New Year's Day.
The nation celebrated the holiday, and the streets bustled with festive energy.
The 'Hikaru no Go' production crew, having maintained a steady filming pace, was granted a rare day off so as not to impact the future schedule.
But even on a holiday, the entire crew couldn't help glancing at the time again and again.
Noon...
Afternoon...
Evening...
And finally, night fell.
At 8 PM, Xingtong TV aired its flagship spring drama, Fireworks.
Its debut ratings were impressive:
Opening rating: 5.36%
Closing rating: 6.22%
Average: 5.78%
A commanding lead in its time slot. While these numbers were considered "standard" by Xingtong's standards, for the rest of the nation's 100+ TV stations, only two or three could even dream of hitting this level.
At 9 PM, Imperial Capital TV followed up with their main New Year release, Deadly Gambler.
Opening rating: 5.11%
Closing rating: 6.34%
Average: 5.57%
The two dramas quickly became the hottest topics in Da Zhou's entertainment forums and drama fan circles.
"Spring season dramas are off to a strong start this year. Much better than last spring."
"Yeah, flagship dramas from the Big Six are rarely bad. It's the non-flagship ones that can get pretty weird sometimes."
"True. If not, that 'Your Lie in April' drama last year wouldn't have even broken into the top 20 in average ratings."
"Hey, don't forget. Yunteng TV is airing 'Hikaru no Go' next. That's the new work from the 'Your Lie in April' screenwriter. Let's see if this genius can deliver again in the new year."
"A Go drama? Sounds like a snoozefest."
"Didn't people say the same thing about that extreme sports drama from a few years ago? Said it would flop? Then it aired and crushed the competition—shut up all the haters who thought only idiots watched that kind of thing."
"I'm watching it. Don't get fooled by ratings—this screenwriter's actual quality is always above the numbers. Like 'White Album 2'—in Lan Province alone, it peaked over 3% in the end. But the low ratings from early episodes dragged down its average to a bit over 2%. Still, I think it was better than most of last autumn's top 10."
"Eh, I'm more hyped for Chenghai TV's 'Race Against Time'."
Once Deadly Gambler finished airing, the freed-up audience scattered—mostly toward Chenghai TV and Yunteng TV.
Chenghai TV's new drama quickly shot past 2.8%, heading straight for 3%.
Yunteng TV's 'Hikaru no Go' followed close behind, its ratings climbing swiftly to 2.4%.
But as time passed, Chenghai TV began pulling ahead.
The truth was simple—the two networks weren't on the same level.
9:59 PM.
Su Yuan flipped through the TV channels, bored out of her mind.
She was still thinking about the ending of Deadly Gambler—that final, desperate leap from the main character had fired her up.
Even as a girl, she couldn't help getting caught in the thrill.
Too bad it's only one episode a week...
As she switched to Yunteng TV, she caught the tail end of a trailer—
A man with a gentle smile, holding a folded fan, dressed in flowing white robes.
Su Yuan froze.
"'Hikaru no Go'?"
So this was that Go drama people had been mentioning in online forums?
Hadn't a bunch of people mocked it, saying it would set a new all-time low for Yunteng TV, dropping below 1.5%?
But that character...
Just as she hesitated, the screen flashed—
The first episode of 'Hikaru no Go' began.
At this moment, Yunteng TV's ratings passed 2.5%.
No long-winded setup. The episode opened in a torrential downpour.
Inside an old wooden house, two children—a boy and a girl—searched for something.
From their conversation, Su Yuan gathered that the boy was looking for valuable antiques in his grandfather's storage room to sell for pocket money.
A caring grandson indeed.
But the gloomy lighting and shadowy shots made the whole thing feel borderline horror.
Then—a Go board appeared. Stained with blood.
The boy said it looked dirty.
The girl, however, claimed it looked clean.
That eerie contradiction unsettled Su Yuan.
Then, suddenly—
A strange male voice echoed:
"You can see it, can't you?"
"Who's there?!" the boy panicked, glancing around.
Oh hell no—is this a ghost story?! At night?!
Su Yuan, already timid by nature, broke into goosebumps.
This is the kind of thing that hides during the day and haunts you at night!
'Hikaru no Go'? So the "Go" is secondary? It's really about the ghost?!
The next moment—
With a burst of dazzling Go stones swirling through the air, a gust of wind radiated from the board.
Then, a figure in white appeared, reflected in the eyes of every viewer watching at that moment.
Elegant. Handsome. Ethereal.
Su Yuan's heart skipped a beat.
...This ghost is too attractive. He could haunt my bed any day, and I wouldn't mind.
The origin of Sai (Zuo Wei) was explained—
How he was wronged and killed 1,600 years ago.
How, 300 years ago, he possessed a young boy and became a Go legend.
And now, he had reappeared—seen only by a 4th-grade student named Hikaru.
The show didn't waste time explaining Go rules—which most viewers wouldn't understand anyway.
Yet, even those with zero knowledge of Go found themselves intrigued.
Even Su Yuan had to admit—this was surprisingly interesting.
Sai helped Hikaru cheat on his history exam.
But more importantly, he hoped Hikaru could be his eyes and hands in the world again—to help him play Go, since he had no body and couldn't be seen by others.
"How tragic! He lived for 1,600 years just to play Go…"
"Tragic? I'd be thrilled to live 1,600 years."
"Please. He only had 20 years of actual life, and another 10 or so as a possessed boy. The rest? Spent alone, unable to speak to anyone. You'd go insane."
"Is Sai a real historical figure?"
"Nope. Even if he was the best of his era, there's no guarantee someone like that would be recorded in history. Otherwise, every 'number one' Go player, chess player, chef, actor, courtesan... they'd all be in the books. History majors would go mad trying to study all of that."
"Still, Sai's supposed to be the best across multiple generations, right?"
"Yeah—he was number one in his own time, and again 300 years ago when he reappeared. That's insane skill."
Unconsciously, viewers were already being drawn in by the story.
Later in the episode, driven crazy by Sai's nagging, Hikaru used his own pocket money to visit a Go club so Sai could play through him.
And that's where it happened.
He met Akira Toya—
The rival who would become his greatest opponent in life.
From this point forward, the real story began.