This Star Only Wants More Money - Chapter 10
Translator: Diviner
As the last notes of the accompaniment faded away, the live broadcast was engulfed in a deathly silence.
It wasn’t that no one wanted to applaud or cheer; they were simply still immersed in the feast of sound that had just concluded, unable to break free from the trance.
It wasn’t until the host stepped onto the stage that the spell was broken.
Having thoroughly enjoyed the auditory feast, the host spread his arms wide in an exaggerated gesture and exclaimed, “Xu Feng, your performance was absolutely stunning! I believe this moment will surely become one of the most memorable scenes in Tomorrow’s God of Song!”
With that polite opening, the host smiled and turned to the judges’ panel, saying, “So, let’s see how the judges will score Xu Feng’s performance! I don’t think this will be a difficult decision.”
Two of the four judges didn’t hesitate for a moment and immediately raised their “10” scorecards. Even Xiao Yue, who usually had conflicts with Lin Shenghuan, struggled for a couple of seconds before grudgingly giving out a perfect score.
The fact that they didn’t even offer any critiques before revealing their scores spoke volumes about Xu Feng’s performance. Even though Xiao Yue knew that giving this perfect score would mean admitting that Lin Shenghuan had won, she couldn’t bring herself to give a lower score. Otherwise, she would lose all semblance of grace and dignity.
Lin Shenghuan, on the other hand, had calmed down after her initial excitement. Instead of immediately scoring, she followed the procedure and started her critique.
“The composition and lyrics are excellent. I don’t know much about the accompaniment, but my ears tell me it’s also quite impressive.” She gave two positive remarks, but then she suddenly changed her tone. “As for the singing… from a technical standpoint, there were no mistakes, but there were a few minor emotional flaws… such as… and…”
Having his vocal flaws pointed out by a judge specializing in singing was within Xu Feng’s expectations.
After all, the system only granted him a singing ability score of 50. Although this level was sufficient to flawlessly perform songs without extreme difficulty, if one were determined to nitpick, they could always find some areas to criticize.
Moreover, having a professional point out these flaws would be beneficial for his future progress.
Xu Feng listened humbly to Lin Shenghuan’s feedback. She spoke unreservedly for nearly two minutes before taking a sip of water and returning to the topic: “So, my final score is…”
Everyone held their breath, waiting for the final result.
Although Xu Feng had already secured first place, people were still curious whether he would receive a perfect score.
From Lin Shenghuan’s critique, it seemed unlikely.
Lin Shenghuan paused for a moment, then quickly pulled out a scorecard from beneath the table and raised her voice slightly: “Full marks!”
Xu Feng, who had prepared himself to receive a nine, was caught off guard by this twist and instinctively uttered, “Huh?”
A sly glint flashed in Lin Shenghuan’s eyes as she replied matter-of-factly, “What I mentioned were merely suggestions for improvement, not deductions, so… full marks. Xu Feng, you were amazing! I’m proud of you!”
With that, she stood up and began clapping generously for Xu Feng.
“Anyone under my wing deserves my support!” she thought. Even if his performance hadn’t been perfect, she would still have given him some courtesy points. How could she not, when he had performed so flawlessly?
Xu Feng laughed as well. “Thank you, Sister Huan.”
Sister Huan really has a youthful spirit…
As the applause surged like a tide, just as Xu Feng was about to step off, he suddenly heard Lin Shenghuan teasing him, “Are you sure this song wasn’t dedicated to someone?”
Lin Shenghuan was in a fantastic mood today.
All her earlier worries had instantly transformed into pride, so she was in the mood for a little joke.
Hearing this, everyone at the venue smiled knowingly.
There had long been rumors that Xu Feng was ruthless and fearless, willing to insult a “green tea girl” in front of tens of thousands of people. Today, he lived up to his reputation!
Xu Feng, facing Lin Shenghuan’s playful question, replied with a helpless smile, “If I said it was a coincidence, would you all believe me?”
He didn’t mind if others wanted to make wild guesses—he truly disliked the green tea girl who had messaged him with a pitiful plea before the competition.
So what if he did call her an “ugly monster”?
“I don’t believe you!” Lin Shenghuan responded without hesitation. “Alright, Xu Feng, go enjoy your victory now. It’s time for the other contestants to perform. Let’s look forward to their wonderful presentations.”
With that, she cast a provocative glance at Xiao Yue.
Returning to the waiting room amid applause, Xu Feng ignored the surprised and respectful gazes around him. He sat down in a corner, waiting for the other contestants to finish their performances.
Everything was going according to plan… excellent.
Next, he needed to plan his future steps.
How to capture the traffic? How to stabilize his fan base? How to expand his abilities across the entertainment industry?
His past experiences allowed him to quickly snap out of the present success and methodically plan his next moves, step by step.
While Xu Feng was contemplating his strategy, time flew by. Before long, the other contestants had all completed their performances.
With Xu Feng’s stunning performance as a precedent, this episode was starting to feel like a show that began strong but ended weak—it was clear that the competition for first place had lost all suspense.
Who could surpass Xu Feng?
Soon, the scores for all eight contestants were announced, and the list of those advancing was displayed on the big screen.
However, at the moment the rankings were revealed, the system panel suddenly popped up without any warning.
[Congratulations to the host for successfully completing a commission valued at 150,000 yuan (securing a place in the top five of the Tomorrow’s God of Song competition). Task completion: 100%.]
[Temporary abilities have been revoked.]
[The host may choose from the following options: 1. Fully enjoy all the copyright benefits of ‘Ugly Monster’; 2. The system will take a 90% cut of the monetary earnings from the song’s copyright for the next three months, but the host will receive a permanent +5 singing ability, +3 playing ability, and 150,000 points.]
Seeing these lines, Xu Feng was stunned for a moment. Before he could react, he felt his singing ability significantly decline, and the bass in his hand suddenly became an unfamiliar object.
What the hell?!
Damn commission completed already!
Xu Feng suddenly realized a very serious problem—the mercenary system had precisely set the goal of making the top five, not a single point higher. Once he confirmed a place in the top five, the task was immediately considered complete!
So, what about the next part of the competition?
“Congratulations! Xu Feng, your performance was truly remarkable!” As Xu Feng was momentarily overwhelmed by the sudden change, Dai Mingli came over, sincerely congratulating him, “You got first place… As for me, sixth. No surprise I was eliminated.”
“Haha… Thanks.”
Xu Feng casually replied with a few words and, still a bit bewildered, returned to his rented apartment, forcing himself to calm down and start looking for countermeasures—Xu Feng had faced numerous unexpected situations in his career and knew that panic would not solve anything.
What should he do next? How to recover from this? How…
As he urgently contemplated his options, his phone suddenly rang.
Looking down, he saw an unfamiliar number.
Xu Feng answered, hesitantly asking, “Hello?”
“Hello, Xu Feng! This is the production team of Tomorrow’s God of Song. Congratulations on taking first place!”
Xu Feng felt annoyed but restrained his impatience, replying, “Just say what you need to say.”
The other party didn’t seem offended and calmly continued, “Out of all the contestants, you have the best chance of winning the championship, and we are considering the possibility of promoting you. But you also know, there are costs involved in operations and promotion. If you are willing to enter a deeper cooperative relationship with us…”
Great, so there’s no avoiding this.
It’s an open secret that these music competitions demand money under the table.
The voting format for the later stages of the competition involves a mix of votes from judges, VIPs in the audience, and viewers outside.
If he didn’t pay up, even if Lin Shenghuan tried to protect him, he likely wouldn’t win first place.
But Xu Feng didn’t have time to deal with these bothersome matters right now.
He took several deep breaths, preparing to find an excuse to brush them off, but his eyes unintentionally glanced at the system panel.
[Entertainment Mercenary System]
Mercenary…
A tingling sensation shot through his entire body like an electric shock.
Wait a minute, something’s not right!
Xu Feng realized his habitual thinking had been all wrong… All those ideas about accumulating traffic, slowly building a career from a small-time artist to a superstar—that was never his path!
He wasn’t here to become a traditional celebrity!
From beginning to end, Xu Feng was just a mercenary paid to do a job, a clean-cut transaction.
Only, the scope was confined to the entertainment industry.
He would do only as much as he was paid for, and no more.
From the start, he was only responsible for fulfilling the commission given by his client, Lin Shenghuan. Anything beyond that was irrelevant.
Whether he won the championship or not, what did it matter to Xu Feng? Securing the fifth spot, completing the commission, and walking away with his payment—that was the essence of a mercenary.
With the system acting as his manager, there would always be resources, always be commissions.
Why switch from one trap (the workplace) to another (the entertainment industry)? Why not live a freer life instead?
Upon this realization, the last bit of confusion lingering from his past life dissipated. Xu Feng collapsed onto the sofa, opened a can of Coke, and felt more relaxed than ever. He replied in a completely indifferent tone, “Oh, I quit. Bye.”
He hung up the phone, set it to silent, and before going to bed, wrote down his new motto for this life in his notebook.
“Always remember, you’re just a mercenary!”
He also chose option 2 from the system panel.
Realization or not, you can’t forget the skill that puts food on the table.
Whatever drama the production team decided to cook up, he’d deal with it when he woke up tomorrow.