Chapter 85 - 86: Ancient Zither
[Sophie Wexler’s past embarrassments are unforgettable. I’m dying to see what kind of stunt she’ll pull this time.]
[I was wondering why she never showed her face during her previous streams. If it’s Sophie Wexler, then it all makes sense.]
[With that crow’s caw of a voice she has, how could her stream have sounded so good? Yeah, right. No one’s buying it.]
[And with Sophie Wexler’s reputation? And she dared to leech off our Karina for clout before.]
[I can’t help but get excited just thinking about her being exposed. Best New Artist? Single-handedly revitalizing the entertainment industry? Pfft! Her? Is she even worthy?!]
Comments like these flooded the StarNet. Almost everyone was waiting to watch her make a fool of herself.
Karina looked at the results, incredibly satisfied. "Tell Hollis to turn up the heat with the public opinion campaign."
"Understood," Ceres said, a corner of his mouth lifting into a smirk. "I’ll make sure even more people see this livestream."
’Let’s see her reputation get utterly destroyed.’
’And here I thought this Sue Shiver was some big shot. Turns out it was just Sophie Wexler.’
’I might not know about other people, but Sophie Wexler? Who doesn’t? With that "excellent" singing of hers, I’m sure she’ll deliver a "stunning" performance this time.’
And a stunning performance it was!
At some point, an instrument they had never seen before appeared on the stage.
Seeing it, the crowd grew puzzled. What was that? They had never seen it before.
The people in the livestream chat were just as baffled.
[What is that thing? It looks like some kind of musical instrument.]
[It’s different from the guitar and piano we saw in her streams before, but this one has strings too.]
[Don’t tell me it’s another instrument from Ancient Aethel?]
Sue Shiver’s streams were known for featuring unfamiliar objects, so the moment the instrument appeared, someone immediately started looking it up.
And sure enough!
[Holy crap, you have no idea how many databases I had to crawl through to find this thing.]
Records about Ancient Aethel were scarce in the Galaxy to begin with. They had to move mountains just to find a few scant lines of description.
[It really is another instrument from Ancient Aethel! It’s called an Ancient Zither. According to the records, this instrument already had several thousand years of history on Ancient Aethel. Add our time in the Galaxy on top of that... I can’t even imagine how ancient this thing is.]
[How did she even find something this ancient? Is she some kind of demon?!]
[She brought out an instrument. Doesn’t that mean she was the one playing and singing on the streams?]
[There are plenty of ways to fake it. An instrument doesn’t prove anything.]
[After all, she can’t play any of our modern instruments, so she has to pull out this thing from Ancient Aethel just to put on a show.]
[LMAO, the guitar and piano were one thing. Records show those instruments emerged relatively late on Ancient Aethel. But the Ancient Zither has a much longer history. Does she really think she can master anything?]
[She probably knows she can’t sing, so she’s just using these ancient instruments to grab attention.]
[I’m just gonna sit here and wait for her to crash and burn.]
Amidst a chorus of doubts, Sophie Wexler lowered her gaze, her slender, jade-like fingers slowly settling onto the strings of the zither.
Her fingertips began to pluck gently, her sleeves fluttering with her movements. A crisp, exquisitely graceful melody flowed out, striking right at the soul!
In an instant, everyone in the venue fell silent.
[Holy crap, she can actually play it!]
[Another ancient instrument... At this point, even if her singing is terrible, I’d stay a fan just for these instruments.]
[LMAO, so she can only play. Go on, sing if you dare.]
Someone gloated, ’She definitely can’t sing. The moment she opens her mouth, she’ll be exposed.’
On stage, her fingertips flew across the strings. The music grew faster and more powerful, and then, suddenly, it came to an abrupt halt.
Silence. Absolute silence filled the venue.
All eyes were on Sophie Wexler. Everyone held their breath.
Just then, the background music began. Sophie Wexler’s eyes opened, curving gently into a smile as her lips parted.
A voice reached everyone’s ears, filled with an incredible power that sent a jolt of energy through them!
It blended seamlessly with the zither’s melody, as if breathing a soul into it at that very moment.
Her voice was like the cry of a phoenix, instantly capturing everyone’s hearts and pulling them under, to rise and fall with the waves of her song.
[OMG, does anyone else feel this? The moment the Ancient Zither stopped and her voice began, I got goosebumps all over!]
[Is this the magic of ancient instruments? It strikes you right in the soul. And combined with her voice, the blend is absolutely seamless.]
[Who was it that said she was lip-syncing? Step forward! You call THIS lip-syncing?!]
[It’s exactly like it was on the stream! No, it’s even better than what we heard on the stream!]
[I apologize for ever doubting her. Sue Shiver, you’re a goddess of ancient music!]
[What kind of genius is she to be able to master all these ancient instruments so well?!]
[I looked it up, the Ancient Zither is mostly played as an instrumental piece, but she added her own vocals, and it’s not the least bit jarring. The fusion is so perfect, it’s incredible.]
[I knew it! I knew she could do it! Let’s see who dares to doubt her now.]
Sophie Wexler continued her performance on stage. She had always loved classical music and had spent a great deal of energy studying it, specifically so she could blend classical and modern music together seamlessly.
She had spent a long time composing this song, originally planning to perform it at a concert. But then she got into a car accident and never had the chance.
After coming to the Galaxy, she had searched everywhere but couldn’t find an Ancient Zither or anything similar. In the end, she drew a diagram from memory to see if anyone could build one for her.
So much time had passed that she had all but given up hope. But just two days ago, the person contacted her to say it was finished.
This was the first time she had ever performed this song that incorporated the Ancient Zither. She had wanted to present it on a grander occasion but never imagined it would be under these circumstances.
But so what! It wouldn’t affect her. In fact, it only made her more determined to give an even better performance and shut them all up.
The emotion in her voice swelled with every note. The resilient strings danced beneath her fingertips, releasing flurries of exquisite notes. The rhythm quickened, the melody soared, and her voice, entwined with the zither, climbed ever higher.
Finally, as the emotion peaked, Sophie Wexler’s eyes snapped open. Her lips parted, and she ended the song on an impossibly high note, its echo reverberating through the hall!
The shock was absolute. Almost everyone had been utterly captivated by the song.
Her hand came to rest upon the zither, and in an instant, the lingering music was silenced.