The next morning—
Su Yan drove to Shinozaki Ikumi's house early.
It was the first day of the Lunar New Year. Watching a movie was practically a tradition.
The ''Rurouni Kenshin'' film series had dominated the Spring Festival slot for four consecutive years.
And this time, the fifth installment—
Was ''Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal - The Movie''.
The earlier TV adaptation of 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal' had been too rough, with poor visuals. After much consideration, Su Yan decided to produce this film version of the prequel arc, fulfilling a long-held wish for fans in the Xia Nation.
But after this, he would more or less bid farewell to the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' series—
At most, making occasional cameo appearances in the future as characters like Hiko Seijuro.
Under her mother's smiling gaze, Shinozaki Ikumi got into Su Yan's car.
As soon as she entered, she shook off the snow from her coat.
"You were pretty bold yesterday."
"Oh? Not used to it?" she smiled at him. "I'm your official girlfriend now. You can't even handle something that small?"
"You've filmed kissing scenes with Shen Liqian, Gu Qingyuan, and Zhuang Yuxin. I just kissed your cheek, and you call that bold?"
Hearing that, Su Yan pulled the car over, made sure it was safe, unfastened his seatbelt, and leaned over.
Before she could react—
He kissed her on the lips.
"There. What you mentioned before was just acting—that doesn't count. This…" he smiled, looking at her slightly stunned expression, "this is real. My first kiss."
Shinozaki Ikumi didn't say anything else after that.
She simply stared out the window at the passing scenery, a smile tugging at her lips the entire way—one she couldn't suppress no matter what.
What the two of them didn't notice—
Not far from their car, several people wearing caps were aiming concealed cameras at them, grinning with excitement.
["Oh my god… what did we just capture?"]
["This is huge—this is the kind of scoop that shakes the Xia Nation's entertainment industry!"]
["I've been a paparazzo for twenty years… today, I'm finally going to make it big!"]
By the third day of the New Year, 'Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal - The Movie' had surpassed 1.2 billion in box office, leading the holiday season.
At the same time—
Another explosive piece of news broke.
Su Yan—the number one figure in the Xia Nation's film industry, chairman of Dimensional Pictures, and the entertainment world's most eligible bachelor—
Had his relationship been exposed?
And it wasn't with Shen Liqian.
Not Zhuang Yuxin.
Not Gu Qingyuan.
Not any actress.
It was with—
His own company's vice chairman, Shinozaki Ikumi.
Unexpectedly, the reaction from fans was relatively calm.
There was very little backlash.
Most people offered congratulations.
After all, fans who shipped him with different actresses had long understood—
If anything were going to happen, it would have happened already.
Seven or eight years without rumors made it clear he simply wasn't interested.
So compared to that—
This outcome was acceptable.
["Well… at least none of our favorites lost."]
["Yeah, if he picked one of the three, the other fandoms would've gone to war instantly."]
Once the relationship was exposed, media outlets began digging up the story of how Shinozaki Ikumi had discovered Su Yan during the early 'Rurouni Kenshin' days, launching his legendary career.
The reports were exaggerated, of course.
But instead of hurting his image, it made people support him even more.
Stories of successful people abandoning those who helped them were everywhere.
But Su Yan?
Even after becoming famous, surrounded by countless beautiful actresses, he chose to be with Shinozaki Ikumi—
Faithful, without scandals.
That kind of story was rare.
Naturally, fans didn't believe they had only started dating a month ago.
In their minds—
This was a ten-year love story.
Partners who built everything together.
"I'm dying laughing!" Shinozaki Ikumi lay on the sofa at Su Yan's house, scrolling through the news.
"Ten years? These fans really have wild imaginations."
"Well… not entirely wrong," Su Yan said. "Maybe we were already drawn to each other long ago. We just didn't realize it until now."
"Alright, just stay over tonight," he added. "Work starts again on the eighth. Your place is too far—no need to drive back."
"What are you planning? Isn't this moving too fast?" She immediately sat up, nervously adjusting her collar and sleeves.
"I just said stay over. Nothing else," Su Yan replied, speechless.
"Read fewer romance novels. I'm not some overbearing CEO."
"Really?"
"Oh? Then why do you sound a little disappointed?" he teased.
"Hey, you heard wrong!"
Before the Spring Festival, Su Yan had entered his first romantic relationship across both lifetimes.
And he treated it seriously—
As if it might be his only one.
After the holiday, life quickly returned to normal.
'Mobile Suit Gundam SEED' Season 2 finished airing.
As one of the most iconic entries in the franchise, it might not have been the absolute best—
But it was the most accessible.
Perfect for introducing new audiences to the Gundam universe.
When the final space battle concluded, and peace temporarily returned—
A legendary series was born.
On the day it ended, two topics dominated global trending searches:
''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' finale
When will ''Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta Gundam'' air?
Fans worldwide began eagerly counting the days.
As for merchandise—
It was still selling like crazy.
But Su Yan had no intention of rushing the franchise.
Merchandising needed time.
So did audience digestion.
He planned to release a new ''Gundam'' project every one to one-and-a-half years.
With the vast number of acclaimed entries in the franchise, it could sustain decades of success.
At this rate—
He might not even finish adapting them all in his lifetime.
By April, cherry blossoms filled Tokyo.
After three months of dating, the initial awkwardness between Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi had mostly faded.
She still hadn't moved in with him, feeling it was too soon.
But holding hands, kissing—
That had become natural.
The only annoyance?
Paparazzi.
Relentless, shameless, always lurking.
By July, after a year of preparation—
''One Piece'' premiered.
Compared to other projects, its early-stage effects were easier to produce.
And its core elements—
Devil Fruits, the sea, pirates—
They were inherently appealing.
Of course, Su Yan didn't follow the original story exactly.
For example, Koby's later power growth in the original felt unbalanced.
Meanwhile, the Straw Hat crew had struggled through countless battles.
That disparity had long been criticized by fans.
So in this version, Koby was established early on as a prodigy.
Similarly, the Nika fruit reveals—
Which had been controversial—
It was foreshadowed much earlier.
Su Yan also adjusted ''Naruto'' in similar ways, introducing key lore earlier and smoothing out inconsistencies.
His goal was simple:
Avoid the common flaw of "fake underdog stories that turn into bloodline determinism."
Audiences didn't reject talent or lineage—
They rejected inconsistency.
So he made sure the narrative stayed coherent from start to finish.
And the result?
The first episode of ''One Piece''—
It was a success.
Koby and Luffy's farewell promise.
Luffy and Shanks' childhood vow.
These parallel scenes created a clear emotional structure:
Shanks → Luffy → Koby
A chain of inspiration.
["Wait… does that mean Koby might grow like Luffy too?"]
From the very first episode—
The emotional hook was there.
''One Piece'' and ''Naruto'' wouldn't become global IPs overnight.
Even in his previous world, they took years.
Su Yan had patience.
Episode 1 rating: 6.85%
Lower than ''Gundam SEED''.
But then—
Zoro appeared.
Then Nami. Then Buggy.
Ratings steadily climbed:
6.91% → 6.98% → 7.09% → 7.13%
By week five, the story had reached the end of the Buggy arc, with Usopp making his debut.
Every episode made viewers cry—
But not out of despair.
Out of emotion.
The live-action format eliminated the original's art style barrier.
Characters were visually appealing, and Su Yan personally performed stunt work for key fight scenes to ensure quality.
Even female audience engagement surged—
Zoro's popularity skyrocketed to number one among TV characters in the Xia Nation.
By the end of the summer season, the story paused at the Baratie arc.
The Arlong arc was on the horizon.
Due to production constraints, the series would take a one-season break.
Weekly releases weren't sustainable yet.
But in the future—
With more talent and resources—
That might change.
Still, the results spoke for themselves.
Across 13 countries—
''One Piece'' ranked first in viewership everywhere.
Though in merchandise sales, it still lagged ''Gundam''.
After all—
A Luffy figure couldn't compete with a Gundam model kit.
But that would change over time.
As autumn arrived—
''Naruto'' was next.
And compared to ''One Piece''—
Its appeal to global audiences…
It was even greater.