FWTS # Chapter 101: Ten Consecutive Draws
It was already past 9 PM when they flew from Hangzhou to Changsha. As they exited the terminal, they saw Master Shi's assistants, Pineapple and Little Fatty.
"Little Fatty, what are you doing here!"
Hou Muyun was surprised to see Little Fatty. He had been in Shanghai for training recently and wasn’t even there when Hou Muyun went for a signing session a few days ago. Now, here he was.
Little Fatty looked leaner than before but seemed in good spirits. "After a few days of theoretical training, Brother Pineapple took me under his wing. He's taken good care of me, and I've learned a lot these past few days."
"Little Fatty is great, very perceptive."
Pineapple gave a thumbs-up and said, "Fifteen is waiting in the rehearsal room, let's go straight there."
As they left the airport, Hou Muyun couldn't help but ask again, "Brother Pineapple, what exactly does Fifteen want from me this time? It's so mysterious."
Pineapple repeated the same line: "You'll know when we get there."
Seeing him say that, Hou Muyun had a guess.
The car quickly arrived at a building near Mango TV’s central building. Hou Muyun had been here once before; Master Shi Fifteen and his team's temporary rehearsal room was here. When he entered the rehearsal room, he saw many people, some of whom he recognized from "The War of Music" and who were from Master Shi Fifteen’s studio.
After greeting everyone, Hou Muyun asked, "Now that everyone is here, can you tell me what's going on?"
"Your time is mine for the next few days."
Master Shi Fifteen said, "You know that the recording of 'Singer' is nearing the end, right? The twelfth episode just aired, and the singers who succeeded in the breakout round have been confirmed. I'm a starting singer, and I already made it to the final during the eleventh episode. I called you here for two reasons: one, to invite you to be my guest singer for the help-singing segment; and two, to invite you to accompany me on another song."
Hou Muyun was stunned.
Hou Muyun knew the competition format of "Singer": the King of Songs contest is divided into three rounds. The first round is the celebrity help-singing segment, where competing singers invite a celebrity to perform a song with them. After the performance, rankings are determined, and the top six proceed to the second round. The second round is a showdown based on the rankings from the help-singing segment, and the top three from this round qualify for the third round. The third round involves direct voting by the audience to determine the top three winners of the King of Songs contest.
Hou Muyun knew that Master Shi Fifteen had already entered the final contest but never thought he would invite him to be the help-singing guest. Even on the way here, he only thought it might be to help with accompaniment.
The help-singing segment can significantly influence the order of the second round, and this time, the number of singers in the first round is more than in previous seasons, with as many as nine. This means that one-third will be eliminated after the first round, making the help-singing segment much more critical.
Generally, singers invite either well-known singers with good vocal skills or popular celebrities to cross over. Hou Muyun was neither, so he hadn't expected this. In previous seasons, Master Shi Fifteen had helped several singers as a guest, so it was natural for him to reciprocate the invitation.
Hou Muyun said, "Help-singing? Don't joke around! Accompaniment is fine, but forget about help-singing!"
Master Shi Fifteen looked serious: "I'm not joking. This is serious. We'll have to report it to the program team later because they need to promote and preview it."
Seeing this, Hou Muyun knew it was no joke and couldn't help but be puzzled. "Are you crazy? Aren't you afraid I'll drag you down? I can't even get half a vote for you!"
"If you're afraid of dragging me down, then hurry and practice, and give me more advice."
Seeing Hou Muyun's pressure, Master Shi Fifteen smiled. "Alright, don't be too stressed. I came to this show to have fun and return a favor to Director Hong. I have no intention of winning the title of King of Songs. Besides..." He lowered his voice, "The King of Songs title will definitely go to a senior who can command respect! I'm getting paid more than anyone else; there's no way to get both the money and the title."
Hou Muyun was speechless but knew that the "Singer" program was mainly about promoting newcomers and re-popularizing "old favorites." At most, there would be three currently popular singers, and Master Shi Fifteen undoubtedly belonged to the latter category. Of course, being an "old favorite" wasn't a bad thing; after all, "old favorites" are like a dish that can be reheated and still taste good and have real strength.
But hearing Master Shi Fifteen say this, Hou Muyun naturally stopped politely refusing. "Alright, if it fails, don't blame me. By the way, will the program team approve?"
Master Shi Fifteen smiled, "Director Hong thinks highly of you. If it weren't for the final stage, he'd definitely invite you to compete!"
"I'm not even a proper singer. Inviting me to compete, he'd be crazier than you."
"You're not a proper singer, but the music charts are full of your songs recently. Are you giving us proper singers a break or not!"
...
After confirming the nine competing singers' help-singing guests, the "Singer" program team took promotional photos and preview clips the next day and released them on the 30th evening.
The promotional photos featured the competing singers and their help-singing guests, but the guests were shown as silhouettes to create buzz and anticipation among netizens and viewers.
On the evening of the 30th, after returning to the hotel from rehearsal, Hou Muyun didn’t go to bed before 11 PM as usual. Instead, he kept writing and waited for midnight to arrive.
By this time, the monthly ticket count for "The Sword Master of Xuanyuan" had surpassed 110,000, setting a new record on the Qichuang Chinese Network's monthly ticket chart, leaving the highest record in history far behind. The second place this month, Worm Two’s new book, had only a little more than half of "The Sword Master of Xuanyuan's" votes!
Hou Muyun stayed by his computer for three reasons: to witness his first "monthly ticket number one," to upload extra chapters to celebrate, and to release the first part of a side story.
After midnight, confirming the outcome, Hou Muyun first uploaded fifteen VIP chapters and then the free chapter "Sword Master Side Story (Part 1)." He also posted a single chapter:
"Thank you, dear readers, for sending Monkey to the top of the monthly ticket chart. This honor belongs to Monkey and, more importantly, to you!
There are too many readers to thank individually, so I'll just say it in general: thank you all!
Fifteen VIP chapters have been uploaded!
Additionally, the first part of the side story "Sword Master Side Story (Part 1)" has also been uploaded. Initially, I wanted to upload it all at once, but firstly, there was too much going on, and secondly, I got so excited while writing that the length increased, so it will be uploaded in three parts. This part contains twenty chapters, each with five thousand words, totaling one hundred thousand words!
The middle and final parts are also expected to be around one hundred thousand words each, and I'll strive to finish writing them all in December!
Also, I've started planning a manga adaptation of the "Sword Master Side Story," which will be a short manga.
Lastly, there's one bad news and one good news.
The bad news is that starting this month, the update speed of "The Sword Master of Xuanyuan" will slow down, with daily updates reduced to 5-10 chapters.
The good news is that I won't use the extra time for leisure. Besides writing the side story, I'll also be working on a new book!
The outline and ideas for the new book are already in place, and I hope to release it in January of the new year!
――――――――――――――――――――――Yun Hou with respect!"
After posting the single chapter, Hou Muyun went to bed.
The next morning, he saw that his points had increased to 100,000.
In recent days, Hou Muyun hadn’t participated in many programs. Apart from signing events, his points mainly came from novels, manga, and livestreams. Nowadays, the daily point increase from these three sources had steadily risen to around 15,000!
Although he had 100,000 points, Hou Muyun didn't dare to open card packs, fearing that too many new cards would be wasted due to a full inventory.
But he was itching to draw, so he decided to use the 10,000-point card wheel.
【Memory Attribute Card X1】
The first card drawn made Hou Muyun's eyes light up. Even though it was just one card, the Memory Attribute Card was definitely a good thing!
Draw again.
【Memory Attribute Card X1】
Again!
【Memory Attribute Card X1】
...
Hou Muyun drew five times in a row, and the system seemed to have gone crazy, giving him only Memory Attribute Cards, one each time!
It wasn’t until the sixth draw that he got something different.
【Voice Charm Attribute Card X1】
Then for the seventh, eighth, and tenth draws, all he got were single Voice Charm Attribute Cards!
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