But the battle for the center position had only just begun.
Ji Shuzhu remained unmoved. As a choreographer, she had every type of dance engraved in her mind, and had personally performed most of them with her own body. None of the eight theme songs could strike at her weak points.
As for fighting for center position?
Ji Shuzhu's innate Hyperthymesia had made her a rare Genius Choreographer, but it had also erased the budding of too many emotions, sparks of miracles, and the possibility of entering the highest level of Flow State.
In other words, Hyperthymesia had erased the foundation of stage presence.
She might become a world-class dancer in the future, but it would be difficult for her to become a top idol standing at the very center of the world.
Therefore,
Ji Shuzhu did not care whether she was the center position. She had even come to Flash Dance precisely to find her ideal center position.
And as long as she reached the end of this global idol project, she would sooner or later encounter the destined person radiant enough to ignite the emptiness in her heart.
Xie Qingxuan's expression was indifferent, her gaze as calm as an ancient well.
From the very beginning, she had not cared which song became the theme song. Just as Dream Weaver Rabbit had said, an idol had to overcome anything unreasonable.
If she lost just because the theme song was Candy, that could only mean she was capable of no more than this.
And if she was only capable of this much, how could she speak of crushing that person's dream?
If she stopped here, she might as well die.
Among the B-Class trainees,
Chu Wangshu reacted slowly. When she first saw the total vote count soaring at breakneck speed, all she could think was, since Flash Dance was this popular, would Dad be watching her on television right now?
The young girl was both nervous and conflicted. She wished she had a phone. Before entering the competition, she had sent him a text message, and now she was terribly curious about how Dad would reply.
At the very least, he would not oppose her, right?
Otherwise, she would have been half-forced to withdraw from Competition already.
Chu Wangshu had never thought Dad would be angry over this.
Even though he had always been dispirited and quiet, so silent he seemed cold, he was gentle at heart. Even at his most exhausted, he had never shown anger toward anyone.
On the other hand,
Chu Wangshu wanted to see him get angry for her. She also wanted to see him reveal livelier emotions toward her.
That was why she had entered such a massive survival audition in a fit of childish defiance.
And now, her tangled emotions contained fear, a hint of vengeful pleasure, and intensely contradictory guilt.
This complicated emotion, burning like fire within her, made her fail to react in time when she saw that the theme song was Candy. Only after a long beat did she sincerely feel happy for the other party and clap like a little seal.
Onstage,
Dream Weaver Rabbit clapped and said,
"The theme song has been announced. Starting tomorrow, trainees of every rank will receive instruction related to Candy in their respective practice rooms."
"The total training period will be one week. During that time, A-Class trainees may choose to livestream for four hours each day. The livestream is limited to the practice rooms, and there are no additional conditions for starting or ending a stream. It is entirely free."
"The same applies to B-Class trainees. The only difference is that their livestream limit is two hours."
"As for trainees below those ranks, they will not have the right to actively start livestreams."
"Please note that this rule will remain in effect until the program ends."
As soon as those words fell, an uproar erupted both in the room and in the Live Broadcast Room.
"Damn, is Flash Dance trying to create class conflict? I've never seen an audition show treat people this differently."
"To be honest, it was already ridiculous that every A-Class and B-Class trainee got a luxurious practice room. Now they're deliberately creating a livestream monopoly too. Aren't they obviously trying to create a massive popularity gap between A-Class, B-Class, and the trainees below them?"
"Under these rules, anyone below B-Class has no chance of debuting. They're destined to be left further and further behind."
"Fuck, this is a warning, isn't it? If they don't seize the opportunity of the second evaluation, they'll definitely be eliminated later because of the enormous popularity gap."
"The weak are prey to the strong. The strong only grow stronger. What is there to say?"
The audience had all kinds of opinions.
The fans behind the A-Class and B-Class trainees stood from the perspective of beneficiaries and believed there was nothing wrong with the program's rules.
But the A-Class and B-Class trainees combined numbered only forty. The remaining 128 trainees had now all become stepping stones and sacrifices. The disparity in numbers was simply too outrageous, so the latter's fanbase could not possibly be satisfied.
The reasoning was simple: rankings and popularity did not necessarily equate.
Aside from Chu Yuanqing, the out-of-place complete amateur, many low-ranked trainees had already arrived with massive popularity.
Among them were attractive influencers with over a million followers, beauty content creators, promising newcomers from Entertainment Companies backed by resources and heavy promotion, and privileged industry insiders who had acted in dramas and appeared on major variety shows...
The total fanbases involved were enough to stir up a huge conflict with the fans of the higher-ranked trainees.
And compared to the various fans in the Live Broadcast Room who were losing it on the spot,
The trainees who had started out without any screen time and failed to receive high ratings were in an even more devastated state of mind.
These trainees had always been at a disadvantage with zero exposure. Their emotions had just been stirred up by all kinds of rhetoric, and after seeing the theme song's vote count, they felt anxious about failing to get a share of it.
They had originally heard that they could livestream and comforted themselves with the thought that they could at least gain some popularity and narrow the gap. But Dream Weaver Rabbit cruelly tore apart that fantasy, and the enormous disappointment nearly snapped the strings holding their emotions in check.
Zhou Qianqian could not help standing up. She poured out all the dissatisfaction and resentment that had accumulated for so long, questioning them indignantly,
"We also entered this competition prepared for the possibility that we might never be idols again. Why should our first-round rating stages never see the light of day? And why should the treatment between ratings be so vastly different?"
The trainee's eyes reddened as she pressed her lips together and demanded,
"Yes, I admit that winners should receive rewards, and Flash Dance has its own rules."
"But the Virtual Reality System and all kinds of cutting-edge technological equipment—are those things that can be made up for through effort?"
"With such a huge difference in treatment, the higher-ranked trainees will not only improve faster than us, but the standards for later evaluations will also rise accordingly."
"Under these circumstances, how are those at lower levels supposed to catch up with those at higher ratings? How can we receive higher ratings in the second evaluation? How can this be called a chance at rebirth?"
Volume One: Update Notice, Ranking Push at Midnight.
As the title says.
Because the subject matter is rather niche, there are very few bookmarks right now, and only a few hundred people are following the updates. To avoid flopping too badly, I'm moving today's update to midnight. Readers who like this book can follow the update tonight and help boost the clicks.
While I'm at it, let me answer a few questions. Some readers have said that seeing how badly I'm flopping makes them think I only have enthusiasm, and that I'm likely to abandon the story.
To be fair, aside from that guaranteed project on Bilibili, this really is my first time writing yuri. And I chose an absurdly original premise: ancient gender transformation, plus a traditional idol stage. It seems pretty normal for it to flop, so I had already expected it when I started this book.
And after getting through the early period of extensive research and learning, I've actually been having quite a lot of fun writing this. Results are certainly important, but they are not important enough to make me drop the story on the spot.
To put it bluntly, if the results are too poor, I'll at most write it shorter and end it when the protagonist debuts. Satisfying myself and giving it a normal, non-abrupt ending will not be a problem.
After all, I have obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Since I started writing two years ago, both my first and second books have been completed normally, totaling four million words. I'm considered a trustworthy author on Mao Station.
—Though even then, there are readers in my comments asking how many words they should bet before I abandon it.
Anyway, if you like this book, vote for it, send blades, give me money—not really—and support the first subscription!
Volume One: 42. Let's Train Together!
The atmosphere in the room was subtle.
Bullet Comments flew across the Live Broadcast Room:
"Damn, this trainee is really brave."
"Zhou Xianxian? I remember she was only one spot away from debuting in Utopia last year, right?"
"No wonder. She joined after the 101 contestants, had no exposure during the first livestream, performed badly in the initial rating, and with the cruel rule that elimination means being permanently barred from the stage, it would be strange if she didn't break down."
"Leaving everything else aside, the cost of elimination in Flash Dance is too high. Under these circumstances, creating such a huge gap between trainees because of one initial rating is really hard to call fair."
"The key is the black tech. Have you ever heard of this kind of idol training method? Who knows how many times more efficient it is than normal training? This Younger Sister's anxiety is understandable."
Perhaps because the rules of Flash Dance were too cruel, any obvious unequal treatment would be endlessly magnified by the audience. Zhou Xianxian's questioning did not earn her much abuse for the moment. Instead, it gave her a fierce burst of screen time and added a few points of discussion value.
Dream Weaver Rabbit was not annoyed at all. It examined the speaker's face, its exposed smile strange and sinister. As though it had expected this all along, it sincerely replied in an impassioned tone,
"I understand your anger and grievance, but you need not worry too much."
"The purpose of Shining Stage is kindness, harmony, mutual assistance, and mutual support."
"For this reason, the Program Group has specially granted A-Class trainees a privilege!"
Dream Weaver Rabbit's smile was bewitching. It spread its arms with great incitement, looked around, and spoke fervently,
"Namely—A-Class trainees may unconditionally share their practice rooms, the equipment inside, and even the right to be livestreamed with the remaining trainees."
"Well then, everyone? Each A-Class trainee's personal practice room now has nearly three hundred square meters of space. As long as they are willing, all of you can practically stand on the same starting line."
"Of course..."
"I am also very curious whether these A-Class trainees will extend a helping hand to you."
When its words ended, ninety percent of the trainees in the room all together raised their heads and turned their gazes toward the A-Class area above them. Like hungry ghosts in a cave, corroded by greed and thirst, they caused the atmosphere in the room to freeze into silence.
After stirring up the flames, Dream Weaver Rabbit paused, checked the time, gave a slight bow, and smiled.
"Then I'll leave the rest for you to decide yourselves. Theme song training officially begins tomorrow."
"Trainees, I look forward to our next meeting."
With that, this Super AI and mascot that had maxed out everyone's hatred vanished on the spot, leaving behind 168 trainees still sitting where they were, bound by the atmosphere so tightly that they could barely move.
The rules Dream Weaver Rabbit had announced were extremely cunning. It had practically used rhetorical sleight of hand to shift the conflict over rating-based treatment away from the Program Group and onto the A-Class trainees.
This maneuver directly turned the fourteen A-Class trainees and the 148 lower-rated trainees into the most direct opposing sides.
This was an open scheme.
Everyone knew the Program Group was fanning the flames, and Dream Weaver Rabbit was engaging in moral coercion.
But if the lower-rated trainees wanted to reduce the treatment gap between themselves and the higher-ranked group, seize this heaven-defying opportunity to change their fates, and fight for a Debut Spot, then following the atmosphere Dream Weaver Rabbit had created and forcing the A-Class trainees' hand was currently the best choice.
In the middle and lower sections of the tiered classroom, discussions about this gradually began to rise.
"If we're only sharing practice rooms, each A-Class practice room could easily fit twenty people, right?"
"Yeah, they're three hundred square meters."
"If we really want to talk about it, the Virtual Reality System's permissions could easily cover more than ten people at once."
"We don't even need them to share any limited-time privileges. It wouldn't affect them much, would it?"
The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly tense and subtle.
It can be said that after those words were spoken, Flash Dance had truly become a game testing human nature.
The discussion in the Live Broadcast Room also became increasingly heated.
"Fuck, Dream Weaver Rabbit really isn't human. I want to deep-fry it."
"What kind of insane rule is this? Isn't this just moral coercion?"
"It really knows how to shift the conflict. Now that's some entertainment value."
"I think it's pretty good. It's not like they're asking the top A-Class trainees to share everything. They're only asking them to let the other girls use their practice rooms. They still have their advantages."
"Yeah. If they don't want to, they can just refuse."
"This rule is great. Little Sakura will definitely invite Qing Bao over to her place, right?"
"Whether the CP is real will depend on this!"
The audience could not reach a consensus, and the Bullet Comments became a demonic dance.
The noise in the room surged like a tide, pressing directly toward the fourteen A-Class trainees at the very top.
But fortunately, there were not many normal people among the A-Class trainees.
Xie Qingxuan's expression remained indifferent, as if she were looking down on insects. She was not affected in the slightest.
She understood absolutely nothing about social etiquette. She only felt that the people below were terribly noisy. After glancing at Dream Weaver Rabbit, she stood up and chose to leave, heading for the practice room to learn the choreography.
All that could be said was that the Great Demon King truly deserved her title.
Her presence was too terrifying. The areas she passed through visibly fell into low pressure, and no one dared stop her or strike up a conversation with her.
Xie Qingxuan could break the situation like this because her persona had always been consistent inside and out. Even when her fans saw it, they could only naturally complain that she was just being herself.
As for the others, they also reacted quickly, each displaying their own methods.
Chen Yining and Ji Shuzhu chatted and laughed as they first took away the trainees from their respective Entertainment Companies. Then they went directly to the lowest level, proactively brought away eighteen F-Class trainees, shared their practice room access with them, and received widespread gratitude and praise.
Before you continue