Chapter 1

This is my first time mtl-translating a novel, so if you see a mistake or feel that something sounds off, let me know and I'll check it!

There is a line where MC mentions how he's died, so potential trigger warning?

Face-Slapping the Film Emperor and Empress (Entertainment Circle)

Zhou Xu lay at the bottom of the cliff with his leg broken, the fierce pain twisting his expression. But the situation in front of him was more severe; a group of wolves were staring at him.

In the dark night, the eyes of the wolves faintly glowed green. They were monsters more terrifying than ghosts.

A wolf howled, the creepy and shrill sound echoing throughout the ravine.

Dark clouds covered the moon.

Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

The first bolt of lightning fell. The wolves began their attack, and Zhou Xu could only clench his hands tightly and endure the agony of being bitten and torn apart.

His flesh stripped from bone, the wolves' teeth sinking into his body, the only thing Zhou Xu could do was grit his teeth. The anger in his heart had long taken root and sprouted. And at that moment, the tender bud that had been growing for so long blossomed into a tree called "hatred".

He wanted revenge, and he must find an opportunity even if he had to undergo the pain from his hundred deaths.

At that moment, Zhou Xu was fully devoured by the wolves, and his spirit entered a vast space.

After a moment of panic, Zhou Xu immediately examined the ring on his little finger.

Zhou Xu, who was extremely clever, was able to discover in a short time that the system was out of order.

The fault was very small, but it was enough for Zhou Xu to seize the opportunity and turn the glitch into a major breakdown.

When Zhou Xu woke up again, the world had changed.

He raised his hand and felt the ring on his little finger emitting a faint heat. Zhou Xu bowed his head and smiled, his eyes dark and cold. How wonderful, the system was now under his control. Zhou Xu was originally going to be promoted to the rank of military counselor of Noah Galaxy's army division. His IQ was outstanding, surpassing everybody else. In fact, in regards to controlling the system, he did not exert much effort but firmly captured the fleeting opportunity.

Zhou Xu looked at the information from the ring, and his eyes narrowed slightly. Well, he was still the villain. He was supposed to die by drug overdose, but that was before. This time, Zhou Xu wanted to see who would toy with who, and who would die.

After tidying up his clothes, Zhou Xu sat up straight because the original owner of the body was, at the moment, about to audition for a role, which he (original) didn't get. But, it could not have been any more simple for Zhou Xu. He only had to be his true self, because the role was for the most sinister and vicious villain in the play.

"Hehe, this is getting interesting," Zhou Xu whispered, the corners of his mouth tilting up. He bowed his head, completely hiding his amusement.

Zhou Xu had originally been living in the Noah Galaxy. He had just been promoted to the Interstellar Military Division. But, when the Admiral had presented him an award, he was forcibly removed from his original world and bound to the "will not die in peace" system, playing as the villain in every world.

He was forced to cross a hundred worlds, which meant that he died a hundred times. Within those hundred times, his actions were restricted by the system, and so he was hacked to pieces, pierced by arrows, eaten alive, beheaded, mutilated, gang-raped to death...

Zhou Xu, who was not a good man, sowed seeds of hatred within throughout his deaths. Now, Zhou Xu not only wanted to live a wonderful life, but also let those with the protagonist's halo see that if their opponent's IQ was online, their halo was actually useless.

The host was also called Zhou Xu, just like all the previous worlds. Here, he was the youngest son of Zhou Qiang, the chairman of the Zhou Group. However, Zhou Qiang was very opposed to Zhou Xu entering the entertainment circle. His thinking was very old-fashioned, and he thought the so-called actors were a joke.

Zhou Xu had a brother named Zhou Yang. Although Zhou Yang also did not support Zhou Xu's acting, he had always been concerned about Zhou Xu.

Because he wanted to become an actor, Zhou Xu was subsequently driven out of house by Zhou Qiang, and the father-son relationship was even severed. When he died, Zhou Xu didn't know that his father had always cared about him. Zhou Qiang had even let his brother Zhou Yang send people to protect him and added money to his bank account. However, they did not notice that Zhou Xu had become addicted to drugs. At his death, Zhou Xu was only skin and bones.

The original Zhou Xu was very arrogant. With his excellent looks, he soon rose in the entertainment circle, but his acting skills were ordinary. Zhang Hanshu, the world's protagonist, was an actor like Zhou Xu. They had similar styles, so they often clashed over roles. Zhou Xu was, of course, never able to snatch the leading role.

From the beginning of his career, the male master was watched over by Sun Yue, who was the film empress at that time. He gradually improved his acting skills with the help of the film empress, and eventually became the film emperor.

When Sun Yue discovered that Zhou Xu was gay, she detested the arrogant man who always got in the way, and so, she leaked the matter to the media, causing Zhou Xu's acting career to suffer a huge blow.

She even found someone to lure Zhou Xu into taking drugs. In the end, on the day that the protagonist became the film emperor, Zhou Xu died from drug overdose.

Zhou Xu and Zhang Hanshu were the same, but had different endings.

Zhou Xu rolled the script in his hands into a cylinder, hit his palm with it once, and raised his head, his manner becoming arrogant.

Another person wanting to audition entered the small waiting room, causing it to become more crowded. This was the protagonist Zhang Hanshu.

In the original world's storyline, this was not the first time that Zhou Xu and Zhang Hanshu met. The two had long been enemies, and so they found each other unpleasant to look at. But they restrained themselves and did not reveal anything.

If it was somebody else without outstanding ability, the best choice would certainly be to hold onto the protagonist's thighs in order to change their fate, but Zhou Xu was not like that. He liked to fight with heaven and earth, and preferred to fight with people.

He never bothered or disliked such things like holding onto thighs, but he didn't intend on jumping out of character. He would pretend to be the same villain, and let the villain face-slap the protagonist.

In fact, the original owner would not end up on the streets if he had not been too arrogant and domineering, but Zhou Xu liked this kind of character because in this way, he can be presumptuous and have an excuse.

After Zhang Hanshu entered, Zhou Xu snorted with a disdainful look that made anybody who saw uncomfortable. "Zhang Ge, you also came to audition. This is a role I will be getting, but I welcome you to try. However, if you can't grab it, don't cry."

Zhang Hanshu slightly nodded to show that he was not angry or upset, and his face remained unfazed. He replied, "How will we determine who wins, through our skills?"

"Hahaha, yes, it depends on ability. But first let me say, if I win without the help of a film empress, wouldn't it be embarrassing for you?"

Zhang Hanshu's expression changed. He thought nobody knew that Sun Yue was teaching him acting skills, but clearly, Zhou Xu was the exception.

With a faint smile, Zhang Hanshu politely answered, "It's not embarrassing, besides, we need to wait for the results to come out."

"Hahaha, yes, let's wait and see." Zhou Xu said with a casual smile.

In the small waiting room, the atmosphere grew chilly. Others clearly heard the conversation between Zhou Xu and Zhang Hanshu, and because of this, most people had a very bad impression of Zhou Xu. Their impression of Zhang Hanshu was the opposite. Zhang Hanshu was mild and courteous, not vulgar. Even if he was provoked by ridicule, he bore it with grace.

Zhou Xu was happy to see this result. This was what he wanted. It would be interesting when the results came out.

Zhang Hanshu sat quietly with his back straight and his black hair covering his forehead. His face was small and white, his eyes were big and bright, his nose was straight, and even his lips were perfect.

As expected, the protagonist's looks were really good. The key was to be beautiful but not feminine. This kind of face would be very popular in the film and television circles.

Zhou Xu was different. His face was too white and his lips were as red as blood. He had beautiful seductive peach blossom eyes. When he squinted, he gave off an enchanting and breathtaking feeling. He was also a little thin. His shoulders were not very broad, his chest was not very thick, and even his waist was a little too thin. In fact, this kind of figure was really unfortunate, because most of the protagonists were not the "pretty" type, and even simple men were broader than Zhou Xuxi.

People of his stature usually played the main lead's classmate, younger brother, servant, and the like. However, Zhou Xu was not worried at all, because no matter what the rules were, there would always be exceptions, and he would be the exception.

"Next, Zhang Hanshu."

"That's me. Hello." Zhang Hanshu got up and was taken into another room.

There were three interviewers. The protagonist was said to have already been confirmed, and they were now choosing the first villain.

This was a police movie, and the protagonist was, of course, a policeman. They were interviewing for the most important villain, a ruthless and cruel killer.

The murderer's profession was a doctor. During the day he was an angel, but when the night came, he became a demon, a contrast that made the film a topic of conversation.

Everyone was given the script, but it was impossible to have everybody go through all of the lines in the interview, so the interview was all about the same topic: how to eat after murdering people. The only line was "Delicious."

When Zhang Hanshu heard the request, it was clear he understood, and he said, "May I start now?"

The interviewer nodded in agreement. Zhang Hanshi sat down at the table provided and began his wonderful performance.

His face was expressionless and his eyes were cold. After sitting down, he looked to the side, as if there was a body that he had disposed of.

With a sneer, he picked up his glass of water to drink, then tilted his head, his bangs covering one of his eyes. The sinister look from his other eye was even more shocking.

Then he lowered his head, picked up the knife and fork, and cut the non-existent food on the plate. He then put a piece in his mouth, pretending to eat, but his movements were frightening and terrible from beginning to end, as if he was a wolf who could kill his prey at any time and was waiting for the opportunity.

At that moment, Zhang Hanshu once again forked a piece of meat and looked at it. He smiled slightly.

His gaze was like a knife, as if the meat in front of him was the one he was going to kill. He put it in his mouth and said, "Delicious."

"Clap clap clap clap…" The three interviewers applauded together. Zhang Hanshu's performance was excellent. His expression and actions were perfect. He had vividly expressed the sinister murderer.

Zhang Hanshu was a little shy. He bowed to the three who applauded and said respectfully, "Thank you."

"It was a good performance, wait for our notice." The person who spoke was very excited. If it wasn't possible to announce the results immediately, he really wanted to take Zhang Hanshu directly into the group and shoot.

At this time, Han Zikui, who was far away in another country, looked at the people on the screen with a faint smile. This was the person strongly recommended by the assistant director and the film queen Sun Yue? It seems a little interesting.