After Entering a Romance Reality Show Disguised as a Man to Win Over All the Female Leads - Chapter 1

“Hello to all our viewers! The 2023 season of Heartbeat Moments is about to begin. Our four male guests and four female guests will make their entrance within the next half hour, so please stay tuned!”

At the entrance of a massive international theme park, the host of Heartbeat Moments, Zhang Yongan, stood wearing a green vest and holding cue cards. He spoke enthusiastically to the camera: “I am your host for this season, Zhang Yongan.”

He smiled and waved at the lens. “Before the show officially kicks off, let’s take a look at some behind-the-scenes preparations…”

In an area hidden from the cameras, Rong Yu stood with her arms crossed. She raised an eyebrow at the jubilant host near the gates before boredly looking down at the live-stream comments on her phone.

Heartbeat Moments was a romance reality show broadcasted in a live-stream format. Once it officially began, each paired couple would have their own dedicated camera. Viewers could “ship” specific couples, watch their favorites exclusively, and offer “donations” to sponsor the pairs they liked. It was a show with decent interactivity and, more importantly, verified authentic data.

However, data that is too real often lacks “explosive” viral points. Consequently, the show had remained lukewarm on the streaming platform for three years. The viewership wasn’t even as high as some individual top-tier influencers; currently, the count hovered around 130,000, and the comment section was sparse.

Following the script, the host had the director switch the feed to the crew working backstage to explain the show’s mechanics. It took a long while for even a few comments to squeeze through the feed, looking pitifully lonely.

【Does anyone actually watch this?】

【Uh, where’s Seven? Why isn’t my Seven out yet? He’s the only reason I’m here.】

【+1 to the person above.】

【Huh? This show is still airing? It’s been lukewarm for three years, do they actually still have sponsors??】

Reading the comments, Rong Yu started to feel bad for the host. Zhang Yongan had a monitor in front of him showing the live feed and comments to facilitate interaction. The fact that he could maintain such radiant enthusiasm in the face of such a dead chat was truly admirable.

Rong Yu quickly lost interest. She tucked her phone away, planning to head to the restroom. She had a nagging feeling that her chest binder wasn’t secured properly and was slipping down.

Her manager for this season, a woman in her thirties named Lin Su, was sitting nearby reviewing the script. Seeing Rong Yu stand up, she immediately looked over.

Rong Yu pointed toward the public restrooms in the distance. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Lin Su checked her watch, looking hesitant. “There isn’t much time left before we start filming…” Her voice trailed off as she met Rong Yu’s eyes—clear as washed sapphire and as beautiful as 13-carat aquamarines. Looking at Rong Yu’s delicate, gender-blurring features and her clean, harmless face, Lin Su found she couldn’t say no. She nodded and even thoughtfully handed her a pack of tissues. “Here. Be sure to come back quickly.”

Rong Yu took the tissues and nodded. “Thanks.”

She walked past Lin Su, weaving through the staff members checking equipment, and headed straight for the restrooms. As a world-class theme park, the grounds were filled with famous movie and anime icons; even the public restroom at the entrance was sculpted into the shape of a wide-mouthed Gyarados from Pokémon. When she reached the entrance, she checked to ensure no one was watching before slipping into the ladies’ room.

She ducked into a stall, swiftly unbuttoned her men’s dress shirt, and tightened the loosened binder. Once she was sure everything was secure, she buttoned up and prepared to leave.

It couldn’t be helped—the role she had to play in this show was that of a male guest. To avoid being discovered and kicked off the set, she had to carefully play her part as a woman disguised as a man, ensuring she could last until the end of the show.

Specifically, she had to last until she could awaken the consciousness of her best friend, Lian Langsheng.

The world she was currently in was actually the “Brain World” of Lian Langsheng. In the real world, Lian had been struck by a falling object and was currently in a vegetative state due to a severe brain injury. To wake her, Rong Yu and the attending physician utilized a “Brain World Stimulation” method. By transmitting her consciousness into Lian’s mind, Rong Yu had to find Lian’s “conscious entity” within this mental landscape and awaken it to bring her back to reality.

The human brain world is a personal spiritual realm with its own barriers and defense mechanisms. Upon entering, Rong Yu was automatically absorbed into a role. To avoid being flagged as an invasive foreign consciousness, she absolutely could not be caught acting out of character.

What she hadn’t expected was that, while in a vegetative state, Lian Langsheng’s brain was acting out a novel she had once written: Becoming Globally Famous After Joining a Romance Reality Show.

Even worse, Rong Yu’s current identity was the original male lead of the same name—a guy who had nothing to his name and was dirt poor, but was a master in the kitchen, handsome, and gentle. He was destined to capture the hearts of all the female guests, pair up successfully with the most beautiful one, He Jiao, and skyrocket to fame as a new-generation idol.

However, while she held the role of the male lead “Rong Yu,” her body remained her own, and her gender was still female. Thus, she was playing the male version of Rong Yu via a “gender-bend” disguise.

Fortunately, Rong Yu’s natural voice was slightly husky and soft, possessing a gender-neutral magnetic quality that didn’t arouse suspicion. People simply assumed she was a young “pretty boy” whose voice hadn’t fully deepened yet.

Disguising herself as a man wasn’t the hard part. The hardest part would be finding Lian Langsheng’s consciousness in this sea of people.

According to the doctor’s theory, there is only one true conscious entity in a brain world, and it is usually an important character with a free, unconstrained personality. Rong Yu suspected that Lian’s consciousness was hidden among the four female guests. Since the “script” of this world was a novel she wrote herself, she knew every plot point and character trait perfectly. If Lian’s consciousness did anything that violated the original character settings, Rong Yu would spot it instantly.

Thus, Rong Yu didn’t think it would be too difficult to identify her friend.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, a sudden whistling wind echoed from the adjacent stall.

The sound grew louder, like someone tearing through space to let in a gale. There was a ten-centimeter gap at the bottom of the stall partitions, and a freezing draft began to spread across the floor. Rong Yu felt a bone-chilling cold snap at her ankles.

Vaguely, it sounded as if something had jumped out along with the wind. She heard a heavy thud as something hit the floor, followed by the wet, rhythmic splat-splat of a soft-bodied creature slapping against the tiles. It sounded like thick liquid was splashing—a sound that made her skin crawl.

Rong Yu reminded herself this was Lian’s brain world; everything was just data, not real. Yet, she couldn’t help her curiosity. She considered standing on the toilet to peek over the wall.

But before she could, several tentacles—each thicker than her thigh and covered in dense, pulsing suckers—slid from the floor of the next stall into hers. The dark brown tentacles were trembling, covered in blood and peeling skin. Dried gore filled the cracks of the flesh as they coiled and twisted in front of Rong Yu’s feet like a nest of agitated, grotesque snake tails. It was enough to make anyone’s scalp tingle.

An ordinary person would have screamed in terror.

From the next stall came a muffled grunt of exertion from a woman, followed by the sound of a sharp blade plunging into soft flesh. Rong Yu watched as the thick tentacles suddenly stiffened before slumping like a pile of mud. They were then dragged back into the other stall, leaving streaks of shimmering blood on the floor in front of her.

The cold wind continued to blow, but now it carried an inescapable stench of thick blood and the briny scent of the sea.

Then came the sound of something heavy being lifted; the woman seemed to throw the tentacles away. Rong Yu didn’t hear them land, but the whistling wind stopped instantly. The restroom became deathly silent—so quiet a pin drop could be heard.

Even the smell of blood vanished.

When Rong Yu looked down again, the bloodstains on the floor were gone. Everything looked exactly as it had when she first walked in.

What was that? A hallucination?

Rong Yu frowned at the pristine floor.

At that moment, a phone rang in the next stall. A woman answered, her voice echoing through the room.

“He Huaiting, the show is about to start. Where are you?”

Rong Yu blinked. “He Huaiting” wasn’t she one of the four female guests in the show? In her novel, He Huaiting was a cold, aloof girl from a family of martial artists with high combat stats. Why did she now feel like a female antagonist from a horror movie who dismembers people in bathrooms?

Before Rong Yu could think further, the woman called He Huaiting responded. Her voice was clear and even colder than the air from before: “I’m here. Just used the restroom. Heading over now.”

She hung up and pushed open the stall door. It slammed shut behind her with such force that Rong Yu’s own door rattled.

Rong Yu heard the footsteps move toward the sink, followed by the sound of running water.

She waited until the water stopped and the bathroom was completely silent before she felt safe enough to unlatch her door and step out.

And then—

She locked eyes with a pair of golden pupils.

A slightly taller, white-haired girl with a cold, elegant face was staring at her expressionlessly. Her golden eyes looked at Rong Yu as if she were a dead person. They were like the eyes of a black-and-gold python, stripping away all fear and pretenses.

White hair and golden eyes—the signature look of He Huaiting in the novel.

Only then did Rong Yu realize that when a stall is locked, the latch shows a color indicator on the outside. He Huaiting must have seen the locked door in the mirror while washing her hands and realized someone was inside.

“…” Would anyone believe her if she said she fell asleep and didn’t see anything?

With one hand at her side and the other on the door, Rong Yu felt incredibly awkward facing the aloof girl. He Huaiting’s golden eyes were so bright they almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the restroom.

Seeing Rong Yu’s silence, He Huaiting knit her brows slightly and spoke coldly: “You saw it, didn’t you?”

It wasn’t a question; she was certain Rong Yu had seen the tentacles. Rong Yu didn’t try to lie. She nodded frankly, her sapphire eyes meeting the golden ones, and quickly raised a hand as if taking an oath: “Don’t worry, I won’t say a word!”

She wasn’t sure if He Huaiting was Lian’s consciousness yet, but survival was the priority. She needed this role to stay close to the female guests; she couldn’t afford to be “silenced” now, or the mission would fail.

He Huaiting remained silent for a long time, staring at her with that expressionless face. Those golden eyes seemed to peer directly into her soul. Rong Yu felt a chill run down her neck, like she was being stalked by a predator in a jungle.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop as if they were in an ice cellar. Despite her sweater, Rong Yu felt cold and instinctively rubbed her arms.

Suddenly, He Huaiting spoke again: “Come out.”

Rong Yu thought she was talking to her and was about to step forward when the latch on the stall to her left clicked open. Out stepped a girl in a JK school uniform with black hair in a “hime cut.” Her silky black hair draped over her shoulders, making her skin look as white as snow and her lips a vivid red. The girl’s crimson eyes were as calm as still water, her face equally devoid of expression.

If He Huaiting felt “cold”—a bone-deep chill and dread—this girl felt like an exquisite but soulless porcelain doll. Her movements even had a slight, puppet-like lag.

Looking at her outfit and appearance, Rong Yu identified her almost instantly: Mu Shuiqing, another of the four female guests. In the novel, she was the most quiet and introverted “good girl,” a studious overachiever who was bad with words.

But now… something felt very wrong.

As Rong Yu was thinking, she noticed several small white paper dolls crawling out from the gap in the stall door behind the girl. The paper dolls climbed up Mu Shuiqing’s hair onto her shoulder, then let go and jumped into her breast pocket. They even managed to wave at the staring Rong Yu before tucking themselves away. Through the slightly ajar door, Rong Yu could see dozens of red and yellow talismans plastered on the walls, covered in spiraling patterns drawn in blood-red cinnabar.

There were even three sticks of incense burning in the corner of the stall.

Rong Yu: “…” Was this really the study-obsessed Mu Shuiqing she had created? She looked more like a cultist obsessed with the supernatural.

He Huaiting looked at the wall behind Mu Shuiqing and frowned. “You didn’t clean up your traces properly.”

Mu Shuiqing blinked, looked behind her expressionlessly, and plucked one of the paper dolls from her pocket. She gave its bottom a sharp flick. “Go clean it up.”

The little paper doll was flicked onto the wall. It began crawling toward the talismans, splitting into multiple clones as it went, diligently peeling the charms off the wall.

Rong Yu: “…?”

He Huaiting watched this calmly, as if it were a common occurrence. She looked at Mu Shuiqing, then back at Rong Yu. “Are you a guest too? Then let’s go.”

Rong Yu looked at the bathroom stall that looked like the site of a fresh exorcism—complete with “ghost-script” charms, burning incense, and floating paper dolls—and her expression turned complex.

Didn’t I write a romance reality show novel?

Why does this look like a dark fantasy novel now?

Then she remembered she was currently standing in the ladies’ room dressed as a man, yet neither of them seemed curious about her presence. She was at a loss for words.

Why did both female guests who had appeared so far seem… so abnormal?

Rong Yu had a bad premonition.

She had previously thought it would be easy to find Lian Langsheng’s consciousness among the four women. Now, the task seemed far from simple. The two who had appeared so far were completely out of character, far exceeding their original settings.

Are all four of them breaking their character roles?

This thought set off alarm bells in Rong Yu’s head.

As if to confirm her fears, as soon as she followed He Huaiting and Mu Shuiqing back to the filming site, she felt an unignorable, burning gaze.

She followed the look and met a pair of watery, light-blue eyes.

Rong Yu had been the first to arrive at the site, sitting with her manager Lin Su in the temporary seating area. Most of the surrounding seats had been empty.

Now, over a dozen men and women were seated.

The three other male guests and their managers sat on the outer ring, while the female guests were clustered in the center. Three seats had been left open in the middle for Rong Yu and the other two, meaning Rong Yu’s original spot was now surrounded by the four female guests.

Sitting next to Rong Yu’s manager was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. She wore a light purple off-the-shoulder French blouse paired with a white pencil skirt that perfectly accentuated her slender waist and curves. She wore white Chelsea boots, revealing two straight, porcelain-white legs. The girl was clearly well-bred; even while sitting on a wooden chair, her legs were pressed together and her back was perfectly straight. Her curly blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight.

Based on the iconic hair, eyes, and elegant aura, Rong Yu recognized her: the original female lead, He Jiao. Her mother was a fallen aristocrat from London, and her parents were now top-tier investors in the domestic financial world.

In the original novel, He Jiao was Rong Yu’s favorite character. She was the most stunning of the guests—radiant yet dignified, beautiful without being flirtatious, like a blooming tulip. Her appearance was based on the real-life features of Lian Langsheng, and her gentle, understanding personality was also modeled after her friend.

In the book, He Jiao was the kindest, gentlest, and most agreeable character.

But right now, the look she was giving Rong Yu was anything but kind. In fact… it was filled with utter loathing.

Rong Yu even saw a hidden trace of hatred in her eyes, as if she were looking at the person who had killed her father.

As soon as their eyes met, the girl glared fiercely at her, huffed, and turned her face away.

Rong Yu: “…”

After seeing Mu Shuiqing and He Huaiting’s character collapses, Rong Yu wasn’t even shocked by He Jiao’s reaction. She even had the heart to comfort herself: At least one guest hasn’t completely glitched out, right?

She thought.

Of the three guests so far: one was a cold-blooded killer, one was a supernatural medium, and one looked like she wanted Rong Yu dead. Surely the last one couldn’t be that different? What other character tropes could there even be?

The host in front of the cameras checked his watch, raised his cue cards, and waved to everyone. “Would the male and female guests for this season please come forward? Our first episode is about to begin recording.”

“Would the male and female guests for this season please come forward? Our first episode is about to begin recording.”

Rong Yu froze. She had clearly heard two voices saying the exact same thing at the same time.

One was a man, the other a woman. The female voice was incredibly close, as if she were whispering right into Rong Yu’s ear—so quiet it was almost negligible.

The people around them didn’t seem to hear the female voice that had echoed the host. Rong Yu turned toward the source and saw the girl sitting directly behind her. She had wavy brown hair tied into a half-up “cat ear” style, with upturned eyes and a charming, kitten-like face. Based on the hair, Rong Yu deduced she was the fourth guest: Lin Mengxing.

Lin Mengxing was currently looking at the host with a hint of nonchalance. Noticing Rong Yu’s gaze, the girl shifted her eyes toward her. Her deep black pupils were like shimmering obsidian, possessing a light that seemed to draw everything in.

Suddenly, Rong Yu caught the scent of heavy lilies. The fragrance was sudden and intense, as if someone had smashed a bottle of concentrated lily perfume. It was passionate and overwhelming; the scent seemed to seep through her skin into her very bones. Rong Yu felt her skin tingle with a strange, addictive, almost euphoric shiver that she couldn’t control. Yet, no one else seemed to notice. They remained quiet, listening to the host.

Rong Yu forgot to ask how she knew the host’s lines and instinctively looked around for the source of the flowers, only to realize the scent was coming from Lin Mengxing.

Rong Yu looked back at the girl, wondering if she should warn her that her perfume was too strong. The next second, she saw the girl squint, pull a round Hello Kitty sticker from her pocket, lift her hair, and—slap—stick it onto the back of her neck. The movement was practiced and clean, as if she had done it a thousand times.

Instantly, the scent that had been suffocating Rong Yu vanished. It was… just like an Alpha or Omega in an ABO world applying a suppressor.

Rong Yu couldn’t help but stare at the girl’s slender, white neck.

Noticing the stare, the girl curled her lips into a smirk. she pulled out an identical Hello Kitty sticker and held it out to Rong Yu. Her voice was husky and sexy, with a hint of untamed rebellion: “You like stickers too? Here, have one.”