"Tonight, I watch the snow drifting in the chilly night
Holding onto my cooled heart, I drift far away
In the storm chasing, in the fog unable to distinguish the traces..."
In the empty underground passage echoed a melodious singing, which sometimes attracted one or two pedestrians to stop and listen. However, it was far too cold. Most of the people merely took a glance at the plump boy in front of them and then shook their heads and walked away.
"He's too ordinary-looking, no wonder he's not popular…"
"Yeah, it's freaking cold here, and look at him still wearing a thin shirt, how pitiful…" A pretty girl took out five banknotes from her purse and placed them into the little bowl beside the wandering singer.
"Forgive my free and unfettered life, love freedom
But also scared that one day, will fall
Betray the ideal, anyone can
Who would fear that one day only you are with me"
The slightly overweight wandering singer had a steady voice, and his Cantonese pronunciation was quite standard. In this ghastly cold weather, his voice didn't tremble at all. He might even rival a professional singer.
Although days of hunger and cold had made his face pale, his eyes were still firm. If you looked closely, it would not be hard to see a flame leaping within his gaze.
"Qin Hao, still singing? You, who can't get famous with this look, rest assured!" At this moment, a shifty-looking young man led four or five punks, snatched the guitar from Qin Hao's hands and gave him a kick in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.
The punks swarmed up. Two of them held down Qin Hao's hands and feet, while one of them grabbed the handful of money in the small bowl next to him, which was his hard-earned day's reward.
Seeing his hard-earned day's pay being stolen again by these delinquents, Qin Hao was infuriated. He tried his best to break free, but to no avail.
This period of time he'd been living hand to mouth, how could he have any strength left?
The punk smiled lasciviously, "Qin Hao, I'll say it one last time. If you sing 'Eighteen Touches' here for two hours, I will refund the protection money from this period! Look, is this a good deal?"
"Go to hell, you screw your mother once, all the money I earned this month is given to you!" Qin Hao shouted, his neck stiff with anger.
The punk's eyes had almost turned green when he heard this, and he roared, "Damn it, beat him up!"
Several punks, hearing this, began throwing punches at Qin Hao as if they were free.
Where this sudden burst of strength came from, Qin Hao didn't know, but he grabbed one of the punk's arms and bit into it, tearing off a chunk of flesh.
"Ah!"
The punk let out a cry. No matter how he imagined it, he never thought this chubby boy could be so ruthless. He looked at Qin Hao dumbfounded, his hands and feet involuntarily loosening their grip.
Qin Hao struck successfully, spinning around and landing an elbow on the chin of the dazed punk, knocking him down with a thud.
At this moment, Qin Hao abruptly stood up, his fists striking out rapidly towards the chests of the two in front of him. Relying solely on his tenacity, he managed to put up a fierce fight.
Thump...Thump...
Blow for blow, Qin Hao's body was pummeled by the incessant rain of punches from his opponents. Despite this, he didn't back down, even forgoing defense to let their fists and feet land on his body.
Charging like a mad tiger, punches and kicks continue to fly. For a while, he manages to hold his own against these two punks by his reckless assault. The two punks exchanged a glance, fear evident in their eyes, and they couldn't help but continually back down.
"Huh!"
Suddenly, Qin Hao heard a whooshing sound behind him. Before he had a chance to turn around, a loud boom resounded. Before he could react, he felt a burst of dizziness and fell to the ground with a thud.
The original ringleader of the delinquents noticed that things were going south, he grabbed the guitar in his hands and smashed it on Qin Hao's head.
The guitar broke upon impact; Qin Hao also fell into a pool of blood.
"Boss, this isn't going to be a murder...right?" One of 'the little punks, clutching his arm, said anxiously.
"How the hell should I know, let's get outta here fast, thank god there's no CCTV here!"
"We better run, damn, whoever dares to call the police, I'll kill 'em!" Another punk glared menacingly at the surrounding pedestrians. In a short span of time, the entire underpass was left with only Qin Hao.
At that moment, Qin Hao felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Upon hearing the mutterings of these hoodlums, he spat disdainfully: "Cowards, you trash don't deserve to trash talk music!"
Shortly after, Qin Hao fell into the pool of blood, motionless.
A minute later, a flash of white light, Qin Hao's fingers twitched, and then he stood upright from the ground. His face was now rosy and there were no visible signs of injury.
"Shit, was I dreaming?" Qin Hao looked at the ground, there was no blood stain. Even the guitar was in perfect condition laying on the ground.
He shook his head, collected his stuff, and headed home.
...
"I'm a genius, hahahahaha!"
Having hastily finished dinner, Qin Hao was sitting in front of his computer watching an old episode of "Running—Man". He was amused by the extravagant performance of Chen Chichi in the program and was laughing heartily. Suddenly, the smile on his face froze.
"Sigh, looks like I'll have to find a new place again, constantly pestered by these bastards, but life must go on…"
While pondering, suddenly the computer screen dimmed, then big, shimmering letters appeared:
1. Do you like your current life?
A. Like B. Dislike
Suddenly seeing this question, Qin Hao instantly thought he was having a hallucination. He immediately rubbed his face vigorously and looked back at the computer screen to find that the words he just saw were still on the screen.
Not only that, but a few red words had appeared: Please make a choice as soon as possible, or you will be deemed to have given up automatically.
He didn't know why, but Qin Hao's heart suddenly jumped, and inexplicably, he stretched out his right index finger and clicked on Option B on the screen.
Qin Hao graduated from a low-ranking university in the capital city, a truly commoner by birth. When he first graduated, he was full of ambition, wanting to make a name for himself in the entertainment industry.
Unlike the handsome men and beauties of the entertainment industry, he was just too ordinary, and even a little overweight.
Moreover, it wasn't even possible for him to play comedic roles like Huang Bo.
Lucky for him, he has a good voice. After falling out with his family, he took him guitar and left the capital city alone to start living the life of a wandering singer.
After wandering in several cities for half a year, he came to the East Guangdong Province. But here, the environment was complicated, many underground forces exist, making the life of a wandering singer extremely difficult.
Take the thugs he encountered before, for example, they intentionally made things difficult and insulted Qin Hao. There wasn't any big conflicts between them, it was just his nature that made things this way.
Although Qin Hao was new, he always had a sense of pride deep in his bones. He wasn’t subservient towards the gangsters. From initially extorting him to later making things difficult for him, it was purely to humiliate Qin Hao.
Suddenly, the computer screen flickered, and a line of large text appeared: Do you still remember your initial dream?
There is a line underneath, obviously for entering the answer.
Qin Hao's eyes lit up and he quickly typed a few words on the keyboard without thinking:
Becoming a superstar.
The screen flickered once more...
Do you wish to proceed with your selection?
Yes...
No...
Without hesitation, Qin Hao clicked on "Yes".
I want to become a Superstar!
The room's light dimmed, and a wave of indescribable fatigue swept over Qin Hao. Almost immediately, he fell asleep hunched over his computer desk.
At that moment, a faint voice echoed in the void:
The Superstar Ascension System has finalized the selection, initialization ongoing...
