TO SHOU WITH LOVE

10 - DEBT COLLECTORS

On the large screen, representing the vote count for the Marsara band, the bar graph shot up, taking an initial lead of 200 votes.

Regarding Sailub's choice, the audience had various expressions, and a quiet murmuring rose from below the stage.

200 votes were not a small number, and prior to this, there had been almost no instances of a reversal in the voting results after they were revealed.

The host turned to look at the big screen and said, "Now, I invite each audience member to pick up their voting device and cast their vote. Let's wait and see what the final result will be."

The two bar graphs on the screen began to rise rapidly. As more and more audience members cast their votes, it became evident that the 200-vote gap was gradually narrowing, shrinking to one hundred votes, fifty votes, twenty votes, ten votes...

At the moment when the two bar graphs were level, everyone held their breath, and the whole venue fell silent.

In the next moment, the bar graph on the side of Asperatus unexpectedly surpassed Marsara's, and its growth rate didn't slow down.

It continued to rise by more than a dozen votes before stopping.

Suddenly, a few screams and whistles rang out in the room -
Asperatus had overtaken Marsara!

The audience vote counts for Marsara and Asperatus were 143 and 357, respectively. The final result was 343 to 357, with Asperatus even surpassing Marsara by fourteen votes.

After several hours of recording, this was the first time such a situation had occurred, and this overturning result made the emotions of the entire audience become excited and restless.

This excitement continued until the end of the program recording.

As the audience left, many people were still discussing the dramatic turnaround in the score of that match.

When Sailub stood up from his seat, he took out his phone and glanced at it.

Apart from a few messages from Way, everything was calm.

Thanapon hadn't released that photo.

Sailub wasn't sure what Thanapon's plan was now. He hadn't chosen Asperatus, but they still achieved their goal of advancing. What would Thanapon do next with that photo?

Regardless, Sailub planned to talk to Thanapon about it as soon as possible.

The boy's temperament was unpredictable, and one couldn't be sure what action he might take.

The bands hadn't dispersed yet and were waiting in the lounge for the director to explain the rules for the next match.

Sailub asked a staff member to help him find Thanapon, while he himself stood by the window waiting.

The exiting audience had already walked out through another door, heading in the direction of the buses in small groups.

Sailub stood by the window on the second floor and could hear some audience members still discussing the program just recorded.

A few male voices discussing Marsara and Asperatus were quite loud and clear, reaching Sailub's ears -
"Who did you choose in that round? Marsara or Asperatus?"

"Definitely Asperatus. The improvisation round was too amazing. It crushed Marsara, didn't it?"

"I also chose Asperatus, not because of their performance, purely because the lead singer roasted Sailub so satisfyingly."

The guys laughed, and someone else said, "Indeed, the person next to me also voted for Asperatus because of that. It's so gratifying. What qualifications does Sailub have to criticize others when he causes a car crash scene at his own concert..."