Chapter 11

Yun Zhi had arrived fairly early, and while the recording hadn't officially started yet, he went around and got to know the trainees sitting near him. The red-haired boy to his left was called Li Yuanyuan — his head was perfectly round, his lips were pouty, and he was boisterous and chatty, even more of a talker than Yun Zhi.

"Hey, Yun Zhi, is it just one more person before we're all here?" Li Yuanyuan leaned over to ask.

Yun Zhi had been counting the arrivals and nodded. "Mm, just one more."

Li Yuanyuan pondered this meaningfully, watching the entrance with knowing eyes. "Classic production team — any big-name contestant has to be the last one to enter. Yun Zhi, are you a Zhao Jinzhao fan too?"

"Zhao Jinzhao?" Yun Zhi's eyes flickered with confusion.

Was he a really popular idol in this world?

Yun Zhi picked up his phone and searched.

"You don't know him?" Li Yuanyuan looked a little surprised seeing him open the search bar. "Zhao Jinzhao — debuted to instant acclaim as the undisputed top beauty of the Omega idol world. A year in and he's drowning in endorsements and drama invitations. I genuinely don't understand why he would come here to fight over a debut slot."

Li Yuanyuan scratched his head, then leaned close to Yun Zhi's ear and said quietly, "Honestly, I think you're better looking than him. Your friend is too. The two of you are something else — as long as your skills hold up, you're definitely going to blow up!"

Yun Zhi quickly raised a hand to cover his mouth. There were cameras and microphones all around — if that went on air it would absolutely start a war for both him and Fang Yixing.

He and Fang Yixing were both nobodies with no backing and no connections. Better to be careful.

"Mmph!" Li Yuanyuan pried Yun Zhi's hand off his mouth and shook his shoulders excitedly. "He's here, he's here!"

Yun Zhi looked up and saw an impeccably put-together, beautiful Omega approaching at a measured pace.

About the same height as him — roughly 180cm. Handsome but not intimidating, eyes slightly narrow and elongated, with shallow double eyelid creases that gave him an inherently magnetic quality whenever he looked at someone.

Wearing a faint smile, his stride unhurried and relaxed, with an easy self-assurance.

No wonder he's already debuted, Yun Zhi thought. The aura about him was simply different from the bunch of rookies sitting around them. Yun Zhi decided he should ask this senior for guidance in the future.

"Hello, senior!"

"Zhao Jinzhao-senior, hello!"

Everyone rose to their feet in unison to greet Zhao Jinzhao.

Zhao Jinzhao raised one hand — the silver fringe at his cuff fell like pale moonlight. His gaze swept slowly across the tiered seating, and he lifted the most perfectly practiced smile. "Hello everyone, I'm Zhao Jinzhao. No need to be formal — please sit."

When his eyes met Yun Zhi's, the smile on Zhao Jinzhao's face stiffened almost imperceptibly for just a moment.

Making eye contact with the senior, Yun Zhi smiled back even more brightly, revealing two sweet little dimples.

The moment everyone had sat back down, the music for the mentors' entrance began to play over the PA system.

Yang Zhuo entered from a separate entrance, walking to center stage. He smiled. "Hello everyone, I'm Yang Zhuo — I don't need to introduce myself, do I?"

An eruption of barely-contained shouts broke out from the crowd, punctuated by a few screams. "Yang Zhuo-laoshi!"

Nobody in the room had imagined that the unremarkable production team would have managed to bring in Yang Zhuo as their national producer.

Yang Zhuo — the shining light of Betas in the entertainment industry. In a talent show a few years ago, he had dominated an entire field of Alphas and Omegas on sheer ability and debuted in first place. Enormously popular, he had stayed true to himself without ever scrambling for status — the idol in the hearts of countless trainees.

Yang Zhuo smiled and let them shout for a while before raising a hand to quiet the room. "Have all 101 fearless Omega trainees, ready to take on any challenge, assembled?"

He extended the microphone toward them.

"All present!" everyone cried in unison.

"Excellent!" Yang Zhuo nodded in satisfaction. "And are you all prepared for the initial evaluation?"

One trainee panicked. "Already? This fast?"

Yang Zhuo turned serious in an instant. "You came here — shouldn't you be in a state of readiness at all times?"

The entire room fell silent involuntarily. Some trainees looked eager and itching to go. Some shrank into themselves. Some kept their expressions calm.

The suddenly quiet atmosphere made Yun Zhi a little nervous, his heart pounding. He turned his head and stole a quick glance at Fang Yixing, and meeting those calm dark eyes, gradually settled.

He opened his mouth and mouthed silently at him: Not nervous.

Yun Zhi reached out and grabbed Fang Yixing's right hand, his small, soft hand resting over those clearly-knuckled larger ones.

A sudden throb pulsed at Fang Yixing's temple. He curved his lips in a small smile toward him, and his palm folded around Yun Zhi's small hand.

He hadn't been nervous before — but now his heart was beating somewhat fast.

Before the trainee evaluation, the mentors entered one by one.

There were four in total, responsible for dance, vocals, rap, and overall stage presence respectively. They were all formidable and popular veterans of the industry, and the trainees in the tiered seating cheered louder with each new entrance.

Once the mentors were seated, national producer Yang Zhuo smiled and looked out at the 101 young trainees. "Then now — the initial stage evaluation for all 101 trainees officially begins."

"First up — Jin Yunzhi!"

The camera zoomed in on Yun Zhi's flawlessly beautiful face, and the large screens on both sides of the stage magnified it several times over — Yun Zhi's wide-eyed, slightly dazed blink visible to everyone in the room.

Those light amber eyes were clean and beautiful, without a trace of impurity.

A pure and innocent little darling.

Dance mentor Wen Xiaoxiao clutched her chest and screamed internally. Such an adorable child!

"Go." Fang Yixing squeezed the back of Yun Zhi's hand and released it.

Yun Zhi gave him one firm nod.

Just as everyone had expected, Yun Zhi's chosen song was upbeat and quick, the style cute and playful. Though the choreography was of moderate difficulty, his execution was clean and fluid — every subtle shift hit the beat with precision, every micro-expression matched the emotional context of the song, and his stage charisma was right on point.

The performance was flawless. There was nothing to find fault with.

Vigorous applause broke out in the hall.

None of the mentors could believe he was essentially an untrained beginner.

Dance mentor Wen Xiaoxiao barely managed to suppress the impulse to throw a sack over Yun Zhi and carry him off, picked up her microphone, and looked at him with delight. Her voice was extraordinarily warm. "Danced beautifully — I loved it. I see from the materials that you have no prior vocal or dance training. Yun Zhi, why do you want to debut?"

Yun Zhi pressed his lips into a smile. "Because I love the stage. People on stage shine."

Wen Xiaoxiao heard this and broke into a genuine smile. The other mentors were visibly moved as well.

It was what had drawn all of them in as well — but after years of navigating the fickle entertainment world, with daily schedules swallowing them whole, they sometimes forgot what they loved.

There was a light in Yun Zhi's eyes. They liked this kind of uncomplicated sincerity in a person.

With the unanimous approval of the mentors, Yang Zhuo announced, "Yun Zhi's initial evaluation grade — B. You were wonderful. Keep working hard!"

"I will!"

Yun Zhi smiled and jogged off the stage.

Having just witnessed a near-perfect performance, many trainees wore grim expressions. If skills like that only earned a B, what did that make them — F class?

"Second up, Zhao Jinzhao! Please take the stage!"

The camera panned to the trainee at the very top of the pyramid seating, where his exquisite features were visible in a faint frown — as though he had encountered a problem.

He stepped down from his seat at a measured pace and took his place at center stage.

Trainee in position. A bright, upbeat melody began to play.

Everyone: ???

Yun Zhi: ?

The song Zhao Jinzhao had chosen had collided with Yun Zhi's.

Oh no. They had all just watched Yun Zhi deliver a performance that had exceeded the original — it was genuinely extraordinary. Zhao Jinzhao's luck really couldn't get worse.

Everyone couldn't help feeling anxious on his behalf.

Because it was common knowledge that the main reason Zhao Jinzhao had gotten so popular was that impossibly beautiful face of his — godlike even by Omega standards. His actual abilities, by idol industry standards, were only average.

And everyone knew that once this episode aired, the title of Omega's greatest beauty might no longer belong to him.

Thinking this, everyone couldn't help feeling envious of Yun Zhi.

He could have coasted entirely on his looks — yet his skills were extraordinary on top of that. Was he trying to let others live?

On stage, Zhao Jinzhao was about to begin moving to the intro when vocal mentor Ouyang Yi's voice cut the music short. "Music team, could you pause for a moment please."

Zhao Jinzhao, along with all the trainees, didn't understand what was happening, and the sudden change made everyone uneasy.

After a brief hushed exchange with the other mentors, Ouyang Yi produced a sly smile. "Jinzhao — you've been a debuted idol for two full years now. Isn't this song a bit too easy for your initial evaluation?"

Zhao Jinzhao's throat tightened. He gripped the microphone. "Mentor, I haven't taken this performance lightly at all. I chose this song because I — I want to return to the starting line with a very positive, joy-bringing image."

Ouyang Yi gestured for him to relax. "I know — I don't mean to suggest you're being disrespectful to the stage. It's just that, by quite the coincidence, Yun Zhi just performed the exact same song as you. You're his senior — surely you ought to show your junior something more, don't you think?"

A question mark slowly floated up over Yun Zhi's head. A sense of unease stirred in him that the production team was about to use him to stir something up.

He turned to look at Fang Yixing. Fang Yixing ruffled his hair.

Zhao Jinzhao: "...Yes."

"So then," Ouyang Yi exchanged a glance with the other mentors and smiled like a crafty fox, "all of us would very much like to see you and Yun Zhi perform this piece on stage together. Would that be alright?"

The trainees: Here it comes — the battle round, and it arrived this fast! Completely blindsided!

Zhao Jinzhao looked toward Yun Zhi and forced out a single word with great difficulty. "...Fine."

Everyone turned to look at Yun Zhi as well.

Yun Zhi's face was a picture of suffering — his eyes brimming with bewilderment and resistance.

Battling Zhao Jinzhao, who was already debuted with an established fanbase — one wrong move and his fans would bury him alive.

Yun Zhi was suffering. Yun Zhi genuinely did not want to cause trouble.