Chapter Two: The Price of Going Viral

“Don't Fear the Dawn” went online without publicity or even cover art. Xinghe posted a phone recording before sunrise. By nine it had a million plays. By noon, its eight-bar chorus filled every short-video feed. At seven that evening, the empty section at his opening set had become a crush of people holding signs bearing his name. When ten thousand voices sang the first line, his hand did not shake. The roar rose through his feet like a letter destiny had spent seven years delivering. He stepped to the edge of the stage. Yet amid the lights was one hard patch of darkness. The girl from the previous night sat there. Her father held her and wept, while she patted his shoulder like a courteous stranger.