Chapter 17: The Second Round

When the chorus arrived, watching Lilia screaming, to be honest, Jiang Qin wanted to stuff cotton in her ears.

It wasn’t that she didn’t respect her opponent; it was that she felt she might have overestimated the Federation’s music scene.

She had originally thought that some of the songs on the charts had gotten there through back-door deals, but after listening to this song, she felt that the songs on the charts might truly have been the best of the bunch.

After forcibly enduring for over three minutes, Lilia finally finished singing.

Jiang Qin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If she had to listen any longer, she felt her "riot value" would have spiked off the charts.

"Judge, give me my score." Lilia panted heavily, her face full of confidence.

She felt that she had sung perfectly just now, with great explosive power—unlike Jiang Qin, who couldn't even hit high notes and only knew how to sing those hypnotic songs.

【The song has a high repetition rate with the music library, there are many flaws in vocal technique, and the theme is off-track. Rated: 55 points.】

[???]

[Hahaha...]

It wasn't just Lilia who was dumbfounded; the comment section was filled with question marks and laughter.

[I'm dying of laughter. I didn't want to say it, but if Lilia had sung first, I might have thought it was okay. The problem is she sang after Jiang Qin; the contrast is just too tragic.]

[I had actually logged off, and only just came back.]

There were quite a few people who felt this way, which was why the traffic in the livestream had dropped by two or three million, only recovering just now.

However, there were also those who blindly supported Lilia.

[The judge is unfair! Lilia sang so well, how could she not even reach the passing line?]

[It’s just an AI, what does it know about music? Letting it score—what does it understand?]

[??? You guys weren't saying that just a moment ago.]

[Anyway, I just think the Mainframe Judge’s scoring is wrong. Lilia is an elite student at Doren University, how could she be inferior to a female who hasn't even been to school?]

[Although I don't know music, I think this score is fine. I don't understand it, but I know what sounds good.]

[Let’s not even talk about their vocal techniques; just look at the composition. Lilia’s song has a high repetition rate with songs in the library—are you guys blind?]

[Speaking of which, Jiang Qin’s song, just like her previous three, has a repetition rate of basically 0% with the library.]

...

There were still plenty of people with brains.

Jiang Qin felt that she had basically cleared her name, but that wasn't enough. She wanted to completely sway those who were still on the fence over to her side.

There was no surveillance in the university dorms, and she had indeed been in there alone for a few minutes at the time.

So, there was truly no hard evidence to prove her innocence; she could only rely on her strength to prove it.

The style of interstellar music was vastly different from Earth's.

Federation songs were more like "Frankenstein" monsters—taking pleasant notes and stitching them together in a random order.

That was why most songs had such high repetition rates.

The songs from the Empire were slightly better than those here; at least they had clear themes and substance. However, just like the Federation, the mechanical, metallic style was too heavy.

Therefore, to the interstellar world, songs from Earth were more like a new category.

The difference was very easy to hear.

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

"Miss Lilia, do you also think the Mainframe Judge is unfair?"

Lilia’s face was dark. Even though she felt humiliated, she didn't dare to agree with that statement.

Once she agreed, it wouldn't just be questioning Jiang Qin’s cheating; it would be questioning the Mainframe and the Federation government.

So, she could only reply with a forced, insincere smile: "How could that be? The judge’s scoring is naturally trustworthy."

However, her hands were busy making small movements.

She was currently questioning the person who sent her the song on her optical computer. How could they give her such trash, and how was she supposed to win with it?

Furthermore, Lilia threatened that person: if she lost and ended up with nothing, she would drag them down with her even if it killed her!

"Since Miss Lilia agrees, let’s begin the second round."

Although she wanted to stall for time, Lilia knew that if she said anything else now, those idiots in the audience would probably attack her even more.

So, she could only suppress her anger and nod in agreement.

But compared to her initial smile, anyone could see she was unhappy.

Still, no one said anything; after all, most interstellar beast-kin females were known for having bad tempers.

Domestic abuse against their partners was a common occurrence.

Eighty percent of the people in the livestream were males.

Although they understood that females had bad tempers, there was a comparison on the split screen!

Moreover, they had already learned from the comments that Lilia was a D-rank female, while Jiang Qin was a C-rank female.

One looked so angry she could eat someone, while the other looked pale and fragile.

The scales in everyone's hearts had already begun to tilt.

【Second Round Theme: Love.】

Seeing this theme, not only did Lilia smile, but Jiang Qin wanted to laugh too.

When it came to love songs, the Earth’s music library was practically bottomless!

Of course, interstellar people loved love songs too; after all, their romantic lives were incredibly rich.

That was why Lilia smiled. She felt that for this theme, the person helping her behind the scenes would surely be able to get at least a Gold-tier composer's song, right?

Both of them pressed the "ready" button within five minutes again.

This time, Lilia sang first.

She opened her mouth with a sweet, sugary tone.

In all fairness, this song was indeed better than the last one, mainly because the vocal range was suitable, and she had also used a "clamped" voice technique.

After listening to the whole song, quite a few people were indeed "sweetened" by it.

The lyrics were simple, easy-to-understand, plain prose.

*I love you, and I love him, and I love him, him, him~*

It was catchy, similar to those "earworm" songs that were popular on Earth for a time. If they marketed it later and cut clips to pair with videos, it could probably be a minor hit for a while.

This was not what Jiang Qin wanted to see.

She wanted to defeat her opponent using the same genre, take all the traffic for herself, and not give her opponent a single chance!

So, she quickly remembered a song that had once been all the rage; back then, you could hear it in every street and alley.

It was even in the games.

To be honest, although it was really good, it couldn't withstand being heard from morning till night; it had literally scared Jiang Qin.

However, as long as some time passed, she still couldn't help but hum along.

This song had been intermittently popular for many years, becoming a minor hit every few years.

***

Soon, the "clamped-voice" sweet song ended, and the judge gave it 86 points!

"Miss Jiang, it's your turn." Although it wasn't as high as Jiang Qin's first song, Lilia was still all smiles.

Because she realized where the selling point of this song was. Even if she lost, it didn't matter; getting a song that suited her so well was a win in itself.

Relying on today's heat, plus this song, it should be much easier for her to graduate later.

As for the accusation of framing Jiang Qin, as long as she bit the bullet and refused to admit it, and the other party had no evidence, they couldn't do anything to her.

In the end, this matter would only become an unsolved case!

And she would step on Jiang Qin to climb to the top, pocketing all the traffic.

(End of chapter)