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

The afternoon sun was intense enough that the formal trainee suits felt a bit too hot on them.

As Jiang Zhiyu stepped out of the dormitory building, he was blinded by the glaring light and raised his hand to shield his eyes.

The entrance to the recording camp wasn't very big, and the production team assigned three buses to park on the roadside outside the camp to pick up the trainees.

The bus was parked quietly by the roadside, with the "Shining Project" logo printed on its body. From the gate to the side of the bus, there were two densely packed rows of people.

About a hundred fans, in twos and threes, held up banners and light sticks, filling the short distance of a few dozen meters from the trainees' dormitory to the bus.

The sea of ​​light from the light boards spread out, with large areas of lake blue—the support color recently chosen by Jiang Zhiyu's fan club—mixed with pink, yellow, and green, representing the fan clubs of other trainees.

Although the fan group was crowded, the order was surprisingly good, and the fans all kept a proper distance from the trainees.

Jiang Zhiyu was walking with the group onto the bus, his hands in the pockets of his jacket, squinting slightly in the blazing sun.

"Jiang Zhiyu!"

Suddenly someone shouted, their clear voice breaking through the afternoon heat.

Jiang Zhiyu looked toward the source of the sound, smiled, and the sunlight shone into his eyes, creating shimmering waves in his dark pupils, a breathtaking beauty.

The sound of camera shutters suddenly increased, with continuous shooting noises rising and falling.

"Holy crap."

Lu Shanshan, who quickly tapped the album to view the photos, was so shocked by the original images on her camera that she was speechless. She flipped through the few frames she had just taken, her mouth agape.

Immediately afterwards, a wave of shouts surged over, starting sporadically and quickly becoming a continuous roar, crashing against the bus windows and making them tremble slightly.

"Jiang Zhiyu! Jiang Zhiyu!"

Jiang Zhiyu stood by the bus door, his suit and uniform making him appear even more upright.

He raised his hand and waved, his fingertips curving slightly, his gesture neither overly enthusiastic nor lacking in gentleness.

The fans' shouts grew louder, some frantically snapping photos with their cameras, others raising their light boards even higher, the character "屿" on the boards shining brightly.

He stepped onto the bus and glanced into the carriage. Most of the back seats were empty, and Lin Sen and Mi Lan were sitting together, waving at him.

He turned his gaze back to the window, his eyes sweeping over the young faces in the crowd. Some were familiar faces, the ones he saw every night after get off work, while others were unfamiliar, probably newcomers.

In the past few days, the popularity of "Shining Project" has been rising steadily with each daily live stream. With the first public performance just around the corner, more and more fans are coming to support the project.

"Jiang Zhiyu! Look here!"

Another shout rang out, and he looked up to see a girl with pigtails holding up a light sign that read "Jiang Zhiyu debuts in the center position," her eyes crinkling into crescent moons with a smile.

He nodded to her, and the girl suddenly covered her face and screamed. The person next to her nudged her arm and laughed along.

Jiang Zhiyu walked to the back of the car and chose the window seats behind Lin Sen and Mi Lan.

"It's all blue as far as the eye can see, is that your support color, Zhiyu?" Lin Sen turned around and peeked out from the back of the seat in front of him, looking curious.

In fact, Jiang Zhiyu didn't know his support color when he was a trainee of "Shining Project", but River's support color was indeed blue.

He paused for a moment, turned to look at his own headshot next to the blue light sign, and nodded hesitantly: "It's mine, isn't it?"

He rested his hand on the windowsill and continued to look at the crowd outside.

Outside the car, the trainees walked over one after another. Ahn Joon-young hooked his arm around Deng Sushui's neck, and the two of them huddled together, chatting about something, laughing so hard they were doubled over.

Bian Ziang walked behind, holding a bottle of mineral water in his hand, glancing at the bus from time to time. Yao Wei walked beside him, flipping through a small notebook, muttering to himself as if reciting lyrics.

The car door closed slowly, shutting out the shouts from outside the window.

Jiang Zhiyu pressed his face against the glass, watching the fans outside the window slowly retreat until they became blurry little dots.

Is this seat taken?

A voice suddenly rang out from the side, with a slightly timid tone.

Jiang Zhiyu turned his head and paused for a moment. Yu Wen was sitting in the seat next to him.

He was somewhat surprised, but said nothing, only shook his head.

Yu Wen and he hardly interacted. They were in different classes, their training rooms were not on the same floor, and they would only nod to each other when they occasionally bumped into each other in the cafeteria.

Jiang Zhiyu couldn't even recall ever exchanging more than three sentences with him.

No.

The bus was a bit noisy as the trainees were filled with excitement about the location shoot, their excited discussions echoing throughout the bus.

Suddenly, Yu Wen spoke up, his voice very low.

"Last night, I saw someone enter your dormitory."

Jiang Zhiyu suddenly opened his eyes and turned his head to look at him.

Yu Wen looked around and continued, "Last night when I came back from the shower, I saw someone in black coming out of your dorm. I thought you were recording something with the staff, so I didn't pay attention. It wasn't until I heard you coming back from outside that I realized you weren't in the dorm... And that person, I always felt like he was acting suspiciously."

"Didn't you see her face clearly?" Jiang Zhiyu's voice also lowered, his fingertips unconsciously clenching.

"I didn't see it clearly." Yu Wen shook his head. "The corridor lights weren't all on at the time, and I wasn't looking carefully."

He paused, then added, "I'm not sure if it's a staff member. Staff members usually inform us in advance or register in person before entering the dormitory, so I'm just confirming with you whether you had given your consent."

Jiang Zhiyu frowned.

Their dormitories are under closed management; outsiders cannot enter except for staff and trainees.

If it was a staff member, why wasn't they notified beforehand or afterwards? If not, then who was it?

Lin Sen and Mi Lan in the front row suddenly turned around at the same time, their faces full of surprise.

"Huh? Someone came into our dorm?" Lin Sen's eyes widened. "No wonder when we went back last night, it felt like the door wasn't closed properly. I thought I hadn't closed it properly myself. I'm so careless."

"There are designated camera spots in the dorm. The staff told us before that they wouldn't come into our dorm to disrupt our lives unless necessary." Mi Lan frowned, somewhat puzzled.

"Don't overthink it," Jiang Zhiyu said, his voice steady. "It might really be a misunderstanding. I'll ask the dormitory manager when we get back."

He looked at Lin Sen and Mi Lan: "When you two went back to your dorm last night, was anything missing?"

Lin Sen and Mi Lan exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

"No, everything is still here," Mi Lan said. "It's just a small trinket of mine that was on the table. It seems to have moved a little, but I thought I moved it myself."

"Mine isn't less either," Lin Sen said.

Jiang Zhiyu nodded and didn't ask any further questions. He leaned back in his chair, but his heart wasn't so calm.

If they were truly staff, why were they in such a hurry to leave? If not, what was their purpose?