For the first time, Jing Yu pushed aside the stack of game discs on his desk and actually started using his new computer for serious work.
"Hey, Sister Su? Yeah, I need the recent data on drama ratings from Chenghai TV. Could you send it over?"
"…Right, exactly. Also, could you send me info on what genres are most popular with viewers in Chenghai TV's broadcast region?"
"…Why am I digging into Chenghai TV and Yunteng TV? That's private. Just get me the info, Old Yu — I'm not going to screw you over."
"Brother Liu, do you have any detailed reports on Yunteng TV and Chenghai TV? Including internal personnel structures…? Yeah, I'll be straight with you. After working together on three dramas, spending most of the past year side by side, I won't keep it secret — I am considering both of them."
Jing Yu reached out to several contacts in the industry, gathering as much inside information as he could.
As things stood, Imperial Capital TV and Xingtong TV — two of the Big Six — might be impressive, but they already had multiple top-tier writers, so they didn't truly value someone like him. Jing Yu had decided not to pursue them further.
And although he was leaning toward Chenghai TV, nothing was set in stone — what if the negotiations fell through?
Which meant Yunteng TV was still on the table. He needed to dig deep into both networks before making any final call.
That evening, Jing Yu sat in front of his screen, scrolling through the mountain of data he'd received.
First off, both stations were based in Lansheng Province, far from where he currently lived. Over a thousand kilometers at least — both are located in prosperous coastal regions.
If he signed with either, he'd truly be leaving home.
Chenghai TV was headquartered in Gui Province's capital city, the #1 station in that province.
And Gui Province itself was ranked third economically among the twenty-something administrative regions of Da Zhou.
Lansheng, by comparison, was ranked outside the top 15 — a sizable gap.
Yunteng TV, on the other hand, was based in Modo (Magic City) and ranked third in local influence among Modo's TV stations.
Modo, the single richest city in Da Zhou —
It was home to six nationally syndicated TV stations.
But only the top three had true national-level competitiveness.
#1: Xingtong TV, also part of the Big Six and consistently among the top two overall.
#2: Aurora TV, also one of the Big Six.
#3: Yunteng TV — the very station now trying to recruit Jing Yu.
Looking at the info, Jing Yu couldn't help but smirk.
All three of Modo's top stations want to sign me...
The folks in that city really have an eye for talent.
Both Chenghai TV and Yunteng TV, being nationally competitive stations, didn't limit themselves to specific genres.
As long as the script was good, ratings would follow — so Jing Yu didn't have to worry much about the type of drama he'd pitch.
Late into the night, Jing Yu sat in his apartment, poring over both stations' information over and over.
Several ideas began forming in his mind.
After all, this was a major career move.
He had to go all-in for his first drama after switching networks.
At the moment, his fan point balance —
earned mostly through 'White Album 2', was close to 6 million.
With leftover points from earlier in the year, his total balance had exceeded 7 million.
But any smart person knew:
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
So far, all three of his released dramas had been major hits, which confirmed one thing:
Da Zhou's TV drama audience had very similar tastes to the otaku crowd in his previous life.
But "very similar" didn't mean the same.
Take his previous world, for example:
Hit anime like Detective Conan were huge in both Japan and China,
But Kindaichi — while equally big in Japan — was nearly unknown in China.
Or shows like Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto — wildly popular in China, but received poorly in Japan.
So if he were to bet all 7 million fan points on a single project,
And that drama ended up being something Da Zhou audiences didn't care for...
That would be a disaster.
So to play it safe, Jing Yu decided:
He'd only invest up to 80% of his total points — around 5 to 6 million — into this next project.
That way, even if the show flopped, he'd still have enough left to recover.
He set a target range:
Any drama costing 5 million to 6 million fan points would be eligible.
And in that range —
There were a lot of excellent options.
If he wanted to do another romance drama,
Then, honestly, 90%+ of the ones he knew from his previous life were available for exchange.
But…
He'd already done three straight romance dramas.
He was itching to change things up.
His skillset wasn't limited to one genre — he had access to countless brilliant works.
Romance was just one piece of the puzzle.
And, truthfully, it came down to personal taste.
As a true otaku, now reborn into another world as a screenwriter,
He wanted every drama he created to be something he genuinely loved.
So even if a certain work had been wildly popular in his past life —
If it wasn't something he personally liked,
He probably wasn't going to choose it.
With that in mind, he started filtering for non-romance titles in the 5–6 million range.
A quick search on the panel turned up:
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor – 4.5 million
Initial D – 5.6 million
Hikaru no Go – just over 6 million
Jing Yu's eyes lit up.
He loved all three of these.
And all three were perfectly suited for live-action adaptation.
'Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor' –
Sure, it wasn't all that famous in his previous life's Chinese market,
But that was mainly due to its art style, which turned away the typical "appearance-based" anime fans.
The manga may not have been popular, but its live-action adaptations were successful.
In Japan, there was the original 'Kaiji' movie trilogy,
starring Tatsuya Fujiwara — the same actor who played Light Yagami in Death Note.
In China, the rights were bought and adapted into the movie Animal World.
With Li Yifeng in the lead role.
Even Squid Game, the Korean global phenomenon —
Honestly, Jing Yu felt it didn't hold a candle to 'Kaiji' in terms of plot and structure.
It only exploded due to perfect timing and global circumstances.
But here was the issue:
'Kaiji' was dark.
Yes, watching the protagonist claw his way out of impossible odds was exhilarating…
But the journey was brutal.
From betrayal aboard the gambling ship,
to the infamous "glass bridge" pushing scenes…
Could Da Zhou's audience accept something this cruel?
'Initial D' and 'Hikaru no Go', on the other hand —
were far less controversial.
Even non-drivers had heard of the AE86.
And 'Hikaru no Go'?
Back in Japan, during its manga serialization, it led to a massive spike in youth Go players, increasing enrollment by over a million.
One of those kids?
Atsushi Ida, who went on to become Japan's youngest-ever Go champion and fastest title earner.
While he never faced Ke Jie in a match,
He was still among Japan's top-ranked Go players.
Of the three, 'Kaiji' was also the longest.
To do it justice, he'd probably need at least three to four seasons of content.
This left 'Initial D' and 'Hikaru no Go' as more manageable options.
Jing Yu's gaze lingered on those two titles.