Chapter 52 Dark Horse

"The forty-ninth advancing contestant, @A-Ye-Is-Not-Grandpa, showcases the unique linguistic charm of the Sichuan dialect through classic literature readings in the Sichuan dialect, news broadcasting, and adapted dialect songs. His videos are full of creativity and distinct personal style, combining niche culture with mass entertainment to display a unique linguistic and cultural charm.

Ultimately, with 38.3 points for content value, 21.5 points for interaction data, and 17.2 points for broadcaster capability, he advances to the second stage with a total score of 79."

"The forty-eighth advancing contestant, @Little-K, a soulful dancer and champion of a national-level jazz dance brand competition, captures countless attention with her hot and bold dance postures. Every single one of her videos is meticulously edited, making them suitable for use as live instructional material.

Ultimately, with 27.9 points for content value, 29.2 points for interaction data, and 22.1 points for broadcaster capability, she advances to the second stage with a total score of 79.1."

"The forty-seventh advancing contestant, @OCD-Storage-Freak, focuses on organization and tidying. While working for different employers, she edits her room-organizing footage into exquisite videos. Her camera angles are highly aesthetic, and her introductory voiceover is soothing and gentle, conveying a positive attitude toward life while demonstrating techniques, resulting in extremely high fan loyalty.

Ultimately, with 32.7 points for content value, 26.9 points for interaction data, and 20.2 points for broadcaster capability, she advances to the second stage with a total score of 79.8."

The host Taozi's introduction was steady and orderly, occasionally popping out a golden sentence that caused the fans to burst into laughter.

The rapidly updated introductions of the advancing broadcasters carried no drag whatsoever. The audience was kept continuously engaged; even if there were a few broadcasters they weren't interested in, a simple yawn and a brief loss of focus would easily let those pass.

Vertical-format videos always possess this kind of charm, allowing time to slip away silently between one's fingertips.

"And now, for our most exciting Top Ten!"

For the top ten of the first stage, aside from the competition's own advancement rewards, Cocoon had additionally secured a group endorsement advertisement for everyone.

This advertisement was slated to be placed on the app's opening-screen shake-to-reveal position, carrying substantial value. One could easily imagine how lucrative the endorsement fee would be.

Not only that, but it was rumored that the top ten would also receive exclusive livestreaming tasks, adding plenty of trump cards for the livestreaming PKs in the second stage.

Given that their initial fan bases were already inferior to those in the top ten, and their starting line for the second stage would be a notch lower, the gap going forward would likely only widen further.

And now, there were only five broadcasters left in the entire first group whose advancement had yet to be announced.

"The tenth place in the first stage of the competition, @Jingchu-Tinglan!"

Sun Yali covered her mouth in agitation.

Although she had already felt nervous when the rankings reached the teens, staying tense all the way up to eleventh, and could guess that she would make it into the top ten, actually hearing this ranking still brought a sudden rush of tears to her eyes.

She was different from the other seeded contestants!

She originally had no solid foundation, nor any genuine talent to speak of!

She had merely ridden the cultural halo inherent to the intangible cultural heritage category, lucking into becoming a seeded contestant, and had remained obscure throughout the early stages!

According to her initial traffic, let alone the top ten, she probably wouldn't even have managed to reach the top fifty advancers.

Yet today, she had succeeded!

By shattering her own unrealistic dreams.

"Jingchu-Tinglan's skill in wheat straw carving is exceptionally adept, transporting us back to that rustic world of agricultural civilization. Her camera language is remarkably delicate, delivering an immersive viewing experience that seems capable of pulling people away from their busy and complicated work and returning them to that tranquil afternoon back in her hometown."

After signing with the company, Sun Yali's videos had long since ceased to follow the style described above, but that didn't matter. Bragging, after all, didn't require paying taxes.

"Ultimately, with an outstanding score of 39.8 points for content value, 32.6 points for interaction data, and 19.9 points for broadcaster capability, bringing her total to 92.3 points, Jingchu-Tinglan ranks tenth in the first stage of the competition!"

The camera quickly cut to Sun Yali. By this time, she was already sobbing uncontrollably, her mouth opening as she tried to speak several times, only to hurriedly wipe away her tears instead.

The time left for her was only one minute, and in the end, she managed to say only a single sentence: "I will keep going."

Speak only three parts of your true thoughts, and leave the rest to internet trolls.

For fans genuinely interested in intangible cultural heritage art, this sentence could naturally be interpreted as Sun Yali's determination to overcome all difficulties and persevere with her beloved craft to the end.

For the onlookers just there for the spectacle and the ill-intentioned keyboard warriors who purposely came to stir trouble, they could naturally mock her while privately misinterpreting her words, wondering what sort of things she was determined to persist in.

But none of that mattered.

In a forest large enough, there are bound to be all sorts of birds.

The internet never lacks anyone; as long as she could become popular, Sun Yali could do anything.

Wasn't it just a love for contrast?

She would just continue to look pitiful and gentle on one hand, while "inadvertently" acting wild and seductive for them on the other.

It wouldn't cost her a pound of flesh.

With fifty advancing broadcasters being introduced one by one, each person's one-minute acceptance speech was actually difficult to draw much attention.

Yet Sun Yali, as the only top-ten contestant who failed to finish a single complete sentence, unexpectedly sparked quite a bit of notice.

What belonged to her was a negative trending search topic that the Cocoon operations team personally wrote onto their platform: #AcceptanceSpeechPurelyCryingForAMinute#, which possessed an inherent temptation to make people click.

Beneath the entry, there were no serious topics to speak of; the comment section for that one-minute video was filled with all sorts of monsters and demons.

"What kind of psychological resilience does this broadcaster have? She can still livestream with this kind of attitude? Will she even make it in the second stage?"

"What do you even know! People who do art are just sentimental, so what?"

"Yada yada, art again. If she couldn't even make a penny, she really thinks of herself as an artist. Oh right, I suppose she can finally make money now, right?"

"The broadcaster's early ranking wasn't very high; it's normal that she didn't prepare an acceptance speech."

"Some people spend all their time obsessing over acceptance speeches, while others just want to do their jobs well."

"Acting all innocent, who knows how happy she's secretly feeling inside!"

Sun Yali read these comments one by one.

Her heart remained completely tranquil.

She used to care deeply about the opinions of her fans.

Back when she still wanted to earnestly pursue art, she paid attention to every single comment, reflecting on herself whenever critical voices appeared. Every time she encountered someone who misunderstood her, she couldn't help but argue back.

Yet nowadays, looking at the pages upon pages of chaotic remarks before her, Sun Yali only felt that having traffic was truly wonderful.

As for what people said, did it matter?

As for the impact all of this had on the cultural treasures and intangible cultural heritage art she once cherished so dearly, did that matter either?

While Sun Yali was momentarily lost in thought, the announcement of the top ten had already passed the halfway mark.

In the end, Lin Ke failed to surpass Menglu. She ranked seventh in the first stage, while Menglu placed sixth.

The final score difference between the two was a mere 0.2 points. If anyone still remembered the yawning chasm between Menglu's and Lin Ke's accounts prior to the competition, they would likely be utterly astounded.

From this perspective, Menglu had lost completely.