Chapter 80 - 81: Why Was Your Reputation So Bad Before?
The moment the list was released, the fans went absolutely wild.
They cheered and jumped for joy!
Stellara’s official comment section and Sue Shiver’s DMs were flooded with messages from fans.
[I love you, Stellara! I love you, Entertainment Zone! I love you, Sue!]
[I knew it! I knew Stellara’s Entertainment Zone would nominate Sue!]
[Sue Shiver’s fans shouldn’t get too excited. Don’t you remember? Just because she’s nominated doesn’t mean she’ll be chosen. They’re picking the top three from the Entertainment Zones of *all* platforms. Stellara has never made the cut before.]
[LMAO, can’t believe people are still saying Stellara won’t make it. How long has it been since you’ve been on StarNet? That was the old Stellara. The Entertainment Zone now is a whole different beast.]
[With Sue Shiver around, Stellara’s Entertainment Zone is guaranteed to get in.]
[Stop talking here! The official voting is about to start! For a chance to see Sue, let’s go, everyone! Charge!]
Sure enough, after the lists from all platforms were released, the organizers quickly opened the polls.
As soon as they opened, the vote counts for the most popular streamers began to skyrocket. Everyone voted frantically, desperate to see their idols.
Usually, the Military and Gaming Zones had the most participants, but this time was completely different.
One person’s vote count shot up, leaving everyone else in the dust. She crushed all competition, her name hanging high in first place.
That ID was Sue Shiver!
While everyone knew that a streamer named Sue Shiver had blown up, most had only heard about it secondhand. People who weren’t in the same category didn’t really grasp the full extent of it.
But now, they were witnessing her popularity firsthand. In just half an hour, her vote count surpassed one hundred million, making everyone gasp in shock.
Her power was simply terrifying.
By the time the voting ended, the ID "Sue Shiver" was, without a doubt, in first place.
Not just first in the Entertainment Zone, but first across all zones and all platforms.
The fans instantly erupted in cheers: [Yes! Now I can finally see Sue in person!]
[I want to hear Sue sing live!]
[Sue has never shown her face before. Do you think she’ll do a face reveal this time?]
And it wasn’t just the fans who were wondering; many other people wanted to know, too.
Karina included.
That’s right, she had also made the cut. Sue Shiver was first in the Entertainment Zone, and Karina was second.
She had been hit hard by the plagiarism incident last time and hadn’t streamed for a long while.
She only reappeared in the public eye after the buzz had finally died down.
Her popularity was nothing compared to before, but a shadow of her former self was still formidable. Her follower count in the Entertainment Zone was still ahead of most others.
So for this year-end event, her platform still nominated her.
They knew she couldn’t possibly beat Sue Shiver, but outperforming her wasn’t their real goal.
Sue Shiver had made them, Hollis, bleed so much last time. There was no way they were just going to swallow that defeat.
They had to get their revenge!
Karina couldn’t carry the banner anymore, but she wasn’t completely useless. At the very least, they had one thing in common: they both hated that Sue Shiver with a passion!
They had spent a long time digging for dirt on Sue Shiver, but they found nothing.
They didn’t even know her real identity.
This left them with nothing to smear her with. But there was one thing: Sue Shiver’s appearance.
From her very first stream until now, she had never once shown her face. There had to be a reason she was so afraid of a face reveal!
[So what if Sue Shiver is number one? She still doesn’t dare show her face. She’s probably too ugly to be seen in public.]
[Never showing her face... I bet she’s done something she’s ashamed of and is afraid of being recognized.]
Suddenly, a flood of posts appeared, all speculating about what Sue Shiver looked like, questioning her appearance and her character.
Of course, Sue Shiver’s fans weren’t having it. They immediately fought back. ’Did these trolls really think their numbers were still as small as before? They must have a death wish, picking a fight now.’
「 」
In the room, Benjamin Wyatt sat to one side, looking at Sophie Wexler. "Are you sure you want to attend?"
Sophie Wexler hummed and nodded. "My supervisor helped me," she explained.
As soon as he heard that, Benjamin Wyatt knew he couldn’t change her mind. He originally had other plans for Sophie Wexler’s first public performance.
’But since the list is already public, this is the only way. Fine, she can attend. It’s not a huge deal anyway.’
There was just one thing. "Does this event require a face reveal?"
He had looked into her before signing her.
"Sophie Wexler": no integrity, no brains, no talent—a classic "three-no’s" case in the entertainment industry.
Her reputation was abysmal. Worse, she’d been dropped by her former agency for harming a Healer-class individual, leading to her being blacklisted across the entire web.
That was all part of her old reputation on StarNet. Even now that her contract was terminated, rumors about her still circulated in the entertainment world.
Whenever any other celebrity got into a scandal, she would be dragged out for comparison.
She had even become a tool for fans to console their own idols.
Idol: I have so much negative press lately.
Fan: It’s okay. Could it be worse than all the dirt on "Sophie Wexler"?
Idol: I’m a bad singer. My skills are lacking.
Fan: It’s okay. No matter how bad you sound, could you be worse than "Sophie Wexler"? Compared to her, you’re a nightingale.
God knows what Benjamin Wyatt felt when he saw all that dirt back then. He suspected Ethan Cross had brought him all the way from the Capital Planet just to mess with him.
Why else would he be asked to manage such a good-for-nothing? He was so angry he almost turned around and walked out.
If Ethan Cross hadn’t threatened him with the Marshal, he would have left long ago.
In the end, Ethan Cross had insisted, dragging him along and telling him to just listen to her sing. If he still didn’t want to be her manager after hearing her, Ethan would send him straight back to the Capital Planet.
Only then did he agree.
In truth, he didn’t have any expectations. He had heard her sing before—it was painfully bad, an absolute torture to the ears.
He only sat down to listen to give his good friend some face.
But he never, ever expected that the moment she opened her mouth in the livestream, he would hear what sounded like the voice of an angel.
It was a world apart from the crow-like screeching he’d heard before.
That was when Benjamin Wyatt decided to sign her.
And as it turned out, his decision to sign her had been absolutely correct.
Sophie Wexler’s songs were the most inspired he had ever encountered. Her style was versatile, and every track was a classic.
This only made him more confused. He looked at Sophie Wexler before him, completely baffled. "Your singing is clearly amazing. How on earth did you manage to sing so badly before?"
"And it wasn’t just the terrible singing; your reputation was in the gutter." The more Benjamin Wyatt spoke, the more absurd it seemed. "If your reputation hadn’t been so trashed and you weren’t blacklisted online, you wouldn’t be in a position where you can’t even show your face."
Sophie Wexler was at a loss for words. "..."
’How am I supposed to explain this? I can’t just say the person before wasn’t me, can I?’
"Maybe my musical talent hadn’t awakened yet?" Sophie Wexler offered tentatively.
"It wasn’t just not awakened. It was like it was completely blocked off."
Sophie Wexler: "...Why don’t you try licking your own lips?"
Benjamin Wyatt was confused. "What for?"
"To see if you can poison yourself." ’He’s just so caustic,’ she thought.