Chapter 3: Opening

Screaming.

The screaming of 8,000 people is different from that of 2,000 or 5,000.

It isn’t just sound; it is the air vibrating, the floor shaking.

When you stand in the center of the stage, you can feel those sound waves pressing in from all directions like a wall.

“Alice—!”

“Gemstone Princess—!”

“Alice—!!”

I made a half-heart gesture and stood on my left tiptoes, my skirt falling exactly three centimeters above my knees.

Just like yesterday.

Just like the day before.

Just like the twenty-seven performances over the past three months.

The first song was the Debut Song.

I spun three times during the chorus.

As I made the first rotation, I saw a girl in the second row holding up a support sign for me.

On it, a crooked gemstone had been drawn with a highlighter.

Yesterday, a little girl had sat in that same spot and done the same thing.

But it wasn’t the same person.

The second song was the lead single from the new album.

I hit the same C5 High Note, half a tone higher than the original key.

No one could tell the difference.

The third song was the fan-favorite.

I waved to the left, and the left side screamed; I waved to the right, and the right side screamed.

Just like the day before.

Just like yesterday.

Just like every day.

But today was a little different.

Today was the third day.

Today, I was also the headliner.

The final performance on the final day.

Being the headliner didn’t just mean the “best show”; it meant the “last show.”

—The last show at this venue.

By the time I reached the fifth song, I glanced toward the side of the stage.

Lin Tian and the others had already finished their performance.

They stood there, eyes wide and mouths slightly agape.

That was a look I never had.

***

The final song.

I stood in the center of the stage as the lights poured down from above.

They were hot.

The 8,000-person venue was silent at this moment.

It wasn’t a true silence.

It was the kind of quiet where everyone held their breath, waiting for that high note.

Snap.

The lights cut out all at once.

It was so quiet that you could hear your own heartbeat, the sound of the skirt brushing against your calves, and the static hum coming from the microphone.

Only the spill of moonlight remained on the scene, and the light of the stars sparkled in my eyes.

The intro ended.

I lifted the microphone to my lips.

C5.

It was still that C5 High Note, half a tone higher than the original key.

Silver light bathed the side of my face, beautiful to the extreme —

In that moment, even I forgot who I was.

My mind held nothing but the performance, the stage, the audience…

The instant the sound left my throat, I saw a girl in the front row cover her mouth.

The person next to her started to cry.

In the row behind them, someone raised a light stick above their head, then a second, a third, a tenth — 8,000 light sticks lit up in the same second.

The entire venue turned into an ocean, a Star Sea formed by countless lights.

Tier after tier of starlight waves reflected in my pupils.

I continued to sing, awakened by these waves to some long-buried memories.

For the first time in a long while, I stopped restraining my strength and simply enjoyed the performance.

When the final note fell, the ocean exploded.

Screaming.

“Alice—!”

“Supernova Alice—!!”

“Gemstone Princess—!!”

“Supernova—!!!”

“Alice—!!!!!!”

The screaming returned.

The shouts of 8,000 people surged from all directions, slapping against my body and making my eardrums go numb.

Some were shouting “Alice,” some “Gemstone Princess,” some “Supernova,” and others were shouting things I couldn’t understand.

Sound piled upon sound, wave upon wave, and the entire venue trembled —

My movements came to a temporary halt.

Reflected in my pupils was the Star Sea I had created with my own hands.

Drops of sweat were hidden against the side of my face, illuminated by the faint light like translucent pearls.

The corners of my mouth curled up instinctively.

But without a doubt, today’s final song still wasn’t the last:

“Encore!”

“Encore! Encore!!”

“Encore! Encore!! Encore!!!”

***

The Encore ended.

I stood in place, waiting for my heartbeat to slow down.

Below the stage, 8,000 people were still calling my name.

The lights had not yet dispersed.

Multi-colored beams hit my eyes, refracting into brilliant glares that made my entire being look so dazzling —

“Alice!”

“Alice!”

“Gemstone Princess Alice!!!”

“Supernova Alice—!!!!”

The curtains began to draw shut.

The lights gradually dimmed.

I stood in my spot, unmoving.

The curtains continued to move, closing inch by inch.

The gap grew narrower and narrower, until only a sliver of light was visible, until it was only a finger’s width apart, and then —

Thump.

They closed.

***

In another room, the capable manager watched the recording of the sparkling Gemstone Princess and muttered to herself.

“As I thought…”

“Sending Chu Xue to scout and using petty tricks like stuffing notes is useless — she isn’t a rookie at all.”

“That aura is more like a certain witch.”

“We still couldn’t keep her…”

As she spoke, the manager’s eyes looked a bit weary, though she quickly regained her focus.

“Forget it. Everyone has their secrets. It’s nothing.”

Having said that, she returned to her work, though a trace of loneliness flashed in her eyes.

The screaming was walled off by the curtains, turning into a muffled hum —

Bzzz… bzzz…

The waves of sound leaked through the cracks in the curtains, hitting my back.

I didn’t look back.

I walked into the backstage area.

The lights in the hallway were still a sickly white.

Staff members ran past me.

I pushed open the door to the dressing room.

The cold air from the air conditioner hit my face.

The person in the mirror had pink twin-tails, glittery eyeshadow, and the lip glaze from the brand I endorsed.

She looked at me.

I looked at her.

Then I began to remove the makeup.

Foundation, eyeshadow, blush, lip glaze.

Layer after layer was taken away by the makeup remover.

The face in the mirror slowly returned to its original color.

The same as yesterday: a normal, pale face that would be categorized as a “fair-looking boy” in a crowd.

I threw the last piece of cotton pad into the trash can.

Knock, knock—

Someone was at the door.

“Alice?”

It was Lin Tian’s voice.

“…I’m here.”

The door pushed open, and Lin Tian and Xia Wan stood outside.

Lin Tian had changed into her own clothes, but her makeup wasn’t off yet, and her eyeshadow was a bit smeared.

“Um,” Lin Tian said, “we wanted to invite you to breakfast to say thanks for today. It’s just—”

Lin Tian stumbled over her words, so her best friend joked, “She wants to say that she watched you perform from the side of the stage today and cried.”

Lin Tian got flustered.

“I did not! I just… something got in my eye!”

I looked at her.

Three seconds later, I pulled the corners of my mouth upward.

It wasn’t the specific angle I used on stage; I just pulled them up randomly.

However, due to muscle memory, my body instinctively adjusted the expression to an arc that wasn’t unsightly.

“The performance was good today,” I said.

“Remember, your parents were in the audience.”

Lin Tian was stunned for a moment.

Then she smiled.

It was a real smile, not the kind used on stage.

“Yeah!”

The door closed.

The dressing room became quiet once again.

I stood up and walked to the window.

Outside was the city’s night view.

The Starlight Pavilion was in an excellent location; you could see half the city.

In the distance, office buildings were lit up where people were still working overtime.

Nearby was the departing crowd — 8,000 people walking out, merging into a dark river.

Ding—

It was a notification from the bank.

I opened my phone and once again calculated the target figure against my bank balance.

Balance: 20,108,542 RMB

I stared at that number for three seconds.

Recalling all these days of hiding, I silently recited three words in my heart.

‘It is enough.’

I walked through the hallway, through the crowds still packing up equipment, and through the door marked “Staff Only.”

Outside the back door, the starlight was fading, and the sky was just beginning to brighten.

The early morning wind rushed in, feeling a bit chilly.

I stood on the steps.

Behind me, there were still sounds coming from inside the venue.

Muffled thuds of large equipment being moved, blocked by the walls.

I didn’t look back, but the corners of my mouth were curling up.

Because the light was very dim, making it hard for anyone to see clearly, I temporarily let down all my guards.

With the first step of my plan perfectly achieved, I couldn’t help but smile as I walked away.

‘Heh heh heh… Start-up capital over-collected… Everything is perfect. Most importantly, my gender wasn’t exposed… Heh heh heh…’

I continued walking, gloating internally, until I reached the third streetlight.

My smile froze.

A person was crouching under the streetlight.

She was looking in my direction, staring intently, watching with extreme focus.

For a moment, recent events flashed through my mind — that note, the stupid smile I had just now in the early morning, that stage performance filled with anxiety —

‘I’m cooked!’

My luxury ocean liner was about to sail away without me!

Just as I stood there frozen, the girl looked down and started writing something, as if the previous gaze had just been a coincidence.

After observing for a while, I realized she seemed to be looking at the billboard hanging high behind me, a glowing sign featuring the illustration of “Gemstone Princess” Alice.

Every time I saw that billboard, I felt a strange sensation…

“Phew, that was close.”

Just as I patted my chest, thinking the crisis had been averted, I suddenly noticed she had started walking in my direction —

“?! “

Noticing this, my heart began to hang in mid-air again.

There was no mistake; she was walking toward me —

“Are you… coming out from inside?”

Eh?

Me?!

—She spoke to me!?

Caught off guard and ambushed, my off-stage social anxiety exploded.

I could only respond hurriedly, “Uh… yeah. Yes.”

“Are you a staff member?”

“No.”

“Then you are—”

“An intern… just visiting.”

I came up with a temporary excuse.

She paused.

Only then did I have the time to look at her closely.

A girl wearing a mask and sunglasses.

Combined with her outfit, her vibe and appearance were a bit strange —

The corners of her eyes were a striking bright red, yet she wore an ordinary hoodie and carried an old backpack.

She held a notebook and a pen in her hands, looking as though she had been writing just a moment ago.

I recalled the scene from earlier.

She looked like a fallen noble cat, crouching there to write.

She wrote very slowly and seriously, stopping after every few words to look up at the billboard before lowering her head to continue.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward.

I instinctively wanted to do something, so I grabbed a strawberry candy from my pocket.

I handed the candy over.

She looked at the candy and blanked for a second.

“For me?”

“Um…”

She took it, looked at the wrapper, and then looked up at me.

She stared at my face for two seconds.

I didn’t say anything.

She looked down, peeled the wrapper, and popped the candy into her mouth.

“It’s sweet,” she said.

Then she laughed, though the sound was a bit bitter.

At the same time, I noticed the contents of her notebook.

There were several lines of crooked handwriting:

-Debut Song should be lighthearted

-Fan interaction should be natural

-Cannot eat spicy food

-Cannot look for agencies that only care about looks. (Crossed out)

Current Goal: Find a suitable agency to join for now

She seemed to be showing it to me intentionally, not hiding it at all.

There was also a hint that she was observing me.

“You said you’re an intern and a boy. Are you from an agency?”

“…Yes.”

“Take me there, or call your scout over.”

Having said that, she took off her mask, revealing a beautiful face.

She was clearly expressing something with confidence:

Her face was small and delicate, her jawline elegant.

Her skin was like white porcelain with a hint of pink, her pale lips clearly defined, and her eyelashes cast fan-shaped shadows under her eyes.

She looked quiet yet stubborn.

—Once you saw her, you should understand.

I looked at her truly charming face.

I understood why she had such confidence.

I understood what that crossed-out line meant, and I understood the bitterness in her earlier laugh.

It was likely the so-called “growth” that comes after hitting walls everywhere.

“I want to be an idol,” she said immediately.

I snapped back to my senses.

She seemed to be applying to join?

Then, my expression began to revert to the backstage “Alice” persona —

“Give me the pen.”

I spoke flatly.

She hesitated, seemingly affected by the sudden shift in my aura, and slowly handed it over.

I reached out, took the pen and notebook, and prepared to evaluate her with my eyes as a prospective president.

I began to critique as I asked:

“I’ll ask just in case… what kind of idol do you want to be?”

She didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, her gaze drifted toward the “Gemstone Princess” on the distant billboard before she spoke.

“Before, the Witch of Calamity.

Now, the Gemstone Princess, Alice… someone like that, or higher.”

She spoke each word carefully, as if reciting them to herself.

The Witch of Calamity referred to the idol who was publicly recognized as the pinnacle of the industry — the one who once stood alone and irreplaceable at the top of the idol world.

After hearing her, I understood the general situation and began recording in her notebook:

-Debut Song should be lighthearted

-Fan interaction should be natural

-Cannot eat spicy food

-Cannot look for agencies that only care about looks. (Crossed out)

Even though I think about slacking off all day, I’m actually very talented.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to make so many people scream.

Therefore —

-Appearance (Check)

-Learning Attitude (Check)

-Diligence (Check)

I paused there, looking at the girl’s face, which was clearly full of vigor yet matured.

However, I knew that something was missing.

Something buried deep was gone.

It was something that had quietly snapped the moment she crossed out that line —

-Conviction (X) — The “heart” has been broken; no possibility remains.

In summary:

Overall, not bad.

There is a high probability of becoming a first-tier idol, but she no longer possesses the “combustibility.”

Therefore…

Finally, I finished writing and handed the notebook back to her.

Her eyes widened as she stared at it, and then she spoke blankly.

“How… could this…?”

She saw the three words written at the very end:

Does not pass.