Chapter 17: The Second Round

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When the chorus came, watching Lilia roar out the notes, to be honest, Qing Jiang wanted to stuff cotton in her ears. It wasn’t that she didn’t respect her opponent, but she felt she might have overestimated the music scene of the Federation. She had initially thought some songs on the charts had gotten there through backdoor dealings, but after hearing this song, she realized the songs on the list were probably carefully selected. After enduring over three minutes forcibly, Lilia finally finished singing. Qing Jiang secretly exhaled in relief. If she kept listening, she felt her irritation level would skyrocket.

“Judge, give me the score,” Lilia said, panting heavily, her face full of confidence. She felt she had just sung perfectly, with great power—unlike Qing Jiang, who couldn’t hit the high notes and only sang those sleep-inducing songs.

[The song shows high similarity with the music library, with many flaws in vocal skills and deviation from the theme; score: 55.]

[???]

[Hahaha...]

Not only was Lilia stunned, but the live chat was flooded with question marks and laughter.

[Lol, I don’t even want to comment. If Lilia had sung first, I might have thought it was okay, but singing after Qing Jiang, the contrast is just brutal.]

[I even logged out earlier and just came back.]

Many shared this sentiment, which caused the live stream’s viewer count to drop by two or three million before slowly climbing back up.

However, there were also blind supporters of Lilia.

[The judge is unfair. Lilia sings so well; how could she fail to pass?]

[An AI judge—what does it know about music? What can it understand?]

[??? You weren’t saying that before.]

[Anyway, I think the AI judge’s score is wrong. Lilia is a top student at Dalton University. How could she be outdone by an uneducated female?]

[Though I don’t understand music, I think the score makes sense. I don’t understand, but I know what sounds good.]

[Let’s not talk about singing skills. Just the composition—Lilia’s song mostly repeats parts of songs in the music library. Can’t you see that?]

[Speaking of which, Qing Jiang’s song has almost zero repetition with her previous three songs in the library.]

...

There were still many who thought rationally. Qing Jiang felt that she was nearly cleared of suspicion, but that wasn’t enough; she needed to sway those still on the fence firmly to her side.

There were no surveillance cameras in the university dormitory; she really had stayed inside alone for a few minutes. So there was no ironclad evidence to prove her innocence—she had to rely on her abilities to prove it.

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Interstellar music styles differ greatly from those on Earth. Federation songs are like patchwork monsters, random arrangements of pleasant notes stitched together. That’s why most songs have a high repetition rate. The Empire’s music is somewhat better—at least the themes are clear and meaningful, but similar to the Federation, the metallic, mechanical style is heavy. So from the interstellar perspective, Earth’s songs are more like a new category. The differences are easy to discern.

As long as Lilia couldn’t produce a song in this style, she would inevitably be questioned.

“Miss Lilia, do you also think the AI judge is unfair?”

Lilia’s face darkened. No matter how uncomfortable she felt, she dared not agree. If she did, it wouldn’t just be doubting Qing Jiang’s cheating but questioning the AI and the Federation government. So she could only force a fake smile and reply, “How could that be? The judge’s score is naturally credible.”

But her hands kept fidgeting. She was currently questioning the person who sent her the song on the light brain. How could she win with such a trash song? She even threatened that person—if she lost, she would have nothing left, so she was determined to drag them down with her.

“Since Miss Lilia accepts it, let’s start the second round.”

Though wanting to buy some time, Lilia knew if she said anything more, the foolish viewers below would attack her even more. So she clenched her anger and nodded in agreement. Compared to her initial smile, anyone could see she was unhappy.

But no one said anything—after all, most interstellar orc females were known for their bad tempers. Domestic violence was common.

Eighty percent of the live viewers were male. Though they understood females had bad tempers, the split-screen comparison was undeniable. They had also learned from the chat that Lilia was a D-level female, while Qing Jiang was a C-level female. One looked fierce and ravenous; the other looked pale and weak. The balance in everyone’s hearts was already tipping.

[Second round theme: Love.]

Seeing this theme, not only did Lilia smile, but Qing Jiang also wanted to laugh. When it came to love songs, Earth’s music library was incredibly rich!

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Of course, interstellar people had love songs too, as their emotional lives were very rich. That’s why Lilia smiled—she thought the person helping her behind the scenes could at least provide a song from a golden-level composer.

Both pressed “Ready” within five minutes. This time, Lilia sang first. She opened with sweet tones.

To be fair, this song was indeed better than the last—mainly because her voice fit the song, and she even added some vocal fry. Many were charmed by the song. The lyrics were simple and straightforward: “I love you, I love him, I love him him him~” Catchy and reminiscent of those viral bubblegum pop songs on Earth. With some marketing and video clips, it could become moderately popular for a while.

This was not what Qing Jiang wanted to see. She needed to beat her opponent with a similar style and claim all the traffic for herself, leaving no chance for her rival.

She quickly recalled a song that had once swept the streets and alleys. It was even featured in games. Honestly, though it was very pleasant, hearing it nonstop from morning till night had made her wary. Still, after some time, she couldn’t help humming along. This song had enjoyed intermittent popularity for many years, resurging every few years.

***

Soon, Lilia’s sweet vocal fry song ended, and the judge gave her 86 points!

“Miss Jiang, it’s your turn.” Although Qing Jiang’s first song hadn’t scored as high, Lilia still smiled brightly. She recognized the selling point of her own song; even if she lost, getting such a fitting song was a win. With today’s heat and this song, graduating would be much easier for her.

As for the accusation against Qing Jiang—so long as she denied it and the other side had no evidence, they couldn’t touch her. The case would remain unsolved.

Meanwhile, Lilia would ride on Qing Jiang’s rise to fame and pocket the traffic herself.