Superstars of Tomorrow

Panda Novel

The rapper looked at the background information for this composition. The inspiration was from Corale?

He too had received many invitations to participate in activities at Corale. However, his thoughts and focus had all been in taking part in the Corale Film Festival. How could he have time for other things? Thus, he hadn’t even noticed the native instruments.

He didn’t have too much interest in music that was too thick in symphonic styles. He had come this time not to appreciate art but rather to unearth gems. After listening to the previous two songs of the concert, he had wanted to send a message to some friends about the situation here. However, he could no longer care about anything else when the drum beats started for this song.

He asked those around him, but nobody was able to discern what sort of drums they were.

He looked through his contacts. There was no method of contacting Fang Zhao, so he decided to send a message to ask Lan Jing. Fang Zhao and Lan Jing had learned from the same master, so even if Lan Jing didn’t know, Lan Jing could also ask Fang Zhao.

Indeed, Lan Jing replied after a short while.

“It’s a special kind of snare drum from Corale Island.” Lan Jing had also studied this sort of drum on Corale Island before, so he could answer without asking Fang Zhao.

“A drum from Corale Island?” The rapper committed it to memory.

He was especially excited with “Lighthouse” that he couldn’t sit still. During the short intermission for the evaluation committee, the rapper used his communications device to share this with his other friends.

“Really, when this sort of instrument full of native characteristics combines with musical notes, it is simply a cheat! It is too astounding!”

“Then, shall I find some time to purchase drums from Corale?” his friend asked.

“… Do I look like I lack a drum? What I lack is talent! Not everyone can use this cheat combination! At least, I won’t be able to do so in the short term.”

“How then?” the other side asked.

“What do you think?! Of course, I need to find someone who can! Just a slight revision of the original score will do! A revised tune would definitely be very suitable for me.”

In his excitement, the rapper mentally composed some variations and sang a few verses under his breath.

“Hey, how is that?” He was very satisfied with the few verses he had modified.

An actor seated beside him listened to the rapper’s rambling as well as his “modified verse”. He nearly doubted his own listening ability and memory when he compared it to “Lighthouse”. Was everyone listening to the same song? The changes are quite big. Also, isn’t the concept completely different?

However, this was a very normal thing for the rapper and his friends. People extracted different sentiments from listening to the same song. The rapper had a high level of musical knowledge. Thus, making larger changes to suit his style was very common.

“I can wait until the concert ends to look for Fang Zhao and discuss the copyrights for a revision.” The renowned Huangzhou rapper already started to make plans.

“Oh… negotiating the copyrights might not be a good idea. I heard that during his previous concert, all the copyrights for Fang Zhao’s songs were bought up even before the concert ended.” The person on the other end of the line sounded hesitant.

“Is that so? Then, I shall have to ask Lan Jing.”

With that, he sent a voice message to Lan Jing.

“Lan Jing! You have to help your old classmate! You and Fang Zhao share the same master. Help me tell him that he must leave the third song ‘Lighthouse’ for me!”

Lan Jing replied cordially but thought to himself, What’s the use of looking for me? I’m also not that close to Fang Zhao.

Fortunately, the intermission was short. Lan Jing looked towards the large screen at the front in anticipation of the next few songs. Even people who had no contact with Fang Zhao were seeking help from Lan Jing. This little Fang Zhao fellow is really impressive.

The fourth song: “η”

The Alkaid, serial η, was amongst the Human race’s first batch of deep space exploratory spacecrafts. Contact was lost with the Alkaid on an exploratory mission a long time ago. It had traveled alone for a long time before crash landing on Planet Bu and being buried under the sand. Four hundred years later, it had finally been rediscovered by Fang Zhao and the rest[1.”η” is the symbol of the Alkaid. η is the Greek letter eta].

The electronic tones carried an intense and unique spatial vibe reminiscent of the boundless cosmos and minute stardust.

An azure blue planet gradually passed through a glassy nebula.

The main theme revealed itself to be spry, but not noisy or urgent. It had a sense of novelty upon entering one’s ears. The harmonics from time to time were casual and mischievous.

It was mystical with a dense and seemingly otherworldly feel.

The unique and distinct melody full of rich variations made it difficult for thoughts to keep up.

But if one listened carefully, there was a tinge of sorrow. It was light and could be easily missed without close attention.

Before the audience could ponder over what the song actually represented, they felt a sense of novelty.

“What a peculiar style. Somehow, I feel a little ill-suited listening to this mystical tune.”

“It feels sort of quiet and solitary, as if you’re immersed in your own solitary world. There’s no sadness, but it is strange.”

“My whole body feels limp just from listening to this.”

“What a strong illusory vibe. I closed my eyes and felt as if I transcended to an alternate world. My body is covered with goosebumps right now.”

“It’s my first time hearing this genre. It’s actually… still okay?”

Chu Bo was currently excited from experiencing the new style. “Wonderful! This pitch glide is too smooth! How did I not know that Fang Zhao could do this style too?”

Besides Chu Bo and the others, there was one other special audience member.

Little Bear was listening very attentively.

As a Superintelligence and the controller of the Alkaid, he had always wondered what sort of music was suitable enough for him to truly appreciate?

He seemed to play around most of the time, but he still had the pride of a Superintelligence.

And now, Little Bear was crying. It wasn’t a slight sobbing, but a full-fledged torrent of tears.

While he cried, he took sips from a bottle every once in awhile to replenish his fluids. He occasionally belched from the water.

He also didn’t know exactly what sort of mood this was.

His heart ached a little as he recalled the four hundred years on the Alkaid.

He suddenly remembered a conversation he had with his creator and founder of the Inter-planetary Fund, Master Heng Xin.

“Should robots have their own sentience? Is our existence proper?” Little Bear had asked.

Master Heng Xin hadn’t replied.

“It really is tough being a Superintelligence. Why is it so arduous?” Little Bear had grumbled.

“It’s normal. Because you already have a ‘soul’,” Master Heng Xin had said.

Some questions couldn’t be answered even with the brain of a Superintelligence.

Now, Little Bear had an impulse to bawl his eyes out because of a song. His tears wouldn’t cease.

He had already finished a bottle of water yet showed no signs of stopping.

Another bottle was passed over from the side. Little Bear took it, continued to replenish his fluids and continued to cry. If it wasn’t for the current setting, he would be wailing.

“Is this an emotional outburst? Are you Superintelligences able to understand all this?” the person beside asked.

Little Bear replied through muffled sobs, “Su… Superintelligences… also have artistic sense.”

Some evaluation committee members checked the duration of the song. After comparing with the previous three songs, they shook their heads as they realized they were only two-thirds into the song.

A pity!

It the song concluded here, it would definitely get high marks. On the other hand, an overly long song made it seem verbose and would cheapen the overall quality of the composition.

It was a common mistake by youngsters.

It’s fine if Fang Zhao made this error, but how could Mo Lang not discover this problem?

A few evaluation committee members glanced at Mo Lang but weren’t able to notice anything from his expression.

An evaluation committee member retracted his gaze and looked at the evaluation score sheet. He had originally wanted to give an “A” for a particular column but now moved his pen down to “B+”. Just as he was about to give his grade, he suddenly paused.

Not right!!

His entire body quivered as if a chill had brushed over every inch of his skin.

Unknowingly, the tune’s momentum had changed!

If the first two-thirds of “η” was like a solitary voyage into the boundless and empty void, then the last segment was like an overlooking gaze that emerged from behind!

The mysterious and fascinating communities hidden within millions of stars were revealed!

They had silently waited.

There was an ice-cold feeling.

The listeners saw the stars move over time and observed the transformations of the world.

Exotic electronic notes, both incisive and cold, entered their eardrums.

It wasn’t an intense mechanical feel, but more like a freezing electrical current. It made their hair stand on end!

It was like a monster had suddenly appeared.

It was definitely something from another world. A monster!!

Too astonishing. The evaluator even reached his hand up to wipe his forehead even though he didn’t know if there was any sweat.

A few evaluators were still in a daze even after the music stopped.

One evaluator had a absent-minded look on his face. He liked classical music, but after hearing “η”, he felt as though he had just woken up from a nightmare. But, he wasn’t able to remember what he had dreamt of.

He even felt that there were residual effects. He definitely didn’t wish to listen to anymore electronic music for some time after this! Especially this song! As long as he had a choice, he wouldn’t choose to listen to this song a second time! Absolutely not!!

That’s why electronic music is said to be the most frightening!

I have to listen to some soothing and graceful classical music when I get back to alleviate this , the evaluator thought to himself as he wiped away the perspiration on his forehead.

During the evaluation intermission, the evaluators’ thoughts fluctuated. However, they now viewed “η” with both complex sentiments and admiration.

Like it?

We don’t like it!

But, they couldn’t touch their hearts and say it was bad.

They just didn’t like the feeling of fear from hearing this song. But they were still able to discern good from bad.

Mo Lang also sighed silently. He had already told Fang Zhao that if he only kept the first two-thirds of “η”, obtaining an A grade would be rather straightforward. But, things wouldn’t be so certain if he retained the latter portion. It exceeded many people’s range of comprehension.

It was far too advanced.

It wasn’t bad, but it was too hard to understand.

Somewhere in the audience, Little Bear’s flow of unceasing tears had finally stopped. There was an additional twinkling in his eyes that was hard to detect now.

“Cui Hua.” Little Bear glanced over at the person by his side.

“If you call me the wrong name again, I shall send you back for remodeling,” the person beside responded indifferently.

Little Bear paused before continuing to ask, “Have we been exposed?”

“You were exposed for quite some time.”

“Is Fang Zhao trying to tell this secret to others?”

“To be honest, not really. They can’t understand the message Fang Zhao has hidden within ‘η’. Fang Zhao’s expression is rather vague. He has no intention of exposing you. If he really wanted to expose you, he wouldn’t have waited until now.”

“But, in any case, should we censor this ‘η’ song?”

“No, just a buyout of rights will do.”

“Oh right, it is possible to buy out all the copyrights. I’ll buy it! I will buy it and listen to it all myself! Nobody else can share it! Boss, there’s no limit on my wage card, right?”

“No.”

“Luckily, I have money!”

“No, you don’t.”

“???”

“Dogdan and Dogke.”

“…”

Little Bear suddenly remembered something upon hearing these two names. The money in his wage card had been spent on constructing those two intelligent robot dogs.

He suddenly felt as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning!

I actually spent the money for buying copyrights on those two retards?

Little Bear felt like he had suffered a severe blow and fell silent.

Moments later, Little Bear’s ears twitched, and he blurted out in a somewhat discomfited fashion, “I heard some old man in the most forefront row say that ‘η’ has a monster hidden within. He actually says that I’m a monster!”

“So?”

“Why don’t I go tell him that there is actually an even more fearsome monster by Fang Zhao’s side?”

Before he got a reply, Little Bear shook his head and mumbled to himself, “Forget it, I don’t want to get eaten up.”