Chapter 105: The Final Camp War Goes Live

Time slipped by in the middle of nervous rehearsals.
Before long, Friday arrived, the live-broadcast day for the Ice and Fire Camp Final of Tomorrow’s Star.

That week, Nocturne, Fang Xing’s latest release, sat atop the Hot Song list of the Music Trend Chart for the third consecutive week.
To chase a livestream reservation record, Penguin Video had started advance booking three days early.
And as a bonus, reserving granted tickets to the finals. So the campaign was explosive: in just three days, reservations passed ten million.
The number shattered every previous record Penguin Video had set for exclusive variety shows.

Over ten million viewers reserving meant one thing: everyone was waiting to watch the ultimate showdown between Wu Juncheng’s Glacier Youth and Team Fire led by Fang Xing.
The more intense the tension, the more electrifying it felt.
The Glacier Youth’s fans naturally stood firmly behind their idols.
Team Fire, by contrast, was backed mostly by ordinary viewers and a noisy crowd of netizens who had spent the week dunking on Fang Xing online.

Rehearsals ended at six-thirty.
After an hour’s break, it was seven fifty.
Everything was ready for the live broadcast.

Total Director Tong Fei stepped to the microphone and announced clearly, “Episode Ten of Tomorrow’s Star, the Ice and Fire Camp Final is now live.”

As soon as the stream opened, hundreds of thousands flooded in.
Not every one of the million-plus people who had booked would actually sit in front of a screen from the start, so reaching ten million viewers at the beginning was already a terrifying number.

Once the live feed began, the stage’s giant screen erupted into a special-effects sequence:
two walls of flame burst into life—blue infernal fire on the left, deep crimson on the right.
Two colossal dragons roared through the blaze and wheeled through the air above the stage.

Triumphant music surged.
Host He Hao stepped forward in rhythm with it, standing between the flames of ice and fire, and announced,
“Welcome to the on-site guests, contestants, and audience for tonight’s Ice and Fire Camp Final of Tomorrow’s Star.
Welcome, too, to everyone watching from home.
Two weeks ago, eleven gifted young artists gave everything on stage and, with the summer’s most beautiful dream, formed the GLA Glacier Youth.
Tonight will be their very first challenge after forming the group.
Their opponents are Fang Xing—first on Tomorrow’s Star’s Overall Popularity List—and the Team Fire he leads.
Tonight is a contest of ice and fire. Will it be their vocals that move you, or their dance that strikes your heart most deeply? We shall wait and see.”

After the opening remarks, the production team invited members of both camps on stage to greet the audience. Each came forward to say a few words.

The Glacier Youth introductions were fully rehearsed.
Together, they gave the same gesture and called out in unison:
“We are the GLA Glacier Youth.”

Liu Yichen said,
“Hello, everyone. I’m Liu Yichen, GLA’s rap lead. With your support, I’ll keep shining on stage.”

Wu Juncheng followed,
“Hello everyone, I’m Wu Juncheng, captain of GLA, and I handle vocals and dance. I am strict with the members and even stricter with myself—
but with you… I am the most patient.”

On the last line he pointed toward the crowd below.
The audience erupted into screaming, waving glowsticks and shouting his name: “Wu Juncheng! Wu Juncheng! Wu Juncheng!”

Once everyone else finished, it was Wang Huajuan’s turn.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Wang Huajuan, the classical dance lead of GLA. I’m not the best dancer in the team, but I am surely the one most devoted to classical dance.”

Because Wu Juncheng had already taken the role of dance lead, Wang could only narrow it further, to “classical dance lead.”
No one truly cared what role he held. He was, after all, the least popular member anyway.

After the Glacier Youth lineup, He Hao shifted toward Team Fire and asked their members to add a few more lines each.
Fang Xing, however, kept it spare and crisp: “Hello everyone, I’m Fang Xing.”

Two seconds passed.
He Hao leaned in: “Done?”
“Done,” Fang Xing nodded.

The crowd had been startled for a moment, then a roar of applause cracked through the hall.

One of the more chaotic audience members shouted from the pit, “Stop dragging your feet and start already! If your song crashes tonight, I’m going full black mode online.”

“I appreciate that,” Fang Xing shot back, and the hall exploded into laughter.

He Hao then moved into a familiar callback.
“About two weeks ago, during the Debut Sprint Night livestream, I announced something here on stage.”

“That same evening, Fang Xing’s Nocturne topped the Hot Song list.”

“At the time, when I congratulated him on taking the top spot, what did he say?”
A lot of the audience answered together: “He said topping the Hot Song list is only the beginning.”

He Hao smiled. “Exactly. Fang Xing did say that, and yes—Nocturne being number one is only the beginning.
With its first week at the summit included, tonight it has now dominated the Hot Song list for three weeks. Congratulations to Nocturne for such a result.”

Fang Xing replied modestly, “Thank you, thank you.”

He Hao turned back and asked, “So tell us, how many more weeks do you think Nocturne can stay on top?”

“There… depends on when I release my next song.
No, just kidding—there’s no song that can stay in the Hot Song list forever.”

He Hao continued, “Three weeks at the top is already remarkable. It might even contend for the year-end Hot Song title.”

On the Music Trend Chart, heat values reset every week.
A song leading the Hot Song list for multiple weeks is already a major force.

After finishing his chat with Fang Xing, He Hao pivoted to the Glacier Youth and said,
“Congratulations to the Glacier Youth as well. Your song Young and Reckless has also topped the Hot Song list, with excellent results.”

All eleven members of the Glacier Youth immediately bowed and thanked him in chorus:
“Thank you… thank you…”

But while they bowed, Wu Juncheng and Liu Yichen wore expressions as dark as a soot-black pan.

Young and Reckless had in fact reached number one thanks to fan crowdfunding and company promotion.
But it hadn’t held the summit for a full week—just one day—before Nocturne overtook it.
In other words, Young and Reckless only made a brief appearance at the top before being pushed off.
Then the Nocturne era took command of the Hot Song list.

He Hao had just finished praising Nocturne’s dominance and then immediately praised Young and Reckless’ performance.
For Wu Juncheng and Liu Yichen, their faces had already gone completely black with frustration.