Chapter 23: Rising Star — Musician!

Chapter 23: Rising Star — Musician!

Storm Company...

In the general manager's office at Storm Company, Zhan Lee was dealing with the pressure from this zone's company head.

"This year, the other companies are also planning to unleash all their forces to win the Rising Star competition. How do you plan to snatch the top ranks?"

Zhan could clearly tell that the head, despite his calm demeanor, was greatly displeased.

After all, other companies like StarFire, Earthbound, and Light were also aiming to snatch the top-ranking positions.

Moreover, rumors had it that each one of those companies had a strong candidate that could reach rank 1.

Although not famous worldwide, even this competition wasn't worldwide, just limited to the country. As a result, only the companies with influence in that area were considered rivals and threats.

There existed a Storm Company branch internationally too, but without much influence.

Considering that Storm Company was one of the big five in this country, only the other four posed a great amount of threat.

But he was actually carefree.

"Sir, today we've successfully managed to contact the famous newbie actor and painter, Miss Laurie, to perform in this competition too. She has a great fan base that will help her snatch one of the top places, if not the first rank. We also have contacted Mr. Kalus and Miss Martha to perform under the name of our company."

"And for the final level of protection, we have given one of the executives watching the competition a little fee to promote our work."

"Hmm, don't you worry about the backlash?" Rising Star was generally recognized as a newcomer's season. As such, people from other fields without a music career could participate; however, they would receive some backlash.

"The backlash can be suppressed. If even one of them manages to reach the top three, then the profit earned will be greater than the backlash."

"I see."

"If you're really able to do what you've promised, then the company is willing to give you a promotion."

Zhan's face instantly bloomed.

"May I now take my leave?"

"Yes, but before that, I even heard that you fired a lot of staff. Many of them were females..." He squinted his eyes in suspicion.

"Well, sir, after looking at their status and their work ethics, I deduced that it would be in favor of the company to remove those leeches. They didn't follow the commands of the higher-ups perfectly and, on top of that, did whatever they wished. It was inevitable. The company will not be harmed in any way by these decisions."

"I hope so." The head chuckled.

"You may leave. However, remember this: if you fail to achieve what you have promised, actions against you will be taken."

"Yes, sir." Zhan Lee turned back, exiting the room, a scoff on his face.

F*cking bitches! They think they're above me! Haa, some still haven't learned their lesson and still refuse me! Just wait till I get the damned promotion...

It was truly interesting. The delusion of some people even broke through dimensions. One such prime example walked out of the building...

The entire Storm Company of this region was tense. Tonight, the competition had finally begun!

***

The Rising Star — Musician began at midnight on January 1, the new year, resulting in many people staying up late for this.

In actuality, the songs were uploaded to the website to pass the first layer of checks, including plagiarism checks. A powerful AI was used to check these songs.

Due to this reason, songs were to be uploaded five days ago on the official website.

After such a long wait, they had finally become public. At midnight, they were released.

There existed some creatures of the night who loved music and enjoyed the vibe late at night. They played music on their phones, enjoying the nostalgia.

For some, it was a way of keeping their mental health in check; for others, it was a way of passing time and listening to new, hot-blooded newbies trying their best for the first time, and for some, it was life.

The people who listened to the songs enlisted in this competition mostly belonged to Celestria.

But some international citizens, aware of the competition, would occasionally hear some of the songs during this period of the year.

Union Academy...

Auster was actually one such international night creature. A Grade 3 Art Student of Union Academy, a 23-year-old man who had enlisted himself in the military at the age of 18. Wars were very rare in this world, and yet a small-scale battle had taken place at the base.

The battle that he took part in, the battle that forced him to sacrifice his right leg. But he didn't regret one bit of it; after all, a father of a small kid was saved at the cost of a leg.

It was after that incident that he started finding comfort in art, more specifically music.

The reason he was listening to the music registered in this competition was because of a certain someone who had been funding it for the past five years.

Shaking his head and getting rid of unnecessary thoughts, Auster clicked on the section — [Recommend the Song]

He began listening song by song while lying on the bed.

One by one, songs erupted in his ears.

Only a 10-second version of the song would be heard; this was normally the highlighted part of the song given by the music team. If the person liked the song, then they could click on it and view the entire song.

If they liked it even more, then with a dollar they could download the song.

Honestly, the recommended songs on the homepage were max to max good. After all, they were new songs from new artists heavily promoted by big companies, aiming to charge onto the Up-and-Coming list.

It was only in a few instances that some random songs would be recommended in the middle.

But being from the prestigious Union Academy, they were not able to impress him.

The problem was obvious.

These songs could only attain the status of "Quite good."

Music enthusiasts like him were too picky, especially since he was from Union.

Thus, after listening to over 100 ten-second version songs in succession, not a single one was selected by him.

Just as he was getting a little disappointed, an interesting song started.

"Nobody believes in you, you've lost again and again and again, the lights are cut off, but still looking at my dream, reviewing it every day and I say to myself..."

As moonlight fell on him, he felt goosebumps appearing on him.

"It's not over, until I win!"

"~"