Darkness.
Endless, quiet darkness.
Jin Taoran felt like he was floating in an ocean without water, drifting through a space where even time seemed to have stopped. His body felt strangely light, as if he had been stripped of gravity itself.
Then the voice returned.
Cold. Mechanical. Precise.
[Actor System Initialization Complete.]
[Host: Jin Taoran]
[Status: Consciousness Recovery in Progress]
Jin Taoran frowned.
His mind slowly returned to clarity.
Rain.
Headlights.
The deafening sound of a horn.
The moment when the world turned white.
A car accident.
"…Am I dead?"
His voice echoed strangely in the darkness.
For a moment, there was no response.
Then—
A faint blue light appeared in front of him.
It expanded rapidly, forming a floating screen like a holographic interface.
ACTOR SYSTEM
Host: Jin Taoran
Age: 23
Profession: Actor (Unranked)
Emotional Resonance Level: 0
Career Reputation: Destroyed
Industry Influence: None
Jin Taoran stared at the screen.
His first reaction was simple disbelief.
"…What?"
The system responded instantly.
[The host has experienced a fatal career collapse.]
[Actor System activated to assist hosts in achieving Peak Acting Status.]
[Goal: Become the world's greatest actor.]
Jin Taoran blinked slowly.
Then he rubbed his forehead.
"Okay."
"Either I'm dead…"
"Or I'm hallucinating."
The system did not seem offended.
Another message appeared.
[New Ability Unlocked]
Emotion Extraction Lv.1
Description:
The host can extract emotional fragments from scripts and experience the character's memories.
Effect:
Improves acting realism and emotional synchronization.
Jin Taoran stared at the words.
His brain struggled to process what he was seeing.
He had read enough fantasy novels to understand what this looked like.
A system.
Like in those stories where the protagonist gained supernatural assistance.
But he was not the type to believe in impossible miracles.
"System," he said slowly.
"Am I alive?"
There was a short pause.
Then the reply came.
[The host body is currently in critical condition.]
[Hospital Emergency Ward.]
[Survival Probability: 41%]
Jin Taoran's eyebrows rose.
"So I'm half-dead."
[Correction: Host is half-alive.]
Jin Taoran almost laughed.
"That's not very comforting."
The blue screen flickered again.
A new window appeared.
---
SYSTEM MISSION
First Step to Stardom
Objective: Perform a role with Emotional Resonance.
Reward:
• Emotional Resonance Level +1
• Skill Upgrade
• Career Recovery Opportunity
Failure:
The host remains a forgotten actor.
---
Jin Taoran stared at the mission.
Perform a role?
"I'm in a hospital bed," he said dryly.
"How exactly do you expect me to act?"
The system answered calmly.
[Opportunity approaching.]
Before he could ask what that meant—
The darkness around him shattered.
---
Pain exploded across his body.
A sharp gasp escaped his lips as his eyes snapped open.
Bright white lights stabbed his vision.
Hospital ceiling.
Medical equipment.
The steady beep of a heart monitor.
Jin Taoran inhaled sharply as reality rushed back.
His entire body felt like it had been crushed under a truck.
Which… considering the situation… was not far from the truth.
"He's awake!"
A nurse's voice rang out nearby.
Doctors quickly approached the bed.
One of them shined a light into his eyes.
"Pupil response normal."
"Blood pressure stabilizing."
"That's incredible…"
Jin Taoran slowly turned his head.
Everything felt heavy.
Blurry.
But he was alive.
Barely.
As the doctors spoke quietly among themselves, his mind drifted back to the system.
The blue interface quietly reappeared in the corner of his vision.
No one else seemed to notice it.
[The host has regained consciousness.]
[Mission countdown started.]
72 hours remaining.
Jin Taoran frowned slightly.
"What mission?"
Before the system could answer—
The hospital door opened.
Two men in black suits walked in.
Behind them stood a tall man wearing sunglasses and a dark coat.
The room seemed to grow colder the moment he entered.
Even the doctors straightened instinctively.
Jin Taoran's eyes widened slightly.
Because he recognized that face instantly.
Even without the sunglasses.
Lu Cheng.
The legendary actor whose face had filled the billboard earlier that night.
The same man who stood at the very peak of the entertainment industry.
Why… was he here?
Lu Cheng removed his sunglasses slowly.
His sharp gaze landed directly on Jin Taoran.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Lu Cheng said something unexpected.
"So you're the actor who caused that scene on set today."
Jin Taoran blinked.
"…Scene?"
Lu Cheng's assistant stepped forward and opened a tablet.
A video began playing.
It showed the battlefield scene from earlier.
The moment where Zhao Mingyu stood over the fallen soldiers.
But the video zoomed in on something strange.
On Jin Taoran's face.
Even though he was supposed to be a corpse.
Even though he only appeared on screen for two seconds.
There was something in his expression.
A quiet, haunting emotion.
Loss.
Acceptance.
A soldier who had already understood the tragedy of war.
The director's voice echoed faintly in the recording.
"Why does that corpse look more convincing than the lead actor?"
The video ended.
Lu Cheng looked down at the hospital bed.
His eyes were calm.
But there was a hint of curiosity hidden beneath the surface.
"Tell me," he said.
"How did an unknown extra manage to perform emotional resonance?"
Jin Taoran's mind froze.
Emotional resonance.
The same phrase the system had used earlier.
The blue screen flickered again.
[Important Character Detected.]
Lu Cheng
Industry Rank: SSS-Level Actor
Emotional Perception Ability: Active
Danger Level: Extremely High
Jin Taoran stared at the information.
Danger level?
This man was supposed to be the system's future partner in his acting career.
Why would he be dangerous?
Lu Cheng seemed to notice Jin Taoran's silence.
He stepped closer to the bed.
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"I asked you a question."
Jin Taoran hesitated.
He couldn't exactly say:
Because a mysterious system appeared in my brain.
So he gave the simplest answer.
"I imagined the character's life."
Lu Cheng studied him quietly.
The room fell silent.
Then—
To everyone's surprise—
Lu Cheng smiled slightly.
It was not a warm smile.
More like the expression of someone who had just discovered an interesting puzzle.
"Interesting."
He turned to his assistant.
"Prepare the contract."
The assistant blinked.
"President Lu…?"
Lu Cheng didn't look away from Jin Taoran.
"Sign him."
The doctors and nurses in the room looked confused.
But Jin Taoran understood immediately.
His heart skipped a beat.
Aurora Entertainment.
The most powerful agency in the country.
The place where only the top actors could enter.
And the CEO himself had just ordered them to sign…
A disgraced extra actor lying in a hospital bed.
Lu Cheng spoke again.
His voice is calm and decisive.
"Jin Taoran."
"If you're capable of acting like that…"
His eyes glinted faintly.
"Then I want to see how far you can climb."
The system screen flashed brightly.
[Mission Updated]
Join Aurora Entertainment.
Reward: Emotional Resonance Level +1
Jin Taoran slowly exhaled.
For the first time since the scandal destroyed his career…
A door had opened again.
And standing on the other side of that door—
Was the most powerful man in the entire entertainment industry.