The entrance to the sports arena opened at eight o'clock every day. By early the next morning, it was already packed with people, forming a long queue. Xi Nian parked his car by the roadside and, as he entered through the contestant's passage, he took off his sunglasses and glanced at the vast sea of people, discovering that most of them were Su Ge's fans.

The tickets for the second elimination round had been almost completely snatched up by them since the presale began. If the organizers hadn't privately distributed some internal tickets, it was likely that fans of other celebrities wouldn't have been able to squeeze in at all.

Eliminated contestants had the right to watch the competition. Although Su Ge was already out, he could still sit in the viewing area reserved for artists by the organizers to continue watching the matches. Getting some screen time occasionally was a surefire gain. In other words, Xi Nian would see him again today.

The morning sky was a lead-gray color, with dark clouds pressing down overhead as if it was about to rain. Some fans, hoping for a chance encounter with their idol, deliberately waited by the special passage. A girl with pigtails was accidentally squeezed to the back of the line by the crowd. The uniformed security guards were busy maintaining order, and in the pushing and shoving, they inevitably lacked a sense of measure. In the rush, the girl was pushed by someone and cried out in alarm as she stumbled backward due to inertia. Just as she was about to fall into the road, a strong force suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Ah!"

Li Xixi hadn't yet recovered from the shock. Realizing her arm was being held, she quickly used the person's support to steady herself. Before she could get a clear look at her rescuer, she hurriedly began to apologize, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I wasn't standing firm just now. Thank you..."

Her words trailed off as she saw the man in sunglasses before her, and her voice came to an abrupt halt.

As a proper fangirl, one not only needed to know everything about their idol but also had to be observant of everything around them. Li Xixi, being a key member of Su Ge's fan club, had honed this strength to its peak. Even with Xi Nian wearing sunglasses, she recognized him in a single glance with her astonishing identification skills.

It was quite normal, after all, she had just been flaming him yesterday...

Li Xixi wished she could just explode on the spot. Oh my god, did it have to be this awkward?

Xi Nian had no good feelings for Su Ge, nor for his fans. He glanced at his wrist, which the girl was clutching tightly, frowned slightly, and said in a low voice, "Let go."

"Ah? Oh, oh, oh."

At his words, Li Xixi looked down and realized she was still holding Xi Nian's arm. She reacted as if she'd been electrocuted and quickly pulled her hand back, feeling incredibly awkward, her face flushing red. She was completely frozen. However, before she could think of what to say, the man had already turned and walked straight toward the special passage nearby. His back quickly disappeared behind the revolving door, his indifference bordering on inhuman.

Li Xixi stood stunned for a moment, unconsciously sniffing the air, only to catch a faint smell of medicine.

Her companion from a short distance away was waving at her from across the crowd. "Xixi! Hurry up, they're about to check tickets!"

"Ah? I'm coming!"

Li Xixi snapped back to reality, quickly responded, and bent down to pick up the blue paper bag she had dropped on the ground. She patted the dust off it lovingly before jogging back to squeeze into the line.

Her companion glanced at her. "Where did you go? I was looking for you for ages."

Li Xixi answered vaguely, "I got squeezed out by the crowd just now and almost fell flat on my face. Luckily, the gift box for Su Ge isn't broken."

Her companion giggled and gave her a nudge. "Our seats are in the front row this time. Maybe you can give the gift to him in person."

"Hee hee, I hope so too."

...

Although it was still early, some people had already arrived in the backstage lounge. A few third and fourth-tier artists were scattered around, sitting in their respective spots, waiting for the makeup artists. When Xi Nian walked in with his bag, they all subconsciously looked over. A collection of gazes with various unclear intentions gathered on him, making one's skin crawl.

Xi Nian ignored it all. He casually pulled over a chair and sat down. With his arms crossed, he didn't look like someone to be trifled with. Plus, not all male artists were as sarcastic, gossipy, and prone to stirring up trouble as Su Ge, so the atmosphere was relatively peaceful.

When the makeup artist, Sister Jian, saw him, she walked over with her case. "You're in the morning session. I'll do your makeup first."

Sister Jian was a makeup artist hired from outside the company. Xi Nian knew her, and they would exchange a few words occasionally, but they weren't close. Hearing her, he paused the video he was watching on his phone and, after a moment, said, "Thank you."

Sister Jian laughed. "Aiyo, why so formal? I was just away for a few days of training, and you've already learned to put on a cold and aloof persona, you little brat."

Her eldest son was almost starting his own family, while Xi Nian was only in his early twenties. He was indeed a little brat to her.

Sister Jian then added, "Perform well in the competition today. Just let them say whatever they want outside. Which of the top senior celebrities in the entertainment circle now wasn't flamed when they were young? Didn't they all climb up step by step?"

Xi Nian was looking at the match list. He gave a vague grunt in response. His opponent this time was the sixteenth-ranked Chen Sihao. The guy had the typical pretty boy look—slender arms and legs, a frail frame. His threat level was completely negligible.

The artists were not professional athletes to begin with, so their overall skill level couldn't be considered high. The Star Games was held more to capture the audience's attention. Whether it was archery or swimming, it was all like kids playing house. To say it was difficult would be a lie.

And yet, this time, many people were waiting to see Xi Nian make a fool of himself, hoping he would be defeated.

At ten in the morning, just as the competition was about to begin, Sun Ming belatedly arrived, yawning. He naturally didn't have a pleasant expression for Xi Nian and adjusted the glasses on his nose. "Today, the organizers are going to film a promotional video with you all. No one can be absent. You're not allowed to slip away after your match. The contract states in black and white that you must cooperate with the work. If anything goes wrong, you'll have to deal with it yourself."

He spoke vaguely, not mentioning what time the filming would start, clearly trying to trip him up behind the scenes. But Xi Nian had always treated Sun Ming's words as farts. He paid him no mind, picked up his jacket from the long bench, put it on, and walked straight to the center of the arena.

The host in the eastern section was warming up the crowd, her sweet voice reaching everyone's ears through the microphone. The camera panned across all the sponsors and judges before finally settling on the contestants.

"...The last round of competition was incredibly exciting, and I believe this round will be even more outstanding. We wish all the contestants the best of luck. Let's wait and see. The competition officially begins!"

Chen Sihao was just over 1.68 meters tall, already a head shorter than Xi Nian in height, not to mention his presence. Perhaps having learned a lesson from Su Ge being cold-shouldered, he didn't try to get close, only giving Xi Nian a polite yet distant smile.

Backstage, Xi Nian had removed the gauze from his hand and put on a pair of black half-finger gloves, completely covering the injury. In the System's view, this was an extremely contradictory person. He was fiercely competitive and had a strong sense of pride, using all sorts of schemes and tricks to climb up, yet he hated being pitied by others.

The front rows of the audience seats were the contestant viewing area. The fansite masters from various fan groups had come prepared with their cameras, pushing forward to grab the best spots. Lu Xingzhe had just snuck out of the hospital today, his leg still wrapped in gauze. He had used his connections to get a staff pass and had directly occupied the best spot in the center with the clearest view.

Most star-chasers were girls, so a man suddenly mixed in among them looked rather strange.

A girl next to him saw the professional camera in Lu Xingzhe's hand and noticed the injury on his leg. She couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Are you here to chase a star too?"

Lu Xingzhe had been trying to find an angle to photograph Xi Nian. He looked up, glanced at the girl who had spoken, then returned his gaze to the front, giving a perfunctory "Mhm."

The girl said with a sigh, "You're still chasing stars even when you're injured. That's so inspirational. Your idol must be so happy."

Lu Xingzhe: "..."

It would have been better if she hadn't said anything. Now that she had, Lu Xingzhe also realized—his leg was still lame, why had he traveled all this way to watch Xi Nian? It was simply inexplicable.

With that thought, he unconsciously lowered his camera, preparing to go back to his seat.

The host on the field was commentating, "...Contestant Number Nine Xi Nian emerged like a dark horse, successfully securing his ranking in the last round. I wonder if he can maintain his standard in this competition..."

Lu Xingzhe overheard the girl next to him whispering with her companion.

"Tch, what standard is there to maintain? He just got lucky and beat Su Ge once. What's so great about that?"

"He hasn't even won the championship yet, and Xi Nian's tail is already about to stick up to the sky. Let's see how he gets by through sheer luck this time."

As the girl spoke, she noticed Lu Xingzhe seemed about to leave. Her eyes lit up and she quickly went up to ask, "Are you done taking pictures? Can you give me your spot?"

Lu Xingzhe glanced at her, then unexpectedly turned and walked back to the center spot. He raised his camera, aimed it at the center of the field, and refused without looking back, "No."

"..."

Xi Nian and Chen Sihao were ready. At the referee's signal, they walked to their respective shooting lines. It was still twelve arrows each, shot in four sets.

Su Ge was sitting in the viewing area. Whether it was intentional or not, the camera specifically cut to him for a close-up. When his handsome, smiling face was projected onto the big screen, screams erupted from all around, the wave of sound almost threatening to blow the roof off the stands.

"Su Ge! Su Ge! You're forever the best!"

"We'll always support you!!"

"Fly boldly, Su Su, Gezi will follow you forever!"

The fans felt that Su Ge had been wronged by his accidental injury and loss, so they deliberately raised their voices, desperately waving the support banners in their hands to boost his morale. The shouts rose and fell, only dying down after a long while.

Chen Sihao, an unknown third or fourth-tier celebrity, was counting on this competition to get some screen time. Seeing this, his smile froze on his face, and he grumbled internally: 'Dammit, Su Ge's already eliminated, why is he still here stealing the spotlight? Disgusting.'

Xi Nian's hand was no longer suitable for strenuous exercise. He already had ligament damage, and on top of that, he had been burned by that insidious villain Su Ge. Just a moment ago, when he had tentatively flexed his wrist, a sharp, piercing pain had shot through it, like being pricked by needles.

His expression was faint, but his brow furrowed unconsciously.

A small group of people had gathered in the stands at some point. There weren't many, only about ten or so. They didn't have uniform support outfits, and even the light-up signs in their hands were of all different colors. From a great distance, they shouted at him with all their might.

"Go, Xi Nian! Go, Xi Nian! We're all counting on you!"

"You'll definitely win this time too!!"

"We will always support you, go, go, go!!!!"

Compared to Su Ge's massive fanbase, their presence was too weak. Even their voices could only be discerned with careful listening. Xi Nian seemed to sense something and glanced back.

Amidst the noise, his gaze passed through layers of obstacles and finally landed accurately upon them.

Seeing this, those few fans became even happier. They cupped their hands around their mouths and shouted, "Xi Nian! Do your best in the competition! Win or lose, you're the best!!!"

Xi Nian's fans were few and weak, looking rather shabby. The fans of Meng Qianlin and Yu Fan were right next to them. Seeing the scene, they sighed, feeling a bit sorry for them. Gezi Fans were notoriously like mad dogs, biting randomly, having flamed almost all of the top-tier celebrities in the entertainment circle.

Meng Qianlin and Yu Fan were both popular idols with huge fanbases. Even if Gezi Fans attacked them, they had the strength to fight back. But Xi Nian was a small, unknown figure. If he lost the competition today and was eliminated, it would be a miracle if he wasn't flamed to the point of leaving the industry.

The competition had started. The moment the timer began, Xi Nian smoothly drew his bow and nocked an arrow, then pulled back the bowstring. However, just as he exerted force, a sharp pain shot through his wrist, causing the tip of the arrow to shift by a few millimeters, almost imperceptibly.

Xi Nian's hand was already trembling slightly, uncontrollably, but he forcibly suppressed it. Unfortunately, the big screen was focused on him, and some sharp-eyed people had already noticed this detail, starting to whisper among themselves.

"Why is Xi Nian's hand shaking? Am I seeing things?"

"You're not wrong, it definitely shook just now. He didn't even pull his bowstring all the way back."

"Is he too nervous? Or is he scared?"

Others didn't know the reason, but Lu Xingzhe did. He watched the man in the center of the arena with a complicated expression, his gaze shifting down to land on the hand wearing the black glove.

Seeing this, Xi Nian's few fans showed worry on their faces, feeling anxious. They wanted to cheer for him but were afraid of disturbing him. A fan of Meng Qianlin sighed and said in a low voice, "Sigh, Xi Nian is probably going to be eliminated."

"It's quite pitiful. Su Ge's fans will probably use this as an excuse to flame him again."

"Isn't that the truth."

"..."

Ignoring the surrounding discussions, Xi Nian took a breath and closed his eyes. He briefly relaxed his right hand for two seconds, then raised it again to draw the bowstring to its fullest, re-aiming at the target with unprecedented concentration. Because of this action, the breaths of the crowd were held in unison—

"Swish!"

Under the gaze of the entire arena, a black-shafted arrow flew toward the target with a whoosh, its white fletching still trembling slightly. However, before anyone could get a good look to count the rings, the announcer's voice sounded first.

"Number Nine Xi Nian, first set, first arrow, ten rings."