Most of the time, Su Yan was a fairly low-key person.
His days were spent handling company affairs, filming, coordinating with partners, and he rarely accepted media interviews.
As for social media, he usually only posted trailers and promotional videos for his works.
So when he suddenly posted a statement at noon—
From Episode 7 onward, 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' will maintain the No.1 ratings position until the finale.
—Everyone was stunned.
Su Yan, are you seriously not taking the other two S-tier dramas, 'The Black Gate' and 'South Dreams', seriously at all?
"Popping champagne at halftime" is one thing.
If you succeed, it becomes a legendary story.
If you fail, it turns into lifelong black history.
No matter what achievements you earn later, once that stain exists, it will always be dragged out, leaving you unable to hold your head high.
Fans and media were momentarily dumbfounded—but then came wild excitement.
There are spectators everywhere, in every world.
["Teacher Su Yan has finally gone crazy—and I love it."]
["That's how it should be. Be domineering. I've been sick of 'The Black Gate' for ages. 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' has to crush it!"]
["First time I've seen Teacher Su Yan say something like this. Looks like he's been holding in a lot of anger."]
["Of course he has. This season, he was the first to announce an S-tier production. Then suddenly, Sakura TV, which hadn't made an S-tier drama in over two years, decided to do one too—and Hudu TV followed right after. Who do you think they were targeting? If 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' hadn't aired on Zhongxia TV, even Zhongxia would've joined the targeting. Su Yan must've been furious inside."]
["I was still unable to move on from Maine's death, and now I'm fired up again. Looks like Teacher Su Yan has quite a temper too."]
["Well, duh. Someone without fire in them couldn't create a cyberpunk drama."]
["Now let's see how Sakura TV responds. This is basically a direct provocation—'from now until the finale, you'll never surpass us even once.' He clearly doesn't think much of 'The Black Gate' at all."]
["Hahahaha! Full support. This is the kind of screenwriter-actor combo I love!"]
["Honestly, Teacher Su Yan is legendary. Two years since his debut, and he's openly challenging Sakura TV. That's real genius."]
["But if 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' gets overtaken before it ends… that'd be a massive embarrassment."]
["If you don't even have this much confidence, how do you plan to win the seasonal or yearly crown?"]
In less than half a day, fans and media pushed the topic straight to the trending list.
When Akasaka Yoshitoki heard the news, he was already angry about 'The Black Gate' being overtaken again in Week 6.
Now his blood pressure shot up.
Sakura TV was a giant—how could they possibly back down from Su Yan?
If Su Yan slapped him in the face like this and he didn't respond, where would his authority be?
Under Akasaka Yoshitoki's implicit guidance, the 'The Black Gate' production team—producers, directors, screenwriters, and lead actors—all posted responses attacking Su Yan.
At this point, there was no need for decorum.
Every sharp, cutting remark came out.
Accusations of arrogance, disrespect toward industry seniors, and letting success go to his head.
Meanwhile, Shi Peihua and Gu Qingyuan, as lead actors, didn't hold back either and fired back publicly.
Within two days, Su Yan's statement triggered an online war involving more than a dozen famous actors, screenwriters, and directors.
The entire Xia Nation television industry was feasting on this drama.
The media were the happiest of all—daily traffic-boosting headlines poured out.
📰The conflict between Su Yan and Akasaka Yoshitoki intensifies. The ratings battle between 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' and 'The Black Gate' is, at its core, a battle of pride.
📰From once being superior and subordinate at Sakura TV to now standing in direct opposition—hard to imagine the head of Sakura TV's production department, Akasaka Yoshitoki, in such a humiliating position.
📰After Episode 6 of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', its online popularity continues to narrowly suppress 'The Black Gate'. Average per-episode paid views have surpassed 12 million, ranking first this season!
📰Will it become a legend—or a joke? 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' has become a decisive work in Su Yan's career!
📰Akasaka Yoshitoki personally nurtured his greatest enemy—Su Yan!
📰Popping champagne at halftime may be arrogant, but true geniuses have the capital to be arrogant. Setting a great goal is easy; announcing it in advance and then achieving it is the hard part. If 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' truly wins the seasonal crown, it will become a legendary chapter in Su Yan's career—and Sakura TV's greatest humiliation in recent years.
Some things, even if never spoken aloud, were understood by everyone.
But there was always room left—for dignity.
Now, after the media frenzy and fan uproar, that dignity was gone.
No matter how high the ratings, no matter how successful the shows—
Whoever failed to take the seasonal crown would be a clown, a loser, a national laughingstock.
That was the effect of Su Yan's words.
Sakura TV went all-in, pouring every last resource into promoting 'The Black Gate' to an absurd degree.
Zhongxia TV refused to back down.
At this stage, how could they retreat?
The seasonal crown—maybe even the yearly crown—was within reach.
If they won, Zhongxia's employees would be swimming in bonuses this year.
Even if not for Su Yan, they had to fight for themselves.
Both stations pushed with full force.
As for Hudu TV's 'South Dreams', the media barely mentioned it anymore.
Why report on a third-place show?
Even if it was S-tier, third place was still half a failure.
Friday night, Episode 7 of 'The Black Gate' aired.
As usual, praise flooded in, discussions exploded, and it trended online.
But when ratings were announced the next day—
5.44%.
The same as 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' Episode 6.
But—
This was Week 7, not Week 6.
If 'The Black Gate' wanted to win this week, it could only hope 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' dropped.
Saturday, Episode 7 of 'South Dreams' aired.
For the first time, it broke 5.3%, reaching 5.31%.
But the TV industry was like the college entrance exam—
Your score didn't matter.
Your ranking did.
In any other season, 'South Dreams' would've crushed everything.
But in this season, its performance looked painfully mediocre.
Sunday arrived.
Episode 7 of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' aired.
After Maine died in the previous episode, fans had spent an entire week debating where the story would go.
This episode answered.
David became the leader, continuing the cyberpunk life with the remaining members of Maine's team.
But the youthful, lively expression on his face faded.
He grew into a mature man.
And his name began to spread through Night City.
For certain reasons, Lucy temporarily left the team.
She and David were still lovers.
TV dramas couldn't be as explicit as the original animation—no bold intimacy at home.
But Episode 7 still included subtle couple moments between David and Lucy, driving Su Yan's fans into a frenzy.
Even though the scenes were cleverly framed, fans filled in the blanks with their imaginations.
Meanwhile, Rebecca's screen time increased significantly.
David and Lucy were still in love, but after Maine's death, an unspoken barrier lingered between them.
Perhaps it was Lucy's request—"I don't want you to die."
She sensed that if David continued this life, he would one day follow Maine's path.
Or perhaps Lucy never fully trusted David, never once saying that crucial line—
"You can do it."
Either way, viewers could tell: they were deeply in love, yet both carried secrets.
At the end of Episode 7, Lucy confessed that she had once been a hacker for Arasaka Corporation in her childhood—and had escaped.
The episode closed with Arasaka launching massive cyber-tracking to investigate Tanaka's death, only for Lucy to intercept and shut them down.
A storm-before-the-storm atmosphere emerged.
From the very beginning, the show had emphasized David's extraordinary tolerance for implants.
He had used Sandevistan countless times without showing cyberpsychosis symptoms.
If Arasaka Corporation discovered him, no one knew what inhumane experiments awaited him.
The sense of danger exploded.
After the episode, viewers felt something was off.
["Is this going to get tragic?"]
["Lucy used to be an Arasaka hacker—she escaped. Is the next arc Arasaka capturing Lucy?"]
["No, Lucy clearly doesn't want Arasaka to find David. Only Tanaka and Lucy knew about David's uniqueness—and Tanaka is dead. As long as Lucy isn't caught, David should be safe!"]
["This show's pacing is insane. My brain hurts watching it."]
["That's cyberpunk for you—layers upon layers of settings. Honestly, what I admire most is how many innovative concepts Su Yan threw in and then barely expanded on."]
["Like braindance—recording and reliving someone else's memories. That's insanely cool."]
["So when are Lucy and David going to the moon? He promised her! It's Episode 7 already!"]
["Who knows—maybe there'll be a second season. Don't rush."]
["True. The worldbuilding is so complex, one season might not be enough."]
["I just hope Su Yan shows mercy—don't give David cyberpsychosis, and don't let Arasaka catch Lucy."]
["David's probably immune. If he were going to break, it would've happened already. That might be exactly why the company's watching him."]
["Ever since Maine died, this has been suffocating. I just want David to power up and slaughter Arasaka!"]
Fans discussed the episode all night.
By noon the next day, Episode 7's ratings were released—
5.49%.
Not only did it reclaim the weekly No.1 spot—
It stood just one step away from 5.5%.
And only 0.03% away from the five-year record of 'Blazing Dawn' at 5.52%.