'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' was different from Su Yan's other dramas. Because of the heavy visual effects workload, all ten episodes had been filmed early and sent straight to the VFX studios for post-production.
To be honest, many people had already guessed that the ending of this drama would be emotionally devastating. But guessing didn't mean anyone could truly brace themselves.
It was like 'Your Lie in April'—new viewers, even if they'd heard beforehand that the story was a tearjerker, would still end up crying when they actually watched it. So-called psychological defenses rarely worked.
Especially when the story was paired with high-quality visual effects.
In Shinozaki Ikumi's view, the overall standard of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' surpassed that of many past S-tier dramas in Xia Nation's television history.
She didn't know exactly how strong the competition would be—but at this moment, she fully trusted Su Yan.
At 8:00 p.m., before Sakura TV's 'The Black Gate' even officially aired, the network's ratings had already started climbing rapidly.
At the same time, other TV stations could clearly feel that their usual numbers were noticeably lower.
More than half an hour later, the first episode of 'The Black Gate' finished airing.
And just as many industry insiders had predicted before the premiere, the reception was astonishingly good.
That very night, hundreds of thousands of viewers rated it, opening with a staggering 9.2, instantly crushing all doubts in the industry.
By noon the next day, the first-episode ratings were released.
5.03%.
Although many critics and media outlets had guessed that this S-tier drama might break 5% on premiere, when it actually happened, the entire market exploded.
After two years, Xia Nation finally had another drama with ratings above 5%.
The media immediately went into overdrive.
📰'The Black Gate' breaks 5% on premiere—veteran screenwriter proves he's still at the top of his game!
📰Sakura TV silences all doubts! Akasaka Yoshitoki's biggest move since taking over production—'The Black Gate' aims straight for the annual ratings crown!
📰'The Black Gate' premiere makes so-called genius screenwriter Su Yan look like a joke. His best results in two years still fall far short of this debut!
📰Claims that Sakura TV collapsed after Su Yan's departure vanish overnight! Last season's 'Rain in Hudu: The Sequel' took the crown—this season, 'The Black Gate' aims to defend it, maybe even take the year!
📰Explosive! 'The Black Gate' premieres above 5%—genius screenwriter Su Yan may become the clown of the industry!
📰Sakura TV vs. Su Yan: a year-long feud reaches its climax. 'The Black Gate' strikes first—can 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', airing Sunday, keep up?
Once 'The Black Gate' achieved even slightly better results, the entire media narrative flipped.
After all, the media loved chaos.
When Su Yan was dominant, they mocked Sakura TV.
When Sakura TV scored a win, they belittled Su Yan.
Either way, there was traffic.
These headlines angered Su Yan's fans—but there was little they could argue against.
The first episode of 'The Black Gate' really was that good. A 9.2 rating was solid proof.
If later episodes maintained this quality, 5.03% would only be the beginning.
By the finale, the ratings would almost certainly climb even higher.
At moments like this, even many of Su Yan's fans began to feel uneasy.
They didn't believe 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', made at full power, would lose—
especially not to its old rival, Sakura TV's S-tier drama.
But 5.03% was undeniably intimidating.
After all, Su Yan's highest-rated work so far—' Your Lie in April'—had peaked at 4.78%.
Of course, if 'Your Lie in April' had enjoyed higher investment and aired on one of the three major networks, it might not have lost to these S-tier dramas—but those were all ifs.
Before 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' aired on Sunday night, no one knew what would happen.
Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Hudu TV's 'South Dreams' premiered.
And it completely replicated the explosive opening of 'The Black Gate' from the night before.
In fact, its word-of-mouth was even stronger.
That night, 'South Dreams' opened with a 9.3 rating from hundreds of thousands of viewers.
By Sunday noon, the first-episode ratings were released.
5.01%.
It lost narrowly to 'The Black Gate' in ratings, but slightly surpassed it in reputation.
The two dramas were essentially neck and neck.
Once these numbers came out, the entire market felt off.
Normally, S-tier premieres hovered around 5%—but not every show could hit that level.
Some slower-burn openings might land at 4.6% or 4.7%, which was perfectly normal.
But this season had three S-tier dramas launching at once.
Like a race for initiative in chess, ratings competition allowed no delay.
Hoping to rely on late-stage word-of-mouth comebacks was unrealistic—
unless all other dramas in the slot were weak.
In a season with three S-tier premieres, losing in ratings or reputation at the start meant the difficulty of recovery increased exponentially.
Now, two S-tier dramas have already broken 5%.
If 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' failed to do the same, it would be awkward—
It would mean falling behind from the very beginning.
The pressure now landed squarely on 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'.
From the afternoon onward, Su Yan's online fanbase grew visibly anxious.
[Don't go out partying tonight—everyone support the premiere!]
[Yeah, I'm fired up. We roast him every day, but when it matters, we can't let Su Yan embarrass himself.]
[I'm watching both 'The Black Gate' and 'South Dreams'. They're genuinely good.]
[I don't think they're better than 'Your Lie in April'. The vibe's different—I don't get why the ratings are so high.]
[That's the reality. TV dramas are a capital game—actors, investment, production teams, platforms, promotion—all affect ratings. 'Your Lie in April' had terrible conditions.]
[Exactly. Reset 'Your Lie in April', or make Season 2 with Su Yan and Shen Liqian as leads. Give it 60 million and air it on Zhongxia TV—I bet it'd crush 'The Black Gate' and 'South Dreams'.]
[Miyazono Kaori's popularity really is insane. Half a year after the finale, she's still in the top three in female-lead rankings.]
[We fans will support Su Yan no matter what. But whether 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' performs well depends on how strong it is—how many casual viewers it can hook.]
[Everything comes down to 8 p.m. tonight.]
[I know Su Yan's shows usually build up later—but I really don't want to see him get slapped again. Can this one just explode from the start?]
Although Su Yan's fans mocked him daily, when it truly mattered, they openly showed their support.
The online streaming page for 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' had already gone live early on Zhongxia TV's affiliated platform. Su Yan was once again forced to open a verified account—his followers had already surpassed five million, with tens of thousands of comments flooding the page.
On the site's top ten trending list, four entries were related to 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'.
As 8:00 p.m. approached, Zhongxia TV's ratings kept climbing.
Yue Kaicheng took a sip of cola and checked the time on his phone.
Almost there.
After Zhongxia TV's health-product commercial ended, the screen froze for a split second.
Harsh electronic noise and visual distortion flooded in.
Under the night sky, neon lights blazed brilliantly.
An intense, rhythmic BGM kicked in—paired with a cold-eyed, heavily muscled cybernetic man standing in the plaza.
Yue Kaicheng's interest was instantly piqued.
He had never watched cyberpunk-themed works before, but for this drama, he'd deliberately looked into the genre.
A future tech world.
Governments in decay.
High technology clashing with low living standards.
Conflict, bloodshed, and tragic fates.
That was the core appeal of this genre.
It wasn't very popular in the Xia Nation.
But nothing went from unpopular to popular overnight—
Maybe Su Yan's drama would be the one to make it trend.
As these thoughts ran through his head, the opening plot wasted no time.
The first character to appear—a muscular man—was a cyberpsycho.
Through narration and dialogue, Yue Kaicheng learned what cyberpsychosis was.
Simply put: the more organs a person replaced with cybernetic implants, the more unstable their mind became. Replace enough, and they lost themselves entirely.
This man had completely lost his sense of self.
In the center of Night City, he began an indiscriminate massacre.
The scene was… cool.
The cyberpsycho's movements were fast, brutal, and decisive. Killing felt effortless—there was a chaotic, twisted beauty to it.
Because the show had to consider younger audiences, the visuals weren't excessively gory. No eyeballs, no brains—Su Yan avoided those whenever possible.
But within the first two minutes, a city-center massacre that killed large numbers of police was more than enough to hook viewers.
Fight scenes appealed to everyone—young or old, male or female.
Soon, a pulled-back shot revealed the truth:
The earlier scene was actually the protagonist David, at a Ripperdoc clinic, using a brain-implant chip and something called Braindance to experience the cyberpsycho's final memories.
Including the pain of being gunned down in the city center.
Once this concept appeared, Yue Kaicheng was fully engaged.
Could you watch the memories of the dead?
That kind of technology was fascinating.
The perspective then shifted fully to David.
A poor student at a prestigious school in Night City.
His mother was an office worker—not poorly paid, but supporting her son's elite education while maintaining daily life was brutally difficult.
In this city, money was everything.
His mother's greatest hope was simple: that David would rise above, graduate from Arasaka Academy, and become someone above others.
It was blunt. Real. Unapologetic.
No talk of virtue, humility, or serving society.
In Night City, no money meant you were a bug. With money, you had everything.
Daylight murders. Street robberies. Crime everywhere—followed by violent police suppression.
Cyberware, strength, weapons—if you had money, even being reduced to just a brain wouldn't stop you from living.
In just a few minutes, Yue Kaicheng gained a rough but vivid understanding of the cyberpunk world.