Chapter 458: New Mission

Chapter 458: New Mission

“Not asleep?”

Shi Shiwu had just finished his show and was still in makeup, looking in decent shape, but Meng Fan could easily detect the fatigue. Recalling how after last night’s barbecue, Shi Shiwu, Zhang Zhouwei, and the others had gone to a nearby internet café for an all-night gaming session, and seeing his expression now, it was pretty clear that had been another sleepless night.

After pulling an all-nighter and then recording a show back-to-back, still maintaining this state—it showed the kid had a good constitution.

“I dozed off for a bit. I’m fine.”

“How about you doze off a little more? I’m not in a rush.”

“You’re not in a rush, but I am. I want to hear what this song sounds like when you sing it. Oh, if you perform normally, I can go to bed earlier.”

“Then I’ll try to be quick.”

As they talked, Jin Xiaowen suddenly pictured a scene—various banners in the audience seats at the competition reading “Iron God, slow down.” He had a hunch that Meng Fan’s recording speed would be lightning fast.

Jin Xiaowen’s hunch was accurate; Meng Fan really did record songs quickly.

Earlier, Shi Shiwu had already given Meng Fan the demo, and Meng Fan had learned the entire song from it. In the recording studio, after Shi Shiwu gave a brief explanation, Meng Fan ran through it once, infused his voice with emotion, and on the first take, he far exceeded Shi Shiwu and Jin Xiaowen’s expectations.

“That’s it? Really good enough?”

Even though he passed on the first take, Meng Fan insisted on recording two more takes. After those two, he wanted to do another, but Shi Shiwu and Jin Xiaowen stopped him.

“It’s fine, it’s fine!”

“Recording more is useless. Actually, the emotion in the third take was better than the first two, but the feel was a bit off.”

“Yeah, I think the second take was the best.”

“Any more and it’ll get stale.”

“Well, alright. Honestly, I think I could do one more take… Hey, don’t walk away! You should encourage my relentless pursuit of perfection!”

Seeing Shi Shiwu and Jin Xiaowen turn and leave, Meng Fan had no choice but to exit the booth. Just then, a chime sounded in his mind—a mission had triggered!

“Ding! Achievement mission [Singer] triggered.”

“Mission requirements: Complete the following three sub-missions.”

“Mission completion reward: Achievement mission [Singer] (Vocal skill +10, Voice appeal +3)”

This was another non-progression mission like [News Figure], with no progress bar, only sub-missions. Completing all three sub-missions would earn the title, and the three sub-missions could be tackled simultaneously.

Sub-mission one: Release a single and receive 100,000 positive reviews; Reward: Vocal skill +1, Points +100

Sub-mission two: Release an album and achieve 100,000 sales; Reward: Vocal skill +1, Points +500

Sub-mission three: Hold a solo concert with 10,000 attendees; Reward: Vocal skill +1, Points +1000

Judging by these three sub-missions, the system clearly hadn’t adjusted the difficulty based on Meng Fan’s current situation.

These three tasks weren’t easy for ordinary people—they were for true singers. Many so-called singers nowadays couldn’t meet these three requirements at all.

The first sub-mission went without saying: 100,000 positive reviews were tough—without cheating. If you cheated, the system would likely deem it invalid. The second sub-mission would have been a challenge ten years ago, and even more so now, with the record market shrinking drastically. Top-tier singers could smile if their album sold that much. A 10,000-person concert wasn’t something just any singer could pull off. Don’t think many traffic stars could do it in a flash—their song libraries often couldn’t fill an entire concert’s runtime, and their vocal skills were also an issue.

But for Meng Fan, if he didn’t care about quality, these tasks were far too simple.

From Shi Shiwu and Jin Xiaowen’s expressions, it was clear that getting 100,000 positive reviews for the single “Dreaming” would be easy. If he wanted to release an album, soliciting songs wasn’t hard; he could even ask Shi Shiwu to be the producer, ensuring quality. 100,000 sales were no problem either. If all else failed, he could launch a “buy the album, get a comic” promotion just to complete the mission. As for the 10,000-person concert, that was even simpler—his signing event had drawn over ten thousand people, so a concert would be a breeze.

If he pursued quality, though, that would take some serious polishing.

Meng Fan left the booth and sat down with the other two. Shi Shiwu, after drinking a cup of coffee, started nodding off intermittently—the coffee seemed to have a hypnotic effect.

“I’ve already registered the song. What are your plans for it? Release it as a single, or gather a few more for an album? Or just upload a digital version online? Or just record it for fun?” Shi Shiwu yawned, patted his cheeks, and made plans for Meng Fan’s song. “Honestly, your level is fully capable of releasing an album. How about it? Want me to help produce one? I can be your producer. For songs, I’ll write a few and solicit a few, you can solicit some too. It won’t take long to gather enough.”

Before Meng Fan could respond, Shi Shiwu had already proposed being his producer. There were many reasons, but mainly because Meng Fan’s vocal skills made Shi Shiwu eager—just like when he first heard Meng Fan’s voice and wanted to write songs for him, this time the feeling was even stronger.

Jin Xiaowen felt the same. Meng Fan’s singing and overall demeanor filled him with inspiration: “I think I can write a few for you in the next couple of days. Whether they’re usable, you can decide later.”

“No rush, no rush.”

Meng Fan was very modest. “I originally just wanted to sing the song Uncle Fifteen wrote for me for fun. Jumping straight into the singer business—isn’t that a bit too much? How about this: I’ll release this single first. If it does well, then I’ll think about the album. But don’t stop writing songs.”

“What do you mean, ‘don’t stop writing songs’!”

Shi Shiwu felt helpless, especially about the way Meng Fan addressed him, but he couldn’t argue—after all, he was over a decade older. He finished his coffee, his drowsiness deepening, and said, “If you’re releasing a single, just put out a digital version. Treat it as a pre-release single for the album. Physical releases aren’t popular anymore anyway. Most singers release a single first and then see if they want to compile an album. Once this single blows up, you can include it in the album for a physical release. As for physical sales, just treat them as souvenirs. The main thing is the digital version and commercial performances—though it seems you don’t need those. You really are just playing around!”

He stood up and yawned again. “So, shall we call it a day? For the digital single release, you can find any company you know to handle it. It’s simple.”

Meng Fan said, “I’m not really familiar with it.”

Shi Shiwu thought for a moment. “Anyway, the lyrics and music copyrights are still with me. How about this: I’ll have my studio handle the release. For the contract, someone will get in touch with you. Alright—I’m going back to sleep. I have another episode to record tomorrow at Blue Whale TV. I’ll catch up on sleep and then stay up tonight to arrange the music.”

“Afraid it’ll be an all-nighter for gaming?”

“Well, I have to finish the arrangement first.”

(End of chapter)