Chapter 122
unedited
At first it was by voice that he got to know him.
At first, there was close to not a single person who knew him—back then, Qi Jing was still hiding under the ID of “Grandpa’s Fan” to leave a message in the ⟪Trap⟫ audio drama thread, feeling unreconciled at the sight of his silent support getting no reciprocation.
And now...
His voice was being heard by more and more people, and that small and inconspicuous message also seemed to slowly fall back into the corner among the loud applause. It wasn’t like he was unhappy, he was only thinking that... Maybe it would be better to leave that message remain there in a corner, bringing it back now wouldn’t quite match the current him.
Right now, if the ID of【Don’t ask for my return date】was put side by side with his, maybe... It really wouldn’t suit. He wasn’t as good as Two yet.
“Crap...” Was he having a downer or something? Qi Jing shook his head. While at the stage of a competition, having negative thoughts and self-doubt is the biggest obstacle, but he fortunately realised that soon enough to steer away from it. Still, he still couldn’t help a troubled smile.
“Shen Yan, compared to being a ‘fan’, I’d much rather hope to be your ‘partner’—” Just as Two and their group.
Anyone could make a fan, but only a special person could become a partner.
And it wouldn’t be too late to be as confident as he wants while making their relationship known online when he finally gets good enough. Only this way he would have the assurance to tell everyone that this was his boyfriend, leaving the antis with nothing to say. For now... He was fine with only Shen Yan himself knowing who “Grandpa’s Fan” was, and only him knowing that in Don’t ask for my return date’s heart, there was only Geese Fly North.
“But I also know that, and I don’t think that there is any problem with matching or whatsoever.” Two went straight to the point as he continued to snack on his crisps noisily.
Qi Jing face-palmed in silence.
Again, how did he even end up talking about this topic with Two?
Ah, right...
After twenty minutes had already passed since that “I’ll be back in a moment” from Shen Yan, someone finally poked him on YY, even sending a voice call invitation. He even thought that it was Shen Yan who came back, but upon taking a closer look, he realised that it was Two.
According to his own logic, it was because “Either way Six is about to start the next audition, so I made him go make some preparations. And since I heard that it was you who convinced him to sign up for the competition, I came over to talk for a bit”—truly the type to act out his words right away.
Qi Jing stared helplessly at the flickering sound volume icon.
“Don’t ask for my return date,” That guy said thoughtfully, “I think I heard that ID somewhere...”
“We were adversaries during that audition for ‘Qin Tuo’, you even cursed me out.” You wake up already. But of course, Qi Jing didn’t say those last four words aloud.
“Ah, it was you,” The other person seemed to have remembered, now speaking with the suddenly gained understanding, “You were the guy who got smeared by that birdy something fellow, right?”
Just how much you can’t remember other people’s IDs... That great god birdy something would be about to cry, you know?”
Qi Jing cleared his throat, then couldn’t help the curiosity and asked, “Can I ask you who Six introduced me as to you?”
“He said you’re his lover...” Saying this, Two paused suddenly for a moment with a short ‘eh’, probably only now having realised that there was something amiss with this “lover’s” gender. Qi Jing waited quietly for his next reaction, but he didn’t expect this guy to only take a couple of seconds to accept this reality, “Oh... Turns out the two of you are the type to like the same gender, huh. Doesn’t matter, either way you’re both amazing at voice acting, so you’re a good match.”
—I say... Is this something that you would finish processing in two seconds?—And you’re missing the point here, fellow Two!
Even though he made quite a few complaints in his thoughts, that last sentence from Two quickly made him feel much better and he instinctively cracked a smile. Once he calmed down, he told Two his previous thoughts without realising it, which ended up with Two telling him those words.
“I don’t feel like there’s any problem with you two matching, you’re already really good, so what’s wrong with telling others that you two are a thing?” And Two even reiterated that.
“But I’m not as amazing as you.” Qi Jing wasn’t stingy with praise.
“Of course.”
...And you really aren’t modest...
“To be fair, rather than me being worried about what other people think, I want to give myself a goal,” With a goal, there’s also the motivation. Qi Jing laughed lightly, “I admire that feeling of being equally matched and moving forward hand in hand, just like you two. Really admire it.”
Suddenly Two asked him, “Then if that’s what you think, how about joining us?”
Hearing this, Qi Jing was taken aback.
Without waiting for him to answer, Two once again shouted loudly, “Ah! It started, it started! I will listen to it first then we’ll talk again!”
Turns out it was about the time for Shen Yan’s audition group No.42, so the two of them temporarily stopped talking and listened carefully in silence.
But it wasn’t like Shen Yan would be lucky enough to be continuously paired with the experts like Two. The contestant he met this time was a complete nobody that didn’t rank that high, who upon seeing that his opponent was Shen Yan first started with a shaky “I, I’m afraid I will burden you.” This really made every Kitty’s Papa’s fan, including Qi Jing, break in a cold sweat. Fortunately the final outcome wasn’t that bad.
“I’m not worried at all, after all Six is great at making people get in a role.” Two smiled calmly. It seemed like the conflict between them was indeed already a thing of the past.
“Meanwhile the more I listen to it, the more conflicted I feel.” Qi Jing laughed helplessly.
Even a stranger could openly act with that man... While on the surface, they were merely two contestants that never even interacted.
“He wasn’t like this before.” At that time, Two spoke suddenly, “Before, even though he was conscientious about voice acting, he only ever accompanied us with practice, never taking initiative to ask us for anything, always only playing the roles we asked him to play. It was as if he was just a great voice acting machine.”
Pu Yuzhi had said this before as well. Qi Jing nodded slightly.
“But now, he sounds so much more ‘alive’. You can hear that he really loves to voice act stuff, and chooses the roles with an idea in mind. He told me that it was all thanks to you—” Saying this, Two surprisingly had a moment of straightforward honesty, “Thank you.”
Qi Jing didn’t say a thing, only lowering his eyes as he smiled.
Suddenly, he wasn’t as envious of other people.
Why envy anyone? After all he... held special, irreplaceable meaning for Shen Yan. The sheer thought made him feel fulfilled.
Don’t ask for my return date: Hehe. ^&#kUU3U;^
Geese Fly North: Sorry, I was only able to come back now&#k2026; What’s up, why are you so happy?
Don’t ask for my return date: Nothing. ^&#kUU3U;^
Geese Fly North: (smile)
Don’t ask for my return date: Shen Yan.
Geese Fly North: Mn?
Don’t ask for my return date: The thing is, even if it’s just for a single practice... Can I join you guys? It doesn’t have to be official, no need to get me into any audio dramas or competitions, just practising a bit when there’s some time would be nice.
Saying this, he didn’t forget to add two words at the end—”With you”.
Shen Yan probably hadn’t expected Qi Jing to say this, it took a while for him to return his signature “^＿^”. Looking at this smiling emoticon, Qi Jing also smiled quietly before his screen.
Just then, his right eyelid suddenly twitched a few times.
“Eh?” Qi Jing rubbed his right eye, bewildered. That “all things adverse” in the perpetual calendar were clearly off the mark, since the support he just got from Shen Yan was obviously a happy occasion. And speaking of all the things that happened that night, there was nothing that made him particularly crushing, so why was his eyelid twitching again?
Qi Jing quickly closed his eyes and rubbed them a few times before the twitching stopped.
And right in this moment, he heard the host’s upbeat announcement in his headphones: “Next, I will ask the contestants from group No.52 to prepare—”
He didn’t pay attention when he was rubbing his eyes, so it was only when he lowered his hand and opened eyes when he finally saw the IDs on the contestants’ list—his eyes shot open as he froze from the surprise.
“...You’re kidding me...” Qi Jing stiffly spat those few words out.
Yet woe was he, as those IDs were listed plain to see on the screen, living no room for anyone to doubt their eyes. What’s more, even Yuan Zhengming slipped an “Oh wow” in the background.
Audition No.52, “Emperor Chang” against “Marquess Shunyang”: 【Don’t ask for my return date】vs.【Bronze Sparrow Terrace】
Turns out that it was here where “all things adverse” awaited him—
He didn’t even blink his eyes, his expression gradually turning from shocked to serious—he really couldn’t even pull off a fake smile.
“...Truly enemies on a narrow road.” He couldn’t give a fake smile, so he was only left with a sneer.
Audience 1: ......
Audience 2: ...... = =
Audience 3: ...... = = This group choice...
Audience 4: ...... = = Don’t ask for my return, and... Bronze Sparrow Terrace... Ah.
Audience 5: ...... = = That’s going to be bloody... (I’m feeling like both of them are about to shoot to kill)
Audience 6: ...... = = The moment I see those two IDs together, my whole body is starting to feel bad... (I’m feeling like both of them are about to shoot to kill)
The scene seemed to have frozen in a second, even a water drop would turn into ice. There couldn’t be a better example of an awkwardly chilly atmosphere. As long as a listener followed the course of the events, everyone knew about the beef between those two VAs—especially if one was interested in the voice acting circle. Really... there was no more unfortunate group choice than this.
With things like this, Qi Jing laughed instead. “Haha...” Shoot to kill? “That’s not a bad idea—after all, I think we didn’t get a full satisfaction out of taking our shots the last time?”
Since he turned up in the finals, then didn’t that mean that he still lived, and still planned to kill his way out of his predicament? —Bronze Sparrow Terrace, for you to persevere all the way up to now, I still can’t help but admire you.
The corners of Qi Jing’s lips turned up a bit, but his gaze made this smile cool down below freezing point.
It didn’t matter.
Putting his bone to pick with Bronze Sparrow Terrace, if he had to act together with him, then he still had this bit of professional ethics as a VA to go through with it. At least if Bronze Sparrow Terrace didn’t pull any tricks with “Marquess Shunyang”, then that would make things even. He didn’t need to dwell on the whole matter of plagiarising his “Emperor Chang”, that would only make him seem petty.
Of course, if Bronze Sparrow Terrace wanted to go down the bloody route, then he would be more than happy to do so as well—either way all the pretence was gone, so who should fear who?
Having said that, for someone who had their reputation in the ⟪Order to End the Heavens⟫ competition already tarnished to this point, yet still got the courage to show himself up, this Great God Birdy Something’s face... It truly was thick and could take a beating.
“I’m sorry, Teacher Pu,” Qi Jing’s voice lowered alongside his gaze as he muttered, “I’m afraid that this time, I can’t really ‘treasure the cooperation’.” As he said so, he straightened his back and face expressionless, rolled up both his sleeves, then made the cuffs perfectly neat, as if really reading himself for a grand battle. After he did so composedly, he calmly pressed the F2 key.
The moment she saw those two IDs listed together, the host Yang Chunqu probably got flabbergasted as well. It took her a while before she stammered out, “Ah... I will ask both of the contestants to prepare... before the start.”
Prepare to start right away? The host was truly a considerate lady, she even took an initiative to spare them having to make an opening for themselves, probably out of fear that it would only spawn troubles.
Yet Qi Jing smiled gracefully, stubbornly taking initiative to ‘reminisce’ with the great god at this very critical moment. “Turns out it’s you. The last time I played with you would be back during the first episode of ⟪Trap⟫—ah, sorry, I already left the team, so maybe let’s not mention this sort of past matters.”
And so he went straight to poking the elephant in the room—
His cocky attitude only fueled the tension among the audience.
Audience 1: ...Don’t ask for my return date, you...
Audience 2: ...Don’t ask for my return date... you’re kinda... (thumbs up)
Audience 3: Wow, is Don’t ask for my return date really about to get into a fight to the death with Great God? (I’m kinda hyped though←oi oi oi)
Audience 4: I remembered how it went down for them during the semi-finals... My heart is hurting so much aaaaah! But I’m also both hurting and hyped!! (Oi)
Audience 5: Datey! Mess him up, mess him up! (╯口′)╯
Audience 6: Although I also want to see how Return Date would mess him up (cough cough), but... this isn’t a duel competition, but a cooperative one. And isn’t a cooperative audition about working together... After such an antagonistic start, how are they even going to cooperate? _(:з」∠)_
Whether or not they would be able to cooperate still depended on how Bronze Sparrow Terrace would react.
The reason why Qi Jing provoked him on purpose right away was to see if he would fly into a rage out of a sudden, bursting into swearing. But he got surprised—Bronze Sparrow Terrace didn’t react at all. The man was still online, but his activity feed was still dull grey, not flickering even once.
“Hah.” Qi Jing laughed lightly. Interesting. So he wants to play deaf, make it seem as if he didn’t hear anything, nothing happened? ...Fine.
The other weird thing was, usually the great god would always bring a flood of fans cheering for him, yet today they were nowhere to be seen in chat... Could it be that the always ostentatious great god suddenly changed his ways and didn’t want to boost his support anymore, didn’t want to use his superstar effect to win the votes?
This was simply inconceivable—
Really, as if he didn’t have any wish to fight for the win. Qi Jing furrowed slightly, unable to fathom what in the end that guy was planning.
“Ah, if contestant Bronze Sparrow Terrace doesn’t have anything to say, then, let’s...” start it.
Yang Chunqu’s awkward laugh was probably meant to make it seem as if there was nothing wrong between those two. She tried to maintain a peaceful atmosphere of the competition, but unfortunately her endeavours only made the issue seem more jarring. Hearing her voice, probably most of the audience could easily imagine her troubled image behind the screen.
Qi Jing waited calmly in silence, well-tempered.
Yuan Zhengming tapped his fingers on his desk, as if thinking of something, but making no comment.
At that time, Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s activity feed finally flickered shortly, only for them to hear him reply with the shortest of “Mn”. Qi Jing raised his brow—turns out contestant Great God decided to ignore him.
Then, he intended to get to it fair and square... Fine.
Qi Jing remained calm, quietly adjusting his mic, preparing to crash this “most unfortunate cooperation”.
Meanwhile Yang Chunqu was very happy with things turning out this way, hurriedly announcing start of the audition, “Well then, dear listeners, next we have audition group No.52’s “Emperor Chang” against “Marquess Shunyang”—start the time!”
“Ding—” The timer window that popped out was like a giant noise-canceller, momentarily sucking the stage dry out of any sound. The scene was death silent, the audience focused as never before.
0:00.
The first line belonged to “Marquess Shunyang”. He was meant to open the scene, and “Emperor Chang” was to follow him.
Qi Jing’s expression was serious as he silently stared at the lines chosen by the organisations. He generously passed the initiative Bronze Sparrow Terrace, wanting to see how he would perform and think how he would adjust himself to it.
0:01.
Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s activity feed was grey.
0:03.
Still grey.
0:05.
Eh? By the time it got to the fifth second, and the other still didn’t say half a word, Qi Jing finally realised that something was wrong here.
The lines issued by the organisers had a set order. “Lord Shunyang” had to go first, otherwise “Emperor Chang” wouldn’t be able to continue with the performance. The time during the finals was extremely limited, so if they didn’t start during the first five seconds, the time for the latter lines would be rather tight, so much so that... they probably wouldn’t have time to finish properly.
And not finishing properly meant an instant disqualification.
Qi Jing shook with a sudden thought.
Audience 1: Eh...
Audience 2: Eh, what happened? Why is there no sound?
Audience 3: Great God Bronze Sparrow Terrace’s mic is still turned off... = =
Audience 4: If God Bronze Sparrow Terrace doesn’t start the first line for any longer, they will end up short on time!! The finals only have a minute for a performance, you won’t make a do wasting it like this, oi!
Audience 5: I, I suddenly thought of something...【I have a bad premonition】
Audience 6: The comment above, tell us what you thought of... I feel like I probably thought of the same thing... = =
Needless to say, Qi Jing also thought of it. The moment he did, he bursted out in laughter. He leaned back on the chair as he watched the timer already getting to “00:10” with a cold gaze.
So that’s how it is...
So that’s how it is.
So you plan on sabotaging me, am I right? Bronze Sparrow Terrace?
At that point, even if he were to steel himself and start on his own from the second line, as long as Bronze Sparrow Terrace persisted in saying silent and not saying the third line, it would still be of no use—this whole situation was bound to end in a deadlock since the very beginning.
Bronze Sparrow Terrace was willing to abandon his chances for “Marquess Shunyang” to make him lose “Emperor Chang”.
So the case of him indirectly causing Great God to lose a main male role... Turns out he was still holding onto that grudge.
And the drama around “Emperor Chang” was no less than the biggest blemish in his reputation. If he couldn’t get what he wanted, then he wouldn’t let Qi Jing have it too. Quite a feat of hurting himself to kill the enemy—although it came with a price, at least it was able to deal a fatal blow to the enemy.
Qi Jing was so angry he laughed instead, his fist clenched tight on the desk.
At that moment, he really could only resign himself to his fate, completely unable to retaliate. This sacrifice by Bronze Sparrow Terrace was truly great, but just look how well it worked, simply extraordinary! He didn’t even have a chance to fight back—suck it up!
There were some people protesting among the audience, but everyone was helpless in this case, only able to stare as the seconds on the timer wasted away.
Audience 1: So vile, AHHHH!! I didn’t expect Great God to go for broke!! And even in death he has to take Return Date down with him, like that’s some great damn true love story!! As a Great God’s anti + Return Date’s fan, I really can’t stomach this, ahhh!!!! (╯‵口′)╯
Audience 2: ┭┮﹏┭┮ Nooooooo, I want to listen to contestant Don’t ask for my return date’s neurotic Emperor Chang... (oi)
Audience 3: ┭┮﹏┭┮ Bronze Sparrow Terrace and Don’t ask for my return date... So this is doomed to be a “Return to Ashes Together” ship...
Audience 4: Σ(°△ °|||)︴Ah ah ah? “Return to Ashes Together”, I didn’t even think of this ship for a name...
Audience 5: Σ(°△ °|||) It really is “Return to Ashes Together”...
Audience 6: Σ(°△ °|||) This ship name is amazing, we truly have a prophet here!!
Return to ashes together, huh...
The timer was already at the “00:15”, really a case with no way out—
Qi Jing slowly relaxed his fist and closed his eyes, acknowledging that he underestimated his enemy. This feeling of having lost despite not being able to even begin the fight was truly suffocating.
Then he finally heard Yuan Zhengming, who after listening to all of it in silence finally broke this deadlock, “Enough, no need to count down anymore.”
Hearing him say so, Qi Jing slightly pressed his lips into a line, his heart turning cold. Just look at it, even Teacher Yuan gave up on it... He didn’t expect to get slapped this hard by Bronze Sparrow Terrace during the finals. It was so discouraging.
Just as he was about to quickly get off the mic, already moving his finger to the F2 key, Yuan Zhengming laughed, then said unhurriedly, “I already predicted that something like this could happen, so I came prepared—management, I’ll trouble you to reset the timer, we will start it again in a moment.”
Qi Jing was flabbergasted. We’ll start again?But it’s no use even if we start again, Teacher Yuan. As long as Bronze Sparrow Terrace refuses to let go, no matter how many times we try, it’s all useless—
“He won’t speak.” Qi Jing told Yuan Zhengming bluntly.
“I know.” Yuan Zhengming replied in an uncaring tone, confusing Qi Jing even more instead. If that’s the case, then what’s the use in resetting the timer?
At that time, he suddenly heard Yuan Zhengming calling a certain name clearly: “Longbow.”
He froze, dumbstruck, then hurriedly turned his head to the contestants lineup.
【Bronze Sparrow Terrace】had already disappeared from there, and【Judge – Longbow】appeared quietly in its place. Clearly Yuan Zhengming gave some instructions to the management behind the scenes.
Qi Jing suddenly thought something, and his breathing stopped momentarily, only for him to hear Yuan Zhengming say with an indolent smile, “You come over and play ‘Marquess Shunyang’, be this boy’s opponent—”
When he heard this, Qi Jing’s heart skipped, the fear he felt far greater than the joy.
You’re—kidding—me!
And Longbow didn’t seem to treat this as a joke. With that low and clear voice of his, he said unhurriedly, “Yes, Teacher.”
A/N:
2Yan, do you feel pressured now??
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