After signing the contract with the program team, Chu Zhi secured 95 million KRW per episode, along with a 20 million KRW signing bonus, covering all living expenses.
Lao Qian negotiated excellent terms for travel and accommodation—five-star hotel suites for the artist and standard rooms for the crew.
MBC's King of Masked Singer Schedule
As the "Defiant Challenger" (defeated warriors' representative), Chu Zhi wouldn't appear until the mid-section of the show. Initially, he thought he'd have to wait half a month, but the filming schedule was tight—only seven or eight days left before his flight to Korea.
The Korean version of King of Masked Singer had a streamlined format:
Eight initial contestants face off in two rounds (4v4, then 2v2). Losers unmask and leave.
The final two undisclosed contestants compete in the third round.
The program then introduces the "Defiant Challenger"—Chu Zhi's role—representing the fallen contestants.
Four rounds total determine the "King."
To ensure he had enough aces up his sleeve, Chu Zhi launched an unprecedented assault on the system's personality tasks. He was going to flaunt his skills, not get humiliated.
In one week, he completed four challenges, amassing a fortune in Personality Coins.
[Eat spicy food ×200] → 6 Coins
[Smoke ×500] → 7 Coins
[Reject 5 industry invitations] → 3 Coins
[Consume excessive carbs for a day ×50] → 7 Coins
Total: 23 Coins (plus 1 leftover) → 24 Coins for four consecutive draws.
The results were mixed:
Bad news: His attempt to exploit the gacha system failed—the pool doesn't refresh unless you draw.
Good news: The four mystery boxes were fantastic—one album, one legendary title, one song, and Japanese fluency.
Irony alert: Heading to Korea but pulling Japanese instead of Korean? A little off-target, but still a huge advantage. His odds of success weren't just 90%—let's be modest and say 89.9%.
That night, Chu Zhi experimented with his new legendary title.
"Let's start with a small dose." He took two swigs of Baijiu (strong Chinese liquor), feeling the burn.
After drinking about 100ml, instead of getting drunk, he felt inspired, almost poetic.
"Li Bai could write a hundred poems after a jug of wine? Watch this."
He picked up his violin. Thanks to his previous album arrangements, he was proficient in multiple instruments.
He played Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor—a piece that wasn't technically the hardest, but required soul to shine.
Normally, his playing was mechanical, but under the influence, his performance transformed:
Bow control: Balanced pressure, avoiding harshness or dragging.
Rhythm: Passionate, dynamic shifts between half-bow and full-bow.
After finishing the first movement, Chu Zhi realized the true power of the legendary title.
"I'm not even at a professional level normally, but just now? That was pro-tier."
If a small dose could elevate him to professional, a larger dose might push him into elite territory.
Limitation discovered: The title couldn't create skill from nothing. When he tried playing the zhongruan (a Chinese lute he'd never touched), he failed spectacularly.
"Gotta save this." He uploaded his violin performance to Bilibili, then—still buzzing—played piano, guitar, and synthesizer, with electric guitar being his strongest.
Imagine if I pull a traditional Chinese-style song next… The thought of mastering classical instruments excited him.
(Bilibili was his secret self-improvement diary—posting practice videos gave him the illusion of being a content creator, though lol, no one actually watches.)
Two days before flying to Seoul, big news dropped.
"Ninth Brother! We just got two official appointments—Public Security Image Ambassador AND Fire Safety Ambassador!" Even the usually calm Niu Jiangxue was losing her cool.
"Double-check to avoid scams," Lao Qian said, itching for a cigarette (but stopping under Wang Yuan's glare). "Fire Safety Ambassadors are usually high-profile celebs—Wu Tang and Su Yiwu both did it. But Public Security Ambassadors? Those are always veteran artists with both virtue and talent!"
"I verified again," Fei Ge interjected. "The email has official stamps. Forging government seals is a felony—this is legit."
"What kind of connections does Brother Chu have? This is 'national favorite' treatment!"
Wang Yuan, the least surprised, simply said, "A'Jiu is a model artist. Why wouldn't they pick him?"
As for Chu Zhi himself? He puffed his cigarette in the company's smoking area, wondering:
"Who leaked that I'm both handsome AND a perfect embodiment of socialist core values?"
Jokes aside, he suspected the dual appointments were tied to his late parents' public service.
Even the CEO of Taiyang Chuanhe, Huang Bo, was ecstatic. Many celebrities begged and paid just to appear in patriotic films for official connections—now, Chu Zhi had direct state endorsement.
"Maybe we can even get him to sing theme songs for propaganda movies…" Huang Bo daydreamed.
The next two days were spent at the Beijing Fire Rescue Training Base in Daxing District.
At the entrance, a slogan loomed:
"Loyal to the Party, Disciplined, Brave in the Face of Danger, Devoted to the People."
The poster and video shoots wrapped up ahead of schedule—even the Public Security promo was done on-site for efficiency.
The next day, Chu Zhi's dual ambassador titles were officially announced online.