No matter how public opinion outside continued to ferment, the second round of evaluations proceeded at an unhurried pace.
There were still eight contestants who had received an initial A rating, and the vast majority of them failed once more.
Among them, the one who left the audience somewhat amazed was Ji Shuzhu, who had stage experience and was naturally highly resistant to pressure due to Hyperthymesia.
Her performance was smooth and effortless from beginning to end. Aside from some shortcomings in her singing, her dancing relied almost entirely on the muscle memory she had cultivated over many years, naturally recreating itself onstage. She unquestionably retained her A-Class rating.
But the one who surprised everyone even more was the Young Lady of Yunlan Entertainment.
The audience's first impression of her had been that she possessed some ability, but not much. The reason she had earned an A-Class rating was half because she had used several trainees from her own company as stepping stones, making herself look exceptionally outstanding from the center position.
But reality slapped them hard across the face.
Chen Yining performed far better than the audience had expected. Although she made a few mistakes, they were far outweighed by her strengths, and she successfully retained her A-Class rating.
Some viewers could not help suspecting that she most likely had experience on major stages.
And that was indeed the case.
Chen Yining often used Yunlan Entertainment's connections to train herself. Sneaking into the concerts of some superstar singer and serving as a member of the backup dance troupe was standard practice for her.
Though those were not true stages, she had at least grown accustomed to facing massive crowds, along with that atmosphere and pressure.
Time passed.
The final A-Class contestant to take the stage was Kiriwake Yayoi, who had claimed first place in the theme song battle's exclusive voting, leading by a million votes.
Because she was hugely popular herself, and because her pairing with Chu Yuanqing was the hottest ship in Chu Yuanqing's CP lineup, the appearance of this Sakura Girl drew immense attention. The moment she stepped onstage, all sorts of deranged comments appeared:
"Little Sakura! Look at Mom! Mom loves you???!"
"Slurp slurp, did Yayoi and Qing Bao do it super hard before she went onstage????"
"Wuwuwu, if I could get inside Yayoi just once, I'd be willing to have my fingers shortened by five centimeters???!"
"Damn it, pure-love people are furious. Not even fifteen centimeters shorter would do. Little Sakura can only be claimed by Qing Bao, stop losing your minds here???!"
"Can you explain what 'claimed' means in detail? This straight girl is very curious???."
"Uh, uh, uh, anyway, it isn't a noun???."
Although the Live Broadcast Room was a demonic dance, with countless pairs of panties flying everywhere and nearly stirring up a world-ending flood.
Little Sakura herself, at the center of all the discussion, stood upon this vast stage she had never before touched with almost reverent feelings, her chest cavity brimming with emotion.
Once upon a time, stages this spacious often appeared in her dreams.
And now, after enduring hardship after hardship, she was actually standing here. In her daze, it truly felt like she was dreaming.
Even if this was only a stage for the second evaluation.
Even if the seats around her were empty, so desolate and lonely.
The intense joy and emotion still flooded her body and soul beyond all restraint. They gave rise to immense courage, as though whispering in her ear of the beauty of the stage.
So...
When the stage lighting system officially activated.
When the prelude to candy truly began.
When the nightmare-like virtual reality system covered the dark and lonely world, abruptly transforming it into a galaxy gathered from stars, continuously expanding the mere hundreds of circular seats tenfold within the Virtual Projection and forging a truly massive stage.
What leaped within Kiriwake Yayoi's heart was not shock or fear, but thunderous joy and inspiration exploding within her.
What could describe such happiness?
What could convey this bliss that resonated with her soul?
At this moment, the Perfect Performance Method that had repeatedly led her beyond her limits seemed to sink into endless clear blue, embracing the boundless heavens, surrounded by the wave-like cheers of fans and illusory prosperity, thus entering...
A true [Flow State]!!!
PS1: Wuwuwu, my schedule is getting more and more hellish. I wrote until eight in the morning this time, I'm really about to pass out????????????!
PS2: Some readers asked me to make a group, but I'm so poor that I can't afford Super VIP. I'll make one for now, and we'll talk again once it fills up! Also, anyone who can write erotica on their own, get in first and let me criticize it immediately.
PS3: Chu Yuanqing Support Group Headquarters: 571664158.
A World-Famous Painting: Kiriwake Yayoi on Stage
Kiriwake Yayoi could not put her current feelings into words.
The longing and pursuit of the stage buried deep within the girl's heart were fulfilled by the shock of this instant. The happiness that rose from it made her soul and convictions resonate as one.
She raised her eyes toward the distant stage. Those people calling her name truly seemed like fans who had crossed the long river of time to appear below the stage and watch the show, making her emotions surge like a tide in her daze.
—She absolutely could not disappoint her fans.
—She had to present the best stage.
—She had to show her most perfect self.
—She had to create the most idol-like... Kiriwake Yayoi!
At this moment,
Kiriwake Yayoi's sense of time slowed down. She let countless thoughts run through her mind, let her complicated emotions crash down like an avalanche, yet she still entered her best state amid those thoughts. With perfect strength and rhythm, she hit every beat and began singing with steady breathing.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds.
Thirty seconds.
Kiriwake Yayoi showed no signs of falling apart whatsoever.
Her dance steps were relaxed and light, her movements devoid of even the slightest stiffness or hesitation. The sway of her pure white skirt was perfect, her eyes sincere when she smiled at the camera. Even every wink and cute gesture that could easily have seemed affected instead came naturally, as though she had become immersed in the role.
Cherry blossom-colored lips curled upward on the girl's innocent face. Her genuine smile possessed a bewitching charm, and she actually performed even better than during the initial evaluation. Like a storm, she dragged everyone's minds in, letting the audience wander through candy with her and be permeated by the theme song's keyword.
In an instant,
The audience felt as though they were watching a stage play with a plot and a soul, with exquisite lines and a beginning, development, turn, and conclusion. It conveyed youth, girlhood, sweetness, freshness, and cuteness, blending them into a bottle of ramune drained in one gulp by the seaside, leaving people intoxicated and longing for more.
This even surpassed the shock delivered by certain famous stages.
Because the stage's infectious power amplified by Kiriwake Yayoi's [Flow State] was, in a sense, as absurd as glowing cuisine from Food Wars!, precisely the shining raw gemstone Dream Weaver Rabbit had sought!
The total number of Bullet Comments in the Live Broadcast Room during those three minutes was not even as high as the number posted in the ten seconds before them. That alone showed how deeply Little Sakura's stage had shocked them.
Only when the stage neared its end did large numbers of people begin typing in astonishment:
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, did Little Sakura turn on cheats?"
"I'm sure Yayoi never had experience on a major stage before. What is going on now?"
"Yeah, Little Sakura was a bottom-tier idol in the Island Nation. The stages she performed on were small and narrow, and she was right next to the audience. Her tickets probably could not even sell for a hundred. This is absolutely an explosive breakthrough!"
"This is insane. Just how much does Yayoi love the stage? It's a debuff for everyone else, but for her it's clearly like a buff. Her devotion is just too pure."
"My verdict is that the Perfect Performance Method has real weight. She definitely entered [Flow State]???."
"Wuwuwuwu, so cute, so cute, so cute! Little Sakura dancing to candy is so cute, I want her to dunk me like a basketball???."
"Miss Yayoi, please fill me up with all your strength???."
This virtual reality trial was a debuff for the remaining contestants, but for her, it was like a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate.
With such an example before them, the audience had no choice but to admit that the goal of Flash Dance did not seem to be making the girls graduate on the spot. Rather, it was following the brutal law of the jungle it had always adhered to, selecting the group of contestants best able to adapt to the stage.
But what astonished people most was,
No one had expected that the person who truly made the audience realize, and even accept, this point was neither Xie Qingxuan, known as the Great Demon King, nor Ji Shuzhu, the Genius Choreographer famous within the industry, but a bottom-tier idol who had climbed step by step onto the stage from the countryside of a remote Island Nation.
—Kiriwake Yayoi.
The stage she displayed, one beyond common sense, was precisely the variable sought by every Flash Dance subproject.
Underground base, central core.
Dream Weaver Rabbit's lips curled upward in delight as she laughed heartily.
Kiriwake Yayoi's sublimation and transformation, along with her unconventional [Flow State], were unexpected surprises even within the Super AI's algorithms.
As everyone knew, the human heart was unfathomable.
And [Flow State], this mystical skill that required different conditions for each individual, involved complex and difficult-to-analyze emotions, even the self that could not be specifically quantified through hormone secretion or any other data.
The Entertainment Industry was a giant dye vat.
Idol survival shows, even more so, crushed the dreams of tens of millions every year to pile up the thousands at the top of the pyramid.
So within the general environment,
Little Sakura's seemingly tragic yet inspiring experiences could not actually prove anything at all.
Because the core cause of her transformation was not suffering itself, but her extraordinary longing for the stage and her obsessive pursuit of perfection in the concept of being an idol.
Even the Super AI codenamed [Dream Weaver], which possessed permission to control all humanity's information database, had no way to quantify that longing and obsession.
That was why it felt such delight and joy at the phenomenon before it, exceeding its expectations.
Countless Virtual Screens popped up. The wails and trembling within the Cube Prison verified the purity of her [Flow State].
It was probably because of her stage's infectious power, as well as the greater number of viewers.
This time, the commotion she caused was even greater than the one caused by Chu Yuanqing, the genuine article.
Dream Weaver Rabbit murmured:
"Although Kiriwake Yayoi is inferior to her and Chu Yuanqing in terms of aptitude in that regard alone, her dedication to being an idol has successfully produced an unprecedented chemical reaction on this false stage."
"And this almost irreproducible chemical reaction allowed her to cross the limits of herself, causing fluctuations in the Magic Threshold."
"It seems Tokyo's Flash Dance missed an interesting prospect."
At the same time.
Just as Kiriwake Yayoi entered [Flow State] for the first time, shining brightly onstage and drawing the astonishment of tens of millions of viewers in the Live Broadcast Room.
Chu Yuanqing had just finished another round of training.
The girl wore dance clothes that outlined the curves of her body, with a loose black short-sleeved shirt layered over them to prevent the contours and trembling of her chest from being too plainly visible.
In truth, she had not initially possessed much awareness about preventing accidental exposure.
After all, as a variety show meant to cultivate idols, for the sake of reputation and a perfect public image, the production team would not release training footage of trainees that revealed their body curves too much.
But ever since she had been doing flexibility training in the C-Class practice room and clearly sensed the envious gazes of many girls directed at her, she had realized that this body was extremely sensitive to attention. She had no choice but to add an outer layer.
Today was the day of the second evaluation.
But unlike the A-Class contestants who went on first, she would not take the stage as a C-Class contestant for at least another two hours, leaving her plenty of time to train.
Although she had barely managed to create a breathing method for controlling her breath with cheats yesterday, it only suited her exercise state and had not been synchronized with the rhythm of dancing. To avoid dropping the ball, she naturally needed to try it in advance and ensure there were no problems.
Chu Yuanqing was very meticulous in this regard. Even though she disliked dancing and was unaccustomed to wearing skirts.
In order to ensure that she would not drag anyone down when she went onstage, after completing all kinds of basic training, she still planned to return to the dormitory, change into a white dress, and head to the practice room to dance through it a few times.
When she pushed open the door, the dormitory was still empty.
Xie Qingxuan had not returned to sleep last night and was also among the first batch to be evaluated, so it was perfectly normal that she was not there.
Ever since Tang Liuli entered [Flow State] the day before yesterday, the time she spent in the practice room had doubled. She was only in the dormitory when she slept.
There was no need to mention Liang Xiaoxiao. As a D-Class contestant at the bottom of the food chain, her only advantage now was having an extra half day of training time compared to the contestants at the front. Naturally, she had no spare time to waste in the dormitory and was definitely still soaking in the practice room.
Chu Yuanqing casually covered the camera with a towel. She took off the short-sleeved shirt concealing her chest's curves and pulled out a short top, short skirt, sports bra, white knee-high socks, and little leather shoes from the wardrobe.
The girl arranged them all on the bed. As she briefly imagined how she would look wearing everything, ripples shimmered in her clear eyes. She could not help vigorously rubbing her cheeks, gritting her teeth in secret as she engaged in somewhat embarrassed Self-hypnosis.
She would need this outfit for the second evaluation later anyway. Whether she put it on early or late, she would have to wear it. It was no big deal!
Chu Yuanqing, you can do it!
After wearing skirts for so many days, she should be used to them by now!
Chu Yuanqing patted her delicate cheeks. She turned back to look at the person in the mirror, as if mist had spread across her, full of the beauty of layered ink washes, and fell into a slight daze.
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