430: Chapter 430 It all depends on the contrast with its peers

Sonic vibrations.

The magic light bulbs in the front row of the stage burst one after another, shards flying everywhere.

A beast-like roar erupted from Bobo's petite body, accompanied by a frantic head-shaking that caused her sea-blue long hair to whip through the air, leaving afterimages.

She stepped one foot onto the speaker, her fingers tightly clutching the "microphone," as her throat emitted the unique rasp of heavy metal.

"Slaughter! The wrath of the deep sea! Tear apart the hypocritical blazing sun!"

The players below the stage, who had been full of heart-eyes and ready to appreciate the siren's heavenly voice, now all gaped in unison, their jaws seemingly dislocated collectively.

A few low-level Mage players in the front row were even shaken back two steps by the sound waves mixed with spiritual fluctuations, their health bars dropping a notch.

Chen You sat in the chief judge's seat, the thermos in his hand frozen mid-air.

What the hell...

Chen You's eye twitched uncontrollably.

You call this a traditional folk song?

Was your Murloc Race's hometown just forcibly demolished last night?

This resentment is even heavier than that of the Meng Family ancestors in the Tomb of Thousand Lights!

The song ended.

Panting heavily, Bobo took her foot off the speaker and resumed her timid appearance.

She tidied her messy hair and bowed to the audience, her voice becoming crisp and sweet again.

"Thank you, everyone. This is the ballad our Murloc Race uses to pray for peace."

The entire venue was deathly silent; one could hear a pin drop.

Horn was the first to break the silence.

He stood up abruptly and clapped vigorously, his greasy face full of excitement.

"Good! Fantastic!" Horn shouted loudly. "This performance, which perfectly blends a sense of tearing with a pure appearance, is simply epoch-making art!"

"She has shattered our stereotypes of the Murloc Race and displayed the rebellious spirit deep within the soul! I give her a perfect score!"

Manager Three Waters nodded repeatedly, his fingers flicking the gold abacus rapidly with a click-clack sound.

"A tremendous sense of contrast."

"This intense visual and auditory impact will definitely attract lower-tier users in the curiosity market."

"With a bit of packaging and the launch of a 'Dark Siren' series of merchandise, the commercial potential is immeasurable. I second the motion! Perfect score!"

On stage, hearing the high praise from the two judges, Bobo's large eyes sparkled with surprise.

Below the stage, some players also began to follow suit and clap.

After all, in this Source Realm lacking in entertainment, such a hardcore performance was indeed refreshing.

Chen You slowly unscrewed his thermos, blew on the steam rising from the water, and took a sip of goji berry water.

He set down the cup and sighed.

"Epoch-making? Contrast?" Chen You leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over the two judges with a pained expression.

Horn's applause came to an abrupt halt.

Three Waters' abacus also stopped.

The two turned to look at Chen You, their expressions nervous.

According to the system settings, they had both received benefits from this acting city lord and didn't dare offend the man who had earned the name "Lack of Virtue."

"Do you two understand what true art is?" Chen You stood up, hands propped on the table, his tone heavy.

He pointed at Bobo on the stage: "Her technique is mature, and her explosive power is strong."

"But, I didn't hear any emotion."

Chen You turned around to face the tens of thousands of spectators below.

"Roaring for the sake of roaring, contrasting for the sake of contrast. This is nothing more than an industrial assembly line product catering to low-brow tastes!"

Chen You waved his hand sharply, his voice impassioned, "This is what I just mentioned—the alienation of art by capital!"

"They attempt to use these eye-catching methods to cover up the hollow soul of the work itself!"

The players below instantly reacted.

"God You is right! Technique without emotion is worthless!"

"Resist industrial saccharine! Resist capital's shady dealings!"

"We don't want aesthetics defined by capital!"

The tide turned instantly.

The audience members who were just cheering now defected one after another.

Bobo stood dazed on the stage.

Horn wiped a handful of cold sweat from his forehead and immediately changed his tune.

"God You's words have awakened me from a dream! I was indeed blinded by appearances just now."

"Now, savoring it carefully, there is only irritability in this singing, lacking the depth of soul. Zero points!"

Three Waters stowed his abacus and echoed righteously: "Commodities without souls are not fit to enter our Cangxing City market. Zero points!"

Chen You sat down satisfied and signaled for the talent show to continue.

The next hour completely became Chen You's personal nitpicking show.

The second contestant, a Centaur warrior, performed a tap dance.

Chen You: "Cracked three stage floorboards, damaging public property. Zero points."

Horn and Three Waters echoed in unison: "Low quality, zero points."

The fourth contestant, a Slime, performed changing colors to music.

Chen You: "Colors are too vivid, suspected of being suggestive. Zero points."

The sixth contestant, an Elf Race Archer, performed blindfolded apple shooting, hitting every mark.

Chen You: "This is a talent show, not acrobatics. All technique, no emotion. Zero points."

No matter how well the contestants performed, Chen You could always find the most ridiculous angle to award zero points.

Beside him, Horn and Three Waters were reduced to mindless repeaters.

The players below didn't just fail to doubt him; they became increasingly moved.

They were convinced that Chen You was using this extreme method to combat the "connected candidates" forced in by the system's backend.

"Please welcome our final contestant, Number Ten, Lin Miao!" The Goblin Host's voice was hoarse from shouting.

All the stage lights went out.

The plaza fell into darkness.

A low, melodious prelude suddenly rang out in the air.

It wasn't the harps or bagpipes common in the Source Realm, but a pure pop music accompaniment with modern electronic synth effects.

Chen You raised an eyebrow.

A beam of soft, moon-white light descended from the sky, accurately hitting the center of the stage.

Lin Miao stood in the beam of light.

She was wearing the Heaven-tier outfit "Guanghan Immortal Shadow," her sleeves fluttering, surrounded by a faint ice-blue spiritual aura. Her entire being exuded a cold, ethereal celestial air.

Even more striking was the background behind her.

The originally ostentatiously styled "Supreme Honor Guard," which had been holding banners, had now all changed into sharp black suits.

The battered gongs, drums, and suonas in their hands had disappeared, replaced by phantoms of various modern musical instruments.

Keyboard, bass, drums—this group of NPCs was "playing" with their eyes closed, swaying their heads in a convincing manner.

Chen You nearly spat out the goji berry water in his mouth.

He saw through this operation at a single glance.

Lin Miao must have found that money-grubbing Hill and spent a fortune to forcibly change the honor guard's suona BGM into her own custom audio.

Those damn Pay-to-Win player privileges.

Lin Miao picked up the microphone.

She looked a bit nervous, took a deep breath, and slowly began to sing.

"Later, I finally learned how to love..."

Her clear female voice echoed across the plaza.

There were no raspy roars, no fire-spitting acrobatics, no broken ribs.

Only a steady tone and a slightly vibrato-laden narration.

Objectively speaking, Lin Miao's singing was merely at an average KTV level.

But in this Cangxing City plaza, which had been tortured by various hellish performances for over an hour, this song was like rain after a long drought.