But one had to know that Chu Yuanqing had yet to debut and had not even entered the industry. The first episode had only aired for one night, yet it had already achieved such results. Once Flash Dance finished airing, wouldn't she swell to tens of millions of fans and directly rival the Chinese Entertainment Industry's top-tier stars?
Besides, even setting aside that potential.
This account was different from those accounts inflated through bought followers and forced hype.
Chu Yuanqing's Weibo account had an exceptionally high proportion of active followers. Whether in terms of commercial value or fan loyalty, it was extraordinarily unusual.
It can be said that even if she were eliminated on the spot right now, with five million fans behind her, she could quickly transition into an internet celebrity or entertainer. She might not make a fortune, but living without worrying about food or clothing would not be a problem.
Of course, to Chu Yuanqing's fans, watching her get eliminated was no different from watching the person they loved have her spine broken and her dreams shattered.
It would practically be an epic-level BE ending. Just thinking about it nearly made them burst into tears. It was utterly heartbreaking.
At the same time, in hundreds of support groups, fans who had stayed up all night watching her Weibo follower count felt as though they had won a holy war. Moved by the feeling of watching their daughter grow up, they teared up one after another and began chanting slogans that made people see black.
Xu Ling lurked in a two-thousand-person support group and passionately hammered out:
"This is a small step for Qing Bao toward becoming a world-class idol, but a giant step for us, the Yuan Xiao Group, in helping Qing Bao debut!"
—Yuan Xiao.
It came from the "Yuan" in Chu Yuanqing's name, borrowing this Great Xia festival as the fandom's name.
Because it carried such auspicious meaning, while also having a beautiful implication utterly opposite to their idol's background, symbolizing the fans' wishes and blessings, it won the approval of most fans almost overnight.
Now, Chu Yuanqing's fans either called themselves Little Yuan Xiao or the Yuan Xiao Group. The former was rather cute, while the latter carried the chuunibyou air of a secret society. Their cohesion was completely different from yesterday's, and they already seemed to have a clear organizational platform.
The reason for all of this was that the first episode had not only attracted casual viewers, but also brought in some major fan-site owners and veterans from the talent-show fandom.
They had extremely rich experience in building support clubs for idols.
Whether it was deciding on a fandom name, gathering scattered fans into a united force, or organizing events with real execution, these were merely the most basic operations. Once they joined the fandom, they would naturally create content out of love and devote themselves wholeheartedly.
That was the core reason Chu Yuanqing's support group had become so well-organized overnight.
From a god's-eye view, though, it felt rather absurd: the idol herself was still asleep, while the outside world had already rallied under her banner, formed an army on the spot, and stirred up a blaze of war.
The fans in the support group were utterly unaware of this and were still worrying about someone who was sound asleep:
"Wuwuwu, I'm so worried about today's second rating. Don't know whether Flash Dance will livestream it???"
"I think it probably will. The first episode broke Chinese Entertainment Industry viewership records. The Program Group has already confirmed that the livestream format is beneficial, so there's no reason not to go live while traffic is peaking."
"It'd be great if Qing Bao could get B-Class."
"Sigh, I don't think we should hope too much. That would put pressure on Qing Bao."
"That's true. Qing Bao has worked very hard, but so have the other contestants. With a weaker foundation, protecting her original rating would already count as victory."
Some fans began to feel sad:
"I'm still so upset. Qing Bao obviously loves the stage so much, yet she had to publicly convince herself that she didn't."
Some fans sorrowfully imagined:
"Because Qing Bao has never had the right to be willful in her own understanding, she became accustomed to compromising, retreating, and bending to reality. Even if she truly loved something, she had to hide it with all her strength, unwilling to let others see her real emotions."
Xu Ling's eyes moistened. She sniffed and typed:
"The reason Qing Bao is so mature is because she had to learn to take care of herself very early on, plan for the future, and struggle for a living. From beginning to end, she was never able to be an innocent, naive child."
"She couldn't afford pretty dresses, cosmetics, or snacks. There was no way for her to live carefree. Life forced her into hardship, and reality forced her to develop an inferiority complex..."
"In the end, maintaining a calm, neither humble nor overbearing attitude was the only way she could protect her dignity."
"That's why other contestants couldn't help crying during interviews, but Qing Bao wouldn't. She was insecure, yet stubborn. She would rather process these emotions alone in the dead of night than show a vulnerable side of herself in front of the camera."
As soon as those words came out,
the group members had already imagined Chu Yuanqing secretly wiping away tears beneath her blanket. Their defenses instantly crumbled, and they began posting all kinds of little essays in the group, stabbing one another with emotional knives, stuffing each other with glass shards and caltrops, recommending BE fanfiction, escalating in a chaotic spiral.
In the end, it all wrapped up with, "Qing Bao must still be training hard, right?" making a whole group of fangirls cry their hearts out.
It was worth mentioning that Xu Ling, the chief culprit, had already retired after delivering her emotional blow and ran off to lurk in the CP support group for Little Sakura and Qing Bao.
Yes, after one night, the CP between Kiriwake Yayoi and Chu Yuanqing had become even more popular.
As the influential blogger who had sparked this CP, Xu Ling had casually created seven or eight groups with two thousand members each, all of which had filled up. The heartbreak literature inside was even more absurd, and BE fanfiction produced by various talented creators in explosions of inspiration had practically become regular fixtures in the group files.
These CP fans wandering between the two were all imagining a BE scene where Chu Yuanqing was eliminated, her dream shattered as she cried on the spot, after which Little Sakura pressed her lips together, her eyes reddening as she decided to carry on the other girl's dream and continue striding forward.
It had to be paired with the image of the two once walking together under an umbrella in the rain, with some emotional BGM added in, as material for stabbing themselves in the heart.
"Yayoi, my Yayoi, wuwuwu, she finally found a good friend!"
"I'm crying to death. They aren't even in the same dorm, and there are so many cameras in the underground base. They haven't even had the chance to do anything before they have to part ways???!"
"Can the person above explain in detail what they would have had time to do????"
"Even though there are no finger sleeves, Qing Bao and Little Sakura don't have manicures. Their nails both look neatly trimmed, so they should be able to do whatever they want, right???!"
"Damn it, don't lose your minds while I'm sad. Also, who do you think is the top????"
"Hehe, obviously Chu Yuanqing. Little Sakura looks like she was born to bottom, and a gentle younger-wife top is the perfect finishing move!"
"You're right, but isn't Little Sakura blushing as she earnestly learns, awkwardly leaning down to kiss her, and trying hard to be the top for love the most charming thing????"
"I'm straight, so I don't understand you lesbians' XP. Please say more so I can understand, and also... whose panties learned how to launch like a rocket! My face hurts so much that I can't help crying???!"
"Hey! Yellow card warning! You'd better be crying for a proper reason!"
The CP fans' thought processes were far too unhinged, making the sadness far too impure. Before long, the entire conversation had derailed. Even the emotional knives became a sense of brokenness in XP literature, and fans who had originally been genuinely upset joined the army discussing XP, temporarily forgetting their worries and falling into the sea of desire.
Similar things were constantly happening in the remaining group chats pairing Chu Yuanqing with other people.
Xu Ling looked on in contempt for several hours, then sneered as she downloaded every group file, preparing to condemn them harshly later. Then, in a state of serene abstinence, she stood on the moral high ground and disdainfully closed the group chats, planning to take a short nap first.
But not long after, an announcement suddenly popped up on Flash Dance's official website. It was actually going to livestream the entire second rating process!
It was already noon.
Xu Ling silently sprang upright. With dark circles under her eyes, she put on blue-light-blocking glasses, ordered an iced Americano on Meituan, booted up the computer she had just shut down, hugged her dinosaur pillow, and energetically clicked the Live Broadcast Room link with lightning speed.
Bullet comments surged like a tidal wave. The image barely had a chance to enter anyone's eyes before it was covered densely from edge to edge.
The screen was filled with support messages for various popular contestants, along with all kinds of unhinged remarks that wordlessly described the mental state of modern internet users.
Unfortunately, the livestream did not show the 168 trainees.
Instead, it showed the mentors of Flash Dance and the Dream Weaver Rabbit, which countless netizens had discussed ten thousand ways to cook.
Film queen Luo Siling, renowned singer-songwriter Zhao Dapan, the ceiling of the domestic rap scene Jiang Chi, and world-class choreographer Chen Baijiu.
The four sat around a pure-white circular table brimming with ceremony. Their gazes were all fixed on the large screen before them, their expressions helpless, heavy, or stern. Like judges deciding fate, they inadvertently made the atmosphere grave and suffocating.
Dream Weaver Rabbit smiled as usual. It spread its arms and warmly greeted the audience. Then, amid the forceful condemnation of countless bullet comments, it began explaining the rules:
"As everyone knows, Shining Stage gave the trainees one week to train, after which all contestants would be rated again based on their performance onstage."
"But unlike the remaining survival talent shows, in order to uphold the transparent principles of fairness, justice, and openness, the second-rating performances of the 168 trainees present were not prerecorded."
"In other words, you in front of the screen will truly witness their futures!"
As soon as those words were spoken, the enormous amount of information made the bullet comments grow even more numerous.
One had to know that this kind of operation was practically unprecedented in the talent-show world!
In the vast majority of survival talent shows, during the second rating, mentors watched videos recorded by contestants under staff supervision and rated them accordingly.
While this method saved the trainees' personal time, it also created many loopholes in the competition format.
For example, privileged contestants with backing would not have to fear making mistakes. They were completely able to dance multiple times, select the best video among them, and place a flawless performance in the collective evaluation footage to win public applause.
On the other hand, some survival talent shows with predetermined scripts would suppress unexpectedly popular contestants in advance in order to ensure the script went smoothly.
Even if they did not go so far as to maliciously smear them or forcibly downgrade them for the sake of public opinion, it was all too easy to skip their performance footage and directly reveal their rating, causing them to lose camera time and traffic for nothing.
That was why Shining Stage publicly broadcasting the entire second-rating process caused such an enormous wave of public opinion. It practically declared a complete refusal to let capital interfere, truly using the stage to decide victory and defeat!
"Holy shit, I'm fired up???!"
"The stage is war, victory and defeat decide the future. Flash Dance's slogan isn't fake, and neither is its purity. It really wants to cultivate real idols!"
"I'm tearing up, everyone. I never thought I'd live to see such a pure talent show."
"Talent-show fans are ecstatic. From now on, I'm a loyal supporter of Flash Dance."
"I'm genuinely starting to look forward to it. What kind of idols can a show this pure possibly cultivate?!"
At that moment, many viewers began to believe for the first time that Flash Dance's excessively harsh Elimination Mechanism might not be for gimmicks or cruel amusement.
It truly wanted to select the most ambitious trainees with the greatest dreams, making them compete, slaughter, trample, and temper one another, thereby cultivating idols capable of blooming with boundless radiance at the pinnacle of the world!
Dream Weaver Rabbit's voice fell silent.
The Live Broadcast Room screen suddenly split into channels, simultaneously displaying the individual feeds of all 168 contestants in a dense Rubik's Cube arrangement.
"Because the entire second-rating process will require at least nine hours of recording time, the Program Group has considered the contestants' mental and physical well-being."
"Before they are placed into the waiting order, contestants may move freely throughout the underground base. During this period, whether they train, rest, or entertain themselves will be entirely their own choice."
"For this livestream, the Program Group has granted all viewers the ability to freely select contestants' channels."
"If a black screen appears while watching, it means the contestant is outside the camera's recording range."
"Additionally, the assessment order for the second rating will be determined by the contestants' current rating levels."
"The first contestant entering for assessment is the A-Class contestant—Xie Qingxuan!"
After Dream Weaver Rabbit finished explaining, it switched the main livestream view back to the mentor panel.
At the same time, Xie Qingxuan's personal channel was pinned to the top for viewers to watch the stage from her perspective.
In the image,
Xie Qingxuan had just walked out of the practice room. She was tall, fair-skinned, and long-legged. The pure-white JK-style short skirt she wore was especially eye-catching, and her jade-like thighs were full and rounded as she stepped forward with strength and determination.
The girl's expression was cool, the light in her eyes tranquil. Her platinum hair tips swayed with the wind, making her seem like an elf walking out of a forest. She did not look as though she were facing a battle that would decide her fate at all; every gesture carried an unhurried, elegant air.
The viewers in the Live Broadcast Room were both excited and uneasy:
"The Great Demon King is opening the show. Is she about to suppress the entire competition venue?"
"Wuwuwu, Qingxuan is as insanely A-Class as always. She's so cool!"
"God, I love beautiful girls this badass. I'm obsessed???!"
"Damn it, stop losing your minds for now. I feel like something is off about this second rating. They've made it far too grand. Flash Dance definitely has more tricks it hasn't revealed."
"What trick could affect the Great Demon King's performance? Don't forget, she was a total beast who managed to perfectly finish an extremely difficult dance while running a high fever before collapsing onstage."
"That makes sense. Later contestants might need to worry, but what could the Great Demon King possibly fear?"
And just then, while the Live Broadcast Room viewers argued through bullet comments,
Xie Qingxuan had already entered the competition venue prepared by the Program Group.
The setup here looked extraordinarily grand. Whether in scale or design, it was no different from a real large-scale stage, far more advanced than the stage used for the first rating. There were even hundreds of circular, tiered seats surrounding it, an awe-inspiring sight at a glance.
One had to know, this was underground!
How many years had Flash Dance's official team spent preparing this? What kind of black technology had they used, and what absurd train of thought had made them spend an enormous sum building a stage for hundreds of people underground, where it was difficult and offered little return?
No matter how they thought about it, viewers could not come up with an answer. They only felt that it was extravagantly lavish.
Could this be the stage that would later invite audiences to score the live performances during the final public showcase? It couldn't possibly have been prepared solely for the second rating, could it? That would be far too absurd!
Xie Qingxuan stopped in the center of the stage.
As she walked forward, the lighting on the competition venue changed with every step.
The stage lighting system in the dome, like an inverted tower, also seemed like a slowly awakening beast. It exhaled silent roars, making the person onstage the focus of the entire venue and causing the atmosphere in the Live Broadcast Room to grow solemn.
Dream Weaver Rabbit's voice rang out:
"In ten seconds, the music intro will begin. The contestant may prepare to perform."
10, 9, 8, 7, 6...
On the mentors' side, a countdown appeared on the screen. The numbers pulsed like a heart, like tangible threads linking the hearts of millions of viewers, causing the bullet comments in the Live Broadcast Room to rapidly thin as a fog-like tension spread.
Even onlookers felt this way, let alone the person onstage facing the pressure directly.
Xie Qingxuan's heart pounded rapidly. To keep the dance's emotions full, she had not entered a detached Meditation State. It felt as if she were breathing poisonous fog; although her will remained steadfast, her body was already producing instinctive reactions that affected her movements.
The stage was like a man-eating beast.
Without sufficient stage experience and the corresponding resistance it built up, no matter how tenacious or confident someone was, she would have her soul's outer shell peeled away and be forced to confront the most cowardly, uneasy version of herself.
Before you continue