Chapter 363: King of Fighters

If it's the team system, signing up requires three people—where would Bai Lang find the other two? Would he go look for Lily's delinquents? Speaking of which, the delinquents showed up, and a group of guys in Lily uniforms surrounded Bai Lang again. Bai Lang also shook his head with a wry smile: "These guys really don't know life or death." If he weren't short-haired, Bai Lang would want to do a hair‑gel hand transformation.

This time Lily's two factions moved together; the dispatched delinquents were of a higher caliber than before, so it seemed there were no cannon fodder—all were officers, and together they still numbered only a dozen or so. Leading them were a short guy and a guy a bit taller than Bai Lang. They shouted their respective titles: "King of Beasts! Lily is number one!" Naturally, this was accompanied by mutual hostility.

Bai Lang already had a hand on his forehead, smiling wryly: "Well, come at me together, you two losers! After I take care of you guys, I still need to see if anyone wants to join me in the King of Fighters tournament." As soon as he said that, the two who had been ready froze, asking in unison, "You want to enter the King of Fighters competition?" "That's a huge deal!"

I don't know why, but suddenly these two guys and their lackeys dropped their hostility toward Bai Lang and replaced it with enthusiasm... "The King of Fighters is a competition of exotic fighting styles. I also want to join." said the big guy, while the short guy dashed his dream with one sentence: "You've got no chance." Then they started roughhousing again, but this bunch unanimously showed their yearning for the King of Fighters.

"And there's the Street Fighter tournament! The world's two biggest fighting competitions!" Bai Lang listened to the two guys talk; it seemed they were genuine fighting fans—now this bunch was at a café, and after hearing Bai Lang wanted to compete, the two factions enthusiastically invited him to join them for coffee. The delinquents from Lily Boys' High and Impatiens Boys' High were just simple chuunibyou; they didn't do illegal stuff like selling drugs, robbery, or coercing women—they just spent their days fighting for the sake of so‑called supremacy.

A bunch of delinquents talking about fighting and sports was truly engaging, and Bai Lang also came to truly understand the situation of this world—previously, due to the world's mistake, he almost never looked at the sports section when surfing the net, always fixing his gaze on certain legitimate websites...

In this world, the Olympics are just big, non‑combustible trash—once decent, now a bit dull. Football remains a hugely popular sport, America still has the NBA and is deeply loved, and of course America's hottest sport is still American football—but above them lies the realm of exotic fighting technique competitions. Moreover, Bai Lang also confirmed one thing: this world really can cultivate special martial arts.

However, the male high schoolers present hadn't cultivated it—apparently one must train in a dojo to be able to use 'qi'. "Temper the body to its limit, then grasp qi!" All the thugs present had their eyes light up: "Big bro, if you can sign up, you must have grasped qi, right?" The guy named Qin Ze from the King of Beasts eagerly asked. Indeed, whether you want to sign up for Street Fighter or the King of Fighters, the prerequisite is having 'qi'.

Street Fighter's one‑on‑one format is a high barrier, while the King of Fighters' three‑on‑three also requires at least one team member to have grasped qi. Therefore the King of Fighters tournament is now a bit more popular with the general public, because it can feature celebrity‑hired martial artists fighting together—a way to promote oneself. The martial artists handle the registration to clear the threshold, while the celebrities go up and flash some fancy moves, which looks great.

But there really are celebrities who can fight—Miyagi Athena is one, plus the Big Nose Dragon from an ancient East Asian country and several other martial‑arts stars. They all have genuine skill, and some have even made it into the top 32 of the King of Fighters. Of course there are also those who enter Street Fighter—the strongest Flying Dragon never enters the King of Fighters but sticks to Street Fighter, repeatedly reaching the top 16.

Bai Lang then realized this was the case: "Hey! It's the world's fault, it's the mistake of youth!" The delinquents' eyes gleamed like searchlights, and Bai Lang also smiled— the wind swept the coffee cup, sucking the coffee out and twisting it into a small desktop brown tornado; when Bai Lang flicked his palm, the tornado vanished instantly, and a full cup of coffee fell back into the cup intact.

No doubt this was qi. The delinquents' eyes really lit up, and they exclaimed with the exaggerated expressions and lines one only sees on Japanese TV and movies: "No wonder one person can knock down dozens of us! A punch infused with qi feels just like an electric shock!" A cadre said, "I've been hit by a master at the dojo, and a punch with qi really feels like that."

Thus everyone instantly turned from foes to friends. Bai Lang thought the King of Beasts and Lily's strongest might also be wondering, deep down, whether they could get Bai Lang to take them to see the King of Fighters, but they just felt awkward saying it. "He's also a man of principle." After bidding them farewell, Bai Lang thought—of course it was these thugs treating him. After truly interacting with them, Bai Lang felt just as he'd expected: these guys were actually pretty cute and quite naive.

After eating, Bai Lang strolled leisurely through the shopping arcade, of course stepping into an arcade to play arcade games—there really were all kinds of fighting games on the machines, which Bai Lang had never noticed before. The fighters who participated contributed their likenesses and moves and received licensing fees—so martial artists' income is definitely not low. Of course there are also those who don't want to do that.

With nothing to do, Bai Lang walked and walked until he reached a street lit with love hotels. There weren't many people, and walking alone didn't seem quite right, so he found a spot to squat, hands splayed on his knees—this was the typical thug toilet‑squat. "Hey? Isn't that Mr. Xiang Xiushu? Over there... I feel like I've seen him somewhere? Not a teacher, maybe a third‑year senior female student? This old fool is hopeless, actually laying hands on his own student!"

Looking at their expressions and posture, there's no doubt they're a couple of scumbags, and coming to this place, what good could come of it? Bai Lang crouched in the shadows nearby, watching the pair embrace as they walked into the inn, "Pah! That's also called being a role model for teachers?" However, Mr. Xiang Xiushu really is a middle‑aged handsome guy, with mature looks and demeanor, and he doesn't blame women for throwing themselves at him—definitely it's them making the move—and Bai Lang can still read that atmosphere: "That old scoundrel is utterly unresponsive, unrefusing, and irresponsible."