Trainee Ch.24

Chapter 24: Out of the Circle

Saturday night — the day after the recording wrapped.

Two hours before the official premiere of Climbing to Stardom, Sky Video released the full group performance of the theme song, “To The Stars,” and bought a top trending spot for it. The names of the three most popular contestants — Xu An, Mo Li, and Zhao Yifeng — were also bought into the hot search as key highlights.

The entertainment trending list was completely dominated by this survival show. Scrolling down was like flipping through a wall of related topics.

Marketing accounts mobilized en masse, KOLs and professional fans all joined in.

Casual netizens and the show’s roughly two hundred fans across the internet came rushing in. The popularity of the trending topics shot up rapidly, and forum threads began stacking up one after another — some even dug up posts from a few days ago to revive them.

[Topic] Cyber Summoning Ritual! Fir-Nine Girls Assemble! Crown Emperor Mo!!!

Original Post:

Perform the ritual! Emperor Mo center debut!

1F: Our Tree Group’s little maknae finally gets called Emperor one day too.

2F: What’s Tree Group?

3F: “Tree” is Fir-Nine’s nickname. (P.S. Has Tree Group officially become a nostalgia act now?)

4F: Please, I’m begging for votes for Qu Junwei. I can’t bear to see my son stuck at the cutoff again QAQ

5F: I’m confused — why is Mo Li just a runner up? Shouldn’t he be a lock-in for initial center?

—

[Topic] I’m shocked — is this the first ever cute-style initial center in the country??

Original Post:

I checked out the Climbing to Stardom theme performance out of curiosity, and the first center turned out to be a little sweetheart — soft and adorable! I don’t think we’ve ever had a debut center with this kind of cute concept before?

1F: You’re right, it’s the first one.

2F: Because in China, the “cute” style is seen as a way to cover up for lack of skill. Plus, the domestic audience doesn’t really go for cute — boyfriend types and puppy-boy types are more popular. So the skilled contestants usually don’t go for a cute persona.

3F: But Tiantian Su is actually pretty talented.

4F: Uh… why does everyone think Su is so sweet? Am I the only one who finds him kind of fake?

5F: Fake or not, all I know is my fave is the first center~

—

[Topic] Between Li Tao, Xu An, and Zhao Yifeng — who’s more suitable to debut as the main vocalist?

Original Post:

RT.

1F: In terms of vocal skill, Xu An is better. Even in terms of public appeal, Xu An has the edge.

2F: Doesn’t matter to me. I’m choosing Zhao Yifeng.

3F: I’m losing it — do we really have to pick between those two? Can’t we get a main vocal who can dance?

4F: Zhao Yifeng got a B grade for the theme song. Does A-class have anyone who can carry the main vocal role? Mo, Qu, and Lin can hold the part, but they’re still a bit short of what you’d call a true main vocal.

5F: No one dares to say it, but honestly, neither Xu An nor Zhao Yifeng suits a boy group.

—

[Topic] Shameless Visual Judgment: Theme Song Ending Edition

Original Post: Total outsider, don’t know anyone. If you’re a sensitive fan, proceed with caution. Fans, don’t try to manipulate the comments.

1F (OP): [Image 1 (Su Junzhe)] Center position and actually good-looking.

[Image 2 (Yu Yizhen)] Seems popular? Don’t see the appeal.

[Image 3 (Shu Tengjie)] Looks like my crumpled old insole.

2F: Fans won’t come “empty bottles” (stay silent), fans will just report you.

3F (OP): [Image 4 (Cheng Jinghao)] Budget version of Fu Hanyu.

[Image 5 (Hong Fu)] In a rush — scanned the code and rode away

[Image 6 (Li Xu)] Damn, that hand sign is pretty sick — face is decent too.

4F: OP’s mouth is savage — love it.

5F(OP): [Image 7 (Zeng Kai)] F**k, can he not be so greasy?

[Image 8 (Qu Xincheng)] This is too handsome. Feels like he just crushed everyone else.

[Image 9 (Miura Yuki)] Sorry, I take back everything I said earlier. In the next three minutes, I need all the information about this golden-haired guy blowing the confetti.

…

One hour after the theme song stage was released, the video views continued to climb, and the buzz remained sky-high.

The stunning stage design, the contestants’ flawless makeup, and a song that was neither tacky nor grating — in just a few minutes, the performance managed to attract a huge number of viewers. Judging by the momentum, it looked set to surpass even the premiere day in terms of discussion volume.

At the same time, two “organically generated” trending topics were climbing the hot search at an astonishing pace.

A completely unfamiliar name was suddenly occupying two hot search entries:

#MiuraYukiThemeSongEnding

#MiuraYukiBlowingConfetti

Click into either one, and you’d be met with a breathtaking HD gif — a direct hit to the senses by an utterly flawless face.

A pale-colored confetti streamer had landed on the platinum-blond boy’s lips at just the right moment, like a dew-speckled petal drifting out of season into a snowy winter — and finally settling gently onto a pristine white landscape.

With slender fingers, he slowly shaped a heart, then gently blew on it. The heart transformed into a petal — something invisible made visible, like magic. A moment of pure, irresistible charm.

The heart scattered. The petals fell.

All that remained was a gentle smile — enough to melt an icy world.

[I hereby declare this a god-tier ending!!!]

[Best in Show: The Confetti Streamer]

[Best in Show: Yuzu’s Face]

[The God of Beauty Has Descended]

[Any fans here who can recommend him?]

With every second the page refreshed, more new comments and dozens of likes would appear under the trending topics — all from real users, not a single paid bot in sight.

Thirty minutes before the premiere, the animated gif had already gone viral, and along with it, his fancam from the first stage was also dug up and reposted widely.

The forums lit up again with several new mega-threads.

…

[Topic] I woke up and my bias ASCENDED!! (Decode: Miura Yuki)

Original Post:

Saw this handsome guy during the livestream and immediately fell for him. I looked up the unedited photos and fansite edits posted by his fansite master — the stats were okay, lots of people praised his visuals, but he didn’t go viral back then, OTL.

He’s a total unknown with no fanbase, and his agency doesn’t seem great either. Our recommendation posts couldn’t keep up with other fandoms’ promo efforts… I was seriously worried he’d get zero screentime in the main show and be eliminated first round…

But tonight — HE ASCENDED HAHAHAHA!!! WHO CAN RELATE!!!

1F: Let me join you in ascending with my bias

2F: Relatable. I posted a fan rec thread days ago and suddenly it blew up. Logged in and saw thousands of notifications — thought I was getting canceled online.

3F: The hype is unreal — even friends of mine who don’t follow idols in real life were reposting him.

4F: Yuki’s ending shot was god-tier — elegant and fresh. Meanwhile, some guy kept licking his lips and it was so greasy I nearly threw my phone.

5F: Pious face while receiving my wife’s confetti stream with full devotion.jpg

6F: When he doesn’t smile, he looks super A and aloof. But when he does smile, he’s so gentle. This contrast is exactly my type!

7F: Excellent. All Yuzu fans are top-tier humans!

8F: The moment I saw Miura Yuki I clicked in immediately. Been watching the livestream — can confirm, Yuzu really has massive contrast, LOL.

9F: Socially anxious little bro, hahaha

10F: You’re all praising how good-looking Miura Yuki is, but am I the only one who wants to praise his quick thinking? He turned something ordinary into something magical. Without that confetti moment, he might not have gone viral.

11F: That’s it then — one debut slot already reserved.

12F: Don’t get too excited. Don’t be fooled by this temporary hype. There are only seven debut spots, and Yuzu’s skills are way too lacking. Just because people think he’s pretty doesn’t mean they’ll actually vote for him.

13F: How is this temporary hype? He’s the only trainee who made it onto the hot search purely from netizen buzz — not a trace of bot traffic.

14F: Yuzu’s in Class C. Fun fact: there are 37 people in Class F.

15F: Just play Yuzu’s ending clip at the start of every episode — even if he does nothing, he’ll debut.

16F: I support Yuzu debuting while standing still like a tree!

17F: With that face, making it to the finals is guaranteed.

18F: Weak skills can be trained. An ugly face? That’s a one-way ticket to the cold operating table — and even then, you might still not end up as good-looking as Yuzu.

19F: Real talk — Yuki’s fancam is hilarious. You guys should check it out. It’s been my biggest source of joy lately /doge

20F (OP): Yuzu’s first stage performance is even more viral than his unedited photos — calling it now, that fancam’s hitting a million views (covers face)

21F: Yuzu’s theme song fancam shows improvement. Still very funny, but at least it’s watchable now.

22F: He dances like a high-frame-rate PowerPoint presentation…

23F: Slightly off-topic, but is this little brother Chinese or a foreigner?

24F: Isn’t it obvious from the name? Totally sounds like a foreigner.

25F: Really? I heard they didn’t open the international track this season, supposedly because there were too few overseas contestants — only one, apparently.

26F: Only one? Then it must be Miura, right?

27F: No, it’s Qin Xu.

28F: But Qin Xu is Chinese-Thai mixed. Not sure if his nationality is Chinese or Thai.

29F: That “only one overseas contestant” thing is just a rumor — there’s no solid proof.

30F: If he were a foreigner, the mentors would’ve probably pointed it out during their intros, maybe by asking directly. But they didn’t say anything about Yuki.

31F: Then what’s with that name? Is it a stage name?

32F: Why don’t you just text him and ask, lol

33F: The guy doesn’t even have a phone, hahaha

34F: Yuzu isn’t a foreigner. That’s probably his internet handle. If you search the name online, you’ll find a bunch of old posts from him a few years ago.

35F: Wait, what kind of good stuff? I’m off to search right now.

36F: Help, I’m scared I’ll find something super weird and get disillusioned instantly.

37F: Already did a full background check — a few years ago, Yuzu was just a bit cringe and dramatic, but nothing scandalous. He once found a lost meal card and posted about it on the school forum to return it. He even helped out a bunch of classmates and got asked what class he was in. He’s such a good baby — you can safely and confidently become a fan!

38F: ?? Wait — are you telling me Yuzu really thought the show was a scam and signed up using his online username?? HAHAHAHA

39F: Could also be he was too embarrassed to use his real name, hahaha

40F: I’m dying. So which school is he from? His profile says he’s 19, so he should be in university, right?

41F: Not sure about college — that account hasn’t been active in a long time.

42F: What’s Yuki’s Chinese name?

43F: No idea. The show didn’t list it.

44F: Reporting in! The full episode is out!!!!

45F: I skipped straight to the end to check the rankings.

46F: Yuki’s ranking was not what I expected — it’s so low.

47F: Your bias’s ascension failed, huh?

48F (OP): No worries — the voting window for this ranking was from last Thursday to this Thursday. Pre-show popularity doesn’t mean anything. Official voting just started today. And with today’s hot search buzz, next episode’s ranking is when you’ll really see a comeback from behind!

49F: Even if pre-show popularity doesn’t count for much, Yuzu still shouldn’t be ranked that low. Isn’t pre-show voting all about looks? I wouldn’t have been surprised if he made top 7 just on visuals.

50F: It’s also about existing fanbases.

51F: You can tell from this episode’s rankings — all the top spots went to contestants who already had a following before the show.

52F: The contestant list’s been warming up for months. Rich agencies already did several rounds of marketing. Most of the pre-show casual fans were scooped up long ago.

53F: Guys — don’t forget Yuzu only got his official profile photo last Saturday! Voting opened Thursday, but his photo was still blank. The show only uploaded it right before the livestream on Saturday. That means he lost two whole days of votes.

54F: Huh?? His profile photo was only uploaded on Saturday?? Was the show trying to suppress Yuki’s popularity???

55F: My friend works on the show — apparently, Yuki was invited last minute to fill a spot. He got the invitation Thursday night, only agreed on Friday, and was sent in to film on Saturday. Probably didn’t have time to prep a profile photo.

56F: Yuzu fans already noticed — he’s the only one without an intro video. Poor guy (sad face)

57F: Wait — if he only agreed on Friday, that means he had almost no prep time??

58F: Yuzu apparently had zero training background.

59F: That can’t be right. He might dance poorly, but he still memorized an entire routine. No way someone could pull that off in a day.

60F: Believe it or not, Yuki actually picks up choreo really fast.

61F: If you clicked on the contestant bios during the live grading stream, you’d know — Yuki was spotted eating KFC Crazy Thursday when the director scouted him. He’s never learned singing or dancing. Got in purely because of his face.

62F: …Okay, I feel kind of bad for him now.

63F: ??? How come I eat KFC Crazy Thursday all the time and never ran into Yuzu!

64F: This show really is starting to feel like a scam operation, hahaha

65F: Now I get why he used such a weird name (assuming he’s not the only foreign contestant)

66F: Now that you mention all this, I actually think Yuki’s ranking is pretty high considering everything…

67F: One very inspiring little Yuzu

68F: Next time I watch his stage, I’ll try to laugh more quietly

69F: What’s with the pity? Our boy went viral for being gorgeous — he’s probably too happy to even care!

70F: My bias just single-handedly boosted his fandom with pure visuals… lies down peacefully

71L: I love idols like this where I don’t have to stress about rankings (lies down peacefully)

72L: Upstairs—Yuzu might not be that stable… People say he’s gone viral, but until the next ranking is out, no one knows where he’ll land…

73L: You all can lie down if you want, but stop spreading stuff like “Yuki’s guaranteed to debut,” “Whether you vote for Yuki or not doesn’t matter,” or “Yuki’s popularity is TOP.” What if he doesn’t debut in the end? There are only seven debut spots—it’s really not guaranteed. Just look at the popularity of the other contestants. Yuki has a lot of casual fans right now, but later stages depend on the official votes.

74L: Ahhh stop arguing! Go watch the livestream! The production team arranged a reaction segment to the first episode! If you’re late, you’ll miss Yuzu’s part!

75L (OP): I’m already there, already there—remember to vote for Yuki! Don’t just lie down!

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