Late at night, on ZhongxiaNet, Su Yan's fans were still immersed in the afterglow of the story.
Among Su Yan's previous works, there had been 'Rurouni Kenshin', a martial-arts romance.
There had been 'An ancient love song', a fantasy romance.
There had been 'To the Moon', a sci-fi romance.
And 'Your Lie in April', a music romance.
But 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', among all of Su Yan's film and television works, stood out as unique in style.
People used to think the worldview of 'Rurouni Kenshin' was already cruel enough—but 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' was on a whole different level. It was outright people devouring people.
[Please let the female lead come out soon and comfort David, that poor angel! This male lead is suffering way too much.]
[Honestly, the effects are amazing and the gunfights are great—but why is the plot so brutally depressing?]
[Teacher Su Yan's character writing is incredible. I actually teared up when David's mother died. She didn't have many scenes, but the details of how she cared for David were so well done.]
[Sigh… I feel so heavy after watching this. I'd probably be depressed immediately if I lived in that world.]
[I actually think this is Teacher Su Yan's best drama so far. The effects and the fantasy worldbuilding are insane.]
[If you like firearms, the first episode of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' is god-tier. The social and human aspects are absurd yet logical. If capitalists ruled the world, it might really end up like this.]
[Even though the first episode is pretty cruel to the protagonist and not very cool, I have a strong feeling this is a masterpiece in the making. In this worldview, what kind of crazy things will David do next?]
[What crazy things? Obviously, he'll fall in love with Lucy. The trailer already said they're going to the moon!]
[LOL. I was feeling sad, then suddenly burst out laughing.]
[So far, we only know from the trailer that the female lead is named Lucy. We know nothing else. Will Lucy finally appear in Episode 2?]
[I hope the latter plot gets a bit lighter. Just let the male and female leads fall in love and casually do something big in Night City—like overthrowing the existing ruling class or something. Like in 'Rurouni Kenshin', where Kenshin had a noble ideal and fought for world peace. If David goes in that direction, the ratings won't be low.]
[Among the three S-tier dramas this season, the most enjoyable first episode was 'South Dreams'. The best effects and immersion go to 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'. As for 'The Black Gate', I can only say the female lead is too ugly—I really can't get into it.]
[I actually think 'The Black Gate' has the best pacing—light and engaging, and the follow-up plot is very appealing. But in terms of depth, 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' is clearly the highest. On the surface, Episode 1 is just the male lead being tortured by fate, but it's really about showing how this world oppresses the lower class. That kind of setup is easy to mess up later, though—let's see how the old thief handles it. Anyway, I'm betting on 'Edgerunners' taking the seasonal crown!]
On the night 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' Episode 1 aired, massive discussions continued all night.
The episode's rating was released that very evening.
9.0 points.
That number made the staff at Su Yan's company tense.
By lunchtime the next day, many employees were distracted, their eyes frequently drifting toward Su Yan.
Ratings meant reputation. Among the three S-tier dramas that premiered this season, 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' had the lowest opening score.
After all, the first episode was extremely harsh on the protagonist—its viewing experience wasn't exactly pleasant.
'The Black Gate': 9.2
'South Dreams': 9.3
No way…
If the score was the lowest, wouldn't the ratings be—
But by noon, Zhongxia TV sent over the first-episode ratings for 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'.
Su Yan didn't hide it.
He made it public immediately.
5.09%.
"First place in premiere ratings?"
When Shinozaki Ikumi heard the news, she needed several minutes to process it.
The first episode of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' was mostly about building the worldview and laying foreshadowing.
The male lead's entire arc was pure suffering.
Only in Episode 2—after he installs the cyberware—would the gripping main plot and crazy combat scenes really begin.
And yet Episode 1 already ranked first in ratings?
Wouldn't the later episodes completely explode?
Both Gu Qingyuan and Shen Liqian felt goosebumps.
They were used to Su Yan's works starting slowly and climbing steadily.
But a first-place premiere—and during a season where three S-tier dramas launched simultaneously—made their hearts race.
"No need to get overly excited," Su Yan said calmly.
"Among the three S-tier dramas, 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' has the best effects, the most fight scenes, and the tightest pacing in Episode 1."
"As long as a drama has lots of action and effects, it naturally keeps casual viewers watching. So it's normal for 'Edgerunners' to rank first in the first week. But that advantage is strongest only in the premiere. If it wants to maintain first place later on, it depends on whether the story can truly keep people hooked."
Effects and novelty could only attract viewers temporarily.
For any drama, the most crucial thing was still the story—and the fate of its characters.
After Su Yan said this, everyone present became noticeably calmer.
He was absolutely right.
No matter how cruel Episode 1 was to the protagonist, it featured Xia Nation kung fu beating down an ordinary high-school male lead, highway gang shootouts, and bloody cyberpsycho massacres of police right from the start.
Those scenes naturally attracted casual viewers, so higher ratings made sense.
"But the current reputation score of 'Edgerunners' is the lowest among the three, which does affect later growth," Su Yan continued.
"It might not be able to hold first place in ratings over the next two or three weeks. However…"
He paused, then smiled slightly.
"However?" Shinozaki Ikumi asked.
"Even though the opening score isn't high, a 5.09% premiere tells me one thing—no matter how the rankings fluctuate during the broadcast, this drama is almost guaranteed to win the seasonal crown in the end."
"You're that confident?" Shen Liqian asked, eyes wide.
"Of course," Su Yan replied with a smile.
"This proves that the cyberpunk genre doesn't scare viewers away. That was my biggest worry—that mainstream audiences wouldn't accept it."
"But judging from the comments, people don't think the genre is a problem at all. In fact, most of them are eagerly waiting for Episode 2—for Shen Liqian and Gu Qingyuan to appear. The audience is full of romance-brains."
"That's because the trailer already hinted heavily at romance," Gu Qingyuan said softly.
"Even viewers who don't like gunfights, sci-fi, or action will keep watching out of respect for your past romance dramas."
"'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' ranking first in premiere ratings is a solid fact," Shinozaki Ikumi said, looking around the room.
"No matter how the other two competitors perform in the coming weeks, our goal this season is only one thing—win the seasonal crown, maybe even the annual one."
"I hope that at next year's Xiayan Awards, we'll be nominated—and win—Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenwriter, Best Producer, and more."
Su Yan, Shen Liqian, and Gu Qingyuan all looked at Shinozaki Ikumi.
"Of course," Su Yan added, "we can't ignore 'The Garden of Words', which we're currently filming."
"It's already confirmed for a July summer release. As our company's first film, I care less about massive box-office success than about winning at least a few awards."
Within half a day, news of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' topping the first-week ratings spread throughout the Xia Nation entertainment industry.
If Su Yan could identify the advantages of Episode 1's effects and spectacle, the media certainly could as well.
But first place was still first place.
No argument.
The media didn't care about nuance.
📰'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' Episode 1 hits 5.09%—tops the Spring Season's first week!
📰All three S-tier dramas this season break 5%—the Xia Nation TV industry welcomes a true spring!
📰Although 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' tops the first week, the real battle among the three S-tier dramas starts from Episode 2. If Episode 2 fails to break through and continues brutal protagonist suffering, both ratings and reputation may decline.
📰Can a cyberpunk drama maintain stable ratings? From Episode 2 onward, a sharp drop may occur.
📰The main creative teams of 'The Black Gate' and 'South Dreams' state in interviews that they will surpass all competitors within the next two weeks.
📰Three S-tier dramas, none of them weak—this season is a feast for Xia Nation drama fans!
📰Whoever wins the seasonal crown will likely secure the annual crown. Next year's Xiayan Awards may have a clear winner.
With the first-week results of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' released, competition for the first week of the spring season officially came to an end.
But anyone with clear eyes knew—
For these three dramas, the real competition was only just beginning.
'South Dreams', 'The Black Gate', and 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' had ratings of 5.02%, 5.03%, and 5.09%, respectively.
Their scores were 9.3, 9.2, and 9.0.
Overall, their performances were extremely close.
Any one of them could suddenly deliver a mind-blowing episode in a given week, sending both ratings and reputation soaring and locking in victory.
For now, 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' slight ratings advantage was practically negligible.
It just sounded nicer to say "first place in week one."
At Hudu TV and Sakura TV, senior executives in the production departments couldn't help but feel a little sour.
Especially Akasaka Yoshitoki.
After hearing about the high ratings of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' Episode 1, he reportedly didn't say a word for half an hour.
Still, appearances had to be maintained.
As department head, he calmly reassured his staff and made confident promises to upper management.
Alone in his office, though, he felt the pressure.
But thinking about the strength of 'The Black Gate's script, his heart steadied.
"It's not only your drama, Su Yan, that starts slow and surges later," Akasaka Yoshitoki muttered, taking a deep breath.
"'The Black Gate' is the same."
He firmly believed that the richer later-stage plot and the additional effects funding he had approved would allow 'The Black Gate' to ultimately emerge victorious among the three S-tier dramas.
"This season's crown will belong to Sakura TV."
Akasaka Yoshitoki clenched his fist.