Chen Shiyu, 45 years old, the top star at Xinda Media, and the Golden Melody Queen. At 18, she became an instant sensation on a singing competition show with her dolphin vocal that spanned 4.5 octaves from E2 to D8.
After debuting for many years, she has no solid black material. She is a top-tier artist in the industry with both professional ability and reputation, a household name with extremely high national recognition.”
“Yang Xu, 33 years old, the main dancer of the BKL second-generation boy group, a once extremely popular top-tier idol who still maintains high popularity.
Three years after terminating his contract with BKL Entertainment, he founded the Inverse Function Entertainment Company. Some trainees from “Shining Queen” who were not signed to any company after elimination signed with Inverse Function.”
“Vinki, 29 years old, the main rapper of the BKL third-generation boy group. He terminated his contract with BKL at the beginning of this year and has a good senior-junior relationship with Yang Xu. After terminating his contract, he officially announced joining “Inverse Function Company’.
He is currently being fiercely smeared and suppressed by BKL Entertainment’s marketing accounts and water armies. He, along with Yang Xu and others, are jokingly called the ‘BKL Avengers Alliance’ by netizens.”
“Lin Qifeng, 38 years old, the cash cow of Xinda Media, one of the well-known contemporary original musicians, a pioneer of domestic R&B music, a representative original singer of the millennium era, nicknamed Lin Jiaotou.
His recent composition style leans towards Urban Pop. Several of his famous songs feature R&B rhythm combined with electronic sounds, generating high popularity in forum short video sections.”
The system, having transformed into an AI narration machine, finished reading seriously and asked: “Host, what is the use of their information?”
Quentin originally only wanted to understand the backgrounds of the four mentors, but after listening, he had a new idea.
If he were the author of the original book, he would undoubtedly have made BKL Entertainment the main villain in the story.
Currently, from the information collected by the system, two key points could be summarized.
First, the storylines of the important supporting characters almost all revolve around the three major companies. Second, BKL has numerous enemies: it has a grudge against the previous girl survival show group, a grudge against the mentors of this boy survival show, a grudge against the survival show program production team, and might even have a grudge against the boy group formed by the six main characters in the future.
Within the world setting, the three major companies are entities standing at the pinnacle of the domestic entertainment industry. For the main characters debuting from the boy group survival show, these companies are likely three crucial dungeons on their future path of advancement.
“So, to find the main characters, we should prioritize looking among the artists signed to the three major companies.”
Quentin thought to himself: “Xinda Media only sent one person. The three actors from Wanming Pictures show no obvious clues for now. Among the five from BKL Entertainment, we should prioritize selecting trainees who are suspected to have grievances with BKL.”
The system data loaded for 0.05 seconds, then immediately answered: “Wen Xinyi, Yan Qiao?”
Quentin nodded slightly: “Hmm.”
“Then, what about that Zhong Qu who caused the progress bar to increase? Isn’t he a main character?” The system was confused. “If he isn’t a main character, why did he cause the main character’s redemption progress bar to increase?”
“You said it yourself, it’s a redemption progress bar.” Quentin listened to the mentors’ speeches on stage, clapped along with the other trainees, and simultaneously communicated with the system in his mind.
The redemption progress bar increasing meant that the BE plotline belonging to Main Character No. 1 had deviated. Why did his conversation with Zhong Qu cause the BE plotline of Main Character No. 1 to deviate?
He said: “Two possibilities. One, Zhong Qu is Main Character No. 1. Two, Zhong Qu is the key character causing the BE plotline for Main Character No. 1.”
Quentin could see through people’s hearts. When he first met Zhong Qu on the bus, the brief exchange of words and a few moments of eye contact made the 19-year-old boy appear transparent in Quentin’s eyes.
All his ambitions and schemes were laid bare under Quentin’s gaze. Even without his terrifying ability to perceive emotions, Zhong Qu’s thoughts could not be hidden from the 25-year-old Quentin who had witnessed countless dark sides of human nature.
Quentin did not feel offended. Such petty cunning was nothing but a mere drizzle compared to the betrayals and schemes he had experienced in the past.
After coming to this world, not only had his body been restored to health by the system’s adjustments, but his mindset had also become much more relaxed.
Being among a group of young and passionate trainees, Quentin occasionally had a dazed feeling that he was still that young boy who ran away from home empty-handed, broke free from restraints with his ideals, and went wandering alone to distant places.
At this moment, the four mentors on stage had finished their opening remarks, and the host, Qin Miao, was announcing the rules.
“…The above is the general rules for the initial stage performance rating. So, starting from Class A, is anyone willing to volunteer to be the first?” Qin Miao smiled as she looked towards the audience. The trainees in Class A, at the top, looked around left and right, seemingly seeking their teammates’ opinions.
At the judges’ table, Yang Xu, who enjoyed watching the excitement, lazily turned his head to look at the hesitant trainees behind him: “You all had the guts to choose Class A, don’t be cowardly now, everyone.”
Vinki placed one hand on Yang Xu’s shoulder and lifted the brim of his baseball cap with the other: “Stop looking at the people around you. In a segment like this, I should see rows of hands eagerly raised, right? There are 34 people in Class A, and no one dares to slam the table, stand up, and say ‘I’ll go!’?”
Chen Shiyu shook her head with a smile: “You two…why are you more impatient than the trainees? Qifeng, aren’t you going to say something?”
“…” Lin Qifeng waved his hand, “Keep a low profile, keep a low profile.”
Liao Fei, Quentin, and Xue Mingzhu were sitting at the very edge of the A Class seating area, but they were still a visual focus.
The Class B, C, and F trainees below all turned around to watch the excitement, with many secretly observing Quentin. All sorts of gazes converged from all directions.
The green-eyed boy in a casual suit, sitting casually yet with a strong presence, no matter which corner he hid in, would always attract curious looks.
It’s just that there was no trace of the immaturity expected of a 17-year-old on Quentin’s face.
This composed and natural demeanor, paired with his formal attire, makeup and styling, at first glance, made people feel he shouldn’t be a performer sitting in the contestant seats ready to go on stage, but rather a mentor sitting at the judges’ table scoring other trainees.
However, what he wore under his black suit wasn’t a formal white shirt, but a purple silk shirt blooming with double-layered roses, which obviously differed greatly from the image of a mentor.
The tie at his chest was also tied loosely, making him seem not at all like a proper person.
If it wasn’t for his overly calm expression, this style would easily remind people of a rich young master who was not serious about his duties.
And moreover, the kind of prodigal rich young master who drove an open-top sports car, held a large bouquet of flowers in his arms, recklessly sped and sang loudly on the coastal highway.
“Hey, Quentin, do you dare to go first?”
Xue Mingzhu lay on the table with his eyes fixed on Quentin, his tone provocative as he brought his face closer.
Quentin glanced at him: “Since you’re so bold, why don’t you go up first?”
“Hmph, I’m leaving room for the other students to perform, okay?” He grinned, wearing a smug, narcissistic expression. “What if I perform too well and make the people behind me nervous?”
Quentin said without changing his expression: “You’re right.”
“Eh? Someone raised their hand, that student!”
Qin Miao smiled and waved towards the edge of the Class A section. Everyone’s gaze turned and focused on the person.
“Liao Fei…?”
Yang Siyi, who was sitting in the Class B row below, looked shocked: “You raised your hand?!”
The boy in a light-colored shirt jacket looked somewhat stiff, seemingly unaccustomed to so many eyes staring directly at him.
He stood in front of the Class A seats, his left hand still raised in the gesture, and tried hard to keep his voice calm as responded: “Teacher, I want to give it a try.”
The boy’s shyness was obvious at a glance. His whole body seemed to be trembling, obviously a forced bravado.
Quentin, who was sitting next to him, noticed that the boy’s fingers pressing on the table had thick calluses on the pads, clearly the hands of someone who played string instruments. Perhaps…guitar? Liao Fei’s attire and temperament resembled that of a folk guitarist.
Xue Mingzhu watched Liao Fei walking down the steps stiffly and muttered under his breath: “Tch, so silly.”
Quentin turned to look at him, his expression faintly saying “you think you know everything.”
“I’m serious. Going up first is the most disadvantageous. Didn’t you know?”
Before Xue Mingzhu came to participate in the program, the few friends in his circle unanimously sent him a long list of precautions, with the emphasis on “never, ever be the first to stand out.”
This kid was too reckless and impatient. At 18, he was at an age where saving face was everything and his friends were all afraid his stubbornness would be the death of him.
Now, with his friends’ earnest advice memorized in his head, he put on an expression that said “this is common sense,” glancing arrogantly at the green-eyed boy beside him.
He analyzed with great seriousness: “At the beginning, even the mentors aren’t clear about the grading standards. What if I go up first and raise the mentors’ expectations? As the final boss, of course I should make a grand entrance at the end!”
“Oh.”
Quentin glanced at the empty seat next to him, feeling an inexplicable intuition: “Then you might not get to make that grand entrance at the end, boss.”
…..
As Quentin expected, Liao Fei’s performance was indeed guitar playing and singing, and he sang an original folk song.
However, he was too nervous. During his performance, he missed a few notes while playing, and his voice was a bit dry, as if he hadn’t warmed up properly, resulting in a tone that wasn’t full and rounded enough.
Perhaps he himself realized his performance was poor, and his voice trembled more and more as he sang.
The trainees in the audience were silent. Those who initially praised Liao Fei for writing a beautiful song now didn’t dare to make a sound.
—Brother, with this kind of mentality, how are you going to survive in the entertainment industry?!
Fortunately, Liao Fei was the first brave trainee to take the stage. The four mentors were extremely patient and relatively lenient in their attitude.
Yang Xu and Vinki, responsible for evaluating dance and rap, did not comment on the guitar singing. Chen Shiyu praised him for having good vocal conditions but it was a pity he didn’t adjust his state well.
“I saw on your personal resume that you passed the Level 3 creator certification at Light Music.”
Lin Qifeng looked at the pale-faced boy in the center of the stage and comforted him: “Although you were a bit nervous today and didn’t perform at your best, the song itself is quite good. I hope you can continue walking the path of original music.”
Liao Fei’s eyes were red, and he bowed his head deeply: “Thank you… thank you, Teacher Lin.”
After discussing for a minute, the mentors had Qin Miao, sitting in the middle of the judges’ table, announce the result.
“Well then, student Liao Fei…” Qin Miao said with a slight smile: “I’m sorry, your rating is, Class F.”
Vinki watched the boy holding his guitar, struggling not to cry, shook his head and sighed, whispering to Yang Xu beside him: “Facing these kids… I’m even feeling guilty.”
“What’s there to feel guilty about?” Yang Xu lowered his head to flip through the resumes on the table and said casually, “In the past, all of us had it worse than them. At least they have the opportunity of a survival show.”
Vinki raised an eyebrow: “…Well, if you put it that way, you’re not wrong.”
On the other side, Chen Shiyu smiled and waved to them: “Hey, you two teachers over there, should we still have them raise their hands for the next one?”
Vinki’s expression immediately turned serious, and his back straightened: “Teacher Chen, what do you think? I’m fine with anything.”
Yang Xu turned to look at Class A, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully: “Raising hands and calling names is too slow. How about…we just go in order starting from Liao Fei? Coincidentally, Liao Fei was sitting at the edge.”
Vinki also turned around, his gaze settling on Quentin, who was now sitting at the very edge of Class A, and couldn’t help but whistle.
He agreed: “That works, I support it! I’m quite interested in this mixed-race little brother. Earlier when we analyzed the trainees’ resumes, only this kid’s relevant artistic experience was completely blank. Aren’t you all curious?”
Chen Shiyu nodded: “Okay, then let’s do as Teacher Yang suggested.”
