"Why?" The director didn’t understand. In his view, a rerun could never have higher ratings than the premiere.

The first broadcast was always when everyone’s curiosity and interest were at their peak.

Whether it was plays, musicals, stage productions, or the emerging Magic Shadows and Demon Vision, this was the established pattern.

The only exceptions were productions that started with no promotion and slowly built up hype.

Or classic plays from years ago, reinterpreted by the most popular troupes of the day.

But *Tom and Jerry* was different. It was neither a reinterpretation of a classic nor was it unpromoted.

In fact, it was the most heavily promoted work to date. The Zog Group had utilized all of its channels.

They even shoved a Tom Cat into their auto-battler game. Its attack animation after winning a round was a takeoff and dive.

"This is unreasonable," the director said, trying to deny a phenomenon that was beyond his comprehension.

"It must be... they must have faked it. They operate Demon Vision, they’re the ones who compile the data, and they’re the ones who announce the results. Something’s wrong, there’s definitely something wrong."

The director’s tone was full of conviction.

He needed this chance to prove his worth to the Drama Guild. As the first theater professional to defeat Zog Film Studio in the Magic Shadow field, he would soar through the ranks of the Guild.

’Who wants to be just a director forever? You have to climb higher when you can, become the one who controls the resources.’

"Why are you so sure they faked the numbers?" Craig asked, looking over the ratings report.

’Because this is common practice for awards in the theater world. The judges and the producers are all the same group of people. In the end, the awards are just a way to carve up benefits between different conglomerates.’

’And don’t even get started on box office numbers or theater critics. The whole system is full of crooked dealings.’

’Many people don’t really know what they like, nor do they have any particular aesthetic standards. All of that can be guided. This is a lesson the theater industry learned hundreds of years ago.’

’It’s an industry with a thousand years of history, after all. What they’re doing now on Demon Vision is just expanding the scope of influence. When you get down to it, it’s all the same old tricks.’

But he couldn’t say that out loud. He was a member of the Drama Guild, after all. Even though everyone knew about these things, there was a big difference between knowing and saying it publicly.

"Because, intuitively, it’s highly irregular," he was forced to answer.

"But it seems to follow its *own* pattern perfectly," Craig said, pointing to the ratings chart in his hand.

Because the monthly ratings determined bonuses, the detailed viewership curve for each program was made public.

The magical thing about *Tom and Jerry* was that its ratings barely fluctuated.

Compared to other shows that peaked at their premiere, plummeted in the second week, and then only recovered for the finale—a veritable cliff dive—this wasn’t a viewership curve, it was a viewership straight line.

The same episode, replayed endlessly, maintained a rating between a high of 48% and a low of 41%.

Whether it was broadcast in the morning, afternoon, evening, or the middle of the night, people were watching.

The ratings were a little higher during mealtimes, but the difference wasn’t huge.

"What kind of monster is this?" The director was dumbfounded.

"And I think for this cartoon, there’s a large portion of the viewership that isn’t even being counted," Craig said.

"The Magic Vision Devices that are always on in shops and public squares aren’t included in the statistics. If you went to see for yourself, you’d know that *Tom and Jerry* draws the biggest crowds."

This was a conclusion Craig had reached while browsing in a toy store. The cartoon was even effective at lowering the volume in the perpetually chaotic shop.

It was incredibly popular with the staff; it was hard to find anything else that could captivate children so effectively.

When it came to getting the second episode made, they were probably more anxious than Zog the Dragon himself.

"So, second place isn’t so bad."

Craig was quite philosophical about it. He didn’t understand the saying that second place was the biggest loser. Unless it was a two-way competition, didn’t second place mean you’d beaten plenty of other rivals to get there?

"The data should be fine. Zog wouldn’t fake it over something so minor. He’s a reasonably upright Dragon."

「A few kilometers away.」

"ACHOO!"

Zog, who was researching what other cat-and-mouse merchandise he could create to make a quick buck, suddenly sneezed.

"Can Dragons get colds?" Elsa asked in surprise.

"No. I feel like someone’s talking about me." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Ha, what does someone talking about you have to do with sneezing?"

"It’s a mystical Dragon Race intuition. You wouldn’t get it," Zog said with a straight face.

"So what are they saying about you?"

"That I’m upright."

"Pfft," Elsa couldn’t hold it in. "Calling you upright? Hahaha, upright!"

SLAM! He slapped a Silver Coin on the table. "I’ll give you another chance. Am I upright or not?"

"Upright. Incredibly upright. The Judgement Hall itself would see you and shake its head, because you have absolutely nothing to confess." Elsa was well-versed in the art of saying what a Dragon wants to hear.

"Very good," Zog said, pocketing the Silver Coin.

"Hey, wait, you, that..." Elsa stared at the coin he’d just put away, getting anxious.

"What about me? I just slapped a coin down. Is there a problem?" Zog said with a look of pure innocence.

"Argh! You black-hearted Dragon! How can a creature like you even exist in this world!" Elsa fumed impotently.

’I can’t beat him in a fight, and I can’t win an argument with him. Coming to work every day is a guaranteed cure for low blood pressure. This damn job!’

’But if I quit...’

’Forget it. I’d better keep coming. If I really quit, who’s going to make up the dozens of Silver Coins I’d be short every month?’

...

Unlike the cheerfulness on Zog’s side, the atmosphere at Craig’s dinner party had become so tense it could barely continue.

It was proof that you shouldn’t celebrate victory at halftime.

"I have one more idea," the director said, wanting to make a last-ditch effort.

"We can manipulate public opinion, get the audience to boycott the cartoon, and then we can turn the tables next month."

*Young Hero Craig* was still following the typical ratings pattern for a Magic Shadow Drama: it peaked at the premiere and was all downhill from there. If they lost this month, they’d have even less of a chance later on.

The promotions for *Tom and Jerry* said it was a hundred-episode series. At one episode a month, how long was that going to air?

"How would we do that? It’s so popular, especially with children," the lead actress asked.

"Children have parents. That cartoon is full of dangerous stunts. There are news reports about accidents involving children every month. The next time a new accident happens, we’ll pin the blame on the cartoon."

"’Poor child dies tragically while imitating a certain cartoon. We must ask: are works like this destroying the next generation?’"

"We’ll write it just like that. The parents who aren’t well-educated will definitely believe it and join the boycott," the director said, growing more and more excited.

He could already picture the cartoon being denounced by a united front of countless parents.

Then it would be forced off the air due to public pressure.

Just like that time he nitpicked the wording of a script to prove it was satirizing the Church, ultimately getting that play banned.

"Our collaboration ends here," Craig suddenly interrupted.

"What? Why? I’m doing this for the good of your project!" The director didn’t understand.

"Because I’d like to stay alive," Craig said, dead serious. He rarely looked this grim.

"Don’t be so dramatic. These are just business tactics."

’The best business tactic is to physically eliminate your competition.’

"Do you know about the Potion Factory in Twin Tower City? The owner. He made bootleg toys, then got thrown in prison. He still hasn’t been released. And the Potion Factory now belongs to the Zog Group."

The incident didn’t even make the news at the time. It was as if it happened and concluded in some forgotten corner.

Except for the Magic Shadow movie left behind to make the Potion Factory’s original name utterly infamous.

"But you’re from the Craig Clan. How can you be compared to an ordinary businessman?"

"That’s enough. This is how it’s going to be. Thank you for providing the script. Our association is over. I wish you the best of luck."

Craig said, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

It was precisely because he was a member of the Craig Clan that he knew more than others. In the eyes of the Zog Group, an ordinary noble was probably no different from the small-time owner of a Potion Factory.

If he had any special talents at his young age, being good at picking the right side was definitely one of them.

"Goodbye. If we’re to see each other again, that is."