Chapter 111: The Viral "Digital Song" Challenge Sweeping the Internet

After posting on Weibo, Wang Mo no longer paid attention to the online buzz. He entrusted everything to Liu Zhengwen: "President Liu, please keep a close eye on what happens next. If any singer manages to perform 'Digital Life' well, send me their audio for review. But under no circumstances should you miss anyone’s audition, even if they’re unknown."

Wang Mo said this because he knew that talent often hides among the common folk. A single mistake or oversight could mean missing out on a true master.

Liu Zhengwen smiled confidently. "Rest assured, I’ve assigned a dedicated team to monitor everything closely. There won’t be the slightest slip-up. You’ll have to hold me accountable if there is."

At that moment, Liu Zhengwen had no idea what kind of challenge he was dealing with.

In his view, at most, a thousand or so singers across China might participate in the 'Digital Life' challenge. With a few employees, the review could be completed in just days. What could be so difficult?

...

While Liu Zhengwen was assembling his team, a grand spectacle was unfolding online.

The first to learn of the song were the singers themselves. They immediately downloaded the sheet music for 'Digital Life' and began attempting to sing it.

That attempt changed everything.

One after another, their expressions darkened as they realized the song was far more complex than they had anticipated.

Though the lyrics mostly consisted of numbers with only a few words, even seasoned vocalists could only manage to sing the slow, simple opening lines. When reaching the lyrical climax, they faltered.

As for the subsequent extended numerical crescendo, they could only watch helplessly.

Fang Luo was no exception. Once brimming with confidence, after listening to the electronic demo of 'Digital Life,' he was dumbfounded.

Still, he stubbornly tried singing it a couple of times until he nearly choked on his own saliva at the climax and had to stop.

Looking at the sheet music, despair washed over him.

At that moment, he finally understood why Wuyan had said no suitable singer could be found.

This song was simply beyond human capability!

In a singer’s chat group, the atmosphere was equally lively.

"Hey, did anyone try singing Wuyan’s 'Digital Life'?"

"Of course! Our entire vocal department was in an uproar. No one could focus on anything else. Everyone downloaded it immediately and vowed to conquer Wuyan’s song."

"And the result?"

"Well... most of us nearly suffocated trying."

"Damn, I just tried it. This song’s difficulty is the highest I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t even get through it."

"Same here. I could only manage the slow opening lines. The lyrical climax was unmanageable, and the numeric sections afterward—I just stared in frustration."

"How on earth did Wuyan come up with such a monstrous song?"

"I suspected it’d be tough since Wuyan opened it to the whole internet, but after trying, it’s way beyond anything I imagined."

"…"

Across major entertainment companies and among many independent singers, professionals lamented bitterly.

Almost every singer who attempted the challenge was utterly defeated.

Even the few with strong vocal skills who finished 'Digital Life' lacked momentum, failing to match the electronic vocal’s intensity—clearly a failure.

...

At that moment, in a WeChat group called the "Black Alliance," Hao Mingxing sighed as he sent a message: "Brother Mo is brutal. I just tried 'Digital Life.' Honestly, I can’t even read it smoothly. Even though my Cantonese is decent, the difficulty is off the charts. The Cantonese climax and the high-pitched numerical sequences—I doubt I’ll ever reach that level."

Su Xueyao replied, "I don’t understand Cantonese, but just hearing the electronic demo made me want to surrender. Brother Fu, your high notes are great, and your song 'Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales' is famous for its high-pitched runs. Do you think you can handle this?"

Fu Zhuang gave a wry smile. "I’ve tried. I can barely manage the beginning. But the high notes later on come at me too fast—I can’t even react. The difficulty isn’t comparable to 'Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales.' Plus, my Cantonese isn’t good, so it’s even harder."

Tang Qinyun said, "Brother Fu, you’re impressive already. Just looking at all those numbers makes me nervous."

Knowing that Wang Mo had taken a liking to Tang Qinyun and that she had sung 'Sweet and Sour Is Just Me,' Hao Mingxing added her to the Black Alliance group, bringing their number to four.

Tang Qinyun’s charm and innocence quickly won the others’ affection and earned her a place among them.

What they didn’t know was that in a nearby dressing room, actress Xu Mengqi was also attempting the song, struggling with her Cantonese pronunciation: "5 34202 13942..."

After a few lines, she shook her head helplessly. "What was Wang Mo thinking to come up with this? It’s beyond what any ordinary singer can handle. Never mind, I won’t try anymore—it’ll only hurt my confidence. I’d better focus on practicing 'Peach Blossom Promise.' According to the production schedule, it’ll air on TV early next month alongside 'Eternal Soul Bond.' I need to make the most of my time."

...

If professional singers found the song so difficult, ordinary netizens were even less likely to succeed.

On every social platform, comment sections were ablaze with discussion.

"Hahaha, I just tried 'Digital Life' and nearly died at 26."

"I tried reading it aloud and failed miserably—let alone singing."

"This is way too hard, seriously."

"No, I’m determined to conquer this song."

"…"

Everyone was overwhelmingly discouraged.

Of course, some overconfident netizens boasted on forums:

"Hey everyone, I just finished singing 'Digital Life.' Not bad, right? Anyone want to critique?"

"Is this song really that hard? I sang it once and didn’t find it difficult."

"Heh, I’ve already conquered it."

"Wuyan, does my singing please you?"

"…"

But as soon as these videos were uploaded, they were mercilessly mocked.

Since when did toads think they had the voice of swans?

Yet, the curiosity and energy of netizens were boundless.

The more impossible the challenge, the more it ignited their interest.

As time passed, enthusiasm for the 'Digital Life' challenge only grew stronger.

Social media operators sensed a prime opportunity to capture this surge in traffic.

Douyin was the first to act.

They created a dedicated challenge zone where anyone could upload their version of 'Digital Life' and introduced a leaderboard.

The rankings were based on a weighted combination of views, likes, and comments.

A simple leaderboard drew countless users like moths to a flame.

Thousands uploaded their audition videos and campaigned for votes.

Even many professional singers, including some first- and second-tier stars, couldn’t resist joining.

Thanks to their superior skills and fan support, the top twenty spots were dominated by professionals.

Soon after, Weibo and several major music platforms followed suit, creating their own challenge sections and leaderboards.

The participation of multiple platforms transformed Wang Mo’s Weibo announcement into a nationwide "Digital Song" challenge.

In just three days, over three million videos were uploaded on Douyin.

More than a million participated on Weibo.

Other platforms also saw participation numbers exceed a million.

A rough estimate put the total number of participants across the internet at over five million—and still climbing rapidly.

At Yunhai Media, Liu Zhengwen was overwhelmed by the online storm.

Millions of videos? How was he supposed to review all that?

He had previously sworn he wouldn’t miss a single audition.

This was a simple math problem: if reviewing one video took one minute, five million videos would require five million minutes.

Five million minutes equaled roughly 3,472 days.

That meant, without eating, sleeping, or resting, it would take nearly ten years to finish.

Working eight hours a day, it would take thirty years.

And that wasn’t the final count. At this rate, the total number of videos could easily surpass ten million.

"Damn," he muttered. "There’s no way I can do this."

Wang Mo was equally stunned; he hadn’t expected it to spiral so out of control.

After some thought, he said, "President Liu, don’t worry about the review. Since Douyin and Weibo have leaderboards, the vast internet audience will serve as our best reviewers. If someone truly sings well, it’s unlikely they’ll be overlooked amid so many watchful eyes. I think you only need to review the top one hundred videos from each platform's leaderboard."

"Of course, if you’re worried about missing someone, extend that to the top two hundred."

"That way, you only need to review a few hundred videos to achieve our goal."

Liu Zhengwen considered this and replied, "Let’s expand the review to the top three hundred. The top couple hundred are mostly professionals whose high rankings are heavily influenced by fan bases. To avoid missing any hidden gems among amateurs, reviewing the top three hundred is safer."

"Fine, I’ll leave it to you," Wang Mo agreed, nodding.

He thought to himself: the nationwide craze is actually a good thing. Except for a few top-tier singers who didn’t participate, this challenge has basically rounded up all professional and amateur singers across China.

If this method still doesn’t find the right singer, then it’s simply a matter of regret.

However, just as Wang Mo was pondering how to select the perfect singer, something unexpected happened…

(End of chapter)