On Thursday, Jing Yu didn't head to the film set. He spent the morning shopping in Modo, buying a pile of clothes, and then made a beeline to the electronics mall to purchase a game console and a stack of game discs.
"Hey! That guy—wearing the mask!"
"Isn't that... that Fujiwara no Sai?"
"It's gotta be him! Those eyes—I've seen them in my dreams for nights now."
"Now that you mention it... it really is him!"
"Damn, modern clothes look this good too?"
"He looks just as good in real life as he does on TV!"
"Go get an autograph! Ask for a selfie!"
"Sai! Please take a photo with me!"
"He's not Fujiwara no Sai, his real name is Jing Yu. Don't be rude!"
Even though Jing Yu had been cautious and wore a mask, he was still recognized.
As he walked out of the mall's largest game shop with a bag full of discs, a crowd of fans had already gathered at the entrance after hearing whispers of his appearance.
Although 'Hikaru no Go' only ranked fourth in spring drama ratings, Fujiwara no Sai's popularity had already skyrocketed. Just a few days prior, he had officially become the most popular character of the season, across all currently airing shows.
Notably: Akira was sixth, and Hikaru, twenty-fifth.
Jing Yu barely managed to escape the growing crowd before it turned into a full-on mob. After that, he developed a sudden fear of shopping in public.
"That was terrifying…"
Once he got home, he immediately dove into his games to calm his nerves.
Friday — he stayed home the entire day.
A rare day off from shooting, spent playing games non-stop? Heaven.
Just as Producer Cheng had said, that evening, people arrived at his place.
The full makeup team from the set came over, along with a new assistant arranged by the station to help Jing Yu during the exchange event.
"Hello, Teacher Jing Yu. I'm Zhong Xiang, your assistant for the next two days. Producer Cheng said you can ask me anything about the event. Sorry for the intrusion tonight—I hope you'll forgive us."
The assistant was a young woman with a beautiful face and a bright, professional smile.
"Got it," Jing Yu nodded.
The network had insisted he attend the event dressed as Fujiwara no Sai, so the makeup team had to stay over for prep.
Thankfully, Yunteng TV had provided him with a spacious 200-square-meter residence with six rooms, so accommodating everyone wasn't a problem.
Zhong Xiang glanced around the living room: Jing Yu was fiddling with his console setup, and around him were scattered card towers and domino chains in mid-collapse.
This man is the one who singlehandedly boosted our station's viewership to nearly 5% this season?
His daily life is... certainly colorful.
"Wanna play? This one's two-player."
Jing Yu looked up at the makeup team and Zhong Xiang.
The makeup team hesitated, glancing at each other. Zhong Xiang, however, boldly took the controller Jing Yu offered.
Half an hour later.
Jing Yu sat there, emotionally drained. The spark was gone.
A game with 127 levels, and they had only made it to level 3 in thirty minutes.
She actually spent 10 minutes trying and failing a double jump + dive combo...?
What a noob.
"It's getting late. Let's call it a night."
Just as Zhong Xiang was finally finding the fun in the game, she was met with that cold sentence.
She froze, clearly picking up on Jing Yu's attitude.
Did Teacher Jing Yu just bench me for being too bad...?
Early Saturday morning, Jing Yu got up at 5AM and began getting into character as Sai. Once everyone was ready, they drove out from the residential compound.
Halfway there, their vehicle rendezvoused with Yunteng TV's media crew, and an hour later, they arrived at the event venue across town.
"It's Fujiwara no Sai! Sai is here!"
"Teacher Jing Yu! Can I get an autograph?"
"Sai is so handsome!"
"Teacher Jing Yu, can we take a selfie?"
As soon as Jing Yu stepped out of the car, he was met with a massive crowd gathered at the entrance.
"Why are there so many people?" he asked, surprised.
"Qimu Sports released a teaser a week ago announcing the attendees," Zhong Xiang explained while shielding him from some overly enthusiastic hands.
Don't think it's just male fans who get handsy—some of Sai's female superfans were just as shameless.
Jing Yu had no choice but to sign a few autographs and take some photos.
Unlike the actors who played Akira and Hikaru—both seasoned variety show stars—Jing Yu almost never did in-person fan interactions.
To his fans, he was a mysterious figure, an enigma.
So the fact that he would be appearing in person today had fans staking out the venue before sunrise.
Reporters from other TV stations also had their cameras aimed squarely at him.
At that moment, a convoy from the Great Zhou Go Association arrived.
Qimu Sports was one of the association's key sponsors—not only had they backed 'Hikaru no Go', they also sponsored many national tournaments.
Without such strong ties, no way would they have gotten six professional players to show up for a casual event.
"Who's that?"
A portly man in his 40s frowned, looking at the crowd surrounding Jing Yu.
"Teacher, that's the screenwriter of that hit drama 'Hikaru no Go'," his assistant said.
"Ah, I've heard. Old Zhou, isn't that the guy who completely thrashed your student Li Le?"
The man turned to a middle-aged man in the same vehicle.
The portly man was Su Lin, one of the two 9-dan pros invited. The other was Zhou Zhengguang. The remaining four pro players included Zhou's student Li Le, Su Lin's student Qian Yu, and two other professionals currently in Modo City.
In Su Lin's eyes, these kinds of public "exchange events" were largely meaningless. How could amateur players possibly match professionals?
Those so-called park "Go kings"? Retired uncles? CEOs playing for fun? Don't make him laugh.
Even among strong amateurs, it was laughable to think they could beat anyone above 5-dan.
And now this screenwriter—Jing Yu—was invited? A total joke.
To Su Lin, showbiz folks—actors, writers—were still "performers" in the traditional sense, not deserving of the same respect as the four arts of the ancient literati.
What irritated him most was the media hype about Jing Yu destroying Li Le, and the fact that it had become headline news.
"You can't say that, Old Su," Zhou Zhengguang tried to ease the mood. "There are strong amateurs out there too."
But Su Lin was just that kind of blunt person—it wasn't personal.
The most uncomfortable person was, of course, Li Le. Losing was fine—but losing to a drama screenwriter, and having it plastered all over the media? That was painful.
As their group exited the car, reporters rushed over to Su Lin's side—but there were only eight or nine.
Meanwhile, across the lot, Jing Yu was surrounded by over a hundred people, all scrambling for autographs.
Su Lin was leading the pros, so naturally, reporters focused on him.
"Mr. Su Lin, any thoughts on today's event?"
"Do you think any amateur will break into the top four?"
"How do you feel about going up against a participant like Jing Yu from Yunteng TV, who's rumored to be even stronger than pro player Li Le? Are you nervous?"
Li Le's face turned green on the spot.
Ever since 'Hikaru no Go' exploded in popularity, he had become a living meme.
Whenever someone questioned the accuracy of the show's go matches, someone would inevitably respond:
"Even pro 5-dan Li Le lost to the screenwriter. Are you more professional than him?"
To be fair, Yunteng TV had increased his consultant fee after that, which helped soothe the sting—but getting called out like this in person still hurt.
"I'm a top-tier pro. I only feel pressure when facing other top-tier pros," Su Lin frowned, speaking a bit harshly.
"Everyone has their specialty. I won't lose to a screenwriter. Even if his character is written to be invincible in the show, in real life... people need to believe in the skill of true professionals."
Normally, he might have been more diplomatic. But not with Jing Yu.
The whole "Li Le got crushed by a screenwriter" scandal had soured his view entirely. Who knows if Yunteng TV staged the whole thing to make their show look good?
So no—he wasn't going to be polite.
It was Saturday, and most people had the day off. Many 'Hikaru no Go' fans had woken up early to watch the live broadcast of the event.
They heard Su Lin's comments on both the state media sub-channel and Yunteng TV's special event coverage.
"Ugh! Who is this guy? So arrogant! Just because he's a pro?"
"He's totally looking down on Sai!"
The 'Hikaru no Go' fandom was instantly enraged.
Of course, the harsh and loaded questions were intentionally crafted by reporters to stir drama. They knew Su Lin would never lose to Jing Yu.
But stirring fan attention was the whole point.
That's why the organizers had insisted on inviting Li Le, the very person who allegedly lost to Jing Yu—to stoke this exact kind of hype.
And it worked phenomenally.
Normally, the state sub-channel airing this kind of cultural exchange had a 0.5% viewership at most. Nobody watched dry programming all day.
But now? The broadcast viewership had spiked to 1.8%, and Yunteng TV's dedicated stream for the event had reached nearly 2%—despite four or five other stations splitting the audience.
Jing Yu, or rather Fujiwara no Sai, had surpassed all expectations.
Su Lin glanced at the mass of fans crowding around Jing Yu.
All he felt was... irony.
A 9-dan pro with zero fans here.
While a screenwriter is the star of the show.
"Listen up," he warned the others (aside from Zhou Zhengguang), "if you meet any strong amateurs today, fine—losing is no shame. But if any of you lose to that screenwriter Jing Yu…"
His eyes were sharp, especially when they landed on Li Le.
The pressure on Li Le was immense.
Losing in Go was nothing unusual. Even 9-dans occasionally slipped up against 1- or 2-dans.
Su Lin didn't believe that just because Jing Yu had beaten Li Le before, it would happen again.
This is your chance to redeem yourself, his eyes said.
But Li Le?
He had no confidence at all.
He had been mentally crushed before.
Now all he could do was pray—
Please… just don't let me draw Jing Yu in the bracket…
Just then, Jing Yu happened to glance back—and spotted Li Le.
With a smile, he nodded.