She was the same.
At that moment, Xu Ling understood Chu Yuanqing's bitterness at being forced to bow to reality—her lonely childhood, deprived of love; the first half of her life, when she had needed to hold her own umbrella and walk alone; the pain of bravely reaching for her dream, only to abandon it because of reality.
Xu Ling murmured,
"You shouldn't be stopping here."
As she spoke, she clenched her phone as though she were a swordsman gripping the hilt of her blade.
At the same time, countless people were also emotionally devastated by the Savior BUG's personal charm and their own terrifying imagination. Their suppression and silence finally erupted like suddenly churning magma, causing the relevant public opinion to swell and boil even further.
At this moment,
The situation was spiraling in a direction that made Chu Yuanqing's vision go dark, to the point of no return.
The hot search topic [Chu Yuanqing's Persona collapsed] had, not long ago, merely been an absurd and amusing new meme.
But after its terrifying popularity pushed it to first place, its meaning changed again and again, becoming a horrifying keyword for making fans suffer.
The topic was now filled with compilations of Chu Yuanqing's past stories, offering new fans a one-stop ride from overwhelming joy to crushing sorrow.
"I thought Qing Bao was so cute when I watched the behind-the-scenes footage, but when you think about it carefully, it's such a knife to the heart???!"
"Yeah, Qing Bao was genuinely awkward and nervous when she explained things to the interviewer. She really cared about whether she could compete."
"Qing Bao is almost an adult. Once she no longer receives government aid, she'll have to cover more expenses—tuition, rent, living costs. Just thinking about it is suffocating. How old is she?"
"Wuwuwu, the pay from Flash Dance might be nothing more than decoration to many contestants, but it must be truly important to Qing Bao, right?"
"I'm broken. Qing Bao undoubtedly loves the stage, but from her perspective, before she has bread in hand, she can't possibly hope for anything more."
"For children without parents, dreams are synonymous with luxury."
"This must be the first time in her life that she's touched starlight, right?"
The more the fans talked, the sadder they became. The more they talked, the more they broke down. The more they talked, the angrier they grew. The more they talked, the more fired up they became.
In the end, after much deliberation, their collective will became like refined fierce fire, turning into an unceasing blade that pointed toward the same target without hesitation.
—Let Chu Yuanqing debut in the center position!!!
PS1: Writing this kind of story means writing about outside reactions, but if I split it across two days, people would probably say I was padding. So I stayed up until morning and tried to finish it all at once.
PS2: Those of you stockpiling chapters, remember to subscribe, okay? Otherwise, if this flops so badly, I'll be starved to death by you all!
PS3: This is my first time writing yuri. I'm curious what kinds of scenes and plotlines you want to see.
Blackening, Leg Kneading, I'll Definitely Drop a Rank Tomorrow! (5K)
Underground base, eight in the evening.
Dream Weaver Rabbit occupied the central hub. Like the convergence point of countless streams of data, it calculated the variables produced every instant and arranged probability charts formed from countless figures before itself.
This was a ranking of winning probabilities that covered more than three hundred domestic contestants. It considered their popularity, stage presence, personal image, singing and dancing ability, public opinion trends, and many other factors, changing every minute and every second.
Among them, Chu Yuanqing was clearly ranked near the bottom.
Yet two hours after the behind-the-scenes clip and the first episode aired, it was as though countless streams of fire were lending her strength. Her ranking soared at a terrifying rate like a rocket, reaching the first tier of contestants most likely to form the group in one stroke.
Although the AI's algorithm was strict regarding soft power and placed greater emphasis on hard power, causing her ranking to gradually fall back to the middle after the most frenzied phase faded, where it continued to fluctuate.
But the show had only aired for two hours. The fermentation of popularity and public opinion had not yet reached its peak. Sooner or later, her ranking would be pushed to a relatively healthy position, completely escaping her original place among the lower ranks.
This was incredible.
Although the rankings of the remaining contestants were also undergoing massive changes because of this, she was the first whose feedback had been so intense, whose rise had been as frenzied as a volcanic eruption!
Dream Weaver Rabbit's eyes glowed scarlet as it revealed a delighted, excited smile. It was the culprit that had placed Chu Yuanqing's behind-the-scenes footage at the beginning of the promotional preview and her interview video at the end of the episode.
These invisible preferential treatments had been meant to ensure that this unpolished jade would not be buried by the early competition format because of her weak singing and dancing foundation.
Yet judging from the data feedback, even if it did nothing extra, Chu Yuanqing would not be eliminated because of a few failures in the competition venue.
Rather, her failures in the competition venue might instead lead to the strange phenomena of making fans suffer, purifying the fandom, crystallizing devotion, and founding a religion, allowing her popularity and public opinion to flourish endlessly.
In any normal idol survival show, such terrifying popularity with casual viewers and such fan-attracting power would practically guarantee a Debut Spot.
Dream Weaver Rabbit grew even more expectant as it quietly counted them off.
"[Flow State] upon her first appearance onstage, a top-tier appearance and image, a pure life trajectory, unbelievable atmospheric charm, emotional infectiousness that ignores the medium of transmission."
"Chu Yuanqing, you truly are a born idol, the treasure the Kindling Project needs."
The Super AI spoke to itself. Then, after applying to the highest level for a certain authority through hundreds of thousands of layers of authentication keys, it suddenly looked towards the surveillance feed, where Chu Yuanqing was running and singing on a treadmill as she trained her vocals and dance. It revealed a strange smile.
"Next, it will depend on what surprise you bring me at your first public performance."
"Chu Yuanqing, this will determine what your [Mystery Prize] is."
C-Class practice room.
Chu Yuanqing listened to the pounding of her heart. Every cell throughout her whole body seemed to conceal heavy exhaustion, which swept over her consciousness with every breath, congested her brain, and disrupted the functioning of her normal thoughts.
She entered [Flow State] while exercising.
Tomorrow was the second evaluation. She did not have much time left.
Since she could not overcome her psychological barrier, she would use a treadmill set to speed eight to replace the interference dancing caused to her breathing, using [Flow State] to find the breathing method best suited for singing and dancing.
Even if it sounded utterly absurd, relying on music theory and basic breath control made it completely impossible to accomplish something so outrageous in such a short time.
But if she wanted to sing all of Candy steadily without going off-key while dancing, despite such weak stamina, this was the only way.
—A breathing method was precisely the foundation for defeating the strong while weak!
Her consciousness emptied without limit, growing purer step by step. It was as if she were leafing through the chronicles of time, slowly filtering out the impurities of the past seventeen years, parting layers of mist, and continuing onward through the portions eroded and erased by the curse—tracing, seeking, and embracing.
Those realms that had reached perfection, enough to slay gods.
Those skills that had used death as a whetstone, devoured despair and fury, and evolved into something unimaginable.
That breathing method which wrung every ounce of energy from the cells, expanding and multiplying mortal strength until it could split the sea of clouds.
These things that had been eroded, restrained, devoured, abandoned, and stripped away—even if they had all scattered and vanished into fragments—could still provide scattered nourishment and reference value from deeply buried memories, instinct at the edges, and unacknowledged great deeds.
Yes, for the sake of getting off work.
Chu Yuanqing was going to start from zero and create a breathing method unique to this body, bypassing the stamina deficiency she could not alter in the short term and reached a realm where she could control her breath perfectly and freely!
Well, speaking of which, it somehow sounded pretty inspiring and cool.
But the only reason she was doing this was because it had taken her a full seven days just to barely dance Candy at a normal standard without mistakes. Only a few hours ago had she finally entered the singing-and-dancing stage that the other contestants had already mastered.
In other words, if she did not try using cheats, she simply could not keep up with the public performance's progress!
Half an hour later,
Chu Yuanqing slowly withdrew from [Flow State]. She had already imprinted a new rhythm into herself. Her breathing became light and long, as though she had gained complete control over every part of her body. Her breath seemed tangible as it obeyed her will, and she had also rapidly picked up a few vocal techniques.
The cost was that her mind quickly became listless, her head overheated from overloading, and her consciousness turned muddled.
Chu Yuanqing felt a little dazed as she staggered off the treadmill. She was happy, but her whole body also ached, especially her calves, which were terribly sore. She squatted down and rubbed her muscles, muttering vaguely to herself.
If I could develop this breathing method to the point where I could control muscle movement, interfere with blood flow, and even command the rhythm of my cells, I could memorize every dance at a glance and become the invincible king of slacking off.
But unfortunately, this was already her limit.
The more she thought, the more dizzy her head became. Even the view before her eyes swayed.
"That was amazing, Xiao Qing. You've improved so quickly, and your breathing is so steady!"
Kiriwake Yayoi stood beside her. She had arrived while Chu Yuanqing was training and had watched her improve moment by moment until she finished. Unable to hold back any longer, she spoke up and praised her in delighted surprise.
But just after saying that,
Kiriwake Yayoi noticed that something was wrong with her condition.
Chu Yuanqing's usually clear eyes had lost focus, holding a hazy beauty. Her serious expression had softened into a dazed look, magnifying her youthful air and giving her a seductive sense of being at anyone's mercy.
Kiriwake Yayoi's heartbeat unconsciously quickened, and she could not help looking at Chu Yuanqing a few more times.
The girl's long lower lashes, elegant and upturned nose, pink, thin lips, skin so fair it was nearly translucent and almost poreless—along with that ordinarily abstinent face, now breathing rapidly and flushed coral pink, as though desire were climbing across her clean features.
All of this was like the glistening droplet that ran down her pale neck, fell into her collarbone, continued beneath the cloth's concealment, and entered an unknown realm, full of alluring and suggestive beauty.
Kiriwake Yayoi's heart suddenly trembled. In a daze, she abruptly thought,
—If only... I could get a little closer to her.
But Little Sakura quickly calmed herself and stopped that train of thought. She felt that she was simply too lonely.
Chu Yuanqing was one of the rare people in this foreign land willing to help her, and she was especially similar to who she herself had once been. It was normal to want to grow closer to someone like that.
But that was all.
Kiriwake Yayoi cast aside the strange thoughts and gently wiped the other girl's face with a warm towel.
During this time, Chu Yuanqing was still under the debuff of mental overload, immersed in the dizziness of her scattered consciousness.
She was still aware, but because she had a favorable impression of Kiriwake Yayoi, she neither spoke nor resisted. Like a well-behaved child, she allowed the damp sensation to slowly spread across her cheeks, carefully passing over every lovely patch of skin and making her face increasingly pink and clean.
Kiriwake Yayoi asked worriedly,
"Xiao Qing? Are you very tired? Do you want me to take you back to the dorm? Or should we go to the infirmary?"
Chu Yuanqing came back to herself in a haze. She suppressed the stabbing pain in her head and silently shook her head. Just as she was about to say she wanted to return to the dorm, a familiar voice came from behind her.
"I'll take her back. You can leave first."
Tang Liuli's emerald-green eyes were gloomy, while the beauty mark beside her eye lent her a sharp air. She scrutinized this Sakura Girl ranked first in A-Class, her expression wary and unhappy like an angry cat with raised fur. The hand holding the bag of food tightened as she secretly ground her teeth.
That scheming Sakura Girl!
Qingqing and I have eaten, lived, and slept together for so long, yet I've never seen her this obedient and adorable!
Kiriwake Yayoi was good at reading the room and almost instantly sensed the hostility. Slightly confused, she looked towards the newcomer and retrieved relevant information from her mind.
Though she hardly socialized, her roommates would always gossip about popular contestants from Flash Dance. That included the former genius child star before her, a current B-Class contestant positioned as the main vocalist—Tang Liuli.
If I remember correctly, she shares a dorm with Xiao Qing?
As Kiriwake Yayoi thought this, an unfamiliar emotion suddenly arose from deep in her chest cavity. Her brows lowered as confusion filled her face.
But before she could continue thinking, Chu Yuanqing had already stood up. She clearly had not thought much about it and merely walked over to Tang Liuli for convenience's sake, saying to Kiriwake Yayoi,
"Yayoi, tomorrow is the evaluation. You should go back and train first."
"I won't trouble you anymore. Liuli can take me back."
Kiriwake Yayoi froze for a moment, then did not argue and nodded in agreement.
Tang Liuli was so dizzy with happiness that her mind was filled with the joy of Qingqing choosing her in a choice between two.
I've already won too much!
Little Sakura no longer existed in the young girl's eyes. The inferiority, shyness, and even the sharp jealousy from before were all successfully crushed by invincible devotion.
Kiriwake Yayoi watched the backs of the two girls leaving together gradually recede, standing motionless where she was.
Something seemed to be cracking deep in her chest cavity. The unfamiliar emotion continued to swell as though nourished, giving rise to intense restlessness and irritation.
What is this feeling?
Why do I become so strange just from watching Xiao Qing leave with someone else?
Kiriwake Yayoi clenched the fabric before her chest, her thoughts drifting, before suddenly realizing something.
Was it because... she had never had any friends?
From elementary school to middle school, from signing a contract to debuting.
Throughout those more than ten years of life, she had always been seen by outsiders as a lonely, strange child.
She had been bullied in elementary school because of her hobbies.
She debuted in middle school and had to rush to training after every class. No one wanted to get close to someone like her.
The seniors and peers in the girl group disliked her because she took training and dancing too seriously. They would even play some excessive "pranks" on her.
Before you continue