Yun Ying tilted her head, blinking her big eyes, seemingly working hard to digest this "eagle and sparrow" theory.
After a while, she clapped her palms together in sudden realization!
"I get it now!"
Cloud and Nakoruru both breathed sighs of relief.
However, Yun Ying's next words made their hearts, which had just settled, leap right back into their throats.
"You mean the organizing committee thinks all those competitors in the earlier rounds are total noobs who don't even deserve to be our opponents! To protect them from getting beaten too badly by us, they won't let us compete! Is that right?!"
Cloud: "...Although your interpretation is a bit off... you can think of it that way for now."
"I see!" Yun Ying's anger evaporated instantly, replaced by a "Seeking Defeat" style of smug satisfaction.
"Sigh, can't be helped. Who told us to be this strong! The loneliness of masters~you ordinary mortals would never understand."
As she spoke, she even patted Cloud's shoulder with an air of worldly wisdom: "Alright then, since it's to protect the weak, this young lady will reluctantly accept this arrangement. But we can't just sit idle these next few days! I'm going to spectate in person! I'll record every single person who might become our opponent in my little notebook! Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never lose!"
With that, she dashed out of the lounge like a whirlwind—probably to find somewhere to watch the matches.
Left in the lounge, Cloud and Nakoruru could only look at each other.
"That... worked?" Cloud asked uncertainly.
Nakoruru smiled and nodded, then added with a hint of worry: "But... Sister Yun Ying's little notebook... seems to be something she grabbed from the hotel earlier... a menu."
Cloud: "..."
He suddenly realized that for this year's KOF 97, his most difficult opponent might not be Orochi, nor the Four Heavenly Kings of the Divine Tribe, but rather his own teammate... whose thought process was as unpredictable as quantum tunneling.
The road to championship would be long and arduous indeed.
...
With Mr. Norton's resounding "Fight!", the KOF 97 Tournament officially commenced.
This month-long fighting extravaganza rapidly ignited an unprecedented "Everyone Throw Hands" craze across the globe.
From Akihabara in Tokyo to the favelas of Rio, from Manhattan's Times Square to Siberian frontier posts—anywhere there was a screen, KOF was being broadcast.
This tournament had become nothing short of a phenomenal cultural event.
In the early stages, things were relatively normal, but soon, things started getting weird.
Due to the legendary effect of Cloud, the "three-time champion," along with the continued popularity of old-school idols like Kyo Kusanagi and Terry, this year's newcomers displayed a bizarre "cosplay trend."
For example, in the American bracket, a red-haired young man named "Scott" had done his best to transform himself into a Benimaru Nikaido replica.
Not only had he styled his hair into the same "anti-gravity broom head," but he'd mastered the pre-fight pose perfectly—first a delicate finger-brush of the bangs, then striking an extremely sultry S-curve, and finally throwing a coquettish wink at the camera.
However, similar in form but not in spirit.
When he attempted Benimaru's signature "Raikou Ken," what he produced wasn't lightning, but a tiny spark of static electricity.
He was ultimately KO'd by his opponent's simple backdrop slam, his health bar instantly emptied. The scene was deeply awkward.
The commentator could barely contain his laughter: "Oh! Look at that! Competitor Scott! He's mimicking Benimaru Nikaido's pose! He's about to attack! He... oh, he might just be wearing too many layers in winter—lot of static buildup. No worries, young man, participation is what counts!"
Even more ridiculous was a young Italian competitor who'd somehow gotten his hands on a Kyo Kusanagi school uniform, complete with a large sun emblem embroidered in gold thread on the back.
Before every match, he'd summon all his strength to let out a roar from his core: "Ikuze!" (Let's go!)
But his techniques had absolutely nothing to do with Kusanagi-style Ancient Martial Arts.
When he struck the opening pose for "Orochinagi" while shouting "This is the Kusanagi Fist!", what came out was... a textbook set of Italian Wing Chun.
The visual dissonance was off the charts, making even the real Kyo Kusanagi, watching from the spectator area, twitch uncontrollably. He'd nearly crushed the water bottle in his hand.
"Benimaru," Kyo asked darkly, "should I apply for a technique patent?"
Benimaru pulled out a small comb and elegantly tidied his hair while commenting: "Don't be upset, Kyo. This shows you're popular—you've achieved human-to-human transmission. You should be proud, my friend."
Of course, the most imitated was Cloud.
For a time, the tournament was flooded with "flowing white robes."
They mimicked Cloud's mannerisms—an expression of carefree indifference, standing with hands clasped behind their backs before fights, gazing at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle as if contemplating the mysteries of the universe.
Some went even further, giving themselves IDs like "Cloud's Cloud," "Cloud Among Clouds," or "The Cloud Within Cloud."
However, when one pudgy "Cloud impersonator" attempted to imitate Cloud's signature seven-hundred-twenty-degree spinning kick in midair, his excessive weight caused him to lose balance at three-sixty degrees, and he spun out of bounds like a top.
This moment was perfectly captured by the broadcast director and paired with a comedic sound effect, instantly becoming the first viral meme of this KOF tournament.
Sitting in the VIP section, Cloud watched these "bootleg" versions of himself, feeling like his toes could curl hard enough to carve a three-bedroom apartment into the floor from sheer secondhand embarrassment.
"Cloud, Cloud!" Yun Ying excitedly nudged him. "Look at that chubby guy in white! Is he your disciple? How come his moves are so... abstract?"
Cloud replied, dead inside: "No, I suspect he's my long-lost anti-fan."
...
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