Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

The fresh and graceful boy walked slowly towards the old wooden stage along the Edo-style streets, which reminded people of a haiku...

The fox transformed into a young man and enjoyed the spring night lights.

Chapter 212 The Real Eel

2024-07-13

Xia Fan was a little nervous before entering the room, but he found that there were only four instructors and a few cameramen in the studio. One of the instructors was even an "acquaintance" with whom he had had dinner yesterday. Somehow he calmed down.

"Hello, mentors and producers. I am Xia Fan, a trainee from Longguo who has been training for two and a half years..."

Standing in the center of the stage, he had a clear expression and simple and stiff movements, and bowed hello to the four mentors.

There was no greasy smile, disgusting wink, or other uncoordinated "clever movements"; even his self-introduction was almost a verbatim recitation of the lines from his personal interview video.

But after the previous "monsters and ghosts", such an opening does not make Xia Fan look "monotonous". Instead, it makes the mentors who have suffered from the "greasy and exaggerated bombardment" feel a sense of comfort of being "baptized".

"Xia Fan, right? Please start your performance."

Before the recording of the show, the mentors who also paid attention to social media naturally had some understanding of Xia Fan.

Xia Fan's educational background and appearance are impeccable. Judging from the popularity he has gained from shooting commercials, guest-starring in web dramas, and participating in campus competitions in recent times, he also has certain acting skills and musical attainments.

In the eyes of the mentors, Bethesda must have made a heavy bet and regarded Xia Fan as the seed player of the Burning Series in this audition, which is why they were willing to let Yayoi Tsuki risk her wings and personally help with the "hype".

"Such beautiful, bright eyes..."

"I am more charming in person than in the video, and my temperament is so unique..."

But when the real person stood in front of them, the mentors realized that they had underestimated Xia Fan's personal charm.

Although it was just a simple introduction and greeting, and the talent show didn't start...

"Why do I always feel that it is pleasing to the eyes just by looking at it?"

"Very good eyesight, born to be on stage."

But as soon as their eyes met Xia Fan's on the stage, the mentors felt as if they were caught in some invisible gravity and were completely unable to take their eyes off him.

It seemed that just by looking at Xia Fan, there would be an inexplicable joy in my heart, and my brain would start to secrete dopamine, making the whole person relax.

"Hey, this face with no blind spots is so photogenic..."

In the recording room, Manjiro Akimoto stared at the screen on the monitor with a somewhat excited look in his eyes.

From the moment Xia Fan appeared on the stage, except for the fixed cameras of several instructors, all the cameras on the scene were shooting him from 360 degrees with no blind spots, both near and far.

People who are familiar with photography will know that every artist has a few particularly good-looking "special shooting angles" and a few "blind angles" where shooting is prohibited.

Including the mentors on the stage, generally before participating in the program, these angles will be explained in detail in advance, and even written into the contract, to avoid the appearance of "death angles" that become Internet memes when the program is broadcast.

But no matter which angle or distance the camera is taken from, Xia Fan's stunning looks, alluring eyes, and radiant charm are not compromised at all...

It can be said that every frame can be taken individually to make a poster.

"Especially this look. Rather than looking at the camera all the time, it's more like the photographer is unconsciously attracted to him and actively pursues these star-like eyes..."

Most of the trainees who are on stage for the first time will only stare at the instructor and appear "unfocused" in front of the camera...

No matter which shot you look at, Xia Fan still has that pair of beautiful eyes that seem to be able to speak, and he seems to be staring at the camera at all times, without the need to deliberately "manage his eyes".

"Company B, where did you find such a shining talent?"

When he thought that Xia Fan was not a trainee of his company, Akimoto Manjiro suppressed the admiration that was growing in his heart and couldn't help but sigh.

As a "girl group creator" who has been in the entertainment industry for many years and has met countless people, he deeply understands...

Some people, even if their facial features, talents, conversation or temperament are not top-notch, have a kind of charm that is hard to explain.

Even with a mask on, you can still be recognized in a crowd and will instantly become the focus wherever you go.

This dazzling quality that cannot be hidden and has the potential to become a top idol is privately called "light" by Manjiro Akimoto.

Although his personal video ranked first in views, Xia Fan only had three minutes, so he had no time to pay attention to the reactions of the people in front of and behind the stage.

"Today, my first performance is a song called 'I Once Thought of Ending It All'."

He took the electronic keyboard pushed up by the staff and introduced it softly.

"Oh? Are you responding to the provocation from that day?"

Upon hearing the song title, Yayoi Tsukiko in the audience opened her pink lips slightly in surprise, then covered her mouth with her hands and laughed secretly.

"You actually dared to choose this song, and it looks like you're singing it live?"

"This kid is a little too arrogant."

Oda Masaru and Kimura Goro looked at each other and smiled without comment.

"Oh, you are a real eel. You will climb ashore even if you fall down, Reisbai!"

Shota Hirai stood up even more exaggeratedly, put his finger in front of his forehead, and made a "salute" gesture to him!

According to the different performance times of the first stage, the trainees designed relatively complete and easiest-to-perform performance content. The previous trainees did a good job in this regard.

In their opinion, the reason why Xia Fan chose the song "I Once Thought About Ending It All" was obviously after careful consideration by Bethesda, and his approach was similar to that of Hirano Yuta.

Doing so can not only pay tribute to the original singer Yayoi Tsuki who was present, but also respond to the other party's previous bold statement of "pushing him" and continue the topic's popularity...

At the same time, as the original singer of the song, Yayoi Tsuki is qualified to make an authoritative evaluation of Xia Fan's debut stage.

"By choosing this song, does Company B know that international trainees won't last for more than a few rounds, and want to squeeze out enough popularity in the early stages?"

In front of the monitor, Manjiro Akimoto naturally understood why the reactions of several mentors were so "surprised".

Xia Fan's song selection may seem like a clever move, but it is actually a risky move of "success or death"...

The song "I Once Thought of Ending It All" has a clear rhythm, is not difficult to sing, and has been publicly licensed for non-commercial purposes. After its release, many artists have tried to cover it...

But when they actually sang it, they found that the emotions of despair, sadness and persistence in hope contained in the song were too complex and far more difficult to express than they seemed.

Compared with Yayoi Tsuki's "unsurpassed" original version, no matter how skillful the song is, without sufficient emotional support, the whole song will appear unusually "dry", and the self-proclaimed superb cover singer will eventually become a clown of poor imitation.

Therefore, although the program team obtained the commercial authorization of this song from Bethesda and added it to the "program music library", except for Xia Fan, the "burning seed player", no trainee had the courage to choose to sing this song and seek death to take advantage of the traffic of Yayoi Tsuki, the "venomous tongue queen"...

On the contrary, Goro Kimura, who has many repertoires with low difficulty, became the "hardest hit by tributes". In one day, he held a "grand parade" of all the works in his idol career that was so disgusting that it made people want to vomit.

Chapter 213 Not Qualified to Comment

2024-07-13

While everyone on and off the stage was lost in thought, Xia Fan's eyes became focused, and his slender fingers moved across the piano keys like flowing water...

The low piano sound, the slow drum beats, and the fast guitar strings flow out into a gloomy prelude.

This touching melody, with a hint of sadness, instantly filled the entire studio.

"You play really well. You can actually handle all the parts of the instruments by yourself. No wonder you dare to bring an electronic keyboard to the stage..."

"I introduced myself as someone who specializes in electronic keyboards, and I'm pretty good at it."

Hirai Shota and Kimura Goro nodded in admiration.

Even before he started singing, Xia Fan's first stage performance was memorable and recognizable enough just by virtue of his top-notch looks and unique temperament, plus his "one-man band" electronic keyboard.

Many trainees are also good at playing musical instruments, but their skills are at amateur level at best. Before Xia Fan, only a few people took up guitars to sing, and there were almost no people who played complex instruments like electronic keyboards.

After all, idol auditions are not band competitions, so contestants will not be arranged to perform musical instruments, so it doesn’t make much difference whether or not they can play an instrument.

"No, this is not something that can be described as 'skillful'. I also play the electronic keyboard privately, but I can't play such a free-wheeling rhythm."

"Even among the professional keyboard players I've worked with, not everyone can play to this level..."

Oda put his hands together in front of his chin and listened attentively.

"What? Teacher Oda actually commented like that..."

"In other words, Xia Fan's electronic keyboard has reached professional level?"

As a senior singer-songwriter, Oda Masaru has always been very picky about the bands he collaborates with. Hearing him speak so highly of Xia Fan's electronic keyboard, the other two were naturally even more surprised.

"I once thought about ending it all, because the black-tailed gulls were crying at the pier, floating up and down with the waves, pecking at the past and flying away..."

As the mentors were whispering, Xia Fan, with a gloomy look on his face, leaned close to the microphone and began to sing softly.

His voice is mediocre, and there is not much distinctiveness in his singing style and breathing techniques. To these mentors who have been immersed in singing for many years, it is as simple and tasteless as drinking boiled water.

But as the song progresses, the darkness, depression, despair and other emotions contained in this "plain water" song become more and more intense, gradually turning into bitter coffee, throat-blocking asphalt, surging mudslides, and destructive magma...

If we say that Yayoi Tsuki's version of "I Have Thought of Ending It All" is the first to win with its soul-touching timbre and gorgeous singing skills, injecting emotions into people's hearts, leaving the audience with "no time to resist"...

Xia Fan's version was sung in a simple and clean voice without any skill. The audience was unconsciously infected by the rich emotions in his singing.

"I know, I know everything, but..."

As the verse was about to end, Xia Fan was concentrating on playing and singing, with a glimmer in his eyes...

With the protection of [Stand Puppet] and the spiritual power of the Fusogami electronic keyboard, his master-level performance is moving enough.

Xia Fan already had the "mastery of the song" bestowed by God, and had personally experienced Yayoi Tsuki singing it twice in a state of "sensory sharing". His understanding and perception of this song had been elevated to a whole new level.

As he sang, his mind was completely immersed in the melody and lyrics. He couldn't help but think of his experiences over the past few years...

The horror of seeing the confirmed report...

The disappointment of learning that the drug's effects had worn off...

Hearing the helpless cry of my mother...

The pain when the side effects hit...

Countless nights accompanied by the fear of death...

These bits and pieces of despair gradually gathered into a sticky darkness that could not be escaped, dragging people into it little by little until it was completely swallowed up...

"I once thought about ending it all because my heart was empty."

"The reason for feeling unsatisfied and crying must be because the heart longs for abundance and fulfillment."

Listening intently to Xia Fan's singing, both the instructors on the scene and the directors in the recording studio gradually lost their focus and their facial muscles twitched slightly...

Under the influence of [Whisper of Demons], the despair that Xia Fan had experienced further blossomed in their hearts, turning into a depression that deprived them of even the ability to breathe.

"I once thought about ending it all because of your brilliant smile."

"If you keep thinking about death, it must be because you take life too seriously."

However, after entering the chorus, Xia Fan's playing movements became more ferocious, his singing became more powerful and firmer, and the meaning of hope became stronger...

That feeling was as if one had struggled in a swamp, persisted until the last moment, and finally grabbed a life-saving straw called "hope", making everyone feel relieved.

At this moment, the only thing in everyone's eyes was Xia Fan on the stage.

It was as if he had become some kind of symbol, fighting against darkness and despair on behalf of everyone else...

"I once thought about ending it all, but that was because I hadn't met you yet."

"The existence of people like you in this world makes me like this world a little bit."

"Because there are people like you in this world, I have some hope for this world."

At some point, the song came to an end, and Xia Fan's voice softened...

Looking back on the time he became the "Tian Yu Shen", he felt grateful for the tremendous changes he had experienced in just a few months...

Regardless of whether this god is good or evil, he is the only hope for him.

After finishing the song, Xia Fan stood next to the electronic keyboard and bowed to the four mentors.

"Clap clap clap..."

Faint applause sounded from above.

He looked in the direction of the voice, and in his tear-blurred vision, he seemed to see a petite figure in a black kimono, sitting sideways towards him, with legs crossed on the eaves above the instructor's seat...

When Xia Fan wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and looked again, there was nothing there, as if everything was just an illusion.

"..."

After the performance, the entire studio fell silent and no one spoke.

After a few seconds, Goro Kimura came back to his senses from the emotion of the song and noticed that his vision had been blurred by tears.

"that……"