Chapter 395: Stand User
"That simple?"
Looking at the invitation in his hand, Cheng Tian's face first showed intense suspicion, but he quickly revealed an expression of "just as expected."
This was because the invitation in his hand displayed a mission item panel. The content wasn't important; the most crucial part was its additional attribute: "cannot be carried."
In other words, Cheng Tian couldn't hide and carry it in his inventory, underwear pocket, or magic bag. He could only keep it on his person.
The next second, the giant screen in the tryout venue, which had many standby teams, lit up, displaying and continuously cycling the personnel information of 16 teams, including Cheng Tian's Aolililili Team.
At the same time, the organizer's commentary also appeared.
"Sixteen seeded teams have just been announced. They are all teams that have achieved results in past competitions or higher achievements in certain fields. Sixteen invitations have been distributed to each team.
In the next 72 hours, all seeded teams holding invitations must not leave the designated activity area set by the organizers. Leaving will be considered an immediate forfeiture.
All tryout teams and seeded teams that have lost their invitations can attempt to seize an invitation in a manner compliant with the competition rules and without causing life-threatening injuries. They must ensure the invitation remains in their team's possession before the countdown ends. When the countdown ends, the team holding the invitation will be deemed to have passed the preliminary round and entered the main competition.
The organizers will use new technology to comprehensively monitor the movements of all teams, conducting large-scale live tracking. Contestants, please pay attention to your words and actions."
As soon as the organizer's explanation was released, the atmosphere of the entire arena instantly changed. All the teams in the tryout venue widened their eyes, trying to imprint the constantly scrolling information of the sixteen seeded teams onto their minds. At the same time, they recalled various past competition scenes and tried to match them with the teams on the screen.
Some teams, putting aside their strength for now, were undoubtedly quite arrogant. They not only wanted to win the tryouts but also wanted to advance by defeating popular seeded teams. Therefore, their targets were the various veteran powerhouses that had already competed in the King of Fighters '96 tournament.
However, most of the tryout teams were clearly more pragmatic. They, without surprise, targeted the seemingly easier-to-bully new faces as their primary objective.
And Cheng Tian's team, with its provocative name and members who seemed much easier to bully—the "Aolililili Team"—became a popular first choice for the tryout teams looking to snatch an invitation.
Although Cheng Tian didn't know the thoughts of the tryout teams at that moment, he could roughly judge the predicament his team would face.
As an indiscriminate fighting tournament, The King of Fighters '97 did not have separate men's and women's divisions. However, the number of men was still overwhelmingly greater. Other female fighter teams had already achieved results, but his own team, with three beautiful and well-built girls, clearly had no deterrent power to speak of.
You pick the soft persimmons to squeeze; this is an unchanging truth in any world. Although Cheng had 2 points of legend, he hadn't reached a state of being known to all. Being underestimated was simply too normal.
"So, the countdown officially begins. Contestants, please do your best."
On the screen displaying the scrolling seeded team information, a 72-hour countdown prominently appeared... The planners of this King of Fighters '97 tournament clearly understood how to create a show. This kind of player tryout, similar to a battle royale, was quite high-level in terms of both topicality and viewership, after all, everything served commercial operations.
The sixteen seeded teams that had received invitations quickly dispersed. There was no, and couldn't be any, thought of forming alliances.
If they couldn't even get through this kind of tryout, there was no point in participating in the official competition; being eliminated in the first round on the big stage would be truly embarrassing.
Moreover, at the end of the day, these sixteen teams were also opponents to each other. Actions like taking the opportunity to eliminate a major rival were not entirely impossible.
King of Fighters '97 Main Venue, Main Street.
"Oh, ho~ We're indeed blocked at the door~"
Looking at the few miscellaneous teams not far away, clearly targeting him, yet also wary of each other, all wearing "Tryout" badges, Cheng Tian, who had just stepped out the main door, said with a smile to those beside him.
"If you don't want to suffer, hand over the invitation obediently. Otherwise, it won't end with just a few more scars on your face~"
Thug No. 1, exuding a mob-like aura, wearing torn jeans, sporting a mohawk, and licking a switchblade with his tongue, spoke in a lewd tone to Cheng Tian... No, he spoke to the three girls of the Aolililili Team.
Cheng was completely ignored by him.
Seeing one team take the lead, the other teams, also interested in the Aolililili Team but clearly more cautious, chose to observe.
"This one?"
Cheng Tian reached into his embrace, pulled out the invitation, and directly waved it in front of the other party.
As a result, the opponent, like a foolish fish that had bitten a hook and had its mouth pierced, almost completely lunged forward.
But what awaited them was Bazett's iron fist, flashing over—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bodies of three men flew backward. The cameras, which had been on standby early, precisely captured Bazett's fists, deeply embedded in the faces of those tryout thugs.
Honestly, it was the first time in Cheng's life he had seen facial indentations on the level of Gian hitting Nobita.
Facial bones shattered, teeth flying, blood foam spilling from their mouths. Although they weren't dead, Cheng thought it might be worse than death.
A siren wailed as an ambulance, hidden somewhere by the organizers, arrived. The three unlucky individuals were immediately loaded onto stretchers and soon disappeared from everyone's sight along with the ambulance's siren.
The other tryout teams, who had been beaten to the punch, watched the ambulance drive away, their throats constantly moving. When they looked back at Bazett, who was wiping bloodstains from her gloves, they suddenly felt a dryness in their mouths.
It was then that they re-realized that being selected as a seeded team alongside some veteran powerhouses meant they couldn't be completely without substance.
The miserable state of the three unlucky individuals made them immediately reconsider.
But just at that moment, a dark shadow suddenly darted out from the surrounding crowd, leaping high into the air. Just as it was about to land on top of Cheng Tian, who held the invitation, a figure, transitioning from illusory to solid, instantly appeared from behind Cheng Tian.
"Muda!"
Accompanied by Cheng Tian's roar, the black figure was sent flying.
And behind Cheng Tian, who stood with his arms crossed, a sturdy humanoid figure appeared—golden-orange all over, floating in the air, maintaining a punching pose—
Stand: The World.