Chapter 424
Prior to this, even after a round of nascent [Calamity Species] and the outbreak of [Calamity Wish], most people still did not feel any sense of crisis.
--Chu Yuanqing suppressed four forbidden zones, and the promotional video of his successor General Captain was swallowed up by [nothingness].
Therefore, there has always been a lot of controversy and negative discussion about Magical Girl online. Most of these discussions are alarmist and anxiety-inducing statements, such as the need to restrain supernatural beings and the idea that Magical Girl are inherently unstable factors.
However, under government control, such topics would never generate any buzz or have any room to spread, and this is even more true now.
Following this event, the government's pilot policy of sending Magical Girl to be stationed in some cities to protect the people has received unprecedented support. People from almost every region are tagging their own city governments, urging them to take action and win over the Magical Girl.
Suddenly, many short videos appeared on Douyin (TikTok's Chinese version) that combined trending memes with promotional material to beautify their hometowns, promising to make the Magical Girl feel at home and exclaiming "Pick me!" The comments section was even more abstract.
Meanwhile, the Little Idol from various Flash Dance competition areas were also being closely watched. Contestants like Xie Qingxuan, Kiriwake Yayoi, and Tang Liuli, who had transformed in public and whose Magical Girl identities were now firmly established, would have a lot of official Weibo accounts from local cultural and tourism departments and municipal governments popping up at the bottom of their Weibo. It was quite like the aesthetic of top scorers in the college entrance examination being besieged by teachers from various universities to recruit students.
During this week, the Countermeasures Bureau also revealed the identities of more Magical Girl, causing a stir, and announced the various cities they would be visiting.
It's worth mentioning that, due to the <Flash Dance> project, the Magical Girl team is basically the same as the debut lineup. Splitting them up and dispersing them to different cities was a helpless move based on insufficient manpower.
In order to ensure that their respective girl groups do not break up, Magical Girl from the same team will generally reside in neighboring cities.
From a long-term perspective, this policy is too far-reaching, essentially creating a completely new economic ecosystem that will significantly impact population movement. It is also difficult to balance the policy with the people involved, and it is likely to cause public discontent.
However, considering that [Pure White] is on the verge of collapse and may not be able to hold out for a year or two, and that human civilization has entered a state of war, such public grievances based on unequal distribution can only be temporarily ignored and discussed again at a later time.
The world is changing rapidly, but Flashdance is still being filmed and continues to move forward.
After Third Performance, the Great Xia region has been merged into one, and the distinction between Sea Capital and Capital regions has been eliminated. Of the 60 contestants who advanced, 7 chose to withdraw, and the remaining Little Idol took their place, forming 10 girl groups.
According to the latest rules announced to fans during the Dream Weaver Rabbit livestream of "Flash Dance", these teams will operate independently and enter a chaotic battle for debut.
In short, they need to complete their team positioning, group concept, debut song production, promotion, and then directly launch a national tour within a month.
In this process, the major data of the debut song, the number of audience members for the subsequent tour, and even the popularity on various levels will determine who can advance in the Great Xia region, truly step onto the world stage, and compete with contestants from other regions. Under such circumstances, it is conceivable how fierce the competition will be.
Even though Dream Weaver Rabbit claims that contestants have complete freedom to allocate their time, working on a group's style, debut song, choreography, and various promotional activities within a month, even with a top-notch team behind them, still requires non-stop work, making it far more tiring and hectic than when filming shows in the past.
The Great Xia Nation are paying close attention to this.
At this stage, the most attention is undoubtedly focused on the Galactic Battleship, which won the top spot in the Public Performance and is composed entirely of Magical Girl.
Even disregarding skill, once they win first place, given FlashDance's jungle-law-based approach, this team will receive better promotion, treatment, production funding, and resources than the other contestants.
But what's intriguing is that, a week later, as other teams successively made announcements, informed fans of their group names, took official photos, and became increasingly active on magazine trending topics, Little Sakura and others, who were ranked first, still didn't make any noise.
At this moment, in Sea Capital, on Dongyun Road, at Jindi Plaza.
This spacious area, usually occupied by square dancing aunties, was now packed with a dense crowd, and media vehicles filled the nearby parking lot.
In the center are several young and beautiful Little Idol. Their skin is radiant, their features are striking, and even their lips are exceptionally soft. It's hard to find an unflattering angle for them in person. Each of them has a distinct expression and attention to detail, clearly defining their own characteristics and maintaining excellent recognizability.
"They're so beautiful, they must have become Magical Girl too!"
"Definitely. Although Wu Dongdong has always been a beauty, her skin and overall appearance are still different from what they are now."
"Lin Yuxia super cute too."
"What a fantastic stage! As expected of Capital's flagship production, they can even perform simple pop music to this standard."
"Unbelievable, is this the stage where [Flow State] happens? I'm getting more and more envious of those who managed to get tickets to the Public Performance."
Pei Xiaotong held her milk tea, sipping it slowly like a hamster. She was standing next to the open-air café in the adjacent shopping mall, looking down at the crowded square below, just like many others who couldn't find a seat.
Although the specific movements are not very clear, and you can only hear some melody and sounds, watching the live stream from passersby on your phone and comparing the two makes it quite engaging.
The little girl glanced back at Xu Ling, who was sipping coffee and pretending to be a cake seller, and remarked:
"Ling Bao, do you think Yayoi and the others are really going all out? Even if they haven't come up with a debut song, they should at least reveal their group name, right? They could do what Wu Dongdong and the others did, and choose something as simple and straightforward as 'Four Seasons'."
As soon as they finished speaking, the Little Idol in the center of Jindi Plaza greeted the fans present, then quickly transformed into their Magic Armor and sped away, perfectly solving the problem that most celebrities face, leaving a group of "Muggles" watching their figures slowly disappear.
"Damn, I got tricked. What a cool exit."
Pei Xiaotong was greatly impressed. The route the idols took when they left the stage, the arc of the flying Magic Energy Particles, and even the construction of their Magic Armor were all meticulously designed, making them exceptionally elegant and graceful.
Even if they know that they are intentionally leveraging the fame of Magical Girl to gain more fans and popularity, it still seems a bit pretentious.
But for fans and casual viewers, as long as the Magical Girl are willing to actively engage with the audience, what more could they ask for?
Feuds, insults, comparisons and disparagements...
The things that often happen in these kinds of Talent Show are almost always nipped in the bud. Unlike idols, which are commodified products that can be labeled at will, everyone knows that Magical Girl will eventually go to the battlefield. If you wantonly insult them, you'll end up in jail even if you don't get prosecuted.
Therefore, the battles between fans can only tend to be childish and immature. Even sarcastic remarks have to be carefully considered. When they actually start cursing, it's just like a bunch of elementary school kids fighting.
Xu Ling, resting her chin on her hand, looked at the paparazzi and media slowly retreating from the square, having missed their chance to conduct interviews. She put down her coffee cup and sighed:
"I'd like to know too. I always feel like Yayoi isn't very motivated. The update frequency of all her accounts has decreased, and she's not very active."
That being said, as a die-hard fan of Little Sakura, she didn't believe that the girl who could shine even as an underground idol, who always persevered and worked hard on stage, would slack off at the last minute before her debut.
She even had to worry that the other person would be too tense and cause her to suffer a stress fracture before going on stage, resulting in a regrettable exit.
Upon hearing this, Xu Ling immediately logged onto Weibo and commented on Little Sakura's latest post, saying, "Don't push yourself too hard." Only then did she feel relieved enough to rewatch the ninth episode of "Flash Dance."
This was updated last night.
Although she had seen the Public Performance live once, watched the premiere last night, and watched it countless times while editing footage, the difference between watching variety shows with and without bullet comments is huge. So she's used to waiting until more people are watching before watching it again.
Yes, especially in <Flash Dance>, because each Little Idol's charm is exceptionally terrifying, the fans they cultivate are often extremely pure, resulting in new crazy material every time you refresh the barrage, allowing you to experience a whole new world.
Xu Ling fast-forwarded directly to the stage performance of Little Sakura. The dense barrage of comments blocked the stunning beauty of these girls, and all sorts of strange emoticons and nonsensical remarks filled the screen.
[Xie Qingxuan, the woman among women, the female among females, the ruler among women, the lord of women, the terminator of women, a cosmic-level Alpha, a king, a master, a god, an emperor, a demon lord, an overwhelming woman???!!!]
[Liuli, my Liuli, has Xiaoxue gone back to the South?]
[Yue Bao, do you like foreign girls? Me, Nari Yudian Yangyangde???]
[Refusing sexual favors is something every province should do, but we in Sea Capital don't even do it. Are we a municipality directly under the central government???]
[Damn it, Little Sakura's Sword Witch form wasn't included in the show, what a shame???]
[It's so alluring! Xuan Bao's black wedding dress didn't reveal an inch of skin, yet she was incredibly captivating. Combined with her usual cool and domineering aura, it was just perfect. And... I thought Xuan Bao was already approachable enough with her E-cup charm, but I underestimated her???]
In the comments section of the ninth episode, discussions about Xie Qingxuan continued to surge.
It's not because her Magic Armor black wedding dress is particularly alluring.
Okay, it's somewhat related.
But more importantly, this usually aloof and formulaic Great Demon King posted a very provocative Weibo a week ago.
--[The person I like has disappeared. Help me find them.]
Although it is a declarative sentence, and although its meaning is also declarative.
But in the eyes of the fans, this was their idol finally pandering to them, and they were overjoyed. Some career-oriented fans were even tempted to become girlfriend fans, and they couldn't help but go crazy in the comments section, making the scene extremely scary for a moment.
Book recommendation.
Synopsis: After being transported to the Honkai: Star Rail, Nan Zhu believed he could travel the cosmos with the help of the system.
I never expected that the first beginner task given by the system would be so difficult, almost impossible to complete.
Task: [Assist Lan in cutting down the Jianmu tree].
The Jianmu tree has been broken for five thousand years, how can it still assist Lan?
Mission: [Defeat the Global Insect Plague].
Haven't there been global insect plagues for thousands of years? How can we possibly repel this one?
Mission: [Defeat the Herrscher of the End and save Earth].
Wait a minute, what's this about Earth?
Was the system too early, or was I late?
The system's task seemed hopeless, but Nanzhu inadvertently discovered a brand-new way to complete it.
Just as Nan Zhu was busy completing tasks and racking up rewards, something extraordinary seemed to slip out of the mouth of the fictional historian.
Book Title: <Transmigrating 10,000 Years Late, I Became Stellar Core Spirit?>
Volume 1: 399. The Mysterious Guitarist, My Surname is Lin.
Wearing headphones, Xu Ling watched the edited version of the stage performance and the various comments from netizens. She then turned off the program, put down her phone, finished the last sip of her coffee, and looked outside.
The crowd that had gathered in the square slowly dispersed. Without the Magical Girl who had recently become so popular, their fans and onlookers scattered in all directions. The media who had come to promote the event, or who had been invited in advance, also left one after another.
Even though it was still hot at the end of summer, the sound of the ice machine in the coffee shop inexplicably evoked a cool and crisp feeling. Through the clear sky with a few wisps of contrails, you could see an advertising airship with the Dream Weaver Rabbit logo. I heard that Little Idol had even broadcast a live performance from inside yesterday, which was quite ingenious.
As my gaze descended, the wings of the bird and the facade of the glass building shone brightly in the summer sunlight, then vanished in an instant, blurring into an undetectable shadow.
"Splash."
Pei Xiaotong bit the straw and sucked the empty glass, now only containing ice, until it collapsed, making strange noises. She childishly sucked a few more times until she had sucked up all the pearls at the bottom, then puffed out her cheeks and stopped, satisfied.
The little girl chewed on pearls and sighed:
"It's so peaceful. I can't believe what happened just a few days ago."
Before Xu Ling could even anticipate any profound insights the other person might have, the child enthusiastically shared with her the little dress he had recently taken a liking to. His carefree and uninhibited spirit was truly remarkable, leaving her unsure whether to criticize or envy him.
After chatting for a while, the girls left the coffee shop one after another, ran to the crowded square to bask in the sun, and then went to the shopping mall next door to try their luck at winning the collaboration <FlashDance> plush toys.
Although 70% of the claw machines are filled with those pesky Dream Weaver Rabbit, the two, who are obsessed with appearances, can accept it considering that some of those 70% are in the form of the Primal Witch with silver hair and red eyes.
Half an hour later.
Pei Xiaotong was overjoyed. She held up the cartoon doll with both hands, its eyes showing off excitedly:
"Yay! Look what I caught! A Charlotte figure! So cute!"
Xu Ling looked at the Little Sakura doll that had slipped from her grasp for the 25th time, and all she wanted to do was drag out the little dinosaur from her house and beat it up. She glanced at her younger sister, who was still showing off, and smiled:
"Alright, alright, now I'll have to deduct 50 yuan from your salary."
"...?!?!"
Half an hour later, in order to avoid having her wages docked, the girl who volunteered to help with the claw machine spent 56 yuan to finally get the Little Sakura plushie. She walked out of the mall crying, clutching her wallet.
This depressed mood only dissipated after she turned into a cat cafe on the street, took advantage of the free dried fish provided by the store, fed the Ragdoll cats, and petted them vigorously, which shows how deeply she was hurt.
As dusk approached in the afternoon, the two boarded a bus and sat side by side.
Pei Xiaotong was scrolling through Douyin (TikTok).
Xu Ling, as if possessed, started watching the performance of the ninth episode of "Flash Dance" again. The girl next to her couldn't help but glance over and comment:
"Ling Bao, you've watched this performance at least a hundred times in this week, haven't you?"
"We were there in person, you know! Is this recorded footage with its amazing camera work really that good?"
Xu Ling was taken aback. She absentmindedly turned off the live comments and stubbornly said:
"You don't understand. A master editor needs to capture all the essence of the original film; watching it a hundred times isn't too much."
Pei Xiaotong muttered to herself:
"You're a master editor, huh? But you were clearly distracted by the comments the whole time."
Xu Ling poked the girl's ticklish spot on her waist, physically interrupting the conversation. She looked at her phone for a while before taking off her headphones, gazing out the window. Her eyes reflected the rapidly passing scenery, and a hint of weariness showed in them.
One hundred times.
During that week, she used the excuse of editing to watch that performance a hundred times.
Even if you really like Little Sakura and the idols on stage, you'll get tired of watching it so many times.
For some inexplicable reason, she always unconsciously anticipated something.
It was like in junior high school, when I would unconsciously go to the bathroom more often, just to have an excuse to walk past the next classroom a few more times and catch a few more glimpses of the youthful boys basking in the sunlight.
The stage performance in the ninth episode was a perfect example. She seemed convinced that there was some major secret hidden inside, and she couldn't help but refresh the page every now and then, as if watching it a few more times would reveal some hidden surprise.
But it's time to end this pointless activity. Constantly thinking about it makes me distracted when I'm out having fun, and it's also related to why I haven't been able to win many prizes at the claw machine.
Perhaps.
Lost in thought, Xu Ling nearly missed her stop. Her younger cousin, sitting next to her, angrily pulled her off the bus, and she snapped out of her daze, offering an apologetic smile.