January 31st, right after the New Year, was Spring Festival. And once the winter season ended, it would be time for 'Spirited Away' to hit theaters.
Among all of Jing Yu's projects so far, 'Spirited Away' was the largest investment his company had ever made — and the film he pinned the most hope on.
As his first film release in two to three years, it had already drawn massive attention from Jing Yu's fanbase.
Given Jing Yu's current popularity and influence, a lot of people in the Great Zhou entertainment industry were jealous of him.
Many of them stayed quiet while he was thriving — but the moment one of his projects had even a hint of trouble, they'd all pounce.
That was the price of standing tall in a forest — the tallest tree takes the most wind. So Jing Yu wasn't about to give them any chances. He had already planned out 'Spirited Away's marketing campaign, starting this winter season — fan events, press tours, and promotional appearances were all baked into the schedule.
But even more urgent than 'Spirited Away' was the release of the 'Rurouni Kenshin' game.
At least 'Spirited Away' would drop after the New Year — 'Rurouni Kenshin' was due next month, on November 29.
Now, whether the game made a ton of money or not wasn't Jing Yu's primary concern. The real issue was that nearly half of his company's resources were now funneled into game development.
Many gamers based their purchase decisions on the studio name. Jing Yu's previous games — 'Fate/stay night', 'Gundam SEED', 'Attack on Titan' — had all sold impressively. His game division was gaining real credibility in the gaming world. Still, those earlier games hadn't reached top-tier production levels. They sold more because of unique gameplay and innovative storytelling.
But 'Rurouni Kenshin' was different. It was a classic action-fighting RPG.
And the story? No questions there — it was based on the massively popular 'Rurouni Kenshin' manga from his past life.
Jing Yu personally got involved in combat design, visual direction, and character animations — recreating iconic bosses like Sōjirō, Aoshi Shinomori, Saitō Hajime, and Shishio Makoto, bringing their skills and battle animations to life.
He especially poured effort into making the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu sword techniques look stunning. The sword skills that couldn't be fully realized in film — due to budget or technical limits — were faithfully showcased in the game.
A grounded, intense melee combat game — no superpowers. Just raw swordsmanship.
Jing Yu also tailored the controls to match the Great Zhou players' preferences. Drawing on mechanics from classic games in his past life, his team built a refined combat system. When he personally playtested the game… he died over a hundred times just fighting Sanosuke in the tutorial village.
After all, his vision from the very beginning was to create a game like Sekiro — a samurai-action game with a similar level of difficulty. But the story follows Kenshin as he gets pulled into the schemes of Shishio and Yukishiro Enishi, joining forces with allies to face the crisis.
Overall, Jing Yu was deeply satisfied with the game's experience.
Especially the inclusion of Hiko Seijūrō, the strongest fighter in the series. In the movie, Hiko didn't get much screen time. But in the game, he appeared as a hidden challenge. If a player played long enough, mastered the controls, and felt confident enough to challenge him...
They'd understand what "top of the power scale" really meant.
During closed testing, the company invited elite fighting game players to try it. Very few could beat Hiko using only the game's default stats. And if pro gamers couldn't do it, regular players had no chance.
Jing Yu himself tried it — and couldn't even last twenty seconds against Hiko.
In fact, creating a game that satisfied him brought him more of a sense of accomplishment than producing a drama.
If 'Rurouni Kenshin' turned out to be a hit, it would massively boost the success potential of his upcoming 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' and 'Pokémon' games, both scheduled for next year.
With "Produced by Jing Yu" on the box, many players would buy it on name alone.
Jing Yu flipped through the report in his hand, then began signing off on approvals.
In October, with 'Attack on Titan' finished and no new high-VFX blockbuster airing, the TV market returned to its usual quiet.
The three current shows — 'Ef: A Tale of Memories', 'Hyouka', and 'My Youth Romantic Comedy' — were steadily gaining popularity. But their lead over rival studios wasn't overwhelming. Overall, the TV industry had returned to a competitive, multi-studio landscape.
As plots progressed:
'Ef' moved from school romance into emotional tragedy, especially as Chihiro's 13-hour memory limit became more central.
'My Youth Romantic Comedy' had its male lead tangled up in romantic dilemmas.
'Hyouka' continued its slow-burning mystery pace — viewers longed for romantic developments, but none ever came.
"Ugh! Watching 'Hyouka' has my head spinning lately."
"If Houtarou would just take the initiative a little, it's obvious Chitanda likes him! But instead they're just glued to their club activities, and neither one makes a move."
"You think that's bad? Over in 'My Youth Romantic Comedy', the guy is surrounded by people who like him, and he dodges every single one to live alone."
"Hikigaya and Yukino in that show stress me out — one's a tsundere queen and the other's emotionally distant. I doubt they'll even get together."
"Honestly, I'm team Yui. I can't stand girls like Yukino."
"Nah, Yukino is best girl. Yui's sweet, but no match."
"You guys are lucky. You're just upset the leads aren't moving forward. In 'Ef', the girl literally forgets the guy every day. She wakes up each morning and has to read notes just to know what happened between them. It's heartbreaking! You're over here whining about no progress — I don't even know if the girl in my show will remember the guy by the end!"
"Dang… that's rough."
"And then there's Jing Yu's role in 'Ef' as Himura Yuu — seems like he's got a tragic love story with Amamiya Yuuko too. But it hasn't been revealed yet."
"Lucky for me, I'm not big into romance shows. Skipping them this season. Gonna wait until they're done and binge them."
"Jealous. That was my plan too — but I caved. Now I'm crying every week."
By mid-October, with all three dramas in full swing, each had carved out its niche. Online forums started to stabilize. Instead of being dominated by one show, like 'Ultraman' or 'Gundam SEED', fans now discussed all three simultaneously.
But at the end of October, something big dropped:
The final trailer for the 'Rurouni Kenshin' game went live.
October 29, in the Rain — Modo City.
Yao Naili got home from work, ordered takeout, and turned on his computer. He opened his favorite game launcher, ready for a chill night.
But the moment he launched the app, a pop-up appeared:
[FINAL TRAILER FOR 'Rurouni Kenshin' NOW LIVE!]
Yao Naili blinked, confused.
'Rurouni Kenshin'?
It took him a second to recall the title.
In Great Zhou, most drama fans and gamers overlapped. That's why Jing Yu's influence in the TV world quickly spilled into gaming.
But Yao Naili was an exception — a pure gamer. He didn't care about movies or TV. Just games.
Even so, he knew Jing Yu's name.
Though mainly a film and TV creator, Jing Yu had become a rising star in gaming, too.
'Fate/stay night', 'Attack on Titan', 'Gundam SEED', 'Ultraman' — he'd played them all.
In Yao's opinion, those games weren't technically impressive. They sold well, mostly due to hype from the shows.
But as someone who didn't watch the dramas, Yao saw the games more objectively.
He found them fun — especially 'Ultraman' — but their graphics and controls weren't industry-leading.
Still, after playing several of Jing Yu's games, he got familiar with the brand.
Especially 'Rurouni Kenshin' — he remembered seeing a teaser trailer a few months ago. A samurai fighting game? Right up his alley.
Now the final trailer is out.
And this wasn't just a flashy cinematic — it included tons of real gameplay footage.
The trailer opened with a red-haired man standing on a rooftop beneath a full moon.
Modeled after Jing Yu's movie version, the in-game model was both cool and cold — a striking cross-shaped scar on his cheek and a reverse-blade sword that shimmered ominously under the moonlight.
This part was cinematic, but paired with music so beautiful, Yao Naili was hooked.
"Whoa... that's sick."
He couldn't help but admire it.
Then the trailer jumped into gameplay.
Instead of typical level-up mechanics, 'Rurouni Kenshin' was designed around pure combat skill. Bosses could be beaten with solid technique alone.
As the story progressed, Kenshin wouldn't "learn" new moves — he'd unleash sword techniques from Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu he already knew. But these moves required precise input, timing, and battle conditions — not just mashing buttons.
Backed by manga source material, it made sense that Kenshin only pulled out his strongest moves in desperate moments. And after swearing a vow never to kill — even changing his blade to a reverse edge — that restraint was believable.
For fans of the 'Trust & Betrayal' movie arc, seeing that part referenced in the trailer was an emotional gut punch.
But for someone like Yao Naili, who hadn't seen the film, the gameplay footage was what really pulled him in.
The 'Rurouni Kenshin' series had so many vivid characters — Aoshi, Saitō, the Juppongatana, Shishio, Yukishiro Enishi — each with unique designs and fighting styles.
In-game footage of Anji vs. Sanosuke, Kenshin vs. young Sōjirō in a lightning-fast indoor duel, and the atmospheric showdown against bandaged final boss Shishio...
No superpowers — yet it all felt beyond superhuman.
The blood, the impact, the sound design, the parry mechanics — everything looked incredible.
And that wasn't even all of it.
The backstory grabbed him, too.
Since the movie version was set in Great Zhou, the game's lore was adapted accordingly.
A poetic tale of warriors fighting for their country at the dawn of a new era. The scar on Kenshin's face. The new heroine, Kaoru...
Yao Naili finished the trailer, stunned.
"This... was made by a company that's only been around a few years?"
He was blown away.
What he didn't realize was that Jing Yu never played the "slow and steady" game.
Other studios might need 7–8 years of experience to make a game like this.
But not Jing Yu.
He didn't hire rookies — if the team wasn't good enough, he headhunted. At home or abroad, he offered salaries far above market rate. He even poached entire teams. If someone was exceptional, Jing Yu paid off their contracts to bring them on board. That's where his millions — or billions — in game budgets went.
He might not have the deep pockets of legacy game giants, but he was more aggressive and decisive.
No boardroom debates, no shareholder meetings — if something needed doing, Jing Yu signed off in the morning, and funding hit the team the next day.
No office politics. No power struggles. Jing Yu personally prevented non-technical executives from messing with the developers.
So while 'Rurouni Kenshin' wasn't in development for long, the sheer investment had pushed its quality to a level even seasoned gamers like Yao Naili could respect.
"'Rurouni Kenshin'..." Yao murmured, dazed.
"Wait, didn't this have a movie too? I should check Qinyun Video and watch it."
His interest was piqued. Just from that trailer, he was sold.
Now he just needed to learn more about this red-haired swordsman named Kenshin.