I Became an All-round Artist

Unbelievable!
A moderately successful song like "Balloon" had managed to go viral simply because of its unique opening melody, sparking a wave of imitations and challenges...
It even made it onto the trending list?
If Zhao Jue couldn't seize this rare opportunity, he might as well step down as the top agent of Starry Sky.

Without hesitation, he decided to amplify the trending topic.
Viral trends like the "Balloon Challenge," which start spontaneously from the public, usually fade quickly. But if the celebrities under Starry Sky also participated, their fanbases would surely jump on the bandwagon, creating even more buzz. Naturally, this would help keep the challenge trending longer.

And things went exactly as Zhao Jue predicted.
With the celebrities joining in, the popularity of the "Balloon Challenge" surged, attracting more and more participants until it reached fifth place on the trending list!

As a result, "Balloon" climbed one spot on the February New Songs Chart, securing sixth place.

The entire industry let out a collective groan!
February is known as the "group of death," with various companies pulling out all the stops to make sure their songs don't fall behind. The competition was fierce, and the quality of the releases was extremely high.

But no one expected it.
Starry Sky had released a song called "Balloon," and it managed to go viral simply because of its difficult vocal range!
What made this song particularly odd was that no one seemed to care whether it was good or not. Everyone was only focused on whether they could sing the first verse in one breath, just like the artist did...

In terms of quality, "Balloon" didn't have a clear advantage over the other tracks on the chart. Its success in February was entirely thanks to the viral "Balloon Challenge!"
Of course, the fact that the Lunar New Year was approaching probably also played a role. With everyone having more free time, they were more likely to join in. If people were busy with work, who would bother recording something like this?

...
Jiang Kui leaped out of bed early in the morning when she got a call from her agent, learning about the success of her new song. With her hair disheveled, she let out an off-pitch scream of "Balloon."
"Trending, trending, trending!"
After calming down a bit, she grabbed her phone, logged into Tribe, and found the "Balloon Challenge" topic trending.
"Aha!"
It felt a bit surreal for Jiang Kui to be trending for the first time in her life. Although the trending topic was about "Balloon" and not her personally, it was still close enough to count as her own achievement.

There were a lot of recommended videos under the topic.
Jiang Kui picked one with high ratings to watch.
It was a video by a female streamer, carefully edited, starting with clips of her practicing different physical exercises to improve her lung capacity.

After finishing her workout routine, the streamer flexed her nonexistent muscles at the camera, brimming with confidence, and asked her partner, "Ready?"
The partner nodded seriously.
The streamer then took a deep breath and began singing with the piano accompaniment provided by her partner:
"Red, white, black, yellow, purple, green, blue, gray, yours, mine, his, hers, big, small, round, flat, good, bad, beautiful, ugly..."

She couldn't finish.
Jiang Kui could tell right away.
As expected, the streamer in the video obviously couldn't get through the first verse.
By the end, she was practically out of breath, waving her hand and saying,
"I can't do it, I can't do it, I’m not in the right condition."

The final scene of the video showed the streamer and her partner sitting in despair on a chair, with a giant red "X" and the words:
"Balloon Challenge Failed!"

This video had over ten thousand comments, with viewers lining up to leave remarks:
"Streamer, you're low on energy."
"Another case of low energy, confirmed."
Someone else, confused, asked, "Why are they saying she has low energy?"
And the reply, delivered with a deadpan tone: "Don’t you know? Experts have determined that anyone who can't finish the first verse of 'Balloon' in one breath is suffering from low energy. /dog"

"What on earth?"
Jiang Kui burst out laughing.
Somehow, lung capacity had been linked to energy levels. The Tribe community truly knew how to deliver joy.

After laughing, Jiang Kui couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.
Once again, she had witnessed Xianyu's brilliance. Even in a month as competitive as February, "Balloon" managed to thrive.

...
The February New Songs Chart had everyone on edge.
Naturally, some media outlets in Qinzhou also took notice of the "Balloon Challenge" trending on Tribe, including the show Entertainment Citizen.

This was a popular entertainment program.
The host, a beloved bald man, opened with: “This morning I saw something trending on Tribe—‘Balloon Challenge.’ I was puzzled at first, thinking it was about jumping off a hot air balloon. But when I clicked in, it turns out it’s a song! The first line goes red, blue, green, black... My goodness, I can't even remember the lyrics! But I counted—there are 56 words in that first line alone!"

Then he played the original first verse sung by Jiang Kui.
Afterward, he chuckled and said, "I have a friend who's a music streamer. He's an amazing singer. Today, during his stream, his chat was flooded with requests to sing ‘Balloon.’ He struggled for half an hour but just couldn’t get through the first verse. He thought he was losing followers, but instead, he gained 10,000 new ones! This song is like a strange spell."

The host’s witty banter continued.
Soon, the conversation shifted to the entire February chart: "We all know that February and December are brutal months for music releases. A lot of top-tier artists drop their tracks in these months, and this year is no exception. There are twelve top-tier artists competing head-to-head. Let's take a look at the rankings..."

At this point, the program displayed a special "ranking chart."
It was a comic-style depiction of a pack of wolves.
Each wolf had the title of a song written on its body, and from left to right, they represented the rankings for February.
But among the wolves ranked sixth was... a husky.
The husky had the words "Balloon" on its forehead!

This visual had the audience laughing out loud.
It was a perfectly humorous portrayal of the February rankings.
Because, apart from Jiang Kui, the entire top ten was filled with heavyweight, top-tier artists!
Jiang Kui, a newcomer in the industry, sharing a chart with these top-tier artists? That husky perfectly captured the situation—an oddball among the wolves.

At the end of the show, the host spoke more seriously:
"'Balloon' has brought a lot of joy, but as I sang the song, I felt the oxygen in my lungs slowly depleting until there was none left. Just like a balloon going from fully inflated to completely deflated. I think maybe this is the message Xianyu wanted to convey through this song."

...
Qinzhou, Yun City.
Lin Yao was watching Entertainment Citizen too.
As Lin Yuan's sister, she had already found out that her brother was Xianyu, so she naturally paid attention to any news about him.
At this moment, she curiously asked, "Brother, is that really what you meant with the song?"
Lin Yuan replied, "That depends on whether this song ends up as an exam question."

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