Rain poured like judgment from the heavens.
The alley stank of rot, blood, and regret. A broken body lay sprawled on the wet ground—its limbs twisted, its mouth half open in a silent scream.
It was once a man named Lu Zeyan.
CEO. Visionary. The youngest media mogul to ever register on Forbes Asia. And now? Just a corpse with a split skull, tossed like garbage between two overflowing dumpsters behind a hotel where he was once a VIP.
His blood mixed with sewer water. His watch was missing. His shoes, gone. And his life?
Stolen.
By the woman he loved and the man he called his brother.
As the cold set in and his consciousness began to dim, a pair of footsteps echoed softly on the cracked pavement. Slender, cautious. Not high heels. Work boots.
The figure knelt beside him. Long black hair, soaked. Cuts on her hands. A busted lip.
Jiang Yue.
She stared at him—not with horror, but something sadder. Quieter. As if she recognized him.
She glanced around.
No cameras.
No crowd.
No hope.
Still, she moved.
With trembling arms, she pulled his body from the trash. She wiped blood from his face with her sleeves. She dug a shallow grave in the corner of a construction site—bare hands against hard earth.
And she buried him.
She didn't cry. She didn't call the police.
She just whispered, "No one deserves to be left like this."
Then she left.
Alone.
And as dirt hit his chest, something inside him screamed.
[WARNING: Residual consciousness detected.] [TRAUMA THRESHOLD EXCEEDED. Unlocking Life Protocol: Alternate Timeline Access.] [Loading… Entertainment Sovereign System…] [System Boot: 1%... 12%... 98%...] [Host identified: LU ZEYAN.] [Rebooting timeline… 3… 2… 1…]
Gasp.
Lu Zeyan jolted upright in bed, choking for air.
The smell of blood was gone. The rain? Gone. His body?
Intact.
His heart pounded like a drum inside a cage. He touched his forehead. No crack. No blood.
He looked around.
Clean sheets. Generic hotel room. His old watch ticking. A phone buzzing silently beside him.
This was three years ago.
The night before he signed the investment contract with his ex-girlfriend's production company.
The night before everything went to hell.
[Welcome to the Entertainment Sovereign System.] [This system will assist the host in building the world's most influential entertainment empire.] [Note: This system provides no monetary funds, no power-ups, and no handouts.] [Instead, you will receive data-based insight, industry predictions, IP valuations, and market strategies.] [All decisions are yours to make. Success is not guaranteed.]
A small screen materialized In his mind's eye:
Status:
Name: Lu Zeyan
Timeline: Altered
Assets: 0
Influence: 0
Business Points: 0.00
Popularity Points: 0.000000000
Lu Zeyan exhaled, trembling.
This wasn't a dream. He hadn't survived. He'd been reborn.
And this time, the game was different.
His eyes turned cold.
[New Mission Available: "First Stone Laid"] Objective: Register an independent content studio within 30 days.
Reward: Initial Market Heat Data Pack (animation sector).
He rose from bed and dressed in silence. This body was younger, less scarred. His savings? Still intact. Just enough to start something… small.
He would not go back to her.
He would not beg for investors.
He would build everything himself—and do it in the shadows until he was ready to dominate the light.
But as he turned to leave, something stopped him.
That face.
That voice.
Jiang Yue.
The girl who buried him in silence.
She was still just a stuntwoman now. Unknown. Overworked. And soon to be discarded by the very same industry he planned to conquer.
His hands clenched.
She saved him once.
Now it was his turn.
[System Tip: A compatible long-term asset detected. Projected Star Trajectory: 84.76% rise within 4 years, based on present conditions.] [Early Investment Opportunity Available: Subject ID – JIANG YUE.] [Recommend passive proximity development.]
Lu Zeyan smirked faintly.
"Recommend? No," he muttered. "It's already decided."