Editor: Whiteflare

  Ning Xiaoxiao received a call from Qi Jing.

  With her jaw still on the floor in a very unlady-like manner, she quickly finished reading that post from “Lord Truth” all covered in cold sweat before quickly trying to call Qi Jing’s number dozens of times, but without any success—it was Qi Jing who called her back first later.

  “Senior!” Without any care about her image, she screamed loudly while still inside the editorial department, her hand holding the phone just as chilly as her heart was, “What the hell happened that you wouldn’t receive any calls since the morning! You’re on the brink of a disaster, don’t you know about it!”


  “Ah, I had a very important interview today, so I muted my phone.” During his communication with Shen Yan’s mother, he didn’t want any interruption, so he changed the sound volume of his phone to zero. After they finished, he saw a string of the unreceived calls from Ning Xiaoxiao; he more or less guessed what was she calling for, so he wasn’t in a hurry to return the call, letting this little junior of his toss around for a couple of hours like a cat on a hot tin roof.

  “Senior! Listen to me! There’s a certain post on the forum—”


  “I’ve seen it.”


  Ning Xiaoxiao was about to tell him the content of the post, but she didn’t expect him to have already seen it, so she choked back on her words.

  After a moment, she spoke timidly, “Then you… how are you going to get along with god Bronze Sparrow Terrace…”


  “Xiaoxiao,” Qi Jing interrupted her gently, not answering her question but mentioning an unrelated topic in a light and cheerful tone instead, “Speaking about it, it was that post of yours that first lead to me entering the voice acting circle—the one about a sexy voice for an alarm ringtone or something like that.”


  Ning Xiaoxiao nodded her head obliviously at the other side of the call.

  It was thanks to her that Qi Jing entered the circle three years ago, so she could be said to have made a notably meritorious deed. Later it was Ninth Lady, a producer and great talent scout, who became his actual promotor.

  “It’s already been three years in a blink of an eye, time sure flies fast.” Qi Jing’s bright tone made her heart skip a beat, with a certain ominous premonition sprouting in her mind.

  Three years—in real life, it may have passed very quickly, but for a voice actor, it was already a very long time to stay active.

  “It’s a pity that because of the nature of my work, I didn’t have time to sit down and voice-act more. The number of audio dramas I received is rather small and even if I received one, it would be only for the characters with few lines.” Qi Jing lowered his head, looking at Little Return Date rubbing against the leg of his trousers as he muttered, almost as if sighing to himself, “I don’t seem to have contributed to any remarkable works nor left behind any memorable roles or dramas… It’s a bit of a pity.”


  His most famous, most widely known work within the voice acting circle was ?Trap?. Unfortunately, he had betrayed his conscience for that drama, so for him, there was no value in celebrating its memory.

  And as for that recording of an accidental rehearsal that changed his life… It would become his forever most cherished masterpiece.

  Even without Ning Xiaoxiao participating in his conversation with the production team of ?Trap?, once she heard this, an alarm bell instantly went off in her mind. “Wait, wait, wait! Senior, don’t tell me that you’re about to quit the circle—”


  It was no wonder she was his longtime friend—she was quite quick witted whenever the situation called for it. Qi Jing chuckled, “Mhm.”


  Ning Xiaoxiao got stumped for a whole five seconds, then she pursed her lips with her nose scrunching up involuntarily, “Don’t quit the circle… Dramas and whatsoever, we have that everyday in the circle. As a reporter, you’re constantly out there gathering news, so you have certainly seen worse stuff than that.Compared to that, what even is this puny online quarrel! Don’t quit the circle, please…”


  “I’ll record an alarm ringtone for you, is that good?” Qi Jing coaxed her in a low voice.

  “Don’t quit the circle…” Ning Xiaoxiao unusually resisted the temptation.

  “How about it, I can record it in your favourite playboy gong voice.”


  “Don’t quit the circle…” Ning Xiaoxiao didn’t yield.

  Qi Jing had no other means to spare and could only laugh bitterly with a quiet sigh.

  He said reassuringly, “Don’t worry, it’s not because of the hate that I want to retire. Hate and the likes, I honestly have long since gotten used to that. The reason for me wanting to retire is because first, I don’t want to inconvenience the ?Trap? production team by putting them in the middle of the conflict between me and Bronze Sparrow Terrace, and second… I’m already slowly settling down in my offline life, I might get a promotion in my work and I now have a lover to be by my side. In the future, I want to spend my time and energy on those things, so quitting the circle isn’t necessarily that bad of a choice.”


  In the spare time from his job that reversed the day and night for him, the previous him would voice act alone in the silence of late night, immersing in the characters, forgetting about being “Qi Jing” and forgetting about “Qi Jing’s loneliness”.

  But now.

  Qi Jing was no longer lonely, and he was very happy, too.

  Qi Jing no longer had to choose to escape from becoming Qi Jing.

  “Does it really have to be like this&#k2026;” Ning Xiaoxiao roughly got his point, but she couldn’t help the sadness in her voice.

  “It’s good for things to have a beginning and an end,” Qi Jing replied calmly, “I don’t regret.”


  “I regret it!” Ning Xiaoxiao squeezed her phone indignantly, “I don’t believe that you’re the sort of person that post described, you must have been framed! Great god Bronze Sparrow Terrace may have a good voice, he may be popular, but bullying my senior is a completely different matter! I can’t just look at him and his fans behaving like mad dogs! AaAah—! I’m so upset, if you were to quit the circle, then wouldn’t you give them exactly what they want?”


  “And who was the one who kept talking about how it’s a good thing for me and the great god to work together?” Qi Jing teased her deliberately.

  As expected, his junior howled from regret. “Indeed, at that time I was Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s fan, just who can I blame for being a voice-con, waah… Bringing up my black history really is despicable!” Ning Xiaoxiao wanted to cry but had no tears to shed, wishing she could go back these few months to give herself a slap to wake up, “But since he’s being so evil to my senior, then I’m decisively turning from a fan into an anti!”


  Saying this, she stopped suddenly, shouting loudly as if recalling some incredibly big news. “Right, right, senior! He will surely do something even more evil tonight during your audition tonight, I bet he’ll use every means to win against you!”


  “Why?”


  “Wasn’t I lurking in one of his fan group chats? Yesterday, I saw a friend complain that the great god himself thought that he had no way of winning against that Kitty’s Papa contestant during the audition for ‘Marquess Shunyang’, so he didn’t even try to take the first place and didn’t really commit to it…” Saying this, she didn’t forget to remind Qi Jing considerately, “Eh, now that we’re talking about it, do you still remember Kitty’s Papa?”


  “Of course I remember him.” How could I not remember my own boyfriend? Qi Jing’s tone was just as usual as he laughed magnanimously, ”And then?”


  “And then you should know the rest already, Kitty’s Papa actually forfeited the role, so the great god accidentally came out first and qualified for the finals.”


  “Since Kitty’s Papa forfeit made him gain the first place, then wouldn’t that be an unexpected blessing for him?”


  “It’s exactly the opposite!” Ning Xiaoxiao’s tone was like that of a tabloid TV news anchor—Qi Jing could entirely imagine her rich body language at this moment, “Senior, you’re forgetting about the competition rules—one contestant can only advance with two characters, so if they get qualified for three characters, then they would automatically get disqualified for the one they scored the lowest for. Great god Bronze Sparrow Terrace currently has two first places, but both of them are side characters, while the main male character he’s so bent on getting is in danger instead. He wants to secure ‘Qin Tuo’, but unless he comes out first once more, he has no chances of getting it! That’s why the pressure on him tonight is just off the charts—”


  “Pfft…” Qi Jing couldn’t hold it in and actually laughed in spite of himself.

  “Hahahaha…” Once the dam got opened, this craving to burst out laughing was just unstoppable—he leaned against the back of his chair, laughing so hard that his whole body trembled, waking Little Return Date who was dozing off on his lap, its moist eyes watching its owner confusedly. Qi Jing wiped his tears while laughing, “So wouldn’t that mean that our great god became a victim of his own wit?”


  He would really forget about this rule if it wasn’t for Ning Xiaoxiao mentioning it. And with how Shen Yan forfeited his role, this rule really was about to royally mess with Bronze Sparrow Terrace.

  First place for Emperor Chang.

  First place for Marquess Shunyang.

  And the end result of all those first places was, he had to also get the first place for the last role, otherwise Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s dreams of getting his hands on male lead role would shatter—probably even the “insiders’ decision behind the closed doors” Jade Butterfly mentioned couldn’t help him.

  Qi Jing couldn’t help but think to himself: Shen Yan, ah, Shen Yan, you said that you couldn’t help me, but in fact you played quite a trick on our great god without you even realising it.

  “So you’re saying that now the great god for sure hates Kitty’s Papa’s guts?” Qi Jing laughed so hard that even his stomach started to cramp a little, so he had to put an end to this for now, only asking with enthusiasm.

  “Right, right, all his fans were cursing him out, saying that he was just putting on an act, that he wasn’t professional enough for the serious competition. They’re also saying that him using the competition to confess was to attract fans, popularity, and support.” Fair enough, those negative comments along the lines of what he expected, a rather commonly seen motive to attack people in the circle.

  “Then how do you think, is Kitty’s Papa like what they’re saying?” He chuckled indolently, his fingers slowly rubbing the fur behind Little Return Date’s ears.

  “Of! Course! Not!” He didn’t know what switch got shifted in Ning Xiaoxiao’s body, but she immediately got incredibly excited as if injected with fresh blood, to the point where even her voice trembled, “I was listening to his audition and I got so moved when I listened to it to the end… This kind of confession really can make one so smitten, and it was so sincere! If I were the one he confessed to, I would faint from the bliss after hearing it!”


  While still excited, she suddenly went off the topic, making fun of Qi Jing with an impish giggle. “Senior~ Don’t get mad from envy, hehe.”


  “Eh,” Qi Jing raised his brow, asking while knowing the answer, “Why would I get mad from envy?”


  Ning Xiaoxiao cleared her throat, deliberating on her words so as to avoid angering Qi Jing, “I’m telling you, senior, don’t get mad… People like Dr Shen might appear distant, but he’s surely the type that loves deep in his heart but has a hard time expressing it. Usually, it’s rare to see people like this to even open their mouths, so better don’t hope for him to ever confess to you publicly…”


  This little gal’s words were quite crude, even comforting him to not be too disappointed.

  Hearing this, Qi Jing almost bursted out laughing once again. “Who knows,” He bit his lips while looking down, trying his best to not let the need to laugh be heard in his voice, “Don’t look at how low-key he is, maybe… who knows, he may surprise you all.”


  Ning Xiaoxiao pouted, “Public confession? I don’t believe he’s this romantic. Senior, you must be really envious to refuse to see the reality as it is.”


  Romantic…


  As if he’s only romantic.

  Even Shen Yan himself probably didn’t know how big of an impact for his heart that confession had—


  “Hehe,” Qi Jing didn’t intend to continue the dispute with his oblivious junior, just letting the corners of his eyes curl up from the smile, “Fine, just take it as me being envious then.”


  Under the guise of being “envious”, Qi Jing intended to spend the remaining half an hour before the competition to secretly browse the forum and check everyone’s opinions on Shen Yan after the night before.

  But his plans got disrupted, the cause being Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s fans making an appeal in the forum.

  —”EVERYONE, DON’T VOTE ON DON’T AKS FOR MY RETURN DATE”.

  The words were simple and the meaning ample.

  This appeal appeared alongside the previous post accusing him of being an ungrateful wretch on the main page, and it was constantly being boosted by the users.

  On the surface, it was a voluntary appeal made by fans, but Qi Jing had no way of telling whether it was in fact coordinated from behind the scene by Bronze Sparrow Terrace. Still, he didn’t feel any way about that.

  “Seems like the great god really is ready to use any means possible.” Qi Jing watched as the click counter and the number of shares both grew rapidly and laughed coldly.

  Most of all, that “everyone” would primarily include the vast majority of Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s fans.

  Looking at their influence on the previous auditions, there were at least a few thousand of those fans in the audience, so they really could influence the final score significantly, with the audition for “Emperor Chang” being a perfect foretaste of what was about to happen.

  And some VAs that usually got along with Bronze Sparrow Terrace would blindly support him only for the sake of supporting, calling their fans to join the resistance troops. Then there were the haters who just didn’t find him pleasing to their eyes, as well as those passersby onlookers who didn’t know what was going on and were just misled and incited by that post… None of them would vote on him.

  Hence this time the disparity between his and Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s audience vote ratio was bound to be even greater.

  “Haha…” Qi Jing laughed self-mockingly, then looked at the time in the right low corner of the screen changing to 5:59PM with a sigh, “Seems like a difficult battle is inevitable…”


  Still, with the precondition of quitting the circle, there was nothing to be afraid of.

  Qi Jing put on the headphones calmly. Like that day when he first voice acted as a VA, his movements were careful, meticulous, not allowing for a single mistake to occur as he put them on and checked all of the equipment.

  The background music of the channel, one he had heard who knows how many times already, entered his ears quietly. The host’s, Yang Chunqu’s, voice was as clear as always—it would always be able to cheer everyone before every stage, like a clear, spring water to the ears. She would also always first say a few greeting-like openings to the audience, making the atmosphere warm and harmonious.

  But today was an exception.

  “Good evening, everyone! As everyone knows, tonight we’re holding two auditions for the first and second main male characters of the fifth instalment of ?Order to End the Heavens?. Since they’re the auditions for choosing the actors for two main characters, everyone can imagine the importance of this process.”


  This time, her opening for this stage of the competition was different than before. Her tone wasn’t as animated, it was even a bit low as she hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Nevertheless… Before the official start of the audition, I have some very unfortunate news to announce.”


  Qi Jing got caught by a surprise and subconsciously straightened his back.

  Could it be that some even more thorny matter cropped up, dooming his situation to get a turn for even worse?

  Audience 1: Σ(°△ °|||)︴Saying this at the very beginning, it can’t be another piece of bad news…


  Audience 2: Σ(°△ °|||)︴Ms Host, don’t keep us in suspense, I’m so scared!!

  Audience 3: Σ(°△ °|||)︴Don’t tell me that the audition got cancelled!!

  Audience 4: I was waiting for so long for the audition for the first and second male characters… The organisers better not make a problem at this time!! (╯－＿－)╯╧╧


  Audience 5: ╮(╯▽╰)╭ I’m still waiting for Don’t ask for my return date’s apology~ If there’s anything going on then better say it now, just let the audition begin~

  Audience 6:╮(╯▽╰)╭ Just as the previous commenter said!! Just finish saying it quickly, let me hear how that ungrateful bastard is going to apologise!

  …


  With the host making such a show of earnestness, it was normal for the chat to get noisy.

  And the amount of people that looked forward to his apology… it wasn’t that small. Qi Jing curled the corners of his lips up in a smirk, but his forehead was still furrowed, unavoidably making the smile appear rather forced.

  “What I need to announce first is—according to the organisators’ instructions, there was a change to the number of judges responsible for the scoring tonight.” At that time, Yang Chunqu said feebly, “From the original three, it was changed to two.”


  A/N:

  It’s been so long since I updated chapters for two consecutive days… *ovations* (This occurrence is probably pretty rare *looks towards the sky*)

  But on another note, if our little junior got to know that Kitty’s Papa=Dr Shen, her jaw would surely drop to the floor. 2Yan who felt so fuzzy in his heart but said nothing as he listened to his little junior going on commenting on Kitty’s Papa to his own satisfaction really is too evil hahaha…


  To those who want to see who, 2Yan or Bronze Sparrow Terrace, is going to end up dead in the end—please wait and see! (oi)

  T/N:

  Whiteflare: haha waiting for this “apology”