Chapter 11: Mutual Torment Until the Battle

The program recording is still ongoing, and everyone is feeling waves of exhaustion.

Recording a variety show is actually not as easy as many imagine; in fact, it has already been recording for over five hours now.

Fortunately, it is almost at the end, otherwise the production team would have to arrange for meals, letting everyone eat halfway through.

After hearing Luo Mo's words just now, the young Tong Shu muttered to himself: "Battle, huh..."

He felt a bit scared.

Being singled out by name to battle puts one under a lot of pressure.

Seeing his nervous expression, Luo Mo found it quite funny and said, as if coaxing a child: "Don't worry, you aren't in A Class, so it won't be your turn."

Upon hearing this, Tong Shu suddenly realized.

He looked at the big 【A】 stuck on Luo Mo's name tag and said: "Then... then will you be singled out?"

Luo Mo laughed it off and said: "How could that be, hahahaha! I'm so strong, hahaha! Singling me out would be seeking death, wouldn't it, hahahaha?"

Tong Shu was momentarily speechless; Luo Mo's "hahaha" sounds went in his left ear and out his right, and he felt his concern was a bit superfluous.

At this very moment, the five mentors at the mentor table were also not in the best state.

Xu Chujing sat in the main seat, rubbing her temples.

She felt physical and mental exhaustion.

At this moment, she had an urge in her heart, which was to stretch like a cat and loosen up her body.

That cat named Baibaibai flooded into her mind again; she saw this cat constantly making "seductive" movements, as if it were made of water.

The Heavenly Queen Xu quickly extinguished the urge in her heart; she knew very well what a terrifying effect it would have if she performed such stretching movements with her figure.

If nothing else, it would at least place a huge burden on the buttons on her chest.

"Jing, there is only one last group of trainees left." Jiang Ningxi, sitting beside Xu Chujing, seemed to notice her Idol's fatigue and reminded her in a low voice.

Xu Chujing nodded, took the microphone, and said: "Let us invite the final group of trainees to the stage."

As soon as she finished speaking, several large characters appeared on the big screen on the stage.

After the characters appeared, people in the audience began to exclaim.

"Xingshi Entertainment! It's the trainees from Xingshi Entertainment!" Many sleepy trainees suddenly perked up.

Luo Mo glanced at the big screen and said: "A big company?"

Tong Shu nodded, his eyes revealing a trace of Yearning and admiration, and said: "Xingshi Entertainment has two trainees who have participated in other programs before and possess high popularity; their Weibo followers have already exceeded one million! Their strength is very, very strong!"

Tong Shu had clearly done his homework.

Seeing this youth whom he regarded as a little brother show an expression of admiration, Luo Mo felt a bit displeased for a moment.

"You kid clearly admired me the most just a moment ago," he thought to himself.

As for the so-called million followers, he really didn't take it too seriously.

He knew very well that these days, if a talent show variety program blows up, it can produce a Top Traffic star.

Relying on a variety show to gain ten million Weibo followers is not an isolated case!

Of course, those who already have a fan base have an inherent advantage in talent shows and have a high probability of making it to the end.

Not to mention having the backing of a big company.

Luo Mo followed the gaze of the trainees and looked back, discovering that the trainees from Xingshi Entertainment were all sitting very high up on the pyramid-shaped seats.

"Swish—!" Seven people stood up at once.

Among them, three were sitting in the first three rows of the pyramid seats.

Yes, this company's trainees occupied 3 of the most shining spots from 1 to 9; they seemed very confident and very ambitious.

Among them, someone even sat directly in the number 1 spot, the very tip of the tower!

And that Meng Yangguang, who had a "glance of fate" with Luo Mo earlier, was also among them; he was sitting in the number 6 spot.

Seeing Meng Yangguang stand up, Tong Shu couldn't help but glance at Luo Mo, only to see Luo Mo's expression as usual, completely indifferent.

On the contrary, Li Ge at the mentor table made a sound of watching the excitement: "Wow~~~, three people sitting up there; number 1, number 3, number 6, I'm starting to look forward to this."

The trainees from Xingshi Entertainment walked onto the stage one after another, and their movements were uniform, looking well-trained: "1, 2, 3, hello everyone! We are the trainees from Xingshi Entertainment!"

After speaking, the seven boys, who all seemed to be 1.8 meters tall, bowed forward at a ninety-degree angle in unison.

"Ah! This damn sense of oppression!" a trainee off-stage couldn't help but say.

Luo Mo, who was sitting closer, was a bit puzzled; you feel a sense of oppression just because they bowed to you?

This reminded him of many fantasy and xianxia novels where the protagonist bows to a statue, and then the statue cracks.

Immediately after, he thought of those gangster movies where a row of underlings bows to the Boss.

Thinking of this, he nodded at the seven people with a strong sense of immersion.

Next was the self-introduction of the 7 people.

Luo Mo mainly focused on Shen Mingliu and Ji Kangdong, who dared to sit in the number 1 and number 3 spots.

These two were the trainees with over a million followers that Tong Shu mentioned.

"They really do feel different from the other trainees; they aren't as immature," Luo Mo evaluated in his heart.

As for Meng Yangguang, he should be another seed player from this company, but because he hadn't participated in other programs before, his fan base was weaker and his popularity lower.

"Begin," Xu Chujing said indifferently.

In her eyes, let alone the trainees of Xingshi Entertainment, even if the boss of Xingshi Entertainment came in person, she wouldn't feel any different.

From beginning to end, the only person who could stir her emotions was Luo Mo.

But it had to be said that the initial stage presented by Xingshi Entertainment was indeed worthy of everyone's expectations.

After watching, Xu Chujing also nodded and stated: "This is the performance with the best integrity and completion I have seen so far."

Shen Yinuo followed up by saying: "The Singing, Dancing, and the final violin solo were all very good. I think you already possess the strength to debut as a group; your comprehensive strength is only a tiny, tiny bit worse than our Aurora Girls."

"Why are you praising yourself!" Li Ge said.

Shen Yinuo stuck out her tongue, then said to Jiang Ningxi, "Jiang Jiang, he doesn't seem convinced!"

Jiang Ningxi was speechless and glared at her with her beautiful eyes, and Shen Yinuo immediately admitted defeat.

Music Mentor Wei Ran smiled and picked up the microphone, saying, "If I remember correctly, A Class is already full now, right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the entire venue immediately changed.

"Let us mentors discuss this," Wei Ran said.

The production team muted the five mentors directly, but in reality, the voices of the directing team participating in the discussion were constantly coming through their earpieces.

Finally, Xu Chujing held the microphone and said, "After our discussion, the trainees from Xingshi Entertainment all have strength at B Class or above!"

"Among them, Shen Mingliu, Ji Kangdong, and Meng Yangguang possess the strength to enter A Class."

"Therefore, we discussed it with the production team and decided... to adopt a battle!"

In an instant, exclamations of surprise erupted throughout the venue once again.

The five mentors stood up in unison and looked at the trainees sitting behind them.

Xu Chujing said, "Trainees who previously entered A Class, please stand up."

Luo Mo and the eight other trainees all stood up.

Her gaze swept across the faces of the nine people; their expressions were nervous—nervous—amused—nervous—

"Hmm?" Xu Chujing's gaze turned back.

It seemed like something strange had mixed in.

"It's him again," the gaze of the Heavenly Queen Xu fixed on Luo Mo once more.

The strangest thing was that this amused expression inexplicably gave her a sense of familiarity.

She always felt that she had seen this expression many times on someone else.

And from her Perspective, that person was looking at her—who had turned into a white Cat—with his eyes, and then a look of "amusement" appeared on his face.

It was a face that, although blurry, didn't feel particularly handsome.

It belonged to a man who was also named Luo Mo.

"After this episode finishes recording, I need to find time to see a Psychologist," Xu Chujing thought to herself.

She coughed lightly, stopped looking at Luo Mo, and said to the three trainees from Xingshi Entertainment on stage, "Now, please each choose 3 contestants you believe do not deserve to stay in A Class, and engage in a one-on-one battle with them!"

"The winner enters A Class."

"The loser drops directly to F Class."

As soon as these words fell, it was like a stone creating a thousand ripples.

The trainees off-stage all had their eyes wide open, becoming completely excited.

This was playing for such high stakes!

Tong Shu blinked his eyes and thought to himself, "If someone gets picked and then loses, that would be too pitiful."

"I hope no one picks him," Tong Shu looked up at Luo Mo.

If Luo Mo knew his thoughts, he would only think this kid was truly simple.

Maybe he should leave some contact information so he could borrow money from him later if he was short on cash.

In his view, losing and dropping to F Class wasn't even a bad thing.

Is that a demotion?

No, this is called poverty alleviation.

F Class is full of underachievers who need someone with good professional skills to help them; this can build a persona, gain favorability, and highlight one's own strength.

It's not like there won't be opportunities for re-evaluation later.

Shen Mingliu and Ji Kangdong, who boasted millions of fans, picked two A Class contestants with humble smiles, while constantly saying words like "sparring" and "seeking advice."

The expressions of these two trainees were somewhat ugly.

And Meng Yangguang, who held a violin and had just shown off his musical skills on the initial stage, raised his head and looked straight at Luo Mo.

Luo Mo stood at the high point of the pyramid, looking down at him as well.

Immediately after, the two of them simultaneously revealed extremely standard sunny smiles.

"I choose Luo Mo," Meng Yangguang said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)