101, “Cat and Mouse Game” (1) BKL Seventh Generation …
Ji Sheng sat on the floor of the company’s practice room, with makeup artists and dance teachers walking around him. The sound of intermittent small talk rose, and the topics occasionally came to Ji Sheng’s side.
“Is there a new album schedule from the higher-ups recently? I saw a project file on Old Liang’s desk a couple of days ago…”
“Don’t even think about it, it’s definitely not related to us. It’s probably the album plan for the new group.”
“You mean Inferno? No way, didn’t they release a new album on their debut day? How long has it been since then, another one?”
“What’s so strange about that? Our company has always been very doting on newly debuted groups. Besides, Inferno will have to compete with the idol group from ‘NS’ later on. They already suffered a small loss right after debut, so wouldn’t they have to frantically pour in resources now to catch up as quickly as possible?”
“Even so, there’s no need to be this anxious, right…” The speaking woman frowned. “The last album’s performance just flopped. Shouldn’t they be building their popularity first before thinking about the next album?”
Another woman with short hair was bending down to tidy up the makeup case on the floor and casually said, “Prepare a new album and build popularity at the same time, right? Didn’t you see on the trending searches that Inferno is going to be on the new season of ‘Cat and Mouse Game’ this year? Someone from ‘NS’ will also be going…”
At that point, she turned her head to look at Ji Sheng, who was sitting against the wall. “Hey, Brother Ji, you and Brother He are also going to record ‘Cat and Mouse Game,’ right? Are you two on the same episode as Inferno?”
Ji Sheng’s attention was still on his phone, and it was unclear what he was looking at. His expression was strange, a kind of wanting to laugh but holding it back.
“Huh?” When someone asked him a question, he responded reflexively, then started thinking about what the other person had asked. “Yeah, that’s what Old He said.”
The woman asked curiously, “Is it just you and Brother He? I remember the other teachers in ECHO have no schedules during that time, right? Why aren’t they going together?”
Why was he being asked such a stupid question…
Ji Sheng raised his hand to touch the band-aid on the bridge of his nose, using his hand to shield his speechless expression, and said perfunctorily, “Ask Director Chen, I don’t know.”
“Let me guess, could it be to balance the numbers? Inferno has six people, it’s said that only four people from ‘NS’ will go, plus you and Brother He, that would just make the number of people in the cat and mouse teams equal.”
The woman said seriously, “As for why you and Brother He were chosen from ECHO, it’s definitely because you two are the most popular.”
Although what she said was true, there were so many people in the practice room. Saying these things in front of Ji Sheng, if it got out one day, it might turn into Ji Sheng talking behind his teammates’ backs about them being irrelevant.
Ji Sheng pretended not to hear and continued looking at his phone without a sound.
He was just reading a popular post recommended on the forum homepage. The OP heavily praised Xue Mingzhu and Quentin’s dual rap in the second public performance of “NS,” which had just aired not long ago, but the comments in the post were going off-topic.
Starting from accepting the invitation to record “Cat and Mouse Game,” Ji Sheng had begun consciously paying attention to news about “NS.” He had accidentally come across the rap clip of Xue and Quentin the day before yesterday.
Although Ji Sheng himself was ECHO’s main dancer, he was also very interested in rap. His rap level within the team could barely rank in the top three.
Ji Sheng had his own unique set of criteria for appreciating rap. Before “NS” started recording, he had heard of Xue Mingzhu’s reputation and had watched a few videos of this kid participating in rap competitions.
In the widely popular dual rap clip from these past two days, Xue Mingzhu had shown obvious improvement compared to two years ago, but not enough to surprise Ji Sheng much. What truly astonished him was Quentin’s performance.
A solid rap foundation was one thing, but a mature stage presence with unique personal characteristics was another. Compared to the former, the latter was rarer.
Quentin was only 18 years old. Before participating in “NS,” he was just an ordinary high school student. Logically speaking, his stage experience was approximately zero, yet standing on the stage, his strong and composed stage presence really wasn’t something a newcomer could possess.
Were there really people that were just born to be stars?
After watching the dual rap clip several times, Ji Sheng quietly followed Quentin’s forum account and, after thinking for a moment, also followed Xue Mingzhu.
Then, with the passion of staying up late to binge-watch anime, he started catching up on the main episodes and spin off programs of “NS” one by one, causing the recommended content on all his apps to be related to “NS.”
Before catching up on “NS,” Ji Sheng thought most of the show’s popularity was supported by Quentin, this newly emerged ace.
After all, this young man’s vote count was far ahead, he was a regular on trending searches, and was gaining followers faster and faster on the forums, with countless compilation videos having millions of likes. For every stage performance released, there was another stage video with tens of millions of likes…
He was explosively popular, like the sun at noon, far surpassing everyone else.
The most remarkable thing is that all his most viral moments came from his stages! These days, there aren’t many idols in the industry who can legitimately gain popularity through their stages. Most rely on variety show memes or messy rumors and scandals to gain popularity.
In short, someone like Quentin, who was so outstanding on stage, was so rare that Ji Sheng, who had never watched an idol survival show before, thought he single-handedly carried the entire program.
But the truth was not so. Quentin was undoubtedly the most popular “big boss” of “NS,” but the show also hid multiple potential stars with the potential to explode in popularity.
Wen Xinyi and Yan Qiao, Xue Mingzhu and Cui Yan, these four were also steadily improving their skills.
One should not underestimate the characteristics of idols. Those with personal traits, or rather, distinct memory points, all had a chance to explode in popularity.
This kind of trait could be called “star quality,” or it could be called a label or persona that attracts fans.
After catching up on the show, Ji Sheng silently counted the trainees he thought were good in his mind and found the number had already exceeded seven.
What did this indicate?
It indicated that “NS” would likely end up forming an idol group with seven members, each with distinct colors!
Each member had their own personality and style, could seize the opportunity to explode in popularity, and then feed that buzz back to the group, thus maximizing the virtuous cycle of “the group supports the members, the members support the group.”
Of course, this was just a possibility. Future virality still depended on timing, location, and harmony among people, but if the hardest part, “harmony among people,” was achieved, would timing and location be far behind?
In comparison, Inferno was significantly inferior in this aspect.
Ji Sheng had no particular prejudice against the juniors the company was newly promoting. After all, everyone had gone through their rookie period.
Everyone had experienced being promoted by the company with resources and riding on the popularity of their seniors to get on trending searches, and eventually, they would all be neglected and abandoned by the company, constantly having to mentor newcomers and new groups.
Therefore, the fact that Inferno was occupying many resources and favored by the company didn’t make Ji Sheng feel unbalanced internally. He had long seen through it.
However, seeing through it didn’t stop him from continuing to enjoy the drama.
After the guest list for “Cat and Mouse Game” appeared on trending searches, the topic of this popular post gradually shifted to the fans of “NS” ridiculing and mocking Inferno.
Ji Sheng saw someone say, “Quentin alone can overpower the entire Inferno group,” and couldn’t help but think to himself, “That’s quite accurate.”
Someone like Quentin could become popular even if he debuted solo, let alone the fact that he had a CP constitution that was practically a golden touch for boy groups. Tsk tsk, with him in a group, how could they possibly flop?
Inferno’s officially assigned ACE was far inferior.
An ace didn’t only mean being an all-rounder in singing, dancing, and rapping, but also represented the conceptual core of the entire group. A truly qualified ace, as soon as they appeared, would make people understand what style the group had and what path they were taking.
Therefore, an ace’s personal characteristics had to be strong, distinctive enough, and outstanding enough to deserve the title of “ace.”
Objectively speaking, an idol survival show group was not like a group planned for debut by a company in the normal way. The latter would have a professional team planning the group’s concept before debut, and sometimes the group members were even selected based on an existing concept. The former lacked this step.
It could be seen that in the area of group concept, survival show groups lagged behind groups debuted by companies.
But Ji Sheng felt that Quentin already had the ability to be the group’s core, which was reflected in every aspect.
For example, in the first public performance, Quentin led the entire team to perform beyond their usual standards. The potential traits of his teammates were excavated by him and displayed through the distribution of parts.
The “eye” of the entire stage was firmly held in his hands. Whatever his style was, their team’s stage would lean in that direction.
Inferno’s official concept was that of teenagers transforming into stars.
In their debut album, six teenagers represented six planets. They encountered life crises in the forms of a traveler in a hot air balloon, a skydiver falling from a great height, and an astronaut floating in space, awakening their powers and transforming into stars.
Then, the six stars gathered under the same sky.
It didn’t matter if you didn’t understand; the concepts of idol groups have always been that flashy and mystical.
The key point was “stars” and “teenagers.” Inferno’s ace should be someone with outstanding youthful qualities, a bright temperament, and eyes like stars. Ideally, they would also have a touch of mystery, embodying an otherworldly charm, allowing for elements like interstellar and sci-fi.
Did this ace possess these things?
Well… at least so far, Ji Sheng had only seen the youthful qualities. His impression of that ace was just a kid with big, bright eyes and fairly balanced skills. Nothing else.
While Ji Sheng was thinking about random things, he was also watching the fans of Inferno enter the thread and the ensuing battle between both sides. Watching fans argue when it didn’t concern him was quite interesting; he was thoroughly enjoying it.
The talkative makeup artist from earlier came over again.
“Um… Brother Ji, do you have time later?”
Ji Sheng glanced at her. “What’s up?”
The short-haired woman smiled a little sheepishly. “The recording for ‘Cat and Mouse Game’ is in a couple of days. Everyone has to go to Nancheng to record the show. Before that, would you and Brother He like to have a meal with the kids from Inferno?”
Seeing Ji Sheng’s indifferent expression, she added, “ECHO is their idol. Those kids really admire you. They’ve even picked out the restaurant for the meal. Xiao Ji is a longtime fan of yours. He followed your forum account five years ago and often likes your posts.”
Tsk… So that’s why she had been steering the conversation towards “Cat and Mouse Game” for no apparent reason. Trying to get close by establishing a connection. They were all in the same company; couldn’t they just come by themselves? Why did they need an intermediary?
Ji Sheng had debuted for nine years and had been at BKL for thirteen years. He was considered a veteran in the industry. He was overly familiar with these kinds of social formalities, so familiar that he was somewhat annoyed by them.
He curled his lip and said, “Let’s have the meal in Nancheng. We’re going to be recording the show together anyway; there’ll be plenty of time to eat. We can also invite the trainees from ‘NS’ to join. It’ll be livelier with more people.”
The makeup artist was momentarily stunned. “Oh… alright.”
