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

Jiang Zhiyu saw the fans' comments.

But he didn't know how he should respond.

My fingertip hovered over the input box for a long time before I finally typed out a short line of text and sent it:

Everything is fine.

As soon as the message was sent out, fans who had been waiting online flooded in, and likes, comments, and shares skyrocketed, with notification sounds popping up continuously.

Jiang Zhiyu ignored the message notifications, quickly swiped his finger across the screen, and logged out of the River account with some difficulty.

This ID, which accompanied him through his peaks and controversies and bore all his past glory and criticism, was temporarily and gently set aside behind him.

He then followed the staff's instructions to register a new account, fill in his personal information, and complete the official verification process, which took several minutes.

Once everything was ready, he posted his first blog post on his new account, accompanied by a picture of a bowl of vegetable salad that he casually took at the cafeteria at noon. The picture was simple to the point of being austere, with only a bowl of refreshing vegetable salad on a wooden table. There was no deliberate composition, but it exuded authenticity.

The caption contained only two words.

【lunch.】

He updated the progress to the staff via the program's intranet: "Completed @Shining Project - Jiang Zhiyu".

Almost as soon as the words were spoken, and the page was refreshed, the program's official account quickly reposted the post.

[@ShiningProject: Little Jiang has joined! //@ShiningProject-JiangZhiyu: Lunch...]

In just a few minutes, this brand-new account with no existing fan base saw its follower count skyrocket. Likes, comments, and shares increased at a visible rate, and the comment section was instantly filled with messages from netizens and fans.

[You should definitely recharge with some Jiang Jiang energy on weekday afternoons!]

[I knew this was my lost child the moment I saw him. Shining, release him and give him back to me!]

[How can your account's first post not include a selfie! You're being punished by having to make up for it with a nine-grid selfie!]

Why are you eating so blandly? Are you on a diet? You're not fat at all!

[A little bit of meat on the bones looks better on a child; no dieting allowed!]

Don't listen to the above... Although I don't think I'm fat, I still need to control my diet to look good on camera.

-

Two o'clock in the afternoon, in the interview room.

Just as Jiang Zhiyu reached the door, Wei Shuang came out from inside. The two brushed past each other, nodded politely, and that was their greeting.

The first thing recorded was the official interview after the theme song assessment. Jiang Zhiyu sat down on a high stool with his legs together, and the camera in front of him lit up with a red dot, signaling the start of the recording.

Q: What are your thoughts on getting the C position in the first round?

Jiang Zhiyu's expression was calm, and his speech was steady: "I wouldn't say I have any feelings... I just feel that hard work pays off. Both I and my teammates achieved good results."

The staff member in charge of the interview was slightly surprised. The theme song assessment was an individual battle, and few trainees would subconsciously refer to others as "teammates." However, he just made a note of it and did not ask any further questions, continuing to ask more questions.

Q: Besides yourself, who do you think performed the best in this theme song assessment?

"Lin Sen." He said almost without pausing.

Q: According to our statistics, you are the athlete with the longest training time over these three days. What has been supporting you all along?

Jiang Zhiyu gently swung his leg and said frankly, "My foundation is relatively weak. I haven't received much systematic training, so I can only rely on time to gradually build up my proficiency."

"Okay, cut!"

The staff gestured for Jiang Zhiyu to move to a table to prepare for the next segment of the interview.

"There are official photos of all of you on the table. We'll ask you a question later. If you think someone is a certain person, just hold up their photo and show it to the camera."

Jiang Zhiyu nodded, glanced at the photos on the table, and found that the order of the photos was based on popularity.

The trainees at the top with obvious signs of being flipped are the most popular ones, while those with lower popularity are placed in corners and at the bottom, ignored by everyone.

He pursed his lips but said nothing.

Q: Among the 99 trainees in "Shining Project", who is your choice for the visual center?

Without hesitation, Jiang Zhiyu searched through the photos for a moment and then held up a photo that surprised the staff.

The person in the photo is Yu Jin, a contestant whose popularity ranking is at the bottom. He has almost no buzz and was not invited to participate in today's interview and business session.

Ignoring the surprised and hesitant staff, he earnestly explained his choice: "This is a contestant I noticed on the first stage. His stage presence is excellent, and his facial expressions and stage style are very impressive."

He paused for a moment, then added bluntly, "She's also very good-looking."

Q: We noticed that many contestants enjoy being with you, but so far, which contestant do you like the most?

This wasn't the first time Jiang Zhiyu had faced this kind of subtly manipulating public opinion and easily leading people to ship couples; he was already quite adept at dealing with it.

"Everyone is a teammate and opponent who works hard together, and it's very comfortable to get along with them. Everyone on the show is very serious, and I respect every contestant and admire everyone's efforts towards the same goal. If I had to choose..." He paused, then picked up two photos, "My two roommates, Lin Sen and Mi Lan."

The staff member flipped through the question booklet in their hand, then smiled and asked, "In the video I recorded before yours, Wei Shuang chose you for both of these questions. Are you friends now?"

Jiang Zhiyu did not answer immediately, the ambiguous look in Wei Shuang's eyes flashing through his mind when they brushed past each other at the door.

After a moment, he slowly spoke: "Kui Shuang is an excellent opponent, and I would be happy to become friends with him."

"Okay! You've worked hard. Take a break now. Next is the last interview."

The staff member smiled kindly at him and pointed to the sofa next to him.

Jiang Zhiyu obediently sat down on the sofa. It was very soft, and he sank into it, leaning lazily against the back of the chair.

The door to the interview room opened, and a head poked in. Jiang Zhiyu squinted and saw that it was Wang Yan.

He didn't move, quietly watching Wang Yan carefully walk into the interview room, greet the staff, and then walk towards him.

Wang Yan sat down at the other end of the sofa, his expression somewhat stiff.

In the past few days, as my relationship with my roommate Milan has become closer, I have had fewer and fewer opportunities to communicate with Wang Yan.

The staff handed each of them a trolley: "We're going to be recording a two-person interview for you. It might involve some questions about each other, so you can talk about it beforehand."