October 4th, which was a Saturday, was the official release day for the MV of Cupid’s new song “Greed”.
At exactly 8 PM that night, netizens who had been camped out on Cupid’s homepage repeatedly refreshed the page and, as they wished, saw an MV with a dark golden cover appear on the details page for the song “Greed”.
“Xiao Man, what are you doing?”
Mi Tong, who had just finished her evening class, returned to the dormitory holding her laptop and saw Wei Man sitting at the desk, noisily rummaging through the drawers and bookshelf.
Wei Man answered without looking up: “I’m looking for my earphones, I can’t find my earphones…Hey, Tong Tong, didn’t you just buy a new pair of over-ear headphones? Lend them to me.”
“Okay.” Mi Tong walked to her own desk and put down the things in her hands. “Here, for you.”
She unintentionally glanced at the open computer on Wei Man’s desk and saw the familiar Light Music app interface: “You’re going to listen to music?”
“Yes, the treasure singer I discovered a while ago released an MV.” Wei Man took the headphones. “I saw the comments section is full of praise, and it’s really highbrow praise too!”
She scrolled the mouse, opened the comments section, and read aloud seriously: “Look at this one, it says Cupid’s MV cover adopts the golden color scheme style of Titian’s oil paintings, the colors are magnificent and brilliant, the bright and dark surfaces are in sharp contrast……”
“And this one, oh, this is an officially certified music critic. He says it’s highly likely that Cupid referenced the works of Zdzisław Beksiński when shooting the scenes for this MV; scenes of ruins with broken walls constantly flash back in the god’s illusions, and the atmosphere created by the entire MV is filled with nightmare and fear akin to the apocalypse approaching.”
“Tsk tsk, these people are each more skilled at praising than the last, things like the religiously oppressive composition style of ‘The Madonna’, the demonology symbols of ‘The Dictionary of Hell’, the cult psychedelic visual distortions of ‘Mandy’…… Are they preparing to take the postgraduate entrance exam in the comments section?”
Mi Tong bent over to look at the screen, surprised: “This is a newly released MV? How did it attract so many music critics all at once? These comments couldn’t all be pre-written marketing copies, could they?”
Wei Man showed a hesitant expression: “Probably…… not? I also thought Cupid was a singer signed with Xinda Media before, but I checked Xinda’s official website and couldn’t find Cupid. Someone in the ‘Greed’ comments section said Cupid isn’t signed to a company, most likely an independent musician.”
An independent musician probably doesn’t have the spare money to hire so many music critics to praise them.
It’s estimated that Cupid has wide connections. Both the songs “Leap” and “Greed” can reflect the creator’s extraordinary and refined musical literacy. Such a person couldn’t be unknown in the industry.
Perhaps Cupid was a big shot working in a top-tier music studio in the past, recently gathered their courage to go independent, and the money and connections accumulated from their previous work circle can now be put to use.
Mi Tong tilted her head: “Well, I don’t know then. Let’s watch the MV first. Don’t bother with the headphones, it’s just the two of us in the dorm, Mo Fan is still studying in the library, so there’s no fear of disturbing anyone.”
“Okay, okay.” Wei Man shifted her hips, making half the seat available. “Come on, let’s watch together.”
…..
Whoosh….whoosh…whoosh…
The dull wind and snow fluttered and pattered against the camera lens, the vast expanse of pure white snow nearly overexposed the entire picture.
The shaking camera, the crunching sound of stepping on snow, sometimes looking out at the mountain ranges, sometimes looking down at the feet…all these details hinted to the audience that this was the protagonist’s first-person perspective.
After about 5 seconds, the camera rose, and the wide shot filmed from high above was silent and vast.
The boundless snowfield spread out amidst the howling blizzard, a Gothic ancient castle, large as a hill, stood erect like animal bones, and the grey-cold toned stone blocks were distinct and towering unyieldingly.
A dark golden quill suddenly appeared, fluidly writing a string of cursive English in front of the screen.
[Greed]
The sky abruptly darkened.
The camera returned to the protagonist’s first-person perspective.
The adventurer, wrapped in thick felt, held an oil lamp in hand, the weak flame flickering on the verge of extinguishing in the wind and snow.
He quickened his pace, walked through a dark, long corridor, stopped in front of an old, worn-out wooden door, gulped, and raised his hand to press against the door.
“His hand is quite pretty.”
Mi Tong blurted out a sentence, receiving repeated nods from Wei Man in response.
It was all because of the aftereffects of watching “NS – Live Room” last night; both of them had left their footprints in the popular thread about that black fan’s meltdown on the forum, and were deeply impressed by Quentin’s hand petting the dog.
Wei Man stared at the hand pushing the wooden door in the MV, the door hinge emitting a sharp creak under the external force.
Then, golden light overflowing from the door crack greedily devoured the camera.
The perspective tumbled and spun in a vast, blinding light. As the light gradually faded, the familiar cello quartet began to play sonorously.
Over the past week, Wei Man had already listened to “Greed” countless times on repeat. Compared to the dream-chasing, inspirational “Leap”, the composition of “Greed” was more complex, and the listening experience more comfortable. In addition, Cupid’s articulation was more intriguing, making it a very suitable song to play on loop everyday.
At least it wouldn’t make you get fired up just from listening, like “Leap” did.
But Mi Tong was hearing this song for the first time. Before she could even be surprised, she saw the MV’s protagonist step into a magnificent hall.
The sound of wind and snow stopped abruptly. The murals outlined with gold pigment on the walls spun once in front of the camera. Seven humanoid figures wrapped in black robes were bathed in holy light, receiving the bows and prostrations of thousands.
“…I think I roughly understand what the comments meant about demonology symbols.”
Mi Tong observed the mural carefully and said with understanding.
A reindeer with bat wings and human hands, a monster with a horse’s head and human body dragging peacock tail feathers behind it, an angel’s body growing an owl’s head, a slender humanoid unicorn demon, a spider simultaneously possessing human, black cat, and toad heads…
These lifelike, bizarre species were carved into the shadows under the holy light, hidden among the praying crowd, kneeling obediently and fearfully at the feet of the seven lofty gods.
The coexistence of monsters, holy light, and gods filled the mural with an indescribable sense of fragmentation. But due to the MV protagonist’s haste, these details only flashed by the camera.
Only attentive viewers could make the association… seven gods, seven false gods, seven demons, seven deadly sins.
As the adventurer stepped into the center of the hall, the perspective naturally pulled back, and the protagonist’s tall, straight back appeared in the center of the screen.
The low-angle wide-angle lens made him appear extremely small within the resplendent golden hall, and the gilded bricks on the floor reflected distorted, menacing black shadows.
A young man’s deep and elegant voice began to sing amidst the golden dust.
“Kneel before the golden light, lay bare your desires in my sight.”
Sacred beams of light converged above the adventurer’s head, and the distorted black shadows on the ground split and reassembled.
The demon seated on the throne looked down at the dusty, shabbily dressed human, its gaze, indistinguishable between joy and anger, tracing the man’s murmuring praying lips and his bowed, vulnerable nape.
Seven shadows detached from the mural, approaching like a flock of eagles circling, silently surrounding the adventurer kneeling in the center of the hall from behind.
……
“Is this feeble wish your only plea? Speak the hunger buried deep in thee!”
Under the majestic interrogation, the adventurer opened his mouth to speak, but those desires difficult to put into words turned into flowing golden liquid, gurgling out from the corner of his lips.
He opened his eyes wide, looking up incredulously at the god high above.
However, a fine golden liquid also seeped out from his eye sockets, meandering down his cheeks into mysterious runes.
The liquid dripping on the ground gradually accumulated into a pool of molten gold. An endless stream of gold coins splashed out from the pool water, clinking as they fell in front of the adventurer.
“Is this what you want?” The god asked.
……….
“Hear the damp whisper clawing at your soul let its rot take control.”
The entire picture became illusory and unreal.
The world was like a reflection falling into a secret realm.
The pitiful adventurer curled up his body and covered his ears, but this could not stop the fog-like black hyphae from drilling out of his ears, densely tangling together and blooming into flowers that sprayed gold powder.
Countless tiny human faces screamed at the centers of the flowers.
The resplendent golden wall plaster of the hall peeled off, revealing the deep red flesh and blood buried within.
The hell demons resurrected from the mural crawled restlessly around the adventurer, their coveting gazes converging from all directions.
“Get lost,” the god said.
“He is mine.”
With a sickening, muffled sound, the god reached into the adventurer’s chest and pulled out a pulsating golden apple from the man’s breast.
The god on the throne was enveloped in a cloud-like golden mist. The moment He claimed the golden apple as His own, the mist instantly collapsed into an inverted cross.
The god’s smooth, pure white skin peeled off in layers like cracked pottery, revealing the slippery, viscous purple-gray skin beneath. Sharp, deep black claws extended from His fingers, and dark golden incantations surfaced like spiderwebs on His arms and chest…
The god clad in holy robes transformed into a devil wrapped in black vestments. The deception of the false god was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the brave warrior loyal to his faith.
Witnessing this scene, the adventurer felt his eyes nearly burst with rage. He didn’t even feel the agonizing pain of his torn chest; the desecration of his faith shattered him. His life force rapidly drained away, and his body teetered on the brink of collapse.
“Dong”
A bell tolled in the distance. Dawn had arrived.
“Ah…hgh…hgghh!!!”
The adventurer jolted awake from his dream, gasping for breath. He rolled over to sit up, his entire body’s muscles taut.
He gripped the dagger in his hand, scanning his surroundings with vigilance and panic.
The perspective returned to the first-person view. The ruined, dilapidated hall of the ancient castle in the daylight was laid bare under the man’s scrutiny.
There were no eerie murals, no piles of gold coins reaching to the ceiling, and no false god enthroned high above.
He looked down, slowly pressing his hand against his chest.
The thump-thump-thump of a beating sound transmitted to his palm, resonating with the pulse of life.
The view pulled back.
The ancient castle’s gate opened once more, and the adventurer, carrying his worn-out backpack, set out again on the long journey.
The music’s final notes gradually faded away.
“Clang!”
A clear, crisp sound rang out.
A gold coin, fallen from who-knows-where, jingled as it spun in circles on the ground.
A few seconds later, a purple-gray tentacle extended from the shadows, coiled around the gold coin, and silently pursued the direction the adventurer had left.
Sunlight poured down from the narrow windows, slowly illuminating the mural carved with six black-robed gods whose features were indistinguishable.
Below the altar, tens of thousands of people knelt in prostration.
……..
The MV had ended half a minute ago, but Wei Man and Mi Tong, who were sitting in front of the computer, were still staring at each other.
“……Where did you find such a big shot?”
Mi Tong slowly asked.
Wei Man stiffened slightly and whispered, “You might not believe it, but when I followed him, I didn’t expect he had this up his sleeve either.”
Good heavens, was a large-scale production MV of this level really something an obscure independent musician could pull off?!
It was too exaggerated… Even Xinda Media hadn’t released a music work with such stunning visual effects for many years.
Mi Tong’s mind was full of the image of the adventurer from the MV. For some reason, even though the protagonist never showed his face clearly from start to finish, her seasoned face-con heart just felt that he must be an absolutely stunningly handsome guy!
Perhaps this was the intuition of a looks-fanatic……
Including the seven black-robed false gods glimpsed in the illusions…regardless of whether their faces were visible, all of them, male or female, were beauties.
The intense sense of otherworldliness and oppression made this beauty even more unattainable, but the chaotic, inverted, psychedelic, and distorted atmosphere in the MV could easily stir the most unspeakable underlying desires.
Alright, logically speaking she should have been coveting the gold coins, but her hopeless face-con heart made her skip over greed directly and head towards lust.
“So, is Cupid’s album series inspired by the seven deadly sins as its core?”
Using this bit of time, Mi Tong quickly caught up on all things related to Cupid and could already chat back and forth with Wei Man: “‘Greed’ is greed. Following the usual album promotion method, he should release another lead single before the album officially goes on sale… I wonder which sin it will be.”
Wei Man browsed through the comment section, continuously giving likes to the comments full of lavish praise: “Whichever one it is, I’m looking forward to it. Cupid’s efficiency is so high, and the quality keeps getting better with each song, he definitely won’t let us down.”
As she spoke, her gaze paused, staring at a comment on the computer, and she couldn’t help but laugh:
“Pfft, Tongtong, look quickly, someone actually thinks Cupid himself appeared in the ‘Greed’ MV! They think the adventurer is Cupid himself! How is that possible? How could someone sing, write songs, lead a team to produce MVs, and be that handsome too!”
Mi Tong also thought it was unlikely: “That adventurer and the seven demons were probably played by foreign models, right? The location of the ancient castle in the MV is Mont-Saint-Michel in France… Is Cupid’s studio abroad?”
Wei Man blinked, clicking into Cupid’s profile page: “No way, Cupid’s IP address shows he’s in Yanhai. I wonder which district Cupid lives in, and if he’ll hold live house performances in Yanhai in the future. I’d really love to attend an offline show.”
“There will definitely be chances in the future. Cupid’s songs are of such high quality, he’s bound to become hugely popular sooner or later.” Mi Tong’s tone was certain. “And this MV is just too well-made. I estimate that if promoted well this time, it could even blow up directly in the forum’s video section.”
“……Huh?”
Wei Man stopped scrolling her mouse, staring blankly at the PC version of the forum webpage.
She rubbed her eyes, looked several more times in disbelief, and murmured, “Tongtong, it seems Cupid has already blown up…”
Mi Tong instinctively followed her gaze, and her eyes widened unconsciously.
There, written in bold on the top spot of the entertainment hot search list…
#[Sing If You Want-Young Passion Season] intends to invite Cupid#
The author has something to say:
If the Quentin on the talent show is a handsome and beautiful 17-year-old boy, then Cupid is the stunning adult version of 25-year-old Quentin from the past life. Both styles are absolutely yummy [shy]. The adventurer in the music video is actually the 25-year-old Quentin, though he’s wrapped in a turban and felt, with his face hidden…making him a sort of “masked character”.
