[Oh my god, the stage! I finally get to see my babies again!]
[This show is always the same. Besides editing for drama, do they even know how to add anything interesting?!]
[I heard the trainees who make it to the finals will get a chance to shoot a commercial—maybe there’ll be a special episode then...]
[Please, let my baby make it to the finals!]
[Honestly, these performances are just for viewership anyway. By looking at the fandom size, you can tell who’ll rank high. After all, it’s a show for fans to spend money.]
[Joshua, I’ve spent a lot of money on you. You’d better debut as the center!]
[Are Joshua’s fans openly challenging Leonard’s fans now?]
[Leonard’s popularity comes from his personality and that powerful, satisfying aura, you know? But Joshua—his edited clips are so funny, hahaha.]
[He really is the one being bullied!]
[Clearly, my boy just wants peace, but he keeps being forced into violence!]
[Anyway, I think they’re all adorable.]
The five performances from the five teams appeared one after another on screen. Fans screamed and cheered; some fans from senior groups chimed in with comments, while fake antis pretended to praise sure trainees to stir up conflict. In short, every topic turned into an entirely different battlefield.
Among them, one topic being discussed particularly heatedly was the vampire concept of Joshua’s team.
[Oh my god, my noble vampire husbands!]
[I heard vampires are rich—hello everyone, I married a vampire once before!]
[Why choose one when you can have them all?]
[Henry, what’s with his nails? Rabit? Everyone else painted theirs completely black, hahaha.]
[Say it—who did this? I’m sure Henry was framed!]
[Still, I didn’t expect them to all paint their nails black like that. Pure black, no decorations at all, hahaha.]
[So calm — Will wearing that earring makes him drop-dead handsome!]
[A bunch of men painting their nails — don’t you find it disgusting?]
[What century is this guy stuck in? Go back to your own era, okay?]
Anyway, the performances finished successfully. By this time, a few small companies had already started awkwardly reaching out with offers to some trainees.
Remember that only five people will debut in the main lineup of Shining Path, managed by the entertainment company under the Atius Group.
The remaining five in the top 10 will sign separately with companies nominated by Shining Path, provided both sides find it a good fit.
Other trainees can still find their own paths — entertainment companies will notice talent and fame.
Early morning: the balcony flower pots were still covered in dew; drops slid off the petals, and they shimmered like rainbows in the sunlight.
Nine watched Joshua basking like a cat and couldn’t help saying, [Are you social distancing like that?]
Joshua didn’t pay him any mind, just mumbled, "This world is wonderful."
Craving something sweet, Joshua idly opened the Store, and soon a can of Snowpeach soda appeared in his hand.
Nine saw this and had no words left. Joshua really was ready to live like royalty.
"I get it — you can’t stand it when other people enjoy themselves, right? You want some soda too?" Joshua suddenly spoke.
Nine was slightly annoyed, then put on an air and said, [If you want me to drink soda, then I need a body... anyway, remember to do your missions!]
He left that line and logged off. Joshua hadn’t even had time to enjoy the quiet when Nine returned, his tone grave: [Joshua, don’t look at the stuff online.]
Then he disappeared again.
Nine really made Joshua laugh — usually, warnings like that have the opposite effect. For example, Joshua had no intention of touching his phone a moment ago, but right after Nine’s reminder, he became curious about what was happening online.
Nine looked at the topics proliferating on the network and genuinely felt murderous.
It all started with the trainee in the same group as Joshua earlier — the one who once shared a dorm room with Henry.
That day, he left with a threat, and now he was carrying it out.
It started with a post sharing "personal feelings" about being isolated within the group — how controlling Henry supposedly was, and how he intentionally chose Lucian, who clearly could’ve made it into the top 30, over others. Then it accused Joshua and Henry of excluding him, claiming that he got little screen time because of them, and that the show was biased toward trainees with large fandoms while ignoring the rest.
These accusations were already going overboard. Nine was certain someone behind the scenes was fueling this guy.
The comment section quickly turned into a battlefield of antis, though passersby and fans also jumped in to argue.
[Just looking at Henry’s face already makes me dislike him. That fake smile he puts on stage—ugh.]
[But a lot of people like him, haha. Guess having a lovely face is all it takes.]
[Sorry, but Henry’s got more than looks, okay? He’s actually good at other things too.]
[There are several members, yet this guy’s only targeting Henry and Joshua. Clearly jealous.]
[Or those two really were at fault?]
[I mean, even Leonard picked himself, didn’t he...]
[So basically, this guy’s just salty because he wasn’t chosen? Hilarious. People with real ability don’t blame others like this. Hope you never debut.]
[Why does Joshua always get dragged into these things? He obviously didn’t do anything wrong.]
[If you’re going to make claims, at least bring evidence.]
But things escalated when someone claiming to be Joshua’s former classmate appeared and posted old photos of him, not of the Joshua everyone knew now.
A chubby boy with messy hair and oversized black glasses, taking up space wherever he stood.
[I honestly didn’t want to say anything, but recently I realized that this rising star on TV used to be my classmate, hahaha. Can you believe it? This was what he looked like back then! Never thought he could actually lose weight. Pictures, pictures, pictures.]
Almost instantly, the comment section exploded.
[Excuse me, this is body shaming. The fact that Joshua worked hard to lose weight and build a better future for himself is good, right? You dug up these photos to mock him? No — you’re only proving how hard he worked.]
[That’s rough. I didn’t even recognize that it was Joshua...]
[He probably got surgery, too.]
[Looks like two completely different people. I’m not a fan, but I doubt those photos and your story are real.]
The original poster spoke up again:
[You guys don’t get it. I think it’s funny that in this day and age, anyone can become famous. Back then, Joshua was as lazy as a pig. The only reason he got expelled was that his grades were too low. We were just in seventh grade then, hahaha. If you asked him to do math now, he probably wouldn’t know how to multiply or divide. A dropout becoming an idol? What a joke.]