Chapter 1: Reborn?

The second month of spring in 2002.

In past years, willow branches would have sprouted by this month, but this spring was unusually cold.

Outside the capital city.

"Cut! Wrap it up!"

At the director's command, the entire cast and crew of Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre finished today's shooting.

The sky was dark, and a slanting wind carried fine rain, chilling the skin.

Cheng Chen took off his soaked costume and handed it to the crew staff before leaving the set.

He breathed heavily, his head spinning, cheeks flushed and burning; he muttered aimlessly: "It's already April, why's there still a late cold snap?"

Pulling his peeling jacket tighter, Cheng Chen trudged toward the dormitory, stepping unevenly.

Behind him, the set director seemed to be announcing something, but Cheng Chen no longer cared—no matter how big the news, it had nothing to do with a background extra like him.

All he wanted now was to collapse and sleep.

Back in the dorm, Cheng Chen pulled the blanket over his head to sweat it out, then fell into a dazed sleep.

In his dream, he vaguely saw many bizarre, chaotic, and unbelievable things…

In 2004, our country's flying man won an Olympic gold medal.

In 2005, Beyond's farewell concert.

In 2006, the Three Gorges Dam was fully completed.

In 2007, Chang'e-1 reached the moon.

In 2008, the Olympics were held at home.

…

These strange, surreal images in his dream were all about the future; Cheng Chen's life felt as if its clock had been sped up—he lived through everything the future held.

In his dream, Cheng Chen saw his future self.

The future Cheng Chen remained an actor, appearing in hit TV dramas and box-office films, but always as a background extra, never rising higher than a featured extra.

By 2020, the film and TV industry hit a brutal winter, and he lost his job.

Later, he followed some colleagues and started live-streaming from home; drawing on years of experience as a background extra, he gained some fan support and barely scraped by.

When the industry slowly improved, he returned to the wandering actor life—until, during a battle scene explosion, he was accidentally struck… the dream ended there.

"Puff…"

Cheng Chen jolted upright on the bed, sweat pouring down his forehead; thunderous snores echoed beside him, and the air reeked of a familiar yet alien foot odor.

Cheng Chen wiped the sweat from his dry mouth, gazing through the window's moonlight, pondering his current situation…

It was now April 2002; the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre crew had just arrived in Yuyang, outside Jingcheng, to shoot.

This production, gathering stars from both sides of the strait, was touted in its day as an 80-million-yuan epic (in reality, it was 20 million), and for years afterward remained a cherished memory for those born in the 80s and 90s.

The 2003 version of Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre was later rated by fans as one of the most successful Jin Yong adaptations; its lead cast—including Su Youpeng, Gao Yuanyuan, and Jia Jingwen—became pillars of the entertainment industry in later years.

At this moment, Cheng Chen was a background extra in this very drama.

Cheng Chen had followed his fellow extra from Hui Sheng, drifting between various sets; only a few days ago had his group leader informed him he'd landed a role in this big production.

Now, Cheng Chen was both excited and thrilled. After lying down, he recalled every detail of his dream—every event crystal-clear in his mind.

In his future's vocabulary, this strange experience could only be called rebirth or transmigration.

With the sudden addition of over twenty years of future memories and life experience, even his once-naive mindset had matured; for the Cheng Chen of this era, this borrowed life experience was a devastating weapon.

Recalling how pitifully his future self had fared, Cheng Chen silently vowed: the future must be in his own hands—he would become better!

For the entertainment industry in 2002, everything was still burgeoning; capital had not yet fully entered the scene, and actors still took their jobs seriously.

Stars hadn't yet collapsed every other day; the media hadn't yet shouted "The inner circle is done"; "little fresh meat" was still just meat, not yet burdened with meaning.

In this era, everything was still beautiful.

Cheng Chen quietly planned: once his background role in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre was done, he'd leave quickly, scout other sets in Jingcheng—what big hits were scheduled for 2003 and 2004?

Xue Hua Nu Shen Long, The Detective Di Renjie: Part One, Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan, Zhang Ga… these future blockbusters—he dared not dream of landing a lead role, but just appearing briefly to build goodwill and gain experience was more than enough.

Once he gained some popularity, combined with his future perspective and twenty extra years of life experience, he could easily snatch up several future hit roles and cling to directors who hadn't yet become famous.

The events of today had shaken Cheng Chen profoundly; he let his imagination run wild with visions of the future.

Half-asleep, he heard rustling sounds—his roommate on the next bed had already woken up.

Cheng Chen forced his eyes open, checked the time—it was already 5:30 a. m.

But the set's call time was still two hours away, at 7:30.

"Xiao Hu, are you shooting today?"

Cheng Chen asked softly.

"You don't know yet, Cheng Ge?" Yang Hu pulled on his black cotton vest and whispered to Cheng Chen.

"Chengzi came back early yesterday—he probably hasn't heard about it."

Li Fei rolled over from the top bunk, stretched, and continued: "Yesterday, Director Zhang said Liu Hengyu, who plays Song Qingshu, ran into trouble—he won't be able to continue filming. So the role of Song Qingshu is now open."

Li Fei glanced at Yang Hu, who was dressing while quietly reciting lines, and sneered:

"This kid just wants to sneak in. He doesn't even consider that a role like Song Qingshu could ever go to a background extra like us."

"The director's team will probably just pretend to hold auditions—we all know the casting was decided long ago."

"We go? No chance."

Others in the dorm gradually woke up, hearing Li Fei's words and laughing knowingly.

"It's too early, you're making too much noise. We're all background extras—don't dream of being actors. It's pointless no matter who goes!"

"I'll say it right here: if anyone in this room lands the role of Song Qingshu, I'll eat shit!"

Liu Chen, sleeping next to Yang Hu, sneered.

Liu Chen was also a background actor, always speaking cruelly and fond of mocking others; Cheng Chen particularly disliked this person.

Cheng Chen ignored his words as if they were a fart, but upon careful analysis, the difficulty was indeed considerable.

The original actor for Song Qingshu, Liu Hengyu, was a graduate of the Military Art Academy, a bona fide professional.

Last year he starred alongside Liu Ruoying and Chen Hao in the drama *Pink Women*.

Moreover, the role of Song Qingshu is a substantial supporting character throughout *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*.

He is almost half a step into the main cast, a highly representative villain—do we, as background actors, even have the right to audition for this role?

Even if, hypothetically, the director's team ultimately had no choice but to select Song Qingshu from among the background actors.

But do they possess the acting skill and strength to carry such an important role?

Thus, apart from Yang Hu, everyone else in the dormitory had sufficient self-awareness to avoid preparing for the audition for this role.