Wait, what? Why was Koguchi Yoshihiro back in Huaxia competing in another show?
Chu Zhi guessed it might be because it was a good deal—high exposure for low cost?
"Teacher Liang, Teacher Zhu, Teacher Zhao, Teacher Gunman, Teacher Li, Teacher Yu. Nice to meet you all. I am Koguchi Yoshihiro. It's an honor to share the stage with everyone." The moment he walked in, Koguchi greeted everyone with a polite thirty-degree bow.
In Japan, bows are standardized—15°, 30°, 45°, and even 90°. A thirty-degree bow is the professional norm, and since the entertainment world is considered part of the workplace there, Koguchi did it without missing a beat.
His overly formal entrance made the other contestants a little nervous. Why so serious just to say hello?
Comments flew around:
"Teacher Koguchi's music was a part of my childhood."
"This show's getting more international—Jo Kwon from Korea, Koguchi from Japan, now it's a real East Asian showdown."
"So polite!"
"We've been fans for ages."
No one mentioned Chu Zhi by name, but that was because Koguchi considered himself his fan and friend. On almost every show he'd done in Japan, he had mentioned Chu Zhi by name.
Things like, "Among all the stars I've met, only Chu-san has more charisma," or "Only Chu-san moves me like that," made it clear: Koguchi was a hardcore fanboy. And unless Chu Zhi suffered some sort of disfiguring accident, Koguchi's obsessive endorsements weren't stopping anytime soon.
"Chu-san's voice and smile are just like I remember!" he said in broken Chinese.
Chu Zhi raised a brow. Technically, "voice and smile" was a phrase used to remember the dead. But Koguchi's expression was so earnest, like a kid proudly showing off a good grade to his dad, that Chu Zhi just smiled.
"We usually say someone still has their charm," Chu Zhi corrected gently.
"Charm still shining! Charm still shining! I see, so many stills! Chinese is hard," Koguchi muttered.
"Are you and Teacher Chu close?" Li Jun asked curiously. Curiosity kills the cat, after all.
"I met Chu-san on I Am Truly a Singer. His voice captivated me. Backlit was an incredible performance. It was moving beyond words," Koguchi said in fluent Japanese.
Everyone was chatting when the show's assistant bot Xiao Qi piped up, cueing the demo performance segment.
"I want to go first, if everyone's okay with that," Zhao Quan volunteered.
No one objected. He headed into the glass recording booth while Yu Lan studied his movements closely, trying to glean some insight.
"He's still sore about losing last time. He's got a killer aura today. Good," Yu Lan observed.
Zhao's demo was entirely in English. Korean-accented English was much smoother than Japanese-accented English, which often twisted foreign words into katakana approximations. For example, "America" becomes "A-me-ri-ka" (アメリカ).
Still, K-pop had made real waves in the US. Idol groups had even been invited to the Billboard Awards. From the lyrics, it was clearly a sultry love song—Jo Kwon's specialty.
One by one, contestants entered the booth to record their demos. When it was Chu Zhi's turn, he decided to be a little cheeky.
Feeling playful, he sang, "There's only one name for this kind of drive, and it's called desire. Far, farther, farther, far, far. Far, farther, farther, far, far."
Then he grinned and stepped out. "Hehe, that's enough."
Liang Zhengwen was baffled. Classical music, Sherlock Holmes, and now this lyric? He was dying to ask, Does Chu Zhi even know what rap is?
Yu Lan let out a quiet cough. He was also thrown off.
He mentally translated "Far, farther" into Chinese and thought, Isn't this just… going far away?
"Old Nine's first attempt at rap is definitely unique," Yu Lan said, subtly warning Jo Kwon that Chu Zhi's song was, in fact, a rap. Jo Kwon, Li Jun, and Gunman had arrived late, so they hadn't heard.
Even though Yu Lan was jealous of Chu Zhi's fame, shouldn't they present a united front against the Korean contestant?
Nope. Yu Lan would love to see Chu Zhi lose two rounds to the Korean and get eliminated.
"His first rap?" Jo Kwon thought of Chu Zhi's earlier performance of Compendium of Materia Medica on the MBC stage. He shot Yu Lan a cold smirk. These Huaxia people are trying to mess with me—make me drop my guard.
Though, Jo Kwon knew it was possible Chu Zhi had written that song before Materia Medica. I Am a Singer-Songwriter allowed both unreleased originals and old drafts.
But even if Chu Zhi brought out another Materia Medica, Jo Kwon wasn't worried. His song today, Two.Fish, had been specially approved by his agency for early release. He'd originally saved it for the final championship round.
"This Korean's nuts. I was being nice and he gives me attitude," Yu Lan muttered to himself. He noticed the cold smirk right away.
After everyone shared their demos, they moved to different waiting zones.
Chu Zhi, Liang Zhengwen, and Gunman went to the top zone. Zhu Xinyue and Yu Lan went to the middle.
The bottom zone was where it hurt—Jo Kwon, Koguchi Yoshihiro, and Li Jun.
Li Jun was feeling the pressure. Between a top-tier Japanese singer and a leading K-pop artist, he felt like a sandwich filling. Sure, his status rose just by sitting with them, but the hostility from Jo Kwon toward Chu Zhi felt almost physical, while Koguchi was practically glowing with fan energy.
Do I praise Jiu Ge right now or say something else? he wondered. Sitting in the middle, he looked right—Japanese deer-stalker hat, like Sherlock Holmes. Long, dark wool coat. Sitting on a swing seat.
He looked left—Korean pop star, eyes locked on the monitor, silent and intense.
Li Jun knew staying silent meant zero screen time, so he forced himself to speak. "So… do you guys feel confident today?"
The second the words left his mouth, both Koguchi and Jo Kwon turned to look at him.
He'd meant to ask, "Do you feel confident about today's match?" but under pressure, it got cut down to just, "Confident?"
Koguchi replied politely, "All the teachers are so inspiring. I don't have much confidence."
Jo Kwon's answer was firm: "I'm fully confident."
God, I miss Xiao Xu and Jiu Ge, Li Jun thought. In truth, if either Chu Zhi or Jo Kwon were in the bottom zone with him, he'd at least get some camera time.
Broadcast announcement: [Contestants in the bottom zone, please select your opponent for this round.]
Li Jun was up first. Originally, Jo Kwon had wanted to surprise-attack Chu Zhi right out the gate. But the showrunners knew the Kwon-Chu rivalry was ratings gold. No need to play all your best cards in one hand.
Li Jun had challenged Yu Lan twice already. He'd managed to beat Gunman once in between, which saved him from elimination. But this time, one more loss meant he'd be out.
Still, he was stubborn. He picked again.
"I choose Yu Lan from the middle zone!" Li Jun declared dramatically, even though he could have just tapped the screen quietly.
Episode 8. The first showdown was about to begin.