Chapter 70: Third Performance (8)
Xue Yi looked at the nine people behind him and said, “You can go down now.”
According to the program team’s discussion, to avoid making things too uncomfortable, it was best to speed up the process after the ranking list was released, so that the trainees wouldn’t have too much time to feel uneasy, and everything would be over before they knew it.
In other words, take care of everything while everyone is still confused and unsure.
Although everyone had mentally prepared for the results of the third ranking release, hearing that they were about to watch the training footage of their groups caught the trainees off guard; they hadn’t expected it at all.
“Is it really that fast?”
“It’s fine if it’s quick. I just want to see how everyone is training behind the scenes.”
“To be honest, I want to see the ‘Collapse’ group, it’s so chaotic, I suspect they’re fighting each other during training.”
“I still want to see the ‘Heaven’ group. With so many big shots in the group, do they really not have fights? I don’t believe it. Their fights must be as intense as ours in the ‘Collapse’ group.”
“Hahaha, is your definition of intense the kind where even if you’re standing in the C-position, you still get your spotlight stolen by your teammates on stage?”
“Don’t tear down people’s dignity, I’m begging you!”
As the eliminated trainees quietly discussed among themselves, the nine trainees who made the cut walked off the stage and quietly sat in the back.
To make the eliminated trainees feel better, the nine of them sat together. Xiang Yueting controlled his natural tendency to chatter. Not only did he not approach them to start a conversation, but he also quietly closed his mouth, creating a rare moment of silence.
Xue Yi adjusted the USB drive, lowered his head, clicked on the multimedia device with the mouse, and explained, “This time, we’re going with a casual approach. I’ll close my eyes and point to whichever video I land on. That’s the one we’ll play.”
“Of course, each video clip isn’t very long. As I’ve said before, if anyone wants to watch the full version, please head over to the official account or the video platforms collaborating with our production team.”
After speaking, Xue Yi really did close his eyes and began randomly clicking among the four group videos with the mouse.
Click click…
After two clicks, the video for the “Collapse” group started playing.
The edited video for the “Collapse” group wasn’t very long—only 25 minutes in total.
Out of those 25 minutes, 10 were taken up by Xia Wenhao and Xiang Yueting fighting over the center position. The remaining 15 minutes were mostly filled with the “Collapse” group’s various enthusiastic pep talks that changed every day.
Their motivational lines included but were not limited to the following:
“Punching ‘Lemon Hawthorn,’ kicking ‘Heaven,’ butt-bumping ‘Delusion,’ our ‘Collapse’ group is the best!”
“‘Collapse’ forever has god-tier performances!”
“Buddha, Bodhisattva, God, and angels—please bless us not to be matched against the ‘Heaven’ group!”
“‘Heaven’? Who cares? ‘Collapse’ is the one and only!”
“First thing every day—announce to the world that ‘Collapse’ is the most 66666!”
…
Among these, the plea “Please bless us not to go up against the ‘Heaven’ group” appeared the most frequently.
At the end of the video, the production team had also included clips of the “Collapse” group hyping each other up in the room before going on stage.
After watching, the trainees fell silent for a second—then burst into unrestrained laughter.
“The passion is real, but so is the comedy. Hahaha, my stomach hurts from laughing!”
“As expected, you shouldn’t go around raising flags before a match. I seriously suspect the ‘Collapse’ group got unlucky and drew the ‘Heaven’ group because of those slogans they kept yelling every day.”
“I know it’s kind of mean to say this, but I can’t help it—Xiang Yueting and Xia Wenhao fought over the center position for absolutely nothing, hahaha…”
“Help, my secondhand embarrassment is acting up again. How did they even manage to shout those cringey, over-the-top slogans out loud?”
“Watching ‘Collapse’ in the third performance and then this behind-the-scenes training edit… the production team is even crueler than we are! They made sure every single member of the ‘Collapse’ group was publicly executed equally.”
As for the “Collapse” group members themselves, they were fully aware of how thoroughly they had embarrassed themselves—each of them just wanted to dig a hole on the spot and disappear into it.
Back when they were shouting those slogans every day during training, they were high on adrenaline and firmly believed they would deliver a god-tier performance. That way, when the behind-the-scenes training footage aired, everyone would feel their youthful energy and confidence.
They never thought there was anything wrong with what they were saying—never thought it was cringey. In fact, they thought it was cool and impressive.
But… fate is just that cruel and unforgiving.
The energy and confidence they envisioned never came through. Instead, what got perfectly conveyed to the audience in the studio and livestream was just how utterly foolish they looked.
The only thing that gave them a shred of comfort now was that Xia Wenhao and Xiang Yueting hadn’t been dragged down by the group and had made it into the rankings. Otherwise, the guilt would’ve been unbearable.
[During training they were already so fired up, and even right before going on stage they were still hyping each other up backstage. No wonder things ended up falling apart later…]
[I suspect the reason the ‘Collapse’ group ended up in that state on stage was partly because they were emotionally shaken by ‘Delusion’ and freaked out by the news of facing off against the ‘Heaven’ group—so they just gave up. The other reason is probably that they were always so fired up during training that they couldn’t keep their heads cool.]
[Other teams just go through the motions when they cheer each other on, but the ‘Collapse’ group? They were doing it with their whole heart.]
[I think the production team edited it this way on purpose—to teach them a lesson.]
[Only the ‘Collapse’ group managed to unlock the full-on public humiliation achievement.]
Once the “Collapse” group video ended, Xue Yi, as usual, gave everyone five minutes to chat and reflect. When time was up, he clicked to close the video.
“Get ready. I’m about to start randomly clicking again.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xue Yi had already opened the video for the “Delusion” group.
The behind-the-scenes footage for the “Delusion” group was even shorter—just 15 minutes.
The fight over the center position in “Delusion” didn’t last long. After all, there weren’t many top-tier members in the group, so things were settled based on pure skill. Mu Zhenchu took the center position without any dispute—he earned it fair and square.
Naturally, as the main center, Mu Zhenchu’s part in the song was also the most critical.
However, aside from Mu Zhenchu, the rest of the group members fiercely competed over their parts. No one was willing to back down; everything was settled through head-on battles.
As a result, out of the 15-minute edit, 10 minutes were dedicated to showing how the members of “Delusion” fought to claim their parts in the song.
The remaining 5 minutes were focused on actual training scenes.
After watching the “Delusion” group’s video, the general feeling among everyone was one of genuine respect.
“Aside from the strongest member in the ‘Delusion’ group, everyone else really dared to speak up and fight for their share of the spotlight.”
“They acknowledged the top dog’s excellence and didn’t fight that, but they didn’t give up what they felt was rightfully theirs either. Respect!”
“This kind of bold, competitive spirit—without all the loud pep talks—really gave the group a solid core. No wonder the ‘Delusion’ stage had that explosive energy without ever spiraling out of control. Their emotional restraint was spot on.”
“It’s just a shame… they had all the fire, but not the fanbase…”
“Ahem…”
Right in front of the cameras, before that last comment could be completed, the trainee sitting next to the speaker interrupted with a well-timed cough.
The person who’d spoken quickly realized their comment was inappropriate and fell silent immediately.
[‘Delusion’ really did beat ‘Lemon Hawthorn’ and got bonus votes, but if we’re just talking about individual ability and stage presence, the ranking results make sense to me.]
[Who would’ve thought? ‘Delusion’ won the vote bonus, but only Mu Zhenchu made it into the rankings. Meanwhile, the losing ‘Lemon Hawthorn’ group got two people in. It’s understandable that some people are upset.]
Once the “Delusion” group’s video ended, Xue Yi clicked next—landing on the “Lemon Hawthorn” group.
Their edited video was also 15 minutes long.
In that short span, the first five minutes showed the team choosing their center and distributing parts. The remaining ten minutes focused entirely on their day-to-day training over the last three days.
After watching, everyone could only think of one word: gentle.
The “Lemon Hawthorn” group seemed to have gathered the nine most mild-tempered trainees out of all 36. They didn’t have the passionate chaos of the “Collapse” group or the fierce competition of “Delusion.” The entire video radiated a calm and peaceful atmosphere.
The “Lemon Hawthorn” group selected their center through a show-of-hands vote and assigned parts by politely yielding to one another.
[I don’t know why, but after watching them, the only thing I could think of was a sloth. Not because they moved slowly, but because they all had that peaceful, sloth-like expression on their faces—you get what I mean, right?]
[Totally get it. Watching them assign parts made me want to Photoshop a thermos into each of their hands.]
[Damn, a thermos—now I can’t unsee it, that image is hilarious!]
With only the “Heaven” group left, Xue Yi no longer had to blindly click. He deliberately selected the training footage for the “Heaven” group.
As soon as the video started, the first thing everyone noticed was the runtime.
“Holy crap, it’s forty-five minutes long! That’s the length of a full TV episode.”
“As expected. Any group with Shen Xiu in it—of course even the edited version wouldn’t be short.”
“Damn it, I demand a full investigation into why the ‘Heaven’ group got such a long video! If the reasoning doesn’t convince me, I’m filing a protest!”
The “Heaven” group’s edited version wasn’t arranged chronologically. It opened with a five-minute segment about choosing the center.
And how did they choose?
They all stood in front of the mirror and compared themselves to Shen Xiu as the reference point.
After watching the first five minutes, the livestream audience had this to say:
[…Wait.]
[They picked their center… based on height?! Are my eyes playing tricks on me?! This group is full of top-tier talents, and you’re telling me they picked their center by height?!]
[Of all the ways the elite could choose a center… this has got to be the most hilariously humble. Never would’ve guessed.]
[And just like that, “weird ways to choose a center” gets a new entry.]
[I’ve seen centers chosen by looks, by ability—but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of picking a center based on height. The ‘Heaven’ group is killing me with their creativity.]
After watching, even trainees from other groups that had used all kinds of methods to select their centers were stunned: “Never saw this coming. Truly didn’t.”
But what shocked both the audience and the trainees the most was this:
In the 45-minute edited video, not a single second was dedicated to actual training.
All 40 remaining minutes were about dividing up parts.
To be precise:
30 minutes were spent showing each of the nine members individually singing their parts from “Heaven”.
The final 10 minutes featured Song Chengwang reading aloud the nine-member vote results, and Shen Xiu tallying everything on printed lyric sheets.
Despite the length, neither the audience nor the trainees felt bored—there wasn’t the slightest complaint about it being long or dragging.
Instead, everyone just wanted to give it up for them.
“All nine of them chose Shen Xiu for the three hardest sections, and he voted for himself too—I’m absolutely floored!”
“This part distribution—no one, and I mean no one, could have a single objection. To be this fair and just is seriously rare.”
“My only regret now is that I never got to be in the same group as Shen Xiu.”
[Finally, it all makes sense. I always wondered why everyone left the practice room at different times. Turns out, they weren’t fighting—they were each going to record vocals!]
[Who could watch this and not say Shen Xiu is the real deal? Coming up with such a detailed, foolproof system that leaves no room for complaint… that’s genius.]
[It’s confirmed—everyone in the ‘Heaven’ group really followed Boss Shen’s method and divided parts based on merit. Even under the pressure of possibly making him angry, they still gave the hardest sections to the most suitable person: Boss Shen himself.]
[But the wildest part? Shen Xiu actually voted for himself too. I’m crying. Taking responsibility and receiving such unwavering trust from others—Boss Shen is just so strong and outstanding!]
[Wait a minute… there are only nine people left now, and the debut lineup has nine spots. But the final hasn’t even happened yet. I suddenly have a bad feeling. Knowing how this show rolls, don’t tell me they’re planning to change the number of debut spots on the final day?!]
