On that night, Zhou Chenxi had a dream. He dreamt of standing in a black mist, and the surroundings were similar to what he saw when watching “Koi Conquers the Entertainment Industry” in his dream. However, this time, he couldn’t find the familiar book within the black mist.
Zhou Chenxi stood still for a moment, feeling lost. Suddenly, a voice echoed in the darkness, saying, “Hello, world consciousness.”
Zhou Chenxi couldn’t see anyone and continued to look around.
“You can’t see me,” the voice said, “I am in your mind.”
Zhou Chenxi could only ask, “Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter. You don’t need to know who I am,” the voice teased.
“Then why are you in my dream?” Zhou Chenxi remembered that this voice sounded similar to the one he had heard in a dream before, mentioning the term “world consciousness.”
“It’s not that I entered your dream; it’s that I entered my consciousness. Well, I can tell you, I am also consciousness, a broader kind of consciousness. To put it simply, you are just the consciousness of the world of books,” the voice explained.
Zhou Chenxi was indeed puzzled.
The voice continued, “People in the world of books awaken and realize they are in a book world. We call such individuals ‘world consciousness.’ The emergence of consciousness in the world of books is not necessarily your awakening; it could be someone else. The world just chose you, and you are the ‘world consciousness.'”
Zhou Chenxi asked, “So, besides me, can others become ‘world consciousness’?”
“There is only one world consciousness. Once you awaken, others won’t, or else chaos may ensue,” the voice replied.
Zhou Chenxi remained silent.
“You probably want to say that there are others in this world who realize they are in a book. Aren’t they also world consciousness? I can only tell you they are exceptions. Two people came into the book world from outside; fundamentally, they don’t belong to the world of books. They are just outsiders,” the voice explained.
Zhou Chenxi heard a keyword, “Are you talking about Lu Ji?”
The voice confirmed, “Smart.”
Zhou Chenxi didn’t feel like the voice was praising him, but he just wanted to know the truth. “So what? What do you want to say?”
“The outsider Luo Xinghe actively intruded, while Lu Ji passively entered. The arrival of these two caused changes in the world inside the book. We have closed the passage between the book and the outside world. No one else will enter in the future.”
“So, can they still go back?”
“In principle, no. Luo Xinghe is an active intruder; he lost consciousness when returning to the original world and can’t go back. As for Lu Ji, it depends on his subjective willingness.”
— Losing consciousness, does that mean going crazy?
Zhou Chenxi asked, “What does it mean by subjective willingness?”
“It means whether he wants to or not. The same goes for Luo Xinghe; he lost autonomous consciousness, so he can’t make the decision to return. And for Lu Ji, crossing over caused him to lose memories of the original world. Without memories, there’s no desire to go back. So, in principle, he can’t return either.”
Zhou Chenxi seemed to understand a bit.
The voice continued, “I summoned you to my consciousness world to tell you that after the world consciousness awakens, the book world becomes a real world. The development of the world will no longer be bound by the rules of the book. So, live well and don’t use your understanding of the world to do anything that disrupts the world’s rules.”
“Disrupt the world’s rules?” Zhou Chenxi said, “The original book’s plot has already deviated significantly from here. How can I disrupt it further?”
The voice said, “Well, I’m just reminding you.”
“Okay, got it,” Zhou Chenxi said, “I’ll also remind Lu Ji.”
The voice expressed satisfaction.
Zhou Chenxi wondered if he had ever done anything to disrupt the world’s rules. If using the rules equated to breaking them, then he had been breaking rules since his rebirth, considering the book’s setting where he would die in a pit due to bad luck.
As if the voice knew what he was thinking, it said, “Don’t dwell on doubts. The formation of the real world takes time, and closing the external passage also took time. The real world has just recently formed. So, what happened before doesn’t count as you breaking the rules. Originally, you were the world consciousness. Violating the rules might not result in punishment, but the world’s development follows its own laws. Haphazardly breaking rules can lead to irreversible consequences, hence the need for my reminder.”
Zhou Chenxi said, “Your theoretical system is really untenable. It’s subjective idealism one moment, objective idealism the next. You should know that Marxism is the only truth in this world. If I weren’t so lazy to wake up, I wouldn’t bother listening to your nonsense.”
The voice responded with silence.
“What’s this about closing the world passage taking time? Isn’t that just an excuse for your laziness?” Zhou Chenxi questioned skeptically.
The voice coughed awkwardly.
After teasing him for a while, Zhou Chenxi briefly paused the banter, asked a few more questions, and then it was morning.
Zhou Chenxi woke up from his bed, looked at his hands, and thought, no wonder since yesterday, his sense of reality in this world had become stronger. If this was the manifestation of the world becoming real, he hoped what that person said was true.
If everything had returned to normal, time would continue to flow towards eternity. Then, he would have to live these few decades of life well. After all, if the world was no longer illusionary, he wouldn’t be able to be reborn again.
Zhou Chenxi got out of bed, stretched lazily, and prepared to freshen up before continuing to work.
Regardless of the circumstances, life has to go on. Since the world has given him a chance to start over, he intends to make the most of it.
On the film set.
This time, Zhou Chenxi took on a Republic of China era drama, and the shooting location was in a Republic of China film and television city not far from H City.
This film and television city was smaller than the well-known one, having been built in recent years. Many of the surrounding infrastructure were incomplete, and stepping outside led to desolation, with not even a place to grab a late-night snack.
As a result, the days of filming for everyone were relatively monotonous.
Zhou Chenxi played the role of a young doctor returning from studying abroad, dressed in a suit, with black hair combed to the side and held in place with hair gel so stiff that even a strong wind wouldn’t ruffle it.
Zhou Chenxi sat in front of the mirror, getting his hair done and waiting for his scene while talking on the phone with Lu Ji.
Only after Shang Xiaoqin left did Zhou Chenxi dare to talk to Lu Ji about the dream he had yesterday.
“He said people who transmigrate through books have to have read the book and have a name identical to the main character’s. That’s why you and Luo Xinghe were able to come through.”
“I’ve read a book?” Lu Ji asked.
“Yeah,” Zhou Chenxi said, “Didn’t you mention before that you had a vague impression of the contents of the book before your rebirth? The only explanation for that is having read the book.”
Lu Ji wasn’t entirely sure and didn’t answer.
“In your original world, your name was Lu Ji, and it was the same for Luo Xinghe. After reading the book, he made a wish to the sky, wanting to transmigrate into the book, and then he arrived. The world passage opened, bringing you, who shared the same name as the main character in the book, to this world.”
“Is that so?” Lu Ji said.
“It sounds far-fetched, right?” Zhou Chenxi said, “But a lot of it is like this. A guy sits in front of the computer, reads a book, sees the protagonist in the book wreaking havoc, feels envious, so he shouts to the sky, ‘I want to transmigrate,’ and then he really transmigrates.”
Lu Ji laughed.
Fortunately, Lu Ji wasn’t that kind of guy, Zhou Chenxi thought.
It’s not that being that type of guy is bad; most of them are good. It’s just that Lu Ji is someone willing to create everything with his own hands, unlike Luo Xinghe who fantasizes about getting something for nothing.
“Speaking of names, it’s quite absurd,” Zhou Chenxi continued, “I used to think that authors gave transmigrators the same name as the original protagonist in the book for convenience and laziness, not expecting it to become a necessary condition for transmigration.”
“Not surprising,” Lu Ji said, “Whether it’s creating rules to shape a world or establishing rules for a world, there always needs to be a basis.”
“But I only believe in Marxism,” Zhou Chenxi insisted.
Lu Ji nodded seriously, “Me too.”
They were both exemplary young people!
Zhou Chenxi, delighted, said, “Why is it that whenever I explain a lot of principles, you understand right away? Clearly, I’m the one who has read a lot!”
At this point, Zhou Chenxi still felt a bit frustrated.
After all, he was the one explaining the principles of transmigration to Lu Ji.
Lu Ji said, “Reading one book is for learning; reading many books is indulging. You’ve read so many books, but the things you can learn are still limited.”
Zhou Chenxi didn’t want to hear it and covered his ears, saying, “Stop scolding me, I’m changing, I’m changing!”
Lu Ji laughed and then changed his tone, saying, “Balancing work and leisure is necessary. Reading is an entertainment activity. Since it doesn’t affect your life, reading a few more books is fine. Just don’t strain your eyes.”
“Humph, you’ve covered all the principles!” Zhou Chenxi said.
Lu Ji laughed again.
However, Zhou Chenxi suddenly realized something, “You said reading one book is for learning. Have you read one too?”
“Of course,” Lu Ji replied.
“What have you learned?” Zhou Chenxi asked.
“I learned…” Lu Ji thought for a moment, “What transmigration is and several positions below the neck.”
Zhou Chenxi: “??”
Lu Ji said, “Worth referencing.”
Zhou Chenxi said, “Wait…what? What’s going on?”
Lu Ji burst into laughter.
Wasn’t the sea of learning supposed to be boundless? It turns out Lu Ji is so superficial! He must have read more than one book!
But then Lu Ji added, “It’s worth trying if you have the chance.”
Zhou Chenxi felt like that might be a good idea.
During the last Golden Flower Awards, Zhou Chenxi adjusted his schedule to attend the ceremony with the crew. For this Star and Moon Awards, he had to adjust his schedule again. Fortunately, the director was understanding, and Zhou Chenxi filmed his important scenes in advance. With a Republic of China era hairstyle, he headed to Country E.
Although the Star and Moon Awards ceremony took place in Country E this time, many of the award recipients were still Chinese. There was no denying the abundance of excellent works from China.
At the award ceremony, Zhou Chenxi once again encountered Ren Qian in a narrow corridor.
Last time, Ren Qian participated in the awards ceremony as part of the creative team for “Cat Demon Chronicles,” but it was more of a formality. This time, another film he was involved in was nominated for the Best Actor award at the Star and Moon Awards, making him Zhou Chenxi’s competitor.
As soon as Ren Qian saw Zhou Chenxi, he confidently declared, “Sorry, the Best Actor award is mine this time.”
Zhou Chenxi looked at him in shock.
Ren Qian realized he had misunderstood and coughed, hastily explaining, “I didn’t mean to say I used connections. What I meant was that, for today’s awards, you don’t even need to look; it’s definitely mine.”
Zhou Chenxi understood and calmly said, “That’s not necessarily true. Professor Ren didn’t even get nominated for the Golden Flower Awards.”
Ren Qian felt a blow to his knee.
Indeed, luck wasn’t on his side. None of his works were nominated for this year’s Golden Flower Awards.
But Ren Qian, full of confidence, said, “It doesn’t matter. Regardless of the outcome, I’ll be trending number one tonight.”
Zhou Chenxi asked, “??”
Indeed, Ren Qian did trend number one that night because he publicly announced his new relationship. He had been dating a man outside the entertainment industry for nearly a year, and they were about to enter the realm of marriage.
Considering Ren Qian’s age, the relationship began around the time when Luo Xinghe’s strange incident was exposed. It seemed Ren Qian had seen through Luo Xinghe’s character, found his happiness, and Zhou Chenxi happily left a comment under Ren Qian’s Weibo wishing them happiness.
Unexpectedly, that hot search position, which briefly occupied the top spot, was snatched away by Zhou Chenxi.
Because on that evening, Lu Ji suddenly confessed his feelings to Zhou Chenxi.
Lu Ji, of course, was unaware of Ren Qian’s headline news. He didn’t pick the timing, nor did he discuss it with Zhou Chenxi. He simply posted on Weibo:
【@LuJi: Can I apply to be your billionaire partner? [Image]】
The image attached was Zhou Chenxi’s previous Weibo post on his alternate account: “If I don’t go viral, I’ll just go back and live a lifetime with my billions.”
That night, the top trending hashtags were #LuJiConfession#, #RenQianRelationship#, and #ZhouChenxiBestActor#.
Ren Qian, who had finally made it to the headlines last time, was sandwiched between Lu Ji and Zhou Chenxi this time, ending up tragically as a filling between two cookies.
Author’s note: Ren Qian: What? My headline got stolen?
Thanks to “某琥” for the landmine!
1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ❤️”
