While high-spending “whales” and gacha-addicted streamers were throwing thousands of yuan into the game on launch day to complete their character galleries, the vast majority of players were in no rush to spend money. Instead, they were immersed in experiencing the storyline.

Many casual players had no idea how to cultivate heroes or put together team comps. Since they were in no hurry, they simply treated the game like an interactive film, taking their time as long as they could clear the battle stages to keep progressing through the plot.

Among these players, the most famous was the video creator “Uncle Flying Bear” on ACFun—affectionately dubbed “Uncle Bear” by his fans.

Uncle Flying Bear was currently streaming live on ACFun.

His stream carried a eye-catching title: Playing “Turbulent Spring and Autumn” to the Fullest with Zero Spend.

Unlike other streamers who went on wild gacha sprees, this creator was extraordinarily composed. He had always been a strict free-to-play “Zero-Krypton” gamer, and his game review series on ACFun was literally named “How Far Can a Zero-Krypton Player Go?”

Previously, Yangfan Studio’s Detective Di Renjie and Script Killing charged a fee every time a new scenario unlocked. Court Intrigue charged by playtime, and Millennium Love was an otome game…

Although player reviews for all those games praised them as “incredibly player-friendly,” Uncle Flying Bear simply didn’t play any game that cost money.

As a result, he had completely missed out on every single game produced by Yangfan Studio up to this point.

However, Turbulent Spring and Autumn was Yangfan Studio’s very first genuinely free-to-play game, which was why he specifically downloaded it today to write a review.

Flying Bear cleared his throat and said, “A lot of people online are praising Yangfan Studio for their generous welfare. I’m here to pass judgment and see just how far a Zero-Krypton player can actually get in this game. To all my friends who don’t want to spend money on games, feel free to give me a follow, and while you’re at it, drop a like, coin, and favorite! Thank you, everyone!”

Upon entering the game, he began watching the story attentively.

Truth be told, Yangfan Studio’s animations were indeed breathtaking. The beginner tutorial in Chapter 1 was also executed brilliantly. After completing the “Bearing Hardships” storyline, the system gifted him three card characters: Goujian, Fan Li, and Xishi.

Flying Bear remarked, “Three free cards covering DPS, healing, and support—not bad at all. The in-game mailbox also sent us 20 free pulls, but let’s hold off on pulling for now and wait until we clear more of the story.”

Quite a few viewers in the chat expressed their admiration for his self-control:

【UP-zhu, your self-restraint is insane!】

【You are literally the only person I’ve seen who got 20 free pulls and managed to hold back without touching the gacha pool!】

【Uncle Bear is ridiculously disciplined. If it were me, I would’ve spent them instantly~】

Flying Bear chuckled and said, “There’s no need to rush into pulling cards. The free cards given by the system can clear Chapter 1’s main campaign with ease. As for future chapters, we’ll worry about them when we actually hit a wall.”

The early battle stages were very simple. Chapter 1, “Bearing Hardships,” contained 5 story segments and 5 battle encounters. The battle process featured clear system guidance, making it extremely easy for beginners to pick up.

Chapter 2, “Returning the Jade Intact,” introduced a new character: Lin Xiangru.

Flying Bear watched the narrative with great interest. This story was equally captivating, recounting a dispute between two nations sparked by a priceless treasure known as the Heshibi Jade. The State of Qin coveted the Zhao Kingdom’s treasure, but Lin Xiangru, relying on his intelligence and courage, successfully defused the crisis and brought the Heshibi Jade back to Zhao completely undamaged.

Stages 2-2 and 2-4 in Chapter 2 served as tutorials explaining the mechanics of “Crowd Control.”

The game featured various CC skills—Silence, Disarm, Freeze, Stun, and Sleep. While each control effect functioned differently, a controlled hero was typically unable to take action and required a “Cleanse.” Back in Chapter 1, the system had already gifted players a cleansing card: Xishi.

After clearing stage 2-4, the player received another free card from the system.

[System: Congratulations! You have obtained the Hero [Lin Xiangru].]

[Lin Xiangru]

Skill 1: Perfect Jade (Upon activation, targets any chosen ally. For the next 1 turn, all crowd-control skills directed at that target will be completely reflected back onto the caster.)

Skill 2: Eloquent Speech (Passive Lock. Lin Xiangru is adept at persuading enemies; thus, he cannot be targeted by any crowd-control skills.)

Flying Bear’s eyes lit up: “They gave us another free card, and this card is super interesting! He can’t be targeted by control skills, meaning Lin Xiangru comes with innate CC immunity. He can help allies reflect control skills right back, helping teammates maintain CC immunity—this is incredibly useful for protecting our core DPS unit!”

Initially, Flying Bear had assumed that free cards handed out by the system would be low-tier, useless damage cards meant to be discarded in late-game. He never expected such a high-value “strategic card” to be handed directly to players via the main storyline!

Excited, Flying Bear declared, “Let’s keep going with the main campaign!”

Stages 2-5 through 2-7 in Chapter 2 continued the tale of the State of Zhao, introducing a new character: Lian Po.

As a grand general of Zhao, Lian Po was brave and fierce in battle, accomplishing countless heroic feats for his nation. However, Lin Xiangru was appointed to a higher rank than Lian Po simply for his eloquence and for helping the king escape danger.

Lian Po naturally felt resentful and constantly looked for opportunities to make things difficult for Lin Xiangru.

Later, Lian Po realized that Lin Xiangru refused to hold a grudge against him out of concern for the nation’s greater good. Internal strife between a civil minister and a military general would only undermine the unity of Zhao.

Overwhelmed with shame, Lian Po went to Lin Xiangru’s home bearing brambles on his bare back to apologize, and the two ultimately became life-and-death friends.

The battle stage in 2-8 introduced the synergy between hero skills.

[System: Congratulations! You have obtained the Hero [Lian Po].]

[Lian Po]

Skill 1: Valiant Battle (Lian Po deals physical damage equal to 300% of his base attack power to a designated single target.)

Skill 2: Bearing Brambles (Lian Po once stripped his clothing and carried brambles to apologize. While in the “Bearing Brambles” state, Lian Po sacrifices 20% of his defense to gain a 20% boost to his base attack power. When Lin Xiangru is present on the field, the attack boost increases to 40% for 2 turns.)

Observing this, Flying Bear analyzed: “Lian Po and Lin Xiangru can be paired together as a set. Lin Xiangru protects Lian Po from being crowd-controlled during key turns, allowing Lian Po to trade defense for a massive burst of damage. That base attack bonus should easily burst down an enemy’s core hero.”

By the end of Chapter 2’s Zhao Kingdom arc in the main story, Flying Bear had accumulated five free cards given by the system in his roster without performing a single gacha pull.

Chapter 3 recounted the story of “Hiding Sickness from the Doctor.”

During the Warring States period, there was a famous physician named Bian Que who traveled across various states to treat common folk. Once, while passing by a household, he noticed a corpse laid outside, said to have been dead for several days. Bian Que examined the body closely and claimed the person could still be saved. Applying needles and administering herbal medicine, he shockingly brought the “dead man” back to life.

This news spread across all of Huaxia, and everyone hailed Bian Que as a divine physician.

Upon hearing of this, Duke Huan of Cai summoned Bian Que back to his court. When Bian Que met the ruler, he observed his complexion and urgently warned, “My Lord, you have an illness that requires immediate treatment.”

Duke Huan stubbonly replied, “I am not sick. My body is perfectly healthy.”

Every time Bian Que met him, he urged the ruler to seek treatment, but the duke stubbornly insisted he was fine… until eventually, the disease reached his internal organs, and he passed away.

After watching this plot segment, Flying Bear didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Duke Huan of Cai hiding his illness from the doctor reminds me of certain people in real life. Every time you urge them to go to the hospital, they adamantly refuse and claim they aren’t sick, dragging it out until the condition turns severe. Sigh.”

He paused and concluded, “If you feel unwell, make sure to see a doctor as soon as possible!”

This chapter primarily highlighted the role of “healing” during combat encounters.

Bian Que’s skills were exceptionally powerful.

[Bian Que]

Skill 1: Pulse Diagnosis (Diagnoses a single target, instantly restoring health equal to 20% of Bian Que’s max HP. If the target’s health is below 50%, the healing amount is doubled.)

Skill 2: Resurrection (Under Divine Physician Bian Que’s judgment, you can still be saved. Used on a fallen target, instantly revives them and restores health equal to 50% of Bian Que’s max HP. Cooldown: 3 turns.)

Looking at this card, Flying Bear couldn’t help but feel envious: “The power level of a Sun-rarity card is truly terrifying. Among all the characters we’ve seen so far, Bian Que has the highest base HP, so his build direction should definitely stack max health. He can heal a squishy DPS back to full health in a single cast.”

However, the system wasn’t generous enough to give away a Sun-rarity card directly.

Instead, it gifted players a Stellar-rarity card: Duke Huan of Cai.

[Duke Huan of Cai]

Skill: Hiding Sickness (Duke Huan of Cai believes that healthy people do not need medical treatment. Duke Huan of Cai himself cannot be targeted by any healing skills. Furthermore, Duke Huan of Cai can select a single enemy target to completely prevent them from receiving any healing.)

Flying Bear exclaimed in excitement: “An anti-heal card! Nice! Even though this card only has Stellar-level stats and a single skill, it’s going to be extremely useful in specific stages!”

Especially when encountering those annoying mob enemies that constantly healed themselves, bringing Duke Huan of Cai to forbid them from receiving treatment would solve the problem instantly!

By the end of Chapter 3, the player had already acquired 6 system-gifted cards.

In the early game, a complete squad required 6 characters to assemble a “Formation.”

[System Notification: Congratulations on acquiring 6 heroes! The Formation feature has been unlocked. Please enter the Team – Formation panel to configure your setup.]

Flying Bear clicked into the interface following the prompts.

Chapter 1 of the main story had rewarded players with the Long Snake Formation, a balanced formation that granted the entire team +5% Attack and +5% Defense.

[System: The position of the Formation Core is crucial. The position glowing with a blue ring in each formation layout is the Formation Core. Eliminating the enemy’s Formation Core first will shatter their formation buffs. Of course, you must also prioritize protecting your own team’s Formation Core!]

[System: Next, please enter the Practical Combat Exercise.]

In the tutorial stage, the 6 free characters formed a full team.

Lian Po served as the main DPS, Goujian acted as the tank, Fan Li provided team healing, Xishi cleansed debuffs, while Lin Xiangru and Duke Huan of Cai served as strategic supports. Activating the formation, this “low-budget F2P squad” officially took shape.

After running through a few rounds of combat exercises, Flying Bear evaluated: “In this lineup, we have the tank Goujian who draws enemy fire and counters, the single-target burst DPS Lian Po, Xishi for cleansing and control, Lin Xiangru to protect our team from being CC’d, Fan Li for AoE healing, and Duke Huan of Cai for anti-heal… The cards given by the system are surprisingly comprehensive!”

Many players who disliked spending money on games loved watching Flying Bear’s live streams.

Seeing this, everyone felt relieved.

The free cards alone can clear the main story campaign? This is ridiculously player-friendly!

Flying Bear continued pushing through the main campaign.

Chapter 5 recounted the story of “Shang Yang’s Reform.” Starting from this chapter, battle stages introduced numerous crowd-control effects alongside positive and negative buffs. The boss fight against Shang Yang in particular featured constant stat shifts that left players dizzy.

[System: Shang Yang used the skill “Legal Reform” on Fan Li.]

[System: Fan Li used the skill “Thousand Gold,” restoring 1,000 HP to Shang Yang and his guards.]

Flying Bear: “Huh??”

Our healer is healing the enemy team? Is that even allowed?!

Viewers watching the stream exploded with laughter:

【Lmao, is Fan Li a spy sent by the enemy team?】

【This is so hilarious!】

【Turn-based combat isn’t as boring as I thought? Watching the UP-zhu’s review makes me want to play it myself!】

[System: Shang Yang used the skill “Legal Reform” on Goujian.]

[System: Goujian used “Tasting Gall on a Bed of Firewood,” landing a critical strike that killed Xishi.]

Flying Bear: “……Killing your own teammate, you’re truly unbelievable!”

【Hahaha!】

【Shang Yang is so fun to play, I pulled him too!】

【Legal Reform—this skill is insane!】

After wiping against Shang Yang, Flying Bear began analyzing the battle seriously.

Because previous turn-based games had left him with a terrible impression, he had assumed before playing Turbulent Spring and Autumn that this would be another brainless auto-battler where you just swept stages through raw stat checking.

Now it seemed… he had severely underestimated Little Sailboat.

This turn-based combat system was actually really interesting!

Flying Bear explained live: “Shang Yang’s Legal Reform transfers positive buffs—like healing and attack boosts—to himself, while reflecting negative buffs onto his opponents. That’s why our healer ended up healing the enemy team, and our Goujian accidentally killed his own teammate when trying to strike.”

Shang Yang’s Legal Reform skill was indeed formidable.

To beat Shang Yang, you had to carefully calculate the timing of his turns, using Lin Xiangru’s “Perfect Jade” in advance to reflect the skill back at him, or having Xishi silence him directly.

However, Xishi’s silence had an accuracy rate and might fail to land.

To add a double layer of insurance, players could have Duke Huan of Cai target Shang Yang to inflict an anti-heal debuff. Even if Shang Yang stole Fan Li’s healing skill, he wouldn’t be able to heal himself, allowing the team to burst him down as quickly as possible.

After two attempts, he finally cleared the stage.

[System: Congratulations! You have obtained the Hero [Shang Yang].]

Flying Bear: “Holy crap! The system is giving us another card? I’m almost feeling embarrassed to take it, family!”

Viewers watching the stream were completely stunned:

【This system is way too generous!】

【Free cards that are actually this fun to play—I can’t believe it.】

【I used to see so many people online calling Little Sailboat player-friendly, and I thought they were just paid shills~】

【Little Sailboat really is player-friendly! Is this your first time playing a Yangfan game?】

【Millennium Love player checking in: I’ve played for a year and spent barely three hundred yuan on monthly passes, and it feels way better than other games where I dumped thousands!】

【Do they really hand out this many cards for free? I’m going to download it right now!】

Playing up to this point, Flying Bear realized that Yangfan Studio’s level design team was genuinely brilliant.

As the main plot progressed step by step through the early chapters, battle tutorials were seamlessly integrated with hero backstories and skill descriptions, making them effortless to understand and memorize.

The free heroes handed out were tailored specifically to counter the boss fight at the end of Chapter 4.

The operations team didn’t force you to pay; as long as you used your brain, you could clear every stage using the free cards.

Flying Bear couldn’t help praising: “This game is extraordinarily friendly to Zero-Krypton players. The plot, art, and combat leave nothing to be desired. I’ve decided to keep this permanently on my phone to see how long I can stick with it.”

He summarized: “Highly recommended! At least up to where I’ve played, I haven’t found a single predatory monetization tactic.”

A live review from a trusted creator was more effective than any ad campaign.

After watching Flying Bear stream the main campaign, countless hesitant netizens rushed to download the game.

It’s a free download anyway, and F2P players can enjoy it just as well!

Why not try it out first? If we end up really loving it later, spending a bit won’t be too late!

In many games Xie Yunfan had played in his past life, a vast number of characters were permanently benched, becoming glorified “warehouse guardians” that players never used after pulling them.

Even though this game featured a massive character roster, he hoped every character could serve a purpose. Therefore, during the design phase, he agonized over every character to ensure they had distinct traits and utility.

For example, Duke Huan of Cai was a Stellar-rarity card—the lowest tier—with only a single skill. Not only was this card handed directly to players through the main story, but it was also extremely easy to pull from the gacha pool.

In most games, low-rarity cards were carelessly slapped together just to inflate numbers.

However, when Xie Yunfan designed low-star cards, he adhered to the principle of “utility,” crafting unique skills for them. Mechanics like Duke Huan of Cai’s anti-heal could produce miraculous results in specific PVE stages. Later on in the PVP Arena, it could also serve as a tactical deployment to help teammates burst down the enemy’s main DPS.

There were many easily accessible low-star cards like this.

Solar cards were the pursuit of high-spending whales. However, most Zero-Krypton and Monthly Pass players could simply raise low-star cards based on their own tactical preferences.

Whales building a full team of Solar cards could rank high in PVP to gain a sense of accomplishment.

Meanwhile, F2P players could experiment with various fun tactics during battles.

Because Xie Yunfan’s core design philosophy was “no forced monetization,” Ji Yan, the head of the level design team, strictly followed this rule when designing battle stages.

Encounters required strategic thinking rather than mindlessly sweeping through, but they never forced raw stat checks.

Stages that required players to spend money pulling a full team of Solar cards to pass? Such stages simply didn’t exist. As long as players used their heads and applied strategy, they could always clear the content.

By overcoming challenges through their own strategic thinking, players got to experience the true joy of strategy games.

……

On the first day of Turbulent Spring and Autumn‘s launch:

High-spending whales went into a spending frenzy, with plenty dumping tens of thousands of yuan just to complete their character gallery.

Meanwhile, the majority of Zero-Krypton, micro-transaction, and Monthly Pass players found the game immensely enjoyable. Not only were the free cards capable of clearing the main story, but player level-up rewards were also exceptionally generous.

Driven by word-of-mouth recommendations, Turbulent Spring and Autumn hit another peak in online activity at 8:00 PM, forcing the operations team to add 10 more server sets.

Luo Hang called Xie Yunfan: “Yunfan, we’ve been monitoring public sentiment since launch. Reviews on gaming forums, ACFun, major streaming sites, Weibo, and other social platforms are overwhelmingly positive.”

He paused, then added: “In particular, recommendations from several popular video creators have drawn in a massive wave of Zero-Krypton and micro-transaction players. While the change on the holographic end isn’t as dramatic, the mobile client has gained nearly 10 million new players.”

For holographic gaming, players without a home pod had to book time at gaming centers, whereas mobile gaming could be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. This was the exact advantage of cross-platform connectivity—players could log in on whichever platform suited them best.

Xie Yunfan breathed a sigh of relief and said, “It’s a great start. Let’s keep it up.”

If a game catered exclusively to high-spending whales, it would quickly die out.

Between a free-to-play game with tens of millions of active players and a game where only whales could survive, the former would indisputably last longer and generate far better long-term revenue.

Zero-Krypton and micro-transaction players were very likely to make purchases once they fell in love with a game.

Xie Yunfan still remembered the very first time he spent money on a game in his past life—it was simply because he had played an RPG online game for a long time, fell in love with an outfit, and bought it for his character…

A game’s player base determined its popularity and long-term prospects.

Making players spend money happily versus forcing them to pay were two completely different user experiences.

Turbulent Spring and Autumn‘s main storyline handed out a vast number of heroes. Daily quests, weekly dungeons, and guild activities also rewarded plenty of Spirit Charms (gacha currency).

Xie Yunfan had his numerical planners calculate carefully: in a single month, a Zero-Krypton player participating in various activities could earn 50 free pulls worth of resources. If they chose to buy a Monthly Pass, they could accumulate 83 pulls per month.

With the game’s 2% gacha drop rate, even if you had terrible luck, 83 pulls would comfortably yield 1 to 2 Solar cards.

As future updates introduced more story chapters and new cards, standard cards would also be added to the shop for token exchange. As long as players kept playing and saved their resources, they would eventually acquire every character they wanted.

……

On its launch day, the turn-based strategy game Turbulent Spring and Autumn achieved:

Holographic Games Bestseller List: TOP-1.

Mobile Home Bestseller List: TOP-1.

Sweeping the top spot on both charts on day one—just how terrifying was this revenue?

Industry competitors were green with envy.

A blogger who specialized in tracking game revenue posted on Weibo: “Based on past experience, topping both bestseller lists implies a daily revenue of at least 300 million yuan. However, since Turbulent Spring and Autumn currently sits at number one on both charts with no benchmark above it, its revenue has no upper ceiling. As for the exact number… even I can’t predict it.”

All anyone knew was that within 5 hours of launch, the game’s revenue had claimed the top spot on both charts and hadn’t dropped since.

Many players online expressed confusion—

“Who on earth is spending money? I haven’t spent a single cent and I’m playing super comfortably. I’ve already reached Chapter 5 of the first act, and I have 7 free cards from the system!”

“You don’t need to spend early on to play fine. I guess a lot of people just couldn’t control their hands and went on gacha sprees!”

“I don’t get why you guys are rushing to top up? Even if you pull heroes early on, you don’t have the resources to raise them anyway?”

“Hahaha, when I reached the ‘Hiding Sickness’ chapter, I fell in love with Bian Que! I thought he was so cute urging Duke Huan of Cai to get treated! Then I found out he has a revive skill and seems super strong, so I couldn’t resist buying a few bundles to pull for him. I never spent money on games before, but I couldn’t control myself this time…”

“Family, I wanted to pull a high-burst Solar DPS, but ended up pulling four supports instead?”

“May I ask who’s spending money? Oh, it’s me. I went to pull cards and hit hard pity twice (sad.jpg).”

“I knew the free heroes from the system could clear the main story too. But those 20 free pulls from the mailbox dropped a double gold, so who could hold back? I ended up topping up, and before I knew it, two thousand yuan was gone. Holy crap! This game is addictive.”

“Once you start spending, you just can’t stop…”

“Gacha games are way too addicting. I advise you all to stop—it’s only day one, brothers!”

How much was the first day’s total revenue? Competitors couldn’t estimate it.

That secret was known only to Qihang’s operations team.

The Operations Director’s voice was literally trembling: “Boss Luo… revenue has crossed 500 million yuan!”

Luo Hang: “……”

Surpassing 500 million yuan on day one—this was a rare, once-in-a-decade mega-hit.

Who would have thought a turn-based strategy game could become the strongest dark horse in the gaming market?

The foundation laid by Yangfan Studio’s previous games had given players immense confidence in their new title. Combined with high-quality content, engaging strategy, and generous benefits…

While Zero-Krypton players didn’t contribute directly to revenue, the massive base of micro-transaction players formed the primary revenue engine!

A single Monthly Pass cost 30 yuan; if 10 million players bought it, that was 300 million yuan right there. A large player base was paramount—as long as they retained these Monthly Pass subscribers, the studio would essentially be lying back and counting money going forward.

Luo Hang shared the incredible news with Xie Yunfan: “Sales for discounted bundles and Monthly Passes are off the charts. From 12:00 PM today until now, revenue has broken 500 million yuan.”

Xie Yunfan smiled and said, “This is only the beginning.”

Luo Hang: “……”

Indeed, the most terrifying realization was that—

This was truly only the beginning.