The total sales of the first batch of merchandise ultimately broke through 250 million. Song Qian’s confidence was boosted multiplied. In October, based on suggestions from the players, Song Qian developed the second batch of merchandise for Journey to the West.

In addition to merchandise like the main character group’s commemorative laser cards and plush dolls, there was also stationery merchandise for highly popular supporting characters such as Nezha, Yang Jian, and Guanyin Bodhisattva, which also sold very well.

This game directly carried the stationery manufacturers to success; Mr. Liu smiled so much every day that he couldn’t close his mouth. The boss of Xinxin Stationery, with whom cooperation hadn’t been finalized before, regretted it so much that his intestines turned green.

In December, the game’s serialization entered its final stage.

The scripture-seeking small team experienced all kinds of hardships and dangers, and also encountered a wide variety of troublesome bosses.

There were the tree spirits of Jingji Ridge (Thorn Ridge) turning into human forms—pine, cypress, and bamboo, with various vines flying wildly and pine needles and bamboo leaves sweeping and shooting everywhere, causing players to be wiped out repeatedly.

There was also the red-scaled giant python of Qijue Mountain, which swallowed Sun Wukong into its stomach, only for Wukong to rip his way out through its belly, defusing the crisis with more thrill than actual danger.

The seven spider spirits of Pansi Cave spat silk and wove webs everywhere, making it hard for players to move even a single step.

On Shituo Ridge, the Green-haired Lion Demon, the Yellow-fanged Old Elephant, and the Golden-winged Peng Eagle—the three great demon kings joined forces, plus thousands of minor demons, causing countless players to spend several days progression-clearing before finally beating the stage…

Along this journey, players controlled the scripture-seeking small team to slay demons and eliminate monsters, passing through maps of various styles and defeating dozens of bosses.

By December, when the final chapter was updated, besides the excitement of “it’s finally ending,” what remained for the players was a deep reluctance to part with it.

Downloading Journey to the West on weekends, watching the plot while fighting bosses, had already become the happiest thing for players over the past half year.

On live streaming platforms, countless game streamers listed Journey to the West as a must-stream item; on game forums, a large number of experts took pleasure in studying gameplay and writing game guides.

There were also many players discussing the plot on major websites.

This game actually pioneered an extremely rare era of “the whole nation chasing updates” in the gaming industry.

Competitors were full of envy, jealousy, and hatred, yet they could do nothing about Xie Yunfan.

On December 18, the official Weibo of Yangfan Studio released a notice—

“Dear players, the tenth chapter of Journey to the West will officially be open for download on December 19 at 19:00 in the evening. This is the final chapter of the game, and the story of the scripture-seeking small team will soon come to an end. Over the past half year, thank you to all players for your support of Journey to the West. For the final chapter, we hope everyone can have fun playing!”

As soon as this Weibo was posted, it was enthusiastically forwarded and commented on by players, sending it straight onto the hot search list.

【It’s finally ending!】

【So reluctant to see it go, will it really not update anymore in the future?】

【Waaaah, don’t end it, I still want to continue watching the Great Sage’s story】

【I followed this game from the very beginning to the end, the plot is wonderful, the game is also very fun, it is indeed a work of Yangfan Studio】

【From now on, for me, games produced by Yangfan Studio will directly pass inspection for download without a second thought!】

【This game indeed has magic; being serialized for half a year and still keeping so many players chasing updates to the point of madness shows how fun it is】

【Little Sailboat, see you in the next game!】

The hashtag #JourneyToTheWestConclusion# landed directly at number one on the main hot search chart, and within just one short hour, it accumulated over 100 million views and broke through 1 million discussions.

Countless players waiting for the update downloaded the game at the very first moment.

However, many people were reluctant to open it.

Brother Liu looked at the familiar game icon and said with emotion: “In the blink of an eye, half a year has passed, family! Journey to the West is about to conclude!”

“Starting from Sun Wukong wreaking havoc in heaven, to now arriving at the Western Heaven world after going through twists and turns, it feels like the players have been accompanying them on their adventure and watching them grow.”

“We followed the scripture-seeking small team and experienced a legendary story together!”

As a full-time game streamer, he had played hundreds of games, but he had never possessed such deep feelings for a game’s protagonist.

In the beginning, when they saw that the game’s protagonist was a monkey, most people thought: Is this game made for kids? Is it a cute pet style like “Animal Paradise”?

Unexpectedly, this monkey protagonist got countless players more and more hooked.

Nowadays, whenever “your favorite game character” is mentioned, more than half of the players in the comment section will mention the name “Great Sage Equal to Heaven.”

Sun Wukong’s image has long been deeply rooted in people’s hearts.

In addition to the Great Sage, characters like Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Tang Sanzang have also become “celebrities” in the gaming world; they can argue to high heaven over a single plot point, showing how genuinely invested the players are.

Liu-ge took a deep breath and said, “It’s the final chapter. Let’s play seriously; every second we play is one second less. Let’s all watch the ending of the story together.”

The final chapter still consisted of four maps—Xuanying Cave of Qinglong Mountain, Tianzhu Kingdom, Diling County, and Leiyin Temple of Lingshan.

The bosses in Xuanying Cave were a super-hard-to-beat combination boss, namely King Pihan (Cold-Avoider), King Pishu (Heat-Avoider), and King Bichen (Dust-Avoider). They had a pile of negative buffs and strong output capability; it was very normal for players to get stuck on this level for several hours.

Liu-ge fought for a whole night before beating it.

Opening the next day, they encountered a Jade Rabbit Spirit in the second piece, Tianzhu Kingdom plot.

This monster was the boss with the highest agility attribute so far. As the saying goes, “a crafty rabbit has three burrows”; it would teleport back and forth and launch sneak attacks from behind. Those without serious operational skills really couldn’t get past it.

Countless players were forced to lower the difficulty on this level.

Those who stubbornly stuck to the “Challenge Difficulty” spent as long as two or three days progression-clearing this Jade Rabbit. Only at the end did they find out that this was the rabbit of Fairy Chang’e from Guanghan Palace, which had escaped to the mortal realm and turned into a spirit.

The third map “Diling County” was the hardest “escape level” since playing the game.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples were framed for murder and imprisoned in the jail of Tongtai Prefecture. Wukong escaped alone and used a scheme to clear their names. Because there were a vast number of patrolling guards, this escape gameplay was thrilling and soul-stirring.

After passing that level, players finally arrived at the destination of the scripture-seeking journey—Great Leiyin Temple!

Passing through Lingyun Ferry and riding the bottomless boat, the master and disciples shed their mortal forms and transformed thoroughly, finally seeing Tathagata Buddha.

The Buddha told the four to fetch the scriptures, but unexpectedly, two honored ones actually demanded a “fee” from them.

Liu-ge complained: “Is this openly asking for a tip?”

Sun Wukong refused to give it, so the two actually swapped out the scriptures, giving them a pile of “wordless scriptures.” The master and disciples went to complain to Tathagata, but Tathagata did not punish his two subordinates.

The master and disciples had no choice but to go back and give the purple-gold alms bowl, given to Tang Sanzang by the Emperor of Great Tang, to the two honored ones, only then obtaining the true scriptures.

After reviewing the tribulations along the way, Guanyin said: “Nine times nine returns to reality. The tribulations suffered by Tang Sanzang and his disciples total eighty tribulations; they are still short of one tribulation.”

When the four master and disciples were on their way back, they passed the Tongtian River and were thrown into the river by the tortoise crossing them; the scriptures were all soaked, and the final tribulation was completed.

The four rode the wind away, arriving in the Great Tang of the Eastern Land in the blink of an eye, and handed over the retrieved scriptures to the Emperor of Great Tang.

Subsequently, they returned before Tathagata Buddha to report the completion of their mission.

The individuals of the main character group perfectly completed their mission and all received official titles and rewards from Tathagata.

System: Tang Sanzang has obtained the title [Chandana Merit Buddha];

System: Sun Wukong has obtained the title [Victorious Fighting Buddha];

System: Zhu Bajie has obtained the title [Cleanser of the Altar];

System: Sha Wujing has obtained the title [Golden-Bodied Arhat];

System: White Dragon Horse has obtained the title [Dragon Horse of the Eight Parts of Heavenly Beings];

Can be chosen and equipped in the system menu.

System: The plot has concluded, player level raised to 100.

System: New Achievement System added in New Game Plus, the grand map is fully open and can be freely explored.

Thank you for your support of the Journey to the West game!

Looking at these few lines of text popping up on the screen, countless players felt a complexity of emotions.

Back when they were chasing updates, they hoped every day for it to update faster and conclude faster.

Now that it had finally concluded, everyone was very reluctant to let go.

Because everyone knew that in the future, the fixed happiness of weekends would be gone; Yangfan Studio would not update further, and everyone would never see the follow-up stories of Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and the others again.

The scripture-seeking small team had obtained the true scriptures, achieving complete and perfect merit.

And for the players, this entire half-year period was also the most “complete and perfect” gaming experience.

Countless players went to Weibo to leave messages for Yangfan Studio—

【Beaten the game, suddenly feeling very lost in my heart】

【Our Great Sage’s story although ended, the Great Sage will remain in my heart forever!】

【From Protector of the Horses (Bimawen), to Great Sage Equal to Heaven, and finally becoming the Victorious Fighting Buddha, Brother Monkey didn’t have it easy!】

【Thank you Little Sailboat for bringing us such a wonderful game】

In the live streaming rooms, many streamers began conclusion lucky draws.

On the forums, some players began posting various types of summary voting threads.

“The game concluded, which boss do you think was the hardest?”

Under this thread, many people nominated “Six-Eared Macaque,” and some also nominated “Scorpion Spirit,” “Three Demons of Shituo Ridge,” “Nine-Headed Bird,” “Jade Rabbit,” and so on; players discussed highly enthusiastically.

“Which NPC left the deepest impression on everyone?”

There was no doubt about this thread; the Queen of the Women’s Kingdom topped the list with 80% of the votes.

“Which stage did you like the most?”

Players’ opinions were highly un-unified, each having their own views.

On the day of completion, threads on the forum emerged endlessly, and countless players discussed late into the night.

There were also a large number of experts compiling some posts like “Journey to the West Boss Strategy Summary,” “Collection of Maze Path Maps,” “Videos for Escape-type Level Guides,” and so on to help newcomers pass levels.

After beating the game, some players, out of boredom, controlled Sun Wukong to wander all over the grand map.

Now, all maps were fully open, and players could roam freely and arbitrarily in this world.

For example, transforming into a bird to admire the scenery among different mountains and forests; transforming into a fish to go to the Dragon Palace, Tongtian River, Liusha River, and other waters to see the underwater landscapes…

Although the game’s plot had ended, there was still a lot of playable content. Free from the constraints of the plot, players could freely control Sun Wukong to travel around.

Having become the Victorious Fighting Buddha, absolutely no one dared to stop Sun Wukong.

Many players stated: “Even if I clear this game, I don’t want to delete it!”

“Me too, even if my phone memory is insufficient in the future, I’d be reluctant to delete the Great Sage.”

“When bored, opening it to take a look and controlling the Great Sage to fly around is still very happy!”

“This game is super popular among elementary school students; it might become the best childhood memory for the children.”

……

The countless positive reviews from players who beat the game also caused the rating of Journey to the West on the Mobile Games Home website to surge.

It ranked first on the “Stage-clearing Mobile Games Chart,” with 1 million people rating it and an average score of 9.5 points.

In the next few days, as more and more players cleared the game, the number of raters broke through 3 million, with an average score of 9.6 points—not only firmly holding the top spot on the sub-chart, leaving the second place several times behind, but even rising to the number one spot on the overall mobile games leaderboard!

Qin Fang was completely stunned.

Number one in rating on the overall mobile games leaderboard!

The value of the game could no longer be measured by gross revenue alone.

Journey to the West, developed by Yangfan Studio, would turn into an “enduring” masterpiece of word-of-mouth reputation; even if the serialization had concluded, there would still be countless “delayed-entry” players joining.

Even three or five years later, there would still be players continuously downloading this game.

This can no longer be described by a simple “smash hit.”

Xie Yunfan had made a highly-praised mobile game, leaving a joyful childhood period for countless children.

In the world of children, there was now an additional true “national male god, Great Sage Equal to Heaven”!

This was the most meaningful thing.

December 25, Christmas.

One week after the final chapter of Journey to the West was updated, its popularity, let alone fading, actually rose higher and higher—many delayed-entry players and content-accumulating players began to download the game.

They would not slowly purchase it chapter by chapter for 5 yuan each; most came for the game’s reputation, spending 45 yuan all at once to directly buy up all the paid content of the subsequent nine chapters.

The game’s gross revenue ushered in the most terrifying growth spike over the past half year.

The gross revenue on Mobile Games Home broke through 500 million within a week, and the official website revenue also topped 300 million.

Conclusion was not the end.

For this game, the conclusion was merely the beginning of its reputation breaking out of its niche.

During winter vacation, after primary and secondary school students go on holiday, it would definitely welcome another new peak.

That evening, Yangfan Studio suddenly released an official Weibo post—

“After a period of meticulous design and preparation, Yangfan Studio has decided to launch the commemorative edition merchandise for the conclusion of Journey to the West.

The commemorative edition merchandise for this occasion is as follows:

Set A: Priced at 488 yuan

Chibi/Q-version figures of the scripture-seeking small team (size around 15cm × 5cm), including five figures: Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and the White Dragon Horse, with an assembly base that allows for free combination and arrangement.

Among them, the luggage component can be disassembled, allowing any character to carry it according to your preference; the reins of the Little White Dragon are also movable, allowing any character to lead it.

Set B: Priced at 899 yuan

Collector’s Edition figure of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong (size around 30cm × 10cm), adopting a special carving process, a 1:1 life-like replica of the game’s image. The display stand base features the Somersault Cloud skill special effects, and comes with a detachable Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden Hoop Rod) weapon.

Since the manufacturing process of the figures is relatively complex, this merchandise will adopt an online pre-order method. The pre-order period is from January 12 at 12:00 to January 24 at 24:00.

During the pre-order period, there will be customized merchandise gifts; general sales after the pre-order period will no longer include gifts.

Players who like collecting figures can follow the Yangfan Studio Merchandise Mall and purchase as needed.”

The Weibo post was accompanied by the design drawings of the figures.

For the master-disciple combination in Set A, since the base could be assembled, and the luggage and Little White Dragon were independent, after buying it home, the scripture-seeking small team could be placed arbitrarily.

For example, letting Sun Wukong walk at the very front leading the horse, and letting Bajie go carry the luggage; or letting Tang Sanzang ride the horse in front, and Sha Wujing carry the luggage. Various free combinations depended entirely on the player’s preference.

This design was quite interesting; every player could arrange their favorite small team formation. The 5 figures placed together also looked very good.

Set B, the collector’s edition figure of Sun Wukong, was almost identical to the image in the game. The 30cm-tall Great Sage Equal to Heaven had a craftsmanship that looked exquisite and delicate, appearing incredibly domineering just standing there!

As soon as this news was released, it immediately triggered a passionate response from the players.

【Ahhhh, I must buy the Great Sage figure】

【I’ve been looking forward to you guys releasing a Great Sage figure for ages, didn’t expect it to come out only after the conclusion】

【I’ve decided to go All In on both sets】

【The pricing is very fair, the robot figures next door are selling for over a thousand yuan】

【For the student party, it’s still slightly expensive, starting to save money now!】

In the comment section, countless players expressed anticipation for this.

There were also many people who didn’t like buying merchandise just watching the excitement.

A thread appeared on a comprehensive gaming forum: Guess how much the pre-sales of the Journey to the West figures can sell?

1st Floor: I remember the firearm figures of the most popular Wilderness Survival next door sold for 200 million, right?

2nd Floor: Back then, the figures for Dream Wing’s Pet Paradise sold very well. The toy series had cute designs and was very popular among children. It sold 300 million, which is currently the highest figure sales record.

10th Floor: For two sets, at least 100 million!

18th Floor: I feel like the Great Sage figure alone can sell 100 million. Children love this game so much. Winter vacation starts in mid-January, so if pre-orders open, children will definitely ask their parents to buy it for them.

Many people on the forum were guessing.

Meanwhile, quite a few corporate executives in the gaming industry were also keeping their eyes fixed on the figure sales of Yangfan Studio this time.

Some people were very nervous, worried the opponent would surpass them. Others held a gossiping mindset, just watching the show.

Isn’t this game very popular? Exactly how much can it sell?

……

Amidst the expectations of countless people, at noon on January 12, Yangfan Studio’s Merchandise Mall opened the pre-order page for the “Conclusion Commemorative Edition Figures.”

Within just one short hour, sales for Set A broke through 100,000, sales for Set B, the single figure of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, broke through 150,000, and the total pre-order amount exceeded 130 million yuan!

Competitors were completely stunned.

This is only the first day of pre-orders, and it directly broke 100 million in one hour?

Back then, the Q-version figures of Pet Paradise took a week to break 100 million, ultimately breaking 300 million in a month, shocking the gaming world.

These Journey to the West figures…

Could it be about to break the historical record?

Countless game manufacturers were concerned about the pre-order sales of Yangfan Studio’s Merchandise Mall.

That afternoon, a new bold announcement appeared on the pre-order interface—

【Thank you to all players for your enthusiastic support! The pre-order amount for the Conclusion Commemorative Edition Figures has broken 100 million. Unlocked Reward: All players who purchase during the pre-order period will receive an additional set of Chibi/Q-version keychains of the main character group as a gift】

On the evening of January 12, the pre-order amount broke through 300 million.

The mouths of the competitors could no longer close.

Good heavens! So incredible?!

Although Yangfan Studio had two types of merchandise, Set A and Set B, breaking 300 million in sales within a single day had already broken Dream Wing’s record from back then, hadn’t it?

Exactly what kind of magic does this game have to make players so die-hard?

The merchandise sells extremely well every single time, and their spending power is off the charts.

……

The next day happened to be the weekend, and students were on vacation after finishing their final exams.

In a certain residential area, a girl pulled her mother’s sleeve and said: “Mom, for my birthday gift this year, can I have a Great Sage Equal to Heaven figure?”

The little boy next door, holding his report card, said: “Dad, I placed in the top three, you promised to reward me, I want the Great Sage Equal to Heaven figure!”

Countless children begged their parents to give them gifts.

Some who didn’t perform well in exams, or whose birthdays weren’t coming up anytime soon, resorted to methods of throwing tantrums to pester their parents into buying it for them; there were also some children who usually liked to save money, taking out all their New Year’s money and pocket money to have their parents help them place an order.

This winter vacation, “owning a Great Sage Equal to Heaven figure” had already become standard equipment for children.

If you didn’t have one, you couldn’t even hold your head up high in your circle of friends.

Three days into the figure pre-orders, the sales amount broke 500 million.

Another bold announcement appeared on the interface—

【Thank you to all players for your support! The figure pre-order amount has broken 500 million. Unlocked Reward: An additional set of original art collector’s edition flashcards of the scripture-seeking small team will be given as a gift】

Competitors: “……”

It actually broke 500 million?

This Yangfan Studio selling merchandise generates higher revenue than the gross of many games!

It is too enviable and inducing jealousy.

However, what made competitors break down completely was still to come.

Two weeks later, as the pre-order period was about to end, the interface updated with another announcement—

【Figure pre-order amount broke 1 billion! Unlocked Reward: An additional Mount Huaguo acrylic display stand will be given as a gift, which can be freely placed as a background for the figures. All figure packaging upgraded to include an integrated transparent protective cover × 1. Thank you to all players for your enthusiastic support】

The wide-open mouths of the competitors could no longer close.

Holy crap, 1 billion, this directly broke the sales record for game figures worldwide!

Players were also frightened by this sales volume.

Quite a few people left messages on the pre-order interface—

【Good heavens, how did I suddenly participate in a 1-billion big project!】

【Investor of the 1-billion project coming to report for duty~】

【I knew the Great Sage possessed boundless charm; breaking the record was just a matter of time】

【At first, I thought selling around 200 million would be about it. As a result, the standalone Great Sage figure alone exceeded 600 million, and Set A for the small team selling 400 million is also very badass】

【Who would have thought that playing a game would also allow us to witness history along the way?】

【The best-selling figure in gaming history—Great Sage Equal to Heaven, any objections?!】

What was even more terrifying was that this was still just the pre-order period.

After general sales open later, offline stores across the country would also be able to sell the Great Sage Equal to Heaven figures.

Even in the future, children might “each have a Great Sage figure.”

——A childhood without the Great Sage is incomplete.

Once such a perception was formed, the sales of this figure might even double.

Song Qian of the marketing department was so excited that both his hands were trembling.

At exactly 24:00 on January 24 sharp, the pre-order interface closed, and the sales amount froze at a figure he could hardly believe even in his dreams…

For this conclusion commemorative edition figure, it was repeatedly modified during the design phase, and he kept his eyes on it throughout the later stages of confirming materials and craftsmanship, aiming solely for excellence.

He had guessed that sales would be very good, since this game had explosively broken out of its niche and the sales of the previous few batches of merchandise were all quite good. But he hadn’t guessed—

It directly shattered the figure sales record in global gaming history.

He had also participated in a 1-billion big project!

Song Qian would wake up laughing even in his dreams.

Meanwhile, Xie Yunfan was extremely candy and calm regarding this data.

When pricing the game in the early stages, he had thought that by selling the game cheaply to attract more players to enter, there would be many ways to make a profit in the later stages.

Facts proved that he had predicted correctly once again—the game’s reputation broke out of its niche, player recognition was high, and not only did downloads continuously grow, but merchandise sales were also incredibly strong.

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven had now become a household game character, and in the future, there would be more and more children who love the Great Sage and go to collect the Great Sage’s figures.

This half-year serialization period carried the beautiful memories of many people.

The story had ended, but Sun Wukong’s influence in the alternate world would remain evergreen and never fade.

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven had not only become a male god and idol in the hearts of children, but would also be the favorite animation/game character for many adults.

——A national mobile game, he had achieved it!