Chapter 1

Yang Yue lay on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, his expression blank.

Two nurses who were giving him an injection glanced at him, their eyes showing a mix of sympathy and disdain.

After they finished the injection and left the ward, their whispered conversation drifted in—

"First, he caused a commotion at the new drama press conference, and now he’s in the news for attempting suicide. No wonder Li Liyan’s fans are calling him a nuisance."

"I felt a bit sorry for him when I saw the news about Li Liyan’s engagement being called off, but now I suddenly think that if I were Li Liyan, I would have called it off too."

"He has no future, yet he insists on clinging to a female celebrity. Such a person doesn’t deserve sympathy..."

In the ward.

Yang Yue’s eyes finally moved, and a hint of self-mockery appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"Hehe, I really don’t deserve sympathy," he murmured.

After waking up and being dazed for a while, he had already integrated all the memories of the original host.

The original host shared his name and came from a very ordinary fourth-tier city, attended a second-rate university, and had been graduated for five years.

Before the age of 20, the original host’s life was very ordinary.

But when he started writing novels online during his sophomore year, his life took a turn.

With a certain talent and catching the right trend, his first online novel achieved good results.

The second one became a hit.

The third one exploded in popularity, selling game, anime, and film adaptation rights even before it was completed, and he signed a contract with the website, officially becoming a god of literature!

At this point, the original host had only been out of university for a few months. In a burst of confidence, he invited Li Liyan, whom he had known for half a year through Douhu Live, to meet.

At that time, Li Liyan had also just graduated from a second-rate university’s acting program and hadn’t signed with any entertainment company yet.

She usually took on small roles in films and micro-movies with her classmates.

As for her Douhu Live streaming, she had started it during her university days.

Of course, the main reason they could meet in person was that the original host was young and wealthy, and Li Liyan was from the same city.

With a good emotional foundation, they had a deep and pleasant interaction on their first meeting at a hotel.

Then they became inseparable.

After nearly a year of dating, they met their families and, following the local customs, got engaged.

By this time, Li Liyan had been signed by the famous Tian Sheng Entertainment and officially debuted.

The original host had also gained some fame due to the game, anime, and film adaptations of his third novel.

Thus, their engagement ceremony even made the news.

Although it was just a side note in the entertainment news, it had a significant impact in their hometown, Gu Cheng.

At this point, the original host could be said to have achieved success in both his career and love, making the transmigrated Yang Yue envious.

But perhaps even the heavens were envious.

Next, the original host began to perform what it means to go from good to bad, as if possessed by a curse...

"Pighead, you have a call!"

The phone rang, interrupting Yang Yue’s thoughts.

He picked up the phone and saw a familiar number without a name. After a brief hesitation, he answered.

"Li Liyan knows about your suicide and hospitalization," a cold female voice said over the phone. "She is very sad and wanted to call you herself, but I stopped her."

Hearing the familiar voice, Yang Yue’s mind recalled the relevant memories, and he realized the caller was Li Liyan’s agent, He Gui Zhen.

In the original host’s memory, she was a woman in her thirties or forties, with a good appearance, very capable, but lacking in human touch.

As for more details, the original host was unclear.

"Yang Yue, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but let me remind you, Li Liyan’s engagement to you has been officially called off.

Even if you didn’t just attempt suicide, even if you really did, it won’t affect Li Liyan.

So, if you think you can use this to force her to reconcile with you, you can forget it.

Let me remind you one more time, if you really love Li Liyan, don’t contact her in any way, and don’t do such meaningless things!"

"Are you done?" Yang Yue asked calmly.

"What did you say?" He Gui Zhen was surprised by Yang Yue’s reaction and tone, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.

She had expected Yang Yue to beg to see Li Liyan again.

"I said, are you done?" Yang Yue slowed down his speech, but his tone remained calm and composed.

"I, I’m done. What do you want?" Knowing about Yang Yue’s suicide, He Gui Zhen was a bit afraid of him.

The saying goes, the ruthless fear the reckless, and the reckless fear those who have nothing to lose.

She was genuinely afraid that Yang Yue might cause more trouble— even if it didn’t harm Li Liyan or the company, it would be disgusting.

‘If it comes to it, I’ll pay him to sign an agreement not to bother Li Liyan again.’

Just as He Gui Zhen thought this, she heard Yang Yue say, "I won’t bother her again, and you shouldn’t bother me. Goodbye."

Then he really hung up.

Shen City.

A high-end apartment.

Li Liyan was sitting next to He Gui Zhen. Seeing He Gui Zhen holding her phone in a daze, she frowned and asked, "What’s wrong? Is he still being unreasonable?"

"No," He Gui Zhen was still in a daze, replying blankly, "He said he won’t bother you again and asked us not to bother him."

Li Liyan’s frown deepened, "That doesn’t sound like something he would say... Sister He, could this be a delaying tactic?"

He Gui Zhen finally came to her senses and said, "Don’t overthink it. The company will strengthen your security. If he tries to cause trouble again like he did a few days ago, we’ll send him to the police."

Li Liyan opened her mouth but didn’t say anything.

He Gui Zhen added, "Li Liyan, you can’t be soft on someone like him.

Think about it, you’re about to become a top celebrity, while he’s a web writer with no popularity or reputation left. Even if his family hadn’t had that incident, he wouldn’t be a match for you.

Besides, you called off the engagement before that incident, so it has nothing to do with you, right?"

Li Liyan sighed and pursed her lips, "Sister He, don’t worry. I won’t be soft, and I won’t think about him anymore. Since there’s still time, let’s talk about the ‘Happy Camp’ show."

"Okay."

...

"Pighead, you have a call!"

Not long after hanging up, Yang Yue’s phone rang again. He saw another familiar number without a name.

This time, Yang Yue didn’t hesitate and answered directly.

"Bro, how are you? I saw the news about your suicide and hospitalization. What... what’s going on, sob... sob..."

A young woman’s voice came from the other end, and she couldn’t help but cry.

Her cries were filled with fear, worry, and a sense of injustice.

This was Yang Yue’s sister, Yang Nan.

She had graduated from university less than a year ago and was a teacher at a junior high school in their hometown.

Since the family incident a few months ago, when their father died of a heart attack and their mother was hospitalized, the original host, due to his issues with Li Liyan and work, hadn’t been home much. Their mother had been taken care of by Yang Nan.

Thinking about this, Yang Yue took a deep breath and said in as light and warm a voice as possible, "Nan Nan, you know the media likes to exaggerate. I didn’t try to kill myself. I just ate some expired takeout from the fridge and got a stomachache, so I came to the hospital."

As an adult, Yang Nan didn’t believe this for a second.

But she sensed that Yang Yue seemed to have changed for the better compared to before.

So, after some thought, she asked, "How are you really? Do you want me to come see you?"

Yang Yue replied, "I’m fine. I’ll probably be discharged today. Just take care of yourself and Mom at home."

"Then... take care of yourself," Yang Nan said in a nearly pleading tone.

"Sure," Yang Yue’s somber and pale face showed a warm smile, "I’ll come back to see you after I’m done with this."

"Really?!" Yang Nan was clearly surprised and almost didn’t believe it.

Yang Yue affirmed, "Really."

"Then you must take care of yourself," Yang Nan, after her excitement, couldn’t help but remind him again.

"Got it," Yang Yue’s smile spread across his face, adding a touch of color to his pale complexion.

"Then rest well. I’ll hang up."

"Sure."

...

In the afternoon.

Yang Yue was really discharged from the hospital.

He was indeed fine.

The original host had tried to take sleeping pills to commit suicide, but he hadn’t taken many. The landlord came to collect rent, and he was rescued in time.

Standing at the hospital entrance, Yang Yue shielded his eyes from the sun and looked up, feeling the sunlight was very bright.

When a taxi stopped in front of him, he got in and left.

About half an hour later, Yang Yue returned to his rented apartment.

Finding the place in a mess, he started to clean and tidy up.

This apartment, which the original host had rented in Shen City a little over a month ago, was about 60 square meters, with one bedroom, one living room, one bathroom, and an open kitchen in the living room.

Rents in Shen City were also very expensive in this world. Even in a place equivalent to the suburbs, this apartment cost over 5,000 yuan per month.

After tidying up the room, Yang Yue took a shower and then lazily lounged on the living room sofa, taking out his phone to order dinner.

Through the original host’s memories, Yang Yue discovered that although it was already 2023 in this world, the technological level was similar to 2016 in his previous life. Smartphones had only been on the market for about ten years.

Compared to technology, the cultural and entertainment development in this world was even more stagnant, almost abnormal, similar to the early 2000s in his previous life.

The original host’s memories were like normal memories to Yang Yue, but some aspects had become blurred over time.

Therefore, to verify some things, after ordering dinner, Yang Yue opened his laptop and searched the internet.

The original host was a web writer, and since Yang Yue had also worked part-time as a web writer, he first checked the level of web literature in this world.

He found that, indeed, as in the original host’s memories, there were already concepts and categories like fantasy, xianxia, and web games, and the two major tropes of time travel and rebirth had already emerged.

However, the level was similar to 2006-2007 in his previous life. Whether it was fantasy, xianxia, or web games, they had all fallen into a bottleneck after a period of popularity.

For example, the original host had ridden the wave of the rise and first boom of web game novels, making each of his first three books better than the last, ultimately achieving god status.

However, when the original host started his fourth book, readers had become tired of the large number of similar web game novels.

Normally, even if the original host had already achieved god status, maintaining the quality and updates of his work would at most result in a decrease in popularity, not a complete fall from grace.

However, the original host, with his mind preoccupied with Li Liyan and the smooth success of his first three books, became unbalanced when his fourth book performed significantly worse than the third.

After that, the updates of his fourth book became increasingly delayed, the quality rapidly declined, and he began to intermittently stop updating, eventually abandoning the book.

When he started his fifth book, the original host, eager for quick success, rushed to publish it without properly setting up the story.

This haste not only lowered the quality of the novel but also caused the plot to collapse soon after.

Thus, the original host also collapsed, and the novel was abandoned...

At this point, if the original host had taken the time to reflect and learn from his mistakes, he might not have fallen from grace.

But he didn’t.

He claimed he needed to clear his mind and went to bother Li Liyan, whose career was rapidly rising.

As expected, the original host not only received no comfort from Li Liyan but was instead deeply hurt, and their relationship plummeted to an all-time low.

When the original host finally decided to start his sixth book, it was already half a year later.

The development of web literature in this world seemed slower than in Yang Yue’s world, but in the small category of web game novels, half a year had changed a lot.

The once popular web game novels quickly cooled down, falling from the hot list. Only those with excellent quality and rapid updates, as well as a few established authors, could still achieve success.

The original host, however, had not realized these changes. His understanding of the market and creative thinking were still stuck two to three years ago.

Thus, even though he put effort into his sixth book, it still performed poorly and was abandoned.

The original host, not discouraged, continued to write his seventh book in the same style, which was also abandoned.

Finally, his popularity hit rock bottom, and he completely fell from grace.

Then, misfortune struck again.

First, his fiancée, Li Liyan, announced the end of their engagement. Then, his father was defrauded of millions of yuan, which forced him to sell the house he had bought in their hometown. Upon learning of the fraud, his father suffered a heart attack and died...

After understanding the development of web literature in this world and reviewing the subscription data of the original host’s previous books, Yang Yue couldn’t help but shake his head.

Even though the copyright protection in this world was excellent, and the original host’s first three books had been very popular, it had been several years since then.

Moreover, the commotion he caused at Li Liyan’s press conference and his suicide attempt had likely turned his popularity negative.

In this situation, the daily new subscriptions for his three previously successful books were pitifully few.

As for the four abandoned books, the daily new subscriptions were all zero.

Yang Yue calculated that without writing, the original host’s monthly income might be less than 1,000 yuan.

So, the original host, who had moved to Shen City for Li Liyan and rented an apartment there, was living off his savings.

However, due to the family’s financial troubles, his savings were almost depleted.

‘It seems I need to make money quickly, or I won’t be able to pay next month’s rent. Or... should I go back to my hometown?’

After some consideration, Yang Yue rejected the idea of returning home.

He had just transmigrated, and although he had the original host’s memories, his personality and habits were different. Facing his family so soon would make him feel very uneasy.

‘I still need to start a new book. But with the original host’s poor reputation and negative popularity, I need to choose a book that can turn things around.’

Yang Yue began to recall the classic web literature works from his previous life.

As he thought, his eyes widened.

He realized that all the content he had read or heard in his previous life was clearly etched in his mind!

When he finally recalled the events of the day, he was shocked to find that even a set of numbers or a voice was as clear as day!

[This story will not reconcile with the ex-fiancée.]