Chapter 18

 Chapter 18: Welcome Party (Thanks to Guali Cat's Chief for the reward!)

After leaving Professor He Cheng's office, Lu Zhixing returned to Room 404.

These past few days, he had spent little time in the dormitory. He was either discreetly role-playing as a paralyzed patient outside or burning the midnight oil writing design documents in his rented room.

The other three in the dormitory were pretty much their usual selves, with gamers gaming and students doing their homework. The atmosphere in the dorm was harmonious.

As soon as Lu Zhixing entered, he heard Liu Bo sighing, "Darn it! I've completed 'Zen' several times, but Professor He hasn't asked a single question about it! I prepared so much for nothing! You've really tricked me, Lu Yi!"

He looked at Lu Yixiao with a hint of resentment. Back in the cafeteria, if it weren't for Lu Yixiao suggesting that Professor He Cheng might pull a fast one, he wouldn't have had to frantically study the troublesome game 'Zen.'

However, Lu Yixiao completely ignored his resentful gaze and explained, "Hey, you don't get it, do you? It's called 'Schrodinger's Questions and Answers.' If you're unprepared, Professor He Cheng is highly likely to ask you questions. But if you are prepared, there's a good chance he won't ask anything. So, think about it. Would you rather be prepared and have Professor He not ask, or be unprepared and have him ask?"

Liu Bo was momentarily at a loss for words. "Well, I guess being prepared but not asked is better."

Lu Yixiao shrugged. "Exactly."

Liu Bo still felt that something wasn't right, but he glanced at Zhao Haoyan, who seemed to have completely forgotten the pain of dropping ranks in the Black Iron League while enjoying himself in the game. He realized that Lu Zhi was back and asked, "Hey, Lu Ge, I heard you got picked by Professor He? How did it go?"

Lu Yixiao added, "It seems like we can't count on our design documents. Lu Ge, your design document better make it into the top third. When the time comes, we'll assist you. If our Room 404 is wiped out, we'll have to find work elsewhere."

Lu Zhixing sat down on a chair. "Getting into the top third shouldn't be a problem. But don't underestimate yourselves. Keep working hard."

Liu Bo waved his hand. "We're not going to work hard anymore. Each of us has our own things to do."

He looked at Zhao Haoyan and Lu Yixiao. "You know how addicted Old Zhao is to the game. He didn't have much of a chance to begin with, and now he's so engrossed in the Black Iron League that he can't break free. As for Boss Lu, he's taken on several wedding gigs recently, and he's completely blinded by the money."

"As for me, I still need to prepare for the welcome party. Whether or not I can charm a senior student and secure the priority mate selection rights for the next four years of college, I'm going all out for it."

Lu Zhixing remained silent for a moment. "I can see that each of you has your own unique talents. Impressive."

While academics were essential in college, many believed that they could work hard in their third and fourth years and that the first two years were meant for enjoying the college experience.

Since it seemed nearly impossible to make it into the top three, they might as well use their time to do things they enjoyed.

"By the way, Lu Ge, since you've almost finished your game design document, do you want to sign up with me for the college's welcome party? It's a great opportunity to impress senior girls!" Liu Bo suddenly lit up with excitement, looking at Lu Zhixing expectantly.

Lu Yixiao was a bit exasperated. "Can't you think of something else?"

Liu Bo sighed silently. "No choice. I'm not as good-looking as you three, so I have to work harder for my future."

All three fell silent for a moment and couldn't find a retort.

"The welcome party..."

Lu Zhixing suddenly thought of something. Weren't they supposed to play the role of a modest, low-key, and vengeful campus superstar? If that's the case, wouldn't participating in the welcome party count as role-playing?

He nodded decisively. "Sure, why not? You can help me sign up as well."

Liu Bo was delighted. "No need to sign up. In the past few days, all the colleges have been recruiting performers in the small auditorium. We can just go there directly!"

...

Half an hour later, Lu Zhixing and Liu Bo arrived at Jinghai University's small auditorium.

To Lu Zhixing's surprise, it was bustling with activity. They could see fellow students taking the stage to perform various acts—singing, dancing, sketch comedy, and more. It was evident that students from various colleges were participating.

Liu Bo registered their names and performance type with a group of students in the front row and then found an empty seat.

Lu Zhixing was puzzled. "What's going on here?"

Liu Bo explained, "Don't you know? This is the 'recruitment battle' among the colleges!"

"A recruitment battle?" Lu Zhixing was even more confused. "Isn't the welcome party organized by each college separately?"

For freshman students, the welcome party is a significant stage, and there are usually two types:

1. The school's official welcome party, where participants are selected from across the university. This often includes senior students majoring in traditional arts, dance, and other disciplines, and freshmen have limited participation opportunities.

2. College-specific welcome parties organized by individual colleges or departments, which mainly involve freshmen and sophomores. These events are more engaging and receive higher attention from new students.

In Lu Zhixing's memory, college-specific welcome parties usually involved selecting participants from within the same college, and cross-college participation was rare.

Liu Bo explained, "You might not be aware of this, but that's how it works in other schools. At Jinghai University, it's different. Due to the varying quality of welcome parties organized by different colleges, the university introduced a significant change a few years ago: allowing welcome parties to select performers from across colleges.

"Moreover, Jinghai University has a wealth of exceptionally talented students, so this recruitment battle is also a great opportunity for them to showcase their talents to the whole university. Some talent scouts responsible for variety shows even show up at these events!

"I heard that in the previous years, a senior student created a huge buzz during the recruitment battle, attracting attention from all colleges and talent scouts. He signed with Changteng Entertainment and embarked on a successful entertainment career, becoming a campus legend!"

Lu Zhixing nodded in realization. "I didn't know about this. I've learned something new."

Indeed, he was quite ignorant about these aspects compared to Liu Bo.

"By the way, Lu Ge, what kind of performance do you plan to do?" Liu Bo was curious.

"I'm not sure yet," Lu Zhixing replied honestly.

He looked at the game panel in his field of vision, where there was an option for the "Random Artistic Work" lottery. Clicking on it presented various categories to choose from, including "Song," "Dance," "Comedy," "Skits," and more. There was also an input box for keywords to filter the selection.

In other words, this "Random Artistic Work" lottery was not entirely random. Lu Zhixing could specify filter criteria before making a random selection. However, when he selected the "Song" category, he was momentarily unsure of what keyword to input for filtering.

……

In the front two rows of the auditorium, the heads of the various college student union arts departments were seated, all of them there to recruit talent.

In the second row, closer to the center, sat two representatives from the Game Design School, one male and one female, both from the college's student union arts department.

The male representative, Zhang Yiyang, was mainly responsible for song performances.

The female representative, Yan Wei, primarily handled dance performances.

As for language-based performances like sketches and comedic acts, they discussed it together. After all, when it came to college student performances, being funny was the only standard, and there wasn't much need for professionalism.

Although they were on the side recruiting talent, Zhang Yiyang and Yan Wei were under tremendous pressure as well.

That's because the Game Design School's welcome party had ranked at the bottom of the school for several years in a row!

Being able to recruit talent from other colleges also meant that their own college's talented students could be poached. For a college like the Game Design School, which was already not well-off, losing valuable students could be disastrous. So, they had to be fully prepared.

Zhang Yiyang complained, "Speaking of which, Professor He is really making a mess of things! It's just the beginning of the school year, and he's assigned such an outrageous assignment to the freshmen. Independently completing a design concept for a game? Even for us sophomores, it's like peeling off a layer of skin..."

"Our college already has quite a few gaming enthusiasts, and they aren't keen on participating in group activities or performing on stage. Now, each and every one of them is suffocated by Professor He's assignment, and there's no one left to participate in the welcome party!"

"What's worse, the teachers from the Student Union even issued a strict order, saying that this year's welcome party must be in the top five in terms of popularity among all colleges in the school. Isn't that like asking for the impossible?"

Yan Wei sighed softly, "There's no choice. At our school, the popularity of the welcome party is also an important indicator of the Student Affairs Department's performance. When the teachers start talking, we can only run ourselves ragged."

……

Lu Zhixing and Liu Bo were sitting in a corner, watching their classmates take the stage, not knowing how long it would be before it was their turn.

Suddenly, Liu Bo whispered, "Hey, that Li Zihan is here!"

Following Liu Bo's gaze, Lu Zhixing saw a flamboyantly dressed guy entering the small auditorium. He completely ignored everyone else, casually walked to the front row, exchanged a few words with a sophomore from the Music Department responsible for selecting performers, and then found a seat.

Lu Zhixing asked, "Who is Li Zihan?"

Liu Bo explained, "He's the guy who used money to buy votes and bumped me out of the spot during the talent show auditions at the university. I can't believe he's a student from our school's Music Department."

Lu Zhixing was somewhat surprised, "If he already passed the university talent show auditions, why is he here for the freshman welcome party?"

Liu Bo explained, "Clearly, he wants it all! Even though the university talent show auditions and the welcome party rehearsals clash completely, he's so familiar with the senior students in the Music Department that he can skip the rehearsal and go on stage directly during the party."

As they were talking, someone in front shouted, "Next up, Li Zihan!"

The students who were still waiting in the auditorium were a bit restless. Everyone was in line, so why did this guy cut in so blatantly?

The student responsible for selecting performers from the Music Department stood up and said, "Li Zihan recently passed the auditions for 'University Talent Show' and is about to enter the semifinals, so he needs a lot of time for rehearsals. Time is precious, and his situation is special. Please understand."

Most of the students waiting in line were still unhappy, but Li Zihan's status as someone who had "passed the auditions for 'University Talent Show'" did give him some favorable conditions. All the teachers present agreed, so the complaints from the crowd quickly subsided.

Li Zihan confidently took the stage, feeling nothing was amiss.

In his view, he was different from the others in the audience who were just here to participate casually. He was going to become a star on the talent show, so what did this small privilege matter?

Who knows, maybe in the future, you'll have to pay to hear me sing!