I'm Really a Superstar

In the studio.

"When will the moon be clear and bright?

"With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the clear sky.

"In the heavens on this night.

"I wonder what season it would be?"

This was Petal Shower's performance of Zhang Yuanqi's song. To be exact, she was singing a song that was written for Zhang Yuanqi by Zhang Ye!

As soon as she started singing, the entire studio audience was in shock!

Zhang Ye could also hear her singing, from the TV in the waiting room. Petal Shower was still singing in falsetto for the entire song. Almost no one else would risk singing that way! This was because the pitch changes while singing in falsetto were too minute and would make it sound too monophonic. A lot of the syllable enunciations in falsetto were not easy to control, in addition. But Petal Shower's vocals and her handling of the technique were very special. Her falsetto was truly different from all others!

This was her absolute killer move!

A few of the guessing panel's judges were also shocked by her performance!

When it was over, Dong Shanshan came onstage together with the first performer, King of Oddity. The three of them stood at center stage and faced the guessing panel.

Dong Shanshan smiled and said, "Judges, what do you think?"

Zhang Xia praised, "Petal Shower's rendition of the song was very good!"

Petal Shower bowed slightly and used the microphone fitted with the voice transformer to say, "Thank you, Grandma Zhang."

Zhang Xia blinked. "You're addressing me as grandma, so does that mean you're quite young?"

Petal Shower said, "Isn't 'grandma' your official title?"

The audience laughed.

Amy was startled and said, "Are you Sister Yuanqi? You're using that falsetto on purpose to throw us off? So that we won't be able to recognize you?"

When Petal Shower heard that, she immediately imitated Zhang Yuanqi's posture and physical mannerisms.

The audience was tickled.

Zhang Xia instantly laughed and said, "You're definitely not Yuanqi. Yuanqi isn't this playful."

Chen Guang looked at King of Oddity. "Do we know each other?"

King of Oddity looked back. "More or less."

Chen Guang asked another question, "Do you have my cell phone number?"

King of Oddity kept silent for a bit. "Yes."

The audience burst into an uproar!

Amy walked over to snatch Chen Guang's cell phone. "Give me your cell phone! I wanna browse through your contacts!"

Chen Guang's hair stood on end. "I want to look through it, but I can't seem to recognize him! There are over a hundred people involved with music in my contacts!"

Next, it was time for the live voting round.

The competition format was divided into two rounds. In the first round, six contestants would face off in separate one-on-one singing duels, with the winners advancing to the next round to fight for the spot of Masked King. Of the three defeated contestants, one would be chosen to be placed on the safe list and remain in the competition while the other two would be eliminated. The eliminated contestants could then either choose to reveal their identities or not do so and just leave the stage. Two contestants would be eliminated per episode. This was how cruel this competition format was!

Dong Shanshan pushed her gold-rimmed glasses up and announced, "Can everyone please pick up their voting devices and vote for the contestant you like most?"

The voting started!

On the big screen behind them, both of the contestants' tallies rose.

There were a total of 500 judges in the studio and a total of 500 votes to be cast.

The audience voted excitedly, their eyes glued to the big screen!

Finally, the tallies stopped!

King of Oddity: 137 votes.

Petal Shower: 362 votes.

One voter abstained from voting. That vote was invalidated!

Dong Shanshan said with a smile, "I hereby announce: The first contestant to advance is—Petal Shower!"

Petal Shower bowed slightly and glanced in the direction of the judges.

Chen Guang was looking right at her. Their eyes briefly met before both quickly looked away.

Dong Shanshan said to King of Oddity, "Let's have King of Oddity proceed backstage to rest and prepare for the next round."

King of Oddity did not show much of an expression. He nodded slightly to the judges and audience before leaving the stage.

Some of the audience members were happy with the result while some were feeling regret.

"I really like King of Oddity!"

"I still think that Petal Shower sang better!"

"Her singing was incredible!"

"This is so fun! This show is much more interesting than The Voice!"

"Hahaha, you can't put it that way. Compared to The Voice, this is a different genre. But I agree that this is super exciting indeed! I'd also like to know where the fuck this group of people who can sing so well jumped out from. Which big names are behind the masks?"

"Petal Shower has to be a big name!"

"That's right!"

Onstage.

The second group's singing duel began.

Sunflower in the Starlight vs. Sunset Glow.

Piercing screams once again rang out in the studio!

"The sun is my name."

"Heaven is my faith."

"The Earth is my refuge."

"Humanity is my enemy."

An amazing voice filled the studio!

...

The Clown was in the studio by now and was waiting behind the door.

Hu Fei deliberately rushed over and asked, "How are you?"

Han Qi hurriedly said, "Director Hu, don't make the teacher speak."

Hu Fei nodded and looked at The Clown. "Just do your best. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, that's not important anymore. That you've endured til now to go onstage is good enough, honestly."

Dafei also came over. "Yeah. If you can't continue singing, just walk off the stage. That'd be fine; no one would blame you."

The Clown smiled but did not speak.

In truth, none of them knew that The Clown's present health was far worse than they could imagine. It wasn't as simple an issue as a cold or a fever. He'd been injured by a grandmaster's concealed power attacks, as well as the attacks by the martial arts masters and disciples from over a dozen large sects. Right now, Zhang Ye was very weak physically.

He could hear the roar of the audience from here.

The voting had begun.

"Sunset Glow!"

"Sunset Glow!"

"Sunflower!"

"Sunflower!"

Everyone was shouting the names of the singers they supported!

Zhang Ye, however, was not paying any attention to it. He did not have the energy left to care about the other contestants' results. Just trying to stay standing was already sapping him of all his strength.

Finally, the voting ended!

He heard Dong Shanshan announce, "Let us congratulate Sunflower in the Starlight!"

Sunset Glow had lost, and lost by a very small margin, only a mere dozen votes or so!

At this moment, the recording inside the studio temporarily halted.

Dong Shanshan verified something with Hu Fei through her earpiece.

"Director."

"Yes."

"Is the next contestant able to make an appearance?"

"He's fine."

"OK, I understand."

The audience and judges in the studio looked curiously at Dong Shanshan, unsure of what was happening.

The recording continued.

Dong Shanshan said, "Our next contestant is feeling a little unwell today, but he still insists on coming out to perform. Let us welcome—The Clown!"

The Clown?

Zhang Xia was taken aback.

The audience turned to the direction of the door and clapped enthusiastically!

Behind the door.

Hu Fei said, "You can do it!"

Han Qi, who felt sorry for him, encouraged, "Teacher, you can do it!"

Dafei clenched a fist and held it up. "Come on! Teacher Clown!"

A female employee added, "Hang in there and finish the song!"

"You can definitely do it!" someone else said.

Many people from the program team were moved by The Clown's tenacity and unbending will. They knew deep down that someone who could take three cortisone shots would definitely not be a normal person. This was someone who wanted to get on stage even if it risked his life! They did not know why this person went so far to do this, why he was so hungry for the stage, why he did not fall even though it was clear that he was already on the verge of collapse!

The light came on!

The door opened!

Zhang Ye touched his mask and then walked forward slowly, step by step. The closer he got to the stage, the more determined his steps became!

Applause rang out again!

"Wow."

"That's a really nice mask!"

"The Clown?"

"What's with the way he's walking?"

"Is he really that sick? Why's he still pushing himself to go on stage then!"

"Man, it seems like it's really quite serious!"

"Can he even finish singing one song in that condition?"

"I don't know."

When the audience saw him, they started whispering. Some of them even pointed in the direction of the stage.

The person wearing the mask of a clown was taking a long time to walk the 20-odd meters to the center of the stage.

Zhang Xia frowned. "Can he really do it?"

Chen Guang said, "I heard that he has a fever and a very bad cold."

Amy was taken aback. "Ah?"

They were also singers and had encountered such situations themselves. They knew exactly what it felt like to sing in such a state, and judging from this person staggering onto the stage, it didn't look like it was just a simple case of a fever and bad cold!

Chen Yidong said, "This is going to be difficult for him."

Wang Zhuishu said, "Let's hope he can persevere to the end of the song."

In each of the waiting rooms, the other five contestants were watching him on TV.

At the center of the stage.

Zhang Ye finally reached it and stood there. He gently closed his eyes.

The lights shut off!

The studio quieted down instantaneously!

The notes of a flute suddenly drifted across the studio.

It was followed by a few notes from a piccolo.

The music started, but Zhang Ye did not move nor did he open his eyes.

Persevere to the end of the song?

He had been hearing similar words countless times since he'd made his way here from backstage. Did you guys misunderstand something? Do you think that I took three cortisone shots and came here carrying my old injuries just because I wanted to finish singing the song regardless of whether it was good or bad? Not only will I finish singing it, I will sing it well too!

So what if I lose my voice?

So what if my old injuries have acted up?

Those are not reasons!

I won't look for any excuses, and I don't need anyone's pity. All this while, I've walked alone, by myself. So I cannot falter here. Because I know that if I did, no one would help me up. As such, I can only keep walking, onwards and onwards, to the place I want to reach—this is probably the reason why I'm standing here!

The dazzling lights were shining from every direction!

The cameras were aimed at him.

The audience was watching him.

The guessing panel was watching him.

The other five contestants were watching him.

Beneath the mask of The Clown, a pair of eyes opened without warning. That sorrowful and hoarse voice from under the mask suddenly resonated through the entire studio!

"I am a wolf that comes from the north.

"Padding through the boundless wilderness.

"The mournful northern wind blows by.

"The slow sand brushes by."

Chen Guang was stunned!

Amy froze!

Zhang Xia was shocked!

What song was this?

Why hadn't they heard this song before?

A wolf?

A wolf that comes from the north?

Zhang Ye had already thrown him entire self into the song. He was not performing with the spirit of aloofness that the original version of "Wolf" had. He was using his imperfect voice to sing who he was right now! A wolf, an injured wolf! An injured wolf that still wanted to move forward!

Zhang Ye raised the microphone.

"I can only clench my cold, cold teeth!

"Respond with two long howls!

"Not for anything else!

"But for the beautiful plains found in legends!"

This was the portrayal of him today!

It was also the portrayal of him after several years in the entertainment industry!

He was tired!

He was scarred and wounded!

But he had to keep walking!

Amy was mesmerized!

Zhang Xia was dumbstruck!

Meanwhile, Chen Guang had his eyes firmly fixed on him as though he wanted to rush onto the stage to take off the mask and find out who he was!

Mournful!

Wintry winds!

Clench your cold, cold teeth for the beautiful plains found in legends?

The plains that you have in mind…What are they like? Is it worth pushing yourself to stand onstage in that condition and sing with that hoarse voice of yours?

Even Yao Jiancai, a music industry layman, was moved!

The judges all knew that this man must have a story to him. However, no one other than him would know what this story was or understand it!

Zhang Ye sang on, his eyes drooping heavily.

"I am a wolf that comes from the north.

"Padding through the boundless wilderness.

"The mournful northern wind blows by.

"The slow sand brushes by.

"I can only clench my cold, cold teeth.

"Respond with two long howls.

"Not for anything else!

"But for the beautiful plains found in legends!"

All of a sudden.

The Clown faced the sky as he howled.

"Awooooo!"

He was mimicking the call of a wolf!

This sustained howl lasted for a good nine seconds!

The studio atmosphere was instantly raised!

Chen Guang stood up. This was the first time he'd done so today while listening to a song being performed!

Amy did not stand up, though she did clutch her head and exclaim, "Oh my god!"

Zhang Xia was beyond curious. "Who on earth is this!"

Zhang Ye simply stopped caring about the state of his voice. Cracking? Trembling? Unable to hit the high notes? Breaking? Loss of voice? He did not care about any of that! The thought of not being able to continue singing or his voice suddenly disappearing did not even enter his mind!

"Not for anything else!

"But for the beautiful plains—found in legends!"