Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

"The mentor voting is now complete." Shen Yiheng stepped forward, stood next to the large screen, and took the envelope containing the final results from the staff. "Now—the final rankings will be announced."

The breaths of all twenty people stopped for a beat at the same time.

Shen Yiheng opened the envelope in his hand, his gaze lingered on the paper for a moment, then he looked up at the stage, his voice echoing in the studio.

"We'll start announcing the results from sixth place."

The entire room fell silent.

The blank space on the screen began to flicker, and a line of text slowly appeared—"Sixth Place".

Shen Yiheng raised the microphone: "Sixth place—he's our youngest contestant and the only one to have been eliminated and then returned to the competition—Jiang Yang, congratulations!"

Jiang Yang stood on the players' bench, as if he had been nailed to the spot by something.

He blinked, then blinked again, as if to make sure he hadn't misheard.

Then he suddenly turned his head to look at the person next to him.

Yang Sheng was looking at him with a slight smile on his lips. Song Yingwen stood on his other side and patted him on the back.

Jiang Yang finally realized what was happening and bowed deeply to the audience, at such a steep angle that it looked like he was about to break himself in two.

The comments section went crazy.

"Jiang Yang!!! From elimination to sixth place in the finals!!! What kind of script is this!!!"

"Sixteen years old! He's only sixteen!!!"

"You were criticized so much when you were promoted, and now you're in sixth place—you don't deserve it!"

The vote count then appeared on the screen: "Jiang Yang - Total votes: 4,872,303".

Jiang Yang stared at the string of numbers, his mouth agape in a wide grin, but his eyes were red as a rabbit's.

"Fifth place—he has the most dazzling hair color and the most infectious smile of the entire event—Li Bufan, congratulations!"

The moment Li Bufan heard his name called, he took a step forward and almost fell off the steps of the contestant's bench.

He helped Lu Yiming stand up and shouted "Thank you" to the audience—his voice was so loud that it shook the speakers.

The vote count on the screen reads: "Li Bufan - Total votes: 5,071,708".

"Fourth place - an absolutely hardworking trainee who still delivered a perfect performance on stage despite his injury - Song Yingwen, congratulations."

Song Yingwen stood next to Jiang Yang, and her eyelashes fluttered when she heard her name called.

His expression remained calm, but the fingers that had been resting on his sides loosened.

He took a step forward, nodded slightly to the audience, and then returned to his original position.

The vote count popped up on the screen: "Song Yingwen - Total votes 5,424,623".

"Third place - the cold-faced killer, and also a representative of beauty - Wang Yijun, congratulations."

Wang Yijun stood at the very end of the contestants' seating area, and the moment he heard his name called, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The vote count on the screen reads: "Wang Yijun - Total votes: 5,893,200".

After the three winners, the champion and runner-up will be announced.

Shen Yiheng raised his head, his gaze falling on the two people in the first row of the contestants' seats—

Yang Sheng and Qi Xunan stood next to each other, one in a dark red stage costume and the other in a pure white coat, with less than an arm's length between them.

The eyes of thousands of people in the audience were simultaneously fixed on them. The live chat screen went completely blank at that moment.

"Yang Sheng!!! Qi Xunan!!! Who's number one!!!"

"Yang Sheng, stop picking at your fingers!!! You're going to draw blood!!!"

"Qi Xunan!! Look at the camera!! Don't be so calm—"

My heart is about to stop...

Shen Yiheng's gaze fell on Yang Sheng and Qi Xunan, and he remained silent for a long time.

For those few seconds, it was as if the entire studio had been muted.

Three thousand people held their breath at the same time, even the light boards stopped swaying, and their raised arms seemed to be frozen in mid-air.

Someone in the front row gripped their light stick tightly, their knuckles turning white.

The comments section fell silent at that moment.

Shen Yiheng finally spoke.

His voice was slower than usual, as if he was deliberately drawing out each word.

Second place—

He paused.

That pause looked ridiculous.

In the front row of the audience, a girl holding a light stick with Qi Xunan's name on it started to shake.

The person next to her turned to look at her, their lips moving but no sound coming out, as if silently asking, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

During the two seconds of silence, the comments section suddenly surged again, with white text pouring out like a hornet's nest had been stirred up:

"Say it already!!!!"

"Shen Yiheng, if you keep pausing, I'm going to have a heart attack!!!"

"Yang Sheng, stop shaking!!!!"

"Qi Xunan, look at the camera! At least look at the camera!!!"

Shen Yiheng seemed to have finally whetted everyone's appetite, and his voice deepened: "Second place—Qi Xunan, congratulations."

The moment those three words landed, Qi Xunan's body twitched slightly.

He did not bow his head, sigh, or even blink.

He simply lowered his eyes slightly, as if processing the result, then raised his head and nodded slightly towards the audience.

But the audience reacted much faster than he did.

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Screams erupted from all directions simultaneously, Qi Xunan's name was shouted countless times, and the light boards began to shake wildly again.

Some people wiped their faces, while others held their light sticks above their heads and shook them frantically.

The vote count popped up on the screen: "Qi Xunan - Total votes 7,428,500".

The live chat exploded instantly:

"Second place is also fantastic!!!!"

"Seven million votes!! As expected of Nan Nan!!"

"Qi Xunan, smile!! I saw you smile!!!"

Shen Yiheng continued speaking almost without pausing.

"Well then, I don't need to say anything about who's in first place—it's undisputed, Yang Sheng, congratulations!"

Yang Sheng's eyes finally couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

A tear slid down from the corner of her eye, following the curve of her cheekbone. It flashed briefly under the stage lights before settling into the dark red fabric of her costume.

He didn't wipe it; he just stood there, his eyes red-rimmed, the corners of his mouth curved, the golden star on his chest gleaming faintly under the light.

The vote count popped up on the screen: "Yang Sheng - Total votes 8,001,267".

The audience erupted in cheers at that moment.

The sound surged up from all directions at once, as if something had overturned the entire venue from the inside.

Some people jumped up from their seats, some covered their mouths and cried, and some waved Yang Sheng's light sticks frantically.

The shouts of "Yang Sheng!!!" rang out one after another, mixed with screams and whistles, making the dome vibrate.

A boy's voice stood out clearly amidst the screams from the front row—he shouted, "Yang Sheng, why are you crying?! You should be laughing!!!"

The barrage of comments at this moment was a true tsunami:

"Debuting in the center position!"

"Eight million votes!!!! Eight million!!!!"

"Yang Sheng is number one!!!! Well deserved!!!!"

"Look at his tears! What's he crying for?!"

"He Xu just nodded, didn't he? I saw He Xu nod!!!!!"

"He Xu, why don't you do something more?! You see him crying and you don't say a word!!!"

He Xu: I've done everything I could. He can walk the rest of the way himself.

No one was surprised.

The screen was flooded with comments, but no one typed a question mark or said, "Why not him?"

From the very first stage performance, the name Yang Sheng has been associated with "first place".

Everyone knows.

He knew it himself.

But even as he stood there, surrounded by eight million votes and overwhelming cheers, he couldn't hold back a single tear.

Knowing something is one thing, but actually getting here is another.

Yang Sheng stood in the center of the stage, his dark red stage costume soaked with sweat and the lights.

He turned his head to look to the side—Qi Xunan was looking at him, a sincere smile on his lips.

There was no resentment, no regret, I simply looked at him and said, "Well deserved, congratulations."

The screams from the audience were deafening.

Red, blue, gold, and orange light boards flashed in the darkness, turning the entire audience area into a flowing sea of ​​color.

The live chat exploded with comments.

"Yang Sheng is number one!! Well deserved!!!"

"Qi Xunan is the next one!! That's good!! They've both debuted!! They've both debuted!!"

"Wang Yijun is third!!! You smiled on stage!! I saw it!!!"

"Li Bufan is fourth!!! The husky has debuted!!!"

"Song Yingwen is fifth!!! Jiang Yang is sixth!!! All the members of Banxing have debuted!!!"

"Wait—what about seventh place??? Who's seventh place???"

Before the screams from the audience had completely subsided, Shen Yiheng had already raised the microphone again.

He stood in the center of the stage, turning his gaze away from Yang Sheng and Qi Xunan and towards the back row of the contestants' seats.

There are four people there—

Lu Yiming stood on the far left, clutching the hem of his clothes, his knuckles turning white; Chen Yi stood next to him, his back ramrod straight; Lin Siyuan had his head down, his expression unreadable; Liu Yuxuan was at the very edge of the line, his lips pressed into a thin line.

The four people were less than two meters apart, but at that moment it seemed like an entire world was between them.

"Seventh place." Shen Yiheng's voice echoed in the studio.

The four of them paused in their breathing simultaneously.

"There are four candidates, one of whom will get the last debut spot."

Four names popped up on the screen—Lu Yiming, Chen Yi, Lin Siyuan, and Liu Yuxuan.

Each name is followed by the last four names in their total votes so far—the first three are all blurred out with mosaics.

Lu Yiming stood in the second row, far left, his lips moving silently, whether he was counting or praying, it was hard to tell.

Chen Yi stood beside him, his back ramrod straight, his eyes fixed on the numbers on the screen.

Lin Siyuan was a little further away, her head down, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Liu Yuxuan, unusually, restrained his usual mischievous nature and was so nervous that he dared not open his eyes.

He Xu stood on the mentor's seat, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the four people one by one.

After a long few seconds, Shen Yiheng's voice rang out again: "Seventh place—to Lu Yiming, the strongest vocalist and the only amateur contestant in the top twenty."

Lu Yiming's knees bent, and he sank halfway down, waving his hand in the air but finding nothing to hold onto.

Then a hand reached out from the side—Chen Yi grabbed his arm just before he was about to squat down completely.

He didn't say anything, but simply held the severed wrist firmly and patted his back.

The vote count popped up on the screen: "Lu Yiming - Total votes 3,187,600".

He defeated Chen Yi, who was in eighth place, by a narrow margin of 12,400 votes.

Chen Yi looked at the words, released Lu Yiming's arm, and took half a step back.

His expression was no different from before, but his hand, hanging at his side, clenched slightly and then relaxed.

Lin Siyuan stood further away, finally raising his head with a relieved smile, as if to say, "I knew it."

Liu Yuxuan grinned in Lu Yiming's direction.

Lu Yiming's voice was trembling with tears, but the corners of his mouth were curved in a smile: "...You...I...I'm sorry..."

Chen Yi interrupted him: "There's nothing to apologize for. You deserve it. Congratulations."

Lu Yiming opened his mouth, as if to say something, but tears came before he could speak.

He sniffed, wiped his face haphazardly, and then bowed to the audience.

"12,400 votes!! Just 12,000 votes short!! That's practically a hair's breadth away!!"

"I burst into tears when Chen Yi helped him up... Nobody understands... He was helping up his last opponent..."

"Lu Yiming—an amateur—Class C—made it all the way to seventh place in the finals—you don't deserve it!!!"

"Chen Yi, you deserve better! You just lacked a little luck!"

"Lin Siyuan, look up! You're great too! Really!"

"Liu Yuxuan, you smiled...you're genuinely happy for him..."

He Xu stood on the mentor's seat and, unusually, clapped along with the audience.

The continuous roar of the studio filled my ears.

Screams, applause, and cheers erupted.

The sounds mingled together, surging like a tide, engulfing the entire venue in a scorching light.

He turned his head and looked at the narrow crack in the door on the side of the stage.

Jiang Yanbai stood at the intersection of light and shadow, across the entire studio, and raised the coffee cup in his hand towards him.

He Xu saw it.

He didn't say anything, but simply looked away and turned his gaze back to the two rows of boys standing on the stage.

The applause and screams continued to surge in the studio, like the tides rising and falling, never completely subsiding.

Shen Yiheng stood in the center of the stage, waiting for the wave of noise to subside slightly before raising the microphone again.

His gaze swept across the faces of the seven boys in turn—Yang Sheng, Qi Xunan, Wang Yijun, Li Bufan, Song Yingwen, Jiang Yang, and Lu Yiming.

Seven names, seven positions, seven young faces.

"Seven contestants," Shen Yiheng's voice echoed throughout the studio through the speakers, "You've come this far from a hundred people, from the initial stage to the finals. In every performance, on every stage, and in every rehearsal, you've fought to the very end."

He paused, his gaze falling on the golden star on Yang Sheng's collar, then shifting to the other six people.

"From this moment forward, you are no longer individuals, but a group."

He turned to the side, facing the giant screen behind him.

The screen that was originally displaying rankings and votes slowly switched to a deep black.

Then, four golden letters emerged from the center of the screen, lighting up stroke by stroke, as if ignited from the darkness by something—

NOVA

New star.

"Group name, NOVA." Shen Yiheng's voice rang out the instant all the letters lit up, "New Stars—you are the new stars!"

He Xu stood in the mentor's seat, watching the seven people standing on the stage.

He recalled how they were when they first joined the show—

Yang Sheng still looked mature, but there was an undisguised ambition in his eyes;

Qi Xunan was so quiet in the corner that he was almost invisible;

Wang Yijun had a blank expression and ignored everyone.

Li Bufan, sporting a head of dirty orange hair, went around striking up conversations;

Song Yingwen always stands in the second row in front of the camera;

Jiang Yang squatted in the corner of the waiting area, pulling at his hair.

Lu Yiming was so nervous backstage at his first performance that his fingers were trembling.

Now they stand here, beneath those four letters, in the eyes of three thousand people and on the screens of millions.

"NOVA—" Shen Yiheng's voice rang out again, "From today onwards, these will be your names."

He turned to the audience, raised the microphone: "Please remember them—Yang Sheng, Qi Xunan, Wang Yijun, Li Bufan, Song Yingwen, Jiang Yang, and Lu Yiming!"

The loudest screams of the night erupted from the audience.

Seven people stood in a row and bowed deeply towards the audience.

The four letters shone behind them, their golden outlines clearly defined on the giant screen, like a rising star.

Amidst screams and applause, He Xu turned his head to look into the shadows to the side of the stage.

Jiang Yanbai and Han Yu stood there together.

Han Yu nodded slightly to He Xu from half a studio away, while Jiang Yanbai raised his coffee cup as if to toast, revealing a bright smile.

He Xu did not respond, but simply turned his attention back to the stage.

The seven people were still bowing, their shadows stretched long by the lights and overlapped on the stage floor.

All the spotlights on the ceiling of the studio lit up, and warm golden light poured down from above, enveloping the entire venue in a bright, almost warm glow.

Golden ribbons sprayed out like a shower of gold, enveloping all the boys in victory.

Shen Yiheng stood in that beam of light, with seven new stars behind him and thousands of people cheering in front of him.

He looked at the light and the boys who emerged from it, and finally a smile curved his lips.

Then he announced loudly:

"—'Absolute Debut' has officially concluded!"