I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 18

“Oh oh!!”

“Hiss, wow!” The trainees on the pyramid blushed with excitement, standing up to applaud.

After holding their pose for three seconds, the Xinghuo trainees broke formation, bowing in thanks.

The mentor, Luan Xiu, who came from a girl group background, was the first to speak:

“Your stage can’t just be described as explosive. Compared with many of the previous performances, yours was mature, stable, and had your own style. Up until now, after watching so many stages, yours really caught my eye.”

“I noticed you have two main vocals. The way you work together is great—like two stars shining in tandem,” Teng Jia said. “The way you handled the song was perfect, so that cool attitude of yours—there’s a reason for it, right? I’m super strong, super fierce—”

Teng Jia grabbed the mic, exaggeratedly mimicking a rapper’s gestures and tone. The mentor next to her frowned so hard their whole face wrinkled up, left eye spelling “baffled,” right eye spelling “weird,” staring at Teng Jia.

Teng Jia obediently lowered the mic. “Sorry.”

“Teacher Teng stole our lines!” Baozi Yu laughed.

This little interlude made both the trainees onstage and the audience laugh. Xie Tongyue, observing the trainees on stage, smiled and said:

“I just saw quite a few of you laughing so happily. I thought you were all the cool and distant type—caught you!”

Xue Weiran raised her brows, spoke into the mic: “We’re tall, but not cold. 36.5 degrees.”

Beside her, An Ran immediately cut her down: “Well, now you are cold.”

A lame joke instantly reshaped Xinghuo’s image in the eyes of the other trainees, dissolving that high-and-distant aura they had.

As usual, the mentors picked individuals to test their vocals or dance before giving grades.

Unexpectedly, during individual checks, several Xinghuo trainees didn’t live up to the dazzling teamwork performance. Some were even rather ordinary. Out of the first five announced, Su Shao landed in Class B, Yuan Sike in Class C, and the other three dropped to Class D.

Unlike the shocked trainees from other companies, the Xinghuo girls on stage stayed calm, showing no surprise at the results.

Chi Meng propped her chin on her hand, blinking as she listened to Xie Tongyue continue:

“Main vocal An Ran, congratulations, Class A.”

An Ran smiled and bowed.

“Lin Yuxin, your performance was steady both in the group stage and individual stage, Class A.”

Lin Yuxin beamed happily and high-fived her teammates.

“Lastly, Xue Weiran, you did very well, Class A.”

The girl with short purple hair smirked, lifting her gaze toward the pyramid.

Just then, Xie Tongyue’s earpiece buzzed with a staff prompt. She turned, surprised, at the sight of the nine fully occupied seats at the very top three rows of the pyramid.

She exclaimed:

“It’s finally time for everyone’s favorite part! As you can see, there are already eight trainees in Class A. For Xinghuo’s trainees to enter, two of them must challenge the existing Class A members. If they win, they’ll move up smoothly. If they lose, they’ll automatically be downgraded.”

The announcement instantly changed the faces of the eight in Class A. They instinctively straightened their shoulders.

Everyone else—trainees and mentors alike—turned around, eyes glowing with excitement at the upcoming spectacle, practically ready to wave a “Fight! Fight!” sign.

Xue Weiran didn’t look surprised. She stretched lazily, leaned down to whisper something to An Ran and Lin Yuxin. Both nodded. Xue Weiran straightened with a smile and said:

“Please.”

An Ran and Lin Yuxin walked down from the stage, stepping onto the star-covered pyramid steps, heading straight for Class A.

“Oh oh oh!” Rap mentor Baozi Yu shouted excitedly, beatboxing a fiery rhythm as sound effects for the two challengers. The three Xinghuo Class A girls cooperatively walked up in sync with the beat.

Chi Meng turned back, gripping her seat as she gazed at the A-class trainees behind her with wide eyes. Shen Zhu pointed at her, curving her lips into a smile, and when she lowered her hand, the Xinghuo girls had already arrived.

The atmosphere tightened at once.

“Sorry, everyone,” An Ran said first, scanning the eight faces. Among them were three from Renxing Entertainment, one from Lehai’an, and one from Qingniao Dream.

The audience of trainees gulped nervously.

“Will Xinghuo push Renxing out?”

“A war between the big companies?”

“No way, they’ll probably give each other some face.”

The trainees fussed with worldly-wise concern.

At that moment, An Ran took two steps to the right, wrapping her arms around a cute, slightly shorter girl. Smiling, she said:

“Sweetheart, we both have the surname An. Fate, right?”

Keyi Entertainment’s An Kui widened her eyes, struggling to pull free. “Mine’s a stage name!”

“Oh? Then that’s even more of a coincidence. Even your stage name matches mine—come on.” An Ran rubbed her head.

An Kui looked helpless, trapped. Sitting in the row below, her company mate Lin Tingxia pumped a fist. “Don’t chicken out, An Xiaokui! You’ve got this!”

An Kui: “…Why don’t you try it instead!”

Amid laughter, she took a deep breath, raised her hand, and high-fived An Ran.

The trainees cheered and clapped, urging them on. At the same time, Lin Yuxin also picked her opponent. She walked up to Jiang Menghan of “Miraculous Encounter,” extending both hands.

Jiang Menghan’s face went pale. She screamed: “I knew it, ahhhh!”

Throwing her head back in despair, she sighed, then resolutely grabbed Lin Yuxin’s hands. “Let’s do it!”

Once the two challengers led their opponents down from the stage, everyone realized Xue Weiran still hadn’t moved.

“Eh, trainee Xue Weiran, do you still have something?” Xie Tongyue asked, surprised.

Xue Weiran smiled, pointing at the empty seat numbered 9 in Class A. She shook her head.

Xie Tongyue laughed, giving her a thumbs-up of encouragement.

The supposedly safe Class A girls now looked horrified—“Oh no, it’s not over yet?!” Meanwhile, everyone else buzzed with even greater excitement.

All eyes turned to Xue Weiran.

She leaned casually against Chi Meng’s seat, looking relaxed, lips curled in a faint smile, as if she’d already decided to pick a good spot for herself, unfazed by the risk of the PK.

Front-row gossiping thrilled Chi Meng—her eyes sparkled as she watched Xue Weiran suddenly straighten.

The short-haired girl’s gaze swept around, those pale violet eyes landing lightly on Shen Zhu. The surrounding trainees let out muffled squeals, hands over mouths, their faces screaming: “No way, she’s going that far?!”

Shen Zhu’s expression stayed calm as she raised her brow at Xue Weiran.

“Captain Shen,” Xue Weiran stepped forward, standing level with her. One standing, one sitting.

She lowered her eyes, lifted her hand, and under the burning stares of the crowd—smacked it down.

On the back of Shen Zhu’s chair.

She chuckled. “Nice stage.”

Shen Zhu: “Thank you.”

Xue Weiran laughed again, stepping up another tier.

Now facing her were three A-class trainees in the second row: Yuan Yixin from Lehai’an, Ning Yuze from Shijie Culture, and Song Yingjun from Renxing Entertainment.

The three stared at her nervously, only to see her smiling, stepping up yet another tier.

Below, countless trainees jumped to their feet, clapping and screaming.

From the very first seat choice, Liu Yuexin had claimed the C-position. After securing her A-rank in the initial stage, she had returned to the No. 1 spot.

Her pupils contracted, and she blurted out: “We’re all in Class A, we don’t have to PK.”

“Yes,” Xue Weiran said. “But I think the view from the No. 1 spot is better. I want it. Will you give it up?”

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