Chapter 109: Chapter 109: The Final

「Five days later, at the finals.」

At such a tense and exciting moment, only nine composers were seated in the guest section.

Just as Jiang Qin had guessed, Karl had withdrawn from the show. After all, his ranking was already clear.

So, no one paid much attention to his departure.

Everyone’s attention was focused on the remaining nine.

Or to be more precise, on Jiang Qin and Jones.

Although it was possible for someone else to stage an upset, dark horses weren’t exactly a common occurrence.

Under the dazzling lights, the two hosts were especially talkative and emotional today. They spent over ten minutes recapping the show’s journey before finally getting to the main event.

“Today’s performance order will be determined by a draw. Will all the composers please press the red button on the left armrest of your seats to participate.”

This time, it wasn’t random; they had to draw their own lots. Whether they had bad luck or good fortune was all up to them.

Jiang Qin pressed it casually.

’It doesn’t matter when I perform, anyway.’

But as it turned out, she drew the final slot again…

Ize was the first to perform.

He chose to sing his own song.

The piece was in his usual ethereal, natural style. It had few lyrics, consisting mostly of humming, and evoked a sense of tranquility that could heal the soul.

It had to be said, the Elf Clan’s ability to consistently compete with the Empire was a testament to their genuine strength.

This tranquil, healing style was probably very popular among the Beastmen.

Even Jiang Qin couldn’t help but relax, feeling her entire being immersed in a natural breeze.

Wisps of humming echoed throughout the venue.

In the end, Ize received an average score of 92 and over ten billion votes.

Although the Elf Clan didn’t have a large population, they were categorized under the Myriad Races. This meant they were considered members of the Myriad Races, so other clans within that group would almost always vote for him.

After all, Ize, Yi Lin, Hai Ning, and Amos were the only four from the Myriad Races who had made it to the finals.

No matter which clan they belonged to, at this moment, they all represented the Myriad Races.

Seeing the results, Ize broke into a satisfied smile, quickly offered a few words of thanks, and left the stage.

The second to perform was Yue Ji, Jones’s partner!

It was a feast of explosive high notes!

The incredible high-pitched register of a Mermaid Gene Beastman was truly something no ordinary person could compare to. This was also why Jiang Qin had ultimately decided against choosing a song that flaunted high notes.

She had originally considered choosing a technically demanding high-note song like “Left-Handed Moon” or “Stars.”

But considering her opponents included a Mermaid Beastman and members of the Elf Clan with their pure, clear voices, she ultimately decided to play to her own strengths.

The third to perform was Hai Ning’s partner, Sak.

To be honest, their song was pleasant enough to listen to, but it was a failure.

Perhaps Hai Ning saw how well Sak’s performance of “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” was received.

So for this song, he actually chose to stitch together parts of “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”!

He had taken a few short sections, scrambled and reassembled them, then added some new melodies he’d composed himself—or perhaps those were also just patched together—to create a “new” song.

The lyrics also had a sorrowful tone.

Sak’s voice was indeed suited for this melancholy style, but the song itself was truly mediocre.

It could only fool those who didn’t understand music. It sounded nice at first, but upon closer listening, one would feel it was just like some other song.

And with a third listen, it just became tiresome.

Sure enough, the mainframe’s plagiarism detection rate came back a bit high, and it only gave him a score of 76.

[I was just about to say, isn’t that the melody from my all-time favorite, “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”?]

[I used to think I liked Sak, but it turns out I just like Jiang Qin.]

[Same style of song, same singer, but it’s just not as good as “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.”]

[Tsk, tsk. I’ve been wanting to say this for a while. Forget “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”—Sak is the real ungrateful bastard.]

[A stan photographer caught him on camera before. He was deliberately keeping his distance from Jiang Qin while waiting backstage.]

[That’s right, a video leaked before. Basically every singer who’s worked with Jiang Qin says hi when they see her. Only this Sak guy stares straight ahead, like he’s terrified of being associated with her.]

[That’s fine by me. People who aren’t worthy of working with our Qin Bao should just stay away.]

[Gotta say, stan photographers are seriously impressive!]

The person who had filmed the video was Beta.

She silently liked the comment from the person who had praised her.

To get better pictures of Jiang Qin, she had even gone out of her way last month to find two partners who were also Jiang Qin fans.

Her Spiritual Power Level wasn’t high, so she only found two.

One had a winged beast form and could carry her high into the air. The other was a top-tier beast renowned for its speed, a Swift-speed Leopard.

Although her partners’ Levels weren’t that high either, they were more than enough for the job.

’What’s lacking, I’ll make up for with equipment!’

Plus, with her years of experience, she knew exactly which angles were best for hiding and what she could capture from a distance. She had it all down to a science.

It was just a small backstage waiting area; with a little effort, she had managed to sneak in.

She had originally intended to get some beautiful candid shots of Qin Bao, but instead, she noticed what was happening. And it wasn’t just once or twice.

The thought of this person gaining countless fans on the Star Network thanks to Qin Bao’s song, only to avoid her like the plague backstage, infuriated her.

So, she filmed a short video and posted it in a Jiang Fan group chat. It was only later that it got circulated more widely.

Her initial goal was just to get the Jiang Fans to be rational and not start stanning an enemy.

After all, quite a few Jiang Fans had started following Sak because of Jiang Qin. In their eyes, he was their idol’s partner.

They had even fought a few battles online against his haters for him.

Who would have thought that this partnership could be so cheap?

***

The fourth to perform was Finland, who also chose to sing her own song.

The song was stunning, with a high-note section that felt like it shot straight through the top of your skull.

But unfortunately for her, a tough act had already come before!

If she hadn’t been scheduled so close to Yue Ji, or if she had performed before her, perhaps many people would have found it stunning.

But as it happened, there was only one performer between her and Yue Ji.

With such a stark comparison, it was impossible for people to feel stunned; they just thought it was “pretty good.”

However, there were no issues with the song, her vocal skills, or her voice, so she still received a high average score of 93.

That was already considered a very high score.

After all, Yue Ji had only scored one point higher than her.

But Yue Ji had tens of millions more votes, indicating she was more popular.

Fifth was Yi Lin, also singing her own song. The style was remarkably similar to Ize’s.

The female humming swept through the venue, giving the audience a spiritual cleansing.

Although it was good, she ended up with an average score of only 90, and her vote count was also very low—just a little higher than Hai Ning’s. The atmosphere in the venue was heated, and this sudden splash of cold water wasn’t something the audience or judges were willing to buy into.

The sixth performer was Amos…

He had chosen a female singer from his Mechanical Clan as a partner, unleashing a heavy metal carnival.

The atmosphere heated up again!

As expected of the Interstellar mainstream style. It was cliché, but its audience was still massive.

————

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep