I’m Really a Superstar

Noon.

Zhang Ye was looking through the International Celebrity Rankings Index.

One page.

Two pages.

Three pages.

The people on the list were probably going to be his opponents in the near future.

At this moment, a long-distance call arrived.

It was from Lillian, the most beautiful woman in England.

“Hello, fellow smoker.”

“Oh hey, it’s Lillian.”

“What are you up to?”

“I was just thinking about something.”

“I got the news late, so I only just found out about your ascendancy to the top of Chinese showbiz.”

“Haha, indeed, your news is quite late.”

“When were you released from jail?”

“Just recently, in these past two months or so. It’s been a while already.”

“Oh, why didn’t you call your old friend then?”

“You’re an international superstar. How could I disturb you? Which tier of the rankings are you at now?”

“I’m still in the international A-list but slightly at the front. How about you?”

“I’ve recently been thinking about making a push into the international scene as well.”

“That’s a good thing. It’s much more interesting here than the entertainment circle that you’re used to back at home.”

“But I haven’t thought of a way to make a push into it.”

“Shouldn’t you be getting onto the rankings soon? The number one person of the Chinese entertainment circle should logically not be far from the international C-list rankings. When I first debuted in England before stepping up onto the international stage, I was ranked third on the S-list domestically. Then, I was automatically included in the international C-list celebrity rankings. I believe it should be a similar situation for you. With so many people in China, it’s much harder to get to the position of number one in the industry. Even if there are slight differences due to our countries’ circumstances, I believe you’re only a step or two away from the international C-list.”

“But it’s exactly these one or two steps that so many of our celebrities have fallen at.”

“You’re not the same. Don’t you have a lot of different titles to your name? Just get a prize and you’d make it onto the international rankings.”

“Get a prize?”

“It should be enough if you win an international prize, don’t you think?”

“Now that you mention it, that does seem like an idea.”

“For an international prize, there will be an additional percentage added to one’s popularity score in the rankings. For some prizes, it’s a 1.1 multiplier, and for others, it’s a 1.2 multiplier. They’re all different, and it depends on how valuable and prestigious the award is.”

The two of them might not have met each other in a long time, but once they started chatting on the phone, it still felt like their relationship was very close. It was especially so when Lillian’s Beijing accent kept coming up which made Zhang Ye want to laugh each time he heard it. After hanging up, he gave Lillian’s suggestion some thought. He wanted to get onto the international C-list rankings, but there were really not too many ways for him to achieve that.

Singing?

Variety shows?

Television series?

It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it, but there were no opportunities like that.

To the global audience, Zhang Ye was just a newcomer. Not many people knew about him, and he didn’t have any connections with the people there either. There was basically no chance of getting onto the rankings through the normal channels, and neither did he have the conditions to slowly develop his international fanbase. Therefore, the only feasible way was what Lillian had suggested. This was also the most direct, simple, and brute force way of achieving it!

To win a prize!

And force his way onto the rankings!

He had never gone the conventional way before anyway!

Zhang Ye suddenly shouted for the studio’s staff to gather to tell them about his idea.

When everyone heard it, they were floored!

Ha Qiqi was stunned. “You want to force your way into the international celebrity rankings?”

Zhang Zuo stared in shock. “Make use of winning an international award for additional popularity?”

Tong Fu laughed, “Pfft! Will that work?”

Little Wang also giggled. “This indeed has the characteristics of Director Zhang’s style!”

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “Lillian was the one who suggested this rotten idea to me, but I thought it was a pretty good suggestion. This bro likes something as simple and crude as it!”

Wu Yi was sweating bullets. “But I’ve never heard of anyone breaking into the international scene by winning an international award. Would the Rankings Index Agency allow something like that? Would that count as cheating?”

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes. “This bro will be getting an award using my sheer capabilities. How would that count as cheating? No one else has done something like this in the past because they did not have the ability to win an international award before getting onto the international celebrity rankings. But this bro is not the same. An international award? Let me think about which one I wanna get? Math! Right! Math it shall be!”

Wu Yi blinked. “Didn’t you forfeit that international math award?”

Zhang Ye said startled, “Ah, was there something like that?”

Ha Qiqi was speechless.

Zhang Zuo asked, “You don’t remember?”

Wu Yi said, “But that math award doesn’t actually command that much prestige. Of the few international math awards out there, that prize is at the lowest rung and it also doesn’t seem like it will contribute any additional percentage to your popularity score either. The additional percentage will only increase if it is a prestigious international award. Some of these awards even give an additional 1.3 times more popularity, so it would mean that if our international popularity score was originally at 10,000, it would go up to 13,000 after winning an award. If you really intend to break into the international entertainment circle through that channel, you would certainly have to go after a prestigious international award. Otherwise, I doubt it will be enough.”

Zhang Ye said again, “Does a Go award count then?”

Zhang Zuo said startled, “Uh, I don’t think there are any prestigious awards in Go? There are only titles to be won through different competitions.”

Zhang Ye asked again, “How about hacking then? This bro is the world’s number one hacker!”

Ha Qiqi wiped at sweat. “Do they give out awards for hacking? Aren’t those hackers all wanted criminals?”

Zhang Ye was also floored!

Damn!

This won’t do?

And that won’t do either?

Even with all these skills that I’ve got, there isn’t a place where I can make use of them?

Zhang Ye said, “Then can everyone search for something? To see if there are any prestigious international awards out there that I may have a chance of winning.”

Everyone dispersed and went looking.

Ha Qiqi checked online.

Zhang Zuo made some calls to inquire.

Little Wang checked through some information.

The prestigious international awards numbered several dozens, including the big and small ones.

The Best Actor award?

The Best Director award?

The Most Popular Singer award?

The Best Rock Singer award?

All of these didn’t have to be considered since Zhang Ye wouldn’t stand a chance of winning them right now. The only prestigious international awards that he had a chance of winning were few and far.

A short while later, everyone came back with their findings.

Little Wang yelled in surprise, “I’ve got it! There’s one!”

Zhang Zuo also seemed to have found something. “The only problem is that it will be too rushed.”

Zhang Ye asked, “Which award is it?”

Ha Qiqi spoke, “The Nobel Prize.”

What?

The Nobel Prize?

Zhang Ye was stunned. “That’s what you guys call it too?”

Ha Qiqi said in confusion, “What do you mean by ‘that’s what we call it too’? Well, it’s true that this award wasn’t called this in the past. But due to the poor running of the foundation that led it to becoming bankrupt, a new consortium took over and injected new funds into it. Afterwards, they continued awarding this prize and changed the name of the award.”

Fate!

This was fate!

Zhang Ye hurriedly asked, “How many prizes does it consist of?”

Ha Qiqi said, “Shouldn’t you know about the Nobel Prize? It consists of Mathematics, Chemistry, Peace, Literature, Physiology or Medicine, and so on and so forth. They’re the most critically acclaimed international prizes and also the most prestigious in their relevant fields. Like the Nobel Prize in Mathematics, it’s ranked higher than the international math award you forfeited. Although that award can be considered one of the top few prizes in the field of mathematics, the highest honor will always belong to the Nobel Prize in Mathematics ¹ .”

Zhang Zuo said, “The only problem we have is that it’s almost time for the selection process to take place. It’s happening in one and a half months from now.”

Ha Qiqi nodded and said, “Yeah, we won’t be able to make it in time, right?”

Little Wang said, “Are you thinking about getting the Nobel Prize in Mathematics or the Nobel Prize in Literature?”

Wu Yi said, “Uh, I think either would be a little difficult.”

Mathematics?

Literature?

He wanted both of these Nobel Prizes, and it was only a matter of time before he got them.

However, if Zhang Ye really had to choose one, he would choose to win the Nobel Prize in Literature!