Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore-Chapter 400: Variety Show Investment—Public Enemy Number One

A few minutes later, He Junhao, who had finally calmed his emotions, sat on the bench beside the venue. He still wore an expression of disbelief, staring blankly at the document in front of him, his hands trembling slightly.

"Brother Xiao, is this... is this that super popular variety show that's been trending recently?"

Xiao He took a sip of water, shooting him a sidelong glance with a hint of annoyance. "Can't you see the huge title printed right there on the contract?"

"Hehehe, ah hehe, I still can't quite believe it."

A foolish grin spread across He Junhao's face.

Although the general public wasn't widely aware of this show's existence yet, within their circle, rumors had been swirling for a while. Word was that a major investment for an influencer-focused variety show had been successfully greenlit, and they were preparing to start recruiting participants soon. This project was likely to be the largest investment in the influencer-targeted variety show space in recent years. If you missed this opportunity, there might never be another one like it.

While influencer-focused variety shows had been produced over the past few years, most weren't pure in concept, often mixing influencers with ordinary people, and that mix wasn't the sole selling point. Furthermore, almost none of these related shows in recent years had managed to break out of their niche and achieve major success.

Another point was that influencers often rose to fame faster and more easily than traditional celebrities. Sometimes, just one video could make an ordinary person an overnight sensation. But the reality behind this was that most of these overnight stars were truly just ordinary people. After experiencing sudden fame and fortune, many couldn't handle what they had gained and began attributing the era's dividends solely to their own merit.

Consequently, their reputations collapsed at an extremely fast pace.

This also led to situations where, for these types of variety shows, filming might not even be finished before they had to start editing and blurring out certain individuals. In the end, even when aired, they might have to cut certain people's scenes, or the entire show might be taken down years later, vanishing completely.

Thus, this market, which started as a delicious cake, had gradually become the neglected state it was in today.

However, no one expected that there would still be a "sucker" eyeing this cake now.

The sucker, Xiao He, was completely unaware of others' inner thoughts. He spoke leisurely, "It just so happens our company has a partial investment in this project. I have a few recommendation slots. So, I immediately thought of you."

The show's name was "Public Enemy Number One." It was a variety show format for influencers adapted from abroad, primarily following a competition/audition system. Through various challenges, it aimed to select the most creative, most talented, most fan-attracting, and most promising influencer contestants. The winners would receive up to three years of platform promotion support, and even entry support into the industry.

What industry? Naturally, the entertainment industry.

As for the substantial cash prize behind it, that was practically irrelevant.

More people were coming for the chance to skyrocket to fame. Once you had fame, the money would come rolling in effortlessly.

Moreover, this variety show wasn't a small-scale affair like before. It was jointly distributed by several legitimate platforms. It could be said to be the influencer-focused variety show with the largest investment in the history of China's domestic entertainment industry.

When this rumor was leaked, the industry circle had already started buzzing. Almost every influencer with a bit of name recognition and ability was racking their brains trying to secure an entry slot.

He Junhao had indeed heard about it, but he had never considered it applying to himself.

After all, He Junhao was a food zone blogger. To put it bluntly, in such shows, food bloggers like him simply couldn't compete with people in the looks track or the creative content track.

Such bloody storms weren't suitable for a "retirement-mode" blogger like him.

He just never expected a windfall.

He Junhao felt both excited and apprehensive. Finally, he said somewhat hesitantly, "Brother Xiao, I'm really grateful for this opportunity you're giving me. It's just... I probably can't compete with those guys."

If he went using the slot Xiao He gave him and got eliminated in the first round, He Junhao himself wouldn't mind, but he couldn't let Xiao He lose face!

Xiao He chuckled, patting He Junhao's shoulder. "It's fine. It mainly depends on whether you want to go or not. This time, there's major platform support. One way or another, it's a chance to get some exposure. Whether you go or not won't affect me."

Handsome He and Xiao He were university dormmates and also very good friends. Most fans who paid attention to either Xiao He or Handsome He knew this. However, apart from doing some daily life recording and "showing off" their friendly relationship when meeting Xiao He, Handsome He usually didn't deliberately ride on Xiao He's popularity in his videos. He also didn't constantly introduce himself as "Xiao He's dormmate" to deliberately attract Little Box fans' attention. He could be considered very tactful.

Because of this, Xiao He didn't think He Junhao's potential failure would bring him any negative impact.

Moreover, Xiao He didn't think He Junhao would lose outright.

"There's a rough outline of the show's format later on. You can take a look in advance. This competition isn't just about screening current influencers; it's also about selecting those with ability and quality."

If someone was merely acting like a clown in front of the camera, seeking cheap laughs, they would likely be among the first batch eliminated.

Similarly, those who only had looks with empty heads, who aside from following trends and doing suggestive moves had no ideas of their own, would also be quickly eliminated.

The people the platform ultimately wanted to keep and support were definitely the most stable and valuable batch.

Xiao He believed He Junhao fit that bill.

He Junhao then opened it and glanced through it, his expression turning surprised.

"Starting off with something this intense?"

The first challenge was actually very simple: independently create and shoot a video that could achieve a certain number of likes and conversion rate within a short timeframe in the "natural" traffic pool, and you'd be considered successful.

Those ranked at the bottom overall would get a direct flight ticket home. Additionally, if a video was automatically reviewed as containing vulgar, bizarre, or pornographic content, they would also get a direct flight ticket home.

This round tested the most basic comprehensive abilities.

Besides this round, there were also basic tests for video scriptwriting ability, creative thinking ability, live-streaming response ability, product promotion ability, and so on.

After reading through these challenge rules, He Junhao still felt a flicker of anticipation.

If it was about competing based on simple hard skills... he wasn't necessarily incapable. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Moreover, this show had enormous ambition. It categorized under it many different tracks, and the competition rules would also differentiate situations based on these tracks. It felt somewhat like a behind-the-scenes exposé of the influencer world. It was the type of show He Junhao himself would be interested in and watch on time, even if he weren't participating.

"Then... should I give it a try?"

He Junhao tentatively looked at Xiao He.

Xiao He was so annoyed he laughed. "Why are you looking at me? You decide for yourself!"

He Junhao immediately felt somewhat embarrassed and scratched his head. "Then I'll go give it a try! But Brother Xiao, is this challenge content confidential?"

He saw the word "confidential" in the bottom right corner.

"Confidential to outsiders, not confidential internally."

Xiao He said calmly.

For the production team, such "insiders" like this weren't limited to just He Junhao.

Although it wasn't fair to others, that was just how cruel it was.