[Do you want to enter the world of 2D and become a popular idol?]
[Congratulations—your audition has passed!]
[The Dimensional Popularity Stage is at your service!]
"I died? Was it a car?"
Su Qi slowly opened his eyes. He still remembered how it had happened: on the way to a job interview, he'd taken a wrong turn and wandered onto the set of some production next door—something about anime, from the look of it. He'd been about to leave when the director said it must be fate and asked him to audition.
One audition later, Su Qi somehow walked out with unanimous praise from the entire crew and a surprisingly generous paycheck. He never got the offer he'd originally come for, but an idol career was apparently about to begin instead.
And it was precisely that audition that made Su Qi realize his true dream—maybe he really did want to be a powerhouse idol.
Funny how fate works. The moment Su Qi found that dream, a truck found him right outside his front door. An idol career that hadn't even started was over in an instant.
"Where on earth is this?"
He looked around. He was floating in what appeared to be a starfield—an infinite, dark expanse dotted with bubble-like spheres, each one seemingly a world unto itself, assembled from shimmering galaxies.
He looked down at himself. Nothing. He was dead, body and all. Only his consciousness remained.
[Welcome to the Dimensional Popularity Stage.]
The voice from before returned, speaking directly into his mind.
[Your original life has ended, but a new one is about to set sail. Become a Dimensional Idol, shine across infinite stages, rise from extra to protagonist—and then become a true Dimensional Superstar!]
"Dead people can still be idols?"
—Were they going to have him star in some kind of Ghost Romance?
Well, he was dead either way. Being a dead idol seemed perfectly reasonable, all things considered.
[Before their debut, new performers will be reincarnated into a Dimensional World for pre-show training. Please make the most of your second life.]
"Oh? I get to come back to life?"
Su Qi's eyes lit up—or they would have, if he'd had eyes.
[Become a Dimensional Idol, earn popularity, and you may fulfill any wish you desire.]
"So if I get enough popularity, I can return to my original world—maybe even truly come back to life?"
Su Qi had caught the implication immediately.
[Performers may use popularity points to randomly acquire anything they desire. Popularity points can be used to draw rewards, unlock new stages, enhance skills, and more.]
"Got it. So what do I actually do?"
[The Stage will record the stories unfolding in Dimensional Worlds and broadcast them as anime to an audience. The audience's main camera follows the activities of that world's Chosen One.]
[Performers enter the Dimensional World to participate in the production. As a newcomer, you will begin as a background extra—and work your way, step by step, toward the spotlight, until you become a true Dimensional Superstar!]
[The more attention a performer receives—the more highlight moments, the more screen time—the more easily they accumulate popularity points.]
"Got it. A Dimensional reality show." Su Qi understood now. "And here I thought I'd be the main character. Turns out I'm just a glorified extra."
[The higher a performer's total accumulated popularity, the higher their performer rank—and the better the roles they become eligible for.]
[Additionally: a well-executed exit can elevate a character to new heights—and may earn a free revival.]
[Current Performer Rating: Extra]
[Extra: a background face among background faces. No attention bonus.]
Being a star was great. Being an extra was not.
"Still—the way they describe it, even an extra can rise up. Maybe even become a real protagonist?"
Understood.
A life without hustle wasn't worth living—but a hustle without a gimmick wasn't worth watching.
Pulling stunts and schemes? That he was good at.
"Then let the dream I lost be reborn right here."
Dimensional Popularity Stage—I'm going to make you launch my idol career.
[Orientation complete. Please draw your newcomer gift pack.]
A colorful stellar nucleus appeared before Su Qi's consciousness.
"How do I use it?"
[Touch it with your consciousness.]
"Touch it with my consciousness?" He had no idea what that meant. He tried extending something like a mental hand toward the glimmering nucleus.
It exploded in a burst of light—ten beams scattering outward.
Mostly blue and white. But among those ten beams, Su Qi spotted two golden streaks and one violet. The sheer purity of that light told him immediately: these were no ordinary items.
"A ten-pull with double gold? My luck isn't bad."
The ten beams descended like shooting stars and materialized before him.
Su Qi locked onto the two golden ones first. When the golden light cleared, two gold-bordered cards appeared. One depicted a black blindfold; the other, a fox mask.
"A blindfold? And a mask? Why do these feel so familiar?"
He stared at the blindfold—and suddenly a flood of information surged into his consciousness.
[Character Inheritance Card]
[Flawless Flying Light: Jingliu — LV1]
[Rarity: Five-Star]
[Talents/Skills: Ice Affinity, Yin Affinity, Sword Affinity]
[Bonus: When wearing Chinese-style attire, Attention +10%]
[Keepsake: Eye-Concealing Black Veil — Blindfold]
[Keepsake Effect: While worn, Attention +10%, cultivation speed +10%, and perception is enhanced]
[Invest popularity points to level up; each milestone unlocks a unique ability]
[At LV10, may enter a Dimensional World using this character as a template]
So these golden pulls weren't just items—they were inheritances. And this Jingliu was a character from Honkai: Star Rail.
"Now I know why it looked familiar—it's someone I actually know." The realization hit him. "Wait, that other one—could it be—?"
His consciousness immediately reached for the familiar fox mask beside it. Sure enough, a similar stream of information followed.
[Character Inheritance Card]
[Thousand-Faced Actor: Sparkle — LV1]
[Rarity: Five-Star]
[Talents/Skills: Fire Affinity, Quantum Affinity, Illusion Affinity]
[Bonus: When wearing red Japanese-style attire, Attention +10%]
[Keepsake: Fool's Thousand Faces — Mask]
[Keepsake Effect: While worn, may transform into any appearance, figure, or state you need—undetectable by any means]
[Invest popularity points to level up; each milestone unlocks a unique ability]
[At LV10, may enter a Dimensional World using this character as a template]
"There you are, Director."
The Fool's Mask—wasn't that basically an unlimited license to pull every scheme imaginable?
Oh, this was going to be glorious.
Jingliu was a powerhouse fighter. Sparkle was a grandmaster of chaos. Together, these two cards meant one thing: he could stir up everything.
"Next—the violet card."
[Hourglass]
[Rarity: Four-Star]
[Within a defined range, adjust the time-entry point into a Dimensional World]
[Uses remaining: 3/3]
"Excellent. With this, I can lay the groundwork in advance. Even as an extra, I can work my way into connections with the 'protagonist' ahead of time and bend fate from there."
Pity it had limited uses—otherwise this would have been gold-tier without question.
After inspecting the top three, Su Qi turned to the "blue-and-white" cards.
[Performance Costume — Furisode Kimono Set]
[Rarity: Three-Star]
[Always the most perfectly fitted, beautiful women's kimono. Attention +5% while worn.]
"Not bad. Pair it with Sparkle's inheritance, and that's 15% Attention right out of the gate."
Cross-dressing? Fine. No Attention? Unacceptable. Black fame was still fame. Haters were still fans.
One more blue card remained. His consciousness drifted over.
[Post-Production — HD Quality]
[Rarity: Three-Star]
[After applying, your scenes will never drop below 720p HD resolution.]
Another gem. Su Qi guessed 1080p or 2K would be purple-tier, and 4K might even be gold. Think about it—every other performer blurry at 480p, and only his scenes in crisp HD. That alone would be remarkable.
"The five white cards… hm? They're all the same?"
The gold, violet, and blue cards each had their own flair—but when Su Qi looked at the five common white cards, they were near-identical.
[Camera Card — Daily]×3
[Usable in everyday scenes. Redirects the camera feed to focus on you.]
[Camera Card — Close-Up]×2
[Causes the camera to execute a close-up shot of you.]
"Actually pretty useful."
Blue-and-white or not, this newcomer gift pack was nothing like those predatory gacha games. Every single item served a purpose.
[Rewards received. Entering the Dimensional World momentarily.]
All the cards vanished—but Su Qi could feel them, lodged somewhere within his consciousness.
Then a second stream of information appeared.
[Submitting performer résumé…]
[Receiving casting call…]
[Negotiating compensation…]
[Drafting performance contract…]
[Anime project approved.]
[Series title: Ninja's Path]
[Series start: when the Chosen One, Uzumaki Naruto, is 12 years old]
"Uzumaki Naruto?"
Su Qi's focus sharpened.
Ninja's Path? That wasn't a ninja show—that was the Naruto world.
This he knew inside and out.
[Please select your entry mode.]
[1. Outsider (no physical form — unavailable)]
[2. Local (free for newcomers)]
"Outsider" was grayed out. Only "Local" was selectable.
Naturally, Su Qi chose Local. A new set of options appeared.
[Please select your reincarnation role.]
A long list unfurled before him. Su Qi's heart sank the moment he saw the names.
Not one he recognized.
[Name: Akane]
[Classification: Extra. Civilian girl of Konoha Village.]
The portrait was thoroughly unremarkable.
[Name: Ami]
[Classification: Extra. Civilian girl of Konoha Village.]
"…What is this?!"
Not only were these names completely unknown—the portraits were downright painful to look at.
After scanning the whole list, the best option Su Qi could find was Ayame, the daughter of the Ichiraku Ramen owner.
Many people jokingly called the Ichiraku owner, Teuchi, some secret hidden boss—"Ōtsutsuki Teuchi" and all that—but in reality, the man was just a ramen chef. Taking that too seriously was a losing game.
"Why are they all girls? And why are they all just... bad?"
So this was the fate of an extra.
Pulling stunts with a face like that was impossible. He could only play the fool. A pretty girl acting unpredictably was charming—but this? This was just cringe.
"I can accept a small role. I can even accept being reborn as a girl. But I cannot accept being ugly."
Appearance was always first. Given the choice between a beautiful girl and an ugly guy, Su Qi would choose the beautiful girl without hesitation.
Your values follow your face. If you're gorgeous, fans will defend you through anything.
Playing a girl? Fine. Playing a villain? Fine. But playing an eyesore—especially when his hardware in this world would clearly matter to his on-screen presence—absolutely not.
"If I have no other choice, I suppose it'll have to be Ayame." But there was a problem. The other girls were all Naruto's age, making it easy to share screen time. Ayame was older and a civilian—virtually no chance of stealing any shots.
No scene-stealing. Unacceptable.
"Hm?"
But then, at the very bottom of the list, something glowed.
[Special Available Role]
[Name: Hyuga Hanabi (unlocked via same-name affinity with Character Inheritance template)]
[Classification: Secondary Character. Daughter of the Hyuga Clan of Konoha.]
[Secondary Character LV1: Attention +20%]
"Same-name affinity? So that's what the gold card does too?"
Instantly promoted from extra to secondary character—and a 20% bonus on top of it.
Bear in mind, Jingliu's card only offered 20% Attention under specific conditions. This character role was handing him 20% right at LV1. And Hyuga Hanabi's appearance was top-tier.
"This is good—but the timing is awful."
The role was excellent, but there was a catch: when the story began, Hyuga Hanabi was only seven years old—five years younger than Naruto. Her real moment to shine came during Boruto, which was practically the end credits.
"Wait. I still have this."
The [Hourglass] surfaced in his consciousness.
"How does this work?" Su Qi asked the Stage.
[After selecting a role, activate the item and slide the time dial.]
Su Qi tried it. He selected [Hyuga Hanabi] and slid the dial. It worked.
But as he adjusted, the portrait for the role turned into a question mark.
"Where did the portrait go?"
[Changes to the entry timeline will produce cascade effects. The greater the deviation from original conditions, the further the character may diverge from the original.]
"Makes sense."
Su Qi continued sliding the dial forward in time—but after pushing it about four years, it suddenly jumped to five years earlier than Hanabi's original birth date, then locked. It stopped at December 27th, five years before Hyuga Hanabi had originally been born.
"Is this the limit?"
[Hyuga Hanabi is the younger sister of Hyuga Hinata. She cannot be born before Hyuga Hinata.]
"Fair enough."
He understood.
December 27th was Hyuga Hinata's birthday. Sliding to this date effectively made him Hinata's twin. The one-year jump made sense too: if the Hyuga household was going to have a second daughter, they'd need to conceive again after Hinata's birth—ten months' gestation—so the earliest possible birth date, short of being a twin, was a full year later.
"Twin it is, then."
Role selected. Everything locked in.
The galaxy-bubbles all dissolved until only a void remained.
[Stage cleared.]
[Performer, please prepare for your performance.]
[Reincarnation is ready.]
[Pre-show training is about to begin.]
A white light bloomed in front of Su Qi—steadily expanding until it swallowed his consciousness entirely.