novelraw Chapter 62, "The Lone Warrior," arrives five years ahead of schedule.
Chapter 62, "The Lone Warrior," arrives five years ahead of schedule.
Song Ze did not respond to Zhang Juan's words.
Unlike usual, she didn't say, "Sister Zhang, your courage is even further back than your hairline," nor did she laugh.
He turned off his phone screen, leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, interlaced his fingers, and tensed up.
Zhang Juan was stunned for a moment.
Having partnered with Song Ze for so long, this was the first time she had ever seen him with such an expression on his face.
It's not nervousness.
It is solemn.
Song Ze's brain was working at high speed.
Late 2016 to early 2017. The fifth season of "I Am a Singer". The initial lineup consisted of eight people.
In my past life memories, the eighth starter was Zhang Jingxuan, who was urgently cut before the show aired for some well-known reasons and withdrew from the competition. The production team changed the rules at the last minute, and the first episode became a safe performance competition for all participants, with no eliminations.
That episode was essentially just going through the motions.
But now, he has filled that vacancy.
The starting lineup is complete, all eight players are there.
The Butterfly Effect.
These four words exploded in his mind.
The first round of recording on January 10, 2017, will no longer have the "safety for all" protection mechanism. It will be a real elimination of one person from eight to seven.
The person who was eliminated could very well be him.
Song Ze felt a slight chill run down his spine.
In his past life, he was an audience member, sitting in front of the screen watching others fight, knowing the rankings of each episode, the elimination order of each round, and the audience feedback for each song.
What now?
The wheels of history have already veered off course.
He is no longer a prophet.
Tan Jingjing, champion of the CCTV Young Singers Competition, is a graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music.
Lin Yilian, a living legend in the Chinese music scene for thirty years.
Dima Creek, a genius from Kazakhstan, is a living example of the physical limits of the human vocal cords.
Any one of these three would be enough to give him a hard time.
As for Song Ze, an untrained individual who rose through the ranks by relying on the system, if he entered the game with the mindset of "just going through the motions," he would undoubtedly be the first cannon fodder.
"Little Song?"
Zhang Juan called out tentatively.
no response.
"Little Song!"
Song Ze looked up.
Zhang Juan had already turned on her computer, and the screen displayed the arrangement project file for "Left Finger Pointing to the Moon," with waveforms densely covering the timeline.
"Should we contact Sister Sa?" she said quickly. "Let's raise the chorus notes even higher. If G6 isn't enough, let's aim for A6 and go head-to-head with Dimash."
"No high notes."
Song Ze interrupted her.
Decisive and efficient, without a moment's hesitation.
Zhang Juan's hand hovered above the keyboard, frozen in place.
Song Ze stood up and walked to the dusty electronic keyboard in the corner of the office.
He lifted the piano lid, his fingers fell down, and pressed a few chords.
Dm. Am. Bb. C.
It's very simple to do.
But when those notes came together, Zhang Juan inexplicably felt something blocking her chest.
"It's all about emotions." Song Ze said without turning his head.
"Comparing yourself to Dimash in high notes, or to Tan Jingjing in technique, is suicidal."
He pressed down another set of chords with his right hand, while his left hand lightly tapped out rhythms above the keys.
"But the five hundred members of the public are not vocal professors; they vote not by their ears, but by their hearts."
Zhang Juan opened her mouth, then swallowed it back.
Song Ze stared at the piano keys, a melody taking shape in his mind.
To be precise, that melody has always been there.
It comes from 2021, from another time and space, from that song that made elementary school students all over China scream during their morning exercises.
Eason Chan. "The Lone Warrior".
Song Ze silently said in his heart: Senior, I'm sorry, I need to borrow your song from five years later to save me from an emergency.
He turned and strode back to his desk, pulled out his music score book, and unscrewed the pen cap.
The pen tip touches the paper.
Chord progressions, main melody, and rhythmic patterns flow out seamlessly.
It's not creation, it's memorization.
Every note of this song is etched deep in his memory; he had heard it no less than five hundred times in his past life.
Zhang Juan leaned closer, her gaze sweeping over the first line of lyrics hastily written on the sheet music.
"It's all about courage... the wound on your forehead... your difference... the mistakes you made..."
Her previously agitated emotions, which were on the verge of taking off, inexplicably came to a halt.
There were just a few words, crooked and illegible, the ink not yet dry.
But after she finished reading it, the first image that flashed through her mind was that late night when she was scolded by the client and cried, but she still had to smile and say "Okay, I'll change it right away" when she first entered the industry.
Zhang Juan blinked.
"What song is this?"
"It's newly written." Song Ze didn't even look up, his pen continuing to fly. "This is the song for the first competition."
"You're writing this now? There are less than four months until recording."
That's enough.
Song Ze stopped writing, shook his wrist, and closed his eyes.
The system panel appeared in my mind.
[Singing: Expert Level (3512/10000)]
[Music Composition: Excellent (420/1000)]
The most difficult part of "The Lone Warrior" is not the explosive line "I love you, I walk alone in the dark alley" in the chorus. For an expert-level voice, that part is not the limit.
The real weapon is the verse.
Extremely low register, extremely restrained intensity, and a highly expressive chest resonance.
It's like someone squatting at the entrance of an alley, head down, tearing open their wounds for you to see, word by word, without crying or shouting, but every word is filled with dull pain.
Then the chorus explodes, shooting straight up from the ground to the sky.
This emotional gap, from "suppression to explosion," is the song's true weapon.
And this technical requirement happens to fall within his current skill range.
Song Ze opened his eyes.
"Sister Zhang."
"Book me a recording studio, starting tomorrow, for a week straight."
Zhang Juan looked at him.
The person who was sprawled on the sofa looking at her phone just three minutes ago is now radiating an energy she's never seen before.
It's not flamboyant; it's something very profound.
She nodded and turned to make a phone call.
Song Ze lowered his head and added a line of text to the blank space on the score sheet: "Chorus arrangement: remove all fancy instrumentation, leaving only the piano, drums, and vocals."
The simpler it is, the more deadly it is.
He closed the scorebook and leaned back in his chair.
The phone screen lit up.
Tian Xiwei sent a message with a selfie, in which she was holding an AD calcium milk straw in her mouth and making a peace sign.
"Senior brother!!! I just saw the official announcement!! My name is on the list of partners!! Ahhhhhh!"
Song Ze typed two words and sent them.
"Don't be reckless."
Then he scrolled past the message, opened his notes app, created a new document, and titled it: "Singer's First Episode Battle Plan".
The first line only had six characters.
"Make everyone cry."
Zhang Juan hung up the phone and walked back. She glanced at his screen and her lips twitched.
"Xiao Song, are you going to a competition or to poison someone?"
Song Ze raised his head and finally showed his first serious smile of the day.
"Sister Zhang, if five hundred people in the audience cry at the same time, how many points will the ratings rise?"
Zhang Juan stared at him for three seconds.
She pulled out a chair, sat down, opened her computer calendar, and marked all her schedules for the next four months in red.
"I'll clear the area for you. Starting today, all announcements except those related to 'Singer' will be postponed."
Song Ze gave a thumbs up.
He reopened the score, stared at the phrase "all are brave," and drew a heavy horizontal line under it with his pen.
The dolphin sounds at Dima Creek are a miracle.
Tan Jingjing's technique is textbook-worthy.
Lin Yilian's aura is thirty years old.
But "The Lone Warrior" is the roar of every ordinary person.
The phone lit up again.
Jam Hsiao sent a voice message, which lasted three seconds.
Song Ze clicked on it and heard his lazy voice: "Bro, what are you planning to sing for the first episode?"
Song Ze smiled at his phone but didn't reply, thinking to himself: Brother Xiao, are you really that carefree? We're competitors!
He turned his phone face down on the table and picked up his pen again.
On the score, the last note of the chorus settles.