boyutpedia Chapter 272 Preliminary Selection Conference
Chapter 272 Preliminary Selection Conference
Upon returning to the Golden Moment, the group found themselves in trouble, as they lacked the means to enter the Pinocchio Grand Theatre beforehand.
Although they were indeed VIPs invited by the family, being a VIP does not mean having special privileges.
To get into the Pinocchio Grand Theatre ahead of time, they needed to find another way in. Just then, Alicia brought Eden to the group.
"It seems someone is quite distressed."
"You are... Alicia?!" March 7 exclaimed in surprise.
"That's right, I'm coming on March 7th."
"So, Miss Alicia, is there something you need this time?" Walter asked. After all, no one visits a temple without a reason, and Walter didn't think Alicia would come looking for them for no reason.
"Isn't this the not-so-beautiful pink fairy lady who has brought the solution to someone who's been struggling to get to the Pinocchio Grand Theatre?"
"So what's the plan?" Himeko asked.
"I wonder if you know about the ongoing Sulta Hot Sands preliminary selection competition?" Eden asked slowly.
"The Sultan Hot Sand Selection Competition?" March 7 tilted his head in confusion at first, then realized what was going on.
"Is this lady referring to that audition? It's said that the winner gets a sponsorship from their family and debuts as a star at the Pinocchio Grand Theatre."
Then, on March 7th, they began to explain the rules in detail to everyone, and finally stated that if they could win first place, they would have the opportunity to debut at the Pinocchio Grand Theatre.
"It seems we really should go and take a look at this conference," Himeko said, stroking her chin. "But I didn't expect Mitsuki to know so much about it. It seems she had already done her research a long time ago?"
"Hehe, after all, opportunities to get up close and personal with Miss Robin are rare." March 7th chuckled, scratching his head. "Besides, I also want to experience what it's like to be a star. If I become number one, it'll be worth the trip."
"So your reply was?" Eden asked.
"Since this is currently our only feasible way to get ahead, we naturally won't give up the opportunity to try," Himeko analyzed. "We agree. May we ask how we should address this young lady?"
“Ah, my apologies. My name is Eden. Since you are Ellie’s friends, you can call me Eden,” Eden introduced himself.
"So you're Miss Eden!"
“That’s right, Miss March.” Eden then handed out gems that were clearly very expensive to everyone. “Since you are all Ellie’s friends, please accept these gems. Don’t worry, these are all gems that can be converted into reality.”
"This...this isn't necessary," March 7th declined. "We can't accept something so valuable!"
"It's alright. Although they can't compare to Miss Estádio, these gems are just pretty stones to me. You can accept them without worry."
While March 7th was still making excuses, Star had already accepted the gem that Eden handed over, and also accepted the gem that was given to March 7th.
He then knelt on one knee before Eden, placed his right hand on his chest, and leaned forward, saying, "Please accept my bow, young lady. From now on, you will be my godmother."
"Can't you be serious for once?!"
March 7th hurriedly helped Star, who was kneeling on one knee, to his feet, while also apologizing to Eden.
"Sorry, this guy is just like that; he sometimes says things that are bothersome. Please don't take it too seriously."
"It's alright. Although Miss Xing's words were indeed a bit surprising, they were still within acceptable limits. In fact, I'm just used to them."
"Is this how Miss Eden usually lives?"
Eden shook his head: "I'm not as lively as you guys, but my companions have very different personalities, so it's quite lively in daily life. The banter and teasing between Miss March and Miss Star is a unique sight to me."
"Right, right, I told you that's how it is, right? Watching Little March and Star interact is a real treat." Alicia seized the opportunity to come to Eden's side and hugged him tightly.
“You’re right, Ellie.” Eden looked at Ellie with affection and replied, then turned her gaze to the others.
"The audition will be held in Hot Sands. If you think about it carefully, the registration deadline is fast approaching. If you are interested, you should hurry up."
"Time is running out, we really should get going. Miss Eden, thank you for your help."
"Nothing much, Mr. Walter. After all, we're from the same world, so naturally we need to look after each other. Besides..."
Eden didn't say the rest explicitly, but Walter understood what Eden meant.
The Herrscher of Humanity is the most precious gift that the ancient civilization Alicia gave to future generations. Without this gift, there would be no first Herrscher of Reason, no Anti-Entropy, and no Welt Yang as we know him today.
According to Mei, Eden is one of Alicia's best friends.
As long as the request wasn't too outrageous, she would always go along with Alicia's wishes.
So aside from the care and support from fellow villagers, it was probably more a case of loving someone because of them.
After saying goodbye to everyone, Alicia and Eden strolled through the Golden Hour once more. However, this time they had much more to do.
First, they found Fireworks disguised as a robin and confiscated all the buttons from her hand. After all, for those in the Dream of Taiyi, these so-called 'surprises' had long lost their original purpose.
Moreover, while Hanabi claimed that the bombs she hid were so numerous they could blow up the entire Pinocchio, they were actually just pretty fireworks.
However, their plan was indeed missing something that everyone in the Taiyi Dream shared to create a resonance, and the button distributed by Hanabi could be used as that catalyst.
After confiscating all the buttons from Hanabi, Alicia summoned Kiana and used Kiana's dream powers to connect these buttons to the device that Tesla and May had created together.
As for Hanabi, her memory of that event was erased, allowing her to distribute the modified buttons according to her original plan.
After doing all this, Alicia and Eden arrived at the audition site together. The audition registration had already ended, but their purpose in coming here was not to participate in the audition.
Instead, she served as a temporary judge to score the contestants participating in the auditions. The story goes back to when Alicia was playing in the dream with Eden.
Just as the two had finished exploring the Golden Moment and were preparing to move on to the next Dream Moment, they were spotted by the owner of the Sulta manufacturing factory, the sponsor of the election campaign.
Furthermore, after learning that Eden was already a minor celebrity on his own planet, the factory manager of Suleda became even more excited. He strongly urged Eden to participate in this audition, and Alicia, who was standing nearby, was naturally also attracted.
So, at Alicia's insistence, Eden agreed.
However, after arriving at the audition site for a rehearsal, the factory manager instantly realized one thing: if Eden were to participate, the champion of this election would be a foregone conclusion.
After much deliberation, the factory manager decided not to let Eden participate in the competition. In exchange, Eden would serve as a special guest judge, with the power to decide whether a contestant would advance.
Generally speaking, having a single vote to decide a contestant's fate is absolutely unacceptable in an election, but the factory manager really couldn't think of anything else that could compensate for it.
After this short period of contact, the factory manager understood that Eden was an artist with his own pursuits, not a celebrity.
Every artist has their own pride, and if you know you've offended them, you naturally need to show sincerity to gain their forgiveness.
After observing Eden, the factory manager found that he had long since lost interest in money. The factory manager had only seen this attitude of regarding money as dirt in those famous stars or artists who had been around for a long time.
At that level, money is just a number to them; trying to use money to dissuade the other party is bound to fail.
After much deliberation, the factory manager decided to make Eden a special guest judge. After all, she still had Alicia, a rough gem, by her side. As long as Alicia was willing to participate, and with Eden as a special guest judge, it would be a piece of cake for Alicia to become the first place.
If I sign her to be the spokesperson for my Suleda brand, and if Alicia, who debuted as a star, can quickly become popular, then Suleda, which she endorses, will inevitably experience a surge in sales.
As for why the factory manager is so confident that Alicia can become a hit quickly, it's because he has been the primary sponsor of the election for many years, evaluating countless people who have come to pursue their dreams. The factory manager can tell at a glance who has the talent to quickly become a household name.
However, the factory manager never expected that Alicia would lose interest instantly after hearing that Eden couldn't participate in the audition. For her, watching Eden's performance up close was the most important thing. If she couldn't even do that, then she naturally wouldn't be interested in the audition.
Eden had initially planned to refuse Alicia's offer when he saw her lack of interest, but Alicia reconsidered, thinking she could use Eden's status as a special guest judge to observe the contestants up close. Since this was Pinocchio's annual competition, there must be quite a few lovely girls participating, right?
So, with this in mind, Alicia helped the factory manager persuade Eden, and in the end, Eden couldn't resist Alicia's enthusiasm and agreed to the factory manager's request. As a condition, Alicia had to be able to travel with her.
After hearing Eden's request, the factory manager breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly agreed and began to arrange the relevant procedures for the preliminary selection.
Simply put, as a special guest judge, Eden can appear in any competition area. After completing their performance in that area, contestants need to complete an additional test from Eden. Only those who pass the test can proceed to the next competition area.
To make the election event more entertaining, the organizers changed the competition rules to a point system. Each completed performance in a region would earn one point, and completing all performances would earn ten points.
Due to Eden's unique nature, the competition zones in Eden will abandon the points system and switch to a challenge system.
Participants need to complete all the challenges to see Eden. Those who complete Eden's test will have the right to advance directly. Each person has three chances.
It's okay if you fail three times. If you fail three times, you will be automatically considered to have failed the challenge. Eden will give you a comprehensive score based on your performance in these three attempts. This score will be added to your total score in that region.
Of course, Eden's status as a special guest judge could not be revealed before the competition began; apart from a few seeded contestants and staff who participated in the rehearsal, no one knew.
Of course, those who knew about this also signed the highest level of confidentiality agreement. In the following period, the organizers will send staff to supervise. If the information is leaked before the start of the competition, they will not only face the punishment of disqualification, but also face an extremely high fine.
However, there are also benefits. First, signing this agreement will earn you a substantial confidentiality fee, and you can also learn about some competition details in advance. There is one such agreement for each region.
Even if there is only one person, they can prepare in advance, which means they can get ahead of most people. This reward is enough to make all the seeded players present excited.
Back to the present, after the factory manager of Sulda, the primary sponsor, finished his opening remarks and introduced the rules, the competition officially began. After discussing with Liuying, who had come along, the members of the Starry Sky Train quickly decided to split up.
This way, even if one set fails, there is another set that can serve as insurance.
Although with Eden's guarantee, the Star Train team's victory was a foregone conclusion. However, as an artist, Eden also had her own pursuits, and she wouldn't lower her standards indefinitely just for the sake of the plan.
If you can't meet your own standards, you can't pass. So Eden breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that the people on the Star Train would be divided into groups to take the challenge at the same time.
At least she can now confidently and fairly review every contestant she handles according to her own standards, without having to try every means to lower the standards for the Star Train participants.
Out of curiosity, Eden chose the group where Star was after observing the grouping of the Star Train. Due to the rule change, the competition has become much longer.
However, according to the organizers' calculations, it would not affect the Harmonious Music Ceremony from proceeding as planned, so there were no objections from the family.
After seeing Xing set off with Liu Ying, Eden called on Alicia to secretly follow them. Seeing this, the staff nearby changed Eden's target area to the challenge area, and the Surada Hot Sands preliminary competition officially began.