Chapter 192
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Chapter 192: The Third Round’s System, New Rules, and a Terrifying Elimination Rate
Chu Yuanqing keenly noticed the gaze. She pulled herself away from her chaotic thoughts, lifted her clear eyes like autumn water, and looked at the super AI with crimson eyes, whispering to herself:
"Are you doubting me?"
"Not really. Right now, Dream Weaver is mostly suspecting I have a connection with Chu Yuanying, but they haven’t put the two together just yet, so… it is very likely that I am being taken seriously by them."
There is nothing strange about this. With the power of the Pure White Witch, she has done many unusual things on stage, and after changing her hair and eye color yesterday, the officials probably think that I unknowingly completed the Light-up, which is why there has been such a change.
As for why the Light-up didn’t build the Magic Armor?
Because magical girls are idealistic. If they don’t believe they are one, they won’t trigger the building of the Magic Armor.
Last night, the assistant sister who gave her the little dinosaur hair tie also praised the special effects at the end of the first performance. This shows the officials don’t suspect that I know the truth; they just think it’s the result of an unintentional Light-up, so they come up with a reason to brush it off.
In summary, Dream Weaver Rabbit probably sees herself as a hope for the new generation?
As Chu Yuanqing thought this, she felt a bit troubled. She is destined to leave, and if she draws too much attention and expectation before the Pure White collapses, then dying together with it might lead to more bad consequences.
The girl sighed softly in secret, pretending to be calm while looking down at the cat resting on her lap. Her mood improved a lot; her pink lips curved slightly as she gently stroked the soft fur with her delicate white hands, and her snowy white thighs instinctively closed a little, brushing against each other.
Liuli’s breath felt so ticklish.
Although she had been daydreaming, she still noticed that her thighs were being played with by two little idols. She thought it was just children’s playful teasing and was not worried about it, so she didn’t stop them.
The chefs in the livestream saw this scene and were so angry they gritted their teeth.
They were furious! Why does this genius child star always curl up on Honey Qing’s soft, white thigh during meetings, just like a cat? It’s truly so enviable!
Tang Liuli’s fans hardly left any comments, and their silence was deafening, as if they couldn’t find words in their surprise, clearly not wanting to admit their idol was acting so embarrassingly.
And…
This green-eyed cat was so different from the other sisters who were busy crying and sad about their friends being eliminated, as if she was taking advantage of Chu Yuanqing without caring about anyone else’s feelings.
Of course, none of Tang Liuli’s teammates were eliminated, and even her former roommate Liang Xiaoxiao made it through, so it was normal not to show any sadness. In fact, it was a time to be happy, so this behavior just made the audience find them cute, without creating any drama.
As for the fans of Chu Yuanqing’s other pairings, they saw this scene and sneered, feeling no sense of crisis at all, as if they subconsciously thought that this little cat had no real chance, and victory would ultimately belong to the Iron-Blooded Sakura/Demon King/Moonlight Party.
In the group, Kirimi Miyuki and Chu Wang Shu are serious people. When they saw a girl who was sad and dropped her pearls after being eliminated, they couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy and had many thoughts.
Xie Qingxuan was calm and didn’t even notice that her former teammates—Fan Qiuling and Chu Qiushuang—had succeeded in reaching the Heart Flow because of her shining rebate. She had no thoughts about the current situation.
The winner takes all, and the loser is left behind.
Whether in the Dazzling Stage or in life, both believe in the law of the jungle.
On the other side,
Chen Yining felt troubled. Her pretty face showed a bit of confusion, turning a cute shade of pink. She pressed her lips together, trying to maintain her expression, while her eyes couldn’t help but glance at the cool and calm Miss Choreographer beside her.
Ji Shuzhu’s coat covered the upper bodies of both of them. She appeared serious and cold, but secretly, she squeezed Chen Yining’s palm between her thighs, not letting her pull away, while her toes quietly pointed up in a place out of sight.
The young lady felt very embarrassed, but she had a strong spirit and a proud personality. She was still haunted by the defeat and the NTR incident from before, unwilling to show any weakness to Ji Shuzhu and instead forced herself to look fierce and domineering.
Chen Yining thought to herself that in this big crowd, she would scare Little Shuzhu. Surely, that would make her legs part, freeing her hand.
The girl thought this, her heart hardened, and she began to move her hands. Her fingertips sank into the flesh of her leg, hinting at a bad deed. As a result, the other person’s calf trembled, but they tightened their grip even more.
Ji Shuzhu’s expression did not change, but her eyes filled with tears. She felt a spark of hope inside and even leaned forward a bit, as if urging the other person to do something bad quickly.
Chen Yining was extremely embarrassed and angry, yet her little hand did not move any further.
This was not because she was afraid of the other person, but because if it were live-streamed now, doing something too extreme could easily let sharp-eyed viewers discover these "little secrets." She just needed to return to the dormitory to deal with the other person properly!
And…
Chen Yining gradually felt that something was wrong. Recently, she had lost the joy of bullying Ji Shuzhu, and instead felt a strange sense of being trapped. Yet, each time she was provoked, she continued to fall for it, reminiscent of her childhood when Ji Shuzhu used to trick her around and around.
Little Shuzhu…Could she be doing this on purpose, playing some strange game?
After being played with for a few weeks, the young lady finally began to approach the truth amid her self-doubt.
Lin Baor noticed the confrontation here, and the joy of advancing was instantly drowned by fear. She quickly turned to look ahead, eyes straight, as if she saw nothing at all.
Lesbians… how scary!
At the same time, the viewers in the livestream noticed the interaction here, and bullet comments fell like snowflakes:
Dream Weaver Rabbit looked down on the world and continued to speak:
"The numbers above your heads represent your ranking by votes. Contestants who do not receive a rank will be considered eliminated. The program group will give these contestants a day to say goodbye, and starting the next day, they will be gradually removed."
After those words, it stirred the hearts of many heartbroken eliminators, making even those who had held back their emotions unable to stop tears from streaming down, which made the viewers in the livestream feel especially sad.
Although there were cruel jokes in the idol industry saying, "Even if you can’t be an idol, you can still act in idol dramas," most viewers could still empathize with the situation.
Among those eliminated contestants, many were hardworking girls with good basic skills. Due to luck or talent, they had to stop here, and their wings to pursue their dreams were broken, leaving them unable to return to the stage in the future.
Anyone who has seen these young, lively girls sweating day after day in the practice room, and the excitement and passion of standing on stage, can’t harden their hearts against their tearful faces.
"Ah, ‘Dazzling Stage’ really is a pit of despair; the elimination scene next door in Kyoto was even more heartbreaking."
In the live broadcast room, there was a loud crying sound, but the scene looked much calmer. Most of the girls, even with teary eyes, only shed a few tears and did not lose control to the point of needing comforting. Instead, their teammates offered words of comfort and handed them tissues.
To be honest, Dream Weaver Rabbit has been quite understanding today. Two weeks ago, in the same classroom, those who were eliminated were told directly to leave. They didn’t have the chance to take a day to calm down or say goodbye to their friends, and they didn’t even qualify to hear the rules of the next round.
So, many players who are used to Dream Weaver Rabbit being the bad guy suddenly felt it was quite gentle, which was somewhat surprising.
Dream Weaver Rabbit paid no attention to this and simply clapped and smiled, saying to everyone:
"Now that I have announced the list of those who advance, it is time for the third round of the competition."
"First, let me get to the point: the next matches will still be in teams, and to ensure fairness and respect for your teammates, your teams will not be changed but will remain the same."
"Of course, this is only if the number of eliminated players in your team is not too high."
"If three out of five players are eliminated, then the team will disband and be placed into other teams that need players."
Dream Weaver Rabbit found this interesting and added with a laugh:
"For the team members’ addition, a lottery system will be used. Some players from the dissolved teams will go into a pool, and everyone can draw from this pool, relying on luck."
"As for the other players from dissolved teams, they will be randomly grouped into new teams, which is also by chance."
"It is worth mentioning that due to the number of players, one team will only have 4 members, but that’s okay; it won’t affect the upcoming matches."
As soon as this was said, there was a buzz of discussion in the live stream.
"So, it seems that the competition for teammates is really important. If you choose well, just like the first, second, and third teams, everyone can advance to the next round. This way, there’s less need for adjustment, and their teamwork will be even better, increasing their chances of winning."
"It’s all connected. Those who barely advanced by relying on the Carry Center to attract votes from their teammates will end up in other teams, and as outsiders, hoping to get the Carry Center again is just a foolish dream."
"This harsh selection really tests teamwork? That’s crazy."
"That probably means it will still be a public performance, but it should be something like a themed competition, which is different from a simple stage battle."
Some audience members speculated:
"I’m more curious about how many people will be eliminated this time. Shouldn’t it be half? Out of 84, 42 will advance? Isn’t that a bit too many?"
"Indeed, ‘Dazzling Stage’ started with too many contestants. Normally, having just over a hundred or around 70 or 80 participants would be reasonable, so it makes sense to eliminate half in the second round. Continuing to cut in half for the third round wouldn’t be right."
The contestants below thought even more and couldn’t help but start discussing.
Chu Yuanqing felt a sigh of relief. She hoped to stay with her original team because she was used to having the little idols around, she cherished the close time with her daughter, and her health needed someone to help restore her energy.
Kirimi Miyuki showed a joyful smile.
This team was made by her own hands, from convincing Green-Eyed Cat to join, to the three of them using ‘Encounter With the World’ to win over Chu Yuanqing, and finally fighting against Great Devil to bring them into the team—though it wasn’t done with much willingness—it certainly was a journey.
By now, Little Sakura already enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere in the team, even Imperial Ruthless Tiger, who was thought to be a troublemaker at first, turned out to be quiet and well-behaved during practice, taking it seriously, without any bad intentions. Leaving aside the rivalry, they can definitely be called a good teammate.
Not to mention that there’s also Pure White Witch, who is her first love, in the team.
If there were no force beyond her control, Kirimi Miyuki would even be willing to debut with this lineup.
Chu Wang Shu’s eyes sparkled brightly. She had just been thinking about similar problems and felt very happy when she heard this. If it weren’t for the golden retriever blocking her way, she would have already hugged Chu Yuanqing’s arm and cheered.
As for Tang Liuli and Xie Qingxuan, their thoughts were surprisingly similar; they both felt very happy and satisfied that they could continue to bond with Honey Qing through magic stickers.
Compared to the joy here, most of the team had mixed feelings. Not everyone could help their entire team advance, as there was a 50% chance of elimination, and it was normal for each team to lose two or three members.
At that moment, out of the original 33 teams, only 6 teams could maintain their original structure. The rest either had everyone eliminated or needed to merge with other teams.
In that case, if luck was too bad, there was even a chance of having a team with three or four main singers, creating a chaotic situation.
Dream Weaver Rabbit waited for the contestants to process this information before snapping his fingers.
Then, a giant screen projected the live broadcast of the "Dazzling Stage" in Kyoto. The other side faced a similar situation, making the contestants on both sides seem to confront each other from afar, leaving them all quite confused.
Dream Weaver Rabbit showed an expectant smile and said:
"As everyone expected, the third round will still use a public performance voting format. This time, the program group will invite 15,000 spectators to the venue."
Fifteen thousand people, this number is truly impressive.
Even famous singers are hesitant to guarantee a concert with thousands of attendees, as online popularity and real-life ticket sales are very different, not to mention the already niche idol scene. Even some girl groups that debut with a lot of hype only manage to gather about a thousand people for their first concert.
Although with the fame of "Dazzling Stage" and the free ticket benefit, gathering tens of thousands of viewers is quite easy, it is important to understand that this move actually costs a lot of money; just the venue rental for several shows is not cheap.
Normally, concerts invite a few hundred to a thousand people, and then decide the outcome through online voting; there has never been this kind of spending.
And the key point is, this is only the third concert! If it reaches the final showdown, will they have to hold it in a huge stadium?
Not only the contestants but even the audience were left speechless by this number.
But after the silence, excitement followed. This round of ticket sales doubled from the last time, making it easier to get tickets than before. As people gradually get used to the charm of "Heart Flow," even those who weren’t initially interested in live events don’t want to miss this chance.
In the live stream, keywords like " hurry hurry hurry" and "flash dad" are rising, and fans have already begun to look forward to the ticket drawing moment.
As for the small idols in the audience, upon hearing this news, they temporarily shook off their gloomy feelings and felt especially excited about being able to participate in such a grand stage.
This is an audience of 15,000 people, and they can hardly imagine how big the stage will be.
To be honest, even if one were to succeed in a different talent show, there isn’t much hope of stepping onto a stage with this many people in the short term. For some, participating in a performance of this level feels like a dream come true.
Dream Weaver Rabbit showed a wicked smile, and its crimson eyes sparkled with excitement as it laughed and said:
"Everyone, get ready! This will surely be an amazing stage, because your opponents will not only be familiar teams, but also 83 trainees from the Kyoto ‘Dazzling Stage’!"
"Everyone, this is the biggest difference between the third round and the previous format. You will officially compete against the ‘Dazzling Stage’ from another region, and the stage will determine the fate of both teams and their programs!"
This information was already shocking enough, a development that both the audience and the contestants never expected.
But the next second,
Dream Weaver Rabbit grinned playfully, looking down at the contestants from two regions, and revealed an even more explosive piece of news:
"By the way, in this round, the total number of advancement spots for the Kyoto and Sea City regions combined is—50 people."
