Pretending To Have A Girlfriend? Chapter Completed Discussion

I quite enjoyed this novel cuz the drama and regret makes my heart strangely uncomfortable and painful, and who doesn't like that? Plus I read this without thinking too much, and am gonna talk about key points that can be deal breakers in the novel.

Welp, to begin with, the characters in this novels lack two fundamental things to make a relationship work, 1. Communication from the protagonist and 2. Empathy from his party members. The protagonist at the very beginning is just a doormat that can't even voice his own thoughts and emotions freely, he goes out of his way to comply with all of their demands, days off with no rest nor sleep made him way too exhausted and fatigued which almost caused his death. And his party members used every moment of his day to stay with him whether he likes or not (not that he complained out loud tho), without considering his likes, dislikes and his state of mind. Even when he goes out he has to be checked if he was with a woman besides them, like, is that something you need to be involved in? Is his life! But! It is justified and excused 'cause they're in love with him🥰. F*ck off. From what I remember he implied or told them outright to go out w him, but all of them refused cuz reasons OR that they liked him but because that peace treaty they dismissed his feelings several times; obviously, they treat him with care and love in a selfish way, but as I repeated, they don't consider his feelings AT ALL, and remembering this makes my blood boil. When the protagonist asks if they act in a certain way because they like him, they have a predetermined response that makes the MC feel like he is misunderstanding something and it will never be in a romantic way. The mage is the older sister archetype, and when he asked if she liked him she said, "Yes, I like you as a younger brother😊", and the other two answered not with the same answer, but WITH THE SAME IMPLICATION, that he has the misconception that they're doing this cuz he is their special person, but not THAT special as he thinks it is, this leaves him with a feeling of confusion and frustration. And even when he tries to make progress he is left on hold because of their s*upid treaty, only for them unknowingly damaging his psyche and their relationship.

After the incident in which he almost died, he tried to draw a line, so in steps of his brother's advice, he tells them that he has a girlfriend, leaving them speechless and thinking "when did he had time to go out and know other women?". He didn't, that was bullshit, and the worst is that they knew HE HADN'T TIME FOR THAT. Of course they didn't believe him but cause the previous incident and this alleged "girlfriend" they can't pressure him as much as before. Miraculously, the woman he told them about is real and everything about her matches the details and now they can't be with him cuz he is claimed. (Dk bout the next) The party members in desperate attempts try to seduce him, even knowing that from their point of view, his girlfriend is real and he is serious about her, and everything goes downhill with misunderstandings and more confusion to our protagonist about their feelings.

The next thing is, I don't like this regret tag as much as I previously said, is stressful that in every POV of the female characters they feel "so bad for everything they've done to the MC" or "he obviously is doing elicit acts with his girlfriend right now". When the MC ends up with a character that regrets things they've done to him like in The Main Heroines Are Trying To Kill Me, this love doesn't feel genuine, it's like they're with him to make amends. And this thought makes me feel pity for every character. A similar phenomenon happens here with them doing favors and things the MC didn't even asked for, this makes me think they are so nosy and that they need to mind their own business, thinking like that to characters I have affection to is so heartbreaking.

Of course this work has good things like character development and I enjoyed reading every second of it, even the frustrating and uncomfortable parts and the characters here hace some deep in them, some with goals, some following the back of a respected figure or some trying to figure out how to be free from their cage.

Even with all the criticism I wrote here, I think this novel deserves attention, and as one should expect from the same author as Why Are You Becoming a Villain Again? and Incompatible Interspecies Wives, this novel has a heavily focus on the relationship between the characters, their lack of communication, misunderstandings and regrets. Even if you can't like this work, at least give it a chance, because no one knows if this will be one of your favorites novels or the worst thing you've ever read.