By the time Yan Qili reached this point…
He was truly blown away by the plot.
The twist was there?!
That tiny subplot from Episode 2—not even thirty seconds long—turned out to be the hidden setup.
What kind of divine writing was this?!
In the fan groups:
"I'm stunned. Funai—outsmarted for once in his life!"
"I'm speechless! Teacher Jing Yu's plot design is insane!"
"Kaiji realized the truth in an instant, then pretended to be desperate to burn through his cards—baiting everyone except Funai to use theirs. Then he took advantage of Funai's assumption that someone was hiding cards… and set him up. That guy actually took the bait!"
"Beautiful. This twist was PERFECT."
"I really thought Kaiji had given up and was planning to go down with Funai. But nope—he tricked everyone into emptying their hands, and now the only target left… is Funai."
"It's open cards now. Funai only has one left—rock. Kaiji knows it. Funai knows it."
"Now presenting: Kaiji's extortion hour!"
"Funai's basically a pig on a chopping block. Kaiji's ready to butcher."
In the show, Funai realized this too and started negotiating.
But Kaiji—he showed a side that left Funai no choice but to give in.
Kaiji pointed out that his remaining cards were an even number. If he played against Funai now and ended up with an odd count, he and his team wouldn't be able to use up all their cards. One of the trio would be forced into the isolation room.
Kaiji had already decided—he would be that one.
If Funai refused to bet five stars in their final match, Kaiji would give all his stars to Furuhata and Ando, then use loaned money to help them buy a final star. The two of them would leave the ship safely.
Kaiji and Funai would go down together.
In other words, Kaiji had nothing to lose.
His only hope was helping his teammates reach ten stars. Even if he ended up in the isolation room, they could use nine stars to buy freedom for all three, plus one star leftover to sell, helping to pay off the debt.
So for Funai…
Either he gambled and risked five stars, coughing up all the ones he had swindled from Kaiji.
Or—
"Then let's go down together, Funai!!"
In the scene—
Kaiji stared Funai down with fearless eyes as he delivered that line.
Yan Qili felt goosebumps rise all over. His eyes welled with tears.
In that moment, he completely fell for Kaiji's character.
Someone hopeless in daily life, but in the face of adversity, kept turning the tide again and again.
On this gambling ship, in just four hours, he had been through four crushing setbacks.
First, deceived by Funai—left with just one star.
Then, after teaming up with Furuhata and Ando, the two selfishly tried to leave the ship, gambling away the two stars he had earned—dragging all three to the brink of ruin.
Later, after barely recovering from a match with Riken, Funai's shuffle trick almost destroyed him again.
And finally—when no one dared to duel him—he came up with a genius plan to burn through everyone's cards, baiting Funai into a fatal trap.
"If it were me, I would've given up four hours ago."
"Cried. I didn't like Kaiji in Episode 1, but now—he's a god."
"He's the definition of 'a teammate who shines in adversity.'"
"What gets me the most is—he had multiple chances to ditch Furuhata and Ando and leave the ship alone. He even could've paid off his debts and walked away with a few hundred grand. But he never abandoned them. Not once."
"Exactly. That's it. On this whole damn ship of lies and backstabbing, Kaiji may be a lowlife, but he has integrity. He still has humanity. I'm seriously moved."
In the show—
Funai finally caved.
Defeated and in despair, he bet his five stars… and Kaiji beat him with paper.
All the money and stars—Kaiji handed over to Ando and Furuhata.
And he, alone, walked into the isolation room.
"It's over. Finally. The gambling ship arc is over. These five weeks were insane. Worth every second."
"Damn, Kaiji's a god. But this show taught me one thing: never gamble. Even a genius like Kaiji, a born gambler, lives like crap. No thanks."
"But... I have a question. Kaiji gave everything to Ando and Furuhata—what if they don't save him?"
"Don't save him?!"
"Don't… save him?!"
"Exactly! One star is worth 600,000 yuan. If they use six stars to buy freedom, they'll have four left, worth 2.4 million. Add the cash Kaiji gave them, and they each walk away with about 1.5 million. Debt paid, interest settled, and a million left to start fresh. But if they save Kaiji, they need to use nine stars. That's a massive hit to their earnings."
"No way…"
"I have a bad feeling."
Some fans picked up on it fast.
Yan Qili, too, immediately realized what was coming.
Inside the isolation room, there was a two-way mirror. Some inmates—those who'd been caught cheating—laughed at Kaiji.
"You brought nothing valuable in with you. Why would your so-called friends pay a million-yuan star to save you? If you wanted that, you should've brought something more valuable in."
One of them mockingly showed off the bag of cash he'd smuggled in.
Then—
Ando and Furuhata's betrayal happened. Just as expected.
Furuhata even had the gall to face the isolation room glass and say they'd never forget Kaiji's kindness—then turned around and prepared to sell the stars and split the cash.
Leaving Kaiji to rot in the underground labor camp.
The musclehead across from Yan Qili crushed his soda bottle in fury.
Yan Qili felt like he was about to have a brain hemorrhage.
"Are there really people this shameless in the world?!"
"The two worst teammates ever. Kaiji saved their asses, and they stabbed him in the back?!"
"I swear to god, I want to crawl into the show and kill them myself."
"It's too real. This... is real life."
"I'm genuinely disgusted. Those two are monsters."
"Who the hell plays those characters? I'm boycotting all their future roles."
"Kaiji should've dumped them the first chance he got. They're not worth saving!"
"God, how could someone so smart as Kaiji trust those two? Sigh. Should've let them go into isolation, then ransomed them out later."
Yan Qili almost shut off the screen in rage. He was fuming.
Kaiji, trapped in the isolation room, stared through the one-way glass at Ando and Furuhata haggling over star sales and splitting the money.
"If you don't bring anything valuable with you into the isolation room, why would your friends pay a million-yuan star to save you?"
But Kaiji… didn't have that kind of money.
Then—
Suddenly, Kaiji's mind cleared.
And he exploded, attacking the man who had mocked him.
Yan Qili watched the madness flicker in Kaiji's eyes.
He's snapped. Lost his mind.
Why was he fighting? He used to be someone who never lost composure over petty taunts…
Yan Qili sighed.
And then—the twist hit.
The other man's companion came to redeem him from the isolation room.
And saw Kaiji—who opened his mouth and revealed…
a diamond hidden beneath his tongue.
Yan Qili, along with the rest of the audience, was floored.
Kaiji's eyes were sharp.
Since that guy claimed to have brought something worth more than three stars—but his money bag didn't match…
Then what did that prove?
Kaiji had snatched away the cloth "bandage" faked on the man's back during their scuffle, and inside was a diamond.
This… was Kaiji's final reversal in ultimate despair.
With that diamond worth several million, the man's companion had to spend stars to bail him out—there was no choice.
Kaiji took a deep breath
Walked out of the isolation room
Put his clothes back on
And returned to the gambling hall.
There, he saw them—still calling out to sell stars—
Furuhata.
Ando.
The traitors.
And those stars in their hands…
As well as the few million yuan left over from Kaiji's 10 million loan.
The audience held its breath.
All of Kaiji's unspoken rage—gathered into his clenched fist.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
Kaiji's actor roared, eyes bloodshot, and slammed a fist into Ando's pudgy face—sending him flying several meters.
"Kaiji?! H-how are you out?!"
Then he turned and delivered a vicious kick to Furuhata—knocking him flat.
The final frame froze—
Kaiji's bloodied fist was dripping from the force of that punch.
Episode 4 of 'Kaiji' ended.
Yan Qili's eyes… welled with tears.
That punch. That kick. So satisfying.
All the frustration built up over four weeks was released through Kaiji.
So cathartic.
"I f*cking worship this show now!"
"Best summer drama. Episode 4 was unreal."
"Cried. I've been betrayed by friends, too. Seeing Kaiji unleash that punch… I sobbed and cheered."
"Episode 4 is a masterpiece."
"Forgive me for thinking Episode 1 sucked."
"Same. I missed the show for a week just because Teacher Jing Yu didn't act in it."
"I'm dumbfounded. What a show."
"Jing Yu is a genius. How does he come up with this stuff? What kind of brain does he have?!"
"This is human nature dissected at its rawest."
"I'm kneeling to this script. Way above the level of the Big Six's usual dramas."
"Haven't cried at a drama in years. Kaiji is a real man."
"Too much of a good guy, though. If he'd just been a little selfish, he wouldn't have suffered like this."
"He guaranteed a coworker's loan just to help. Who does that?! Yeah, he's a gambler, a punk even—but he's not evil. And he really, truly values friendship."
"I can't wait. I NEED Episode 5. One punch, one kick isn't enough—I want a full hour of Kaiji beating those two traitors!"
"Same! Ando and Furuhata are worse than Funai. Funai only conned strangers. These two? Kaiji saved them—and they turned on him. Trash."
Yan Qili sat through the ending theme, waiting—only to realize: no new scenes.
He finally let out a long breath.
Looking around, he saw the same expression of satisfied fury on everyone else's faces—his fellow subway passengers who had just finished watching Episode 4 of 'Kaiji'.
Then he glanced at the screen showing the next subway stop…
And froze.
"Wait—NO! I missed my station!"
—
Episode 4 of 'Kaiji' triggered a massive wave of reactions among fans.
All night—from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.—the comments section stayed lit with wild discussion.
Even the backend staff at Qingyun Video were stunned.
This kind of engagement retention was off the charts.
And outside Qingyun Video—
On Jing Yu's Qingyun blog, tens of thousands of fans flooded the page, begging for Episode 5 to be nothing but Kaiji pummeling Ando and Furuhata.
Some even said they'd pay ¥1.50 just to watch that.
As for Kaiji's actor—Meng Zhe, a 30-year-old washed-up performer—
He also created a blog account like Jing Yu.
His follower count soared overnight from 260,000 to 910,000.
His comment section was filled with praise: his acting was amazing, his portrayal of Kaiji moving and powerful.
To be honest, he didn't know if his performance moved the audience…
But the audience definitely moved him.
After years in obscurity, with no one caring about actors who weren't good-looking and only had "pure acting chops,"
Being cast by Jing Yu for this role shocked him.
But what shocked him more—
Was that even as a streaming-exclusive drama, the show's influence was so massive that...
He could feel his second career peak arriving.
On the official forums of the Big Six TV stations—key gathering places for drama fans—
All 'Kaiji'-related posts and news were flooding the boards.
Fans now loved this show.
Originally, 'Kaiji' had always been an excellent work. In Jing Yu's previous life, it had failed to go mainstream simply due to the art style.
Same with ONE-sensei's original manga One Punch Man.
Back then, the art was so crude that no one paid attention. But after Murata redrew it with high-level illustrations…
One Punch Man became a global anime sensation.
There are many works like that—dragged down by their art.
After being adapted into a drama, 'Kaiji' achieved high box office in Japan, proving its quality.
Jing Yu didn't cast conventionally good-looking actors for realism, but even if the cast wasn't "handsome," they weren't ugly—just average.
Which was actually above average for Great Zhou's audience tastes.
So without the aesthetic barrier of poor art style, 'Kaiji' the drama—
far surpassed its original version in Jing Yu's past life.
At the very least, the Big Six TV station execs were losing sleep tonight.
Sure, it wasn't unheard of for a hit series to emerge—when Xingtong TV had a breakout hit, Imperial Capital TV and Huanshi TV forums were also filled with talk about that show.
But this drama aired exclusively online, not even on Yunteng TV!
Why was its popularity and impact now outperforming their flagship drama of the quarter?!
Some of the Big Six executives were undoubtedly wide awake.
And under the tidal wave of fan enthusiasm and peerless word-of-mouth…
Even die-hard TV viewers began to question—
"Is it really that good?"
"Better than the Big Three's top dramas?"