Chapter 1: Rebirth

Early 2000s.

Hengdian, a martial arts film crew.

“Roll camera.”

After the shout, several figures dressed in ancient garb rushed forward, snarling as they swung their wooden sticks through the air.

The man smiled faintly, raising his arms casually to block.

“Crack~”

Dust flew as the sticks shattered.

“Ahh~”

A cry of pain rang out as the previously confident figure collapsed instantly.

“Cut!!!”

The director leapt from his chair, screaming in fury: “Are you an idiot? Who the hell told you to crouch down and cover your head?!”

“Where’s the group leader?”

“What the fuck did you hire?!”

Amid a chorus of roars, the set erupted into chaos.

“Fuck.”

“Liu Er’s head got smashed.”

From the center of the chaos came startled cries: the young man clutched his forehead in agony, crimson blood seeping between his fingers, while another stood frozen, gripping the wooden stick.

Dots of blood stained its surface.

Li Luo’s eyes flickered; he gripped the broken half of the stick and slipped quietly into the crowd’s rear.

That bastard Liu Er.

He’d done nothing to provoke me—just because I’m better-looking than him, he felt threatened, so he constantly bullied and mocked me, using his status as a type actor to rally others against me.

That was bad enough.

This morning, I accidentally found the bastard had slipped leftover food into my lunch box.

After a wave of nausea.

Li Luo immediately decided to make him see blood.

After all, life is like this.

If you have a grudge, you repay it—immediately, without delay!

He hefted the stick in his hand and grinned inwardly.

He hadn’t just tampered with the weapon—he’d arranged for the real wooden stick to end up in Liu Er’s friend’s hands, then vanished clean, leaving no trace of cause or effect.

【Ding】

【Detecting host’s internal emotion: extreme pleasure】

【Indulgence System for Actor Activated】

【Indulgence Successful】

【Reward: Long Fist (Beginner)】

Li Luo’s vision blurred as a cascade of semi-phantom characters scrolled before his eyes like a waterfall.

The rainbow glow slowed.

In an instant, it coalesced into a semi-virtual screen, clearly displaying his personal stats above.

【Li Luo】

【Physique: 65】

【Charisma: 70】

【Acting: Not Beginner, Experience 68/100】

【Physique: Not Beginner, Experience 55/100】

【Dialogue: Not Beginner, Experience 33/100】

【Mastered Skills:】

【Long Fist (Beginner)】

As the screen stabilized, a flood of memories of practicing Long Fist surged into his mind—utterly real, as if he’d spent years enduring the seasons of relentless training, embedding every move into his body.

Whether it would work in actual combat was uncertain, but it would look stunning.

“Props!!!”

Seeing the undamaged stick, the director roared louder than before: “What the hell are you all good for?!”

Liu Er played a flower-plucking thief, with only a few seconds of screen time.

He didn’t even have a single line.

But his role was crucial.

According to the original shooting plan, Liu Er was to knock several extras flying, then flee with lightness skills; the protagonist would appear in the next scene and effortlessly resolve the trouble for the righteous characters.

Now there was an accident.

It had become the director’s own problem.

Ignoring the raging director, Li Luo suppressed his excitement and hurried with several other extras, afraid of bad luck, toward the corner.

It had been half a month since he returned to the beginning of the century.

During this time, he’d tried every method but couldn’t summon the legendary golden finger.

I didn't expect that letting loose would bring such a pleasant surprise.

He hadn’t reincarnated into someone else—history had played a small joke on him during the college entrance exam.

A sudden high fever before the exam threw him off his original path.

He no longer attended that nearly identical university, took that nearly identical job, earned that nearly identical salary, and finally, gritting his teeth, spent over a hundred thousand yuan as bride price to marry a nearly identical wife.

Mortgage. Car loan.

One thing after another forced him to carry the heavy plow like an old ox.

Living a numb, day-after-day existence.

This life.

After failing the college entrance exam, Li Luo decided to take a year off before retaking it, and with his family’s support, he left his small county in southeastern Guangxi with a few hundred yuan and headed straight for the Hengdian Film Base.

More than chasing a dream,

It was about satisfying his curiosity.

After stumbling along for a while, the eighteen-year-old, fueled by the boldness unique to people from Guangxi, successfully landed a meal at Hengdian.

After returning to this life,

Li Luo had planned to vent his anger, then go home in a few days.

He knew well that though the temple of dreams glittered with starlight, filled with luxury and fame, the steps leading up were built from piles of white bones.

Hengdian was soaked in countless tears and regrets.

Better to return home and seek other opportunities than waste time here.

He was still an ordinary person—no photographic memory, no ability to ride the waves of opportunity—but following the tide would still let him live a decent life.

But now that he had the golden finger, everything was different.

If given the chance,

Who wouldn’t want a life with cheat codes?

Amid the chaos, Li Luo followed several extras to the corner of the set and began studying his new system.

As the name implies,

Every time he indulged in certain behaviors, he would gain rewards: attributes, skills, opportunities.

No explicit quests were given.

The system’s rewards were unknown.

As for what counted as “indulgence,” eating, drinking, and entertainment all qualified—any behavior the system detected as meeting the criteria would trigger a reward.

In short,

As long as Li Luo felt pleasure, the system would make him feel even more pleasure.

Once he understood it,

His grin was harder to suppress than an AK-47’s recoil.

Clearly, this system wanted him to indulge in ever more creative ways. Who’d have thought that in his past life he’d been worn out like an old ox, but now he’d get to live a life of pure pleasure—thank you, God of the Working Class.

“Who here knows kung fu?”

A sharp shout pulled his thoughts back.

The assistant director and the group leader hurried over; the former frowned and asked again: “Just show a few moves—you get a hundred yuan!”

The previous man couldn’t continue filming.

But the character needed to exchange a few blows with the protagonist before being killed.

No time to find a martial arts actor.

They could only try their luck here—desperate measures for a dying horse. After all, the action director’s moves weren’t that difficult.

“Me!!!”

“I can fight—I can slap a cow dead with one hand.”

“I’m incredibly strong.”

"Choose me—I learned the Six Meridian Sword at Shaolin Temple."

No sooner had the assistant director finished speaking than the extras surged forward, waving their arms and spitting as they shouted; Big Ox slammed his bony chest hard, declaring he could take on two beasts without breaking a sweat.

Sword God curled his fingers into a orchid gesture, but felt something was off.

He quickly switched to another finger.

Working as an extra paid only about thirty yuan a day, but now he could earn a hundred just by performing for a moment.

Not to mention the chance to appear on camera.

Extremely tempting.

The assistant director’s eyebrows tightened—he knew full well most of them were just bluffing.

"Me!"

At that moment, a roar silenced the crowd as a figure burst forward: "I know Long Fist!"

The man did not pause, launching a powerful bow stance punch.

Straight toward the front.