Chapter Twenty-Four: I Came Here to Fight the Elite

The cold smirks of those people were justified.

Although “Invisible Wings” slowed its pace after breaking into the top thirty, it continued to surge forward with unstoppable momentum.

Before noon that day, the song had already soared to twenty-first place, just one step away from the top twenty.

The top twenty on September’s New Song Chart:

One prospective king of pop.

Three top-tier singers.

Eleven second-tier singers.

Five third-tier singers.

Any one of them was a figure ordinary singers could only look up to in awe.

That’s why the top twenty was jokingly called: The Clash of the Gods.

Now, an almost complete newcomer had brought a song that touched the edge of this forbidden zone.

“This is going to be good.”

“Which entertainment company is this singer from? Unbelievable!”

“Is he going to slay the gods?!”

“Holy—!”

—

At Yunhai Media.

Qian Lun from the Vocal Department’s phone was ringing off the hook.

He’d originally planned a romantic weekend with his wife.

Who could have guessed!

His phone, WeChat, and text messages were all inundated.

So, as soon as he arrived at the restaurant, he could only say to his wife, “I’ll be right back!”

Then, as if his seat were on fire, he dashed back to the company.

“What on earth…”

Staring at “Invisible Wings” now sitting at number twenty-one on the new song chart, he found it even more incomprehensible than his wife’s shopping spree.

At that moment, many top executives from the music division had already gathered.

An emergency meeting was underway.

Liu Zhengwen looked at Qian Lun with a wide grin: “Director Qian, you can’t say this time that the song’s popularity has nothing to do with Wang Mo and is only because Su Xueyao sang it well, can you?”

“Well…”

Qian Lun was momentarily at a loss for words.

Su Xueyao had been with Yunhai Media for over a year. The company had given her several songs to promote, and she’d been performing gigs for more than a year as well. If her own abilities were enough, she’d have made it big long ago.

Why had she only now made a splash singing Wang Mo’s song?

He took a deep breath, about to speak, when he saw the publicity manager beside him answer a call.

Afterward, the manager’s face was full of peculiar expressions.

Qian Lun asked, “Lao Xu?”

Xu He seemed to still be digesting the call’s contents, and after a while, he said, “It was a call from YunNet.”

“YunNet?” Qian Lun was puzzled. “What do they want? Collecting advertising fees?”

As one of the top entertainment companies in China, Yunhai Media had a deep partnership with YunNet. The monthly ad spend was astronomical.

Xu He shook his head. “No, the ad coordinator told me that ‘Invisible Wings’ hasn’t had any paid promotion yet. If we agree, they’re willing to give it first-tier promotion at a third-tier price.”

“What?!”

Qian Lun and Liu Zhengwen exchanged surprised glances.

Third-tier ads: at most a few thousand yuan.

First-tier ads: tens of thousands, even over a hundred thousand.

Even with their strong relationship, when one of their own first-tier singers took third place six months ago, YunNet hadn’t offered such a deal.

Such an anomaly was always telling.

All of them were seasoned professionals; their minds spun with endless calculations.

Liu Zhengwen said gravely, “YunNet wouldn’t do a loss-making business. If they’re offering such a deal, it means they expect to gain even more. After all, YunNet’s backend data is far more detailed than ours. In other words, they’ve probably discovered this song’s potential—greater even than the one that made our singer third before.”

“Exactly!” Qian Lun nodded in rare agreement.

And soon, the shock in their hearts only deepened.

Did this mean that “Invisible Wings” had the potential to break into the top three?

That was astonishing.

Forget the top three—the singers in the top twenty were already the elite of the music world!

—

While the company executives were in conference,

In the composition department, no one left after Liu Zhengwen departed; instead, the place was buzzing with excitement.

They’d all heard the news.

Wang Mo’s song was a hit—again!

And this time, it was even bigger than before!

Still, most of the staff couldn’t see the song’s true potential.

Many were betting on how high “Invisible Wings” would ultimately climb.

“My guess is eleventh.”

“I’m thinking ninth.”

“Top ten seems unlikely—those are all heavyweights.”

“Even top fifteen is tough. Don’t be fooled by its rapid climb; it’s mostly Douyin traffic. Once that stream dries up, it’ll stall.”

“But still, this song is incredible. What a pity… So many big names released songs this September, the chart is packed with elites. If the song had waited until October, with a big push on the first, it might’ve had a shot at the top ten!”

Everyone was abuzz with speculation.

Someone nudged Wang Mo. “Mo, it’s a shame about your song. The top twenty are all elites! Breaking into the top ten is just too hard.”

“Is that so?” Wang Mo smiled, saying nothing.

But inside, he was sneering.

Elites? I’m here to take down the elites!

—

YunNet was even more anxious than Yunhai Media.

Their willingness to offer such a generous promotion for “Invisible Wings” was because their staff had uncovered a set of data.

Data that defied imagination.

In the backend, “Invisible Wings” showed:

Completion rate: 63%, three times higher than the current number one, and 12.7 times the average!

Unimaginable!

Repeat play rate: 45%, 5.5 times higher than number one, 26.5 times the average!

Unimaginable!

Download-to-play ratio: 1:4.6, 10.4 times higher than number one, 37.2 times the average!

Unimaginable!

Three such staggering figures prompted them to reach out to Yunhai Media and, as soon as they received approval, to launch a campaign.

In truth,

at some level, promotion was no longer necessary.

A truly great song would have fans promoting it on their own.

In the days that followed, “Invisible Wings” soared ahead, its stats climbing at a staggering pace.

Nineteenth.

Fifteenth.

Thirteenth.

Eleventh.

In just three days, it had toppled nine musical elites, charging from twenty-first to eleventh place.

The top ten was within a hair’s breadth!

—

Zhao Long.

Yes, the online singer who’d managed to get fourth on last month’s Newcomer Chart, only to be ruthlessly knocked down by Hao Mingxing.

He was now chatting with Liu Lei, currently ranked tenth on the New Song Chart.

The two were signed to the same agency.

Liu Lei scrolled through the chart as they chatted.

After a moment, he frowned. “My tenth-place spot is in danger. I really need to move up. But ninth place is Hu Xuan—she’s more famous, her fans are more loyal, and with just company resources, it’ll be hard to overtake her. Long, could you rally your fans to help boost my ranking?”

Zhao Long, with his hundreds of thousands of Douyin followers, had some sway.

“No problem,” Zhao Long agreed readily.

Helping Liu Lei—a second-tier singer—could only be beneficial for his own future in the music world.

But as he was about to post a Douyin video to mobilize his fans, Liu Lei grabbed his arm. “Forget it. No need.”

“Why?” Zhao Long asked.

“I’ve dropped out of the top ten,” Liu Lei said.

He showed Zhao Long the chart.

Sure enough, the tenth spot had been taken by “Invisible Wings.” Liu Lei’s song was gone.

Now, Liu Lei lay back in his chair, his eyes dull, his heart hollow.

He’d hoped to climb higher, but in the end, he couldn’t even hold his place in the top ten.

Just as Liu Lei was wallowing in frustration, Zhao Long leaned in mischievously. “Bro, does it hurt?”