Pretending to Be an Overseas Contestant on a Boy Group Survival Show

*The second set of illustrations is out! If you can only see the first set, update the app. The watermarked versions are on Weibo at @A Self-Destructing Truck.

*I delete comments that bring up real-life people or events. I did not delete any other comments, so please don't argue about them in the comments.

[Content notes are provided below. Anyone who tries to identify a real-life inspiration for a character is doomed to flop.]

Upcoming story 1: A Catalog of Failed Fanservice on a Survival Show (original, no romance)

Upcoming story 2: I Draw the Undercover Card Every Round (unlimited flow, male-female romance)

Upcoming story 3: I'm So Normal I'm Like a BUG (original, no romance)

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[Synopsis]

Before he was tricked and swindled into transmigrating to a parallel world as a contestant on a boy group survival show, Lai Yudong was a college student with no training and no talent for either singing or dancing.

He thought his only mission was to make it to the finale by some medical miracle and do his best to debut in the group. But the moment he opened his eyes at the initial performance evaluations, he realized just how bad things were-

"Please welcome our next trainee, Miura Yuki from LYD Entertainment."

Lai Yudong: "..."

I'm screwed. I can't even speak Japanese!

***

The unscrupulous system provides a feature that lets him view the real-time viewer comments.

Lai Yudong checks them from time to time, but he often has no idea what this season's audience is thinking.

At the initial evaluations-

[Whoa! A cool, cold-faced hottie!]
[This contestant has such a formidable aura! He must be really talented!]

Lai Yudong: Please don't spread rumors.

While interacting with the other contestants-

[Help, why is he hesitating and too scared to speak? Is that cool-guy aura actually his stubborn disguise? Hahahahaha]
[He's just like socially anxious me lol]

Lai Yudong: I am a foreigner.

During a live performance-

[They're letting robots audition now?]
[Signing a petition in blood to give this handsome guy limbs nimble enough to match his face.]

Lai Yudong: Sowwy, I did my best.

At the ranking announcements-

[He's crying, he's crying, he's crying!]
[Waaaah, everyone loves a socially anxious little brother who pretends to be aloof! Everyone!]

Lai Yudong: *...* (Closes the comments.)

He isn't severely socially anxious, and he isn't some cold-faced big shot!

He's just a newbie forced to deal with a language barrier! (Giving-up-on-life.jpg)

***

[Lai Yudong's Survival Show Journey at a Glance]

#WasLaiYudongFoundOutToday#

#WasLaiYudongEliminatedToday#

#DidLaiYudongTameHisLimbsToday#

#DidLaiYudongShakeAgainDuringHisPerformanceToday#

#DidLaiYudongCryAtTheRankingAnnouncementToday#

#DidLaiYudongManageToScrapeIntoADebutSpotToday#

#DidMiuraYukiDebutInTheGroupToday#

Lai Yudong: "Wait, wasn't I an overseas contestant!?"

|| Reader Notes ||

1. No romantic pairing. Thanks to @Piao Yi Pui, @Ruru_20, and @KITACHI Man for the cover and illustrations.

2. This is a traditional survival-show story. The competition format draws on the 101 series, not the 999 series, with some original details. All songs are fictional. The characters have no real-life counterparts, no real-life counterparts, no real-life counterparts! Please don't project real people onto them or mention others in the comments!

3. The story is fairly detailed, but it does not devote large sections to fights between fans and antis.

4. The system provides guidance early on and fades into the background later. It does not grant any overpowered abilities.

5. This is a gradual growth story built from the ground up. The protagonist does not debut as the center and is not a standout for his skills; his role is the visual center and face of the group. He won't become an instant success, nor will everything go smoothly in a mindless wish-fulfillment fantasy. Please keep that in mind before reading.

6. The survival show takes place in China. His overseas identity is a mix-up caused by the system; both the protagonist and the identity he transmigrates into are ethnically Chinese. Neither he nor the other contestants know this, but the audience does. The details are gradually revealed in the story (chapters 24 and 77). Rest assured, there won't be any bizarre plot developments.

7. The viewers are ordinary variety-show viewers, not an interdimensional livestream audience, and this is not an Earth Online scenario.

8. From beginning to end, there is only one Lai Yudong. There is no original host.

9. The findings and screenshots from the detailed plagiarism investigation have been posted on Weibo. If you still want to spread rumors, please submit more evidence for review.

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[Upcoming Story Synopsis]

A Catalog of Failed Fanservice on a Survival Show (original, no romance)

Yu Zhuo is the most popular contestant going into the survival show Rise to the Top: Star Makers. A successful debut might not be absolutely guaranteed, but it's a pretty safe bet.

Then a system drops out of nowhere and assigns him two missions.

1. Debut in the group.

2. No romantic fanservice.

Yu Zhuo: "..."

Where did this possessive solo-fan system come from?

A boy group that doesn't do romantic fanservice might as well be cutting off its own escape route. Isn't that just making things harder for him?

He refuses to comply-

System: "Mission failure will result in your forced withdrawal from the competition."

Yu Zhuo: "To debut, I must first cut down the one I love!"

***

Before entering the competition, Yu Zhuo thoroughly studied his company's Guide to Boy Group Fanservice and hundreds of shipping essays written by survival-show fans. A master of strategy on paper, he decides to do the exact opposite.

Whatever the viewers want to see, he won't do it.

At the initial evaluations-

A newly arrived trainee eyes Yu Zhuo eagerly. It's hard to tell whether his burning gaze is fixed on the center seat Yu Zhuo occupies or on Yu Zhuo himself, a walking source of clout to feed off.

[I love watching people fight for the center seat.]
[I smell a rivalry.]
[Battle!]

Yu Zhuo humbly gets up. "Please, have a seat."

When choosing teammates-

Two trainees who have been pursuing Yu Zhuo, without his reciprocation, sincerely put themselves forward. As team leader, he must personally choose between them.

[Whoa, a love triangle.]
[The bickering rivals or the perfectly in-sync partners? Such a hard choice.]
[Whichever ship he picks, I'm investing!]

Yu Zhuo leaves it to fate. "Let's play rock-paper-scissors."

In the interview room-

This is the perfect opportunity to build connections, but Yu Zhuo is determined to shut his heart tight.

"There aren't any trainees I have my eye on."

"There aren't any teams I'm particularly optimistic about."

"I'm fine working with anyone."

"I'm about equally close to everyone."

[I'm speechless.]
[Bro, are you a lone wolf?]
[I don't think I've ever heard another person's name come out of his mouth.]

Yu Zhuo smiles and delivers the finishing blow. "I don't know any of them well."

After enough incidents like these, everyone knows Yu Zhuo is an aloof, independent, arrogant career obsessive.

By rights, no one should bother pining after him anymore.

Yet the system's fanservice warning keeps sounding as usual.

Yu Zhuo: "Who praised me on camera this time?"

Theme: Never give up; charge toward the summit.