Trainee Ch.100

Chapter 100: Finals (End)

The live comments and audience alike were all cheering for Lai Yudong.

He set down the microphone and turned toward the pyramid that represented debut positions. The seat for second place was on the left side of the second row.

It was his first time stepping onto the second row of the pyramid — before this, he had always been bouncing around somewhere on the third.

Lai Yudong climbed the steps one by one. The four trainees who had already been announced as debut members had been waiting for a while; all of them stood up from their seats to welcome his arrival.

“Wow! Yuki, your ranking is insane!”

“Told you you’d make top three!”

…

After a few simple exchanges, Lai Yudong sat down on the single sofa marked for second place. Quietly, he took out the tissues he had specially prepared to wipe his tears — and while the director hadn’t switched the camera to him yet, he hurriedly touched up his makeup.

Thankfully, he’d held himself back enough not to cry into a total mess.

Once the names from second to sixth place were announced, there was no suspense left about first place.

“First place.”

“This trainee first appeared to the audience of Starseekers as the center, his adorable looks paired with outstanding dance skills. With his own charm and strength, he has finally achieved his dream.”

“Congratulations, Su Junzhe.”

The boy with chocolate-colored hair looked up at his image on the screen. His curved eyes shimmered with pure joy; the redness at their corners deepened as tears filled them and streamed down his cheeks.

Ranking curve: 6–3–1–2–1.

From a total newcomer debuting as the initial center to fighting his way to the final center.

[The initial center becomes the final center!]

[Congrats to our Su Su baby for debuting as center!]

[Su Junzhe—rightfully number one!]

[It’s been a tough journey for all the Zhezhe fans (exhausted).]

[Wuwuwu this is the first time our Sweet Su has ever cried, right?]

Standing at the podium, Su Junzhe took off the mask he’d used to hide himself.

“To stand on the stage of my dreams, I’ve given more effort than anyone could imagine. I hoped that one day, I would meet people who truly supported me. And now, I’ve finally met you all.”

“From here on, I’ll keep moving forward bravely on the path of my dreams. I hope we can walk this road together. Thank you, everyone!”

Lai Yudong smiled and applauded. He had just finished tidying up his appearance, yet a new wave of emotion welled up in him, making him want to cry all over again.

Maybe this was the power of chasing dreams.

He looked at the curly-haired boy walking up toward the top of the pyramid and stood up in advance to welcome him.

“Uuugh, I was so nervous I could die!”

Breaking away from Mo Li’s embrace, Su Junzhe ran full speed toward Lai Yudong and threw himself into his arms. “Watching you guys get announced one after another from the pending area was so terrifying!”

“I get it, I get it.” Lai Yudong helplessly patted Su Junzhe on the back. With just one glance, he could tell that this guy was slipping back into his “sweetheart persona.”

“Right? Right? I looked to both sides and everyone was gone!”

Su Junzhe lifted his head, switching to a genuine, heartfelt smile. “But still, it’s amazing that we get to debut together — and the people on both sides of me are my good friends.”

Then he sighed softly. “It’s just a pity Jin Xiheng isn’t here.”

Jin Xiheng was the only roommate from Dorm 706 who had made it this far with him.

Lai Yudong comforted him, saying, “Teacher Jin’s going back to run his own dance studio. He’s an entrepreneurial young man — soon his Jin Dance Academy will be opening branches all across the country.”

“He probably doesn’t even know he’s got a franchise plan now.”

“It’s fine. We’ll just dream big for him.”

Only then did Su Junzhe break into a tearful laugh.

With the top six announced, only the crucial seventh-place spot remained to be revealed.

Lai Yudong’s emotions were no less intense than when his own second-place ranking had been announced. Among all their dormmates, he was still the only one who had made it in. There were others he was close to — like Yin Zizhen — but there was only one debut spot left.

No matter who got it, he would feel a mix of joy and sorrow tangled together.

[Even though my bias already debuted, I’m still so nervous orz]

[I feel like seventh place is the most nerve-wracking one.]

[No, eighth place is the real thrill.]

[That’s not a thrill, that’s a death sentence.]

[I’m losing it — there are still so many of my favorite boys in the pending zone…]

“Next,” Fu Hanyu said, adjusting the order of his cue cards, “we’ll announce the final trainee who will realize his dream of debuting.”

The director cut the camera to the only empty seat left.

“Seventh place.”

“This trainee showcased his rap skills during the second performance round, repeatedly hovering near the cutoff line when forming groups or advancing — and this time, he’s managed to debut right on the edge once again.”

“Congratulations, Li Xu.”

A steadily climbing ranking graph appeared on the big screen below —

56 → 37 → 14 → 8 → 7.

Like climbing a staircase, he had reached the summit step by step.

[Li Hong, may you stay popular forever!!!]

[Whoa, is this the power of changing your name?]

[For a second I thought they were announcing Xiao Zhen…]

[Why not An Mu??]

[Li Hong was 5th on the Meteor chart, while An Mu was only 12th — the lower ranks were catching up fast.]

[The Hong fans literally spent their way into debut.]

[Ahhh even our fandom is losing its name rights now!]

[It’s normal — didn’t the You fans beat the Li fans by topping the chart? All survival shows run on money anyway.]

[He got pushed twice already — it’d be weird not to debut.]

[Stupid Sky Entertainment, give me back 707!!!]

[It’s fine, Xu An, start packing up and get ready for the tour hahaha.]

Just a second ago, Li Xu had been zoning out, but the next instant he jolted awake. His first instinct was to turn and look at Xu An.

The disappointment of seeing his friend fail to debut outweighed the joy of his own success.

No matter whose name was called in this round, he knew he wouldn’t truly feel happy.

Xu An, on the other hand, smiled as he stepped forward to give him a congratulatory hug — only to be startled when the person in his arms suddenly burst into tears. Panicking, he hurried to comfort his roommate.

In the end, Xu An laughed and gave Li Xu a gentle push toward the debut area.

From his seat on the pyramid, Lai Yudong took everything in. He rose from his position as second place, watching from afar as the red-haired boy made his way toward them.

That gentle push from behind him earlier… was probably Xu An.

“I… I didn’t think the last debut spot would be mine,” Li Xu said, voice trembling as he stood at the podium. “I even told Miura that if I didn’t debut, I’d just start streaming as a virtual YouTuber… I already had the whole persona planned out — just needed to commission the model and buy the equipment after the show ended…”

[It’s okay, you can still do it.]

[Support for Li Hong debuting in both 2D and 3D worlds!]

[You two sure have interesting conversations, huh.]

[Give Yuzu a model too.]

[Pomelo skin (??)]

Li Xu stumbled through his debut speech — clearly improvised, with a jumble of thanks to his roommates, fans, and even his little sister — then finally set down the mic and walked toward the last open seat on the pyramid.

He hadn’t meant to cry, and he’d tried so hard to hold it in.

But when Li Xu looked up, the first thing he saw was Lai Yudong’s tears streaming down like rain — his expression somewhere between joy and sorrow, impossible to tell which it was.

Yawns are contagious, and so are tears.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Lai Yudong pulled Li Xu into a hug as the other buried his face against his shoulder, crying quietly. He didn’t even bother to wipe his own tears as he used the same tone and logic the comment section would: “Everyone saw Xu An’s performance — he can hold a solo tour now. His fans have been waiting for this moment for three years.”

“I know, but still…”

“When the time comes, we’ll buy tickets and go together.”

“Buy tickets? Shouldn’t he be the one sending you both some?” Zhao Yifeng reached out to ruffle Lai Yudong’s hair, speaking in a joking tone to lighten the mood. “He’s so popular, his tickets will sell out in seconds — you two won’t even get one.”

Li Xu mumbled, “Then he should do a seated show. If it’s standing-only, we’ll just have to sneak backstage.”

“That means a venue of at least a thousand people, right?”

“He’s got the skills to fill a thousand-seat venue.”

“I know, but going straight to that right after the show isn’t realistic. Usually, you start small — like a music festival or a live house to test the waters. The vibe’s great too, you can jump along with the crowd.”

“His songs aren’t the type you jump to.”

Caught in the middle, Lai Yudong: “……”

How did this even turn into a whole discussion?

They might as well just apply to be Xu An’s management team at this point.

Between laughter and tears, the debut lineup announcement came to an end.

The screen displayed the final rankings of the remaining trainees—

Eighth place: Yin Zizhen.

Ninth place: Cheng Jinghao.

Tenth place: Xu An.

Eleventh place: Jiang Yangfan.

Twelfth place: Qu Junwei.

After everyone’s final rankings were displayed one by one, the debut group returned to the stage.

For the first time, they performed their debut song together as an official boy group. Confetti and jets of colored smoke burst forth right on cue at the finale, dazzling like a shower of fireworks.

And with that, StarEpoch officially debuted.

…

[Congratulations, Host. You have completed the side mission: Debut as a Group.]

The cold electronic voice echoed in Lai Yudong’s mind, reminding him that it was time to wake up from this beautiful dream.

He was a traveler who had crossed into a parallel world to complete missions.

No matter how real the experience felt, this world did not truly belong to him.

Yet the system’s next words left his brain frozen for a moment.

System: [Please choose whether to load the ending save file.]

Lai Yudong: […What do you mean?]

System: [To continue from the talent show result.]

Lai Yudong: [Continue how? Do you mean world fusion?]

If it meant world fusion, he would rather refuse.

He couldn’t imagine how terrifying it would be for two separate consciousnesses from different worlds to merge into one — especially when everyone around them remained unaware. The mere thought of it filled him with a surreal, indescribable dread.

System: [No. This system currently does not support that feature.]

Lai Yudong: [Then please explain it in plain language that I can actually understand.]

System: [You can think of the time you traveled here as a “save point.” If the mission fails, you reach a bad ending (BE) and return to the save point to make another choice — essentially entering a new instance.]

Lai Yudong: [So this time I got a happy ending (HE)?]

System: [Correct. Now, you can either return to the save point, or choose to load the HE ending — which means no reset. Of course, if you prefer, you may also voluntarily begin your next mission.]

Lai Yudong: […]

He’d have to be out of his mind to actually want to keep traveling through worlds, right?

Thinking about it like a multi-ending RPG game, Lai Yudong tried to make sense of this surreal development and roughly understood what the system meant.

Still, given his deep distrust of the system, he decided to clarify things first.

Lai Yudong: [If I choose to load the save file or not load it, what happens to the two worlds respectively?]

System: [If you choose the former, the parallel world will be designated as the real world — the continuation or future of the save point. There will ultimately be only one world, and any existing bugs will be automatically corrected for you. If you choose not to load, the real world remains the real world, and the parallel world remains the parallel world. In the end, there will be two worlds.]

Got it — nothing too shady there.

He could either go back to the start and do it all again, or accept the “idol” route as his happy ending.

His answer was already clear in his heart, but curiosity made him wonder about the other option.

If he chose not to load, what would happen to the parallel world? Would there be some AI version of Lai Yudong taking his place?

System: [Rest assured, it will be handled properly.]

Lai Yudong: [For example?]

System: [An accident will be arranged to ensure your data exits perfectly — for instance, dying in a car crash on debut day.]

Lai Yudong: [?]

Did this system have a very warped idea of what “perfect” meant?!

If this were a novel, readers would be flooding the author with knife emojis!

System: [Host, please make your choice.]

Lai Yudong: [Load the save. I’ll keep being an idol.]

System: [Command executed.]

And in that single thought, the future shifted in an instant.

Lai Yudong suddenly heard a 3D surround sound in his head, like listening to ASMR through headphones.

—— You have obtained the HE ending: Debuted as a group.

—— Loading ending.

—— World adjusting…

—— Ding! Loading complete!

—— Current world confirmed as: Real world.

It felt like only a second had passed, yet also like an eternity.

In a daze, Lai Yudong felt as if someone had pulled him out of a dream and back into reality—

or rather, that he had turned a beautiful dream into reality.

System: [In recognition of the host’s outstanding performance, you will be awarded an SSR-level random mission reward. Please think “draw” to begin the lottery.]

Lai Yudong: [Draw.]

System: [Congratulations! You have obtained the live comment function. Duration: until group disbandment. Usage permissions: limited to shows and performances.]

Lai Yudong: […]

Who the hell wants this kind of prize?!

Shouldn’t an SSR-level reward be something like superpowers or money powers? This is way too stingy!

If he wanted to see live comments, he could just open his phone; if he wanted them floating in midair, he could use a projection. No need for all this trouble!

Just as Lai Yudong was about to curse the system, several voices called out behind him.

“Yuki! They’re handing out the phones!”

“Should we add each other on WeChat?”

“Let’s make a group chat—do it face-to-face so we can all join.”

“The password’s 0703—Miura, remember that.”

“This last one’s his, right?”

Lai Yudong quickly turned around and ran toward the staff surrounded by his teammates—everyone was waiting for him.

“Coming!”

…

The first thing they did after debuting as a group was to unify their Weibo usernames.

Among the seven fandoms, Yuzu-fans were the most anxious—they had no idea how the company would handle the naming.

Although “Miura Yuki” was the more recognizable name, and the one used throughout the show—so from a publicity standpoint, keeping it would have been the smart move—the fans cared more about what he wanted.

If the final name wasn’t his real one—the name he truly preferred—they were already prepared to stage a full-scale defense under the official account.

If necessary, they’d band together, hold raffles, and plaster the whole site with protest banners.

Victory or martyrdom—there was no middle ground.

A few minutes later, the Weibo names finally refreshed.

Along with it appeared a brand-new post—

a photo of a starry sky, taken personally by him.

[@StarEpoch–Lai Yudong]: The stars look beautiful tonight ^ ^ [Photo]

——————————————————————————————————

Author’s Note:

About the Ending — Explained from Different Angles!

[College Entrance Exam Version]

Yuzu got his college entrance exam results.
The system asked if he wanted to retake the exam.
Yuzu chose not to retake it, so his current score was adopted by the real world —
that became his final result.

---

[Numerical Version]

The real world is set as 1.
Different choices lead to different lives:

• The idol-world ending after crossing over is 1–1.
• Moving on to the next mission would be 1–2.
• Failing a task becomes 1–3.
• Returning to the original world as a non-idol is 1–4.

That means 1–1 and 1–4 are two separate worlds.
Yuzu’s choice was 1–1.

The world continues onward — for example: 1–1–1–2–3 or 1–1–2–3–1, where each dash (–) represents a branching point.

---

[Comment Section “Date Version”]

Yuzu’s initial save point was on the 1st.
The events on the 2nd to the 4th were the continuation of that initial save.
Finally, on the 10th, he cleared the game with the HE (Happy Ending).
That date — the 10th — became the ending save file.

If he rolled back (loaded the initial save), he’d return to the 1st.
But by loading the ending save, the events from the 2nd to the 10th
were officially moved to follow after the 1st — and he began living the 11th.

---

So, Yuzu’s choice was the real world.
All branching timelines exist based on the original world,
and that original world never disappears — it’s the foundation of everything (the story’s underlying setting).

The original world is the first half of Yuzu’s life (the part before the talent show).
Now he’s chosen to continue with the second half, which is why his family and friends are still there.

<< _ >>

**TN

Main Story ends here. Next are the extras. 😊