The First Selection: Gambles and Surprises

“Each team’s song and members are chosen by the team leader. The selected members have no right to refuse. So if you want to get into your preferred group, you’d better sweet-talk your leaders.”

Jiang Ruyao winked mischievously, satisfied to see the trainees holding their breath like a flock of ducklings waiting to be fed, their eager eyes all fixed on the cards in her hand.

“So, who will be the first leader with the right to choose?”

It went without saying that in every season of the show, the first leader to pick a song for the first round was always the top-ranked trainee. This time, it was naturally Ji Yan.

Sure enough, amid the other trainees’ cheers, Ji Yan stepped forward without much hesitation—but the result surprised everyone.

He walked straight ahead and stood under the sign reading “No Man’s Land.”

“Oh my god! Why did Ji Yan pick that song?”

“As expected of the first center, he’s really bold…”

“I thought for sure he’d pick ‘Dawn.’ It’s over, it’s totally over.”

Ji Yan’s gaze swept over the crowd, but almost everyone’s eyes automatically avoided him.

There was no helping it. That song was not only intense and difficult; more importantly, it was the debut title track of a currently popular boy group. Whether performed well or poorly, it could attract backlash from the group’s fans. The only possible advantage of choosing this song was that it guaranteed buzz, but there was the safer, similarly styled “Dawn” available, which could give a shot at competing for the center position.

Don’t see me… Don’t see me… Don’t see me…

From the same company as Ji Yan, Jin Min lowered his head and kept muttering. He was originally the main dancer of the group, and now with “No Man’s Land” on the table, he had a strong premonition that Ji Yan would snatch him up.

Even though he prayed devoutly, it was useless. Sure enough, Ji Yan called out his name first.

“Brother Jin Min, stop hiding. Come on up.”

Jin Min covered his face in despair, his broken Chinese with a Korean accent sounding both pitiful and funny, “Oh no! I told you not to put me in this group.”

Ji Yan gave an ingratiating smile, “That won’t do. This group can’t function without you, bro.”

His “roll call of doom” wasn’t over yet. He called out four other names in succession, and each trainee looked as if the sky had fallen. The entertainment effect was maxed out.

It had to be said that Ji Yan’s choices were indeed shrewd—the trainees he picked were all strong dancers with decent vocals. Although apart from Ji Yan, their overall popularity wasn’t high, that was a kind of wisdom: with strong teammates and average popularity, he could ensure his own position while maximizing stage quality.

There was one spot left. Jiao Wangshu, who had been spacing out, happened to look up and met Ji Yan’s gaze.

His heart skipped a beat, giving him the terrifying déjà vu of being caught by a teacher and about to be picked to answer a question.

It shouldn’t… be possible, right?

Ji Yan wouldn’t really be that foolish, would he?

Fortunately, the worst didn’t happen. Ji Yan deliberated for a long time and finally chose a B-class trainee. The first group for the first song was now formed.

Then the staff pushed in a large gacha machine. This was a tradition for the show—to add a bit of suspense; besides the first center who had the guaranteed first pick, other trainees who wanted to become leaders and choose songs for the first round had to rely on luck.

In stark contrast to the earlier desperate avoidance of Ji Yan’s gaze, now everyone stared intently at Ji Yan’s hand as he spun the gacha machine.

A bunch of colorful plastic balls whirred around a few times before spitting out a red capsule.

Ji Yan read out the name:

“The trainee from Star Project—Xiang Xiaoyu.”

Everyone looked over. Xiang Xiaoyu pointed at himself in disbelief. “Me? Me? Is it really me?”

He cheerfully walked down the stage. “I’m so lucky! Who could understand that I’ve never even won a ‘free refill’ in my whole life! Kid Brother, I’ll support you forever!”

Everyone burst into laughter at Xiang Xiaoyu’s words. The nickname “Kid Brother” for Ji Yan was something they only used privately; they never expected to hear it at such a song-selection moment. What’s more, Xiang Xiaoyu wasn’t much older either—maybe only a few months younger than Ji Yan.

Hearing one “Kid Brother” call another “Kid Brother” was indeed quite amusing.

Xiang Xiaoyu didn’t stand on ceremony. He directly chose his favorite song, “Dawn,” and then picked his good big brother, the excellent singer Lu Xiao.

Lu Xiao had trained for a long time and knew the trainees from various companies fairly well. He took the initiative to act as a strategist: “This one dances well, this one can arrange music, this one has a great personality…” Soon, a team gradually took shape.

When they were about to fill the spots, Lu Xiao hesitated as he looked at Zhou Che. He had a good relationship with Zhou Che, and Zhou Che’s rap was very good, but his dancing was a bit lacking. He wasn’t sure if Zhou Che would be willing to join the “Dawn” group.

At that moment, Zhou Che noticed his friend’s intention and suddenly spoke up: “I’m warning you, Lu Jianguo. You know my dancing is bad. If you dare to pick me, you’re dead.”

Lu Xiao’s original name was “Lu Jianguo.”

Poor Lu Xiao had just “lost his original name.”

Since that was the case, he didn’t need to be polite with Zhou Che. “Then it’s decided.”

“The last member of our ‘Dawn’ group—Zhou Daye.”

Zhou Che’s face turned green upon hearing this. His close relationship with Lu Xiao wasn’t just talk; it was at the family level. Their grandfathers had been comrades-in-arms, so they named their grandsons one “Jianguo” (Build the Nation) and the other “Daye” (Great Cause).

Now look what happened. Boomerangs struck everyone equally. So one must be magnanimous in dealing with others.

The third leader drawn to pick a song was a little-known trainee from Class F, You Youyou.

He had no presence and was very timid, standing quietly in a corner in the back. When others first heard his name, they were all puzzled. They searched for a long time before seeing his hand meekly raised in the corner for what seemed like ages.

You Youyou “floated” up like a ghost. He stood in front of the song signs… and went offline?

This move left everyone staring in confusion.

Jiang Ruyao’s lips moved for a while before she finally couldn’t help asking, “This… trainee? Have you decided which song to pick?”

As if an alien had received Earth’s radio signals for the first time, You Youyou finally reacted. His gaze drifted over lightly, and his speech was equally airy: “Neon Confession.”

Huh.

—Huh??

This choice stunned everyone. Had they heard wrong? “Neon Confession” was an unapologetically bubbly sweet song—enthusiastic, cheerful confessions were its core. But not a single aspect of it seemed related to this guy at all, right?

“Are you… sure?”

Jiang Ruyao asked persistently, only to receive a firm nod from him.

“Alright, now start choosing your teammates.”

You Youyou turned around stiffly, facing the trainees on the steps, and then went offline again.

“He wouldn’t pick me, would he?”

Lu Chen, who had “Neon Confession” as his first choice, muttered to himself. He really wanted to pick that song, but this “radio-wave” leader’s personality was too difficult. Anyway, one song produced two opposing groups; if he couldn’t get into Group A, he could go to Group B. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be picked.

Lu Chen’s worry was completely unnecessary, because You Youyou’s gaze quickly skipped over him. His expression, calm as an ancient well, suddenly lit up like electricity.

He pointed his hand:

“I choose—”