Tokyo: Starting with a fake boyfriend

Tokyo: Starting with a fake boyfriend

Author: My Great Tree Emerges Without End

Summary:

Osamu Shiratori is reborn in a parallel world in Tokyo. He only awakens his past life memories at the age of eighteen. His high school grades are terrible; he is a perennial bottom-of-the-class super-bad student.

Just then, the well-behaved and academically excellent class monitor came to him, offering a huge sum of money to have him play himself as her bad boyfriend and accompany her home to upset her father.

Several options then appeared before him.

[Option 1: Go through the motions, act according to the script written by Minami Yamabuki, and pretend to be her blond boyfriend to accompany her home.]

Option 2: Go all out and, through negotiation, propose to put on a full-fledged performance.

[Option 3: It's none of my business, I'll continue studying "C Programming Language from Beginner to Expert"]

[Option 4: Taking advantage of the situation, class monitor, you don't want your parents to get divorced either, do you?]

Main text

Chapter 1 Family Crisis

2021, summer.

Tokyo, Shinjuku, Net Manga Internet Cafe.

Osamu Shiratori sat in a private room facing his computer, with a copy of "C Programming Language from Beginner to Expert" and a pile of empty cup noodles on his desk.

The computer screen was full of English letters. Individual letters were fine, but when they were combined with various other characters, he couldn't understand them.

Is developing games really that difficult?

After repeatedly comparing the Chinese content in the book, Shiratori took a deep breath, feeling utterly frustrated.

After spending three days of effort, he had to admit that with his current knowledge and skills, it would be difficult to develop a hit indie game like "Clown Cards".

The sense of disparity between this and the harsh reality is like having a stunningly beautiful woman lying in bed waiting for him to be picked, only to find out he is a eunuch.

The game's development is still at 1%, which is the extent of his creation of a new folder named "Balatro".

Five days ago, he awakened his memories of his past life and discovered that he had been reincarnated in a parallel world of Japan.

Why was he able to conclude that this was a parallel world? First of all, the fact that the Chinese national football team won the World Cup for two consecutive times was simply outrageous.

Secondly, the people in this world are very much like anime/manga characters.

Whether male or female, they are born with colorful hair and eye colors, and they are all good-looking.

For example, blue hair, pink hair, purple hair, blonde hair, red hair, and brown hair. Although black hair also exists, it is no longer the mainstream in Asia.

He was born with black hair, but before he awakened his memories of his past life, he was a delinquent teenager who liked to fight.

As a result, he dyed his hair in his first year of high school, turning it blonde, which perfectly fit the image of a delinquent. He also engaged in rebellious behaviors such as getting his ears pierced and wearing earrings.

Because he was ignorant and incompetent, and also liked to fight, was competitive and so on, not only was his mind empty, but he also had a very bad relationship with his family.

The worst part is that he is currently a senior in high school, and there are only six months left until the national unified examination in Japan. Even the path of studying hard and getting into a good university has been blocked.

But as the saying goes, there's always a way out!

Shiratori Shu went to an internet cafe to read the news and conduct a frantic investigation. Combining this with his memories from his previous life, he quickly found a path to heaven.

The indie game "Joker," which has sold nearly ten million copies worldwide, was developed by a single person and became a huge hit!

In fact, his initial goal was "Vampire Survivor", which was also developed by a single person. It sold tens of millions of copies and had an estimated cumulative revenue of over 3.4 million yuan, creating a super boss in the Survivor game genre.

However, judging by the timeline, this thing will be developed by the end of 2021.

Shiratori Osamu wasn't confident he could develop this thing before the original author, so he had to give up.

In contrast, "The Joker" is expected to be released in 2024, and it has plenty of time and energy to develop.

Considering the potential and value of "The Joker," it would be worth it even if it took him a year or two.

Gambling when you don't know the outcome, investing when you do.

"No, I can't give up yet. Luxury cars and mansions are waiting for me!"

Looking to the future again, Shiratori Osamu gave himself a pep talk and continued reading.

Although he wasn't a programmer in his previous life and didn't study computer science in college, as a loyal fan of indie games, he knew every detail about "The Joker".

The most important thing in making games is the project initiation. Once the idea and details are all in place, as long as he overcomes the difficulties of programming and coding, he can become very rich after making the game.

Just as he was diligently studying, a knock sounded on the door of his private room, followed by a clear and pleasant female voice:

Excuse me.

"what happened?"

Shiratori Osamu was wearing headphones and listening to music, but the volume wasn't very loud. He looked around and was puzzled.

While internet cafes in Japan are convenient, services like food delivery require ordering via computer or wall-mounted phone, and drinks and comics need to be picked up in person.

Normally, the internet cafe manager won't bother the customers... after all, internet cafes in Japan aren't just for people to surf the internet; many people also use them to sleep and rest.

After receiving a response, the sliding door was opened, and a girl appeared behind it.

"Soft girl," that was his first impression.

This is similar to how a person can immediately tell whether a painting is beautiful or ugly at a glance.

The girl was wearing the uniform of Takeno High School, carrying a schoolbag. She was slender, with a delicate face, soft features, fine eyebrows, thick and long eyelashes, and fair and tender skin.

Her long, jet-black hair was left untied and fell naturally over her shoulders. Her almond-shaped eyes, framed by her bangs, were watery and gave her the appearance of a well-behaved girl.

Looking at her sweet face and gentle demeanor, Shiratori Osamu felt that she looked familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

"Hello, Shiratori-san."

However, before he could even rummage through his memories to figure out what was going on, the girl with long, straight black hair took a few deep breaths, as if preparing herself mentally, and then mustered up the courage to speak.

"I am Shiratori, that's right. Excuse me, may I ask who you are?"

Upon realizing that she recognized him, Shiratori Osamu paused for a moment before asking.

Don't you recognize me?

Upon hearing this, Yamabuki Minami choked, finding it hard to believe.

"Uh... are you famous?"

Seeing her attitude, Shiratori Osamu was a little puzzled.

Could this girl be a superstar? This is quite common in Japan, where young, popular female idols, like Kanna Hashimoto.

“No, that’s not it.” Yamabuki Minami choked on her words and quickly shook her head to deny it. Then she explained her background: “I am Yamabuki Minami, the class monitor of Class 3 (1). We were deskmates for a month when we were in the first year of high school.”

"Oh, it's you." Shiratori Osamu nodded in sudden realization, then asked curiously, "May I ask what brings you here?"

He remembered her; she was the top student in her grade, a well-known super-achiever.

"Ah...it's like this, I want to hire you to pretend to be my boyfriend."

Because of his unexpected politeness and easygoing nature, Minami Yamabuki was a little flustered. She hurriedly looked down and took out a wad of money from her bag, took a few steps forward into the private room, and handed it to him.

"what?"

After hearing her request and seeing the banknotes she handed him, Shiratori Osamu was stunned.

This stack of money is quite thick; on the surface, it appears to be 10,000 yen notes, and the stacked banknotes also seem to be.

This amount of money, if not a huge sum, should be at least several hundred thousand yen.

Upon realizing that the other party had produced such a large sum of money, Shiratori's first reaction was not surprise, but alarm. He looked around, trying to find hidden cameras.

Is this some kind of prank show?

He knew all too well how outrageous and insane Japanese prank shows could be.

"Shiratori-san, don't misunderstand, this isn't some kind of prank show... I'm facing a family crisis and I want you to pretend to be my boyfriend and come home with me to upset my dad."

Seeing him looking around warily, Yamabuki Minami, who had watched variety shows before, guessed what he was thinking and quickly explained.

Shiratori Osamu did not respond to her request, as if he was lost in thought.

That was indeed the case, because the moment the other party formally made the request, lines of text suddenly appeared before his eyes:

[Perfect World Line System loading...]

Perfection is simply having no regrets.

[Recognizing a Turning Point in Life—Minami Yamabuki's Family Crisis]

[You can choose from the following world lines]

(Minami Yamabuki: If I don't do something soon, my parents will get divorced. I have to find a way to get rid of that philanderer! I've got it! I can ask Osamu Shiratori to pretend to be my boyfriend and annoy my dad so he won't have time to deal with that philanderer.)

[Option 1: Go through the motions, act according to the script written by Minami Yamabuki, and play the role of the blond-haired boyfriend to accompany her home. (Reward: Character Design - Pay to Do Things)]

[Option ②: Go all out, discuss the script details with her, suggest acting out the entire scene, and stay overnight at her house. (Reward: Talent - Concentration)]

Option ③: If it doesn't concern me, continue studying "C Programming Language from Beginner to Expert" (Reward: Mindset - Treat money like dirt)

[Option 4: Taking advantage of the situation, class monitor, you don't want your parents to divorce either, do you? (Reward: Talent - Beginner Negotiation Skills)]

Chapter 2 This is Neon

Although his mind was blank, Shiratori Xiu had a great love for reading online novels in his previous life and could read text very quickly.

Even though he couldn't reach the level of quantum speed reading, he could still absorb everything after glancing at just a few lines of text.

The content of all four options is very simple; you can understand the situation without even thinking. Only a few special terms need to be interpreted by yourself.

The reward, "[Character Design - Taking Money to Do Things]", has no effect, and even trying to explain it in detail with one's inner thoughts is futile.

The reward, "Talent - Concentration," sounds good on its own, since he's struggling with his studies and could improve his concentration to boost his learning efficiency.

【Mindset - regarding money as dirt】What kind of bullshit reward is this? He's not from Malaysia, he only has 3750 yen left in his wallet, how can he have the right to be uninterested in money?

[Talent - Beginner-level Negotiation Skills] He felt that this was not beginner-level at all, but rather neon-level negotiation skills. Just look at that set of classic threatening statements.

After examining the options, Shiratori Shu eliminated option ③ without hesitation.

Although it's generally better to stay out of many things that don't concern you, Yamabuki Minami came to him with hundreds of thousands of yen in cash to ask for his help. Choosing this option would be like turning your money away.

That's hundreds of thousands of yen!

For a delinquent high school student who is unemployed, has a terrible relationship with his parents, and plans to develop games independently, this is like sending charcoal in snowy weather!

With this money, he could buy a computer, or even enroll in programming and coding-related tutoring classes or night school.

"Shiratori-san, I'm sorry! If you don't want to help, then I'm sorry to bother you."

As he fell into deep thought, his expression calm, Yamabuki Minami couldn't guess what he was thinking and suddenly felt a little intimidated. She put the money back in her bag, bowed to him, and tried to leave.

To be honest, she was already starting to regret it, and she couldn't understand why she had come up with such a bad idea as having Shiratori pretend to be her boyfriend and go home with her.

Shiratori Shuka is the most notorious bully at Takeno High School. He is said to be capable of all sorts of evil deeds, such as bullying classmates, extorting money, having multiple girlfriends, racing cars every night, fighting violently, and getting into group brawls with high school students from other schools. There are countless rumors about him.

Her attempt to bribe Shiratori-san was a desperate measure.

"and many more."

Seeing that she had put the money away and was about to leave, Shiratori Osamu, who was pondering which reward to choose, immediately became anxious and hurriedly spoke up.

"Shiratori-san, don't be angry. I didn't mean to insult you with money. I just encountered some trouble and came up with a plan, and I thought you were the best candidate."

Stopped by his fierce rebuke, Yamabuki Minami dared not move, her face turning pale as she frantically tried to explain and say something nice.

“I’m not angry, nor do I feel like you’re insulting me with money. I’m just wondering if I can handle this.”

How could Shiratori Shu let this sugar daddy who had come to him get away? Seeing how afraid she was of him, he shook his head and explained.

"So that's how it is..."

Looking at his roguish yet handsome face and his serious expression, Minami Yamabuki finally let out a long sigh after thinking it over.

"Didn't you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend and go home with you to upset your dad? Do you have a detailed plan and script?"

After allaying her anxiety, Shiratori Osamu continued to ask questions.