Bored as Ever, Yet Still No. 1 on the Survival Show

Zhou Yue had always thought of himself as an ordinary, unremarkable, boring man. Like most men in the world, he liked playing games and watching anime. Every now and then, he'd think about exercising, then impulsively ask someone to play basketball with him, even though he wasn't any good at it.

That ordinary life came to an end on a Monday morning, after he inexplicably signed a talent-show contract that paid two hundred thousand yuan.

Zhou Yue knew a little about talent shows, but he was also very clear about his own abilities. He had nothing going for him except his looks.

What good were good looks? Could he eat them? A boring, clueless guy like him would definitely get eliminated after a month on the show. He could just take his monthly salary of two hundred thousand yuan and leave. Wouldn't that be great?

When the first behind-the-scenes leaks for Become an Idol started coming out before filming, the show was hailed by netizens as a battle of the gods.

There was Ye Yutong, returning from H Country with a built-in fanbase; Liu Tang, a handsome composer with a modest following in China; Chu Qing, a handsome internet celebrity with loads of traffic; former contestants who had built up a fanbase but never debuted; and carefully trained trainees from major entertainment companies.

The show also announced a 24-hour livestream format. Members could even watch footage from every location except the bathrooms.

Once filming began, most of the trainees were trying to rise to the top by getting close to each other on camera without putting in any real work. There were also the hardcore overachievers, who ignored everything else and focused solely on outworking everyone, as well as those who thought they were only there to make up the numbers and had already given up.

Only Zhou Yue diligently clocked in at the practice room like an office worker, practicing dance from nine to five, Monday through Friday, with weekends off. It was a job, after all. He had to make sure the producers felt they were getting their money's worth.

On days when he wasn't allowed to use his phone, he either spaced out or watched melodramatic TV shows with the cafeteria ladies.

His goal was to make it past the first round of voting, get eliminated, then cry and beg his boss not to fire him because he still wanted to keep working.

But reality was cruel. He was just too handsome. When the camera panned across a group of men, everyone's eyes went straight to him.

Turns out, you really can make a living off your looks.

In his fans' eyes, clocking in to practice dancing from nine to five with weekends off was diligence. Spacing out in the dorm was aloofness. Watching melodramas with the cafeteria ladies was adorable!

So the conclusion was: Baby, you were born to be the perfect idol!

Meanwhile, Zhou Yue was thinking: Let me go! I'm just an emotionless wage slave who hates working but has to show up. I'm really not cut out to be an idol!

Theme: Do your job well