I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 41.1

The performance officially began.

The two teams performing “Demons” took the stage for their greeting.

The other teams watched the live broadcast on the large screen mounted on the wall in the waiting room. No one was in the mood for jokes; they sat in rows, with a photographer present to capture their reactions.

Chi Meng sat with her legs crossed and arms folded, leaning back in her chair, looking up at the screen. Her expression was serious, her usual gentle smile gone, leaving only a habitual slight curve at the corner of her mouth.

The still-nervous Yuan Sike was fidgeting her legs and glancing around. She was startled first by the inexplicable aura emanating from Chi Meng, and then noticed Song Jiaqi sitting next to Chi Meng in the same posture. However, Song Jiaqi looked lazy and indifferent, as if the public performance had nothing to do with her, her eyes drifting. Yuan Sike thought, “Do people who hang out together get infected with the same behavior?” Just then, Song Jiaqi’s wandering gaze suddenly dropped and met hers.

Yuan Sike was startled, thinking Song Jiaqi was too sensitive, smiled at her, and turned her head back to the screen.

The first team to perform, Team Two, was already on stage.

“This team…” Chen Zhu said softly, “is quite strong.”

It included Qi Yan, who was promoted directly from Class C to Class A after the theme song assessment, and Lin Yuxin from Xinghuo Entertainment, who received an A evaluation in the initial stage. These two trainees had left a deep impression in the first episode—Qi Yan’s dance and Lin Yuxin’s Class A battle. The audience below the stage erupted in cheers as Team Two bowed in greeting.

The trainees on stage awkwardly but excitedly greeted everyone and took their formation with Qi Yan standing in the center. As the stage lights dimmed and the intense, rhythmic music sounded, Qi Yan lifted her eyelids. Her cold expression broke into the camera. Her ice-blue pupils had a frosty, mechanical quality, complemented by similar makeup, making her look like a cyborg that had torn its way out of a cybernetic world.

The audience below the stage and in front of the screens paused, then instantly widened their eyes and cheered.

Backstage, someone let out a whistle. On the stage, this cyborg leader led the others in a dance. From the moment of her first movement, almost no one could take their eyes off her.

The aloof cyborg was expressionless, opening her mouth for a low, rapid rap. The audience below was surprised to discover, “Hey! Compared to her initial stage, this trainee’s rap has improved a lot!”

“At least she’s not just reading the lyrics, haha!”

“And her voice… sounds a little unique.”

“A brilliant move,” Xue Weiran said in Team Nine’s waiting room backstage. “Qi Yan’s voice has a lot of character; it’s just that she usually doesn’t like to talk properly.”

The trainees around her nodded vigorously, their eyes glued to the screen. Qi Yan’s voice was naturally sweet, and she was actually quite pretty in a sweet way, but she was tall, always kept a straight face, and didn’t like to communicate with others. No one expected her to be so dazzling on stage.

In the two waiting rooms for “A Flower Has Bloomed,” both team leaders simultaneously clenched their fists, lamenting that Qi Yan’s voice should have been in their team!

Lin Tingxia sat on a stool, swinging her legs, and was shocked when Luo Guo said this: “You want the cool girl to sing a sweet song?”

“Look at that cold face of hers before you say something like that!”

Luo Guo said mercilessly, “Sweet and cool is still cool!”

She thought for a moment, “If Song Jiaqi can smile, why can’t Qi Yan!”

“Heh, Song Jiaqi only smiles at Sister Meng, wake up!” As representatives of the training camp’s two ‘ice queen’ type trainees, Lin Tingxia ruthlessly exposed the truth.

Luo Guo: “…”

On stage, the opening rap ended, and the formation shifted. The main vocalist, Lin Yuxin, stood in the center. She had the longest training period in the camp, and her strength was very stable, whether in singing or dancing—she was the definition of “steady.” When selecting team members, Qi Yan was the first Class A trainee to pick after Chen Zhu, and she immediately chose Lin Yuxin. Lin Yuxin, because of her “seniority” and strength, was both the main C and the leader of Team Two.

Team Two’s “Demons” stage was mesmerizing. The dark blue lighting reflected the song’s theme. Although it was about demons, in Team Two’s performance, the demon was cold and mysterious, expressed through dance. The madness and destructive nature belonging to the devil were hidden in the singing. The ultimate conflict created a spark of heat, hidden in the demon’s eyes.

The moment Team Two’s performance ended, the audience immediately erupted in applause. The trainees backstage couldn’t help but stand up and clap.

“Too strong. This team is strong in both dancing and singing. Truly amazing!” everyone exclaimed.

Team Two had a perfect opening. The trainees, after a week of training, showed brilliant smiles amidst the applause. The cold feeling brought by the stage instantly vanished as they waved and left the stage.

“Ah, ah, it’s finally over!!” The members of Team Two, having finished their performance, felt a huge weight lift off their shoulders and cheered.

Lin Yuxin turned back and said excitedly, “We were really good, right?”

Qi Yan nodded emphatically.

The pressure shifted to Team Twelve, performing the same song as Team Two. The nine girls waiting backstage took deep breaths and walked onto the stage. The same music started, initiating a performance with a distinctly different style from Team Two. If Team Two’s demon was cold, a cool brutality, Team Twelve’s performance was about liberation, an extreme catharsis.

It was like the difference between blue and red.

“What a pity,” Chen Zhu tilted her head and whispered.

Chi Meng watched the stage without saying a word. With Team Two having gone first, Team Twelve’s overall performance was quite complete, but this team lacked a dazzling center. Team Twelve’s center, Chu Ziyue, was the only Class B trainee in the group. She received a B in the initial stage and remained in Class B after the theme song assessment. Her ability was not bad, but unfortunately, compared to Team Two, her center performance was a bit ordinary.

If Chu Ziyue and Lin Yuxin were swapped, the two teams might have been able to compete better. Both were ‘steady,’ but there was a clear gap between Lin Yuxin’s ‘steadiness’ and Chu Ziyue’s.

However, Team Twelve still delivered a wonderful performance. The complete stage was a testament to their hard work. After Team Twelve finished their performance, all the trainees also gave warm applause—for their exciting performance and for the sweat they had poured in over the past week.

With both teams finished, Xie Tongyue had both teams return to the stage, standing to her left and right. She asked the live audience to applaud the two teams again and smiled, “We are about to enter the voting period. Today, three thousand audience members are here. You received a voting device upon entry. If you liked a team’s performance, please vote for them now. Please press ‘1’ for the first team to perform, and ‘2’ for the second team.”

“Before voting, do our trainees have anything they want to say to everyone?” Xie Tongyue encouraged both teams to campaign for votes.

Team Two’s leader, Lin Yuxin, smiled and said, “We gave our best performance with no regrets. We hope you like it!”

In Team Twelve, Chu Ziyue’s eyes were slightly red after the performance. She stood on stage, holding the mic, her voice trembling slightly: “I don’t know what the result will be, but we worked hard. I really love today’s stage! And I want to tell my teammates that they worked hard!”

The audience roared with applause. A ten-second countdown appeared on the large screen on the stage. The nervous atmosphere on stage spread backstage. The trainees stared intently at the screen, waiting for the results.

1902: 1098

“Ah…” someone sighed softly.

“Congratulations to Team Two.”

The trainees backstage applauded and said, “And congratulations to Team Twelve!”

Some were happy, others disappointed, but the outcome could not be changed.

The trainees from Team Two and Team Twelve left the stage with mixed feelings. The name of the next song to be performed appeared on the large screen.

“Never Ever”

Below the song title, the names of the eighteen trainees from Team Seven and Team Nine were listed left and right. The moment the names appeared, the audience below erupted in screams.

“Xue Weiran!”

“Xue Weiran, Xue Weiran!!”

“Lecheng Haian (Seashore of Joy)!”

“Xue Weiran!”

The cheering was like a landslide, drowning out all other sounds. For a moment, no other names could be heard in the venue; it was as if the entire place was shouting Xue Weiran.

Everyone backstage: “Wow…”

“What a big deal!”

“Xue Weiran’s initial stage performance was too explosive. She’s not ‘Wei Ran’ (not yet ignited), she’s ‘Chao Ran’ (super ignited).”

Xue Weiran, the first center of the initial stage and a trainee from Xinghuo Entertainment, stepped onto the stage. The corners of her mouth lifted. Her dark eyes beneath her purple hair shone brightly, like stars. She appeared completely relaxed, hooked her lips, stood straight, and bowed deeply to thank everyone.

The already passionate cheering grew louder. Purple light sticks flickered brightly in the sea of people.

Team Nine was somewhat relieved, basking in the glow of their leader. The trainees of Team Seven, however, felt their already nervous hearts tighten even more. Team Seven’s leader, Zhou Siyang, pursed her lips, her fingers slightly white as she gripped the microphone.

At this moment, both the trainees on and off the stage had one thought: unless Xue Weiran made a major mistake, the outcome of this battle seemed already sealed.

But was it possible for Xue Weiran to make a mistake?

As Team Nine’s leader and main C, Xue Weiran’s relaxed and low voice filled the entire stadium, Zhou Siyang closed her eyes in bitter sorrow amidst the cheers, thinking, Why did Xue Weiran have to choose to compete against her?!

In Team One’s waiting room, Hua Xiaowei asked Xue Weiran’s company-mate, Yuan Sike, “Does she have a weakness?”

Chen Zhu and Yuan Sike both looked over: “Of course she does.”

019, who had been secretly listening, had four words flash through her mind.

“You know my nickname, right,” Yuan Sike said. “High Note Non-negotiable Yuan Sike (Gao Yin Bu Ke Yuan Sike). Among the few of us from our company who came to the show, only Sister Xin’s high notes are decent.”

Everyone suddenly remembered the small incident during the theme song C-position battle. Yuan Yixin laughed, “If we don’t get eliminated and still have a chance to perform, I hope the production team does a song like ‘Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,’ and I sincerely invite Senior Xue Weiran to join the team.”

Because of the sensitive word “elimination,” the two Renxing trainees who had dropped to Class C and D in the theme song assessment winced. However, Song Yingjun laughed and said, “No way! How can you sing ‘Qinghai-Tibet Plateau’ with a senior? You should pray that the senior gets chosen for the high-note group!”

Yuan Yixin nodded: “True.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Without surprise, in the “Never Ever” competition, Team Nine won with an overwhelming vote difference of 2013: 987. Seeing the vote count, the members of Team Seven smiled helplessly. Zhou Siyang clenched her fists, silent and deeply wronged.

Based on their performance, her team was definitely stronger than the previous Team Twelve’s stage, but because they faced Xue Weiran’s team, their votes were not as high as Team Twelve’s.

She silently walked off the stage. The others quietly comforted her, and seeing her continuously keep her head down, they sighed softly.

Following this, in the performance of “Not Bad,” Team Fourteen beat Team Eight 1829: 1171, securing the ten thousand victory votes. In the sweet style of “A Flower Has Bloomed,” Team Six, featuring Lin Tingxia, Luo Guo, and the twin trainees Yun Guo, successfully won. Shi Ke Shi (Can Be It) was the first trainee to perform in the initial stage, and her playful and cute impression had attracted many fans. In the “Vague” stage, Team Three, led by An Ran from Xinghuo Entertainment and main C Liu Yuexin, won the competition.

Looking at the performances so far, the winning teams not only had strength but also stronger popularity. The trainees suddenly understood the core philosophy of “Star-Starting Journey”—why popularity was prioritized.

Without popularity, who would see the strength? But it was the strength showcased in the initial stage that earned them their current popularity.

Amidst complex emotions, only two stages remained. Chi Meng stood up to get some water and, upon returning, noticed Song Jiaqi sitting straighter than before, watching the two teams on stage with keen interest.

“What’s wrong?” Chi Meng asked.

Song Jiaqi shook her head, the interest in her eyes unconcealed, and accepted the water Chi Meng handed her.

“We need to get ready to wait backstage. Everyone who needs to use the restroom, hurry up,” Chen Zhu said, no longer focused on the stage.

Everyone quickly moved. At this moment, they envied the trainees who had performed first. Nervousness doesn’t disappear; it only shifts!

Chi Meng jumped in place a couple of times, shook her hands, and looked at the screen.

The two teams competing now were Team Four, led by Song Yuze, and Team Ten. Song Yuze was the first A in the initial stage, a company-mate and leader of Qi Yan. Team Ten was led by An Kui, and Chi Meng was more familiar with its members, including Jing Ming, who had shared a dorm with her, and—Su Mengyao.

Song Jiaqi’s gaze landed on the smiling Su Mengyao. Honestly, Su Mengyao was truly beautiful. Despite her unpredictable personality, she had a delicate, pitiful beauty, and when those eyes looked at you quietly, one could almost drown in her tenderness.

—Of course, that was the formerly more mature protagonist. Now, the protagonist with her pretty little face spent her days playing the ‘tea-language’ game and ying-ying-wu-wuing (whining/crying), which was silly.

Song Jiaqi curved her lips, her eyes deep with a strange, even somewhat pleasurable, sense of watching a show. Just then, she heard Chi Meng’s voice.

“Huh, it’s hard to guess.”

Song Jiaqi stood up, looked at Chi Meng, and smiled gently: “Yes, it’s hard to guess.”

Chi Meng smiled at her, and a staff member at the door came over to remind them to head to the waiting area. Chi Meng took Song Jiaqi’s wrist, and the two followed the team to the holding area.

The people ahead were talking in low whispers.

Yuan Sike curiously asked, “I still haven’t figured out who the main C for Team Ten is. Could it be An Kui?”

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