101 Masked Women

Silence.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

"Welcome to my launch party," Iris spoke once again, not minding the zero response from the audience. "Thank you everyone for coming here today to help me celebrate the release of my album 'Rebirth'."

Silence.

Iris lowered the mic, swept her eyes across everyone, and then smiled.

Her blinding smile finally woke everyone up from their daze.

"I-it's Iris…oh my god…It's really Iris!"

"Iris, you're so beautiful!"

"Wow. Just wow! I…wow! She's so…wow! Wow!"

"How can someone be so beautiful? This is impossible."

"Yes. She looks even more beautiful in person."

"Wuwuwu. I can die happily now without any regrets. Wuwu…"

"I love you, Iris!"

They were screaming and cheering and whistling. The more extreme ones were crying, while some were still staring at Iris as if they couldn't believe that she was real. The majority of them were clapping, praising her unexpectedly strong presence.

"I'm your number one fan, Iris!"

"Hey! I'm her number one fan!"

"Dream on! This young master is her number one fan! Marry me, Iris Long! This young master will give you everything you want and take care of you for the rest of your life!"

"Hah! You want me to whack you all with my mighty slippers? I'm Iris' number one fan!"

This comment caused some good-natured booing from those who heard it.

"What did you say? Is it just me or am I hearing things?"

"Are you nuts? YOU'RE her number one fan? Don't think that we've forgotten how you criticized Iris online before!"

"Yeah! I have screenshots of your earlier negative comments! I have evidence! Let's see if you can still deny!"

"Hey! What negative comments?! Those are constructive criticisms, you know! My mighty slippers have always been used to fight for Iris! So I'm her number one fan, okay?!"

"Constructive criticism, my a**! Try claiming to be her number one fan again and this uncle will fight you! Come at me!"

This banter made the surrounding people laugh. They were finally fully awake from their earlier stupor. Feeling relaxed, they continued to tease the thin, grumpy-looking man.

With her great ears, Iris heard most of the shout-outs.

"Thank you everyone," Iris spoke to the mic again, eliciting another wave of loud applause.

She handed the mic to the emcee who was still staring at her like an idiot. She raised an eyebrow at him.

The emcee finally regained some of his senses. "Oh!" He hurriedly received the mic from her, holding it like it was the most precious treasure in the world.

His actions caused Iris to giggle.

Hearing her laughing at him, he blushed like a teenage boy meeting his long-time crush. "Uhm, haha. Thanks, Iris. I mean, Miss Long! Thank you very much, Miss Iris Long."

"I think it's time to start the performance." Her light, lovely laugh was like music to his ears. "Our guests have waited long enough."

"I…yes, yes! Of course! Right away, Iris. I mean, Miss Long!"

Pause.

Iris raised both of her eyebrows at him, silently reminding him that he was supposed to be the one to make the announcement for the performance.

"Oh!" An awkward laugh.

He had to take several deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Damn, he had never seen such a gorgeous woman up close and personal before. Was Iris Long this beautiful before? He didn't notice. He knew that the pop singer was pretty, but meeting her in person at this moment felt like all his breath was sucked away from his lungs. He even had the urge to prostrate on the ground and declare eternal loyalty and servitude to her.

Her presence was that strong and magnetic!

It was a completely different experience than just watching her on the screen.

He shook his head, feeling ridiculous. Right, he had a job to do.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come! Please give it up for the one and only…Iris Long!!!"

Deafening applause!

Iris waved at the 5,000 audience before walking to the piano. She was about to sit down when…

"Go to hell, you evil b*tch!" A shrill, angry yell was heard.

Then a masked woman ran forward and then jumped onstage like a crazed beast.

"Everything is your fault! We hate you, Iris Long!" Another shriller voice yelled.

A second masked woman threw raw eggs onstage, trying to hit Iris but Iris nimbly dodged. The eggs hit the emcee and two of the guitarists instead. The other musicians quickly backed away, trying to dodge the raining eggs.

Meanwhile, a third masked woman threw an opened plastic bottle filled with what looked like yellow water. The poor emcee was slow to dodge and was yet hit again.

"F*ck! Is this urine?!" He sniffed at his dripping clothes and immediately gagged.

Everyone was too shocked, watching the unbelievable scene playing in front of them. What in the world was happening? Just a few seconds ago, they were waiting and cheering in anticipation for Iris' performance. But suddenly…

They were too slow to process what was happening, so they couldn't react in time.

It was only when they saw the next actions of the first masked woman that they were jolted out of their shock.

"Die, Iris Long! Die die die! I'm gonna kill you, you sl*t!" The first masked woman grabbed the mic stand by the piano and chased after Iris, intending to violently hit her.

The second masked woman ran out of eggs, so she too jumped onstage and chased after Iris.

The drummer and the male backup singer immediately ran forward to try to stop the two crazy women. However, they were still a little too slow to react.

"Security! Where's the security?!" The representative from JJ's record label frantically looked around, shouting.

"Hurry up! Save Iris!" The representative from Bright Summit saw some of the security officers running all the way from the back. "What are you doing?! Why are you so far away?!"

Tang Yiyi and Dom hurried from backstage after hearing the clamour.

"Boss!" Dom immediately ran to Iris upon seeing her about to be attacked.

Chaos.

Everything was in utter chaos.

Many people screamed in fright when they saw the two masked women successfully corner Iris.

"No!" Tang Yiyi's heart felt like it dropped to the ground.

The drummer reached them first, but was pushed back when the first masked woman swung the mic stand at him. He tried to dodge, but the crazy woman kept on swinging until she hit him hard on the crotch. He buckled and dropped to his knees.

Seeing the drummer hit so horribly, the backup singer became wary and didn't immediately enter the fray, especially after the second woman grabbed her own mic stand belonging to the backup singers.

"Boss!"

"Iris, be careful!" Tang Yiyi shouted, scared to death.

The second masked woman swung the mic stand towards Iris.