Esports world champion, debuted as the center of a talent show

Jiang Zhiyu couldn't keep his phone off for long, and he'd been receiving calls and messages from different people over the past two days.

He stopped answering calls from strangers, and the messages he received were all over the place.

There were love messages and encouraging messages, but more often there were uncomfortable wording and controlling remarks, with no sense of boundaries between the lines.

Even more provocative is that many anonymous accounts post this information online.

They took full screenshots of the harassing text messages, added sarcastic captions, and posted them directly on social media platforms with Jiang Zhiyu's exclusive hashtag, using these outrageous messages as bragging rights and deliberately provoking the emotions of ordinary fans.

The club's legal department had little experience dealing with stalker fans and was inevitably inexperienced, failing to stop the spread of the virus from its source in a timely manner, which led to Jiang Zhiyu's personal phone number being circulated more and more widely in private.

Fortunately, Jiang Zhiyu's life was not affected much. He would not let these external factors affect his current training plan and continued to follow his usual training schedule in the "Shining Project".

But the fans are absolutely furious.

No one would be happy to see their idol constantly harassed by sasaeng fans, let alone having their posts provocatively posted online as fodder for bragging rights.

This is undoubtedly challenging the bottom line of all fans.

While angrily reporting the stalker's accounts and posts across the entire internet, they also approached the RXG club, demanding that the club take measures to protect the players' personal privacy and safety.

Although the club was caught off guard at first, it quickly responded by suing several accounts that publicly disseminated Jiang Zhiyu's personal phone number.

However, the vast majority of these accounts are blank accounts registered without real names, making it extremely difficult to trace the main entity. After several attempts, the results were minimal.

With only ten days to practice from the group selection to the final night, Jiang Zhiyu paid no attention to the outside noise and focused on practicing the vocal group's solo stage and practicing "Sailing" with Group A every day.

The production team set up two large training rooms for trainees Group A and Group B to rehearse their group stages, while also opening up many small training rooms for them to practice their solo stages.

At this moment, Jiang Zhiyu was warming up his voice in a private training room.

He's not exactly a professional singer or idol; he's more of a free-growing type. The more academic way he warms up his voice now was taught to him by Yu Wen.

The atmosphere in the chat room of a single person is relatively harmonious, but it contains a lot of conspiracy theories and speculations.

[The timing of this bombshell is so unexpected that it makes one wonder if a colleague is trying to climb the social ladder by targeting Jiang Zhiyu first.]

To be honest, Jiang Huang seems to be in pretty good shape lately. Could all these recent events be a ploy to garner votes and attract fans?

[Um, Jiang Shen doesn't need to manipulate fans; his popularity already surpasses everyone else's.]

Those who want to engage in conspiracy theories, please go back to the forum and stop making this live stream a mess.

Let's give Mengzhui some space to breathe!

hum-

The phone on the chair next to me vibrated again, and a new text message pop-up lit up.

Jiang Zhiyu didn't even look at it, and continued singing without changing his expression.

Until this short training session ended, he sat cross-legged on the cushion next to the chair, sipping mineral water to moisten his throat, and casually tapped on his phone screen.

He initially thought it was another strange email from an unknown number, but the sender turned out to be a number he recognized, and the content made his eyes narrow.

[Hi Jiang, I heard you've been having a lot of trouble lately because of stalker fans? Let's talk sometime. Shangcheng can help you handle these things.]

Jiang Zhiyu remembered the number on the letter; it belonged to Bai Rong's agent, Pan Ming.

What was bound to happen has happened, but he doesn't want to take the bait so easily.

Jiang Zhiyu knew that Pan Ming must be watching the live stream and observing his reaction, so he smiled, threw his phone back onto the chair in front of the camera, and got up to practice.

The noisy barrage of comments from the viewers suddenly came to a consensus.

[Seriously, another stalker? Can RXG even do something about this?]

[I've already sniped countless posts these past two days; they're like endless cockroaches in the sewers...]

[This is disgusting. Can't you give him some privacy and respect? He won't even reply. What's so satisfying about sending these harassing text messages?]

Why are you laughing? Did someone you know send this message?

[Hong Liu, if you really can't take it anymore, put your phone away again. If this keeps up, Jiang Zhiyu will be fine, but I'm about to break down...]

Jiang Zhiyu chose a challenging ballad for the final, which featured numerous vocal runs and high/low pitch transitions.

The song is called "River", with lyrics and music by Jing Chi.

Jingchi left behind few completed songs; this is the second song that Jiang Zhiyu performed on this program.

He is indeed a very good original singer. The quality of this song is still very high. It has strict requirements for breath control and emotional progression. The singing style is very suitable for Jing Chi's voice.

Jing Chi's computer contained demos of songs he recorded himself. "Jiang He" was his first solo single, which he originally planned to perform and release on the initial stage of the talent show, but it was never released.

So Jiang Zhiyu placed it on the debut night of "Shining Project," allowing the song to collide with the world's talent show culture in the most dazzling way.

The gentle piano accompaniment flowed slowly from the headphones. Jiang Zhiyu closed his eyes and stood quietly in front of the full-length mirror.

The song has a very delicate emotional layering and expression. The first half carries the past difficulties and struggles, while the melody in the middle section slowly rises, bringing the dawn of hope and accepting all the criticism and noise along the way.

The chorus builds up layer by layer, implying that even if the road ahead is full of obstacles, one will still follow one's heart and flow forward, becoming a river in itself.

"Others define whether the road ahead is short or long"

I will brave the rugged rocks and frost.

……

The clamor of rumors echoed in my ears.

I don't follow worldly trends.

……

I am a surging river

Despite the myriad noises and bumps along the way

……

I am a river flowing slowly forward.

The road ahead is winding and shrouded in mist.

……

Follow my heart, and journey to my homeland.

Jiang Zhiyu was familiar with this song. He had been dragged to listen to the composer's own rendition countless times. At that time, Jing Chi had pulled him aside and shouted that this would be his signature song, asking Jiang Zhiyu for his opinion.

Jiang Zhiyu didn't understand much about music theory, but he could tell it sounded good, so he kept nodding and saying, "Hmm, not bad, nice."

Years later, he faced the familiar melody of this song again, but everything had changed.

The composer of "Jianghe" no longer moves forward, and the singer of "Jianghe" is no longer free.

The vocals in the song demo in the headphones were very clear, and Jiang Zhiyu was a little stunned and speechless.

The clock on the wall struck the hour with a dull "clang," snapping him back to reality. He pressed his aching forehead.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

The person who peeked in was a familiar staff member. He cautiously raised his hand and said, "Jiang Jiang, excuse me, there's a live streaming assignment later. Someone will come to coordinate with you in half an hour."

Jiang Zhiyu took off one earphone and nodded to the staff at the door: "Okay."

"It's a solo live stream, and I'll be using my own account. You can log in first and send a preview post!"

Jiang Zhiyu took off the other earphone as well, and continued to nod under the other person's earnest gaze.

The solo live streams are a promotional activity specially planned by the production team for the countdown to the finals. The top nine trainees in the overall ranking of the third public performance will each have their own exclusive solo live stream, which will be arranged in a staggered manner within the nine-day training period.

The live stream recording in the practice room was paused. Jiang Zhiyu remained seated in the chair in the single practice room, facing the dark camera lens, and handed back the few pages of instructions to the staff member next to him.

Concerned that he might experience back pain from sitting for too long, the staff brought a thick, soft cushion from the rest area, went around behind him, and carefully placed it between his chair back and lower back. Even after doing this, they remained concerned, pacing back and forth, repeatedly giving him instructions.

"Xiao Jiang, do not respond to any questions about illegitimate children, do not mention any topics related to privacy, and if you encounter difficult questions, just pretend you didn't see them."

"Okay, I understand." Jiang Zhiyu replied patiently, his eyes lowered as he obediently watched the staff adjust the live streaming equipment, like a completely harmless young man.

He was still wearing his training clothes, with a contrasting long-sleeved shirt underneath, the cuffs loosely draped over his wrists.

The staff member who was bending over to adjust the angle of the lights couldn't help but let his gaze drift to that wrist. His eyes paused for two or three seconds, and he subconsciously thought of those scar photos exposed online. His eyes darted around in a panic, and he quickly forced his gaze back.

Ever since Jiang Zhiyu's arm wounds and past medical records were exposed, people have always looked at him with either pity or curiosity.

To be honest, he was not comfortable with this kind of direct and naked gaze, but he always restrained and hid his true emotions, and always maintained a calm appearance.

The live stream room, which hadn't even started yet, was already packed with viewers, clamoring for the production team to start broadcasting. The barrage of comments scrolled so fast that it was almost impossible to read complete sentences. The screen was filled with fan messages, and everyone was eagerly anticipating this exclusive Q&A live stream.

Although both are live streams, there is a big difference between a live stream from the training room monitoring perspective and a close-up shot during a solo live stream. Moreover, solo live streams also include interactive segments with the chat, making the fan experience vastly different from that during daily training.

I'm so eager, I'm bursting with witty remarks ready to be unleashed.

[When will it premiere? I'm getting impatient (angry)]

[Solo livestream... I've been looking forward to this solo livestream ever since I got into the fandom... I'm drooling.]

[I'm suddenly really curious when Jiang Ge will stream playing games again. He must be very busy since his debut, given his current popularity.]

The live stream was conducted using Jiang Zhiyu's personal account @ShiningProject-JiangZhiyu. Before the official start of the live stream, he needed to log in to his account and send a live stream announcement to notify the fans who were waiting to enter on time.

He picked up his phone, opened the social media app, and a barrage of private messages, comments, and @mentions flooded the screen, causing the app to lag and crash once again.

The staff member quickly moved closer to him, swiping rapidly through the settings to activate the app's message notification do-not-disturb mode: "Just send a simple announcement, then put your phone aside and try to touch it as little as possible."

"Okay." Jiang Zhiyu's fingertips landed on the screen, gently tapped the posting box, and typed a few simple words: Come and see.

The accompanying photo is a candid shot of him without makeup during his singing practice yesterday. His eyebrows and eyes are cool and aloof, his face is clean and angular, and he looks particularly sacred under the overhead light.

As soon as the preview post was published, the number of reposts, likes and comments skyrocketed, with the average exceeding 20,000 in just one minute.

[Look, look! I've been waiting to watch this! When will Jiang Bao's show start airing? (Poor thing)]

[Haomi's profile picture... I'm drooling!]

[Heh, you think I'll just come see you because you say so? Do you think I'm a dog?! Yeah, woof woof—]

[Such a perfect silhouette; it would be even more perfect if it could start airing immediately.]

The staff at Shining and Hong Liu share the same love for keeping viewers in suspense, and they also know that keeping them in suspense for too long can have the opposite effect. However, after ten minutes, they were ready to officially start the broadcast.

The staff checked the equipment one last time and then gestured to the off-site director: "Ready to go live."

The camera lights suddenly brightened, the live stream was officially launched, and the exclusive title for this live stream popped up in the upper right corner: Jiang Zhiyu's Q&A Time.

The number of viewers in the live stream instantly exceeded 50 million, and the barrage of comments doubled dramatically, densely filling the screen.

Jiang Zhiyu did not speak immediately, but simply adjusted his posture slightly, leaning back against the soft cushion, his gaze calmly falling on the scrolling text on the phone screen on the stand in front of him.

When the rate of increase in the number of people slowed down, he glanced at the time, smiled, and waved, "Hello everyone, I'm Jiang Zhiyu."

He slowly proceeded with the process explained by the staff: "Today's live stream topic is Q&A. If you have any questions, feel free to scroll through the page. I will respond to the ones I can answer in turn."

His deep, warm voice was clearly transmitted to every audience member through the microphone. His speech was not fast, but it was like a drumbeat hitting the heart, and every word made people's hearts tremble.

[His voice is so soothing... He's finally almost an adult, hehe (drooling), I'm so happy to have raised him!]

[Hahaha, you got straight to the point so quickly, without a single pleasantry!]

How long after your debut will you return to the competition?

[What do you think are the challenges of "Sailing"? Are you confident about this group performance?]

Jiang Zhiyu's dynamic vision is among the best in the professional gamers, so capturing the rapidly changing content of the bullet comments is not difficult for him.

The comments section was filled with bold declarations of love and outrageous remarks. His ears turned slightly red, but he managed to keep his expression unchanged, as if he hadn't seen anything.

The flickering screen flashed before his eyes, and he caught one line of content, slowly repeating it: "What do I think are the difficulties of 'Sailing'? Do you have confidence in this group's stage performance?"

"The rehearsals for 'Sailing' have gone very smoothly so far. Each person in our group is suited to a different vocal part, and the division of parts is clear and harmonious, with no major disagreements." He paused, "I definitely have confidence; I've always had confidence."

The key of this song is in Jiang Zhiyu's comfort zone, so it's not a challenge for him; it's more like a satisfactory interim report.