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

No one was laughing or joking, and no one was chatting casually. Most people were on edge, their faces tense.

Those with relaxed expressions were at opposite ends of the spectrum: trainees who had no hope of ranking and those who were already popular. They appeared particularly relaxed in the tense atmosphere.

Jiang Zhiyu's relaxation was not due to any of the above points. His emotions were no longer affected by these minor rankings. He stood still, relaxedly looking at the pyramid-shaped seating on the other side of the studio, even counting the number of seats one by one to pass the time.

The waiting order was arranged according to the groups for the second performance. Lin Sen gently put his hand on Jiang Zhiyu's shoulder, looked at the dense crowd around him, and whispered, "I'll have to say goodbye to so many people again this afternoon."

Upon hearing this, Qi Sixian couldn't help but turn around, her eyes brimming with tears: "You have to say goodbye to me."

Seeing his expression, Lin Sen couldn't help but laugh: "Why are you so insecure again?"

"How can you be so confident, Sen-ge? I was ranked 61st after the first performance; I was just lucky to make it to the second!"

Lin Sen raised an eyebrow: "What are you comparing now to then? You're Niu Hulu Sixian now!"

Qi Sixian sighed with a bitter face, "Then I'll take your good wishes, Brother Sen."

Lin Sen's words of comfort were based on facts. Ever since Qi Sixian joined Jiang Zhiyu's group and co-created "I Am Both Inside and Outside" with him, his exposure has increased day by day, and his fans and popularity have been soaring.

During the conversation, Yu Lan stood in the center of the studio with a microphone in hand, her expression solemn, the relaxed smile from the performance gone. She calmly read out the rules to everyone: "Dear trainees and viewers watching the live stream, welcome to the second elimination round of 'Shining Project.' First, I will read out the elimination rules for this round."

She paused, her gaze slowly sweeping over the tense-looking boy beside her, and spoke clearly, word by word: "In this round of ranking announcements, in addition to the direct elimination of the bottom five in the individual votes for the second public performance, the bottom twenty trainees will also be eliminated. After the two rounds of eliminations, only thirty-six trainees will remain to successfully advance to the new stage of the third public performance."

A total of 25 trainees were eliminated, which means that the original lineup of 61 people will be reduced to 36 people, and nearly half of them will stop here.

The brutal number of eliminations left many people looking somber, especially those contestants with lower popularity.

Yu Lan continued the ranking announcement process: "As is customary for the program, the rankings will be announced in reverse order, starting from the 35th place, to reveal the advancing spots one by one. Please remain quiet and wait patiently."

The large screen slowly lit up with the ranking interface, and the cold numbers and names floated silently in the center of the screen, making people feel tense without their eyes.

"Next, we will announce the trainees who will advance from the 35th to the 20th place."

Yu Lan read out the names and rankings one by one in order.

"Thirty-fifth place - Chen Yue."

Chen Yue was slightly taken aback when he heard his name, then frowned deeply. He couldn't accept his constantly declining ranking.

From his debut position during the theme song rankings to his 29th place in the first ranking announcement, and then to the brink of elimination in the second ranking announcement, this series of setbacks made the proud Chen Yue feel deeply suffocated.

He stood up in a daze and expressed his feelings about advancing in the simplest terms: "I advanced, thank you everyone."

[Didn't you say you were going to keep pushing forward? Yue, will we see you in the finals?]

Wait, why are the comments so unfriendly? What does Chen Yue do again? I don't remember.

It's normal that he doesn't remember. Aside from getting attention by jumping around in front of Jiang Zhiyu and Mi Lan, he's just a nobody in other places.

[It's a pity. Chen Yue was a star dancer at a dance studio I know. I thought she was bound to make it into the debut group no matter what, but she almost didn't even make it into the third round.]

[But there's some gossip surrounding Chen Yue. I heard it broke shortly before she joined this show. Let's wait and see...]

Yu Lan continued to announce the rankings. Each time a name was read, the corresponding trainee would first be startled, then breathe a sigh of relief, and after giving their acceptance speech, they would quickly walk to their respective seats and sit down.

The rankings gradually moved forward. Some who were originally of average popularity saw a slight increase in popularity thanks to the second public performance, while others who had good rankings before unexpectedly slipped and barely made it into the next round.

Just as everyone was on edge, anxiously following the rise and fall of the rankings, Yu Lan called out a name that instantly silenced the entire room, followed by a murmur of amazement.

"Twenty-fifth place, Qi Sixian."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Sixian was stunned in the waiting area.

He stood there dumbfounded, hardly believing his ears. His eyes were blank as he looked at the ranking board on the stage. Only after confirming that his name and 25th place were clearly written on it did he slowly come to his senses.

Many trainees around him turned to look at him, their eyes filled with shock and admiration. Some couldn't help but whisper, "Damn, his ranking has risen so fast."

"Yeah, I remember he cried before the last ranking announcement, saying he was going to be eliminated. How did he end up in the top three?"

It's worth noting that when the rankings were announced for the first round, Qi Sixian was ranked sixty-first, firmly at the bottom of the rankings and on the verge of elimination. At that time, everyone thought that he would most likely be eliminated in the next round and leave the stage.

But no one expected that after just one more round of competition, he would turn the tide and surge to 25th place, leaping more than 30 places.

Qi Sixian took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in her heart, and walked to the acceptance speech area. She choked back tears before speaking: "No joke, this is the second time I've thought I'd definitely be eliminated, and the second time I've unexpectedly advanced. I'm so excited, my mind is blank right now, I don't know what to say, but I want to say thank you, Zhiyu, and thank you to my teammates, thank you to the Day and Night team, thank you to all the fans who saw me. I will continue on and live up to your expectations, thank you!"

After speaking, he lowered his head to hide the bittersweet expression on his face, left the comments section, and quickly walked up the pyramid to sit in the twenty-fifth seat.

After sitting down, he subconsciously looked back at Jiang Zhiyu in the waiting area, his eyes full of gratitude.

Jiang Zhiyu met his gaze, his eyes lit up, and he waved happily.

Everyone, including Qi Sixian, knew perfectly well that his dramatic rise in ranking was entirely due to the phenomenal performance of "I Am Both Inside and Out" by Jiang Zhiyu's group in the second round.