protagonists had. He had already determined this point when he was reborn, and had been working towards it for the next few years.

For Chen Junqian, the specific changes in mindset mainly lie in the expansion of his thinking and the increase in his confidence. After all, he had actually tried in reality the so-called power to change the world given by the last milestone, and he actually succeeded. Although he has not yet evolved to the "I don't eat beef" Homelander stage, at least he will no longer worry as often as before about whether he can turn reality into a romantic comedy.

So in this respect, he might indeed be exhibiting the subtle mentality that chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) fans often display in works like Code Geass or Guilty Crown, such as "I will overturn the entire world just to straighten your reflection!" and "The king will acknowledge, the king will allow, the king will bear the weight of the entire world." As for whether the king will eventually descend from the sky in a rage and ferocity... well, let's just leave it at that.

What style do you want to buy?