Two days later, in a vast arena, the current year's KOF tournament officially kicked off.

The atmosphere and layout were very much like the lower floors of Heaven's Arena in Hunter × Hunter: several rings set up inside one hall.

Every seat around the rings was packed with spectators.

The rules were simple—almost identical to those of the King of Fighters video game in Xiang Nan's previous life:

Each team fields three members in order, relay-style.

If the first fighter manages to defeat all three opponents single-handedly, the remaining two teammates don't go on.

Anyone who stays down for a ten-count, remains unconscious, cannot move, or is knocked out of the ring is ruled the loser.

Xiang Nan's "Team Flying Brigands" drew a player team in the opening round.

Wang, the team captain, clearly wanted to make a splash and score an "opening victory," so he stepped up first.

Xiang Nan and Mao Wei stayed ringside, serving as the cheer squad.

Unlike Heaven's Arena, fighters who haven't entered the ring yet may roam freely inside the venue.

This level of combat held little appeal for Xiang Nan. Wang's martial-arts style, true to its poison theme, involved palms that had been specially conditioned in toxins. Even the gusts from his missed strikes carried poisonous vapor, keeping opponents from daring to grapple with him and forcing them to hunt for slim comeback chances.

In the end they succumbed to the poison, their condition worsened, and Wang knocked them out.

After watching briefly, Xiang Nan slipped away.

He reached the ring where Kusanagi Kyo's team was fighting. Unfortunately, their first opponents were the Team American Sports, who had absorbed "black crystal energy." Benimaru Nikaido led off against Brian, once an American-football linebacker.

In skill and experience Brian was far inferior to Benimaru, yet the situation in the ring had Benimaru on the back foot. His flurry of blows landed, but Brian barely bothered to dodge, simply tanking the hits. No matter how many times he was knocked down, he sprang back up unscathed, his stamina and toughness astonishing.

Benimaru, born with the ability to wield lightning, sensed something odd. Finding another chance, he unleashed Raijinken—electric arcs crackling around his fist—but it still had no effect!

For ordinary fighters, even if lightning failed to injure them it would at least numb their limbs, yet Brian never slowed. Like a charging bull, he bent low, grabbed Benimaru's waist, and rammed him into a ring post.

Benimaru grunted, kneed Brian away, then, anger flashing, gathered power in his arms. As Brian dashed in again, Benimaru's fist erupted in blinding electricity, forming a brilliant thunderball—his Raikouken.

Brian stiffened, collapsed, and even smelled faintly scorched.

Benimaru panted. Yet just before the ten-count ended, the supposedly unconscious Brian shook his head and stood again. The sight shocked Benimaru—and Daimon Goro and Kusanagi Kyo at ringside as well.

"Some KOF fighters do possess special powers," Xiang Nan mused, "and their martial-arts foundations are decent—but they're still too weak."

The core problem was that KOF characters' raw physical strength couldn't compare with Hunter × Hunter's. The same held true for the Yuki-onna from Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan he had met earlier.

In his last life's terms, these KOF characters were close to the world's elite—arguably even superhuman—yet in Hunter × Hunter they were nothing special, still bound by normal human limits. With lower base stats, their techniques simply couldn't hit as hard. Fundamentally different leagues.

Of course, this was only Xiang Nan's observation so far. Many powerful story characters—including an as-yet-unawakened Kusanagi Kyo—had yet to appear.

Before long, Benimaru, the lead fighter, lost to Brian.

Next up was Daimon Goro—a world-class judoka and Olympic gold medalist.

Once on the stage, Daimon immediately swung the tide, defeating Brian and basketball player Lucky Glauber in turn. His strength and throws were superb, his close-quarters pressure overwhelming. The "black crystal energy" that drove fighters berserk clearly had a ceiling, and Daimon, having studied Benimaru's bout, left his foes no room to breathe. Each time they fell or slipped, he hammered them with brutal throws and chained ground techniques, making the ring quake.

By stamina and toughness alone, Daimon now outclassed Benimaru. His experience was richer as well. Still, after two foes he was spent, so when the dark-shaded boxer Heavy D! entered, Daimon tagged Kusanagi Kyo, handing the reins to the team captain.

"Judging from these KOF players, they're roughly on the fiftieth floor of Heaven's Arena, while the story characters can push past the hundredth," Xiang Nan analyzed, gaining a sense of the KOF world's power curve. Growth was slow and highly polarized—astonishing potentials on paper, yet everyone started pathetically low.

As expected, Kusanagi Kyo won. His physique and talent were excellent, but what truly made him strong, Xiang Nan saw at once, was the ancient martial art of the Kusanagi clan—several levels above Benimaru's or Daimon's skills. Among elemental powers, his crimson flames also surpassed Benimaru's lightning.

"Purely in technique and physique, you're only about a hundredth-floor fighter," Xiang Nan thought, "but add the Kusanagi art and crimson flames, and you could climb well past floor 150."

The KOF story had only just begun; Kyo was still young, far from his peak.

Once the referee announced the result, Xiang Nan moved on to watch other characters' battles.

By the time he wandered back, his own Team Flying Brigands had already advanced without needing him. Wang had crushed two players alone, and Mao Wei finished the last. Xiang Nan ended up a mere spectator—

—which was exactly how he preferred it.

~~~

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