Chapter Text
The Sweet Taste of Pomegranates was an absurdly popular drama. So popular that even Qin Shi Huang was forced—under the firm and undeniable gaze of his mother, Chun Yan, admirable and terrifying in equal measure—to watch all one hundred and fifty episodes religiously. It didn’t matter how much he, a poor final-year high school student, considered that drama excessively dramatic. No skipping the opening. No touching his phone. Not even daring to breathe in visible disinterest.
Damn one hundred and fifty episodes.
The story was inspired by the Greek myth of the Abduction of Persephone, but in a modern retelling: Hades appeared as a business tycoon, so rich that calling him “wealthy” felt like an understatement. During his honeymoon trip (yes, married, because morality is optional in dramas), he fell hopelessly in love with a simple flower seller.
Persephone, in turn, was the full package of irritating purity: kind, righteous, almost ethereal… and, apparently, incapable of making a single sensible decision on her own. Together, they spent episode after episode trying to suppress their forbidden feelings—which, in practice, meant exchanging intense looks for forty minutes and crying in slow motion.
But fate, as every good drama knows, is just a scriptwriter thirsty for money and happy endings. To hell with morality.
Two years later, Persephone reappeared as his secretary, dragging both of them down a dangerous path where desire and guilt intertwined until they became indistinguishable. And then, at the peak of obsession—or love, depending on who you ask—Hades crossed the final line: he kidnapped the girl, diving headfirst into madness.
After so many episodes, finally, that day, the last one would air. With a certain sense of relief, Qin Shi Huang could only hope that the next drama would be a colossal failure—maybe then his mother wouldn’t force him to watch the new “best drama of the year.”
That was why the young man was taking his time getting home, walking slowly as he pushed his bicycle along the street. At the very least, he wanted to stall enough to arrive halfway through the episode.
However, he knew it was risky. Technology, unfortunately, had evolved enough for Chun Yan to simply stream the episode and force him to watch Hades and Persephone’s “happily ever after”—after the convenient death of Hades’ wife (apparently, divorce does not exist)—complete with a wedding in Greece, the very place where they first met.
So young Huang let out a heavy sigh, got on his bicycle, and pedaled off quickly, his calves burning from the effort. Like taking bitter medicine, it was better to swallow it all at once than sip it slowly.
Boys are truly careless when their minds are occupied. Crossing a busy street without checking both sides is a very common mistake. And sometimes…
fatal.
Initializing system…
“What?” the boy said, noticing a translucent blue screen appearing in his field of vision.
He didn’t notice when the reincarnation truck hit him. And unfortunately, this wasn’t the kind of vehicle that would take him to his favorite story. Maybe he could have reincarnated as a certain human emperor who would fight for humanity against a god.
But no.
Of course it had to be the last story he came into contact with.
When his eyes opened again, still carrying the phantom pain of being hit, he found nothing but the typical setting of romance reincarnation stories: a soft, luxurious bed in a room that clearly belonged to high nobility.
[[ Initial Message: Hello, user Qin Shi Huang (╹▽╹)
Welcome to the romance The Sweet Taste of Pomegranates! ]]
Qin Shi Huang narrowed his eyes, trying to understand the meaning of that window. Then, slowly, he raised a hand to his head as he felt something strange. Or rather… heavy.
His fingers tangled into soft strands, far too smooth to be normal. He pulled a lock of hair forward—and if he had been confused before, the situation only got worse.
The hair fell. And kept falling.
Long. Very long. Ridiculously long.
[[ You have unlocked the character Ying Zheng, the male protagonist’s wife and the villain of the story!
Congratulations on your achievement. ]]
“....”
[[ (/^ω^)/ Do your best, A-Zheng! ]]