After being reborn as the tragic heroine of a romance novel, I accidentally picked up the wrong script—the one where I’m deeply in love with the second female lead. When she tripped and fell, I tore into my A-list actor boyfriend. “A whole person falls down right in front of you, and you just stand there? Are you just decorative?!” When she was getting attacked by online trolls, I grabbed my phone and single-handedly launched a counter-offensive. When she posted a photo with my boyfriend, I commented: “You have such terrible taste in men. Let me set you up with someone decent.” My Boyfriend: “…” The Other Woman: “…” Later, my boyfriend had me blacklisted from the industry. But the girl he did it for, the supposed "other woman," spent the entire night comforting me. “So you’re blacklisted? Big deal,” she said, her voice fierce. “If it comes to it, I’ll quit the industry with you!” That was the night the system, which had been frozen since my arrival, finally came online. [Bzzzt—! Host, aren’t you supposed to be suffering a tragic miscarriage right now? Why are you getting all lovey-dovey with the second female lead?] 1 I took my best friend and my boyfriend hiking. They teamed up to push me off a cliff. The good news: I was caught by the park staff. The bad news: One was wearing all black, the other all white. They looked suspiciously like the Grim Reaper’s interns. They told me I’d lived a good life, so I was due for a great reincarnation. Before they could finish, I was whisked away. I had transmigrated. The bad news: There was an accident during the transfer. The system crashed and went offline. The good news: Before it died, it managed to toss me the script. This whole whirlwind of events left me speechless. I opened the script, and the first page had only one sentence in a massive, bold font: [UNCONDITIONALLY PROTECT THE FEMALE LEAD: JULES SONG.] The good news: Jules Song and I were filming the same reality TV show. The bad news: She had just fallen down right next to me. The top star, Liam Riverwood, was standing right in front of her. From his angle, all he could see was the picture of delicate distress: Jules, clutching her knee, brow furrowed, biting her lip, looking utterly pitiful. And then there was me, standing beside her like an idiot. Her eyes, shimmering with tears, flickered towards me. “Julia, you…” Her tone was loaded with meaning. Every head swiveled in my direction. The most piercing gaze belonged to my secret boyfriend, Liam. I used the few brain cells I had left to analyze the situation and then pointed my finger squarely at him. “A whole human being managed to fall over right in front of you. Are you just paid to stand there and look pretty?” 2 The live stream chat exploded. [Uh? What? Why is she blaming Liam?] [Is this woman insane?] [Wow, shifting blame much? Pathetic.] Liam himself was stunned, clearly not expecting me to say that. I pointed at Jules on the ground. “You were standing face-to-face with her. I was standing to her side. Geometrically speaking, you had a much clearer view. Not only did you fail to catch her, but you just stood there like a statue after she fell! What, were you waiting for her to bounce back up?” Hearing this, Jules tried to push herself up. “It has nothing to do with Liam, I was just being clumsy.” I rushed to help her, but the moment my hand touched her, she let out a sharp cry of pain. Liam panicked. He shoved me aside and swooped in to lift Jules into his arms. A pang of pain shot through my heart. …Except he couldn’t lift her. He tried again, grunting with effort. Good news: he got her off the ground. Bad news: he threw out his back. Even worse news: he dropped her. A shriek escaped my lips. “My God! With a spine as fragile as a sparrow’s fart, what possessed you to even attempt a princess carry?!” Liam’s face turned black. I swiftly scooped Jules out of his failed embrace and gently set her down on a nearby chair. For a moment, a look of sheer disbelief crossed everyone’s face. “Is Julia… having a breakdown?” Of course I wasn’t. I just didn’t want to fail my mission. Yes. That had to be it. I successfully brainwashed myself. I turned to get the first-aid kit. When I looked back, Liam had already moved Jules just outside the camera’s frame. He was kneeling in front of her, blowing gently on her scraped knee. “Is that better?” Jules smiled faintly. “Mm-hm.” His voice was laced with a sort of weary fondness. “You’re still so careless when you walk.” Another pang. Sharper this time. Jules started to say something else but then she saw me. She gave Liam a little push. “Julia’s here.” Liam glanced at me, a flicker of discomfort on his face. I knew why. According to the script, I had been with him since he was a nobody. We had survived on instant ramen and shared single chicken wings. Back then, the most sincere thing he ever said was: The day I make it big, I’m going to tell the whole world I have the best girlfriend ever. But when he finally made it, he found a new girl. And another. And another. Jules was just the latest in a long line, though she might be the last. She was the prettiest, the most understanding. Thinking of this, I asked him, “If I hadn’t come over, were you planning to keep blowing on her knee all day?” Jules looked nervous and reached for Liam’s arm. The other cast members and the crew started looking over. His voice was a low warning. “Julia, don’t push it.” That set me off. “I’m pushing it? Liam, are you an absolute moron? Do you have any idea how disgusting your mouth is? It’s a petri dish for bacteria, and you’re blowing it all over her open wound! What if it gets infected?” The entire set went silent. Then, a few people failed to stifle their laughter. Liam’s face burned with humiliation. “You… you…” “‘You, you, you’ what? Bad back, and a bad brain to match.” Liam stormed off in a rage. I grinned, kneeling in front of Jules with a cotton swab. “The Neanderthal’s gone. Don’t worry, I’ll disinfect this for you!” 3 Because Jules was injured, the rest of the day’s activities were scrapped in favor of a cozy fireside chat. Aside from Liam, who was forcing a smile, everyone else seemed to be in good spirits. The producer threw out a question. “What’s the most unforgettable hateful comment you’ve ever received online?” Jules was the first to speak. She glanced at Liam, then said softly: “In all my years in this industry, the thing that stuck with me the most was from three years ago, when my fantasy drama aired. Someone called me a thief.” I froze. If I remembered correctly, I was originally cast as the female lead in that drama. The day before filming started, I was replaced by Jules. Coincidentally, the male lead was also swapped out… for Liam. Thanks to his star power and promotion, the show became a minor hit, and Jules gained a million followers overnight. The live chat started buzzing again. [I remember that! Jules got so much hate, Julia’s fans were brutal.] [Well, Jules did steal Julia’s role. People are allowed to be mad.] [You all called Julia a has-been before, now you're calling her fans crazy. Make up your minds.] [Lmao, cyberbullies always find a way to justify themselves.] Jules continued to recount her experience with the online mob, but I couldn’t listen anymore. I pulled out my phone and started scrolling. “Back then, every morning I’d wake up and my DMs would be full of people cursing me out, telling my whole family to die…” She was crying now, her eyes red and swollen. Liam moved to wipe her tears, but then he noticed me, head down, engrossed in my phone. “Julia, is this your idea of respect?” I had just looked up when he snatched the phone out of my hands. Ethan Siegel, another A-list actor on the show, saw Liam defending Jules and quietly looked away. Liam slammed my phone down on the table. “Since your phone is so fascinating, let’s all have a look, shall we?” He was furious, and the crew didn’t dare intervene. All the cameras zoomed in on my phone screen. Even though I knew this show was basically created for Jules, having my privacy exposed like this still stung. Liam opened the social media app I was on. The notifications tab was a sea of red, with a “99+” badge. He tapped on it. And froze. Troll_101: [Am I the only one who thinks Jules is a total fake?] Jules’sKnightInShiningArmor: [Yes. You are the only one. You are special. You are a unique little star. You are the light, the truth, and the one true myth.] Hater_4_Life: [Jules isn't even that pretty. Why do so many people like her?] Jules’sKnightInShiningArmor: [Life is dull and full of pain, so a toad critiques a human.] RandomUser89: [Idk, Jules seems kinda basic.] Jules’sKnightInShiningArmor: [Oh, unlike you, I suppose. You’re like a goat that farted a sheep’s fart—both gassy and pretentious.] I had decided that replying to them one by one wasn’t efficient enough, so I’d made my own post. [Feel free to list all your complaints about Jules Song here. Get it all out of your system. I’ll be deleting all of it shortly. How dare you disrespect my queen? I am on the internet for one reason: to make Jules an empress. Those who follow me will prosper; those who oppose me will perish. Those who dare criticize me to my face will have their bloodline cursed for nine generations. Those who petition me online will face extreme punishment. Those who slander me in public and have it reach my ears will be gifted a vial of poison and told to do the honorable thing.] The set was dead silent for a long moment. Finally, Ethan Siegel spoke up. “Julia… this ‘Jules’sKnightInShiningArmor’… that wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?” I looked down and picked at my fingernails. “Is that a problem?” 4 The system’s script told me to unconditionally protect Jules, and I was doing a fantastic job. Maybe too fantastic. Fans online were starting to suspect we were secretly dating. And we weren’t the only ones caught up in shipping rumors. So was Ethan. He was Liam’s senior in the industry, a respected actor who’d never had a single scandal. But during today’s live streams, he had looked visibly dejected four separate times. Each time was right after Liam and Jules had a close moment. While the producers held an emergency meeting, I cornered him in the hallway. “Ethan, have you seen the trending topics online?” He shot back, “Julia, have you seen the ship name the fans have given you two?” Because our names both started with a ‘J’, fans had started calling us ‘J-Squared’. “I seem to recall… you and your junior colleague Liam aren’t exactly close.” “And I seem to recall you and Jules weren’t exactly close either.” Our eyes met. We suddenly lunged forward and hugged each other. “We’re two lonely souls in the same boat!” “I can’t believe I found a comrade here!” After our reunion, I asked him. “What’s your mission?” He sighed. “The system crashed the second I got here. It only had time to throw the script at me. My role is the tragic protagonist of a romance novel. The other protagonist… is Liam.” For the love of God, why did that sound so familiar? “Pardon my asking, but what’s your system’s ID number?” Ethan calmly stated three digits. “250.” For the love of God, it was the same one! The system was truly as idiotic as its ID suggested. This raised a question. “But seriously, why are our roles so weird? I’m Liam’s girlfriend, but I have to protect Jules. You’re his senior colleague, but you’re supposed to be tortured by him…” A thought flashed through my mind. “I’ve got it!” A spark of hope ignited in Ethan’s eyes. I stated my theory with grave seriousness. “Liam’s bisexual!” 5 The spark died. I don’t know if other people believe in the light, but in that moment, I saw it get extinguished from Ethan’s eyes. The disappointment was palpable. “So you’re saying… Liam and I are in love, but he’s fallen for Jules? And for her sake, he abandons me and ignores me, over and over, until I fall into a deep depression and die, at which point he finally realizes that I was the one he loved all along?” I snapped my fingers. “As expected of an award-winning actor! Your ability to piece together a plot is top-notch.” He frowned. “But you’re his official girlfriend!” I tutted. “You just don’t get it, do you? Me, Jules… we’re just pawns in your twisted game of angsty love.” “Tsk, this is juicy. You love Liam, but Liam is all over Jules. And me, his secret girlfriend, not only am I not mad, I’m actively trying to steal Jules away. Wow. Who wrote this stuff? It’s wild.” Ethan rubbed his temples. “So what I need to do now is… act like the heartbroken original partner whose boyfriend is cheating on him?” I gave him a sympathetic look. Ethan had been in the business for over a decade, playing countless iconic roles. This would be his first time playing a man whose boyfriend was cheating on him. The thought of such an elegant, handsome man having to play a tragic lover made me shiver on his behalf. I patted his shoulder. “Look on the bright side. You’re in your thirties. Prime time for a career challenge.” Ethan sighed, and his gaze suddenly shifted to something behind me. My heart skipped a beat. I whipped around to see Liam standing in the doorway, his expression unreadable. Behind him stood Jules, her face a mask of disbelief. She looked exactly like someone who had just caught her boyfriend cheating. I yanked my hand off Ethan’s shoulder. Jules bit her lip and ran off. I instinctively moved to follow her but was blocked by Liam, who adSiegeld on me step by step. He sneered at Ethan. “I never knew you had a hobby of hitting on other people’s girlfriends, Ethan.” Ethan’s face was a portrait of grief. “There’s a lot you don’t know, isn’t there?” “I’m the one whose girlfriend is being hit on. Why do you look so heartbroken, Ethan?” Ethan just stared at him. I stared at him too. Liam looked confused. “What? Why are you both looking at me?” A faint redness crept into Ethan’s eyes. “Do you really not know what you’ve done?” Liam: “?” “What did I do?” Ethan didn’t answer. He just turned and walked away. Liam turned his bewildered gaze back to me. “What did I do?” I was still lost in admiration for Ethan’s superb acting, so I ignored him too. Liam exploded. “SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL DID I DO?!”
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