Compared to the City Stadium, which could hold tens of thousands of people and was as bright as day, the starting point of Kasahana Chiai’s idol career seemed far too cramped — shabby, even.
It was a stage tucked away in an alley behind a bustling commercial street, named “Stardust.”
The sign above the door was weathered, the characters peeling and faded.
The interior was cramped, the stage was only dozens of centimeters off the ground, and the audience area could hold just over 100 people at most.
The air inside was a permanent mix of disinfectant and cheap perfume trying to mask the scent of cigarette smoke.
However, in this forgotten corner of the mainstream idol world, a superstar who would overturn everyone’s common sense was quietly preparing for her debut.
Of course, Su Yuqing at the time could never have predicted how the seemingly small and harmless girl behind the stage curtains would sweep through the entire industry with such ferocity in just a few short months.
Half an hour before the performance began, the backstage area was filled with a unique scent — a blend of foundation, hairspray, and anxiety.
In the narrow dressing room, people bustled about in a flurry of activity.
Su Yuqing leaned against the opposite wall, her gaze involuntarily drifting to the slightly ajar door time and again, trying to catch a glimpse of the figure inside.
When the dressing room door was pushed open once more, a young makeup artist with dark circles under her eyes stepped out, stretching and rubbing her shoulders.
Su Yuqing reflexively straightened up and stopped her.
“How is it? Is the look for tonight’s performance… all set?”
“Yes, yes! All done, all done!”
The young makeup artist instantly switched to a high-energy smile and nodded vigorously.
“Don’t worry, Senior Yuqing! Chiai’s natural features are the best I’ve ever seen. Just a few strokes and she’s breathtaking! I have a feeling Chiai’s idol debut tonight will be especially, especially wonderful!”
Besides Chiai herself, Su Yuqing was actually the second youngest in this small Little Claw Idol Agency.
The young makeup artist calling her “Senior” was the only employee younger than her.
“Hmph, I hope so.”
Su Yuqing twitched the corner of her mouth, trying to make her response sound less dismissive.
She didn’t show much excitement or expectation, as if this were just another mandatory task to complete.
However, deep within her heart, a suppressed professional intuition was quietly awakening.
Based on the experience she had clawed through the industry to gain over the past two years — experience that had practically become instinct — she had to admit that the probability of Kasahana Chiai’s debut succeeding tonight was extremely high.
This judgment didn’t come from nowhere.
Even through the harshest lens, the talent the girl possessed was impossible to ignore.
She had an exquisite face that seemed born for the camera, blending innocence and allure.
Her body, through rigorous training, held surprising power and flexibility in every joint.
And then there were her eyes —
When she looked into the lens or immersed herself in music, those glass-like eyes seemed capable of piercing through any barrier to seize the viewer’s soul.
Not to mention her voice, which vocal teachers had found stunning — clear, with a unique feline rasp and a coquettish charm.
Almost everyone in the agency with any sense of judgment had to admit that Kasahana Chiai, this girl who appeared out of nowhere, had hardware conditions as an idol that were so excellent they were almost… unreal.
‘Then, Su Yuqing, have you never thought about it?’
A cold and sharp question surfaced in the river of her thoughts like a hidden reef in slow-moving water.
Why would such a star, destined to shine, deign to descend upon a third-rate agency with limited resources and no reputation like Little Claw?
She clearly had the capital to make major idol workshops fight over her, with countless better and broader platforms to choose from.
What key factor had prompted her to make a choice that seemed, to outsiders, like she was devaluing herself?
This doubt, which had been buried by mundane tasks and inner despondency, now pounced like a beast breaking its shackles, firmly seizing Su Yuqing’s mind.
“Speaking of which, Senior Yuqing.”
While Su Yuqing was immersed in this unsettling question, the makeup artist, who hadn’t left yet, suddenly lowered her voice and spoke with the excitement of someone sharing a secret.
“Have you noticed that Chiai… seems to have been ‘paying attention’ to you all this time?”
“Paying attention to me?”
Su Yuqing’s train of thought was interrupted, and she raised an eyebrow, reflexively refuting the idea.
“If she has that kind of free time, why isn’t she polishing her singing and dancing instead of worrying about an errand runner like me?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure about the specific reason.”
The makeup artist tilted her head, reminiscing.
“But Senior, I remember when I was doing Chiai’s makeup this afternoon, she seemed to be in a great mood. I casually asked her: ‘Chiai, with your qualities being so good, why did you come to Little Claw to be an underground idol?'”
She paused, imitating Chiai’s sweet yet mysterious tone from that moment.
“Back then, she almost didn’t think twice. She just turned her head and looked at me in the mirror… or rather, she looked through the mirror at something behind me, smiling as she said, ‘It’s because Big Sister Yuqing is here.”
“‘It’s because of Big Sister Yuqing that Chiai chose to come to Little Claw Agency, you know~’ “
The makeup artist’s words exploded in Su Yuqing’s ears like a thunderclap.
“She… she really said that to you personally…?”
Su Yuqing felt her throat go dry, her voice trembling with an imperceptible trace of anxiety.
‘I don’t think… I even knew you before this, did I? The paths of our lives should have been two parallel lines that never crossed before the day of the interview.’
‘If your goal is me, if your choice really was because of me, then, Kasahana Chiai, exactly what purpose do you have for stepping into this obscure agency so recklessly — even self-destructively?’
The hidden motive behind it gave Su Yuqing an inexplicable heart palpitation.
“Yes, yes! It’s the absolute truth! I didn’t get a single word wrong!”
The little makeup artist nodded vigorously, her face still wearing a guileless smile, completely unaware of the sudden change in Su Yuqing’s expression.
“Well, that’s… certainly strange…”
Su Yuqing forced a stiff smile, trying to use a light tone to hide the turmoil in her heart.
However, reality left her no more time for hesitation or fear.
In the performance hall, the noisy background music abruptly stopped.
It was replaced by a rhythmic intro that blared through the subpar speakers, filling the space and even penetrating the thin walls, vibrating in everyone’s eardrums backstage.
With that, a wave of suppressed, excited commotion came from the audience area.
The debut performance of Kasahana Chiai, the newcomer idol of Little Claw Idol Agency, was about to begin.
Rather than dwelling on that unsettling puzzle, Su Yuqing — driven by professional instinct and a forced surge of curiosity — wanted to see if the girl from the dance studio, filled with sweat and vitality, could carve out a path of her own on this idol road already crowded with geniuses and cruelty.
She took a deep breath, pushing her swirling doubts back down for the moment, and hurried toward the passage leading to the wings of the stage.
The moment she took her position, the stage curtains suddenly flew open!
Dazzling rainbow lights slammed into the center of the stage!
There, wearing a modified stage outfit that was both playful and sexy, Kasahana Chiai stood like a suddenly ignited spirit of light, firmly capturing everyone’s gaze.
She tilted her head slightly, offering the audience — who might still be sparse or full of scrutinizing looks — a brilliant smile capable of melting polar ice, a mix of infinite bashfulness and ultimate confidence.
Then, she brought the Cartoon Cat Paw Prop, serving as a temporary microphone, to her lips and uttered the sweet opening line destined to be carved into Su Yuqing’s soul:
“Meow~! Good evening, everyone, you’re all the cutest! My name is — “
“Ka-sa-ha-na Chi-ai!”
She enunciated each syllable of her name as if making a sacred proclamation.
Her glass-like eyes shimmered with a cunning and charming light under the lamps, and her gaze seemed to inadvertently sweep over Su Yuqing in the shadows of the wings.
“Next — !”
Chiai raised the cat paw high, her voice suddenly spiking with an unquestionable sense of declaration.
“Please let Chiai use the world’s cutest singing and dancing to completely conquer your hearts~!”
The music reached a climax in an instant, sweeping through Stardust like a surging tide.
Su Yuqing stood in the shadows just off-stage.
Looking at that figure in the center of the light, where every cell seemed born for the stage, she felt for the first time a clear sense of some destiny she could not understand or control.
It was rushing toward her, accompanied by this seemingly sweet and harmless song.