And the batch of people who fought their way to the end would be more than capable of bearing the weight of becoming national idols—even World Idols!
The time reached 7:59.
On the giant screen behind Dream Weaver Rabbit, the vote counts on the rankings began flowing from zero, rapidly recreating the accumulated votes from the past twenty-four hours.
The votes for the eight theme songs were extremely close, making the competition incredibly tense.
From the trend of their increases, it was clear that Flash Dance's popularity was like oil poured onto a fire, continuously growing with every passing second. The momentum of its vote-pushing snowballed larger and larger until it swept in like a flood, overtaking its rivals wave after wave and tugging at everyone's heartstrings.
The theme songs clinging tightly to the top three were No Way Back, renowned for its flashy techniques and high difficulty; Something, with its sexy, fiery style and emphasis on rhythm; and Candy, themed around youthful sweetness, with choreography that was simple yet refined.
The first was clearly suited for absolute powerhouses, such as Xie Qingxuan, Ji Shuzhu, and even some A-Class contestants.
The second was harder to explain. Cool, fiery girl group dances with a strong sense of rhythm had always been popular, and fans from the same agency did not always share the same preferences. This theme song's high ranking felt more like a chaotic product swept along by mainstream tastes, its composition impossible to pin down.
The third was very clear. The shock brought by Kiriwake Yayoi's stage performance still hung over some contestants like a shadow. She was undoubtedly the contestant in the upper ranks most suited to Candy.
And precisely because her strengths were so distinctive, most of her fans had been drawn in by them and were eagerly awaiting her next stage. That made it difficult for the votes in their hands to be diverted; almost all of them went to Candy.
This allowed that otherwise unremarkable theme song to force its way against the meta and climb to third place early on.
The ranking data continued to flow.
The contestants could not help being stunned by Flash Dance's terrifying popularity outside.
After all, according to the rules beneath the voting interface, every fan could only claim one vote with their ID. There were no settings where purchasing merchandise earned votes, nor any fixed refreshes from watching advertisements.
Thus, every vote behind a theme song carried real weight.
Yet before the data had even reached its peak, the total number of votes had already exceeded one million. It was hard to imagine just how many people were watching the live broadcast right now.
Dream Weaver Rabbit smiled.
"Here's a brief friendly reminder."
"The official voting interface has a special option. When each viewer claims a vote using their ID, they may freely choose between an ordinary vote or an exclusive vote for a particular contestant."
"By the way, the introduction page for exclusive votes is arranged by rank."
The moment those words fell, almost everyone got the hidden implication.
This setting meant the organizers could clearly identify the composition of every vote. They could even chart the percentage of each fandom's votes for every theme song.
And more importantly, why had Flash Dance deliberately divided voters by fandom affiliation? What kind of major stunt were they trying to pull now?
Dream Weaver Rabbit's pupils glowed scarlet. Its mouth curled into a terrifying arc, and with a malicious, soundless laugh, it announced bad news that made the trainees who had performed poorly earlier collectively shiver.
"Yes, you guessed right."
"The Program Group will reveal the specific number of exclusive votes in the final selected theme song, and the top three contestants in exclusive votes will receive vote bonuses of one million, five hundred thousand, and one hundred thousand respectively."
"Although these votes can only be used for the theme song's Center position selection, this concerns the Center position on the first large-scale stage. I don't need to tell you how important that is, do I?"
Those words were cold and piercing.
They were far too realistic and cruel, whether for contestants who had made mistakes in the first round and remained unknown, or for the sixty-eight contestants who had entered too late, missed the first livestream's camera time, and were now barely known to the public.
One step ahead, always ahead.
One step behind, always behind.
Even if they had earned an A-Class evaluation on the Backlit Stage, with such a severe lack of exposure and a starting gap of an entire million votes, wanting to seize the Center position and turn the tables in one stroke remained an incredibly slim hope—one could even call it wishful thinking.
Could they really seize those still-undetermined Debut Spots under such a disadvantage?
But Dream Weaver Rabbit gave no one the chance to compose themselves. As a countdown suddenly appeared on the giant screen, only a brief ten seconds remained before the answer was unveiled.
The audience was even more nervous than the contestants.
Because, for the sake of the Live Broadcast Room's viewership, Flash Dance's officials had stopped updating the voting data an hour ago. They had only left the voting channel open, so many survival show fans did not know the final answer either and had no choice but to obediently be PUA'd into waiting for the result in the livestream.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6...
Then,
The countdown hit zero.
The interface refreshed with the final results.
--Theme Song: Candy
--Total Votes: 2.927 million
--Exclusive Votes: Kiriwake Yayoi 39%, Chu Yuanqing 33%, Lin Bao'er 11%...
Volume One: Charlotte, Come Save Me!
The theme song's victory was completely decided.
The contestants onstage wore all kinds of expressions, all feeling deeply surprised.
The final winner was actually Kiriwake Yayoi?
Though her stage had indeed been explosive, compared with the other A-Class contestants, she had neither a powerful agency backing her nor much of a fanbase in the country, being from the Island Nation.
Theoretically, she should have ranked third at most. There was no way she should have surpassed Xie Qingxuan.
On the other hand, the other contestants were no slouches either.
Not to mention Tang Liuli, who had once ranked among the Chinese Entertainment Industry's first tier. Even just Chen Yining and Ji Shuzhu alone—
The companies behind those two both ranked among the country's best. They could even hype up a CP to attract fans. Although their differing positions would split their votes, there was still no reason they should lose to an unknown Sakura Girl.
If they had not known that Flash Dance was a state-led project, they might even have suspected foul play.
Yet the one who found it hardest to believe was Kiriwake Yayoi, who had unexpectedly taken first place.
Like the other contestants, Kiriwake Yayoi knew nothing about the explosive public opinion fermenting outside. She simply could not understand why she had so many fans.
But soon, the Bullet Comments still appearing in real time beside her gave her the answer.
"Wuwuwu, we did it! We really pushed Candy to the top!"
"Yes! This is a huge victory for the two major fan support groups! Qing Bao and Little Sakura both got votes!"
"Little Sakura can keep dancing the sweet style she's good at, and Qing Bao, whose foundation isn't great, can learn the simplest dance too. It's a win-win!"
"Can a new fan ask why her nickname is Little Sakura?"
"Because Yayoi means March in the Island Nation, and March is when cherry blossoms bloom, so that's what she was called. It sounds nice, right?"
"I see. I came over from Qing Bao's side to check things out. Thanks for the answer. I'll keep shipping them."
For a moment, the Bullet Comments were filled with the carnival of CP fans.
Kiriwake Yayoi looked toward the giant screen, her expression blank. The joy in her heart was instantly drowned by intense guilt, and she pressed her lips together in shame.
No wonder she had received the theme song best suited for her and had even ridden Chu Yuanqing's coattails to first place in exclusive votes.
It was because the wildly growing CP fans of her and Chu Yuanqing had mistakenly believed that the latter could only learn the simplest Candy in a short time. They had therefore reached a consensus, allowing her to gain the greatest benefit!
But the fans might not have known.
Kiriwake Yayoi understood that, with Chu Yuanqing's learning ability, Candy was absolutely not the song best suited to her. It was Burn, which fit her initial rating stage, was moderately difficult, and leaned more toward rock.
In other words, she was feeding off Chu Yuanqing and stepping on her way up.
It would have been fine if Chu Yuanqing had ranked first, but she had instead placed second, only 6% behind her. And who knew how many all-consuming CP fans were included in that 6%? The composition could not be calculated at all, much less called fair.
Kiriwake Yayoi had become the winner who took it all.
But she did not feel happy. She even remembered how she had taken the initiative to hug Chu Yuanqing earlier, and her guilt grew heavier, gradually mixing with a few points of panic.
Though she truly had not thought much of it at the time, looking at the result now, that action had undoubtedly been feeding sugar to their CP fans and prompting Chu Yuanqing's fans to keep voting for Candy!
Little Sakura lowered her eyes in disappointment. She looked toward Chu Yuanqing on the other side, who seemed saddened and wore a dazed expression. Unable to bear looking any longer, she decided she had to properly apologize to her.
At this moment,
Chu Yuanqing was truly very upset.
Damn it, she had deliberately hidden in the very corners, ignored the Bullet Comments, and refused to look at them. How could Dream Weaver Rabbit still ambush her like this and forcefully boost her presence in front of the audience?
Had this program accepted an advertisement from the National Anti-Fraud Center, causing some force of fate in the unseen to try and shake her great insurance-fraud plan?
Unfortunately, people's joys and sorrows were not shared.
While Chu Yuanqing was upset, the Bullet Comments before her eyes were filled with blessings.
"Qing Bao, don't be too moved! Mom will definitely send you to debut! Let you fulfill your dream!!!"
"Wuwuwu, Qing Bao still hasn't reacted. She must still think she's just a nobody, so she's so surprised, right? The more I think about it, the more my heart hurts!"
"Yeah, Qingqing may have joined Flash Dance just wanting to try once without regrets. She never imagined that so many people would see her hard work and courage."
"I'm crying so hard. Qing Bao's efforts will definitely be seen. I'll always keep watching Qing Bao!!!"
"We'll always be with you, becoming the umbrella that shields you from wind and rain, accompanying you toward a stage shining with endless brilliance."
Chu Yuanqing looked at the Bullet Comments gathered around her, her small face stiff as broken arcs of light like gold foil flashed through her eyes. Her mindset had collapsed so badly that she nearly dropped her disguise.
In a daze, she saw an illusion of the Chenqiao Mutiny. The Bullet Comments crowding before her were like soldiers carrying a yellow robe, all desperately trying to drape it over her.
Chu Yuanqing did not need to raise her arms and call out. She only needed to breathe quietly, and her generals and subordinates would enthrone her as emperor, escorting her into the capital amid the army's support and seating her upon the imperial throne.
She was numb.
Although the Bullet Comments were incredibly sincere—so sincere that, despite how absurdly funny they were, they somehow moved her—they... she really did not want to be an idol!
Chu Yuanqing wanted to speak and explain, yet she sadly realized that she could not say anything at all.
What did it mean to be unable to dismount a tiger? This was exactly what it meant.
Chu Yuanqing regretted it to death. If she had known, she would not have bragged onstage.
Now, facing so many expectant Bullet Comments, she could not say anything. She could not bring herself to deny or betray the sincerity of others.
It had always been this way.
Chu Yuanqing was clearly afraid of pain, suffering, exhaustion, and trouble, yet whenever someone expected something from her, begged her, or needed her, her body would move on its own.
Whether what lay ahead was the Supreme Calamity Beast bearing the Meme Authority or the Pure White Forbidden Zone where anyone who entered would shatter into blocks of salt, she had ultimately piled up roads to victory with mountains of her own corpses.
--Wouldn't you get tired?
That was a question the Doomsday Diva had once asked her.
Chu Yuanqing had never answered it directly, because she was humanity's hope, the final Savior, and the wall protecting human reason.
Therefore, answers that should not belong to the Savior could not come from her mouth. And in order not to lie, silence naturally became her only choice.
But now...
Chu Yuanqing only wanted to say to her!
--Wuwuwu, Charlotte, I'm so tired. Come save me!
The Bullet Comments did not notice her sorrow at all. They were still celebrating this victory that had crushed all competitors. Like fish, they circled the dead-eyed Chu Yuanqing, all together switching to brilliant golden lettering, joyfully leaping like a fluttering yellow robe.
And the jealous or envious gazes of the other contestants only added fuel to the fire, turning Chu Yuanqing—who had originally curled up in the corner and gone unnoticed—into the center of attention second only to Kiriwake Yayoi.
Volume One: Chu Yuanqing, How Terrifying!
At the same time.
Inside the tiered classroom.
The A-Class contestants in the upper ranks had already come to their senses and all together shifted their gazes toward Chu Yuanqing in the C-Class area.
Kiriwake Yayoi's exclusive votes were 39%, while Chu Yuanqing's were 33%. The difference between them was only 6%. Considering that the two were currently suspected of being tied together as a CP, that difference was practically negligible.
In other words, Chu Yuanqing's popularity at this stage ranked within everyone's top ten, perhaps even top five. She had utterly crushed two-thirds of the contestants who had received A-Class ratings first.
Without her serving as a stepping stone, Kiriwake Yayoi could never have become the final winner!
This was beyond everyone's expectations.
Although Chu Yuanqing had benefited from ranking first in two consecutive rounds, her C-Class rating had destined her to sit in the middle-to-lower levels of Flash Dance's food chain. Theoretically, she was not qualified to be considered a true competitor.
And now, she had used her popularity outside to brutally shatter that fixed perception and crush the arrogance of the A-Class contestants beneath her feet.
There was only one thing to say: terrifying.
Once everyone understood this, they naturally began reassessing her.
Chen Yining looked seriously at Chu Yuanqing. Her eyes flickered slightly before she shifted her gaze away. She acknowledged Chu Yuanqing's resolve to go onstage first and also followed the principle that the victor became king while the loser became prey.
The theme song's selection, as well as her opponent's lead of one million votes, were already settled facts. There was no need to regret or agonize over them.
Before you continue