After everyone had taken what they needed from their Space Buttons, the staff also used instruments to inspect the items, ensuring there was no possibility of cheating. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Then, they distributed the keys to the Capsule Cabins to everyone.

"This competition will be held in a livestream format. Inside each of your Capsule Cabins, we have installed our clan’s latest Live Broadcast Devices.

Aside from private moments like sleeping or using the restroom, the composers’ daily lives will be broadcasted live..."

Each composer had their own number and their own individual livestream channel.

Jiang Qin was assigned to Capsule Cabin No. 18.

She took the key, opened the cabin door, and went inside.

The netizens who had been waiting in the livestream channel for a long time finally saw her arrive.

[She’s here, she’s here! Qin Bao is finally here!]

[I’ve been glued to the screen since it went live. I’ve been staring at this empty little room for a full three hours!!]

[Same here. I don’t know if the Mechanical Clan has a screw loose or something. They started the stream before dawn, but no one was here.]

[Am I the only one who thinks living in a Capsule Cabin is suffocating? And for a whole half-month!]

[Can’t be helped. The Mechanical Clan is doing well for themselves now. They’ve obtained a very special kind of energy mine.]

[I heard that if this ore is added to forging materials, it can double all of a spaceship’s performance metrics.]

A spaceship’s current performance was already maximized for existing materials.

To optimize it further, new, more compatible materials had to be found.

Every nation was constantly trying to discover more unknown mineral deposits, but that kind of thing wasn’t so easy to find.

This was why all the nations placed so much importance on it.

So, even if they had to suffer a little, no one could complain.

Which of the composers present hadn’t been famous for years? They were all used to a pampered lifestyle. The bathrooms in their homes were probably ten times larger than these Capsule Cabins.

Jiang Qin, however, adapted very well. After entering, she placed her personal clothes in the wardrobe.

Then she put away some commonly used daily necessities.

For instruments, she only brought a guitar, a pipa, a xiao, a dizi, and a foldable electronic keyboard.

The workspace in the Capsule Cabin was just too small, so there was no room for larger instruments like a piano.

But it wasn’t a big deal.

[Qin Bao seems to be adapting very well.]

[People who’ve endured hardship are just different. For a young Qin Bao, even having a Capsule Cabin to live in would have been nice.]

[For real. You guys should see the other channels. The looks on the other composers’ faces are terrifyingly dark.]

[Tiffany from the Empire has already started throwing a fit.]

[You all should go take a look. The other streams are way more lively. A lot of the composers are complaining that the Capsule Cabins are too small to rest properly in.]

[Hehe... I’m gonna go check it out...]

...

The neighboring livestream channel was indeed in an uproar.

Tiffany looked at the small room, reached out to touch the mattress, and felt its coarse texture. He was instantly furious.

"Is this the extent of the Mechanical Clan’s hospitality? This mattress, isn’t this the kind of garbage that sells for a few thousand Star Coins on the market?"

"No, I refuse. I have never slept on such a cheap mattress. I demand the organizers replace it with a mattress worth over a million Star Coins!!"

"If the organizers can’t afford it, I can pay for it myself. In any case, I absolutely will not sleep on this trash mattress."

Because he kept making a scene demanding to see the person in charge, the staff had no choice but to fetch them.

After some discussion, the person in charge grudgingly replaced the mattress for him.

The netizens exploded with discussion over this:

[A rich person’s mattress has to be worth over a million, otherwise they can’t even sleep on it.]

[Heh, so what does that make my 999-with-free-shipping mattress? Does that mean we commoners are just thick-skinned?]

[Let’s not be too harsh, everyone. Maybe Teacher Tiffany has insomnia?

People with insomnia are very particular about their mattresses, pillows, and other bedding.]

[Why does only Tiffany get a replacement? Doesn’t our Teacher Duan deserve a million-Star-Coin mattress?]

[If you ask me, they should just replace them all. Can’t have Tiffany be the only special one, right?]

The person in charge, caught in the crossfire of public opinion, was miserable.

’He wanted to replace everyone’s mattress, too, but the question was, how much funding would that require?’

’This wasn’t a mattress worth a few tens of thousands, but one valued at 1.88 million!!’

’If everyone got a new one...’

’Thinking of that massive number, the person in charge just wanted to pass out. But unfortunately, as a member of the Mechanical Clan, passing out for him wasn’t an illness—it was crashing, a system failure. It was devolution, and he’d be sent for decommissioning.’

Thankfully, the composers themselves couldn’t see the livestream channels, so they couldn’t see the bullet comments.

So they didn’t know they were being treated differently.

Although they despised the Capsule Cabins, most chose to avoid trouble and couldn’t be bothered to make a fuss.

At that moment, Yun Xie and the others, who were watching the livestream with their daughter, were heartbroken.

When had their partner ever lived in such a suffocating place? And for 15 days, no less! They’d go stir-crazy.

...

Jiang Qin looked at the floating Live Broadcast Device hovering beside her. After a moment of thought, she decided she should interact with it a little.

’After all, the people watching are mostly my followers. Just ignoring them would show a real lack of social grace.’

So, she smiled and waved at the camera. "Hello, how is everyone? Are you all watching me right now?

I’m about to drink some nutrient liquid and then start composing. I don’t know the theme yet, but it can’t hurt to prepare something in advance, just in case I can use it.

To be honest, it’s mainly because I’m afraid I’ll get bored. It seems like we don’t have any tasks today."

After speaking to the camera, Jiang Qin went to the small workspace.

It was truly tiny, with only enough room for one person. With a second person, you wouldn’t even be able to turn around.

But, though small, it had everything one could need.

On the desk was a complete set of equipment.

She turned on the equipment, started tuning it, and then picked a random song to practice.

She picked up her guitar and began to play:

"Like a broken string

Vanishing into the sea of people

...

Polaris’s Tears

An unspoken longing

It turns out we live

In two different worlds..."

[Waaaah~~ I’m so happy! I just started camping in Qin Bao’s stream and I’m already hearing a beautiful song.]

[This song is so good too! It’s so full of emotion.]

[Did she just play that off the cuff? She’s amazing!]

[The other composers are still complaining about the environment, but our Qin Bao has already adapted and is starting to enjoy her time alone.]

[I’m so jealous of singer-songwriters. They can compose for themselves, sing for themselves, and please themselves...]

[For this year’s college entrance exams, I’m also planning to apply to an arts academy. I hope I can be one-tenth as good as Jiang Qin in the future!]

...

After finishing "Polaris’s Tears," Jiang Qin stopped and began to practice the xiao.

She wasn’t an expert with instruments like the xiao and dizi, so she needed to practice from time to time to consolidate her skills.

She played an ancient-style, purely instrumental melody.

A hollow, melodious, and somewhat mournful sound drifted into everyone’s ears...

causing them to feel an involuntary sense of peace and calm.