Chapter 5, The First Unlucky One

Not every interesting story that is filmed will necessarily be a box office success; countless television dramas that were initially highly anticipated but ultimately faced significant losses have already proven this point.

Unfortunately, an unfortunate event occurred; the city he resided in is a high-frequency thunderstorm area, where every year, among six to seven million people, there are always one or two unlucky individuals struck by lightning, and he was one of the unfortunate ones on the list for 2019

Perhaps in the script of a scene, one moment the lovers are sweetly showering each other with affection, and in the next, they are hurling harsh words and stabbing each other with knives—time may have passed, even ten years, yet these events occur in the same scene, thus they are placed together for the convenience of the actors and the director's adaptation into a shooting script

Then Lu Zhishou began to accept the identity of Chihara Rinto. It was quite easy; the original owner had no parents, and there was no contact with relatives. From 1992 to 1994, during these two years, there was basically no social interaction, and he had no friends at all. As a result, after he hastily absorbed some fragments of the original owner's language and common knowledge memories, he directly became the new Chihara Rinto. Next, it was time for him to consider how to survive during this period of great depression in Japan.

However, there is a problem: these images and textual materials are fragmented, and some are incomplete. He needs to spend a considerable amount of time discerning and reconstructing them, much like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. Some also require him to fill in the gaps on their own, and it is estimated that he will be unable to remain entirely faithful to the original work

His original name was Lu Zhi Shou, and he was a student in the directing and screenwriting program at a well-known university. During the summer vacation, he stayed in his dormitory to write his small thesis—this was very important, as it related to whether he would pursue a career in directing or screenwriting after his third year.

The original owner, namely the former Chihara Rinto, had been holed up at home for more than two years, living off his savings, and apart from a few personal belongings, he left virtually nothing behind.

Moreover, it is incredible that this is a parallel world—he confirmed this when he became familiar with the environment. The historical processes of this world are quite similar to those of his original world, with only slight differences in time. The cultural customs are also similar, but the people are different. For instance, he could not find works by renowned authors such as Yasunari Kawabata, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Natsume Sōseki, Yukio Mishima, and Haruki Murakami in the bookstore.

... ...

In simple terms, the same story may be captivating when presented as a novel, but when transformed into a screenplay, it often leaves the audience confused and utterly dissatisfied, to the point that one would hesitate to use it for even the most trivial purposes—unless it is a literary script, which is intended for investors and other laypersons. However, if a producer cannot even comprehend a screenplay, Chihara Rinn does not consider that to be the type of candidate he desires.

As for the benefits of time travel that most people have, he did not fully take advantage of them

He sat at his desk late into the night, oblivious to the world outside, wholly focused on writing his thesis. As a result, lightning struck somewhere near his dormitory, and following the electrical line, it killed him. It is truly a tragedy

Now we have arrived in a parallel world, where people have changed, and these works have lost their owners, becoming entirely his possessions. As someone who can see reality clearly and has a definite goal, he understood the environment and, after only three minutes of consideration, was ready to work in the television production department. At the very least, it is better than doing odd jobs!

Indeed, Chihara Rinto came here from 2019, making him the unluckiest person of 2019

Before he was struck by lightning, he was writing a thesis on his laptop, primarily focusing on the history, characteristics, and future predictions of the Japanese film and television industry. His hard drive contained a substantial amount of Japanese dramas, variety shows, and films as reference materials, along with some relevant literature, literary works, and a few artistic action and romance films

Murakami Iori was reading the script, completely engrossed in it. Chihara Rinto, sitting opposite her, gradually relaxed—he was both worried that Murakami might not understand the script and concerned that she might not be interested in it

Before the collapse of the bubble economy, the original owner's family lived quite well, operating a family-controlled industrial company. Although the scale was not large, the significant development of the Japanese economy and the vast market brought about by China's reform and opening-up resulted in considerable profits, with their wealth far exceeding that of the average middle-class family. Unfortunately, the original owner's parents could not control their greed. Seeing how lucrative the real estate industry was, they believed it was much better than engaging in industry. They decisively took out low-collateral loans to finance their entry into the market. As a result, when the bubble economy burst, the company could not even repay the interest on the loans and ultimately had no choice but to apply for bankruptcy protection.

It seems that within all the coincidences of human history, there exists a certain inevitability, or perhaps a divine will that has led to the emergence of these two worlds, which are roughly similar yet distinctly different

Although there are devices such as air switches, they are of no use

This should not be overlooked; scripts and novels are two different matters

Novels, apart from certain works of magical realism, often have a clear timeline that aligns with human reading habits, whereas what he presented was a script for a scene that completely disregarded the timeline

He also sought employment, but lacking education and professional skills, he was unable to find a proper job. Doing odd jobs was exhausting, and being ordered around was humiliating; he could hardly endure it for a few days before giving up. Ultimately, he fell into despair, isolating himself in a cheap apartment, filled with resentment towards the world. Under the guise of writing, he filled pages with various grievances about the injustices of life, until Lu Zhishou arrived. After reading his "works + suicide note" and learning about his past, Lu Zhishou found the writing nonsensical, akin to delirium, devoid of artistic value, and promptly took it to sell as scrap paper.

Establish goals, recognize reality, make plans, execute strictly, and now only remain to calmly accept the results

Otherwise, as a college dropout, without capital and connections, how can one truly start from scratch? First, one must support oneself, as it is evident that even next year's rent cannot be paid!

Then, when he woke up again, he found himself in Tokyo, Japan, at the end of 1994, having become Rinto Chihara, a person who could not find a job and was in a state of despair to the point of death

People have changed, and correspondingly, the works have changed as well—there are many excellent works in the bookstore that are not inferior to the classic works from his original world, yet he has not heard of any of these works, does not know any of the authors, and even the famous Nobel Prize in Literature has been replaced by something called the Saibade Literature Prize

Moreover, the script is quite dull, lacking character interpretation, psychological activity, and extensive background explanations, relying entirely on dialogue with action and scenery descriptions as supplementary. For those with slightly weaker imaginative abilities, it may appear particularly boring—interpreting the story is the director's job, enriching the emotional depth of the characters is the actor's responsibility, and those aspects are unrelated to the screenwriter.

Fortunately, based on her current performance, she should still be quite interested—Chihara Rinto is mainly concerned about whether the audience in the 1990s can accept this multi-element reversal drama. However, conversely, placing it in the 1990s, reversal dramas were still a novelty; as long as they can accept it, they would definitely be interested, right

What else can be done? Returning to the country would not provide an explanation, and obtaining Chinese nationality is notoriously difficult, leaving one with no choice but to be forced to work abroad.

Now, it is evident that Murakami Iori is an expert, which raises the question of whether this script is worth filming for such an expert

Subsequently, the original owner's parents could not accept the fact that the hard work of two to three generations had vanished in an instant. They also vented their anger at the shareholders for mismanagement, while feeling guilty for having made the wrong decision. Unable to endure the sense of humiliation, they chose to commit suicide together by carbon monoxide poisoning.

There is no need to rush this; tasks should be approached step by step

The original owner thus became impoverished overnight, with their home seized to settle debts. Unable to pay for university tuition and failing to secure a student loan, they had no choice but to withdraw from school. Subsequently, they rented a small apartment and relied on the pocket money left in their personal account to make ends meet

He sold almost all of the original owner's personal belongings and used the little money he had to start inquiring about the situation at the television station. Finally, he learned about Murakami Iori from the security personnel at Tokyo Broadcasting TEB, believing she was the most suitable candidate. Ultimately, he successfully sat in front of her, waiting for her to finish reading the script to see if she was willing to promote the filming

This is a question that arouses great curiosity, but he cannot afford to study it at the moment; he must find a way to survive first

After all, it is not 2019, a year when reversal dramas and absurd plots flooded the streets, so it can be considered an innovation