[ CHART TOPPER QUEEN ]
CHAPTER 03
last edited on ZLT: 10.01.22
This translation is hosted at ZHANLANN.COM
Ai Bei received a basic transfer device from the address indicated in the advertisement. The lobby was packed to the brim with people. Topping strange gazes from the crowd, she found a free lounge to sit before she wore the headgear and entered the virtual world.
As expected, the competition was open to people across the entire galaxy. The verification stage wasn’t very stringent either, you could participate as long as you had an ID.
After logging in, she entered a vast space that seemed to stretch into infinity before the system voice sounded in her ears, guiding her along.
“Welcome to the Cybergalatic-net (Region – Helix Galaxy – Everday Planet).”
“You may select to ① view the virtual world on your own, ② enter your destination.”
There was even an option for you to change the appearance of your virtual character.
The structure in the virtual world in the Cybergalatic-net was very similar to the real world. Offline commercial buildings were able to register a virtual address for their business; after approval, they would be able to receive a unique door plate. Such a development allowed for galactic residents the opportunity to explore the entire galaxy without even having to step a foot out of their residence.
Ai Bei selected to enter the competition area directly.
“Welcome to the Live-Streaming Transmigration Competition in Everday Planet sub-venue.”
“The government-approved Live-Streaming Transmigration Competition is organised by Time Travel Organisation (TITR). There is a certian degree of risk as your cranial nerves will be directly connected to the neural world. Participants will be require to sign the liability contract. If you experience any issues post-transmigration, participants are to assume self-responsibility.”
“During the competition, participants will be required to enter a virtual world that may originate from a novel, movie or game. Participants are to adapt and revise the plot with the character that you will assume. Every participant’s entry will be live-streamed during the actual competition; based on your size of audience, number of in-stream comments and value of gifts, the top three participants will be able to advance into the next stage.”
The plaza was large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people. While the system voice was steady and low, everyone could hear it in their ears. The competition rules were repeated again and again to all the participants of the elimination round.
Following that, a light flashed, and Ai Bei, together with a dozen or so others, were dispersed into the different corners in the plaza.
A natural camouflage, she was but an inconspicuous speck of dust with her grey hair and grey eyes, quiet and unnoticed.
Galactic citizens enjoy an average lifespan of 200 years. While the age of the participants in her vision of sight were generally young, their corresponding abilities differed widely.
“Actual competition? Is this considered the actual competition, how does it work?”
“No I don’t think this is it, just look at the number of people in this sub-venue, I think they wanna filter out at least half of the people before the actual competition begins.”
“It won’t be an exam will it, I’m real bad at those.” ♢ CHART TOPPER QUEEN, CHAPTER 03 is hosted at ZHANLANN.COM ♢
There were participants that were trying to figure out the situation from the given instructions, there were also participants that were trying to coax others into dropping out.
“I’ve tried live-streaming as a transmigration streamer, I didn’t even last a week. It was more uncomfortable that space leaps, it makes me so dizzy I wanna vomit. If you’re not fit enough I suggest you don’t try this, I’ve heard that people have died because of this, just that news like these were censored by the government.”
“My goodness, how frightening, then why are you here to participate?” Not all of the participants that heard their argument were so easily fooled.
Said participant rubbed his nose, “I’m just here to try it out, the gift revenue share by TITR is much higher than regular live-streaming platforms.”
“If it weren’t for the money, I definitely won’t be here tolerating all the nausea.”
“Isn’t transmigration interesting? Though it’s just a simulated world, it’s worth the while to check it out.”
“What about you? Why did you join the competition?”
Ai Bei suddenly heard someone beside her asking a question. The person’s voice was directed at her.
Before her was a handsome youth. She could tell he was well-off — unlike the automatic system-provided white shirt and grid skirt she had on, he was wearing a windbreaker splashed with red English word “I’m a jerk”; even his grin seemed mischievous.
Even though Ai Bei had a minimal presence, the two of them appeared in the plaza pretty much at the same time, so he immediately noticed the person beside him.
Ai Bei didn’t want to reply him, but he went on ahead to explain his own reasoning: “I’m a combat student, I want to participate in combat or adventure-genre live-streaming. What about you?”
“…”
“Let’s exchange information, this could help us in the competition.”
“…”
“Actually, I have some insider information—”
Before he could near her mysteriously, Ai Bei took a step away from him.
Her discouraging reaction immediately had the guy feeling humiliated. Just as he was about to express his unhappiness, he saw Ai Bei yawn and rub her face, as though a kitten that had just woken from its afternoon nap.
An arrow straight to his heart, her adorable actions had him temporarily self-extinguishing his prior ire.
The system voice sounded: “The elimination round will begin shortly. Only participants that advance from the elimination round will receive their unique live-streaming room, and will qualify for the actual competition.”
“The System will arrange the participants according to their arrival time. There will be five participants in each group for the elimination pre-competition round.”
Following the system voice, a virtual screen popped up, the words read:
[Are you participating in the Elimination Round? Yes/No]
Ai Bei cocked her head to the side lightly and selected [No].
The interface changed to [Would you like to listen to the competition rules again? Yes/No] [Would you like to understand the competition prize? Yes/No] and other related basic questions.
She then returned to the previous page and confirmed her participation in the elimination round.
The scene around her changed, she felt as though she was being pulled into another space.
*
The white space she was sent into was three-dimensional. There were already four people inside, all of which turned to look at her when she appeared.
The windbreaker guy from earlier was there too.
The “arrival time” referred to the order in which they arrived in the plaza. Even though she delayed her participation confirmation, she still ended up here.
She was a little annoyed. She didn’t want to interact with the other participants until she figured out how she was going to adjust and adapt to the competition setting.
The windbreaker guy on the other hand seemed to have thrown his previous annoyance out the window. He raised a hand and greeted Ai Bei with a smile. While Ai Bei’s smoky grey eyes glanced in his direction, she didn’t respond nor return a smile. Despite so, the fact that the two seemed to know each other had the remaining participants in the room wary.
Besides Ai Bei and the windbreaker guy, there were two other girls and one other guy. The last guy appeared roguish and frivolous, his gaze frequenting the chest of an alluring girl among them. Upon his risqué rendezvous being discovered, he’d cross his arms and raise a brow, a devil-may-care expression written all over his face.
The alluring girl frowned hard, and turned away, hiding herself behind the girl with black-frame spectacles.
The bespectacled girl on the other hand was very calm. She looked at Ai Bei as she evaluated her holistically, almost as though an AI doing a full body scan on her.
“Looks like everyone’s here, let’s pick the cards.” The windbreaker guy waved at her.
The item for the elimination round was story chain. According to their sequence, #1 would start, he/she can command #2 to be any character in the story, and lay down a task for him/her, this is also the case for #2 with #3, and so on and so forth. Everyone starts out with 10 points. The full marks for each task was 5 points. If the task set by #1 for #2 was not completed, 5 points will be deducted from #2’s existing points and will be given to #1, vice versa if #2 manages to complete the task.
Competition Details:
- Participants that obtain 25 points can advance. Participants that advance can continue the competition.
- As long as one of the participants do not wish to end the competition (even if both participants have obtained 25 points), the competition will continue.
- Given the requirements of the task, participants must play the role of their respective characters. If unrequired by the task, participants may wish to return to the white training room to rest. If the participant does not comply, even if the task is unrelated to him/her, the points earned from the current round will be deducted.
The task difficulty will be determined by the system. If the difficulty was is too high or too low, you will not be able to pass.
In other words, the participants have to manage the task within a certain range while ensuring that his or her opponent cannot complete it.
Since this was a transmigration competition, the definition of story chain would naturally differ from the conventional — every single “plot” that they designate for the next participant would become the realities for the latter; subsequent players would need to fulfill the plot in order to clear the task.
In a way, this could also be seen as a pre-competition practice round for them to get familiarised with before the actual competition started. This segment tested the participant’s ability to creatively craft a plot, and proactively adapt to a plot.
The five of them sat in a circle. As though the witch’s crystal ball, a 3D arena the size of a billiard table floated in the centre — everything that occured in the other realm would be visible to everyone.
The devil-may-care guy asked unhappily: “So that means all of y’all can see what I’m doing inside?”
The guy in windbreaker snorted a laughter, “Duh? What else could it be?”
“You’re here to participate in a Live-Streaming Transmigration Competition, not your final examinations in school.” The alluring girl mocked, “If you pass the elims, there’ll be millions and billions in the audience commenting about your every move. There’s only four people watching right now and you’re already scared?”
The guy in windbreaker looked down to see the “#1” floating on him before he smiled at the #2 devil-may-care guy.
“You still have time to back out now.”
When he realised that they were directing him, he shrugged and kept silent.
#1 was the most special card out of the five. The participant would start off the story, in other words, the windbreaker guy would be able to choose a setting that he would be most comfortable with. #2 would have to follow the plot set out by #1; in other words, he would be at #1’s mercy.
Ai Bei was the last person to join, so she was #5.
TRANSLATOR & EDITOR: WYNNE. This translation is hosted at ZHANLANN.COM
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