Top Star: Journey to Become a Global Star

Chapter 1. Return

"Um…..let….me…sleep.…"

Ren groaned as he felt something shaking his shoulder. His eyes were exhausted. He just wanted to sleep for eternity.

He barely opened his eyes as he noticed that the hand that was shaking him was getting stronger.

"Wake up Ren. It's already 8 in the morning."

The voice was loud, but Ren felt familiarity from the voice. It was a voice that he hadn't heard for a long time.

"Ren, you are going to be late for the shoot if you keep sleeping like this."

"Shoot…..what shoot?"

Ren's mind jolted awake when he heard those words. He quickly kicked up his blanket and got up from the bed.

"This is my..….room?!"

The first scene he saw after opening his eyes was his room. He was confused as to why he was in his bedroom.

He had already left this house and started living independently. He wasn't able to understand why he was here.

"What are you looking around for? Did you have some sort of dream?"

Ren finally noticed the woman in front of him. She had black hair, and her face was full of wrinkles. She also looked a bit pale.

"Moth....Mother!!"

"Who would it be If not your mother? Did you have a weird dream or something? Ah, what are you doing?"

Before he knew it, Ren already had his mother into a tight embrace. Tears were flowing down his cheeks, but he simply continued to hug his mother.

"Ren, what happened to you? Why are you hugging me like this?"

His mother tried to shake him off, but she was unable to do it. Her son was hugging her tightly as if he would never let her go.

She wasn't able to understand why her son was showing such strange behaviour.

"Why….No, how are you here, mother?"

After a while, Ren finally released her from his embrace and calmed down.

"What do you mean by that? You are acting weird today. Are you okay?"

Although his mother said that like nothing had happened, Ren's mind was in a mess.

He clearly remembered that his mother had died after she was diagnosed with a heart disease.

At that time, he had no money to pay for her operation, so she had died because of that. He still blames himself for that.

"I don't know what happened to you but wash up and come for breakfast."

His mother said that and left the room, but his mind was still a mess.

He pinched his face several times to confirm it, and he was sure that it wasn't a dream. It was too real for it to be a dream.

Ren went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face several times to calm his mind.

'I look young again.'

As he looked into the mirror, Ren noticed that he was looked at least 20 years younger. There were no wrinkles on his face, and his body was youthful again.

Ren wasn't able to understand what was going on. The last memory he had was of him driving his car while he was going to an audition when suddenly a truck slammed into him...

"What is....happening?!"

Ren's back was full of sweat when he thought about the accident. He still wasn't able to understand what was going on.

He clearly remembered getting hit by the truck, but now he was in his parents' house, and he was young again.

'Did I transmigrate into my past self!?!'

Ren knew that it was an absurd thought, but he couldn't think of any other words for his situation. It was like a novel: he was back in the past.

Ren hurriedly went to his room when he thought about it since he wanted to check if he indeed was in the past.

He was able to quickly find his phone. It was only a cheap flip phone, but he was at least able to see the date with it.

'17 July 2019.'

Ren rubbed his eyes and checked again, but the date was the same. He was clearly 20 years in the past.

"Ren, come eat."

As he was looking at his phone, he heard his mother's voice from downstairs.

He quickly went downstairs and saw his mother sitting on the dining table, waiting for him.

"Ren, come quickly or the food will get cold."

"Ah, yeah."

Ren sat down on the dining table but instead on eating, he was staring at his mother's face.

His mother face was mostly the same, but he could see that there were fewer wrinkles than before. Her face was also a lot less pale than in the future.

"Why are you staring at me? You are really acting weird today. Do you have a nightmare or something?"

His mother said as she noticed Ren staring at her, but Ren just shook his head in answer.

He can't tell her that he had transmigrated from the future, and he was delighted to see her as she will die of a heart disease in the future.

'The food is still the same.'

Ren thought as he tasted the food his mother had cooked for him. It's been many years since he had eaten her food, but it still had the same taste.

"Have you fully prepared for your role today?"

As he was eating his food, his mother started a conversation with him.

'Role?'

Ren was slightly confused by his mother's words. He wasn't able to remember any role he had done 20 years ago.

From what he remembered, he was only doing theatres those days.

"Didn't you got a role in a movie called «Secret Spy»"

'Ah, that movie!'

Ren finally remembered the movie his mother was talking about. He had indeed gotten a role in that movie.

It was his first role in a movie, and he was really excited about it. Still, due to some complications, his character was given to another actor.

He was pretty sad about it as he had practised very hard for that role.

"What happened Ren? Did something happened, are you not doing that movie?"

"No, mother, it isn't like that. I was just thinking about my role."

"That's good."

Ren smiled as he saw his mother concerned expression. Even in his previous life, his mother was sorrowful when he had missed out on that role.

His mother had done various things for him. At the age where she should rest, she was doing part-time jobs to sustain the family.

Ren didn't want to repeat the tragedy that happened in the future. He wished to give her a good life where she could live leisurely.

"I will be in my room for a while."

* * *

"I am really in the past. I died, and I returned to the past."

After he entered his room, Ren started comprehending his situation. It was an unusual situation. Still, he had to accept it after seeing the internet articles, entertainment news and political policies.

He didn't know why he was in the past, but he was glad that he had returned.

Just like in those novels, it was a second chance given to him. He didn't have to save the world, but he still could make his future brighter.

He had all the knowledge of the future. Although he didn't know the winning lottery numbers or the stock prices, he did know about the entertainment industry.

He knew about all the films, songs and celebrities who will make it big in the future.

Aside from that, he also had his experience of working in different types of roles.

Ren wasn't a top actor, but he acted in tons of theatre plays and independent films. He had the experience to work in any role.

He was young again, and if he plays it well, he will surely be able to become one of the top celebrities in the industry. Ren was confident that he would be able to do that.

He also didn't want to make his parents live a miserable life. Because of his mistake, he had lost his mother once, he didn't want to lose her again.

His mother's heart disease was only found in 2024, five years from now on. At that time, his mother's condition was already fatal.

It was only because of her will that she was able to live a few more years. If the disease was found sooner, then his mother could have been saved easily.

Now, he had the chance. He was younger again, and his mother's heart disease would only be in the early stage.

He could easily fend it off and save his mother, but he would need money for the operation.

'I have to earn money soon.'

Ren already had a definite plan in his mind to earn money. First, he had to play his role in the «Secret spy».

The role he had gotten in that film was of an enemy spy. At first, it was only a small role, but during filming, the writer had made some changes in the script and made that role bigger.

At that time, he was still a rookie actor, how could he act such a role? He also didn't get much time to prepare for it.

After the script was changed, the character he was playing was changed entirely. It was like he was a completely different character.

Moreover, the role he had to play was of a villain character. Playing the villain in movies is much harder than playing the main character.

That's why the role was given to a much more experienced actor.

But that was in the past, now he had tons of experience, and he was sure that he would be able to play that role.

As he was thinking about that, he noticed his phone ringing.

'Ring!''Ring!'

He picked up the phone and smiled after seeing who was calling him.

The one calling him was someone he could never forget, his nickname was 'White bear'. He was his manager.