Chapter One: The Talent Show at the Fish Pond

Early morning, in the training room of Goose Factory’s talent show “Tomorrow’s Star.”

“Doo doo doo doo doo…”

Fang Xing practiced “doos” in front of the mirrored wall, running scales from low to high and back again, repeating the cycle. This was the first step in vocal training, meant to engage the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, producing a strong airflow to impact the vocal cords.

Afterward, he moved on to humming exercises. While warming up his voice, he also checked his vocal range.

“E2 to B4, covering the golden range almost entirely. With a bit of technique at the G4 transition, I can unify the tone, and the voice has great depth. This is a voice that almost feels like a gift from heaven.”

Fang Xing tested the range he could sing steadily—not his absolute limits. Compared to his previous life, the fundamental quality of this voice was even better.

If there was a flaw, it was that High C was stuck at the second transition point, causing a break near High C and a lack of tonal consistency, falling short of performance standards. This could be fixed with scientific vocal training and range expansion.

But in current boy group auditions, the vocal ability was like a fish pond: average skills barely at bronze level. With his current vocal quality and theoretical foundation, Fang Xing could sweep the competition.

While he was practicing, the training room door opened.

Chen Chaonan, the vocal coach for “Tomorrow’s Star,” arrived early and heard someone practicing inside. Curious, he stepped in for a look. “Up so early?”

Fang Xing nodded. “Yes, I’m used to it.”

“Your warm-up is quite professional, but you sound rusty. Haven’t practiced in a while, right?”

Chen Chaonan was a graduate of Donghai Conservatory of Music and now a doctoral advisor there. Fang Xing had attended his public lectures in school.

Chen Chaonan was invited by the “Tomorrow’s Star” production team to serve as vocal coach.

“It’s been a long time…” Fang Xing smiled awkwardly, silently adding, The last time I did vocal training was in my previous life.

In his past life, Fang Xing lived on Earth, formally trained in vocals, and had spent years immersed in musical theater. His singing was masterful, and he was well-known in the musical scene, though musicals were niche and he lacked broad fame. Three days ago, after the curtain fell on the touring show “Among the Living,” Fang Xing was knocked out drunk at the cast party, only to awaken in this parallel world called Blue Star.

Now, he was one of 101 trainees in Goose Factory’s “Tomorrow’s Star,” assigned to Class F—the infamous cannon fodder class.

More importantly, tonight was the first public performance. According to the rules, after the first round, all Class F trainees would be eliminated—a brutal system.

Despite being in Class F, Fang Xing wasn’t anxious. He calmly continued to train.

Chen Chaonan, seeing Fang Xing’s earnest attitude, offered a few more words:

“Vocal training is a matter of perseverance. Three days fishing, two days drying nets won’t do. If you want to achieve anything, you must stick with it. But nowadays, in the entertainment industry…”

He paused. “Forget it. Your vocal quality is excellent. Even if you leave the show, keep training. Go on, I’ll check the next room.”

He felt Fang Xing looked familiar, but couldn’t place him.

…

Near ten o’clock, the trainees of each team arrived one after another.

Fang Xing’s team had seven members in total, led by Wu Junchen from Class A, a popular contestant.

Wu Junchen came from a major music company, Trend Sound Culture. Before joining Goose Factory’s limited group audition, he had participated in two other talent shows and placed in both, so his popularity was high.

Trainees like Wu Junchen, who repeatedly took part in talent competitions, had an affectionate nickname: “twice-cooked pork.” In the early episodes, the popularity charts were dominated by these seasoned contestants.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Wu Junchen entered the training room, clapping his hands. “Let’s start rehearsal. Same as yesterday—let’s run through the dance from the top with the backing track.”

Fang Xing had planned to continue vocal training, but dance and singing practice helped with breath control and stamina, so he quietly followed his teammates’ routine these past days.

Though his previous life’s vocal foundation was solid, it was mostly theoretical now; his current vocal cords, chest cavity, and diaphragm muscles weren’t yet trained for full control. Even with theory, he couldn’t achieve the desired effect.

…

The light notes floated from the speakers as the team began rehearsal.

The performance song was “That Girl,” with two lines in the chorus that reached D5, assigned to Wu Junchen.

Each time Wu Junchen sang the last two chorus lines, Fang Xing’s cheeks twitched.

As for Wu Junchen’s singing ability, Fang Xing didn’t know how to comment.

His voice wasn’t bad—he could hit D5. But what does D5 mean in international notation? It’s a step above the tenor’s High C—also known as High D.

Because male voices are notated an octave higher, male and female High C differ. Piano’s High C is in the three-lined octave, C6, with a frequency of 1046.5 Hz. Female voices match the piano, C6. Male High C is actually C5, 523.3 Hz. One of the world’s three great tenors, Pavarotti, sang High C as C5.

Simply put, in choral arrangements, men sing an octave below women—determined by vocal characteristics, not superiority.

So how high is the D5 in “That Girl’s” chorus? For example, the highest note in the chorus of Shin Band’s “Love Even Unto Death” is D5.

Wu Junchen could reach it, but his voice sounded thin, as if he were forcing it out.

To the audience, it might seem impressive, even amazing, to sing so high. With a bit of post-production tuning, he could easily be branded as the “Prince of High Notes.”

Yet, this kind of strained, shouting technique would earn a scolding from any vocal teacher. Anyone with basic vocal training could hear Wu Junchen’s high notes lacked resonance, sharp as a blade.

During the dance, Fang Xing stood at Wu Junchen’s right. Hearing those two chorus lines up close felt like someone stabbing his cochlea.

If he kept listening, Fang Xing felt his ears would give out.

There’s a saying in vocal training: “Train your ears before your voice.” Ears are the only organ for detecting pitch, as important as the voice itself.

After being tortured several times, Fang Xing couldn’t take it anymore. At the chorus, he instinctively shifted right.

Besides Fang Xing, another Class F trainee also missed a dance step.

Wu Junchen stopped the music, displeased. “Fang Xing, Hu Chenglin, what’s going on? Every time we reach the last set of moves, you both mess up. The performance is tonight—can’t you take it seriously?”

Fang Xing rummaged through his bag, pulled out a pair of headphones, put them on, and replied expressionlessly, “I won’t get it wrong this time.”

Just then,

The cameraman filming daily training pushed the lens over.

Seeing the camera approach, Wu Junchen immediately assumed the captain’s authority, admonishing, “Is your attitude saying I don’t have the right to correct you?

“If you mess up, I don’t care. Even if we lose tonight, I won’t be eliminated. But have you thought about the others?

“The lower the team ranks in the performance, the more members get cut. The last-place team loses three people—you’re not dragging me down, but the other brothers.”

He grew more impassioned, eventually covering his forehead and eyes, losing control and looking on the verge of tears.

At that moment,

The director signaled the cameraman in a low voice, “Zoom in, get a close-up, close-up.”

If the daily training footage was too bland, the show would be boring. The director sensed this segment would be a highlight, guaranteed for trending searches.

He even imagined the search keywords:

[Heartache: Popular contestant exhausts himself for team success, loses control from worry about teammates’ elimination, nearly in tears.]

The other teammates crowded around to comfort the captain. Brotherhood, camaraderie, strong CP vibes—another trending topic.

The director signaled the cameraman to circle the lens, ensuring every member was filmed.

Except for one person, all surrounded Wu Junchen, comforting him.

That person, of course, was Fang Xing, standing off to the side with a blank face, utterly out of place.

These days, in talent shows, singing skill matters little; social savvy is everything.

If you can’t sing, bring on the tears.

As soon as an idol cries, fans weep for them.

The trending searches shoot up.

Especially when there’s a “bad apple” in the team to make the male idol cry.

The topic explodes instantly, fans rush in to savage the offending trainee.

Clearly, Fang Xing was now the “bad apple.”

Fang Xing was resigned—he had merely missed a step in rehearsal, and this drama king seized the chance to put on a show.

But the acting was so clumsy, Fang Xing didn’t know how to join in, so he simply crossed his arms and watched their performance expressionlessly.

Once the cameras had their fill, Wu Junchen gradually regained composure and encouraged, “It’s okay if you can’t remember the dance. We still have half a day, ask for help if you need it—we’re all here for you. Have confidence. Class F doesn’t mean you’re bad. If we win first place, there’s a chance for everyone to advance to the next round.”

The director excitedly signaled the cameraman to capture this moment—another highlight.

He quickly imagined new trending keywords:

[Warm-hearted: Popular captain refuses to give up, encourages Class F trainees, determined to lead the team to round two.]

After Wu Junchen’s pep talk, the cameraman expertly zoomed in on Fang Xing’s face, waiting for his response.

Everyone looked to Fang Xing, hoping he’d say, “Let’s work hard together!”

That would neatly wrap up the show segment.

Unfortunately, Fang Xing had been hot-tempered in his previous life and never indulged these antics.

…

…

Note:

Because piano notation, male notation, and female notation represent different actual pitches, writing them out gets messy.

This novel uses international notation: C (do), D (re), E (mi), F (fa), G (so), A (la), B (si).

The male golden vocal range is the fourth octave in international notation: C4, D4, E4, F4, G4, A4, B4.