Chapter 24: The Organizer Winning the Championship, Really?

Mingyue Tianya grew even more nervous.

Su Cheng truly lived up to being the game’s developer.

He saw right through his plan to use Zhang Juhan to build meter for Benimaru Nikaido.

Mingyue Tianya often used the matchmaking system to hone his skills.

But the characters he played most were Kusaue Kyo, Benimaru Nikaido, Mai Shiranui, and the like.

There were Chizuru players on the ladder, but very few, and none of them played her nearly as well as Su Cheng did.

In the second match, he hadn’t left him even a shred of meter!

Benimaru Nikaido with no meter could only poke with light punches and light kicks, waiting for Su Cheng to show an opening.

But Chizuru built meter far faster than he did.

Before Su Cheng ever slipped up, his Benimaru Nikaido had already lost more than half his health bar.

Still, the patient Mingyue Tianya caught Su Cheng’s mistake.

He happened to have meter on hand, so he popped Max Mode right away and took out Su Cheng’s Chizuru in two combos.

“Phew~”

“Finally won a round.”

Although his Benimaru Nikaido was left with only a sliver of health, at least he hadn’t been swept by a single character.

He had already given up on winning the championship. He just hoped he wouldn’t lose too badly.

The live audience and the chat started discussing the second bout, Chizuru vs Benimaru Nikaido.

“Holy crap, I see it now. Mingyue Tianya was using Zhang Juhan to chip away health and stock up meter.”

“Yeah, yeah, he keeps using that setup. Even if he doesn’t shave off much health, just carrying meter over to his second character is a huge advantage.”

“Look, without meter, Benimaru Nikaido’s pressure gets way weaker all of a sudden.”

“I feel like Su Cheng could have swept him with one character. How did he get caught for two combos by Benimaru Nikaido at the end?”

“I bet he was holding back. On purpose.”

“Maybe. He didn’t want to make the player look too bad.”

Third match, full-health Blue Mary vs sliver-health Benimaru Nikaido.

Su Cheng won.

Fourth match, full-health Blue Mary vs full-health Kusaue Kyo.

Mingyue Tianya won.

Fifth match.

The final of this King of Fighters Championship.

Full-health Iori Yagami vs two-thirds-health Kusaue Kyo.

Mingyue Tianya let out a soft breath and focused completely.

Kusaue Kyo was his most practiced character, and his anchor.

When in doubt, pick Kusaue Kyo.

In the first and second matches, Su Cheng had put quite a lot of pressure on him.

But after the third and fourth matches, Mingyue Tianya felt the pressure ease off all at once.

He wasn’t sure if he had overestimated Su Cheng’s skill, or if Su Cheng was holding back on purpose.

He had a vague feeling that as long as he didn’t make any mistakes, he still had a shot at the championship.

Li Lei and Xiao Ming started commentating in the stream.

This match really had no suspense left.

Su Cheng’s Iori Yagami now had three bars of meter.

Mingyue Tianya had only one.

But to keep the suspense alive, the two still did their best to hype up Mingyue Tianya’s side.

Round 5.

Ready… Go!

Right off the bat, Su Cheng sprinted and slipped behind his opponent, popped Max Mode, then linked into Eight Wine Cups^[1].

Mingyue Tianya didn’t even get to input anything before his health bar was already empty.

K.O.!

The fifth match was over in less than 20 seconds.

“Let’s congratulate… IIIIIIII for winning this King of Fighters Championship!”

“Also, let me introduce to everyone just who this champion really is.”

“He’s the developer of our King of Fighters series. King of Fighters 2 was developed by him and me together.” Li Lei started to claim some of the credit for himself.

“Huh? Then whose contribution was bigger, yours or his?” Xiao Ming asked.

“Idiot, of course it was… his. Couldn’t you tell just from his technique…”

“We’re both programmers, but he handled the design. His understanding of the game is definitely way above mine.”

The venue erupted in cheers.

“This kills me. I held a tournament, and then I won the championship myself.”

“Hahaha, I seriously suspect the devs hid the movelist on purpose, just so they could win it themselves.”

“Did they make this game just for themselves to play?”

“Nah, nah. Pretty much all the combos have been figured out by now. It just comes down to how you use them.”

The atmosphere at the venue couldn’t have been livelier.

There were even people holding up light boards for Su Cheng.

At the venue, there were also two uninvited guests.

Shi Xiaoqiang and Wang Yuting.

The two of them had arrived bright and early that day.

Shi Xiaoqiang looked rather haggard. He still hadn’t recovered from the last drinking bout. The doctor told him to rest up, no drinking for at least two months, and to take his medicine on time every day.

But Shi Xiaoqiang really couldn’t help himself. He wanted to know what the hell Su Cheng was up to.

The atmosphere on site was great.

The livestream had a lot of viewers, at least tens of thousands watching.

Players and commentators alike.

Su Cheng had made the [King of Fighters Championship] look polished and professional.

“This kid’s got something.”

Shi Xiaoqiang acknowledged Su Cheng for the first time.

With this format, he could just take it and copy it wholesale for some other tournament!

Almost no one at home or abroad was doing it like this yet.

When it came to games, the most you got were livestreams and videos from P Station uploaders.

Turning games into competitive tournaments.

The idea was fresh, way ahead of its time.

Nice concept.

But in the next second it’ll be mine.

Even if Shi Xiaoqiang didn’t copy it, others would follow suit and start holding similar gaming tournaments.

Right after that.

The top ten were invited onto the main stage one by one.

Shen Manman, dressed in a wine-red JK uniform, began presenting awards to the winning players.

Shi Xiaoqiang was stunned.

When did Shen Manman get mixed up with Su Cheng?

Last time at the KTV, he had indeed lost control. He failed to keep his temper in check and slapped Shen Manman across the face.

Shi Xiaoqiang admitted that one was his fault.

But Shi Xiaoqiang couldn’t apologize to Shen Manman.

If he apologized, he wouldn’t be Shi Xiaoqiang anymore.

Only by refusing to apologize would Shen Manman blame herself and keep playing the little follower by his side.

Or rather, the simp.

Shi Xiaoqiang had originally thought that if he froze Shen Manman out for a week or two, she’d even come to apologize to him on her own.

Then he might be able to win her over for good.

Who would have thought.

After ignoring Shen Manman for just a few days, she’d ended up with Su Cheng.

Shi Xiaoqiang turned to ask Wang Yuting, “Do you know when she hooked up with Su Cheng?”

“Seems like she left with Su Cheng that very night, but neither of them went back to school. No idea where they went.”

Wang Yuting’s answer was highly suggestive.

Anyone would think of hotels or homestays.

The two of them had drunk that much and hadn’t gone back to school, so where else could they have gone?

Shi Xiaoqiang couldn’t help but curse, “What a slut.”

“I heard this, and it’s just hearsay, so I don’t know if it’s true.”

“Su Cheng started some kind of game studio, and Shen Manman is now the art designer at Su Cheng’s studio, the kind of job that comes with a salary and bonuses.”

What Shen Manman had done left Shi Xiaoqiang deeply shocked.

From what he knew of Shen Manman, that made no sense!

She should have come crying and begging him for forgiveness. How had she ended up by Su Cheng’s side?

It was worlds apart from what Shi Xiaoqiang had imagined.

“Go look into what’s going on with this studio now.”