Chapter 1 - THE DEATH OF A MOVIE EMPEROR

HE stared at the bridge not far away. There were people in front of him and also people in the back. They were lined up to pass on the bridge. If he was not mistaken, that was the famous NaiHe bridge. The bridge that human soul had to walk through to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Yes, that's right. Human soul. Because right now, just like the others who were lining up to walk on the bridge, he was also only a soul.

It meant only one thing – he was dead.

He couldn't believe that his very perfect day would end up in this way. He went from a newly crowned movie emperor to a dead soul. He was not reconciled. Anyone in his situation wouldn't.

He was an orphan who had long been used to taking care of himself. His father was a gambler who left a huge debt to his mother. She had to work to the point that her back almost broke just so she could pay off his father's debt. His mother was too kind and too soft for her own good. Soon, when he reached the age of 12, she died due to overwork.

He never forgave his father for that.

He was then sent to live to his aunt's family, his mother's only sister. There, he experienced how to live like a slave for the next four years of his life. If not for his strong fortitude, he might have long been broken into pieces because of their constant verbal and sometimes physical abuse. That's why when he had the chance to get away from them, he didn't hesitate to do so.

It was when he passed the entrance exam of a key high school in another province. He didn't hesitate to go there and cut off his communication with his aunt's family. Heck, they probably didn't even know of his plan. He didn't tell them about him passing the entrance exam of that key high school because he was sure they would definitely do everything to stop him. After all, who would give up such a convenient slave, right? So, after his middle school graduation, he boarded a train and never came back.

He was confident that they wouldn't put the effort to look for him. He pleaded with his homeroom teacher not to tell them anything if they ever asked her. That teacher of his knew about his situation and she agreed. Anything further than that, they wouldn't do. Because searching for someone needed money. And they wouldn't ever spend money on someone they only thought of as a slave.

His life after that was as hard as it had been. Doing parting jobs while studying. Making sure that his grades wouldn't drop, so he wouldn't lose his scholarship. But he didn't mind. Because he was free. And that's really what all that mattered.

A month before he graduated high school, he accidentally entered a filming crew while delivering food. Incidentally, an extra that was supposed to play the role of a food delivery guy didn't come and they needed to film his scene right at that moment. Seeing him, the assistant director just pulled him and told him that if he played that role, he would pay him. He agreed. He wouldn't say no to such quick money.

It was a fascinating experience. And that's also the start of his love for acting.

He went to a performing arts college after that to learn more about acting. Because of his stint on that movie, a small entertainment company invited him to be one of their artists. He only agreed once he did research on them. They were a small company, yes. But everyone was hardworking which was very important for him. Most of all, they don't let their artists do unspoken rules. Their artists win their resources based on their talents in acting and not their talents on the bed.

When he first started, not many were optimistic about him. He was not really the pretty and delicate type that seemed to be very popular to young girls. He was also not that overly handsome that simply exude masculine charms that women of all ages referred to as male gods. In terms of appearance, he's probably just at the middle of the two.

He was tall and slender. His face would probably be considered as plain if not for his pair of phoenix eyes which was also surrounded by long eyelashes. His eyes added charm to his face which he probably would never have if he had a normal pair of eyes. He also had good skin. They were white and delicate. The skin on his face especially so with almost no pores visible. He kept it that way with proper skin care.

It was probably a blessing that he was telegenic enough. So, with the proper make-up and lighting, he could also appear very handsome. But what he lacked in the looks department, he made up with talent.

He first started with small roles. Some even only had five minutes of appearance. But it didn't matter. What's important was for him to exercise his skills. His big break came when he played the third male in a Xianxia television series. Although his role was not that big, it could captivate the hearts of many if played right. And he did. He did it so well that at the end of that series, his Weibo fans reached 10 million!

That's probably not that big of a deal considering how the top artists in the country had 100 million followers in Weibo. But for an artist that had been in the industry for only a year, that was already a very big deal.

Many projects came after that. But it had not been a swift sailing for him. Before he could even set a foothold in the entertainment industry, his gambling father somehow found him and wanted to extort money from him. Of course, he vehemently refused. Their confrontation was captured in a video by a paparazzi and it had gone viral. Just a few days after that, his aunt's family was somehow interviewed and they talked as if he was the most ungrateful person in the world. Which somehow supported the video of him and his father.

Suddenly, in the eyes of people, he became the most unfilial son. Many black fans scolded him every day. Telling him to get out of the entertainment industry. Those who were jealous of his success flamed the scandal even more, putting him as the villain of the whole narrative.

But those things didn't deter him. While he was being scolded in the internet, he collected evidence of his father's gambling and the abuse of his aunt's family. It wasn't so hard. He just had to let them admit the things that they had done and secretly took a video of it. His agent helped him a lot with that. With just the right acting, he managed to goad them into saying the things that he wanted.

With the released of those videos, the situation was finally reversed. He even gained a lot of loyal fans after. But most importantly, he managed to severe his relationship with those shameless relatives. He made sure that they would never entangle themselves with him again.

Years passed and he finally managed to win the best actor award at one of the top award-giving body in the country.

And on the night he received that award, he died a very stupid death.