At Huanshi TV, tension was running high tonight — especially among the main cast and crew of 'You, Under the Cliff'.
The pressure was real.
This drama had three lead actors — all ranked in the top ten for popularity across Great Zhou's entire entertainment industry. And if the three of them, starring together in a production with over 100 million yuan in investment, couldn't even take home the seasonal ratings crown?
There'd be backlash, no doubt.
"What's the rating now?"
'You, Under the Cliff's screenwriter, Lin Bin, was stationed personally at the Huanshi TV building.
He wasn't alone.
The producer and director were there too, constantly posting on social media to rally fans: "New episode airing soon — don't miss it!"
To be honest, their mood was miserable.
'You, Under the Cliff' had a sky-high budget, yet much of that was saved thanks to the "friendly rates" from the three leads. If they still failed to claim the number one spot for summer viewership? That would be seen as a flop.
And 'Steins;Gate'? What did it even have?
Its screenwriter was also its male lead, its two female leads were barely B-list in Great Zhou, and the budget? A mere 20 million.
The fact that episode five had averaged over 3% was already an insane achievement. No matter what happened in later episodes, 'Steins;Gate' had surpassed expectations.
But 'You, Under the Cliff'?
It had been dragged down by 'Steins;Gate' last week, and ratings failed to rise.
The network even called in the creative team for a scolding.
"We're at 6%," said the director, eyes glued to the screen.
No one at Huanshi TV had imagined they'd one day be forced to play defense — all because of a show from a non-Big-Six network.
If we hadn't gone after 'Hikaru no Go' last season…
Maybe 'You, Under the Cliff' wouldn't be getting targeted by Yunteng now.
The director shook the thought out of his head.
Too late for regrets.
"What about Yunteng TV?" Lin Bin asked.
"They've broken 3% already."
"Still ten minutes to go until 8 PM…" Lin Bin tried to calm himself.
He believed in the storylines to come. If 'You, Under the Cliff' could just get back over the 7% mark this week, everything would be fine.
The key was simple: Don't lose more viewers to 'Steins;Gate' again.
8:00 PM sharp — Yunteng TV.
Su Li sat in her room, eyes fixed on the screen, filled with anticipation.
No one knew how she'd survived the past week.
She had watched the first five episodes of 'Steins;Gate' twice in a row on Yunteng TV's website.
Once she understood the core concepts, rewatching the earlier episodes revealed just how meticulously detailed everything had been from the start.
Episode six picked up right where things left off — the working warrior, Suzuha, finally revealed her true identity.
In the future, she was a soldier from an "Anti-SERN" resistance group.
Over twenty years from now:
Okabe (the male lead) becomes the leader of the resistance — but is killed by the SERN.
Makise (one of the female leads) is also killed, despite being the key scientist who helped the SERN invent the time machine.
Suzuha's father led the fight after Okabe's death, but to protect Suzuha and her mother, he never revealed his true identity to her. He eventually dies in battle, too.
Suzuha used the time machine to travel back into the past in an effort to change this dystopian future ruled by the SERN through control of time.
The key to altering this fate: Okabe.
Why Okabe?
Because only he can retain his memories after a timeline shift.
So only he can use the phone-microwave device to gradually shift the timeline from the SERN-dominated alpha world line to the beta world line, where the SERN never takes over.
But to do this, they need one critical item:
The "vintage computer."
That's the tool required to infiltrate the SERN's database and delete their log of Okabe's timeline-altering email.
If this deletion succeeds, the SERN will never discover Okabe's anomaly or his time machine, and the future will change.
The twist?
This computer only existed briefly in the 1980s.
So Suzuha's mission is to travel back to the '80s, find this computer, protect it, and then, when Okabe and Makise have just invented the phone-microwave, deliver the machine to them.
That's the only way they can access the SERN's servers, delete the data, and shift the timeline.
If the timeline can be moved from alpha to beta — then perhaps, just perhaps — Shiina Mayuri won't have to die.
It was a mind-bending and complex premise.
But Su Li managed to just barely untangle the logic.
In short:
To save Mayuri,
They must find the vintage computer.
And to find it, Suzuha must go back in time.
She was still lingering in the present day only because the time machine could only travel backward, not forward.
She simply wanted to see her father, alive and well, in this era.
Episode six focused on:
Okabe's best friend, Itaru, was helping Suzuha fix the damaged time machine, which had been exposed to rain.
And helping her find her father.
Okabe himself had just returned using the phone-microwave, syncing his consciousness with his body 48 hours earlier.
Why only 48 hours?
Because the prototype microwave can only safely send memories that far back.
Anything longer could lead to serious side effects.
Su Li rubbed her forehead — she was starting to get a headache.
Trying to fully understand this drama on a first watch was no easy task.
Even grasping most of it was a mental workout.
Meanwhile, fan discussions in the online group chat were going wild:
"Can someone explain? Didn't the MC already get the vintage computer at the start? Why is it missing now after the timeline shift?"
"I think it's because Moeka sent an email in the past about the vintage computer. That info got intercepted by someone from the SERN, so they grabbed it first. That's why it wasn't found at Urushibara Ruka's temple anymore."
"So how do they get it back?"
"Isn't there a surefire method? The computer only existed in the 1980s.
Suzuha travels back, gets it directly, and keeps it safe for 30–40 years, then hands it to Okabe in the present.
No one can sabotage it this time — especially not Moeka.
As long as Okabe stays alert, the computer's guaranteed to fall into Suzuha's hands."
"My brain is melting. This show is SO complex."
"It's manageable. But yeah, there are still some logic holes.
Like — in episode one, before they had the phone-microwave, how were world lines shifting?
I kinda believe what some haters are saying — that Jing Yu probably hadn't fully worked out the plot when he started filming.
Everyone knows how Great Zhou dramas often develop scripts while filming.
For something this complicated, it's understandable if the early episodes have some inconsistencies.
But still — I hope Jing Yu patches those holes later. Otherwise… sigh."
"Also… once the world line shifts from alpha to beta, will Mayuri actually live?
Please don't make it a tragedy, Jing Yu!"