"Heh, the competition venue was chosen randomly by the production team. When Tingyu competed in China, why didn't you say it was unfair?"
"That's a joke. Didn't Tingyu earn his China matches through sheer skill? Sean's situation is clearly favoritism from the production team!"
"If it had been held in the US before, then holding it again would be favoritism. Now, we can only say Tingyu is unlucky."
"It seems the dark horse can't compete with the ruler of the Era Music Chart!"
"Haha, in the end, our US won the championship!"
In response to the protests from Chinese netizens, many of Sean's fans began to mock and ridicule.
However, they weren't entirely wrong. As long as the production team could prove the random selection and the finals just happened to draw the US, then the competition venue would be considered fair. Even if the trip to the US meant Tingyu would likely lose, that was the rule of the competition.
In any competition, there is only relative fairness, not absolute fairness.
...
Era Music Production Team.
Several executives were in the conference room, observing the online reactions.
"Our actions have had quite an impact on our reputation," someone said.
"What impact could it have? The venue was randomly selected before the competition. Once the recording is released after the next episode concludes, who would dare say anything?" Wright, sitting in the main seat, chuckled.
For the sake of fairness and justice, competition venues were supervised and randomly drawn by a notary office before the competition.
After each episode, the venue for the next episode would be announced.
As the biggest event in the music industry and supervised by the entire blue planet, it was impossible to tamper with "Era Music King."
However, there are always exceptions, and reasonable utilization within certain rules would not be questioned by anyone.
For example, the order of competition venues could be decided by the production team itself.
During the draw, the US was already among the options, and now only the US remained, making it reasonable for the next competition to be held there.
But Wright exploited a loophole in the rules: he intentionally saved the US for the match between Tingyu and Sean.
Now, with Tingyu and Sean having equal points, it caused so much opposition. If their points were different, the competition venue wouldn't be so important.
Of course, even with many people opposing, they would have reasons to retort. Since the US was drawn before the competition, changing the venue due to the fairness issue between the two would itself be unfair to Sean.
Everything was within the rules.
"The champion of 'Era Music King' can only be from our US. How dare someone from the Chinese music scene try to win the championship?"
Thinking of this, a hint of a dismissive smile appeared on Wright's lips.
...
China.
Lin Zhaoyang watched the competition end with a frown.
He silently walked to Lin Yanyu's door and knocked.
"Dad, the 'Era Music King' production team has gone too far!"
Upon seeing Lin Zhaoyang, Lin Yanyu stomped her feet in anger as she opened the door.
"Indeed. This match is so important. I don't believe Era Music was unaware of what it meant for Xiao Yu to have the venue set in the US. Call Xiao Yu and see what he says. If he wants the production team to change the venue, I can call the authorities and have them apply pressure," Lin Zhaoyang said.
In fact, Lin Zhaoyang had long realized that "Era Music King" was intentionally targeting Su Yu. After all, in two previous matches, he had competed in his opponents' home countries.
Encountering it once could be attributed to luck.
But encountering it a second or third time was simply preposterous.
How could there be such coincidences?
Previously, Lin Zhaoyang believed Su Yu had a high chance of winning, and the production team's actions would not only not affect him but even bring him benefits. However, it was different now. Tingyu's opponent was Sean from the US.
This competition was not just about music; it was about the honor of the Chinese music scene.
As an insider, Lin Zhaoyang could naturally guess why this situation occurred. The other party was targeting Tingyu's opponents and customizing competition venues for the show, all to make Tingyu lose and Sean win first place. Lin Zhaoyang also knew that since the other party dared to do it, they wouldn't leave any loose ends. The only way was to use Tingyu's influence and the Chinese authorities to pressure the production team, hoping they would change the country for the event.
"I'll call Susu," Lin Yanyu nodded.
Regardless, Su Yu was the one involved, and it was up to him to decide what he thought.
...
Outside the "Era Music King" venue.
The audience had already left. Some fans and media were lingering outside the venue, hoping to catch a glimpse of the producers.
However, the producers left directly from the contestant's garage and did not use the main entrance, so they had no chance of waiting.
After the show ended, Su Yu usually left first. This time, he was delayed because Lin Yanyu called him for a video chat after watching the show.
As he walked out of the production studio, he found Sean sitting in the lounge area, looking down at the coffee in his cup.
Sensing the movement on Su Yu's side, Sean looked up.
"Are you waiting for me?" Su Yu asked, confused by his gaze.
This was likely the first true one-on-one conversation between Su Yu and Sean.
"That's right." Sean finished his coffee and then stood up, walking towards Su Yu.
Westerners were generally more robust than Easterners. Su Yu, on the other hand, had a delicate appearance. Standing next to Sean, he appeared much less imposing.
However, Su Yu possessed a unique aura, a kind of confident laziness that gave an impression of assured success and security.
"If you feel it's unfair that the competition venue is in the US, I can go with you to discuss it with the production team, and we can choose another country," Sean said, still in his arrogant tone.
As the ruler who had dominated the Era Music Chart for many years, he had his pride.
Moreover, his purpose in participating in the competition was clear: to defeat everyone and ascend to the pinnacle of the blue planet's music scene.
If this competition was tainted by a lack of fairness, he wouldn't be very happy even if he won the championship.
"No need." Su Yu first looked at him with surprise, then shook his head with a smile.
In fact, Su Yu didn't have a good impression of Sean because Sean had been targeting him without reason since the beginning of this competition. But now, he realized that Sean wasn't as bad as he had imagined.
He was arrogant and had a strong desire for the championship, yet he was also straightforward, aiming solely for victory.
But he had his own principles. The fact that he was willing to compete fairly with Su Yu was enough for Su Yu to take him seriously.
"Why?" Sean asked, completely taken aback that Su Yu would refuse.
"I won against Miyamoto Ze in Japan, and I can win against you in the US too," Su Yu said with a lift of his lips, using an even more confident tone than Sean.
After speaking, he walked towards the exit.
Sean stood there, stunned, watching Su Yu's retreating back.
Su Yu's words echoed in his mind.
An unprecedented fighting spirit ignited in his heart.
After a long moment.
Sean took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and his lips curved slightly.
If that's the case, then I'll see how you win against me in the US!