FLME Ch1: Transmigration

The filming set of the TV drama Fenghua.

“Cut! OK, everyone take a break. Makeup artists, come touch up the actors.”

“PA! PA! Bring two more apple boxes over!”

Hearing someone call for a production assistant, Yu Wen stood up subconsciously.

After standing for three seconds, he remembered he wasn’t a PA anymore, but an extra. He quickly sat back down.

To think that a mere half-month stint as a PA had engraved those two letters into his DNA, giving him a knee-jerk reaction whenever he heard them. Watching the busy crew members rushing back and forth, Yu Wen couldn’t help but sigh.

No good, this DNA is tainted.

About half a month ago, Yu Wen crossed over from the real world into this book. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was the warm-toned ceiling of his home; when he opened them, it had turned into a shabby little rental room. He spent some time figuring out the situation, then suspected he had been kidnapped.

The kidnapper was this trashy book, Rise! Best Actor!

Right after waking up, he went out for a stroll and discovered that this place was far different from the world he used to live in. The technology tree was about fifty years behind his world, and the place names, city layouts, and even the national structure were completely unfamiliar.

Until he saw a vaguely familiar name on a roadside billboard.

—Chu Han.

This name seemed to belong to the protagonist of a popular novel he had accidentally flipped through in the library’s magazine reading room.

The rental room he woke up in was small but fully equipped. On the desk sat a brand-new desktop computer with top-tier specs for the current market and excellent performance. To grasp his current situation, Yu Wen compiled a spreadsheet of all of Chu Han’s online acting experiences and cross-referenced them with the plot in his memory.

Everything matched perfectly.

After confirming his transmigration, Yu Wen scoured the computer’s private folders and even the browsing history, trying to determine his own identity. Unfortunately, he found no useful information; the computer was practically brand new, and the private domains were completely blank.

Yu Wen decided to meet changes with constancy. He sat on the edge of the bed and blinked his eyes for seventeen minutes straight, blinking until his eyelids twitched.

No one came to save him.

#Didn’t they say to blink if you’ve been kidnapped?#

Realizing that idealism wouldn’t work, Yu Wen accepted his fate.

On his second day of lying flat, his phone received a new message, notifying him to prepare to join a production crew.

His name was still Yu Wen, and the body was still his own.

Relying on his excellent memory, he recalled the general plot of Rise! Best Actor and bound it into a booklet.

The recalled content totaled fifty thousand words—a very thin stack that hardly offered any peace of mind.

He repeatedly went over every detail from beginning to end in his mind, but couldn’t find a supporting character, villain, cannon fodder, or anyone named Yu Wen…

That was until his half-month on set, where he witnessed the main bottom and main top engaging in a push-and-pull romance six times; accidentally got pulled into other people’s gossip sessions four times; and saw extras and the script supervisor exchanging flirtatious glances while delivering water three times…

Yu Wen suddenly saw the light.

—I’m Passerby A.

‘Passersby’ are a magical demographic. They always manage to perfectly ‘stumble upon’, ‘analyze’, or ‘randomly encounter’ various iconic scenes…

And Yu Wen’s identity belonged precisely to this demographic.

After working as a PA for half a month, Yu Wen figured out some patterns and successfully switched from the PA role to the much easier role of an extra.

Even though various gossips always seemed to sniff him out, his personal life wasn’t restricted. For example, when he was a PA, he hovered around the gossip circles as a PA; but he could also be an extra, an actor, a singer…

Yu Wen: Pick the easiest one. Long live slacking off.

Fenghua was a fictional historical idol drama. It mainly told the story of the female lead, Gongsun Daiyu, who, during an era of warlords vying for hegemony, navigated between various nations for revenge, ultimately overthrowing the dynasty and wandering the ends of the earth to live in seclusion with the male lead.

Meanwhile, Chu Han, the protagonist of Rise! Best Actor, played a psychopathic villain driven mad by love in this drama. The ‘passerby’ perspective basically revolved around him.

“Xiao Yu, still not your turn?”

The person speaking was Zou Ming, a martial arts extra on the crew. He had just finished a scene, his forehead covered in sweat, holding a bottle of mineral water as he walked over.

Yu Wen was sitting in a corner, changed into the coarse cloth garments of an extra, with a small hat perched on his head. As he rested his chin on his hand and swayed, the little ball on his hat bobbed along.

“Don’t know,” he said, his fingers pressing against his cheek, squishing it into a chubby little mound. He said gloomily, “The director said a featured extra hasn’t arrived yet, so we have to wait.”

Yu Wen had a fair complexion and delicate features. His eyes were cat-like, slanted upward yet round. At first glance, he looked very young. This deceptive appearance often made people involuntarily fond of him.

Zou Ming liked him a lot, treating him like a younger brother. Hearing this, he immediately felt indignant on his behalf. “What kind of featured extra? Such a big ego, making so many people wait here?”

“Apparently their car broke down on the way…”

A featured extra was a step up from a regular extra. They had certain requirements for appearance and articulation, and usually had a few lines.

Naturally, a featured extra wouldn’t make the director purposely leave a spot open and wait. It was just that the crew was changing locations today, shooting in a remote mountain valley. They couldn’t find a suitable replacement on short notice, and since they could shoot other scenes first, waiting a bit didn’t matter.

The assistant director had also urgently contacted three or four featured extras; whoever could make it would get the part.

But even so, the short-tempered director was currently throwing a fit.

“Where’s the featured extra! Where’s the featured extra! Where’s the featured extra!”

“How many hours until they get here?! If we don’t shoot now, we’ll lose the light!”

“What about the extras? Are there any usable ones among the extras?”

The director’s surname was Gao. As soon as he started filming, he easily slipped into a rage mode. Every time he lost his temper, Yu Wen worried for his blood pressure and heart.

Just as he was thinking this, Director Gao’s sharp gaze swept over.

Yu Wen: “…”

No way, Officer. Can you get caught for talking bad about someone in your head?

Director Gao’s brows were tied in a dead knot, his suppressed, angry gaze sweeping back and forth among the extras.

The absent featured extra only had one scene. They were supposed to play a young nobleman rescued from bandits by the female lead. The role had no other requirements except one: be good-looking.

He had to be fair and clean, with soft, delicate skin, looking exactly like a pampered young master.

Unfortunately, today’s scene was about the female lead wiping out a bandit lair all by herself. It involved heavy action sequences, so the extras hired in advance were mostly martial arts extras.

That “delicate and soft” look was hard enough to find among regular extras, let alone here, where everyone was a trained martial artist.

Director Gao patrolled the crowd and unexpectedly met a pair of round eyes.

Oho, a hidden pearl.

“You, come here.”

Yu Wen: “…”

Director Gao’s eyes burned brightly, like a starving ghost who hadn’t eaten in three days. Yu Wen reluctantly walked over.

Director Gao found him somewhat familiar but didn’t pay it any mind. He looked him up and down and, half a minute later, revealed a satisfied expression. He asked, “Have you studied acting?”

Yu Wen shook his head.

Director Gao: “How’s your Mandarin?”

Yu Wen: “Not bad.”

Director Gao made him say a few sentences. Hearing no noticeable accent, he nodded again.

“Do you want some lines?”

Truth be told, Yu Wen did not.

Originally, he only needed to slack off in the background. Speaking lines would waste his spit and require him to contribute some actual acting, all without a pay raise—

“I’ll pay you the highest rate for a mid-level featured extra. Just say two lines.”

Yu Wen somewhat understood. The director wanted him to fill in for the missing featured extra’s part.

He recalled the pay range for a mid-level featured extra.

“!”

—How could anyone not want lines! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

The hair and makeup team urgently changed him into fine silks and satins, smudging dirt on his face to imitate a disheveled young nobleman who had been locked up by bandits for two days.

There were three featured extras in total for this scene. One of them was a high-level featured extra with rich experience, and all the direct interactions with the female lead would be handled by him. Yu Wen’s job on the side was just to chime in with, “That’s right, that’s right,” and “Exactly, exactly.”

The female lead had charged into the bandit lair single-handedly, saving countless women, children, and the elderly. While everyone else was weeping in gratitude, these three rich young men served as a foil, mainly demonstrating heartlessness and ingratitude.

Featured Extra A: “Whose subordinate are you? Why are you so late?! It actually took you two days to take down a measly bandit camp! When I return, I will definitely report you to the King!”

Yu Wen: “That’s right, that’s right!”

Featured Extra A: “What are you staring at? Can’t you see my clothes are torn? Hurry up and get me a fast horse down the mountain! Don’t dawdle with these low-class peasants!”

Yu Wen: “Exactly, exactly!”

Clang. The female lead drew her longsword, pointing it directly at the throat of the insolent man.

Yu Wen: “Whoa.”

He was born into a middle-class family and had lived a smooth life. He had successfully skipped grades, directly entered a Ph.D. program, and smoothly joined a research institute with his advisor. Before transmigrating, he was in his first year of his Ph.D. He had truly never seen such a chillingly sharp sword before, and subconsciously let out a “whoa.”

Most prop swords on set were unsharpened, but occasionally, perfectionist directors would require actors to hold sharpened weapons for close-up shots.

Yu Wen didn’t dare gamble on Director Gao’s mental state, nor did he dare gamble on how steady the actress’s hands were. Using a stage movement as an excuse, he hid behind Featured Extra A.

Featured Extra B, who witnessed the entire thing: “…”

Yu Wen’s subtle little movements didn’t affect the shot. Aside from Featured Extra B who was standing close by, no one noticed him.

After the scene ended, the assistant director called him aside to talk. “You acted pretty well. When you said before that you were going to bravely chase your dreams, I thought you were joking.”

A while ago, the crew had been rushing the schedule and split into A and B units shooting simultaneously. Yu Wen was a PA for Unit B, so the assistant director had interacted with him and they were somewhat acquainted. When Yu Wen quit his PA job, he claimed he had a dream since childhood to become a big star when he grew up. He looked young, and his habit was to speak deadpan, so his deadpan jokes were easily taken seriously. The assistant director had even sent him an audition invitation after hearing this, but unfortunately, Yu Wen didn’t show up, insisting on eating from the communal extra pot instead.

“Go back and take some acting classes. Get your acting skills up to par, and I’ll come straight to you for future roles.” As the assistant director spoke, he pulled a business card from his pocket. “You haven’t signed with an agency yet, right? You won’t survive in this industry just picking up random extra gigs; you still need to rely on professionals. A friend of mine is currently signing artists. You can contact them when you have time. Their company is still in the startup phase, so I won’t say the resources are amazing, but they definitely won’t treat you poorly. I guarantee it with my reputation in the industry.”

Yu Wen held the business card and thought for a moment. Two sweet parentheses-like dimples formed around his cheeks as he smiled and thanked the assistant director.

The subsequent scenes had nothing to do with Yu Wen. Director Gao was strict; an actor whose face had been shown couldn’t go back to being a background extra, so Yu Wen was able to get off work early. After saying goodbye to Zou Ming, he walked to the nearest bus stop.

It had been drizzling continuously lately. The sky was getting dark, but there were no sunset colors on the horizon—only heavy dark clouds pressing down overhead. It looked like it was about to pour.

Yu Wen snapped off a banana leaf by the road to hold over his head. By the time he jogged to the bus stop, the heavy rain had been pouring down for exactly three minutes. In just those three minutes, he turned into a little drowned rat.

There were only two rows of benches at the bus stop. On one sat a young man wearing a hoodie. As Yu Wen passed by him, he happened to meet the young man’s raised, narrow eyes. They were beautifully shaped phoenix eyes with pitch-black lashes that formed a stark contrast with his fair eyelids and their sharp creases.

A cool guy, Yu Wen thought.