Esports world champion, debuted as the center of a talent show

The combined psychological and physical stress, along with prolonged mental exhaustion, caused Jiang Zhiyu to be enveloped in light sleep and nightmares once again, releasing the emotions he suppressed during the day at night.

He saw that yellowish ceiling light again.

Flies clung to the ceiling near the light, and dark red, splattered liquid clung to the mottled wall, making it appear even more eerie in the dim light.

It was a very narrow room, with the metal bunk bed disassembled into individual pieces and haphazardly draped in the corner, covered with several dusty cobwebs.

A boy lay quietly on the ground, his hands tied behind his back, the nylon rope deeply embedded in his skin, the binding area turning bluish-white.

Suddenly, he felt his cheeks being viciously pinched by a rough hand, the palm covering the lower half of his face, the fingertips digging into his flesh, and roughly prying him to one side.

A face he would never forget came into his view, its eyes filled with endless ferocity.

"I told you, you will pay the price for your actions."

The man leaned close to his ear, his voice low and hoarse, with a faint smell of blood in it.

She pinched his fingertips and tightened her grip, her nails scratching his cheek skin, causing beads of blood to seep out.

The next second, the man slammed him backward, his back hitting the ground with a dull thud.

The man stood up, walked to the pile of iron frames, picked up an iron rod and held it in his palm, letting one end dangle on the ground, and walked towards him step by step.

squeak--

A sharp, piercing metallic scraping sound drilled into his ears. He rolled over, braced himself on his elbows, and struggled to his feet almost instinctively.

But as soon as he propped himself up, he heard a whooshing sound behind him.

Almost instantly, the iron rod slammed heavily into his side, and a sharp pain exploded from his waist and abdomen, blurring his vision and causing his body to collapse limply to the ground once again.

A foot stepped on his abdomen, which had just been hit hard, and suddenly applied force. A pain that seemed to pierce the depths of his soul instantly swept over his already somewhat confused mind, causing him to groan involuntarily.

A low, hoarse voice came from beside the wall: "Who are you? Let him go!"

The man turned his head and saw that the boy, whose hands were tied behind his back, had just woken up and was leaning against the wall with a frown. He was obviously not quite aware of what was happening, but his first reaction was to stop the man's actions.

Unfortunately, the man did not stop. Instead, he stomped his foot on the thin body under his foot even harder, feeling the body tremble slightly under his foot. He looked at the boy who suddenly opened his eyes wide and tried to break free of the nylon rope in his hand, and smiled with pleasure.

The man then ignored the boy who was struggling with all his might but only managed to rub his wrists until they bled. He lowered his head and gently spoke to the boy above his head: "Young Master Jiang, you must remember that it's all because you meddle that your friend was implicated and died quietly here. No one will collect his body, and he'll just rot into a pile of mud."

The man raised his hand and flipped him over, looking with pleasure at the youthful face in front of him that was faintly showing pain. Then, amidst the boy's shouts from not far away, he slapped him hard across his pale face.

A loud buzzing sound pierced through his ears and into his brain. Jiang Zhiyu suddenly opened his eyes and saw the familiar ceiling of the dormitory at the "Shining Project" recording base.

A dull ache shot up from his lower back and abdomen, constantly reminding him of all those past events.

Jiang Zhiyu covered his mouth forcefully, forcibly suppressing his rapid breathing. After the dizziness subsided, he slowly closed his eyes.

His hands clenched tightly under the covers, then relaxed limply.

The cold, damp feeling of the floor in that room still lingered in his mind, but the steady, long breaths of Lin Sen and Mi Lan not far away gradually dispelled the bone-chilling coldness and pulled him back to reality.

The night was still long, but Jiang Zhiyu did not fall asleep again. He just kept his eyes closed and remained motionless.

As dawn broke and most people were still asleep, a new post quietly popped up on the official forum of "Shining Project," becoming the starting point for a sensation around the world in the following days.

#Guaranteed Insider Scoop: Shortly before joining the show, Chen Yue and his brother broke a bottle of wine worth around 40,000 yuan and refused to pay. His brother even spent a few days in jail for it. #【new】

Lu Shanshan had just woken up, her face still showing signs of exhaustion. She had stayed up all night again to rewatch the materials, but she needed to get up early today to communicate with Jiang Zhiyu's fan club about offline support for the fan meeting, so she could only force herself to get out of bed.

To clear her head as quickly as possible, she opened the forum for "Shining Project," and the explosive title of this new post immediately caught her eye.

Eating melons makes one feel refreshed; she suddenly opened her eyes wide and clicked into the post with great interest.

At this time, there weren't many people online in the forum, but the speed of replying to the top post was still very fast.

【1L: ? ? ? 】

[2L: Forty thousand is really nothing to a celebrity, is he really going to renege on this debt??]

—Reply: [But they're still just trainees. I had vaguely heard before that Chen Yue's family background wasn't very good.]

—Reply: [Even if a family is poor, they can't default on their debts. Isn't this considered being a deadbeat? And why is it that only his brother is in jail while he's off the hook? Was he bailed out?]

[Original Poster: A kind passerby paid the 40,000 yuan for them.]

—Reply: [Wait, is this a kind person or a sucker?]

—Reply: [This is getting a bit strange. Do you know them? Why would you pay for them?]

Lu Shanshan was a little confused, so she brought up her phone's keyboard and typed a reply: "So the money was eventually paid, then why did his brother still go to jail?"

Shortly after, the original poster (OP) replied to her question online: "[Because his brother is primarily responsible + suspected of intentional assault + refused to pay compensation and ran away.]"

—Reply: [What about Chen Yue? What is his role in this?]

—The original poster replied: [He was injured, and although he was unwilling to pay, a simple passerby paid for it and stayed at the scene instead of running away, so he was unharmed.]

"Tch, clickbait title, it got me all excited." Lu Shanshan muttered under her breath and lay back down on the bed.

[39L: So this isn't really a big deal, right? We've waited so long!! And this is it!!]

[40L: Doesn't anyone care that Chen Yue is in Class A? Wait—if being in Class A briefly during the theme song segment counts as Class A! Okay! Then you win!]

[41L: In summary, this whole thing is rather trivial. Aside from morally condemning Chen Yue for damaging property and refusing to pay compensation, there's not much else to it.]

……

[95L: I'm really curious, who is this person who just happened to be passing by but casually paid 40,000 for Chen Yue?]

—Reply: [I'm also very curious, how could someone spend 40,000 to pay for a stranger's meal? Are there really no other factors involved?]

[96L: Has anyone dug into this in detail? I'm curious about the specifics!]

—Reply: [Same request, please believe.]