12: Chapter 12 Live Stream Across the Entire Internet, Are You Sleeping?

The stage lights suddenly dimmed.

A spotlight hit the host, Teacher He.

"Thanks to Olay for their strong support of this program, thanks to Tencent Video..." He rattled off a minute of promotional lines fluently.

The camera swept across the judges' table.

Xu Qingya sat with her hands folded on the table, her back straight.

Only she knew that her palms were already slick with cold sweat.

"The initial stage assessment officially begins."

Teacher He raised his voice. "The stage rules are very simple. Each of the three Star Mentors has one hundred points, and each of the five hundred audience judges has one point. The total score is eight hundred points. The top nine will advance directly, and the last three will be eliminated on the spot!"

"First, let's welcome the Solo Track!"

The stage lights flashed, and the Solo Track went first.

The appearance order was based on the seating from lowest to highest.

Since Jiang Fan had unceremoniously taken the C position at the very top, he naturally became the final performer of the entire event.

The contestants from the Solo Track took the stage one by one.

The first few performances were mediocre until the final contestant, Lu Ming, took the stage.

He chose a high-difficulty K-pop dance song.

Waist power, sliding steps, finishing poses.

Every gaze precisely captured the camera.

This was a standard idol product, strictly polished by an industrialized assembly line.

The screams of the female audience members below almost tore the roof off the Studio.

Hua Xingyu held the microphone, not skimping on praise.

"Your stage control is the best among all the contestants today. Your singing and dancing are excellent, even by today's entertainment industry standards. I give you 96 points."

Xue Zhiheng and Xu Qingya gave 90 and 91 points respectively.

After the three Star Mentors finished scoring, Teacher He walked onto the stage with his signature gentle smile.

"Thanks to the three mentors for their wonderful critiques. The total Star Mentor score is 277 points. Next, I invite the five hundred audience judges to press the scoring devices in your hands for Lu Ming's performance!"

The numbers on the big screen began to jump wildly, finally settling at 420 points.

"Alright, the final score is in!"

Teacher He's voice was full of infectious energy. "Congratulations to Lu Ming for achieving a total score of—697 points! Currently ranking first in the entire event!"

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause once again.

Lu Ming bowed in thanks.

As he turned, his provocative gaze swept across most of the Studio, heading straight towards the highest point of the Solo Track waiting area.

He wanted to see the low-level amateur who had stolen his spot reveal an expression of inferiority and timidity after seeing a performance and score of this caliber.

However, when the camera cut to follow Lu Ming's gaze, a strange, deathly silence fell over the entire venue.

At the highest point of the Solo Track waiting area.

Jiang Fan's eyes were tightly shut.

The physical burden brought by his terminal illness, combined with days of rushing about, made him extremely exhausted.

Although the system had given him ten days of life, the foundation of this body remained weak.

He had glanced at the progress on the big screen just a moment ago.

At the current pace, it would take at least three more hours before it was the turn of the C position in the Solo Track.

So, Jiang Fan leaned back against the chair.

He crossed his arms.

And just went to sleep.

His breathing was even, his chest rising and falling steadily.

Camera 3 had originally been pointed right at him.

The cameraman saw this scene through the viewfinder, his hand shook, and he hurriedly pushed the joystick, wanting to cut away from the footage.

A livestream accident!

This was definitely a livestream accident!

But suddenly, the roar of the chief director, Liang Boyuan, came through the headset.

"Don't move! Stay on him! Zoom in on him! Shove the camera right in his face!"

The lead producer beside him was stunned. "Director Liang, if this airs, isn't it a bit too..."

"What do you know?" Liang Boyuan stared at the monitor screen. "This is called conflict! This is called a topic! An amateur not only stole the C position but is also taking a nap during a nationwide livestream. Do you know who the audience likes to scold the most right now? It's exactly this kind of arrogant troublemaker who doesn't know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth!"

This trending search was guaranteed!

The camera instantly locked onto Jiang Fan's face.

In high-definition, one could even see the exhaustion at the corners of his eyes.

In the Tencent Video Livestream Room, the comments that had been discussing Lu Ming's stage performance briefly stalled.

Immediately after, an overwhelming flood of comments filled the screen.

"WTF? He's sleeping?"

"Sitting in the most awesome spot, doing the most outrageous thing?"

"Pure grandstanding! Disgusting! How did this kind of person sneak in?"

"Get out of Tomorrow's Star! Do you even know how to respect the stage?"

Below the steps, Zhao Tianyu looked back, a mocking sneer curling his lips.

Without him even having to lift a finger, this kid had already nailed himself to the pillar of shame for the entire internet to hate.

When he got on stage later, if he couldn't pull out something that amazed everyone, the spit of the audience would be enough to drown him.

A long wait passed amidst the cursing.

Finally, it was the Solo Track's turn.

Zhao Tianyu appeared eleventh.

He carried a custom Taylor guitar and walked to the center of the stage.

An original rock song, "South Wind."

The chorus was full of emotion, the guitar fingerstyle complex and gorgeous, demonstrating extremely high Arrangement skills.

After the song ended, the audience applauded thunderously.

Xue Zhiheng nodded repeatedly while listening, directly giving a high score of 93 points.

"The lyrics and melody are tightly integrated, and the chord progression is high-level. You are a mature singer-songwriter. You are currently the strongest in the Solo Track."

Hua Xingyu commented: "The rock attitude is good, but your singing skills still need to be strengthened."

He gave 90 points.

Xu Qingya gave a fair 88 points.

Teacher He took the stage again: "Thanks to Zhao Tianyu! The total Star Mentor score is 271 points! Now, please audience judges, start scoring!"

The audience's enthusiasm was equally high, and the score rapidly climbed to 390 points.

"The final score—661 points!"

Teacher He announced, "A very excellent result! Congratulations to Zhao Tianyu!"

Zhao Tianyu clenched his fists excitedly and bowed deeply.

661 points, although not surpassing Lu Ming, was enough to crush all previous contestants and sit firmly on the throne of second place.

Zhao Tianyu clenched his fists excitedly and bowed deeply.

He walked briskly back to the waiting area.

He had already conceived in his mind what he would say to Jiang Fan later.

He wanted to use the posture of a victor to tell that amateur from a high position that not just anyone could sit in the C position.

He strode up the steps.

Then, he stopped.

Jiang Fan's head was tilted, sleeping soundly.

He had even changed into a more comfortable position.

The bellyful of mockery Zhao Tianyu had prepared felt like a punch heavily landing on cotton.

"Pretending! You're just forcing a facade!" Zhao Tianyu gritted his teeth, sneered, and sat down beside him. "Let's see how you die once you get on stage!"

On stage, the host glanced at his cue card.

"Please welcome the last contestant of the Solo Track, Number 12, Jiang Fan."

The announcement played three times.

The person in the C position had no reaction.

The whole venue was terrifyingly quiet.

Five hundred audience members, three Star Mentors, and a dozen cameras were all aimed at the man who was sleeping soundly.

The stage manager was sweating profusely, rushed up the steps, and pushed Jiang Fan's shoulder hard: "Wake up! It's your turn!"

Jiang Fan opened his eyes.

He looked at the name on the big screen with a dazed expression.

He stood up, casually wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb, and picked up the guitar case placed at his feet.

Without any unnecessary movements, and without feeling the slightest bit of awkwardness from the attention of the entire venue.

He walked down the steps, one step at a time.

A black shirt, black trousers, his posture upright.

But the moment he walked down, the audience who had been prepared to watch a joke suddenly felt their throats tighten.

This person's aura was too cold.

Jiang Fan walked to the center of the stage.

The lights hit him.

He took the guitar out of the case and tuned the strings one by one.

"Jiang Fan, right?" Hua Xingyu spoke first, his tone carrying undisguised hostility. "Do you know what kind of place this is?"

Jiang Fan finished tuning the last string, looked up, and glanced at him.

No answer.

Scattered boos immediately rang out from the audience.

The higher-ups at Shenghai Entertainment had long since greeted him, telling him to find an opportunity to crush this troublemaker who had taken Lu Ming's spot.

Now, the opponent had voluntarily handed the knife to him.

"I'm asking you a question." Hua Xingyu's face darkened.

"This is a stage to showcase talent, not for you to come and sleep. If you don't have the most basic respect for this stage, you can leave now."

In the Livestream Room, Hua Xingyu's fans instantly flooded the screen.

"Hua Hua said it well! Scold this rude amateur to death!"

"Get off! Get off!"

Facing Hua Xingyu's harassment, Jiang Fan still showed no emotional fluctuation.

He adjusted the microphone, his voice low and carrying a hint of hoarseness: "Respect is earned through strength."

The whole venue was in an uproar.

Zhao Tianyu sneered from below.

This kid was crazy, daring to talk back to a Star Mentor to his face.

Hua Xingyu was angered into laughter: "Good, very good. Then I want to see just how much strength you have."

Xue Zhiheng frowned; although he also disliked Jiang Fan's attitude, he still tried to smooth things over.

"Alright, since you're up here, let the work speak for itself. What song did you bring?"

Jiang Fan's slender fingers rested on the strings.

His gaze passed over Hua Xingyu, passed over Xue Zhiheng, and finally landed on Xu Qingya, who was sitting in the center.

Xu Qingya met his gaze, then immediately wanted to look away, but couldn't.

Xu Qingya's heart contracted violently.

In those eyes, she couldn't see any awe for a diva, only something she couldn't quite describe, as if he were examining an object placed there.

Jiang Fan withdrew his gaze and, speaking into the microphone, calmly spat out four words.

"An original song."

"the ordinary road."