Superstars of Tomorrow

For Fang Zhao, military service was a really special experience. This was the first time he had gone into outer space and the first time he had personally seen the large strides humanity had taken in space travel.

Battlefields would not just be limited to a single planet. In the future, even if planets with immigrants had conflicts or disputes, humanity and civilization would continue moving forward and expanding even farther into space. Should a catastrophe occur on a planet, there were other planets that could provide refuge for humans. There was no need to worry about a calamity like humankind being nearly wiped out during the Period of Destruction ever happening again.

And during the course of his military service, Fang Zhao had gained even more inspiration for his compositions.

In short, Fang Zhao was very satisfied with his own military service experience. Many people advised him to stay on in the military, including Shanta, who had mentioned it multiple times. As long as Fang Zhao chose to remain at Baiji military district, he might even rise to the rank of general in the future.

But Fang Zhao still rejected this notion. In his previous life, it could be said that he sacrificed a lot for the great cause of surviving, so much so that he was unable to endure until the Founding Era. In this lifetime, Fang Zhao just wished to enjoy as much as he could, although many people would not be able to comprehend his sort of "enjoying."

After Memorial Day passed, the batch of conscripts who had started their military service together with Fang Zhao all started to get restless. Whether they wished to remain on planet Baiji or return home after military service, these people all started making plans.

Given planet Baiji’s development, they no longer had to suffer what Baiji conscripts of the past had gone through—that is, being isolated from the world. Now, the amount of time they could go online had increased, and on days off, they could still head to the newly constructed places of entertainment and have fun, even if those weren’t all open yet.

After Memorial Day, the entertainment circles were also shaken up.

News of the revolutionary film project being rebooted broke out. Media firms, reporters, and paparazzi from every single continent felt that their own springtime had come!

How many topics could be generated just from this revolutionary film project? How many livelihoods could it feed?

The chance to strike it rich was right before their eyes!

A short while back, it had been reported that a certain paparazzo had dirt on a certain film superstar. That superstar had spent tens of millions to purchase the incriminating information from the paparazzo to protect his reputation.

Therefore, promotions, pay raises, and perhaps an overnight fortune were not out of the question. It all depended on who had the ability to seize such big news!

However, well-informed parties had already started their preparations a few months earlier. Now all they were waiting for was the official announcement and the information that would be laid out for the public.

For the sake of snagging a satisfactory role in the revolutionary film project, big-name film superstars from every continent had started to move. The teams behind them had already prepared a series of publicity-boosting plans and campaigns.

Over at Silver Wing’s side, Duan Qianji had already used the historical dramas shot on real physical sets to give a popularity boost to the company’s few big-name superstar actors and actresses. They still could not afford to relax, though—this was not a competition within Yanzhou alone. This was a competition between all the entertainment circles on a global scale!

There were only so few roles, and there were so many actors and actresses. Anyone who studied history knew what sort of characters there were. At this sort of time, superstars of every continent saw their value depreciating. Only each continent’s first-rate megastars with global appeal would be able to vie for the lead roles.

Normally, Fang Zhao would also have paid attention to entertainment news and any trending news regarding this revolutionary film project. The script was still being discussed and the consultant team and screenwriters were exchanging thoughts and views, but it was approaching the end stage and was close to being finalized.

Fang Zhao’s military service was also coming to an end soon, and Shanta had informed him beforehand.

"Before your batch is decommissioned, there will be one more large commendation ceremony, and you will be among the recipients. When the time comes, you will be promoted one rank and the bonus when your service ends will increase as well. However, have you really decided not to stay on?"

"I have already made plans for a concert performance at a music hall," Fang Zhao replied.

"All right. Then I shall wish you all the best with your concert. You are welcome back any time." Shanta really wished he could retain the services of Fang Zhao. Not even mentioning Fang Zhao’s rumored divine ears, he didn’t want to let go of Fang Zhao’s combat ability. What a pity that Fang Zhao had actually chosen to be an artistic youth!

After speaking with Shanta, Fang Zhao discovered that an entertainment news company had set up a survey through a voting system to see which superstars the masses thought should play the roles of the important leaders during the Period of Destruction.

Below every Founding Era leader’s character, there were over 10 listed big-name film stars from every continent.

What attracted Fang Zhao’s attention was the role of that "Fang Zhao," where there were also more than 10 film stars listed.

What was interesting was that for the role of "Founding Era Leader Fang Zhao," there was a lot of discussion.

Fang Zhao saw some of the comments of netizens:

"For sure, the roles of the Founding Era great generals will surely be played by members of their own families. If not, those roles will be selected by them. However, for this sort of revolutionary film project, playing a minor role in it is enough for someone to brag for half his lifetime."

"I just took out my secondary school history e-textbook for a read. This character ’Fang Zhao’ had a rather important role during that period but was unfortunate enough to pass on a little early. Now there aren’t even any aristocratic families with the family name Fang. Since this is the case, I feel that the film emperors of every continent will be vying for this role."

"The ill-fated leader of Yanzhou was actually called ’Fang Zhao’! Why don’t they let Fang Zhao play the role? Yeah, the one I’m talking about is that ’mythical beast’ with the pair of really expensive ears."

"Hahahaha, that sounds feasible. Let Fang Zhao play the role of Fang Zhao!"

"They should try it out!"

"Stop joking! Fang Zhao’s gaming in ’Battle of the Century’ is rather impressive, sure. His actual combat ability is legit too—after all, he has garnered so many military merits—but he might not necessarily be able to act. He isn’t an actor, after all."

The online voting activity was little more than a means of generating discussion and conveniently obtaining statistics of the masses’ opinions and which stars they felt were most appropriate for which role. The final results would also give the investors of the revolutionary film project some data to consider.

Of course, there were huge profits to be made for this voting activity, because for the voting, there were two choices. For every role, everyone had a free chance to vote, and besides that, they could also place a wager.

The latter choice added an element of fun to the voting, and the market was huge. After all, every one of these listed stars had a large following of fans. Even if only one percent of these fans placed a wager, it would still be a massive figure.

The number of people who had placed a wager and how much they had placed were not displayed. After voting, one could only see a bar chart showing the support that each star had.

Fang Zhao looked at the comments and the bar chart. Online audiences that did not know anything and were purely joining in on the fun had made him the most voted option.

"Let Fang Zhao play the role of Fang Zhao" also became a topic for laughs.

Sometimes, people would say one thing, but in their hearts, they would be thinking something else. For example, some people said this: That person might not necessarily be able to act. But in their hearts, what they were thinking was this: If not him, who else can do so?

And now, although these people were saying to just "Let Fang Zhao play the role of Fang Zhao! He has the exact same name and can even fight beasts!" in fact, their hearts were laughing. If Fang Zhao can act for such an important role, then even pigs can fly!

While Fang Zhao was viewing the voting activity, there were also many people paying attention to it on planet Wai.

Zaro was currently filming the third season of "Vampire Duke." With technological advancements, as long as filming was smooth, the time taken to manufacture an episode had been greatly shortened. Since he had seen that the sets were really good, Zaro’s agent had suggested Zaro continue filming. After the first season was complete, the second season had followed immediately after. Reception for season two had not been bad, so they had taken advantage of it and filmed a third season.

During idle times while filming, Zaro had come across the online voting activity. Naturally, his attention went to the role of Leizhou’s Great General Renault and the possible candidates for this role. Sweeping through the list of over 10 actors in the voting options, Zaro found out that he was among the candidates on the voting list for the role of General Renault.

Zaro was elated. This was the delight of being acknowledged. However, this joy only lasted for a short while. When Zaro went through the discussions, his face became one shade darker.

Especially after reading the top few comments that had obtained the most likes, Zaro was no longer able to maintain his good mood.

"Why is Zaro in the choices for the role of General Renault?"

"Zaro can act?"

"There’s no choice; who asked him to be born with the Renault family name? Furthermore, he acted in a really popular TV series. That cannot be denied."

"This ’Leizhou’s Smiling Angel’ should just go do some charity! Don’t act anymore!"

"Sha-ro? He wants to vie for leading role in that revolutionary film project with his sort of acting skills? I have watched the highly popular series ’Vampire duke,’ and it was rather ordinary. All he did was pull a long face and act cool to trick some young ladies. It’s better for him not to disgrace himself in this sort of revolutionary film project!"

"Honestly speaking, Zaro does have the status and basis. If he doesn’t open his mouth, his acting can be considered decent, but when he talks, everything just falls apart. Under the performances of those kings of the silver screen, he will experience being crushed by a tank! Letting him play the role of General Renault would just be letting people from other continents laugh their heads off!"

...

Reading these few pages of comments, at the start, Zaro was filled with a burning rage, but it slowly turned into self-doubt, as there were just too many such comments—over 10 pages worth.

Zaro tilted his head toward his agent beside him and asked, "Is my acting really that bad?"

Zaro’s agent fell silent for a few seconds as he considered the question, then replied, "There is room for improvement." Then his agent added, "It has improved greatly!"

Zaro’s expression changed. He seemed pleased and, following that, brought up his own performances in "Vampire Duke" seasons 1 and 2 and the currently airing season 3 and watched them. The more he watched, the more pleased he was. "Where can you find this sort of acting? How can this even be called acting cool? No, acting cool also requires skill! Those people online are just blind!"

Zaro then checked the views and profits of this drama series. "It’s impossible not to be popular!"

Returning to the slew of vicious comments directed toward him, Zaro silently pondered for a bit. Combining facts and theory, he came to a conclusion: "Mmhm, these people are definitely blind!"

Zaro’s agent shrugged, indicating he didn’t wish to say anything

Zaro did not even look at his manager’s expression. He voted for himself and placed a wager. This was how much faith the great Zaro of Leizhou had in himself.

After voting for himself, Zaro was feeling contented and went to check on the other roles to vote for candidates that satisfied him.

"Fang Zhao? There was a leader during the Period of Destruction called Fang Zhao? Oh, seems like there was one."

Zaro clicked to enter this page and read through the introduction of this Period of Destruction leader.

After reading through this character’s introduction Zaro clicked his tongue. "Weak, this person was really weak."

However, he was not really interested in all this. He quickly went to check the list of candidates in the voting pool.

The first option was actually more good looking than himself. Not pleasing to look at, not voting for him.

The second option had too many awards. The photo of him even had a close-up of those awards he had won! Are you afraid that nobody will know that you have won awards? So pretentious, I can’t stand looking at him. No votes.

Third option. Didn’t this b*stard already appear on the voting list for another role? Who placed him here? The editor must be retarded! No votes!

Fourth option. More than 2 meters tall? What did he grow so tall for? To snatch rebounds in basketball?! No votes!

Fifth option...

Sixth option...

...

Zaro went through them one by one right till the last option.

"Fang Zhao? That Fang Zhao from Yanzhou? The one undergoing military service on planet Baiji? Why is his name here? Isn’t he a composer who plays games? Which idiot nominated him? He can’t just be added to this list because his name is Fang Zhao. This bunch of editors are really no good!"

After browsing through all of them, Zaro looked through the voting options in the list once again. Zaro then placed a vote for Fang Zhao and conveniently wagered a little on him too. This was a totally an instinctive reaction, and the agent beside him could not have stopped Zaro in time if he had wanted to.

After placing the wager, Zaro realized what he had done. He had not really intended to place a wager on anyone other than himself, but he could not bring himself to admit his mistake and reluctantly said, "Cough, just a little investment in Fang Zhao. Take it as me supporting that fella. After all, he did help us out, didn’t he? He was the one who introduced the projects at the film entertainment complex to us. As people, we should know how to be grateful."

Zaro’s agent felt that from his understanding of Zaro, given Zaro’s "idiotic" IQ and pettiness, his choice of voting for Fang Zhao was definitely not "being grateful" but a load of hogwash. Faced with the list of those actors displayed on the screen, perhaps Zaro had only found Fang Zhao a little more pleasing to his eyes than the rest.

Why was this so?

Because among all the superstars on this list, only Fang Zhao’s status in the film entertainment circles was lower than Zaro’s. When it came to a person who was beneath himself, Zaro would definitely find him more pleasing to the eyes!