Chapter 123 1/2

The night passed, and the four words “Holographic Stage” directly exploded across the entire internet.

Whether people had watched it or not, fans, mentors, and even passersby were spreading the news everywhere.

For most people who wake up in the morning, the first message they see is:

“Did you watch the holographic stage?”

A regular netizen who didn’t pay much attention to entertainment news, Little Bird, woke up to friends sharing the news. Not caring much, she thought it was just casual chatter.

“Isn’t it always trending? Since this show aired, it’s been in the top three hot searches every time I open Weibo.”

This netizen nicknamed Little Bird was the legendary “never-follow-the-trend” type.

The so-called “non-trend follower” never watched popular dramas or variety shows. When everyone enthusiastically discussed something, they remained as calm as water. After a year or two, when no one mentioned the once-popular program, they would show interest.

Suddenly intrigued, she watched it and was amazed. She went everywhere, recommending, “This is really good; you must watch it!”

And then, a few years ago, she recommended the same show to her friends who also participated in the program: “…”

In any case, compared to her friends who had become fans of “Through the Star Sea,” Little Bird, who had never seen it, was quite clear-headed.

“Although buying hot searches in the entertainment industry is common, it shouldn’t be every day. Too much of a good thing is bad.”

Friend: “No!”

Little Bird: “?”

Friend: “When I said ‘exploded across the entire internet,’ I wasn’t talking about our country’s internet.”

Little Bird: “??”

Friend: “It’s exploded across the whole world!”

Little Bird: “What do you mean… the whole world?”

Exploding across the entire internet, she could understand. Exploding across the whole world? That’s absurd!

Half-believing, she opened her own public platforms and was shocked to find that what her friend said was true.

The holographic stage held in the Polar Game last night seemed to have ignited the passion of the entire world overnight.

The authoritative media in Country A, DIK, reported: “Cross-century stage, the new door to the entertainment world has opened.”

The news agency in Country B reported: “A large number of citizens are heading to holographic equipment stores, attempting to purchase holographic devices to watch the holographic stage. This has caused traffic congestion on the roads. Please watch the live footage.”

Country C’s national radio: “Last night, a talent show named ‘Through the Star Sea’ held in Huaxia became the first in the world to use a holographic stage. The stunning stage effects not only make people look forward to the future of holographic entertainment but also turn the contestants appearing on the holographic stage into national idols. It is reported that plane tickets to Huaxia are now sold out, and many fans are trying to travel to Huaxia to chase their stars. This is a massive outflow of fans unprecedented in the entertainment history of Country C.”

Then came countries D, E, and F… Almost all the authoritative media in the world were enthusiastically discussing the holographic stage in Huaxia.

With such a huge response from public media, it naturally flooded the internet in her home country.

It’s important to note that Polar was already a globally played game, and with the integration of holographic technology, its popularity surged worldwide. It could easily be called the game with the highest number of players globally.

People from different countries, different races—as long as there was an internet connection, there were Polar players.

And at this moment, these players from all over the world were gathered together, madly praising the holographic stage of “Through the Star Sea” from last night.

“So amazing! It’s like a miracle from God!”

“Oh my god! If possible, I’m willing to spend all my savings to watch it again!”

“That was the most worthwhile four hours of my life!”

“From the first performance, I was already shocked and speechless. I was thinking, my goodness, their first performance is already this good; what about the contestants who come later? But it’s genuinely surprising; ‘Through the Star Sea’ managed to make each performance better than the last.”

“The later performances were perfect to the point of being unbelievable, especially the performance of the Huaxia boy, Tu Zhu. He really had no flaws. I fell in love with him, so I cast my vote without hesitation.”

From here, the praise gradually deviated.

“To be honest, I was shocked the whole time, to the point of feeling like I’ve already reached heaven. When we got the voting board, I was so excited in reality that I shed tears, thanking everything I have at this moment. Then I voted for Lan He. Please pay attention to Lan He; she’s really great.”

“My feelings are the same as this netizen. However, I think the best is Song Ling. Everyone, please vote for Song Ling. This is Song Ling’s photo; this is a recording of Song Ling’s dance. Her beauty and dance are enough to resurrect the dead.”

“Miemie is the best! She makes me feel the happiness of life!”

“Tu Zhu! His performance deserves 24 hours of repeated viewing!”

Little Bird, peeking into the foreign internet: “Foreign netizens are so cheesy.

This description… Being so moved that you cry after watching a performance, even with holographic enhancement, isn’t that too much?

She muttered to herself while scrolling around and successfully found videos of each contestant’s performance.

It was indeed fantastic. Although not enhanced by holography, just watching on her phone made Little Bird change her mind about her “not watching high-profile shows” stance.

Her favorite was the performance group led by Tu Zhu.

This young boy of small stature was simply too eye-catching on stage.

He looked like a cute little puppy, yet in his movements, you could vaguely see well-defined abdominal muscles; even though not a single inch was exposed, it couldn’t be ignored.

His eyes, with a hint of natural moisture, became wild and intense under the energetic background music. Every dance move was perfectly timed, and every turn seemed to connect with the hearts of the audience.

He truly… transformed into a different person on stage. Every move seamlessly aligned with everything, making it impossible for people to take their eyes off him.

Strength and beauty—there really was someone who could achieve it through dance on stage.

Having seen Tu Zhu being ridiculed for his acting skills before, knowing him only as an artist with good looks, after watching his performance, Little Bird wanted to shout to the world:

“Are you calling this just having good looks?”

What was Tu Zhu’s previous company doing?

His stage abilities were so great, yet they kept making him act!

Anyone who had seen this performance could affirm that every move Tu Zhu made immersed him in the stage, showing his love for it. This passion and ability filled the entire venue with his charm.

Little Bird had come across an analysis stating that most of Tu Zhu’s true fans were early-stage fans of his performances. Some had even been live audience members during “I Love Flying” and had seen Tu Zhu’s stage, which turned them into true fans.

At that time, she couldn’t understand it, thinking, “Dancing? There are plenty of people who dance well in this world.”

Now, she deeply understood why those stage fans had been following Tu Zhu.

She thought, maybe, she could try becoming a fan of a celebrity.

In the video, after a performance, Tu Zhu stood with his teammates.

He breathed gently, his peach blossom eyes slightly reddened below the corners, shining as he looked into the venue. Perhaps he saw fans holding his star cards; he first froze, then suddenly broke into a big smile.

What kind of smile was that? Little Bird couldn’t describe it, but watching it made her happy for him.

Then she happily started rewatching the video.

After watching it seven or eight times, Little Bird silently gave up her stance as a “non-trend follower” and decided to join the audience army of “Through the Star Sea.”

This show… is really good.

And Tu Zhu is really handsome! Make sure to vote for him!

Of course, she still maintained her clear-headedness, saying that although it’s good, crying because it’s so good is too exaggerated. After all, it’s a dance performance, not some sentimental program.

Thinking like this, Little Bird came across another video.

This video wasn’t the usual recorded performances of various contestants circulating online.

Appearing in the video was Sheng Quan.

Originally holding two glow sticks, presumably for cheering on the contestants.

The timestamp in the video was after all the contestants had finished their performances, and the venue lights still hadn’t come on.

A beam of light, seemingly from nowhere, fell on Sheng Quan.

She stood up, gently spread her hands, and the two glow sticks, originally just shining faintly, immediately flew into the air.

“Wow!”

Amid the surprised and amazed voices of the audience.

—Swoosh!

The two small glow sticks suddenly burst open, instantly releasing countless twinkling stars.

They fell from above like a sky full of fireflies, not descending slowly but flying purposefully toward every audience member in the venue.

The number of people in the audience had already exceeded ninety million.