Chapter 486: Chapter 484: The Second Round

Despite the explanation from the Mechanical Clan’s representative, many people still felt it was unfair.

This was especially true for the contestants, who all had massive fanbases.

Among these fans, many were irrational and relentlessly attacked the organizers, but the organizers simply ignored them.

The contestants who followed continued to perform, but their scores were generally not very high.

None of the composers looked pleased, especially those who had scored between 10 and 30 points.

If there were ranks, they would be in the lowest tier.

[Is this for real? Out of 32 composers, not a single one was rated as ’Excellent’?]

Even Jiang Qin only received a ’Good’ rating, and the others scored even lower than her.

[I kind of understand why those three composers withdrew from the competition now. They lost all their dignity and prestige.]

[People used to refer to them as veterans of the composition world. From now on, they’ll probably only be remembered for their scores in the teens and twenties.]

[It’s already a trending topic. The headline is: ’Composition Veterans Experience Their Waterloo.’]

[The main problem is that there’s no discernible pattern. The songs that scored over 70 are all in completely different styles.]

...

To be honest, Jiang Qin hadn’t found a pattern either.

The host listed everyone’s names and scores, then announced:

"Everyone, we have recorded all the scores for the first round. If you have any objections, you can contact our staff later.

With that, the first round is over. The second round will begin in three days.

I, Allen, wish you all the best of luck in achieving even better results. Goodbye."

As the stage lights dimmed, the only light left came from their Capsule Cabins.

The production team’s main livestream also closed, and the screen was once again split into 32 smaller feeds.

All the netizens could now choose their favorite individual livestream to watch.

The Jiang Fan hurriedly returned to Jiang Qin’s livestream channel.

Although she couldn’t see the comments, everyone started comforting her:

[Our Qin Bao is already amazing! Her score was the third highest of everyone.]

[Yeah, hardly anyone even passed. A score in the seventies is really excellent.]

[If the others keep scoring like this, it’ll take them three rounds just to get a total in the seventies.]

Yun Xie and the others were also a little worried about Jiang Qin. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

After all, they knew she had never encountered any real setbacks in the music or film industries.

So they were worried she would be discouraged by this.

But they were clearly overthinking it.

Although Jiang Qin really wanted the prize, she could calmly accept it if she didn’t win.

Since she couldn’t figure out the pattern, Jiang Qin decided to stop worrying about style or genre for her second song. Instead, she just looked for a song that suited her and Cang Hong’s voices.

’Well, I’m already here,’ she thought. ’Might as well get *something* out of it.’

’If I can’t get the spaceship, at least I can let Cang Hong make an appearance and gain some fans.’

So, for the second song, she chose a male-female duet and sent the sheet music directly to Cang Hong.

After sending him the male part, she began recording the female part.

Even though she had great faith in her and Cang Hong’s chemistry, she still wanted to send him the recording to listen to first.

At the very least, they would both have an understanding of each other’s vocal style, which would help them coordinate better.

And so, the netizens were in for a treat.

As fans who had been diligently watching her stream, they were lucky enough to hear the new song in advance.

Some passersby even screen-recorded it.

But it didn’t matter. Jiang Qin had already sent the sheet music to the staff to register the copyright the moment she finished it. Besides, her competitors were just like her at the moment—completely cut off from the outside world.

Naturally, they had no way of knowing what song she was going to perform.

This was precisely the reason they were isolated from the outside world.

Otherwise, the organizers wouldn’t have dared to adopt a model of livestreaming the composers’ daily lives 24/7.

***

「Three days passed in a flash.」

The composers, who had looked so dejected three days ago, seemed to have been injected with adrenaline, their spirits renewed.

Some composers even confidently addressed the camera, saying, "Just you wait. I’ll definitely score over eighty today and catch up."

"Nothing is set in stone. Any one of us could be a dark horse!"

"I’m here today to redeem myself! If I don’t score over 60 today, I’ll withdraw from the competition immediately. That’s a promise."

However, the netizens weren’t very optimistic.

[Eighty points? You sure you don’t have the digits reversed?]

[Usually, the ones who brag the loudest are the ones who get their faces slapped the hardest. Just waiting for it to happen.]

[LMAO, that’s hilarious. ’I’ll quit if I don’t get 60.’ Like you have any other choice if you keep scoring that low?]

[Anyone who gets low scores in the first two rounds will have a hard time catching up, even if they get a high score in the final round.]

[So yeah, for those who scored in the twenties for two rounds, there’s really no point in continuing.]

[Leave it to them to make a forced withdrawal sound so dignified. Classic!]

[Here we go, here we go...]

...

The composer in Capsule Cabin #1 didn’t look too good; his expression was dark and grim.

This time, the singer he chose to collaborate with was the Empire’s Yue Ji.

Jiang Qin had worked with her before. She was an incredibly talented female singer.

Once again, she showcased her uniquely gifted voice and supremely skillful vocal technique.

The high notes were enough to make everyone’s scalp tingle.

It had to be said, the skill Composer #1 displayed this time was as formidable as ever.

’Honestly,’ Jiang Qin thought, ’if it weren’t for the Mechanical Clan’s machine scoring, #1 would probably win this entire competition.’

Everyone was strong, but #1 was on a whole other level.

Take this song, for example. His composition was so audacious that, arguably, no singer other than Yue Ji could have performed it.

And Yue Ji did not disappoint his trust in her.

After listening to the performance, Composer #1’s tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.

’My choice wasn’t wrong,’ he thought. ’If even this song can’t get a high score, then I’ll really have to wonder if this competition is rigged.’

When the song ended, all eyes turned to the large screen of the scoring device.

It was indeed a high score, but Composer #1 was still somewhat dissatisfied.

He believed that both his composition and the singer’s performance deserved a score of 90 or higher.

But 86 was 86. It wouldn’t change just because he was unhappy with it.

[Hiss~ 86 points!! That’s the highest score so far, right?!]

[The highest score last round was only 79.3, and this round starts with an 86. Looks like the composers have figured out the trick.]

[This is why I’m a layman. I still don’t get what the scoring is based on.]

The truth was, the composers didn’t get it either. But that was fine; they each had their own intuition to rely on.

Jiang Qin had also chosen her song based on intuition.

Sometimes, that intuition could be remarkably accurate.

As one contestant after another performed, it felt like everyone was listening to a grand musical feast.

The scores in this round were also higher on average.

The lowest score was 36, unlike the previous round where there had even been a 16.