Chapter One: The Camera Doesn't Know Me

At 2:17 a.m., Lu Chen vanished from the world's cameras for the first time. He was editing a fake mukbang in his rented room. On-screen, an influencer bit into a plastic lobster while the client demanded a cut that showed “sincerity in his eyes.” Then a debt collector's livestream notification appeared. “We're outside deadbeat Lu Chen's home,” Han Tuo announced, pounding on Lu's door while two men held lights behind him. Thirty thousand viewers filled the chat with abuse. Lu had never borrowed the 860,000 yuan. Before disappearing, his father had guaranteed a company's debt, but Lu's signature appeared on the contract. The court accepted a video in which “Lu Chen” promised to assume the debt. Yet Lu had been with his mother in surgery that day.