OGP CH71

On Monday morning, Marketing Manager Song Qian brought the design drafts for the first batch of merchandise to Xie Yunfan’s office for the boss to review.

The games at Song Qian’s previous company were not popular, and merchandise sales had been abysmal. However, Xie Yunfan had researched thoroughly and found that his merchandise received high praise among players, featuring designs that were both novel and distinctive.

The reason Xie Yunfan had poached Song Qian with a high salary was precisely because he valued his market acumen and knack for merchandise development.

As it turned out, his judgment was spot-on, and Song Qian certainly did not disappoint him.

With several months left in the game’s serialization, it was the perfect window to release merchandise and expand its cultural footprint.

After reviewing the design drafts, Xie Yunfan praised, “Nicely designed. You can reach out to manufacturers for samples.”

Song Qian had felt rather uneasy walking into the office. At his old job, his proposals were routinely rejected by the boss, making him accustomed to endless revisions. He never expected Xie Yunfan to be this decisive, approving it outright.

Masking his excitement, Song Qian asked, “Boss, no revisions needed?”

Xie Yunfan replied, “None needed. I think it looks great.”

The first wave of merchandise included matte card sleeves and metal bookmarks.

Matte card sleeves had versatile uses: meal cards, student IDs, and citizen IDs could all be protected with them. The series featured five variants in total, comprising individual illustrations of the four main characters (Sun Wukong, Tang Seng, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Heshang), as well as a group portrait of the pilgrimage squad.

The character art on the sleeves used the in-game concept art set against unique backgrounds: Sun Wukong at Huaguo Mountain, Bajie at Gao Village, Sha Heshang at the Flowing Sand River, Tang Seng at Chang’an City, while the ensemble piece featured the pilgrimage squad standing at the heart of the Wuzhuang Temple formation, all exquisitely designed.

The set of four hollowed-out metal bookmarks was crafted from matte metal, giving them a tactile, premium texture.

Song Qian said, “I will contact the manufacturer for sample proofs immediately. If everything checks out, we will proceed to mass production.”

Xie Yunfan nodded and asked, “How is the progress on the stationery brand collaborations?”

Song Qian said, “We initially spoke with Xinxin Stationery, one of the largest domestic stationery manufacturers. However, they were only willing to pay 500,000 yuan in licensing fees and demanded 70% of the profits, so negotiations fell through.”

Xie Yunfan asked, “Is it because domestic stationery makers have never done game IP collabs before and lack confidence in the market?”

Song Qian replied, “Yes, they worry collaborative stationery might not sell.”

Indeed, domestic games rarely produced licensed collaborative merchandise.

Even blockbuster mobile titles like Wilderness Survival and Monster Paradise only produced firearm replicas or animal plushies in-house to sell through their official web stores.

The advantages of brand collaborations were twofold: first, offline retail promotion expanded the player base; second, Yangfan Studio did not have to handle manufacturing, leaving specialized work to professional manufacturers to save time and effort.

Xie Yunfan said, “Since Xinxin Stationery fell through, we will find another manufacturer. I refuse to believe all domestic stationery makers are so short-sighted that none are willing to do game collaborations.”

Perhaps manufacturers found it bothersome: printing Sun Wukong’s avatar on a plastic ruler required opening new molds, and if they failed to sell, it would truly be a thankless effort.

These manufacturers typically did not play games and had never interacted with game development teams. Lacking sufficient awareness of Journey to the West‘s popularity, they naturally hesitated to be the pioneer testing uncharted waters.

Xie Xinghe said decisively, “If Xinxin Stationery won’t do, I will scout elsewhere. There are only so many dedicated stationery manufacturers nationwide; we are bound to find one willing to partner with us!”

Xie Yunfan looked at his brother: “Bro, I will leave it to you two then. It would be best to have results by early September.”

Xie Xinghe: “Leave it to us!”

After the two left the office, Yu Baichuan from the network department knocked and entered, saying, “Boss, the final closed-beta build of the official store is ready. Would you like to take a look?”

Cradling his laptop, he opened an internal staging website in front of Xie Yunfan.

The merchandise store’s UI was clean and intuitive. The banner section on the homepage was prominent, ideal for displaying promotional posters whenever new merchandise launched.

Below was the product list, offering various sorting filters like “Sort by Sales” and “Sort by Release Date.” The top right featured category searches and game-specific browsing, providing comprehensive functionality.

Xie Yunfan said, “Add a direct button for customer service inquiries beneath every product, and add a feedback board on the homepage where players can leave messages about what merchandise they want.”

Yu Baichuan: “Understood, I will have it updated within three days.”

…

Everything progressed in an orderly fashion.

Xie Yunfan called over HR Manager Liu Muyao, telling her to recruit experienced customer service representatives as soon as possible.

Since they planned to run their own merchandise store, slow replies or improper conduct from official support could easily tarnish their reputation.

Working efficiently, Liu Muyao quickly hired several reps, establishing a support team that temporarily shared office space with marketing.

Xie Xinghe traveled with Song Qian to the Imperial Capital to contact a well-known local stationery manufacturer, but failed to reach an agreement on the profit split. The following day, they traveled to Magic City to negotiate with another firm.

Liuguang Stationery had a much smaller market share than the previous two brands, but their build quality was superb. Their gel pens and ballpoint pens in particular featured attractive designs and rich colors, making them very popular with students.

President Liu of Liuguang Stationery was in his thirties and had never done an IP collaboration before, so he was quite surprised when Xie Xinghe approached him proactively.

However, after thorough discussions, President Liu concluded that it was worth a shot!

He was willing to take this step and be the first in the industry to test the waters.

If the game IP collaboration sold well, it would popularize his stationery; if not, it was just a failed experiment. In any case, keeping the initial production modest meant inventory wouldn’t pile up or cause heavy losses.

The licensing fee was set at 1 million yuan, with the manufacturer taking a 60% share of sales profits. After all, manufacturing, logistics, and offline promotion required substantial investment, and the licensing term was set for three years.

Finding the terms reasonable, Xie Xinghe signed the contract on the spot.

Song Qian handed over the materials they brought, requesting design drafts as soon as possible.

A week later, the manufacturer’s design drafts were ready.

The first batch of stationery included a ruler series, a journal series, and widely used gel pens, offering a variety of colors and styles.

Song Qian coordinated repeatedly with them on the concepts, selecting the most visually appealing designs for sampling.

Once the physical samples arrived, even Xie Yunfan found them impressive.

By mid-September, merchandise preparations were complete, and it was time for the game to update its next chapter.

On another Friday, Yangfan Studio’s official Weibo posted an announcement:

“Dear players, thank you for waiting!

Chapter Six of the mobile game Journey to the West will officially open for download on September 15 at 7:00 PM.

The story this time is very exciting and the gameplay is exceptionally rich. We hope you all have a wonderful time playing~”

On September 15, Chapter Six launched right on schedule.

Countless players who had been waiting rushed to Mobile Home to download it immediately.

Over the past few months, Journey to the West‘s reputation had grown steadily, and following updates inside the game had become second nature to players.

Some even remarked, “Thank goodness Yangfan Studio serialized Journey to the West in the second half of this year! Getting fresh gameplay every two weeks has kept players from dying of boredom!”

The titles produced by competitor studios were simply too dull, revolving around auto-play grinding and tedious daily chores. Only LittleSailboat’s games possessed true creativity, consistently delivering delightful surprises with every update.

Mengtu had seated herself before her camera early, downloading the game the moment it went live. She said with excitement, “Chat, Journey to the West has updated! Pulling an all-nighter tonight. What kind of boss will we face this time? Take a guess: how long will it take me to beat the first boss?”

The chat engaged actively: [I guess 1 hour] [Given Rabbit Sister’s skills, 2 hours sounds more realistic] [Underestimating Rabbit Sister! I bet on clearing it in half an hour!]

Mengtu simply launched a prediction poll and giveaway, saying, “Let’s do a raffle! Whoever guesses correctly can split a 666-yuan cash red envelope!”

There were four prediction options: Half an hour, One hour, Two hours, and Won’t clear tonight.

Based on voting proportions, most people backed the one-hour clear. After all, during earlier stages, spending an hour progressing through a tough boss on blind attempts was quite standard.

Mengtu rubbed her hands together and booted up the game.

In Chapter Six, the four pilgrims arrived at a towering mountain, where they encountered several bandits attempting highway robbery.

Entering combat, Mengtu had Bajie taunt mass aggro, and Sun Wukong struck down their ringleader in two or three swings, sending the rest of the bandits scattering in panic.

Mengtu chuckled, “Our Monkey Bro cleans up trash mobs so crisply. Let’s keep moving.”

Because Sun Wukong had slain the bandit leader, Tang Seng nagged and scolded him for quite a while, insisting he should not have taken human life when driving them away would have sufficed. Only after Sun Wukong admitted fault did Tang Seng let the matter drop.

The pilgrimage party sought lodging at the household of an elderly man named Yang. As fate would have it, Old Man Yang’s son was one of the bandits; recognizing Sun Wukong, he imprisoned the group.

Old Man Yang secretly released them in the dead of night. Midway through their trek, the son led a crew to catch up, prompting a furious Sun Wukong to kill Old Man Yang’s son as well.

Furious, Tang Seng scolded, “You unruly monkey, how do you not possess an ounce of compassion! You already killed several thieves earlier. Old Man Yang offered us lodging, gave us food, and helped us escape, yet you killed his son! Who will care for him in his old age and see him to his grave?”

Sun Wukong argued in defense, “That unfilial son not only robbed people everywhere, but even beat and cursed his own parents! If I hadn’t killed him, he would have killed you.”

Tang Seng began chanting the Tight-Fillet Spell again.

Players were completely exasperated:

[Not this again!]

[This Master can’t do a thing when facing bandits, only knowing how to bully Wukong.]

[Sigh, he is driving away my Monkey Bro again.]

Mengtu grew annoyed watching the scene unfold.

Fortunately, Tang Seng did not chant for too long this time, and Sun Wukong directly went on strike, flying off to the South Sea to complain to Guanyin.

Moments later, the camera cut away as Tang Seng continued forward with Zhu Bajie and Sha Heshang.

While Bajie and Sha Heshang went to fetch water for him, Sun Wukong suddenly bounded out, grinning broadly: “Master, thirsty, aren’t you? Without Old Sun, you can’t even get a drop of water to drink, so what pilgrimage are you undertaking?”

Tang Seng turned around and said coldly, “Whether I can complete the pilgrimage has nothing to do with you.”

Sun Wukong’s expression shifted, and raising his staff, he delivered a blow straight to the back of Tang Seng’s head: “You naggy bald monk, all you know is how to bully Old Sun!”

Players: “…”

[Stunned.ing]

[Holy crap? What is going on?]

[Monkey Bro knocked Master unconscious with one swing!]

[This doesn’t fit Monkey Bro’s personality, right? Did the characterization break?]

Watching this unfold, Mengtu bit clean through her banana, dropping it to the floor.

She looked bewildered: “Even if Tang Seng is annoying, my Monkey Bro wouldn’t hit Master, right? If he were that hot-tempered, Tang Seng would have been beaten to death back during the White Bone Demon stage!”

Many players were equally puzzled.

Had the plot derailed?

…

Mengtu continued watching. When Bajie and Sha Heshang returned, they found Master collapsed on the ground with their luggage gone. Shaking him awake, Tang Seng wept, saying that Wukong had struck him.

Bajie and Sha Heshang looked at each other in disbelief.

Indignant, Sha Heshang went to Huaguo Mountain to confront Sun Wukong, only to be beaten soundly. He had no choice but to head to the South Sea to seek Guanyin’s help, where he unexpectedly saw Sun Wukong standing beside her.

Sun Wukong greeted him with a grin: “Junior Brother Sha!”

Sha Heshang’s face darkened: “You traitorous villain, injuring Master, and you still have the nerve to call me!”

Sun Wukong looked puzzled: “What? I’ve been here with Guanyin the entire time.”

Guanyin also testified, stating that after Wukong was expelled by Tang Seng, he came here to air his grievances and had never departed.

Sha Heshang asked in bewilderment, “Then who is the Sun Wukong at Huaguo Mountain?”

Sun Wukong was enraged: “What manner of monster dares to impersonate Old Sun!”

Watching up to this point, players finally understood:

[Scared me to death, Monkey Bro’s characterization didn’t break.]

[Turns out that one was an impostor!]

[So this stage is the Real and Fake Sun Wukong?]

Mengtu breathed a sigh of relief: “Thank goodness! A game this fun must never fall apart at the end over a botched plot. Let’s return to Huaguo Mountain to check out that fake Wukong!”

Returning to Huaguo Mountain, Wukong and Sha Heshang indeed spotted a monkey identical to Sun Wukong sitting there acting as the Monkey King.

The little monkeys were completely confused seeing two Monkey Kings.

Leaping beside Sun Wukong, that monkey turned the tables: “Brazen fiend, daring to impersonate your Grandpa Sun!”

Sun Wukong raged, “You monster, eat Old Sun’s staff!”

The two monkeys began brawling.

Mengtu exclaimed excitedly, “Holy crap, that’s awesome! The first boss of this chapter is a fake Monkey King! Our Monkey Bro has to 1v1 this impostor monkey.”

Solo boss duels for Sun Wukong were not uncommon by this point.

Sorting through her inventory, Mengtu glanced at the 100 stalks of Coral Grass in her bag and bragged proudly, “Good thing I planned ahead with healing items. Looking at the poll, 60% of you guessed one hour? I’ll strive to clear it within an hour!”

She steered Sun Wukong forward, landing a staff strike on the boss. The next instant, the boss swung back with an identical staff strike! Mengtu: “??”

The real Monkey King shaved off 20,000 HP from the fake, while the fake shaved off 20,000 HP from the real one.

Even their health pools and attack stats were completely identical!

Mengtu: “Does this boss have damage reflection? Let me test an AOE skill.” Switching Ruyi Jingu Bang to its AOE stance lowered damage output, dealing 10,000 damage across a wide area.

However, the moment Mengtu cast the AOE skill, the boss immediately unleashed the exact same AOE attack. Mengtu: “…Is he copying me?”

To verify this, Mengtu said, “Let me test Seventy-Two Transformations by turning into a fish and jumping into the water!”

She used Seventy-Two Transformations to turn Sun Wukong into a fish and dove into the water; the boss mirrored her move, turning into a fish and diving in as well. When Mengtu morphed into a bird and took flight, the boss immediately followed suit.

Viewers were stunned by the boss’s intelligence:

[666! A mimicry-type boss!]

[Does this smart AI directly mirror the player’s inputs?]

[Holy crap, so this is an AI version of the fake Monkey King.]

[Hit him once and he hits you back, this won’t be an easy clear!]

Mengtu theorized, “If we don’t attack him, he probably won’t attack us, right? That would make it easy: since we strike first, when both sides are low on health, one final blow will finish him before he can counter, right?”

Reality proved she was overly optimistic.

When the player did not attack the boss, the boss did not just sit idle: he actively initiated attacks!

In other words, if you struck him, he instantly countered with the identical skill.

If you refrained from striking him, he attacked you anyway!

Moreover, this fellow had copied Sun Wukong’s exact stats.

Blazing attack speed, colossal damage!

In less than thirty seconds, Mengtu was wiped out by the fake monkey.

Scrambling up in defeat, she challenged the boss again, only to be obliterated by another combo within a minute.

Mengtu gasped, “Good grief, this boss duplicates the Great Sage’s stats and skills. Is this what the Great Sage’s true damage looks like?! Combos chained with critical strikes, utterly terrifying!” “The Great Sage I usually play is completely amateur compared to this.” “This AI not only deals massive damage, but is also extraordinarily smart…” “It’s over. I might not clear this within an hour.”

Aside from Mengtu, in the neighboring stream, Liu-ge, having been wiped out three times by the fake Great Sage, lay flat on the floor in resignation: “Damn, this fake monkey is impossible to fight!”

The chat was blanketed in comments:

[How is this even beatable?]

[A player-controlled Great Sage fighting a system-AI-controlled Great Sage, is there any hope of winning?]

[Feeling the Great Sage’s true might for the first time! I’ve never landed critical strikes this terrifying!]

[This is Sun Wukong’s true damage output.]

[Human hand speed can’t match a system AI, this stage is genuinely brutal.]

Countless streamers were bottlenecked at this stage.

If you hit him, he hits you; if you don’t hit him, he still hits you.

If you eat healing items, he eats healing items too.

An AI boss this smart was pure extortion!

…

At 2:00 AM, wiped out by the Great Sage once more, Mengtu admitted with a wry face, “Chat, I surrender. I can’t clear it. Those who picked the last option in the raffle can claim their prizes; I’ll try again tomorrow!”

Next door, Liu-ge said, “I’ll try a few more times. If I still can’t clear it by 3:00 AM, I’m heading to sleep…”

Meanwhile, discussions on Weibo regarding the “Real and Fake Great Sage” climbed onto the main hot search list once again.

Since the update dropped, countless streamers and skilled gamers had attempted blind progression for hours without a single person clearing Challenge mode. Some were even forced to lower the difficulty, opting for Normal mode just to see the story.

The next morning, a strategy guide suddenly appeared in the topic hub:

“The fake Monkey King mirrors all player inputs. Defeating this boss requires tactical strategy and proficient use of Seventy-Two Transformations.

The cooldown for Seventy-Two Transformations is very short in this stage. Transform first to force him to transform with you. Then, the moment the cooldown resets, immediately revert to monkey form to strike him with your staff, and instantly transform again.

At that point, when he tries to copy you, it’s too late to strike, forcing him to transform instead.

Execution must be swift, catching that 0.5-second AI response window to ambush him, while dodging his normal strikes.

Only then is it possible to pass this trial of the Real and Fake Monkey Kings.”

Players: “…………”

The poster of the guide was Purple Cauliflower, a Weibo creator with over a million followers.

Posted at: 7:00 AM.

[Did God Cai pull an all-nighter without sleeping?]

[Dropping a guide at the crack of dawn, did he analyze it all night?]

[Stayed up all night to clear it? God Cai 666!]

[Those with clumsy hands should stick to Easy mode for the story, the Real and Fake Monkey King plot is super fun!]

Purple Cauliflower massaged his aching temples.

Pulling an all-nighter for a boss? That was something he had done years ago during his college days. It had been ages since he acted this recklessly; the game Journey to the West truly possessed an uncanny magic.

Purple Cauliflower replied in the comments, “This boss design is truly intriguing. Mirroring 100% of player actions with a remarkably smart AI makes it what I consider the toughest fight to date.” He promptly followed up with another comment, “However, I suspect even harder bosses will appear later. I have faith in LittleSailboat’s capacity for innovation.”

Reality proved his prediction accurate.

The difficulty in Chapter Six took a noticeable leap.

Not only was the fake Monkey King, portrayed by the Six-Eared Macaque, brutally tough, but the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan couple at Flaming Mountain were equally punishing. The final stage’s Nine-Headed Insect was even more terrifying; unable to handle it alone, Sun Wukong summoned reinforcements from Heaven again, even calling in Erlang Shen Yang Jian!

The assist system activated once more.

Having controlled Nezha previously, players could now pilot Yang Jian. The tag-team combat of Sun Wukong and Yang Jian gave players an exhilarating rush.

Discussions surrounding boss battles frequently topped active chat charts, with forum strategy threads emerging in endless waves.

Story enthusiasts began analyzing the narrative: after the Real and Fake Monkey Kings, Tang Seng’s attitude toward Sun Wukong softened visibly. Following the Nine-Headed Insect battle, the bond between Sun Wukong and Yang Jian also improved significantly.

Back during Havoc in Heaven, Sun Wukong had clashed with Nezha and was captured by Erlang Shen Yang Jian; yet as the pilgrimage progressed, everyone in Heaven had begun lending him a hand.

They say monsters had backers, but our Great Sage’s backing was truly the pinnacle of power.

…

Another joyful weekend came to a close, and players reluctantly shut down their games.

Sunday evening, Yangfan Studio’s official Weibo posted an announcement:

“Hello everyone. Since Journey to the West began serialization several months ago, we have seen lively discussions regarding the plot and gameplay from numerous players. We are deeply grateful for your support. Following careful preparation, Yangfan Studio has designed several pieces of official game merchandise. Our merchandise web store will officially launch next Wednesday, September 20, at 12:00 PM noon, with the link below. The first wave of official merchandise includes the Pilgrimage Squad Series matte card sleeves and hollowed-out metal collector’s edition bookmarks. Simultaneously, the Journey to the West licensed stationery series by Yangfan Studio and Liuguang Stationery will be released starting next Wednesday across nationwide stationery stores and the official Liuguang Stationery flagship store on T-Mall. Please purchase according to your needs~”

Beneath the post were promotional posters showcasing photos of sample card sleeves, bookmarks, and stationery, all exquisitely crafted.

Seeing this announcement, players were thrilled: [Wow, our Great Sage has official merchandise now?] [This set of metal bookmarks looks legitimately exquisite.] [Hope the photos aren’t misleading. If the physical quality holds up, I’ll buy extra sets as gifts for friends.] [Very pretty, I’m going all in!]

Reviewing comments beneath the official post, Song Qian felt quite nervous. He had poured tremendous care into the designs, refining and sampling repeatedly; players shouldn’t be disappointed once they held them in hand. He hoped sales would be respectable, at least justifying the high regard the boss held for him.

…

Wednesday, during lunchtime recess, long queues abruptly materialized outside stationery shops across the entire country.

Many stationery shop owners stood dumbfounded.

Crowds of students swarmed the storefronts, clamoring: “I want to buy the Great Sage journal!” “Give me a set of Journey to the West collaboration rulers!”

“Give me four pens of the pilgrimage squad; I want one each in black, red, blue, and green.”

“Boss, give me ten Great Sage journals, I’m buying for my classmates.”

Shop Owner: “Ten? Sorry, completely sold out! I’ll restock right away!”

Photos of elementary and middle school students queuing outside stationery shops were uploaded online.

Casual onlookers were shocked: “What’s going on? Kids have to line up just to buy stationery nowadays?”

“I saw high schoolers in line too.”

“I heard a game released collaborative stationery, called Journey to the West or something.”

“Collaborative stationery is this popular?”

Passersby found it incomprehensible.

Students competed fiercely to snag the Great Sage journals. Those who succeeded flaunted them with pride, while those who missed out scrambled to pay deposits to store owners, pleading for restocks.

Some college students, feeling embarrassed to queue outside neighborhood stationery stores, opted to buy online instead.

However, customer support at Liuguang Stationery’s official online store responded: “We are very sorry, but our warehouse inventory is completely depleted.”

Why was it out of stock everywhere?!

Yangfan Studio’s official store was equally overwhelmed. Song Qian had the foresight to adopt a policy of “ship in-stock items immediately, open pre-orders when sold out.”

The first wave of 10,000 in-stock sets vanished instantly!

Right at 12:00 PM noon when the store launched, the listing shifted to “Sold Out” in mere seconds.

Song Qian assumed the site had bugged out and rushed to ask the network team.

Yu Baichuan said, “No bug. The backend shows over 8,000 orders; some players bought five or six sets at once, so it’s completely cleared out! Say, Old Song, did your marketing team stock way too little?”

Song Qian: “…” Good heavens! At his previous company, two thousand sets of merchandise took a full month and still couldn’t sell out. Who knew 10,000 in-stock sets would sell out in seconds here?

Fortunately, a second pre-order wave was in place. The manufacturer had been coordinated with in advance, allowing production capacity to scale up on demand.

Song Qian stared at the official store with excitement, refreshing the page constantly. By Wednesday evening, Yangfan Studio’s official merchandise sales totaled 200,000 sets, surpassing 10 million yuan in sales revenue, and the figure continued to climb as support staff were swamped.

Stationery was selling like wildfire as well.

Xie Xinghe received a call from President Liu of the stationery factory, whose voice trembled with excitement: “Director Xie, I’ve received restock requests from distributors all over the country! Even in small county towns, the Journey to the West collaboration stationery was bought out by students! I truly never imagined collaborative goods could sell this well; the initial batch of over a hundred thousand sets was wiped out clean!”

Xie Xinghe bragged proudly, “Of course. The sheer popularity of this game exceeded even our own expectations.” Who told his younger brother to be such an absolute genius? Every single game he produced became a blockbuster hit. Merchandise sales breaking 10 million yuan was higher than the entire monthly gross revenue of many video games.

Xie Xinghe shared the wonderful news with his brother.

Xie Yunfan smiled and said, “Bro, no rush. The merchandise market has only just opened up. When the game concludes and we produce the Monkey King figurine, it might just break domestic figurine sales records.”

Xie Xinghe: “…” Looks like Yangfan Studio’s marketing department was about to take flight as well!