At first, the chessboard and sequence of moves provided by the exchange panel were from a game where White had a guaranteed win.
Even with Jing Yu's current Go skills, he couldn't see any possibility for Black to turn the tables.
But then—
The one move for Black to break the deadlock was transmitted into Jing Yu's mind.
In that moment, every brain cell inside his head lit up.
It may have only lasted a minute, maybe just a few seconds—
When his vision refocused, that single move stood out radiantly in his mental recreation of the board.
A reversal move so elegant…
It was art.
At first, placing a stone there looked like a blunder. But as a few more moves followed, Jing Yu noticed something was off.
By the 18th move, a breathtaking formation emerged on the board—
and the tide of the match began to shift.
The higher your Go level, the more you'd feel a shiver studying that move 18 steps back.
It was stunning.
It was like being trash-talked by five opponents at the start of a game—only to ace a 5-kill under their fountain 20 minutes later.
Was it the legendary "Divine Move"? Jing Yu wasn't sure.
But what he was sure of was—
Even if he gave up screenwriting today and devoted the rest of his life to Go, he'd probably never be able to come up with something like this.
"This thing really is all-powerful. With this panel, screenwriting is like being given wings," Jing Yu murmured, glancing at the system panel and trying to calm his excitement.
Whether or not it truly counted as the Divine Move, it didn't matter.
In the context of 'Hikaru no Go', the TV series, this board could absolutely be used to represent it—and no one would dare dispute it.
Jing Yu was certain: no Go player in all of Great Zhou could pull off such a stunning reversal.
But once episode 7 aired, it would lead to the storyline of Sai's disappearance—
A major turning point in the entire 'Hikaru no Go' series.
Sai's role in 'Hikaru no Go' was like L from Death Note.
Once a character like that is gone, the entire show's charm can dip dramatically.
Sometimes Jing Yu wondered—
If 'Hikaru no Go' hadn't been axed because of complaints from fans in the Peninsula (Korea) region after Sai's disappearance, and had continued serialization, would it still have had the same emotional impact?
Letting Hikaru and Akira rise as pro players, competing for titles, fighting for global ranking…
Would that still be interesting?
Just like how in Slam Dunk, if the protagonist team actually won the championship, and went on to second and third seasons…
Would it have become something ridiculous like Prince of Tennis?
"Murder basketball," perhaps?
But regardless, Jing Yu felt that the regret left behind by the original 'Hikaru no Go' manga…
He would make sure Great Zhou's drama fans got to experience it properly.
Of course, in the drama crew full of people who knew nothing about Go, no one could understand the brilliance of Jing Yu's script for episode 7.
Everyone just carried on filming 'Hikaru no Go', 'Another, and 'Steins;Gate' as scheduled.
A few days flew by.
Friday.
The day 'Steins;Gate' episodes 3 and 4 would air.
Over at Huanshi TV, Lin Bin, writer of 'You, Beneath the Cliff', had been everywhere that week—
Popping up on talk shows, analyzing the summer TV market like a self-declared ratings king.
His tone?
Arrogant.
Confident that his drama would not only dominate the summer but also possibly win the entire year.
He name-dropped 'Steins;Gate', calling it boring, claimed none of the dramas airing in the same time slot were "worth mentioning."
Even 'Manual' and 'Black Cat' got slammed—
"Shallow stories, no depth."
As for 'Hikaru no Go' Season 2?
"Lost its spark. Just another soulless Go drama. Gone are the moving bonds between Akira, Sai, and Hikaru from season one. Don't expect strong ratings later."
This was classic behavior.
Back when Jing Yu hadn't entered the scene, the Big Three TV stations often had their top writers openly bashing each other in interviews.
Now they just added 'Hikaru no Go' to the mudslinging list.
But in this industry, results speak louder than words.
Right now, 'You, Beneath the Cliff' has the highest viewership.
So the other Big Six stations were staying quiet—for now.
If the ratings dipped later, you could bet XingTong TV and Imperial Capital TV would start throwing punches.
7:57 PM, just before airtime.
All eyes were on Huanshi TV.
'You, Beneath the Cliff's pre-air rating had already neared 7%.
Just two episodes in, and it was pulling insane numbers.
Industry insiders were predicting:
"This one might actually break an 8% average."
But then there was 'Steins;Gate'.
Despite last week's brutal viewer score of 6.9, its pre-air rating for this week had somehow broken 2%.
A surprise.
Across the hall, Lin Bin's brow furrowed—but soon relaxed.
"Whatever. Jing Yu's popular. His audience is just giving it another week. By next week, they'll all be drawn in by 'You, Beneath the Cliff' and boost my ratings instead. Just be patient."
In the Steins;Gate fan chat group—
"Huh? Still, this many people watching? I thought most fans would quit the group already."
"Can't help it. I just want to see more of Jing Yu. Yeah, last week was confusing, but he's starring in it, so…"
"Honestly? It's not that bad. Forget the whole 'mystery' label—it actually works as a slice-of-life show. Chuuni college student Okabi, hacker otaku Itaru, emotionless cutie Mayuri, tsundere genius Makise, gender-confused Ruka, part-time warrior Suzuha, gloomy bombshell Moeka… It's like a bunch of lunatics in a comedy."
"Still, it's a shame. You can tell Jing Yu put effort into this setup. Whether it's logical or not isn't the issue. The problem is, there's too much setup and it's too slow, so it feels messy. But I get the sense the story might really pick up soon. I'll keep watching."
"I'm too tired after work. Plus, I don't care for the lead actor in 'You, Under the Cliff', so I'll just stick with 'Steins;Gate'. Hopefully this week's episodes are better, or I might really drop it next week."
"Same. If it weren't Jing Yu, I'd have quit already. But for him? I'll give it another week."
Episode 3 of 'Steins;Gate' begins.
Viewership rating: 2.04%
In reality, Mayuri's first death was the show's true turning point.
Before that, a massive amount of screen time had been dedicated to explaining world lines, probability, and the terrifying butterfly effect of altering the past via a single email.
To say it was "boring" would be an oversimplification—'Steins;Gate' was doing something ambitious.
But yes—before Mayuri died, the story leaned more "dry" than "fun." A bit like chewing on flavorless jerky.
Still, that early material was critical.
Without that foundation, the later plot twists wouldn't make sense or hit as hard.
That's why, under Jing Yu's insistence, Yunteng TV uploaded the first two episodes to their official website for catch-up viewing.
(Not in HD, of course—that's reserved for DVD sales.)
If the show wanted to grow in popularity and ratings later, new viewers needed a way to catch up—or they'd be completely lost.
Back in front of the TV, Lu Hui's eyes moved from the forum threads to the screen.
Episode 3 continued from last week—
Okabe had made contact with the rumored time traveler from the internet: John Titor.
Through him, he learned about world-line changes, parallel universes, and many other unconfirmed theories.
And then came the experiment:
Okabe, using the phone microwave, sends a lottery number to his past self.
The result?
The world-line changed.
In the new timeline, he did buy the ticket and did win.
So, Okabe, who later suggests sending the number, never exists in this new timeline.
The microwave could really send messages to the past.
But with one major downside:
Everyone loses their memory of the previous timeline.
For example:
A broke 40-year-old Okabe sends a message to his 20-year-old self with winning lottery numbers.
He wins, becomes rich, and never sends the message.
But if that message never gets sent…
Then how did he win?
That's the time paradox.
This could only be explained through the parallel universe theory.
But the show never directly tells us:
Are there infinite worlds, and Okabe is jumping through them?
Or is there just one world, constantly being overwritten by time changes?
Still, Episode 3 clarified one thing:
Okabe is special.
He retains memories from every timeline.
He is the lonely observer across endless possibilities.
Like a 4D or 5D being living inside a 3D world.
He remembers everything.
And he possesses the only known technology that can alter the past—
The Phone Microwave.
The episode ends as Okabe continues testing the device.
He even sends a message to the mother of Ruka while she was pregnant, telling her to eat more vegetables, hoping it might cause Ruka to be born female instead.
Absurd at first glance? Maybe.
But with a bit of scientific knowledge, it's… not impossible.
If Ruka had XX chromosomes (biologically female), but due to her mother's hormonal environment during pregnancy—such as excess androgens—her body developed male traits, it could explain her situation.
Cases like that do exist.
And dietary changes, like eating more vegetables (and avoiding leeks and garlic), can increase estrogen levels during pregnancy.
Low probability? Sure.
Impossible? Not entirely.
But in a drama?
Who cares about real-world probability?
Whether it's 0% or 100%, it's all up to Jing Yu's pen.
From this point, the story started becoming more of a mental workout.
Viewers without a scientific background might struggle.
Fortunately, Great Zhou's audience had above-average education, and those who didn't understand quickly got explanations from fan groups.
By the end of Episode 3,
Steins;Gate's viewership had risen to 2.48%.
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