Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

London, Royal Albert Hall.

This century-old Gothic building, illuminated tonight by thousands of floodlights, resembles a sleeping, glowing art palace. Inside the concert hall, a 4K ultra-high-definition live streaming system, built by a world-class broadcasting team, is fully operational.

There are exactly thirty minutes left until the global premiere of "The Sound of Eternity".

Although the show hasn't officially premiered yet, the pre-show livestream rooms on major online platforms have already been overwhelmed with a deluge of comments. The combined global online viewership across YouTube, Twitch, Weibo, Bilibili, and TikTok has already exceeded an astonishingly high number!

The speed at which bullet comments flow across major global platforms is so fast that it's impossible for the naked eye to catch them:

"Oh my god! It's finally starting! I can't wait to hear Eric's godlike high notes!"

"Is Christina Aguilera singing a new song tonight? Go Grammy queen!"

"Look! The camera's switched to the Eastern broadcast area! Where's Lin Yuan sitting? I'm here to watch the 'Pope of Eastern Cinema' make his crossover visit!"

"The foreigners next door are still spamming 'Eric,' while our Lin Dad is already resting in the lounge with his eyes closed. I suggest everyone type 'Serve Lin Dad tea' in the chat when the camera cuts to him!"

"Although I know that Lin's father sings well, this is an all-English singing competition, and he's facing a group of vocal monsters from Europe and America. It would be a lie to say I'm not nervous!"

The corridor between the kitchen and the VIP lounge is decorated with dazzling, staggered lights.

Just as Lin Yuan was holding a glass of warm water and leaning against the door of the lounge talking to his entourage, a commotion suddenly broke out at the end of the corridor.

A tall woman with her signature blonde hair and red lips, dressed in a custom-made, sparkling starry dress, walked over, surrounded by several foreign bodyguards and assistants.

Christina Aguilera is an absolute superstar in the contemporary North American music scene and a multiple Grammy Award winner.

The moment Christina saw Lin Yuan, her blue eyes blazed with intense curiosity and enthusiasm. She stopped in her tracks, waved for her bodyguards to step back, and smiled as she walked toward Lin Yuan, extending her slender hand.

"Mr. Lin! I can't believe I'm seeing you backstage at the music competition!"

Christina's English was delivered with impeccable North American slang, her eyes brimming with undisguised admiration. "I'm a huge fan of your 'The Shawshank Redemption'! And I bought two copies of the English version of 'Pride and Prejudice'—one for my collection, and the other I've practically worn out from reading it! You're absolutely a great artist!"

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, shook her hand generously, and joked with a smile, "Thank you for your kind words, Christina. But I thought the first thing you'd say to me would be, 'Did this guy wander into the wrong studio?'"

Christina was amused by Lin Yuan's humor, her eyes crinkling into beautiful crescent moons: "To be honest, I was really shocked when I first saw the list! But I'm really looking forward to your performance. Being invited here by the organizing committee, you must have some amazing musical secrets up your sleeve. After rehearsal, would it be convenient to take a picture together? I need to post it on social media to show off to my fans!"

"Of course, it's my honor." Lin Yuan nodded.

The moment the two took a photo together was precisely captured by the on-site behind-the-scenes camera and instantly synchronized to the small window of the global live broadcast room, once again setting off a barrage of comments.

Just then, the magnificent and stirring prelude to a symphony suddenly erupted in the stadium!

Countdown to zero!

The first episode of "Eternal Sound" has officially premiered globally!

The camera takes a powerful long shot, swooping down from the dome of the Royal Albert Hall, through a sea of ​​colorful laser lights, and finally focusing on the center of the stage.

Global top presenter Anthony, dressed in a sharp black tuxedo, appeared with his signature magnetic voice, greeting the audience in fluent English: "Good night, London! Good night, to the 250 million music lovers around the world watching!"

The entire audience erupted in deafening applause and screams!

Tonight, we gather here, regardless of nationality or language, solely to seek that soul-stirring musical resonance!

Anthony waved his hands enthusiastically, introducing the night's stars: "Now, let's give a warm round of applause to welcome our eight top-tier singers who will be performing tonight!"

The giant LED screen at the back of the stage suddenly opened, and golden beams of light poured down.

The debut singers walked out of the red carpet one by one—

Eric, a tenor of European national theater caliber; Christina, a pop diva from North America; a legendary British rocker... and Lin Yuan, dressed in a well-tailored dark suit with an extraordinary temperament!

The moment Lin Yuan appeared, the live stream chat exploded with comments, and the overseas comment section also became incredibly lively.

After a brief but formal greeting and introduction of the singers, the host, Anthony, became serious and pointed to the large screen:

"Before the competition officially begins, I will announce to the global audience the extremely brutal competition rules for 'Eternal Sound'!"

A clear and concise rule framework and animated demonstration immediately appeared on the big screen, and Anthony's calm commentary resounded throughout the venue:

[Review and Scoring Mechanism]

This competition disregarded all judges' scores, relying entirely on votes from 500 top-tier audience members from around the world. Each audience member, after listening to all the singers perform, had exactly three votes to cast for the singer who moved them the most, and the final ranking was determined by the percentage of votes received!

[Double-elimination tournament format]

The regular season consists of two cycles:

Episode 1 (Ranking Round): The 8 initial singers will take the stage in turn to perform, ranking from 1st to 8th. This is a safe period with no eliminations.

Episode 2 (Elimination Round): The 8 singers will perform again. The vote percentages from Episode 1 and Episode 2 will be added together. The singer with the lowest total vote percentage from both rounds will be eliminated!

[Challenge and Replacement Mechanism]

When a singer is eliminated, a strong replacement singer will fill the vacancy in the next episode; and in certain episodes, a ruthless challenger singer will be inserted! If the challenger singer makes it into the top 4 on the spot, the challenge is successful and they will replace the original singer who is ranked last; if they do not make it into the top 4, the challenge is unsuccessful and they will be eliminated!

The Ultimate Battle of the Singers

The online singers who survived several rounds of fierce competition will join the singers who fought their way back from the preliminary rounds in the grand final! Through two rounds of ultimate showdowns, namely "duet" and "solo", the semi-final scores will be combined in a proportional manner to compete for the world's only "King of Singers" crown!

The moment this tightly woven, dramatic, and fiercely competitive format was announced, the adrenaline of viewers worldwide surged to its peak!

"Oh my god! Eliminated due to being the last place finisher after two rounds? This means every single step must be flawless!"

"With only the genuine votes of the 500 audience members present, there's absolutely no room for manipulation!"

"If Lin Yuan ranks near the bottom in the first episode, he'll be in serious trouble in the second! The pressure will be directly on Director Dongfang!"

On stage, Anthony smiled as he watched the eight singers, whose expressions were subtly shifting, and announced loudly: "The rules are clear! And the draw results for who will be the first to perform tonight have been generated—"

On the big screen, eight cards rotated rapidly before finally freezing in place.

As the music for the transitional interview video (VCR) began to play softly, the background story of the first Western singer to appear started playing on the big screen, the lights gradually dimmed, and the band and lead singer took their places.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment, and hundreds of millions of viewers around the world held their breath.