As soon as the new rule was announced, it sparked a storm of discussion and widespread praise among the public.


    If a contestant chosen by popr vote ended up impacting the oue of thepetition, it wouldn''t be fair to the other participants. There was also the risk of things turning ugly-vote rigging and other dishonest tactics weren''t unheard of. But on the other hand, if the voting was purely ceremonial, with no real reward or significance, then what was the point of holding it at all?


    To solve this dilemma, the organizers came up with an ingenious solution.


    Ste Cameron had barely finished her performance when her votes began to soar, shooting up so quickly that the online voting tform started tog. She hadn''t even had a chance to give her thank-you speech, and already the system was struggling to keep up. At the same time, the livestream audience numbers spiked dramatically, the broadcast suddenly as popr as those of the hottest inte celebrities.


    In an age where looks seem to rule everything, who could resist such a stunning and charming young woman? Ste''s beauty was striking and memorable—far from the cookie-cutter influencers filling everyone''s feeds these days.


    In the control room backstage, the technical director stared at the screen in disbelief, his words tumbling out in excitement.


    "Director, we''ve gone viral! We''re blowing up!"


    The man in charge, Howard Shaw, was a third-tier director whose career had never really taken off. Honest to a fault, Howard was notorious for refusing to y political games or fake results, a trait that made him unpopr among industry insiders. As a result, he''d always been shut out of the big, prestigious shows; he couldn''t evennd a spot on a proper television broadcast.


    These days, even talent shows andpetitions that looked fair on the surface often had their oues scripted behind closed doors. But Howard refused to take part in anything underhanded. Now in his fifties, his reputation and résumé had stagnated for years.


    This particrpetition was a high-stakes one: the contestants would eventually face off against


    international rivals. There was


    room for shy, unqualified insiders who could only win by pulling strings-such embarrassments wouldn''t cut it on the world stage. Maybe you could buy off a judge or apetitor at home, but that wouldn''t get you far abroad.


    A few years earlier, the Novaris Orchestra had finished deadst at an international musicpetition all because the domestic selection process had been riddled with corruption. Everyone-from the organizers and judges down to the contestants-had been bribed. It got so bad that with the right price, anyone could be guaranteed a spot in the finals. The so-called "champions" were hyped up as prodigies, but once they stepped onto the international stage, their true abilities were embarrassingly exposed.


    Back then, the contest still had elimination rounds, and the rare participants who refused to y along were secretly sabotaged and kicked out. This rot from the insidested five years before finallying to light. Only then was there a serious crackdown, with everyone involved put on trial.


    Justice, as they say, may be slow, but it never fails to arrive.


    After the scandal, public trust in thepetition tanked. The truly talented stopped signing up, and interest waned. Even when the entire staff from judges to directors and coaches-was reced, the damage lingered. Thepetitors just weren''t as strong, at least until


    Antoney Watson appeared.


    The reason Howard was recruited for this year''s event was simple: he couldn''t be


    bought, and he refused to fake anything. But because he''d been sidelined for years and didn''t have a big name, he was assigned to oversee the online livestream.


    The idea to offer a real reward for the popr vote? That was Howard''s brainchild.


    After watching thepetition, Howard was in unusually high spirits. Good music had a way of lifting his mood. As soon as he pushed open the door to the control room, the technical director pointed at the screen and shouted.


    "Director, it''s exploding! We''re going viral!"


    Howard blinked, still trying to catch up. "Exploding? What''s exploding?"