134: Chapter 133 Invitation to a World-Class Street Dance Competition

Lin Yue turned the computer around.

In the center of the screen was an English invitation letter.

Black background.

Golden badge.

The badge consisted of a pair of crossed dance shoes and the Earth's graticule lines.

At the very top was printed a full name.

World Street Dance Championship Organizing Committee.

WDSC.

Lin Hao leaned over to the edge of the table, and after reading just two lines, his hand pressed down on the mouse.

"Wait a moment."

He dragged the page back to the top and read through it again from the first word.

"Could this be a phishing email?"

Lin Yue pointed to the sender address.

"The organizing committee's official domain name. The email is encrypted with three layers, and the digital certificate is also real."

"What about the attachment?"

"It comes with an independent verification number."

Lin Hao was still not at ease.

He opened the WDSC official website and entered the number into the query bar.

The page loaded.

An electronic certificate popped up.

Invited Person: Su Chen.

Identity: Specially Invited Performing Guest.

Event: The 27th World Street Dance Championship.

Nature of Invitation: Individual.

The only sound left in the room was the beat coming from the training room.

Lin Hao stared at that "Individual", his lips moving a few times.

"It really is them."

WDSC only invited one specially invited performing guest each year.

This person did not participate in regular points competitions, nor did they accept referee scoring.

Before the opening of the finals, they would have an independent performance time.

Over the past twenty-six editions, the dancers who stood in this position had either won world championships or created a dance system recognized by the industry.

This was the performance seat.

It was also the seat of honor.

Furthermore, it was the public certification of a dancer by the world Street Dance circle.

Lin Hao pulled up the search page.

The past rosters scrolled down rapidly.

United States.

France.

Japan.

United Kingdom.

South Korea.

There was no Huaxia.

Teams had been invited twice.

Received invitations as an individual? Not even once.

Lin Hao raised his head, his voice lowered significantly.

"Brother Su, you are the first one."

Su Chen did not touch the computer.

He stood by the table and read the invitation letter completely.

At the very bottom of the page, the organizing committee's reason for the invitation was written.

Solo dance at Workers Stadium.

The Five Ha show clip.

A cappella improvised Rap and dance in the music exchange livestream.

Three public videos.

The organizing committee's technical committee conducted a total of five rounds of evaluation.

Final vote: eleven votes in favor, zero votes against.

There was also a separately bolded comment in the invitation letter.

"He has not combined existing dance styles; he is establishing a new stage grammar."

After reading, Lin Hao pressed his back against the back of the chair.

Domestic netizens said Su Chen had full marks in all subjects, which could be treated as fan boasting.

Huang Zitao said Su Chen was the standard itself, which could also be interpreted as recognition between senior and junior fellow apprentices.

But WDSC did not need to give face to any Huaxia artists.

This group of people spent more than twenty years sending Street Dance from underground clubs into global stadiums.

They only recognized movements.

They only recognized control.

They only recognized the stage.

Now, they placed the highest-specification individual invitation in front of Su Chen.

Lin Yue clicked on the video call link in the email.

"The other party hopes to confirm your intention with you. The scheduled time is nine in the morning."

The clock on the wall ticked right at that moment.

Exactly nine o'clock.

The computer sounded a prompt tone.

The video connected.

Three people appeared on the screen.

In the middle was a grey-haired man.

Sitting on the left was the tournament executive chairman, and on the right was the head of the technical committee.

The translation channel had already been opened.

Everyone's voices were simultaneously converted into Chinese.

"Mr. Su Chen, good morning."

The grey-haired man spoke first.

"I am Robert Kane, chairman of the World Street Dance Championship Organizing Committee."

"Thank you for the invitation."

Su Chen sat down, his gaze falling on the camera.

Kane did not exchange pleasantries.

"We have studied your twelve recently released video clips. Three of them have been included in next year's technical seminar materials."

"Especially the compound rhythm performance you completed during the livestream."

"The technical committee had a debate."

Lin Hao subconsciously leaned closer to the screen.

Kane raised his hand and extended two fingers.

"Some committee members believed that it was Rap accompanying dance."

"Another group of committee members believed that it was dance controlling Rap."

"The debate lasted for four hours with no result."

Kane smiled slightly.

"Therefore, we decided not to classify it anymore."

"We want dancers all over the world to see it with their own eyes."

Lin Hao held his breath.

The weight of these words was even heavier than the invitation letter.

It was not following.

It was not imitating.

It was not fusing.

It was something that existing classifications could not fully explain.

The head of the technical committee opened an evaluation form.

"According to tournament regulations, the specially invited guest has an independent stage of eight minutes."

"The music, lighting, and stage design will be decided by the guest. The organizing committee will bear all production costs."

"The performance content will not go through commercial censorship, but it must comply with tournament safety regulations."

"If you accept, we will dispatch a technical team to Huaxia within seven working days."

Having stated the conditions, Kane looked at Su Chen.

"Mr. Su, we await your reply."

Lin Hao's hand had already touched his phone.

Agree.

Does this still need to be considered?

An eight-minute world-class independent stage.

Simultaneously broadcasted in over a hundred countries and regions around the world.

How many dancers practice for a lifetime without even being able to touch that piece of flooring.

Yet Su Chen did not nod immediately.

"I have two questions."

Kane straightened his body.

"Please speak."

"First, can the specially invited performing guest bring backup dancers?"

Lin Yue turned her head and glanced at him.

The technical head flipped through the rules.

"Yes. The maximum number of people is twelve."

"Are there any restrictions on the nationality of the backup dancers?"

"No."

"Second."

Su Chen continued to ask.

"For next year's team competition, how many direct qualification slots does the Huaxia division have?"

There was a brief silence on the other side of the screen.

This question had nothing to do with the specially invited guest.

Kane looked at the executive chairman.

The executive chairman replied, "One."

"What about wildcard slots?"

"The organizing committee reserves two intercontinental wildcard slots. But over the past five years, Huaxia teams have not obtained them."

"Evaluation criteria."

"International tournament points, original choreography ratio, team completion degree, and public competition results."

Su Chen nodded.

"I understand."

Kane waited a few seconds.

"Then, regarding the invitation—"

"I need three days."

Su Chen said.

Kane did not show any dissatisfaction.

"Of course. Three days later, we await your official reply."

The video ended.

Lin Hao looked at the darkened window and finally couldn't help himself.

"Brother Su, that is WDSC!"

"I know."

"The whole world only invites one a year! The very first one in Huaxia!"

"It's written in the email."

Lin Hao was choked up and couldn't respond for a long time.

He pointed at the computer, his finger almost touching the screen.

"Why even consider this kind of invitation? Three days later, let alone the technical team, I can carry the equipment and fly over myself!"

But Lin Yue did not speak.

She looked at the two lines of content Su Chen had just written down.

Backup dancers, maximum of twelve people.

Huaxia division, one direct qualification slot, two intercontinental wildcard slots.

She suddenly understood.

What Su Chen was considering was not whether to go at all.

He was considering who to take with him.

And whether more people could get in.

Lin Yue closed the computer.

"I'll contact the entry-exit department first to check the documents."

Su Chen leaned against the back of the chair and remained silent for a long time.

Five years ago, he returned to China from Seoul.

That passport was stuffed at the very bottom of the canvas bag.

Over the five years since then, he shuttled back and forth between construction sites, auto repair shops, restaurants, and rented apartments.

He had not gone abroad.

Nor had anyone invited him to go anywhere.

Now, an invitation from a world-class event crossed the ocean and landed in this small studio.

The metronome in the outside training room was still ticking.

One beat.

One beat.

It did not change speed because of this invitation.

Su Chen raised his head.

"Is my passport still valid?"

Lin Hao was stunned.

The next second, he rushed furiously toward the second-floor storage room.

"I'll look for it right now!"

Ten minutes later, Lin Yue removed the private information from the invitation letter and posted it on the studio's official account.

The accompanying text had only one line.

"An official invitation from the World Street Dance Championship Organizing Committee."

The picture was published.

The comment section refreshed tens of thousands of times within half a minute.

[Did I read that wrong? WDSC specially invited performing guest?]

[Huaxia's first individually invited dancer! This is not a trending search award, this is a certification from the world Street Dance circle!]

[Yesterday people were still discussing whether he could represent the Chinese Entertainment Industry, and today he is going out directly representing Huaxia!]

[Eleven votes in favor, zero votes against, this evaluation result is too solid!]

[Didn't SM say his dance was plagiarism? The world technical committee invited him to be a specially invited guest.]

[Some companies are busy sending lawyer's letters, while the organizing committee has already handed over the world stage.]

[Eight-minute independent performance, globally simultaneous broadcast, I'm already starting to feel nervous for the other guests.]

[Quickly find the passport! If you can't find it, I'll overnight one to God Su!]

The news spread to South Korea.

SM headquarters had just concluded an internal audit meeting.

The employee in charge of public opinion monitoring saw the trending search and immediately delivered the screenshot into the representative's office.

Kim Young-min stared at WDSC's golden badge, not turning the documents on the desk.

Five years ago, they confiscated Su Chen's practice room key card.

Five years later, the world-class event delivered the pass to the main stage into his hands.

Inside the office, no one spoke.

Chengdu.

Lin Hao ran down from the storage room, holding a passport in his hand.

"Found it!"

Su Chen took the passport.

There were still eleven months of validity remaining.

It could just cover the tournament time.

He turned to the visa page, looked at it for a few seconds, and then took out his phone.

In the address book, one name after another was pulled up by him.

Yan Yu.

Bengshan Five Brothers.

Morning Star Studio core trainees.

Standing beside, Lin Yue saw that list, and her judgment inside was completely confirmed.

"You want to bring backup dancers?"

Su Chen did not reply.

He wrote the names of twelve people on a piece of paper and then crossed them all out.

A moment later, he rewrote the first line of words.

It was not a name list.

It was two words.

Huaxia.

Su Chen picked up his phone.

"Notify everyone."

"Tomorrow at nine in the morning, gather in the training room."

Lin Yue asked, "Talk about WDSC?"

Su Chen looked at that golden invitation letter.

"Talk about something more important than whether I go or not."