Chapter 107: Cheap Tactics
At the beginning, Isabella felt somewhat panicked being surrounded by top industry professionals.
But once she entered her focused state, she completely tuned out all distractions around her, leaving only the competition progress displayed before her eyes.
"Looking at the large screens behind our contestants, we can see that Contestant Number Three is making remarkable progress. Her texture work is absolutely stunning so far. Contestant Number Three is from last year's championship team, Summit Holdings Corporation."
The host shared the audience's excitement as they watched the content on the large screens, joining them in their gasps of amazement.
William sat in the audience looking completely confident, as if victory was already assured.
To him, winning seemed hardly surprising—losing would be what seemed strange.
"Just wait to lose," he chuckled, seemingly mocking Richard's overconfidence.
"Don't be so hasty. Who knows if a dark horse might emerge? Don't let your guard down until the final moment," Richard replied calmly.
Richard remained completely composed, showing no panic whatsoever despite Summit Holdings Corporation's team temporarily taking the lead.
William was right—Richard had initially entered Isabella in this competition merely to boost her profile and create buzz for Infinity Ventures Corporation's flying car project, making it easier to attract investors later.
Whether she actually won in the end didn't matter to Richard at all.
After all, he didn't depend on these competitions for income.
But once William appeared and made those highly insulting remarks, the competition's meaning changed entirely for Richard.
Making William regret his words became the most important objective.
While the two men competed silently below, Isabella on stage had already completed the first section of work.
The competition used a point system. To make it more entertaining, the lengthy and potentially boring modeling contest was divided into three segments.
There were no judges, only audience members, and the final voting results would determine the rankings.
Only this kind of suspenseful competition could attract broader attention.
If Isabella could see the screen behind her, she would be amazed to discover that the large display showed betting odds on who would become this year's champion.
[Although Summit Holdings Corporation's animation team performed well last year, I'm hoping a different company wins this year. I'm already sick of their art style.]
[Even though they're the top domestic team! Summit Holdings Corporation's rendering is pretty solid, but I wish their artists would change their style.]
[Has anyone noticed Infinity Ventures Corporation? They look like they walked into the wrong competition. Didn't anyone tell their boss this is an animation industry contest?]
As contestants gradually submitted their first-segment work, their roughly rendered pieces were displayed one by one.
Although most people claimed to be tired of Summit Holdings Corporation's style, the online voting results were honest—Contestant Number Three held a commanding lead.
Isabella's score was middle-of-the-pack. She wasn't among the top performers, but she hadn't been eliminated either, successfully advancing to the second segment.
Richard remained completely confident, not even furrowing his brow.
With Isabella's current score, she would need at least fifty percent of the votes in the second segment to advance.
Was Richard really that confident Isabella could win? William glanced sideways at Richard's expression, feeling a barely detectable flutter of doubt rise in his chest.
He quickly buried this complex emotion and focused more intently on the stage.
The first segment had eliminated half the contestants. The remaining participants had ten minutes to organize their thoughts and rest.
Isabella stood on stage, took a few sips from her water bottle, then sat back down.
She didn't look at the audience's reactions because she knew William was watching her at this very moment.
Only winning the competition would be the best response to his doubts!
Having firmly resolved this in her heart, Isabella threw herself even more wholeheartedly into the second segment.
Isabella couldn't see the large screen behind her, but the audience below had a clear view. Right from the start of the second segment, most contestants had already created noticeable gaps between their performances.
Some participants who had barely squeezed into the second segment clearly weren't prepared at all, struggling badly with time management.
Many even dragged work that should have been completed in the first segment into the second.
While Isabella's first-segment performance could only be described as adequate, by the second segment, she was clearly gaining steady momentum.
She carefully refined and adjusted the design she had just created, beginning the texturing process.
The audience below could clearly recognize Isabella's skill.
Even Laura, who knew absolutely nothing about modeling and rendering, could sense Isabella's competence.
She sat at her computer, watching Isabella's design fall into place, instantly feeling extremely nervous.
If Isabella actually won, would William look at her with new respect?
What if the two of them rekindled their old romance?
Laura's mood grew increasingly sour, her brow furrowing tightly as she unconsciously bit her fingernails.
"What are you afraid of?" Zara patted Laura's shoulder, signaling her to calm down. "If she wants to win the competition, she needs to stay focused! But what if, right now, she learned some bad news... do you think she could still win?"
Laura looked up at Zara blankly. After a long moment, she slapped her thigh hard. "You're right! How didn't I think of that!"
Laura then began frantically searching for her phone, expertly dialing the top contact in her recent calls list.
The cold automated message on the other end reminded Laura—she'd been blocked.
To contact Isabella, Laura had already changed phone numbers several times.
After grabbing Zara's phone, Laura nervously redialed.
The phone rang for a long time, but no one answered.
"Keep calling, call more! Once she gets anxious, she'll know!" Zara encouraged Isabella with her eyes, then the two of them relentlessly called Isabella's phone, solely to disrupt her concentration.
At the competition venue.
Richard sat below, his phone vibrating nonstop in his pants pocket.
Before taking the stage, Isabella had given him her phone for safekeeping.
Since earlier, her phone had been ringing continuously, one call after another.
To say this wasn't someone acting deliberately—Richard wouldn't believe it.
Who would be this bored?
Richard's gaze casually swept over William.
Since the second segment began, neither of them had spoken, so he could be certain this phone caller wasn't connected to William.
At least not at his instruction.
Then who else could it be? Richard was getting extremely annoyed. He expressionlessly pulled out Isabella's phone.