Chapter 1: The Film Emperor’s Rebirth

“Scene 13, Take 1. Action!”

With the sound of the clapperboard snapping shut, a slender man dressed in traditional costume was lifted into the air. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that metal wires were wrapped around his waist, suspending him.

However, before the actor could deliver his lines, a loud “thud!” echoed through the set.

“Tang-ge!”

“Film Emperor Tang!”

The metal wires had snapped unexpectedly, catching everyone off guard. Chaos erupted as people rushed toward him—his manager, assistant, and crew members all shouting in panic. The film set descended into utter disarray.

The director, who had been sitting in front of the monitor, abandoned all composure and pushed his way through the crowd. “Quick! Call an ambulance!” he yelled. If something happened to Film Emperor Tang on his set, his career as a director would be over!

But fate did not favor Tang Qu this time. By the time the ambulance arrived, his breathing had already stopped.

That day, the entire entertainment industry was shaken to its core. The top trending topic on social media read: [Tang Qu, the Youngest Film Emperor, Passes Away!]

This headline remained pinned at the top of trending searches for two full days.

Tang Qu was a household name in the entertainment industry. At just under 23 years old, he had already won the prestigious title of Film Emperor. With over 100 million followers on Weibo, he was known for his good temperament, excellent connections, and warm, humble demeanor. Everyone who knew Tang Qu spoke highly of him. Yet such a remarkable person had passed away so suddenly and without warning!

Countless fans clicked on the trending topic with tear-filled eyes, helplessly scrolling through the overwhelming flood of news articles and tributes.

In a dimly lit bedroom, a man’s fingers twitched slightly. His wrist bore shocking wounds that were hard to ignore.

“Hiss—” A sharp pain from his wrist caused him to groan softly as he slowly opened his eyes.

The man’s face was pale, but his gaze was piercingly sharp. After taking a few seconds to gather himself, he frowned slightly. Where was he? Shouldn’t he be in a hospital?

The last thing he remembered was the chaotic scene on set—the panicked crowd surrounding him as everything spiraled out of control.

The stinging pain in his wrist pulled Tang Qu back to reality. The dark red blood on his wrist had dried up, but the wound still throbbed with a dull ache.

As Film Emperor Tang assessed his situation, he decided it would be best to treat his injury first before figuring out what was going on.

For some reason, this room felt completely unfamiliar to him—but oddly enough, he instinctively knew where to find the first aid kit.

Tang Qu rummaged through it and found some alcohol and gauze. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he disinfected his wound and carefully wrapped it with gauze.

Once that task was done, he sat down on the sofa and began piecing together what had happened.

Based on everything so far—and drawing from years of reading novels—Tang Qu came up with a bold hypothesis:

He had either transmigrated or been reborn.

Judging by the modern decor of this room, Tang Qu guessed that he had been reborn into the body of some unfortunate soul.

As someone who had weathered countless storms in life, Film Emperor Tang adapted to this situation surprisingly well—if you ignored the way he was gritting his teeth in frustration.

What truly pained him wasn’t that he had gone from being a celebrated Film Emperor to an unknown nobody—it was that all the wealth he had painstakingly accumulated over the years was gone! Gone forever!

His hard-earned money… just like that… gone!

Tang Qu suddenly had another bold idea: since this was a rebirth scenario, couldn’t he still access his old accounts?

His gaze landed on a laptop sitting in the room—the only piece of technology present. He opened it and immediately searched for today’s trending topics. However, after refreshing multiple times, there wasn’t a single mention of Film Emperor Tang Qu anywhere.

Unwilling to give up, he tried several other platforms but still found nothing—as if that brilliant and accomplished Film Emperor Tang Qu had never existed at all.

Tang Qu’s mind went blank for a moment. Could it all have been just a dream? But how could a dream feel so real?

Refusing to accept this possibility, Tang Qu opened the browser and slowly typed two characters into the search bar: “Tang Qu.”