Mo Mu could say he perfectly met everyone's expectations before recording.
213 points, the lowest score in the show, not just this episode, but also lower than any score in the past two seasons.
The second-to-last person still had about six hundred points, he had two hundred, a difference of more than four hundred, the gap was so large it was laughable.
He really made a complete fool of himself.
It was like revealing his underwear, the gap blatantly laid out for all to see.
The audience below the stage, the guests next to him, and even the staff around on and off the stage were all staring at Wu Mu, waiting for the gossip, waiting to see how he'd break down.
But this time they were disappointed.
Wu Mu nodded quite calmly, his heart without a single ripple, he even felt a bit like laughing.
[Points: 387]
Just from stepping onto the stage for that brief moment, his points soared from just under two hundred to nearly four hundred!
After finishing this episode's recording, he estimated he could draw prizes four times!
Although losing face was a bit disgraceful, one can't just forgo points for the sake of pride, right?
He put down the microphone, walked to the seat reserved for himself at the edge of the stage and sat down, waiting for the next part of the program.
Next to his seat was Mo Mo, who had appeared just before him.
Mo Mo nodded at him sympathetically, and although he looked very calm, no one thought he didn't care; they just assumed he was putting on a brave front.
On the surface, he appeared as if nothing mattered, but behind the scenes, he probably wanted to hug a blanket and cry.
In front of his seat was Xu Zhiwen.
Xu Zhiwen turned around with a posture of an elder lecturing a junior, "Music is not about how many fans you have, it's useless. No matter how many fans you have or how good the sales are, if the skill isn't there, it isn't there."
Wu Mu was not someone to be ridiculed and remain silent, he glanced at Xu Zhiwen:
"The way you mock me is as low-grade as an actor on TV, I don't even know you, why do you keep stepping on me? Do you want to establish yourself as a musical moral guardian by stepping on me? Or do you want to attract those female fans of mine who have left the fandom? It can't really be because you love music so much that you can't allow others to defile your belief, right?"
"Pfft~" Mo Mo next to him couldn't help laughing out loud.
The shoulders of other contestants sitting upright and seemingly watching the stage also trembled slightly, clearly holding back their laughter.
Just then, Xu Zhiwen's face went dark on the spot.
He glared fiercely at Wu Mu, not daring to provoke him further, and turned back to watch the stage.
However, even though his face turned away, he was still thinking about Wu Mu.
Not just him, Mo Mo and the other contestants beside him also felt it was strange.
Why did Wu Mu seem different from the rumors?
Wasn't it rumored that Wu Mu in person had a good personality, was serious and diligent, and acted with integrity?
Including his public image, it was also that of a sunny, cheerful, and responsible one.
But judging by what he just said, and his performance on stage before, where was the integrity?
Was he also faking it?
After all, they didn't know before that Wu Mu was actually a sycophant behind the scenes.
All the guests had finished performing in the first episode, and the scores were out, so now it was time to form groups.
The grouping rules were simple: the first-place person would form a pair with the last-placer, the second-place with the second-to-last, and so on, forming a total of eight pairs.
This meant that according to the scores, Wu Mu, who came in last, would become a duo with Mo Mo, who came in first.
However, no one envied this pairing.
Because partnering with the first-place contestant had the greatest risk of elimination, and it would be their own partner who sends them packing.
The "Singer-Songwriter Duo" competition was brutal: the first round was based on individual ranking to form the pairs without any eliminations.
The second round computed the combined scores of both in the duo, and the lowest-scoring duo would be eliminated.
But it wasn't that both members of the duo would be eliminated; the one with the higher score would still have a chance to come back.
For example, say the Mo Mo-Wu Mu duo ranked first, and Xu Zhiwen and his partner came last.
Then, Xu Zhiwen's partner would be directly eliminated, but Xu Zhiwen would have a chance to come back. Mo Mo could choose to replace Wu Mu with Xu Zhiwen as her partner.
Then Wu Mu would have to face off against Xu Zhiwen in a contest, where the winner stays and the loser leaves.
Only if Mo Mo didn't choose to make the replacement would the opportunity to swap pass on to the next duo.
Generally speaking, a swap would happen.
After all, between a last-place teammate and a high-scoring contestant who's been eliminated, anyone who wanted to win would choose the latter.
In fact, if someone wanted to win they could only make that choice.
After the pairs were confirmed, it was time to draw the theme for the next round.
"Singer-Songwriter Duo" wasn't just about singing well, but also about how well the songs could be written.
The first round was about singing previously written songs, the second round was about performing newly written songs on the show, drawing a theme, and creating around that theme.
The staff brought in a one-way transparent box filled with balls that had themes written on them, and the top scorer of the round would draw a theme from the box.
Mo Mo stepped on stage, the opaque side of the box facing her, she reached into the box and pulled out a ball.
"The theme Mo Mo has drawn is—'Unrequited Love'!"
The ball she pulled out clearly had the words 'Unrequited Love' written on it.
Unrequited Love?
All the contestants heaved a sigh of relief: a love-lorn theme was relatively common and not too hard to write about.
Well, except for Wu Mu, who had absolutely no reaction to the theme.
Hopeless, whatever the theme didn't affect his chances of being eliminated.
He could write songs, a skill left over from his former self.
But the level of those skills—based on the songs he had released, which were already carefully selected, was at best mediocre, and now with on-the-spot composition and thematic restrictions, was it even realistic to expect any masterpieces?
Of course, not all hope was lost.
Wu Mu looked at the 417 points displayed on his system panel.
System Dad, give me a helping hand!
During the draw, give me something useful!
If possible, he didn't want to be eliminated; after all, accumulating points was just too exhilarating!
As a laid-back salted fish, he could rack up more than four hundred points in one round.
Where else could he find such a good deal if he were to be eliminated?
After the theme drawing, the first episode came to an end.
The audience gradually left their seats, while the contestants were taken to the Beach Resort prepared by the production team.
They would live there for a week until the recording of the second episode began the following week.
After showering in his room at the resort, Wu Mu eagerly opened the prize-drawing page of his system panel.
A row of Treasure Boxes appeared on the virtual screen, there were three kinds: white, gold, and red.
Below the Treasure Boxes were small descriptions.
[White Treasure Box: 100 points each time, Gold Treasure Box: 1,000 each time, Red Treasure Box: 10,000 each time. The higher the level of Treasure Box, the higher the probability of drawing rare items.]
[The system will real-time monitor the host's current needs, increasing the likelihood of obtaining necessary items when drawing from a Treasure Box.]
Hmm?
Wu Mu looked at the second part of the description, his eyes shining.
There's such a mechanism?
That's great news for him.
Wu Mu spent a hundred points to purchase a white Treasure Box and then directly chose to open it.