Dad, Please Let Me Stan You Alone! Chapter 11

Actively requesting a battle could easily make someone seem overly aggressive. Sometimes, it even got them labeled arrogant and socially inept. If the challenger already came with plenty of hype and discussion, they would attract a swarm of haters and trolls. It was hardly worth the trouble.

So, the odds of this mechanism appearing were actually quite low.

After all, everyone wanted to be more likable and have better audience appeal, rather than come across as overly calculating.

However, this convention seemed to have been completely discarded under the brand-new Elimination Mechanism. Within just half an hour after the upper ranks had filled up, eight trainees had already launched battles against those seated there.

Such fierce seat-grabbing was practically unheard of in the idol survival show industry.

Obviously, the price of elimination—being unable to ever become an idol—made every capable contestant unwilling to yield voluntarily.

They reacted chemically with the elimination rules, refusing to miss any chance to showcase themselves. Their competitive drive was as ferocious as a fight to the death, as though they were competing for the position of wolf king.

Yet, strangely enough, although people kept launching battles and fighting for seats in the upper ranks, the Center position at the very top remained empty. No one had dared to sit there so far.

At this moment,

Chu Yuanqing wore a serious expression on her delicate, adorable face. Sitting in the unremarkable Seat 101 with her daughter, she peacefully watched one trainee after another improvise to randomly played music.

If music was an auditory art that conveyed emotion through sound, then dance was undoubtedly a visual art that expressed emotion through the body.

Relying purely on muscle memory, these contestants could make the dance phrases and sequences engraved in their subconscious echo the musical phrases and passages of the improvised music. Their movements were coordinated and fluid, while still maintaining beautiful lines.

The very best among them could even promptly break down and understand the emotional theme of the music, then express it flawlessly through dance. To an outsider like her, that was a realm worthy of awe.

They were incredible.

That was what Chu Yuanqing thought.

This was the true charm of dance, something she had never experienced during the past two weeks of studying in dance studios or teaching herself from videos at home.

Chu Wangshu was far less detached. Throughout this time, she had constantly compared her own dancing level with that of the remaining contestants, feeling both fortunate and discouraged.

She was fortunate because if she had previously sat in the upper ranks, or even somewhere closer to the front of the middle ranks, she would very likely have been challenged off her seat with her current level.

She was discouraged because the gap in their abilities was simply too great.

If it were just dance technique, it would have been manageable. But in stage experience, resistance to pressure, emotional expression, and countless other details, she was far inferior to them—so much so that they did not even seem to exist on the same plane.

If she could not rapidly improve her abilities afterward, elimination was practically a foregone conclusion.

At the same time, public opinion outside grew increasingly heated after fermenting for an hour.

The top hot searches had been pulled back and forth repeatedly. At first, they were about Chu Yuanqing, then Chen Yining and Ji Shuzhu. There were also questions about the elimination rules mixed in, but now the discussion had stabilized around Flash Dance Seat-Grabbing Segment.

This idol project, which had officially premiered in Sea Capital and Kyoto, had set off a violent tsunami within Great Xia. With the nation's official news outlets personally backing it, it was destined to enter the sight of two billion domestic viewers and receive an enormous amount of attention.

At this stage, the peak number of viewers in the Live Broadcast Room had climbed to forty million. After dipping slightly, it stabilized at another terrifying figure.

And this was only the livestream. It was difficult to imagine how absurd the numbers would become when the first episode was edited and officially aired.

It could be said that breaking one hundred million was no dream.

Domestic Variety Shows had almost been competed to death. Flash Dance's only opponent was Flash Dance itself.

Now, based on the differing time zones of each country, Flash Dance under the same project was successively premiering around the world. A global trend was already gathering momentum, sooner or later turning into a surging tsunami that would reshape the entertainment ecosystem of tens of billions of people.

As a result, the attitude of the livestream viewers gradually stopped resembling that of people watching an idol survival show:

"Fuck, battle. Battle the hell out of each other."

"The elimination mechanism is cruel, but which contestant isn't carrying their dreams forward? What's wrong with desperately grabbing opportunities and bravely showing who they are?"

"Flash Dance is a global project. The winning groups selected from Sea Capital and Kyoto are bound to enter the world stage. If we let paid commenters and trolls run wild now, we viewers will be the ones embarrassed during the international competition later."

"That's right. The contestants are all standing on the same Starting Line in this show. Letting strength decide the seats is nothing worth criticizing."

In this atmosphere, the increasingly intense battle segment became wildly popular instead. The seats in the upper ranks were swapped back and forth through challenge after challenge. It was all about the thrill, and even without editing, it was incredibly entertaining.

"This Sakura Girl has such steady stage presence! She's been challenged three times in a row and still hasn't lost!"

"So weird. Island Nation idols don't receive systematic dance training, right? At her level, she would definitely be considered good in the Island Nation idol scene. There's no way she could have remained unnoticed for years."

"Chen Yining is so strong too. I thought she relied entirely on her background, but her ability isn't bad at all."

"I'm dying. Someone actually challenged Ji Shuzhu? That's brave!"

"This is strange. Why is no one sitting in the Center position yet?"

"Do you even need to ask? They're definitely wary of the Great Demon King. If someone sits in the Center position and gets battled off, it would be pretty embarrassing."

"You mean Xie Qingxuan? She might not even participate, right?"

That Bullet Comment was like a dose of cursed luck. Not long after it was sent, the huge screen onstage suddenly lit up, displaying the iconic logo of wisps of cloud wrapped around a sun wheel.

The trainees whispered among themselves:

"Xihe Entertainment?"

"That's one of the top film and television companies in the country."

"I remember this company only has two trainees under it, right?"

Amid the murmurs, a contestant slowly emerged from the entrance. She was the topic of discussion everyone had been talking about for so long.

—Xie Qingxuan.

The girl had strikingly defined features blended with Western European characteristics. She was a rare mixed-race beauty, and even her hair was a precious platinum color, like down feathers dropped into the mortal world by an angel. She possessed an otherworldly beauty, as if standing above the clouds, with an exceptionally powerful presence.

Xie Qingxuan surveyed her surroundings without making eye contact with anyone, nor did she introduce herself.

—In fact, she truly had no need to introduce herself.

Xie Qingxuan looked calm, her indifferent gaze drifting toward the topmost level.

Then, she moved her long legs, ignored every contestant, and naturally walked to the eighth tier of steps. She calmly took her seat upon the aloof throne, lowering her eyes to look down on the ongoing battles below. She truly resembled a Great Demon King gazing disdainfully upon the world.

When Chu Yuanqing Zoned Out, She Was Cute Too.

The viewers in the Live Broadcast Room continued assaulting their keyboards:

"Fuck, she's so arrogant. I love her."

"Heh. If I looked like that, I'd be ten thousand times more arrogant than her."

"All I can say is that the Great Demon King has always been like this. Her ability is absolutely no worse than Xie Qingyu, the Purple Star Descending from Heaven, was back then."

"Not quite. Since Xie Qingyu debuted in the Center position, her group's streams have nearly broken six billion. The Great Demon King was still somewhat weaker than her sister at the same time."

"It's really hard to judge them at the same stage. Either way, these sisters were clearly born to be idols."

"Yeah, otherwise why would they call her the Great Demon King? Even ignoring her Star Gate background, just based on raw ability alone, even Ji Shuzhu might not be able to beat her under the battle mechanism. As for everything else, there's no need to mention it."

"The moment Xie Qingxuan announced her participation, one Debut Spot was basically locked in."

As the Center position was settled, the battle for the upper ranks also drew to a close. After a total of ninety-seven minutes of waiting, all 101 seats in the venue had been filled.

At this point, most viewers in the Live Broadcast Room finally sensed that something was wrong:

"By the way, if Flash Dance allows contestants to Withdraw from Competition freely, why did it prepare a fixed number of only 101 seats?"

"Is this some kind of test? Are only the first 101 contestants to enter allowed to participate?"

"Fuck, I suddenly remembered Chu Yuanqing's reaction earlier. When she entered, she walked around every seat, then sighed that there were only 101 seats."

"Oh no. There can't be some kind of trap, right?"

At the current Competition Venue, the mentors entered one after another. The lineup was as strong as expected.

The newly crowned Best Actress Luo Siling, famous singer-songwriter Zhao Dapan, Jiang Chi, the ceiling of domestic rap, and Chen Baijiu, a choreographer who had won world-class awards.

The trainees sat in their seats and discussed them animatedly, but like the viewers, they all felt that the mentor lineup lacked a truly explosive surprise.

Flash Dance's previous moves had been too shocking, raising everyone's expectations too high. As a result, a mentor lineup that would have seemed luxurious in an ordinary survival show now felt rather unremarkable.

But soon, brilliant Rainbow Light descended over the mentor seats and gave everyone an enormous surprise.

Dream Weaver Rabbit appeared once again. Dressed in a small suit, it smiled and bowed to everyone. Then it spread its arms and said:

"Welcome, contestants, to Shining Stage. I am Dream Weaver Rabbit, the head mentor and person in charge of this project."

"To prevent misunderstandings among viewers, let me clarify something in advance. As Dreamweave, the Super AI jointly developed by many countries led by the Donghuang Federation and the Sacred United Nation—"

"Only the source of authority behind this project, namely the highest leaders of the various nations, possess the permission to directly influence or interfere with my decisions and votes within the Competition Venue."

"So, in terms of probability, I will treat every contestant here more fairly than any individual mentor."

Dream Weaver Rabbit smiled as it spoke out this nuclear-level piece of information. Then it floated high in the air, looking down over the seats below as it continued:

"Next comes the stage segment that the Live Broadcast Room has been waiting for."

"Of course, before that, it is necessary for me to answer a few questions that viewers are more concerned about."

As its words fell,

The surreal black technology manifested thousands upon thousands of Bullet Comments from the Live Broadcast Room in three-dimensional form, surrounding the sky above and creating a wondrously strange spectacle.

Like a star encircled by its subjects, Dream Weaver Rabbit was surrounded by Bullet Comments dancing like rivers. It casually grabbed one, narrowed its scarlet eyes, and laughed happily.

"Oh my, it seems some observant viewers have noticed that the Program Group only prepared 101 seats from the very beginning."

"You want to know why we did not announce this in advance?"

"The answer is—this is a test of courage and determination."

"If contestants had been told in advance that there were only 101 available spots, their original hesitation over whether to participate would have been overwhelmed by the anxiety and urgency of potentially missing the opportunity."

"And due to herd mentality, some people would have chosen to participate because of that, becoming impurities this show does not need."

"Likewise, the limit of 101 seats was meant to eliminate impurities."

"Only those contestants who entered first and occupied the 101 seats are qualified to appear in the livestream and the first episode."

"As for the sixty-seven contestants who chose to participate but ranked beyond the 101 seats, they lost to the trainees sitting here in their desire to achieve their dreams and their greed to become idols."

"So, as punishment, they can only undergo their initial evaluations on another stage that will not be shown to the public. They have thoroughly lost at the Starting Line."

As its words fell,

The viewers absorbed this massive amount of information, and the backlash, doubts, angry curses, praise, and disgust it provoked all appeared in physical form in reality. They became an ever-expanding sea of Bullet Comments drifting around Dream Weaver Rabbit, as though they might crush it beneath their weight.

But it was meaningless.

As though it had grown tired of playing, Dream Weaver Rabbit casually crushed the projected Bullet Comments into fragments and turned them into a rain of light that drifted down. It stated indifferently:

"There is a saying that is quite correct: recklessness is closer to courage than cowardice."

"The Program Group does not need every trainee here to meet the selection criteria. It only needs to reach the highest value in mathematical probability."

At the same time, at the seat in the farthest corner,

Chu Yuanqing's cool, exquisite little face was filled with confusion, as though she had been horrified by an unbelievably terrifying revelation. Her pupils were unfocused and empty.

How strange. What was this red-eyed rabbit talking about?

Viewers? What viewers?

Wasn't this program supposed to be recorded, edited, reviewed, and pass through all sorts of complicated procedures before being uploaded online?

Haha, I get it. It's talking to the viewers who will watch the show in the future!

Mm, that must be it!

The girl raised her head and looked toward the shattered sea of light. Her pupils were like mirrors, reflecting the broken Bullet Comments.

—[Hiss, Chu Yuanqing is so cute when she zones out. I want to...]

?!!!

In an instant,

This retired Savior, former middle-aged office worker, and current Magical Girl froze beneath the crushing truth, as though the sky had fallen.

Chu Yuanqing's world collapsed. Her whole body nearly turned into one of those gray-and-white anime characters who would immediately ascend to heaven by spontaneously combusting and disappearing. Even when her daughter beside her poked her shoulder in confusion, she gave no reaction at all, like an unmoving doll.

Holding a virtual microphone, Dream Weaver Rabbit revealed a bright smile and continued:

"Likewise, where there is punishment, there is reward."

"To implement this mechanism, the performance order for the evaluations will be decided according to the contestants' order of entry."

"So now, the first contestant to take the stage is the independent trainee who was the first to enter under immense pressure—Chu Yuanqing!"

As its words fell,

The tens of millions in the Live Broadcast Room and the hundred contestants onstage all ignored Chu Yuanqing's frantic desire to Call Police, fixing every gaze on Seat 101.

A Brand-New Black History Was Born.