mijobooks Chapter 430: All Thanks to the Comparison of Peers
Chapter 430: All Thanks to the Comparison of Peers
Sound wave oscillation.
The magic light bulbs in the front row of the stage exploded one after another, scattering fragments everywhere.
A beast-like roar erupted from Bobo's petite body, accompanied by a frantic head-shaking, her long, sea-blue hair whipping through the air, leaving afterimages.
She stepped on the speaker, her fingers gripping the microphone tightly, and a tearing sound, unique to heavy metal, came from her throat.
"Slaughter! The fury of the deep sea! Tear apart the false sun!"
The players in the audience, who had been staring at each other with hearts in their eyes, ready to enjoy the siren's heavenly music, suddenly gaped open, their jaws seemingly dislocated.
Several lower-level mage players in the front row were even shaken back two steps by the sound wave mixed with spiritual energy fluctuations, and their health bars dropped a bit.
Chen You sat in the referee's seat, his thermos cup frozen in mid-air.
This is...
Chen You's eye twitched.
You call this a traditional folk song?
Was your merfolk's homeland just forcibly demolished last night?
This resentment is even greater than that of the Meng family ancestors at the Mausoleum of a Thousand Lights!
The song ended.
Bobo, panting heavily, put down his foot that was stepping on the speaker and resumed his timid appearance.
She tidied her disheveled hair, bowed to the audience, and her voice became clear and sweet again.
"Thank you everyone, this is the song of peace that we fishmen sing."
The entire room was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.
Horn broke the silence first.
He suddenly stood up, clapped his hands vigorously, and his greasy face was full of excitement.
"Great! Fantastic!" Horn shouted. "This performance, which perfectly blends a sense of dynamism with an innocent appearance, is simply groundbreaking art!"
"She shattered our stereotypes about fish-men and showed a rebellious spirit deep in their souls! I give her full marks!"
The manager of Sanshui nodded repeatedly, his abacus clicking rapidly.
"A striking contrast."
"This strong visual and auditory impact will definitely attract users in the novelty market."
"With just a little packaging, launching a 'Dark Siren' series of merchandise would have immeasurable commercial potential. I second that! Full marks!"
On stage, Bobo heard the two judges' high praise and his big eyes sparkled with surprise.
Some players in the audience also started clapping.
After all, in this source world where entertainment is lacking, such hardcore performances are indeed refreshing.
Chen You slowly unscrewed the thermos, blew on the steam rising from the water, and took a sip of the goji berry water.
He put down his cup and sighed.
"A cross-generational shift? A stark contrast?" Chen You leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over the two judges with a pained expression.
Horn's applause stopped abruptly.
Sanshui's abacus also came to a halt.
The two turned to look at Chen You, their expressions tense.
According to the system settings, they had all received benefits from this acting city lord, and dared not offend this man who had earned the reputation of being "morally corrupt".
"Do you even know what real art is?" Chen You stood up, placed his hands on the table, and said in a heavy tone.
He pointed to Bobo on the stage: "Her skills are very mature, and her explosive power is also very strong."
"But I didn't hear any emotion."
Chen You turned around and faced the tens of thousands of audience members below the stage.
"Screaming for the sake of screaming, contrast for the sake of contrast. This is nothing more than a mass-produced industrial product catering to lowbrow tastes!"
Chen You suddenly waved his hand, his voice impassioned, "This is what I was just saying: the alienation of art by capital!"
"They're trying to use these attention-grabbing tactics to cover up the emptiness of the work's soul!"
The players in the audience immediately realized what was happening.
"The wandering god is right! Skill without emotion is worthless!"
"Boycott industrial saccharin! Boycott the shady dealings of capital!"
"We don't want our aesthetic sense to be defined by capital!"
The wind direction reversed instantly.
The audience who were cheering just moments ago have now turned against the government.
Bobo stood there, stunned.
Horn wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and immediately changed his tune.
"You Shen's words have awakened me from my dream! I was indeed deceived by appearances."
"Upon closer listening, this song is filled with only anger and lacks any depth of soul. Zero points!"
Sanshui put away his abacus and righteously echoed, "A product without soul doesn't deserve to enter the market of Cangxing City. Zero points!"
Chen You sat down with satisfaction, signaling for the talent show to continue.
The next hour became Chen You's personal nitpicking show.
The second contestant, a centaur warrior, performed a tap dance.
Chen You: "You broke three pieces of the stage floor, damaging public property. Zero points."
Horn and Sanshui echoed in unison: "Low quality, zero points."
The fourth contestant was a slime that changed color in sync with the music.
Chen You: "The colors are too bright, bordering on offensive, zero points."
The sixth contestant, an elven archer, performed a blindfolded apple-shooting contest, hitting the target every time.
Chen You: "This is a talent show, not acrobatics. If it's all technique and no emotion, it's a zero."
No matter how well the contestants performed, Chen You could always find the most outrageous angle to give them a zero score.
Horn and Sanshui, standing nearby, became nothing more than merciless repeaters.
The players in the audience not only had no doubts, but were increasingly moved.
They believed that Chen You was using this extreme method to resist the "connections" that were forcibly inserted into the system's backend.
"Please welcome the last contestant, number ten, Lin Miao!" The goblin host's voice was hoarse from shouting.
All the stage lights were turned off.
The square was plunged into darkness.
A low, melodious prelude suddenly rang out in mid-air.
It wasn't the harp or bagpipes commonly found in the Source Realm, but rather pure pop music accompaniment with modern electronic synthesized sound effects.
Chen You raised an eyebrow.
A soft, moon-white beam of light descended from the sky and struck the center of the stage precisely.
Lin Miao stood in the pillar of light.
She wore the Heavenly Rank fashion "Guanghan Fairy Shadow," her clothes fluttering, surrounded by a faint icy blue spiritual aura, exuding a cool and otherworldly fairy-like aura.
What's even more striking is the background behind her.
The "Supreme Honor Guard," which was originally flamboyant in appearance and carrying banners, has now changed into sharp black suits.
The broken gongs, drums, and suonas in their hands have disappeared, replaced by the phantoms of various modern musical instruments.
Keyboard, bass, drums—the group of NPCs are "playing" with their eyes closed and heads swaying in a very professional manner.
Chen You almost spat out the goji berry water he was drinking.
He saw through the operation at a glance.
Lin Miao definitely hired that money-grubbing Hill and spent a lot of money to forcibly change the background music of the honor guard's suona to her own custom-made audio.
This damn pay-to-win player privilege.
Lin Miao picked up the microphone.
She looked a little nervous, took a deep breath, and slowly began to speak.
"Later, I finally learned how to love..."
A clear female voice echoed across the square.
There were no tearing roars, no fire-breathing acrobatics, and no broken ribs.
Only a steady tone and a slightly trembling voice conveyed the story.
Objectively speaking, Lin Miao's singing skills are only at an average level in a typical KTV.
But in the Zangxingcheng Square, which had been tormented by all sorts of grotesque performances for more than an hour, this song was like a timely rain after a long drought.