Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

7 PM.

The countdown to the final of "Rising Star" is one hour.

On the TV screen in the backstage dressing room, the number of people watching online in real time has exceeded ten million and is still rising.

Jiang Fan sat in front of the mirror, while the stylist busied himself behind him.

In the mirror, the stylist took a step back.

He wore a black shirt with a suit jacket over it, without any other accessories.

He exuded a sharp, cold aura.

"Teacher Jiang, it's ready." The stylist said respectfully.

Jiang Fan stood up and straightened his cuffs.

The director's voices urging the crew to finish the shoot could be heard from the corridor.

"All competitors, prepare yourselves! The recording of the grand final will begin in fifteen minutes!"

Inside the studio, the lights were dazzling.

The cheers of the five hundred spectators were deafening.

On the judges' panel, Xue Zhiheng, Xu Qingya, and Su Yuyan stood in a row.

Xue Zhiheng, dressed in a black suit, waved and smiled at the camera.

Xu Qingya wore a blue dress and her long hair was tied up. She still had that aloof and unapproachable demeanor.

Only when the camera pans across the stage will her gaze linger for half a second at the aisle behind the stage.

Su Yuyan sat on the far right, wearing a wine-red deep-V haute couture gown, with her long, wavy hair draped over her shoulders.

She gave the camera a very seductive wink, which elicited screams from the audience.

Teacher He walked onto the stage with his cue cards in hand, his voice carrying throughout the entire venue.

"Welcome to the live broadcast of the 'Rising Star' National Finals! Tonight, we will witness the birth of the strongest idol! The competition format has been upgraded, with real-time voting across the entire internet! Every vote you cast will determine the champion!"

The audience erupted in applause.

The number of viewers in the live stream exceeded 15 million.

"The first contestant to appear – in the Appearance Track, is Lu Ming!"

The lights suddenly went out.

At the very center of the stage, a beam of white light slashed down from the dome.

Lu Ming stood in the center of the pillar of light.

A white velvet suit, worn over a black turtleneck, with a silver cross brooch pinned to the chest.

He was singing a lively dance song.

In the first eight beats, his landing point was half a beat late.

During the chorus, the breath was too strong, causing a slight pause in the high note, which was faithfully amplified by the microphone and broadcast throughout the entire venue.

He realized it himself.

Tighten your fingers, regain control of the rhythm, and gradually regain your footing in the second half.

But the lag had already appeared in the live stream.

As the song ended, Lu Ming knelt on one knee and pointed to the audience with his right hand.

Comments floated by—

"Lu Ming seems a bit off today?"

"With things escalating like this in Sheng Hai's case, anyone would panic."

"He's still handsome, but... sigh."

Su Yuyan was the first to pick up the microphone.

"Lu Ming, you did a great job of building up the emotional intensity."

The beauty mark at the corner of her eye shimmered slightly under the light. "I personally really like it."

Xue Zhiheng nodded: "His overall singing and dancing abilities are indeed top-notch, and his stage presence is very strong."

"There are some flaws in the vocal transitions in the chorus, but overall it's not bad."

Xu Qingya maintained a calm expression throughout, offering brief and unbiased comments.

On the big screen, Lu Ming's real-time vote count began to fluctuate.

It broke through 8.2 million votes in 30 seconds.

The next three contestants took the stage in turn, and their performances were decent but unremarkable.

Although their strength is not bad, they can only be considered passable on the stage of the finals.

"Please welcome the standout track – Zhao Tianyu!"

As soon as Teacher He finished speaking, the stage lights changed.

A warm yellow hue covers the entire countertop, with four spotlights arranged in a fan shape.

Zhao Tianyu carried a guitar and walked to the center of the stage.

He first adjusted the height of the microphone, then looked up and scanned the entire venue.

Zhao Tianyu lowered the string with his right hand.

A brand new original K-pop adaptation song – "Burning".

The prelude is an extremely fast fingerstyle, with the left hand leaping rapidly across the frets while the right hand simultaneously strums and strikes the strings.

In his hands, the guitar was less like a musical instrument and more like a weapon.

The moment he opened his mouth, his voice rose from its deep chest resonance.

"Ignite all the resentment—"

"Before they turn to ashes—"

"Shine it again—"

During the chorus, Zhao Tianyu stood up abruptly.

He ripped off his in-ear monitor and screamed into the microphone with pure live energy.

On the last high note, he bent over, holding his guitar, his forehead almost touching the microphone.

A thunderous applause erupted.

Su Yuyan was the first to pick up the microphone.

She fiddled with her hair and looked at Zhao Tianyu on the stage.

"Tianyu, this is the level the finals should be at." Su Yuyan's voice was magnetic and resonated throughout the venue through the speakers.

"Your high notes are incredibly powerful, and your stage presence is impeccable. What's most remarkable is that you maintained an exceptionally high level of performance even in such an intense competition. In my opinion, your performance tonight was perfect."

This extremely high praise set the tone for Zhao Tianyu.

Xue Zhiheng frowned; Su Yuyan's comments were beginning to show a clear bias.

He picked up the microphone: "The high notes were indeed good, but there was a section in the middle where my breath was unstable and the pitch was off by half a tone. As a final, such a flaw is unacceptable."

Su Yuyan chuckled, interrupting Xue Zhiheng: "Teacher Xue is being too demanding. Singing and dancing live with live microphones, a few imperfections are part of the realism. We can't judge a live performance by the standards of a recording studio."

Xu Qingya picked up the microphone.

"The completion rate is good."

She paused for a moment.

"But there are just too many Korean-style covers on the market. From the choreography to the formulaic vocal runs, I've heard them at least twenty times on talent show stages over the past three years."

She put down the microphone and didn't say another word.

Zhao Tianyu stood on the stage, his smile freezing for a moment.

The live chat exploded again—

"Xu Qingya has a sharp tongue, but what she said is absolutely right."

"Indeed, we're tired of hearing Korean-style adaptations."

"Don't worry, Zhao Tianyu fans, Qingya treats everyone like this."

Su Yuyan turned her head and glanced at Xu Qingya.

This time, she couldn't contain her emotions and casually added into the microphone beside her, "Qingya, aren't you being too stingy with good works?"

Xu Qingya did not look at her.

Whether it's good or not, the audience has the final say.

The voting data on the big screen began to update.

Zhao Tianyu's votes surpassed ten million within forty seconds.

He surpassed Lu Ming.

Currently ranked first.

But the upward trend has not stopped.

The vote count was fluctuating abnormally, as if someone had stepped on the gas pedal.

Eleven million.

Twelve million.

Thirteen million.

Different opinions began to emerge in the live chat.

"Tianyu is awesome! This is a true singer-songwriter!"

"Su Yuyan is right, this is genius!"

"Wait a minute... this vote increase rate isn't right, is it?"

"I just clicked on the voting page, it showed a network error, but after refreshing, I suddenly got two million more votes?"

Has anyone noticed that many of the voting accounts were just registered today?

"It's probably just paid online trolls; it's an old trick used by Times Media."

.........

"The championship is locked in, no one can stop it!"

The questioning comments had barely surfaced when they were quickly drowned out by a coordinated barrage of controlled comments.

Zhao Tianyu walked off the stage with his guitar in his arms.

He stopped as he passed the entrance to the waiting area.

Jiang Fan was leaning against the wall, his hands in his suit jacket pockets, his eyes closed.

Zhao Tianyu's eyes met Jiang Fan's open eyes.

There was no anger or tension in those eyes.

On stage, Teacher He's voice resounded throughout the entire venue.

"The last contestant! Solo Track – Jiang Fan!"

All the lights in the stadium suddenly went out.

In the darkness, a grand piano was slowly pushed to the center of the stage.