For the latest game in the Fate series, Jingyu's concept was to make it a story-driven RPG, something akin to 'The Witcher 3' or 'Final Fantasy'.
Of course, the game would incorporate parts of the storyline from 'Fate/Zero', to help players unfamiliar with the drama understand the plot.
But it would only include some of that content—not too much detail.
The final product would be a 2D anime-style RPG, focused primarily on story, with combat and gameplay as supporting elements.
Players would also be able to reach different endings from the Fate/stay night routes, depending on the choices they made.
The only issue was the enormous volume of text. Thankfully, most of the settings from FSN were in schools, dojos, and similar places, and Jing Yu wasn't planning a massive production. The anime aesthetic might look cute, but it was also cheaper and easier to produce than full 3D models. This greatly reduced the workload for modeling, so it wouldn't slow progress too much.
During this period, Jing Yu hadn't been filming anything, but he had never stopped working on the game's lore and script. By the end of February, the work was finally about 70–80% done.
After completing Sakura's route, Jing Yu took his hands off the keyboard and let out a long breath.
Fortunately, he had access to a system exchange panel where he could acquire relevant knowledge at a low cost—otherwise, there was no way he could've written a script of over a million words this fast.
Now, the rest was up to the game division: turning his script into environments, models, and a working battle system.
It was now February.
"I don't even know if we can finish the game before the end of the year," Jing Yu sighed.
The gaming industry was a completely new territory for both him and Cheng Lie. Their past influence in other industries meant little here.
Though Jing Yu had acquired and merged several studios into a single company, in the world of Great Zhou's gaming, his BlueStar Game division was still an infant.
Distribution channels, publishing platforms—everything had to be built from scratch. He didn't get any of the perks or discounts that the big gaming companies enjoyed.
According to feedback from Cheng Lie's side,
Some platforms weren't interested in this kind of quickly developed project. The "anime art style" seemed too niche—some thought it was just a way to cut corners, ride the hype of the 'Fate/Zero' drama, and cash out before the buzz faded. Executives at many platforms believed few players would actually buy the game.
Negotiations were tough for Cheng Lie and his team.
He knew just how much money Jing Yu had poured into 'Fate/Zero'. The drama had made its money back, no doubt—but the game? Including studio acquisitions and production costs, it had already exceeded 300 million yuan. And there was still marketing to do.
If this game failed, it would be disastrous.
Sure, it was their first foray into gaming—but just like filmmaking, there's no rule saying newcomers have to fail, right?
By the end of February, all departments at BlueStar felt the pressure. Whether in games or dramas, everyone snapped to attention.
The execs were clearly not in the mood to tolerate slackers anymore.
On February 28, Episode 9 of 'Fate/Zero' aired.
Ever since Bluebeard's death, the story had shifted into high gear.
In Episode 8, two Masters—Kenneth and Ryunosuke Uryu—had exited the stage.
And in Episode 9,
The most divisive Master in the series—Tokiomi Tohsaka—was finally eliminated.
The reason was bizarre:
His top disciple, Kirei Kotomine, began experiencing a strange new emotion during the Holy Grail War…
In simpler terms, he found joy in betrayal.
Even though Tokiomi had already beaten Kariya Matou to within an inch of his life, Kirei rescued Kariya—not for any gain, but just because it felt good.
And in Episode 9, the addiction deepened—Kirei even convinced Gilgamesh to switch sides.
He exposed Tokiomi's real goal: to reach the Root of all magic.
To do this, Tokiomi would eventually use a Command Seal to force Gilgamesh to commit suicide so the Grail could descend perfectly.
And so—
The two traitors, Kirei and Gilgamesh, joined forces.
Poor Tokiomi didn't even get to make a grand move—he was stabbed in the back by Kirei before he had the chance.
And Gilgamesh, his loyal Servant, stood right there as Kirei murdered him.
Then, because Kirei still had a Command Seal (his previous Servant had died), he immediately formed a new contract with Gilgamesh.
The plot left viewers stunned.
That brutal?
Kirei had no wish. He didn't even care about the Grail.
But because betrayal had thrilled him once, he did it again, this time to his own teacher, Tokiomi.
And with that—
At the end of Episode 9, only four Masters remained in the Holy Grail War: Waver, Kiritsugu Emiya, Kariya, and Kirei.
Honestly, even though viewers disliked Tokiomi, compared to the cold-hearted Kiritsugu from the last episode and the twisted joy-seeker Kirei in this one…
"I don't think there's a single sane person in this show!"
"Kirei is a psycho, Kiritsugu too. Kariya? Come on—he tried to kill the girls' father just to make Rin and Sakura happy. That's unhinged. Kenneth was a loser, and Ryunosuke was just a murder-happy maniac. Is this show just a bunch of lunatics fighting over a wish machine?"
"You forgot one! Prince Waver! He's the true cinnamon roll—the only precious bean in this show!"
"Yeah, Waver is probably the only character with real humanity."
"No lies there. He's empathetic, acts with integrity."
"Well… okay, maybe mostly clean. He did steal Kenneth's relic to summon Iskandar, but other than that, he's solid."
"Let's be real—if Iskandar had ended up with Kenneth, he probably would've killed him on day one. That guy's too shady."
"It's Episode 9 already… the show's definitely in the endgame now. I really hope Waver wins. No one else deserves the Grail."
"Doubt it. He's not the protagonist. Kiritsugu is. Let's see how Director Jing Yu plays it."
Episode 9's ratings got another significant boost.
10.81% average rating across the full episode.
When that number dropped, the entire Great Zhou TV industry went silent.
Professionals could argue that plot-wise, 'Fate/Zero' wasn't as classic as 'Steins;Gate', 'Hikaru no Go', or 'Initial D'—but it didn't matter.
This was a visually driven series, with stunning effects and action scenes.
That alone pushed its ratings sky-high.
It's what the audience wanted.
So that week, even the harshest critics stopped bashing it.
Because really—what could they say?
The show was too hot.
Even fans who complained the story wasn't as brilliant as something like 'Hikaru no Go' weren't dropping it. They were still glued to it.
Like it or not, 'Fate/Zero' had become the undisputed king of the spring season—and probably the entire year.
As March rolled in—
Production began on 'Natsume's Book of Friends'.
Jingyu didn't need to change much here. They followed the original manga storyline, without worrying about episode length or format.
After all, this was a Qingyun Video exclusive, and their format rules were flexible.
Speaking of Qingyun…
Now that 'Fate/Zero' was such a massive hit, the platform deeply regretted not securing exclusive streaming rights.
They had the chance—but missed it.
So their feelings toward 'Natsume's Book of Friends' were… complicated.
On one hand, Jingyu only invested a few million into it, so Qingyun didn't expect it to match the performance of 'Fate/Zero'.
But Jingyu had said, 'Natsume's Book of Friends' would run for over a year if updated weekly.
That long-term commitment was great for Qingyun's subscriber growth.
So Qingyun rolled out a massive promo campaign:
The homepage was filled with character portraits from 'Natsume's Book of Friends'.
Mostly a few high school kids and a cat, of course.
As for 'Legal High'...
Most roles had been cast, but the search for the actor to play Komikado was already on its third round. There were four or five final candidates left. Shooting was expected to begin by mid-March.
And so—
In early March, Great Zhou's drama market was flooded with buzz.
Between 'Fate/Zero' and the wave of new summer-season announcements, fans could barely keep up.
On March 7, Sunday, Episode 10 of 'Fate/Zero' was set to air.