- transmigration
- cold male lead
- enemies to lovers trope
- female lead trying to change the plot
- historical romance
- being part of showbiz in real life
- cold male lead
- enemies to lovers trope
- female lead trying to change the plot
- historical romance
- being part of showbiz in real life
The Heroine is from the contemporary era but gets transported back in time into a story where she think she knows how it will all play out and does what she can to change things. If she doesn't, she's afraid she will die. The Main Lead is also the "villainous" character.
1. Entering a Novel World
A Dream Within a Dream (???): FL wakes up inside a novel or a dreamscape, where reality bends — and she has to survive a plot she didn’t write.
The First Night with the Duke (???? ????): FL literally wakes up in the body of a novel character after spending a night reading the story. Now she’s stuck in a romance plot with a dangerous male lead.
? Both heroines are modern women suddenly trapped in fictional, romanticized — but dangerous — worlds.
2. Romance with the Male Lead
A Dream Within a Dream: Starts out emotionally distant or mysterious, but the ML slowly gets entangled with the FL emotionally.
First Night with the Duke: ML is dangerous, obsessive, and cold... but slowly melts because of FL’s unpredictable actions.
? Both MLs fall for the FLs not because they play by the book — but because they break the mold.
3. Comedy, Chaos, and Unexpected Turns
Both dramas include moments where the FL’s modern logic totally clashes with the fantasy setting:
> Doing things “wrong” that actually make things better.
> Flustering cold-hearted MLs.
> Breaking serious plots with unexpected behavior.
? They’re both playful genre parodies, while still delivering serious romantic beats.
A Dream Within a Dream (???): FL wakes up inside a novel or a dreamscape, where reality bends — and she has to survive a plot she didn’t write.
The First Night with the Duke (???? ????): FL literally wakes up in the body of a novel character after spending a night reading the story. Now she’s stuck in a romance plot with a dangerous male lead.
? Both heroines are modern women suddenly trapped in fictional, romanticized — but dangerous — worlds.
2. Romance with the Male Lead
A Dream Within a Dream: Starts out emotionally distant or mysterious, but the ML slowly gets entangled with the FL emotionally.
First Night with the Duke: ML is dangerous, obsessive, and cold... but slowly melts because of FL’s unpredictable actions.
? Both MLs fall for the FLs not because they play by the book — but because they break the mold.
3. Comedy, Chaos, and Unexpected Turns
Both dramas include moments where the FL’s modern logic totally clashes with the fantasy setting:
> Doing things “wrong” that actually make things better.
> Flustering cold-hearted MLs.
> Breaking serious plots with unexpected behavior.
? They’re both playful genre parodies, while still delivering serious romantic beats.
What would you do if you accidentally found yourself inside the world of a script, playing the role of a tragic female lead used and discarded by the villainous male lead, even tortured to death?
For Song Xiao Yu, the answer is obvious: run as far away as possible. She had the perfect escape plan, but reality said otherwise. Every time she tries to change the storyline or marry a supporting male character, she becomes trapped in a never-ending loop full of “bugs,” dying in 108 unique and absurd ways.
In short, the game was over for her the moment it began. Eventually, Xiao Yu comes to a painful realization: no matter how hard she tries, the “plot” always pulls her back to the male lead, Nan Heng, forcing her to re-enact the script’s iconic scenes repeatedly.
In this paper-thin world, so many characters are shackled by predestined roles. Some are imprisoned in palace intrigues, others are confined in grand aristocratic mansions. Some are trapped in toxic rivalries among women, while others endlessly pursue power and status. Some yearn for love and freedom but can only dance in fear, bound by invisible chains. Some dream of soaring like mighty birds, only to lose their spirit amid the monotony of daily life.
Only when Xiao Yu realizes that she is no longer living in the old plot and Nan Heng isn’t the villain she thought he was, could they both find the truth and perhaps love along with it.
For Song Xiao Yu, the answer is obvious: run as far away as possible. She had the perfect escape plan, but reality said otherwise. Every time she tries to change the storyline or marry a supporting male character, she becomes trapped in a never-ending loop full of “bugs,” dying in 108 unique and absurd ways.
In short, the game was over for her the moment it began. Eventually, Xiao Yu comes to a painful realization: no matter how hard she tries, the “plot” always pulls her back to the male lead, Nan Heng, forcing her to re-enact the script’s iconic scenes repeatedly.
In this paper-thin world, so many characters are shackled by predestined roles. Some are imprisoned in palace intrigues, others are confined in grand aristocratic mansions. Some are trapped in toxic rivalries among women, while others endlessly pursue power and status. Some yearn for love and freedom but can only dance in fear, bound by invisible chains. Some dream of soaring like mighty birds, only to lose their spirit amid the monotony of daily life.
Only when Xiao Yu realizes that she is no longer living in the old plot and Nan Heng isn’t the villain she thought he was, could they both find the truth and perhaps love along with it.
The CDrama is a historical fantasy, while the KDama is a modern fantasy based in a high school. In the KDrama FML behaves like the main character, who is rich, and has a cold fiance/bf who doesn't like her. She has a heart condition so she faints a lot and can die any time. One day FML finds out that she is a book character, but not the main character, she's one of the support roles, who's used to connect the real ML and FML. Her fiance/bf isn't the ML in it either. Days go on, and she has to follow the set script until one day she notices someone who is not even a support but a background character who doesn't talk or interact with anyone. She takes an interest in him... And the real story starts.
From the trailer of the CDrama, they seem pretty similar in terms of concept. But what is unique is the setting and how will the characters be portrayed.
From the trailer of the CDrama, they seem pretty similar in terms of concept. But what is unique is the setting and how will the characters be portrayed.
Smart Male lead with an a**hole dad.
Crafty female lead.
Imperial family drama.
War.
Great action scenes.
Second Male lead was a childhood friend/sweetheart who can't understand rejection and makes it everyone else's problem. (vastly oversimplyfying the complexity and nuance that led to their turn to the darkside but yeah)
Crafty female lead.
Imperial family drama.
War.
Great action scenes.
Second Male lead was a childhood friend/sweetheart who can't understand rejection and makes it everyone else's problem. (vastly oversimplyfying the complexity and nuance that led to their turn to the darkside but yeah)
