Not only Emilia, but it seemed the entire audience had fallen silent after the performance. The lingering notes still seemed to echo in their ears.
Joshua pressed his lips together, his face slightly flushed, his eyes damp—he looked as if he were on the verge of crying from embarrassment.
"Is Joshua planning to use the strategy of crushing the morale of those who’ll perform after him?" The MC suddenly laughed, breaking the tension and returning the atmosphere to normal.
"So adorable!"
Just then, a voice rang out from the stands. Joshua instinctively looked toward Leonard, and sure enough, saw him smiling brightly at him. That expression—so infuriating!
"Joshua, you truly have talent in performing..." Mrs. Emilia commented, followed by feedback from the other Mentorship Panel members. Ultimately, Joshua secured a seat in Class B, thanks in no small part to his excellent dancing. He might have landed in Class A if his singing had been a little better.
[This is an excellent beginning, Joshua!] Nine cheered.
"I thought you wanted me in Class A," Joshua murmured.
Nine laughed confidently: [No matter which class you’re in, the center position will be ours sooner or later. The outcome is already set in stone, so why worry about the process?]
Joshua: "..." He felt that if he failed to secure the center position, Nine would be more devastated than he would.
Joshua returned to his seat. Although he wasn’t too fond of Leonard, the cameras were everywhere. If he showed his dislike too openly, the footage could easily be edited into multiple versions.
Leonard surely had plenty of fans, and Joshua had no desire to make his journey more difficult.
As soon as Joshua sat down, Leonard laughed: "Hahaha, you actually sang that song—I laughed so hard I nearly stopped breathing."
From Leonard’s angle, he could only see Joshua’s side profile and reddened ears. It was unbearably cute—he wanted to pinch them. This was the first time Leonard had met such an adorable boy.
"But that extra bit you added—your cute little dance—was great. Can you do that stage expression again? I want to befriend you, so don’t be so cold, okay?"
"From now on, let’s be good friends. Do you like chocolate?" Leonard rattled on.
Joshua suddenly turned his head, his expression serious as he said, "I only act cute for fans."
Leonard narrowed his eyes like a sly fox. "Then I’ll be your fan. Come on, act cute for me, act cute for me."
Joshua: "..." Shameless.
He held his hand and softly said, "Where’s the chocolate?"
Leonard froze briefly, then smoothly pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket and placed it in Joshua’s palm.
Joshua ignored him and bit into it right then and there—he had been so nervous earlier that he’d felt a little nauseous.
Watching Joshua’s slightly puffed cheeks as he chewed, Leonard couldn’t resist reaching out and giving them a pinch. Joshua just sat there, unmoved, no longer paying him much attention.
Leonard mumbled, "You ate my chocolate, so from now on, we’re friends."
Joshua said nothing, but Leonard could keep the conversation going alone.
[Joshua, you can’t just eat food from strangers like that—it’s too dangerous. What if someone tries to trick you?] Nine suddenly spoke up, clearly displeased with Leonard’s clinginess. It felt a strange, inexplicable sense of threat that even it couldn’t understand.
Joshua didn’t pay much attention. He lowered his eyes slightly, concealing the emotions within them. "That won’t happen." After a pause, he added, "Also, next time, don’t suddenly shout while I’m performing. You startled me—it affected my performance."
Nine snorted in dissatisfaction, huffing coldly, determined to ignore Joshua.
The other trainees continued to showcase themselves one after another. Ultimately, out of 100 trainees, 10 entered Class A, 25 entered Class B, 46 landed in Class C, and 19 were placed in Class D.
As expected, Arthur also entered Class A. With a guitar in hand, his singing voice was so pleasant it felt like listening to the heavens themselves—a complete world apart from Joshua.
Nine seized the chance to sulk with jealousy for a while.
[This is only the beginning. After this, the winner depends on the fans. And Joshua, you’re definitely going to have a lot of fans!] Nine declared with certainty.
"Thanks for believing in me," Joshua replied.
Of course, Nine wasn’t just talking—it had already finished editing a video!
The cut was from the scene where Joshua smiled and greeted viewers during the live broadcast right before filming began.
As soon as the recording wrapped up, a video of Joshua was uploaded to U-inter, the social media platform used across the Aurelia continent.
[The Wolf Doesn’t Eat Meat]: Who would’ve thought there could be such an adorable trainee this season? Joshua’s bunny smile—did it knock you out, too? Because I’ve already fallen! #Shining_Path_III #Joshua
[Video]
In the clip, the young man smiled, his cheeks slightly plump, his watery eyes sparkling. When he parted his lips, the background was edited to glow, with a line of text: "Sunshine Attack!" On top of Joshua’s head, Nine had even added a pair of twitching bunny ears.
Nine tweaked the algorithm slightly to boost the video’s reach—not too obviously; otherwise, it might cause backlash.
Sure enough, comments and shares began pouring in quickly.
[I hate veggies]: Oh wow, that’s cute. Feels so full of energy it’s about to burst out of the screen.
[Love is X]: I also noticed this moment during the livestream,! I didn’t think someone would edit it already. Joshua is just too cute, hahaha.
[bae Bae]: How can someone chubby even be a trainee? The quality of this stupid show keeps dropping.
> Not ugly at all, actually adorable.
> It sounds like a salty anti-Shining Path. Hahaha, is it because your pick didn’t get chosen? Smells like sour grapes.
[Shining Path stop evil editing xxxx]: Filming’s done now. I see Shining Path’s official account has already opened voting.
[Joshua 1st support]: Wow, that was fast, legendary! Already feeding us! Everyone, please support our baby Joshua, love love!
Nine skimmed through the online reactions and felt quite satisfied. See? Joshua was truly adorable. It was already looking forward to the day Joshua slimmed down successfully—by then, all those people harping on his weight would be slapped in the face, hahaha!
[Fame Points +10]
Joshua heard the system’s notification sound as he stepped out of the studio. It was an automatic announcement, not Nine’s voice.
He couldn’t help but check his mission progress: [Mission Progress 15/1000]
Moreover, the number kept slowly climbing—+1, then +2, then stalling for a bit before inching up again at a snail’s pace.
"Nine, did you just do something?"
[I didn’t do anything! Don’t flatter yourself. Why would I care about you? Make sure you debut if you don’t want to get erased!] Nine instantly jumped up in protest.
Joshua: "..." It was only a question. Nine didn’t realize that reacting like this looked suspicious, but Joshua didn’t want to press him further.
After filming the first episode, the trainees were to be assigned dorms—another highly anticipated segment.
After all, viewers always had their favorite duos, trios, or small groups, and the scenes of eliminated trainees leaving the dorms often tugged at people’s hearts.
"Hey Joshua, do you think we’ll end up in the same dorm?"
Suddenly, a weight pressed down on his shoulder. Joshua turned his head and, sure enough, saw Leonard slinging an arm over him, asking warmly.
Joshua shifted his shoulder to knock Leonard’s arm away and said quietly, "I don’t think we’re very compatible."
If they ended up as roommates, Joshua feared that one day he wouldn’t be able to hold back from clawing that punchable face of Leonard’s.
Hearing this, Leonard suddenly stepped back, clutching his chest with both hands, his brows drooping as he put on an exaggeratedly heartbroken act. "You ate my chocolate and still treat me like this? You’re heartless—turning your back on a friend!"
A single bar of chocolate, yet in Leonard’s words, it sounded like a token of eternal promise.
Joshua: "..." This guy was truly insufferable!