Honkai Impact 3rd: Join Anti-Entropy at the start and dominate the entertainment industry.

He just sat there quietly, but Bai Qianqu felt an immense, invisible pressure coming towards her.

Bai Qianqu squinted, staring at the oppressive aura as she looked at Walter, the legendary god of music who was said to be on par with Eden.

Walter was somewhat surprised to see Bai Qianqu staring directly at him.

He is not only the God of Music, but also the current leader of Anti-Entropy. He is arguably the person with the highest status in Anti-Entropy. Even ordinary executives treat him with great respect and have a strange sense of distance from him.

However, Bai Qianqu didn't seem to care about her title; instead, she seemed interested in herself as a person.

I've only ever felt this way with composers of the same caliber.

That kind of equal gaze that disregards the difference in status between the two parties.

Bronya began by introducing, "Professor Walter, this is Bai Qianqu."

Walter nodded and looked Bai Qianqu up and down again. If you were to ask who the most popular person in the company was during this period, it would naturally be this young man who looked quite young.

Some say he is a rare genius, while others think he is just a lucky guy who got lucky by sheer chance.

But neither praise nor envy can overshadow his brilliant achievements.

However, these things wouldn't normally have caught Walter's attention. What really caught his attention was that Bronya seemed to be getting quite close to this kid lately!

There are also rumors in the company that the two are dating in private!

Walter did not show any obvious opposition or support. He had never been very knowledgeable about matters of the heart, and besides, he himself was deeply involved and couldn't sort things out.

However, since Bronya is his most valued student, he still needs to take good care of her. So, the main reason he asked Bai Qianqu to come over today is to check on Bronya's character and see what kind of person Bai Qianqu is.

He didn't care whether Bronya's partner was rich or talented; he had all of those qualities and could provide them for Bronya.

He only cared about the other person's character and whether they were sincere towards Bronya.

After all, he was grooming Bronya to be Anti-Entropy's successor, and he couldn't let someone with ulterior motives stay by Bronya's side.

However, Walter was quite satisfied with this first meeting, as it proved that Bai Qianqu was not a cowardly or timid person.

Bai Qianqu's inner world was also very rich at this time, and his heart was not as calm as it appeared on the surface.

This is Walter, the leader of Anti-Entropy, one of the contemporary masters of music, and the second-best of the two, making a cameo appearance.

In conclusion, Walter is undoubtedly a big name in the world, and can almost be considered one of the pinnacles of the art world.

Of course, most importantly, he was also one of the people Bronya respected the most, and you could even say he was like a father to her, making him her half-father-in-law.

This gave Bai Qianqu the feeling of going home with his girlfriend to meet her parents for the first time.

The reason he was expressionless was mainly because he was numb and didn't know what to do.

Bronya, standing next to Bai Qianqu, could naturally sense Bai Qianqu's condition, and she glanced at Bai Qianqu with some concern.

At this moment, Walter spoke up.

"I've heard so much about Qu Yin's name, please have a seat."

Bronya breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pulled out a chair for Bai Qianqu. After Bai Qianqu sat down, she stood behind Bai Qianqu like a dutiful wife.

Walter felt a pang of jealousy; Bronya had never helped him move a chair before.

The feeling is like having your beloved cabbage, which you've raised for many years, trampled by a wild boar.

Bai Qianqu felt uneasy when she saw Walter staring intently at her without saying a word.

Why do all these middle-aged men from Anti-Entropy like to stare at me?

Is this quirk contagious?

He quickly took the initiative to speak: "Mr. Walter, what can I do for you?"

Walter also temporarily suppressed his inner emotions: "It's nothing, I've just heard a lot of rumors about you lately. Our Anti-Entropy has produced such a genius composer, of course I have to see him for myself."

Bai Qianqu was also speechless. Did Walter have nothing better to do than come all the way back from out of town just to see her?

Walter certainly didn't come back specifically to see him, but overseeing Bronya's case was a high priority.

"Qu Yin, forget it. I'll just call you Xiao Bai because I'm older, okay?" Walter asked Bai Qianqu.

“Of course, you are Bronya’s elder, so naturally you are my elder as well.” Bai Qianqu nodded, thinking to himself that they might even become family in the future.

“I watched the recording of this month’s new singer competition,” Walter said with satisfaction. “I have to say that Xiaobai’s new song this time is pretty good. To have such strength at such a young age shows that heroes emerge from among the young.”

"It's also because Ying performed so well, capturing the essence of the song, that I played a guiding role," Bai Qianqu said frankly.

Seeing that Bai Qianqu was not carried away by her pride, Walter nodded in satisfaction.

"Yes, the soul of a song is the lyricist and composer, but its outward appearance is brought to life by the singer. A suitable singer can bring out the inner beauty of a song, so the singer is just as important to the song."

"Some songwriters always have a kind of superior arrogance. That's wrong, but it seems you're quite good, Xiaobai."

Chapter 134 The Chaos of the Entertainment Industry

When Bronya saw Walter praising Bai Qianqu, she smiled sweetly, even happier than when she herself was being praised.

She volunteered, "Professor Walter, he puts a lot of effort into finding singers for each of his songs. He always says that the right singer should sing the right song so that the song can be performed perfectly."

"Really?" Watching Bronya proudly praise others in front of him, Walter finally understood what it meant for a daughter to grow up and leave home.

She's not even married yet, and she's already siding with outsiders.

Bai Qianqu thought it was quite normal. He had worked hard to compose a song, and if it was sung haphazardly, he would definitely be the first to object.

Walter continued, "Little White, you also participated in the new singer competition, so you should know about the new announcement released by the official organizers, right?"

"I know." Bai Qianqu also remembered the official announcement about the debut of new singers, which resulted in a significant decrease in the number of singers who successfully debuted this year.

"What do you think?" Walter asked, staring at Bai Qianqu.

"Uh..." Bai Qianqu didn't expect Walter to ask him this question. After thinking for a moment, he decided to tell his true thoughts.

"The reason why the authorities did this is mainly because the current atmosphere in the entertainment industry is not good. Too many mediocre singers are taking advantage of the situation, causing the level of the music scene to decline year by year, even to the point where it is not as good as it was ten years ago."

Listening to Bai Qianqu's analysis, Walter nodded slightly. These situations were obvious to all, and everyone was aware of them, but few people brought them to the forefront.

Previously, Kindergarten Assassin's song "Reversed Pipa" tore away the veil used to cover up the shame in the entertainment industry, which won praise from many people.

Of course, many people were furious and even believed that the reason the authorities wanted to create new rules for singers' debut was because they had listened to Kindergarten Assassin's song!

Instead of reflecting on their own reasons, they shift the blame onto others.

Not daring to cause trouble for the authorities, they could only vent their anger on the kindergarten assassin.

There's a lot of slanderous information about Kindergarten Assassin online now, saying that he only has one song, yet he dares to say in it that "only a King title can match me, and I am the undisputed legend of Chinese rap." He's incredibly arrogant, just a show-off and a bluffer who doesn't even dare to reveal his real identity or voice.

There are quite a few such comments, which shows that online trolls exist in every world.

However, this only makes the lyrics of "Reversed Pipa" seem more authentic.

Dissing is just a friendly competition, but those celebrities who hire online trolls always try to drive their opponents to their deaths.

The kindergarten assassin didn't respond at all; his lyrics were the best slap in the face.

Netizens online didn't say anything; they just copied and pasted the lyrics to criticize these paid trolls.

Of course, Bai Qianqu was unaware of this, and he continued answering Walter's questions.

"Those popular singers may bring a lot of attention in the short term, but if this continues, the entertainment industry will inevitably become a cesspool. This is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Therefore, the fact that the authorities are determined to rectify the entertainment industry is a good thing for the industry as a whole."

Walter didn't say anything after hearing Bai Qianqu's words, since it was a fairly standard answer. However, Bai Qianqu's next sentence made Walter's spirits lift.

"The reason why the entertainment industry is like this is not just due to the singers."

"Oh? It's not just the singer's problem?" Walter became interested. "Then what other problems do you think there are?"

Speaking of this, Bai Qianqu straightened her posture and said seriously, "I've seen many people say that the reason there are so many popular singers is because capital has chosen them. But that's just a superficial phenomenon! The real ones who choose popular singers are the vast audience."

"Oh?" This was the first time Walter had heard such a statement. "What do you mean?"

"It's actually easy to understand. The reason why popular singers have popularity is indeed due to the support of capital, but mainly it's because of the support of the vast number of netizens. Whether they are genuinely popular or infamous, as long as people watch, there is popularity, and with popularity comes money, and with money comes more popular singers like them." Bai Qianqu said eloquently, "Even though we know that these popular singers don't have any real talent, so many people still watch them, whether they are there to appreciate or criticize. As long as they go, they get popularity, and it's the same in terms of data. It has nothing to do with your purpose."

"Fans in the entertainment industry also have strong stereotypes about singers. Most netizens only know a singer's hit songs or one or two well-known works, and then use the style of these songs to define the singer's style. But we all know that a singer's style is not fixed; they are actually good at two or even more styles."

Walter nodded in agreement: "Yes, the same applies to composers. Take Planck for example. Her most famous work is folk music, so many people call her the goddess of folk music. But Planck is not only good at folk music. Her rock music is also great, but few people know about it."

Bai Qianqu took a sip of the tea that Ya Ya handed her and continued, "The reason for this phenomenon is that, on the one hand, the audience lacks basic music theory knowledge, and on the other hand, fans do not recognize the differences or gaps between different music environments. Their subjective preferences and objective level are often confused. A singer and a song cannot be judged as having real talent just because of how many fans or how many people listen to them."

"Those so-called 'bubbly songs' have tens of thousands, even hundreds of millions of plays. But does that prove that the song is good or that the singer is a technically skilled artist?"

In fact, the audience in this world has a much higher level of basic artistic literacy than in the original world, but this kind of fan culture phenomenon still exists and cannot be eradicated.

In conclusion, singers bear some responsibility for the state of the entertainment industry, but listeners also share some responsibility; the problem cannot be simply attributed to one group.

"Therefore, to eradicate the chaos in the entertainment industry, a two-pronged approach is needed. On the one hand, we need to regulate singers and capital, and on the other hand, we need to provide the audience with good guidance and popular science. Only in this way can we save the current entertainment industry. Capital does have a lot of power, but the inaction of the authorities is to allow capital to run rampant."

After Bai Qianqu finished speaking, she felt her mouth was dry and took another sip of tea.

He looked at the tea in his hand with some surprise. He hadn't expected that the tea from Walter's side would be just as good as the one that Ayaka Kamisato had given him, each with its own merits.

It seems Walter is quite knowledgeable about tea!

Chapter 135 "Having an Idea"

Walter squinted at Bai Qianqu without saying a word. After a long while, he finally showed a wry smile.

"Your words are quite blunt, but they do make some sense. It's fine to say these things here, but if they get out, who knows what some people will say."

Bai Qianqu shrugged indifferently, but didn't refute anything. He knew that Walter was doing this for his own good.

“Let’s not talk about that now. I have another question for you.” Walter crossed his arms in front of his eyes and said, word by word, “How do you view art? Do you think art is gradually declining?”

Bronya suddenly held her breath. She remembered clearly that the last time Walter asked her this question, she was still in college.

At that time, Walter was already an S-class composer, while Eden had just debuted and was already showing promise. The two met for the first time at a concert, and Walter asked Eden this question.

How did Eden answer?

Upon hearing this question, a phrase he had once read flashed through Bai Qianqu's mind, and he blurted it out instinctively.

"Art is the crystallization of human wisdom and history, and it progresses alongside human society. As long as human society does not perish, art will not disappear."

Upon hearing Bai Qianqu's words, Bronya's eyes widened, and even Welt was taken aback.

Bai Qianqu didn't notice anything unusual about the two of them. He continued, "What is art? Art is the external form through which humanity expresses its feelings and desires for beauty. As long as humanity still craves beauty and has desires, art will never die out."

"Of course, art itself will not disappear, but the forms of artistic expression are constantly changing. From ancient rock paintings and sculptures, to classical painting schools, bard epics, Chinese poetry, and then to the modern digital revolution, literature has transformed from miscellaneous writings into magnificent masterpieces, painting from naive simulations into complex and profound works, and songs from following rules into free expression. Every step of art means the demise of certain traditional forms, but on these decaying shells, new forms will soon bloom, radiating an even more dazzling light."

“So I think,” a figure as radiant as gold appeared in Bai Qianqu’s mind, “that art will forever shine like gold, and be as glorious as tomorrow.”

After Bai Qianqu finished speaking, he noticed that Walter was staring straight at him without even blinking.