The results of Episode 7 of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' immediately sent the market into a frenzy.
At first glance, 5.44% for 'The Black Gate' and 5.49% for 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' looked extremely close.
But in reality, once ratings reached this level, even a tiny increase became incredibly difficult.
The media reacted at lightning speed. Articles sprang up like mushrooms after the rain.
đź“°'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' Episode 7 wins the seasonal crown once again! 'The Black Gate' still fails to achieve an overtake.
đź“°Only three episodes remain before 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' concludes. Can 'The Black Gate' complete its revenge in the remaining three weeks?
đź“°Su Yan keeps his word. In Week 7, 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' still holds the No.1 ratings position!
đź“°The narrative depth and tragic atmosphere of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' reach new heights!
📰Clear signs are emerging—will Su Yan once again choose a tragic ending?
đź“°'The Black Gate' loses again to 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'. Is there still a chance for a comeback?
📰The entire cast of 'The Black Gate' launches offline promotional tours—can this push its ratings to a new level?
Inside Dimensional Pictures—
"We won again!"
Su Yan, Shi Peihua, Shen Liqian, Gu Qingyuan, and Shinozaki Ikumi gathered together.
After filming for 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' wrapped, Shen Liqian had been traveling all over Xia Nation, shooting new endorsement commercials and doing cameo appearances for friends in the industry.
She had only recently found the time to breathe—and immediately came to Su Yan's company to make an appearance and maintain visibility.
From 'Your Lie in April' to 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', acting in Su Yan's works had caused her popularity to skyrocket across Xia Nation.
Several endorsements she had no chance of getting in previous years now came knocking on her door.
Kaori Miyazono in 'Your Lie in April'.
Rebecca in 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners'.
Although the latter wasn't the female lead, as the second female lead in a drama nearing 5.5% ratings, Rebecca boosted Shen Liqian's career no less than Kaori did.
Coming to Su Yan's company at this time to stay visible was clearly with hopes of continuing collaboration.
Of course, Su Yan understood her intentions.
But understanding didn't mean disliking it.
To be blunt, adult relationships often revolved around fame and profit—and Shen Liqian's open, unapologetic attitude was something he actually appreciated.
She wasn't part of the company, but after working together on two dramas, they were friends. There was no reason to drive her away.
All things considered, it had been over a month since he last saw her.
"Call everyone from the 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' crew. Let's all get together tonight," Su Yan said, clearly in a good mood.
If Episode 7 could still top the charts, then Episodes 8, 9, and 10 were practically guaranteed.
The most iconic scenes of the entire series were all concentrated there.
"Is this an early celebration banquet?" Shen Liqian asked curiously.
"Of course not," Su Yan replied with a smile.
"It's just a casual get-together for the crew. The real celebration will be after Episode 10 airs. I'll invite reporters and media to do on-site interviews to celebrate 'Edgerunners' taking the top spot."
"You're even inviting reporters?" Shen Liqian froze for a moment, then laughed.
"So you really won't stop until Akasaka Yoshitoki is thoroughly disgusted."
"There's a reason I can't stay low-key," Su Yan said with a grin.
At this point, no one present doubted that 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' would take the seasonal crown.
They all believed it.
After all, they knew better than anyone how strong the final three episodes were—how explosive the effects were, how emotionally devastating the story became.
Lucy really went to the moon.
She really said that line to David.
David really climbed to the top of Arasaka Tower.
And Rebecca—
Every single moment was iconic.
The only real worry early on had been whether Xia Nation's audience would accept the cyberpunk genre.
But now, with Episode 7 hitting 5.49%, acceptance was no longer in question.
What came next was history in the making.
"Early June, Episode 10 of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' finishes airing. July 31st, 'The Garden of Words' releases nationwide," Shinozaki Ikumi said.
"Our schedule for the first half of the year is packed. But the second half is almost empty. If you're not planning to release a new project later this year, I have a suggestion—"
"We'll talk about that in a few weeks," Su Yan interrupted.
"There will definitely be a new project. I'm just not sure if it can air this year. And there's no extra money in the company account right now, so the script isn't written yet."
He wanted to wait until 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' finished airing, accumulate enough emotional value, and then draw his next project.
If he drew something modest, production would be quick.
But if he drew another effects-heavy project, it could easily take one or two seasons just for post-production.
"?" Shen Liqian
"?" Shinozaki Ikumi
"?" Gu Qingyuan
Even Shi Peihua looked at Su Yan.
Shinozaki Ikumi had spoken casually.
In just two years, Su Yan had produced five dramas and one film—his output was already absurd.
And if 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' took the seasonal crown, it would almost certainly be the yearly crown as well.
Under those circumstances, his next project would need extreme caution—his brand couldn't afford a stumble.
Her original thought was simple: if there was no new production in the second half of the year, the company could take on post-production work for other studios or TV stations—not for profit, but at least to cover staff salaries.
She was fine with treating employees well.
But paying salaries while letting people sit idle for half a year? Absolutely not.
That wasn't running a company—that was charity.
With over a hundred employees, the cost was no joke.
But now—
Su Yan was plainly stating that there would be a new project.
She genuinely couldn't imagine it.
Are you serious?
Just how fast do you create?
As for Shen Liqian, seeing Gu Qingyuan's cool, composed expression made her itch inside.
She was honestly a little envious.
Thanks to Lucy in 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', Gu Qingyuan had leapt straight into the top-tier ranks of Xia Nation's television actresses.
Compared to Shen Liqian, who had spent six or seven years grinding her way to her current position, Gu Qingyuan looked like a lucky koi fish—just holding onto Su Yan's thigh and rising effortlessly.
After all, 5.49% ratings spoke louder than anything.
No media outlet could question her achievements.
But—
If Su Yan had a new drama, Shen Liqian would fight with everything she had for the female lead role.
She and Gu Qingyuan had gotten along well during 'Life Is Strange', but when it came to life trajectories, she would never step aside.
Another weekend arrived.
Episode 8 of 'The Black Gate' reached 5.46%—still rising, but the growth had clearly slowed.
Episode 8 of 'South Dreams' remained at 5.31%, virtually unchanged.
To industry insiders, it was obvious.
Both shows' growth curves were flattening.
For audiences, only one thing truly mattered—
Which show ranked first?
The longer 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' stayed at No.1, the greater its attention and fame became, and the faster its ratings grew compared to the rest.
'The Black Gate' was clearly showing fatigue.
But 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' was different.
Its average paid views per episode had reached 13.5 million, and because it had held first place throughout the S-tier competition this season, massive numbers of new viewers were still jumping in.
Finally, Sunday night arrived.
Episode 8 of 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' aired.
This episode tied together all the previously scattered factions.
The fixer who originally assigned the Tanaka capture mission to Maine's crew.
Militech.
Arasaka Corporation.
All forces appeared.
A conspiracy targeting Militech—and David—began to take shape.
Meanwhile, during a mission, David showed signs of cyberpsychosis.
In addition to eliminating his target, he killed an ordinary employee, mistaking her for a monster.
She had a family.
She had children.
Just like David's mother—killed for no reason, by some random cyberpunk who appeared out of nowhere.
The incident pushed David to the brink of mental collapse.
He wasn't getting stronger to become the kind of trash who slaughtered innocents in the streets.
Rebecca and Lucy—both noticed something was wrong.
His mental state was becoming unstable.
Suppressants could no longer hold back the symptoms.
Lucy urged him to remove some of his implants to ease the condition.
But David couldn't do it.
"I'll keep my promise!"
"Do you really think you're that special?"
The two erupted into a fierce argument, on the verge of breaking up.
Then Lucy detected someone investigating them online again.
She left David behind, choosing to face the hacker alone.
Episode 8 ended with Lucy falling into a trap—and being captured.
All the worst fears viewers had after Episode 7 came true in Episode 8.
David developed cyberpsychosis symptoms.
Lucy was identified by Arasaka and captured.
The story plunged into its darkest hour.
That night, Su Yan's fans sensed something was very wrong.
They could feel it coming.
And they started attacking preemptively.
["Su Yan, you're doing it again, aren't you?"]
["David is the protagonist! You're really giving him cyberpsychosis?"]
["Damn it, brothers, I'm scared to keep watching. Is this turning into a full tragedy?"]
["Is David going to die like Maine?"]
["Is every cyberpunk doomed to go insane and die? Then what's the point of this story?"]
["I refuse to watch David and Lucy die! Su Yan, listen to me—this show is about going to the moon! They must fulfill their promise!
["That Episode 8 ending gave me stomach pain."]
["That cliffhanger is killing me. Su Yan, be kind. This is your first S-tier drama—you don't want its reputation to collapse."]
["If you want the seasonal and yearly crowns, don't pull fancy tricks. Just give us a happy ending like the second ending of 'Your Lie in April', okay?"]
Fans were always the most sensitive to a story's direction.
As soon as Episode 8 aired, comments flooded Su Yan's account.
But 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' had already been fully produced.
There was no changing the ending.
There wasn't even enough time for the visual effects.
Still, no matter how much fans complained—
When Episode 8's ratings were released the next day at noon, the entire Xia Nation film and television industry erupted.
5.52%
A new milestone—achieved at Episode 8.
Tied with the highest single-episode rating ever set by the S-tier drama 'Blazing Dawn' five years ago.
Strictly speaking, 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' hadn't broken the record yet.
But at this moment—
It stood as a co-holder of the highest ratings record of the past five years.
And judging by this trajectory—
Wouldn't next week finally break the record?