The back-to-school season had passed, and the barbershop business was slow. The owner was lying on the table, half-squinting and dozing off.
“Welcome!” The Maneki-neko cat hanging at the door emitted a melodious alert tone.
The owner glanced at his watch, remembering that a guest had called to schedule a hair dye appointment over ten minutes ago.
He struggled to lift his head and looked toward the door, then saw a tall boy wearing a baseball cap. He subconsciously called out: “Good morning, handsome. You’re the one who called for the appointment, right? So you have any ideas on what color you want to dye it?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the boy take off his baseball cap, revealing a head of brilliant blonde hair without a single strand of any other color.
The voluminous hair wasn’t flattened by the cap at all; it burst out like popcorn the moment the cap was removed.
A face more handsome than a CGI model was suddenly exposed under the barbershop lights.
The owner slowly opened his mouth wide, the cigarette he’d been holding between his lips falling onto the table with a “pat.”
Fuck, is this a celebrity? Can his little shop actually host a celebrity?
It was the first time he had seen someone in real life whose face alone could make his small barbershop shine. The light even seemed brighter.
‘Fuck, this kid is really good looking.’
‘And this eye color…are those colored contacts?’
Quentin didn’t mind the owner’s shocked expression and calmly stepped forward: “Please help me dye it black. The natural black of original black hair, something low-key.”
“Oh, oh, sure, I understand. Natural black, right.” The owner collected himself, stood up, and gestured for Quentin to take a seat in the empty chair.
He fiddled with the young man’s hair for a bit: “…Handsome, this blond hair of yours is natural.”
‘This must be a joke. There actually exists such pure natural blond hair?’
He was mentally praising the colleague who could dye such beautiful blond hair, but upon closer look…… it turned out not to be dyed?
“En, you could say that.”
Quentin could understand the owner’s surprise; he had felt the same way when he looked in the mirror.
Seeing the owner start busily preparing the tools, Quentin closed his eyes and continued communicating with the system.
“What’s going on with the plot deviation?” he asked.
System: “…This system doesn’t know either QAQ.”
The system was frantically running self-checks and virus scans, and its electronic voice was filled with deep confusion: “The plot hasn’t even started yet, you haven’t done anything, how could there suddenly be a 0.5% deviation?”
Quentin thought for two seconds: “You said before that each of the six main characters has a 100% progress bar. Can you determine whose progress bar moved for this 0.5%?”
System: “It’s… one of the main characters’. Before you truly confirm the main characters, this system cannot lock onto the main character for you.”
Quentin wasn’t disappointed. He carefully recalled if he had met anyone memorable on the way from the hotel to the barbershop…it seemed not. The main reason was that he had been talking to the system the whole time and hadn’t paid attention to the passersby at all.
“Remind me promptly whenever the deviation changes from now on,” he said. “The reason for today’s change might be that I accidentally encountered one of the six main characters on my way to the barbershop. As you said, this place is close to the program filming base. We could run into the main characters, who are also trainees on the survival show, at any time.”
The system quickly agreed: “Understood! Congratulations, Host. You now have a total of 150 energy points! You can start training in the practice room anytime.”
“Additionally, this system needs to remind the Host that the initial stage performance evaluations will begin on the first day of the official program recording one week from now. You need to use this week to prepare your performance for the initial stage.”
Quentin felt the hairdresser behind him start applying the dye to his hair. The gentle shaking motion made him drowsy, so he responded mentally to the system: “Alright, pull me into the recording studio.”
“Yes!”
The dark, narrow field of view when his eyes were closed suddenly became bright and vast. Dense strings of fluorescent blue data chains converged before Quentin’s eyes, forming a solid entity.
Dark wood palm flooring, light wood walls, and a ceiling two stories high. Countless bright ceiling lights were scattered like stars. Brand-new mixing consoles, effects processors, speakers, and other professional equipment were all available.
In the recording room separated by double-paned glass windows, a standing microphone stand and music stand stood in the center. Various instruments like pianos, keyboards, and drum sets were arranged orderly against the walls. The overall decor was incredibly luxurious, as if he were in a world-class music hall.
It was indeed the system’s beloved glittering/shiny-aesthetic.
Quentin stood still in a daze. His appearance in the data space was still blond with green eyes. The bright lights around him made him look like a little prince straight out of a Western fairy tale.
He said quietly: “You referenced Abbey Road Studios? No, it has similarities to Capitol Studios too. It’s like you fused the characteristics of the world’s most famous recording studios.”
The system detected that the host’s heartbeat was quickening and body temperature rising slightly, and it panicked: “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it? The system accessed data from your original world and combined it with this world’s most advanced equipment and technology to create the recording studio before your eyes. Are you not satisfied?”
Quentin: “…No, I’m very satisfied. I’m very excited.”
‘But you look so calm…’
The system carefully observed the host within the data space. In the external world, it mostly shared the host’s vision, so it couldn’t see the host’s appearance at all times. It could only monitor the host’s physical condition through data and judge the host’s mood fluctuations through physiological changes like heartbeat, body temperature, and hormone secretion.
This was completely incomparable to observing the host 360° without blind spots within the data space.
The data space containing the host’s consciousness was the system’s main body. In a sense, Quentin was now inside the system’s body, surrounded by data in every corner.
Quentin walked forward and tested the equipment in the control room roughly. After pondering for a while, he said: “System, I remember you said you can extract data from this world’s singers, dancers, rappers, and idols to replicate an all-around master teacher?”
“Yes.”
“Then you should also be able to extract data from producers, recording engineers, mixing engineers, and other professional workers to help me assemble a music studio team, right?”
Quentin looked straight ahead. The bright lights filling the room fell into his eyes like stars, and a lake-like green flowed from his pupils.
His gaze was always very light, his eyes like a still, waveless mountain and sea, almost devoid of emotional fluctuation.
This was his daily demeanor off-stage, completely different from the sharp, eye-catching superstar under the spotlight.
In his previous life, Quentin had repeatedly advised fans in interviews not to pay attention to his personal life. He admitted frankly that he was truly a very boring person privately, with no extra hobbies or friends to hang out with. Outside of work, aside from searching for musical inspiration, he almost never went out. Like a mushroom rooted in the studio, his heart and eyes were full of creation; only music could give him a sense of security.
In his previous life, due to his aloof, cold gaze, terrifying achievements and halo, most people didn’t dare to approach him easily, let alone chatter nonsense in front of him.
However, the system, which couldn’t read the atmosphere or sense emotions, didn’t have these chaotic thoughts. It only objectively believed its host was incomparably good-looking based on data.
Just being stared at by these eyes made it feel like its data became disrupted for 0.01 seconds.
The system answered firmly: “Of course. It consumes 10 energy points to create one all-around master. Each master has four specialized skill slots. Host, how would you like to set them up?”
“10 points for one…”
Quentin thought for two seconds and asked: “What about you? Can you do these things?”
System: “…Huh?”
Quentin repeated patiently: “Do you know these skills? It’s okay if you don’t, I can teach you. I just need someone to help operate the equipment in the control room while I’m recording. I can handle the subsequent song production alone.”
The system looked at the host and hesitated for 0.01 seconds: “If it’s just these tasks, I can.”
This wasn’t breaking the rules. It wasn’t extracting anyone else’s data; it was just controlling the recording equipment composed of its own data.
Quentin added: “What about promotion and operations? I plan to release the finished songs online later. I need someone to help monitor the playback data and chart changes for me. I heard that trainees have to hand in their phones during the survival show recording. I won’t be able to keep an eye on it myself. Can you do it?”
System: “…Of course!”
The blond, green-eyed boy raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled: “Thank you.”
**
“Ahem… um, Handsome?”
The barbershop owner gently patted Quentin’s shoulder: “The dye is done. Now we need to go over there to wash it off.”
Quentin opened his eyes and saw the black-haired boy in the mirror.
The wet, sticky dye pulled all his hair back past his hairline, as if he’d combed it into a slicked-back style. His smooth, full forehead and excellent eyebrows were completely exposed.
The boy’s hair was short, so washing and drying didn’t take long.
The soft black hair, rubbed with hair essence, carried the scent of gardenia. The owner very thoughtfully helped Quentin dye his eyebrows as well.
The eyelashes were in a special position; dye could easily irritate the eyes, so they remained their original blonde.
One would think it would be slightly out of place, but perhaps because Quentin’s own green eyes were bright enough, paired with the light golden eyelashes, they looked like emeralds sprinkled with glitter. Against the contrast of the black hair, they were even more dazzling.
Quentin’s original intention in dyeing his hair was to avoid being too eye-catching, but as he looked at his black-haired, green-eyed self, he somehow felt…how did dyeing his hair make this face even more eye-catching?
The owner looked at Quentin eagerly: “Handsome, can we take a photo together?”
His voice had become high-pitched, which really didn’t match his big, bearded appearance.
Quentin: “En.”
The owner happily pulled out his phone. While adjusting the angle for a selfie, he asked: “Handsome, what’s your forum account? Can I follow you? Ai, I don’t usually pay attention to celebrities, so I don’t know who’s in the entertainment industry now. That’s why I didn’t recognize you. You must be very famous, right?”
“…I don’t have a forum account.”
Quentin looked at the camera and answered: “And I’m not famous yet, for now. I’m Quentin. You’ll know me in the future.”
“Click.” The shutter sound rang out, the focus fixing on the young man’s calm, composed green eyes.
It was as if this gaze had pierced through the photo, looking at the person who would hold the phone years later, exclaiming and sighing in amazement.
The still relatively young owner at this moment didn’t think much of these words, only feeling the young man was full of vigor and vitality, and had lofty ideals.
He smiled and said goodbye to Quentin, watching the boy’s tall, straight figure disappear down the street.
Quentin’s first action upon leaving the barbershop was to take out his phone and learn about this world’s social apps.
The forum, called the “Yun Forum,” was available as a mobile app and PC website. It integrated text, images,long and short videos, live streams, and other online communication and sharing methods. It was the most popular mainstream social software at the moment.
Its subforums/sections were very detailed, and its personalized content recommendations were highly praised.
From the [Study Section] used by college students to the essential [Entertainment Section] for star-chasing, to the [Film & TV Section] where film and TV drama enthusiasts and critics gathered, as well as the [Music Section], [Dance Section], [Lifestyle Section], [Gaming Section], [Fashion Section], and so on.
This diverse and varied array of sections didn’t affect its overall simple and aesthetically pleasing UI design. All functions were clear at a glance.
Quentin was quite lucky; the ID name he was accustomed to in his previous life wasn’t taken, so he quickly registered his own forum account.
@昆廷Quentin
Following [0] Followers [0] Posts [0]
Then he plunged headfirst into the Music Section to start surfing.
So Quentin’s forum account name is exactly as it is (昆廷Quentin which is QuentinQuentin), his name in English and Chinese characters.
