Chapter 404: Even Infamy is Fame
Perhaps inspired by Cheng Tian's skyrocketing viewership, many preliminary teams with a relatively accurate understanding of their own strength re-realized something.
In such a fiercely competitive preliminary round, the official number of qualifying teams is and only 16. Furthermore, many of the seeded teams are already strong contenders for the championship, meaning the vast majority of preliminary teams are destined to be mere participants.
Since qualifying is no longer possible, why not leverage the television broadcast to gain some recognition for themselves?
Most wild martial artists come to compete for rankings, prize money, and prestige. When rankings and prize money are out of reach, the only thing left to strive for is fame.
So, the question is, how can one spread their name as widely as possible?
The Neon Team, which publicly set up a challenge ring in the most crowded part of the city center, the Fatal Fury Team, which got into a conflict with three big-nosed fighters over an argument, and the Art of Fighting Team, which for some unknown reason had few people approach them from the start, almost simultaneously welcomed a surge of challengers.
Due to the live television coverage, no team with an invitation letter could hide somewhere for three days. Finding ways to survive was also an important indicator of this preliminary round.
Many preliminary teams that had long given up on qualifying and didn't want to waste sixty or seventy hours here only to be eliminated, chose to make a spectacular exit in the counterattacks of these three championship-favorite teams, and during that time, they did their utmost to showcase all their lifelong skills.
When a battle is exciting enough, competitors and spectators alike may even forget the scores and the champion, almost instinctively imprinting that spectacular moment in their minds.
The most famous similar event in the real world is "EVO MOMENT #37," where Daigo Umehara, in the Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike segment of the 2004 EVO tournament, created a scene in video game history that is almost impossible to replicate in a real match—
A critically injured Ken perfectly parried every hit of Chun-Li's 『鳳翼扇 』 super art and then smoothly followed up with his 『疾風迅雷脚 』 super art to achieve a comeback victory.
This can be said to be one of the greatest moments in video game history. It even indirectly propelled the influence of "EVO," which was originally just a small event, to a world-class level. Sponsors and competitors, so to speak, flocked to it.
The most interesting part of this event is that Daigo Umehara, the boss who created this miracle and history, was not the champion of that competition; the champion was someone else.
But the reality is that few people remember the actual champion; everyone's eyes are on Boss Umehara, who successfully parried and countered.
Boss Umehara created a miracle with his muscle memory and powerful strength, while the current batch of competitors clearly want to artificially create this miracle, hoping to occupy a place in the audience's minds with the spectacular moments they leave behind in the live broadcast.
However, among them, those who chose to challenge the three championship-favorite teams were still those with a certain level of strength and a certain bottom line, choosing to challenge openly and fairly. But this does not mean that all preliminary teams are so passionate, nor does it mean that all teams will make the right choices.
For example, there were two preliminary teams that lost their minds and infiltrated Athena Asamiya's fan club to attack the world's number one idol at a fan meeting!
Yes, their goal had changed. They didn't even look at the invitation letter, which was openly displayed right next to Athena and had been temporarily framed; instead, they directly attacked Athena herself.
Considering the historical context, these people might not yet understand the principle that "even infamy is fame," but their idea of attacking Athena to indirectly gain fame and spread their name had already been demonstrated and executed.
It's just that they didn't consider how they should safely escape from the angry fans of the goddess, or rather, some people had already gone all out?
Then they deserved to earn that traffic; it just remained to be seen if they would live to monetize it later~
Coincidentally, a similar situation also occurred with the Women Fighters Team. Mai Shiranui was unfairly ganged up on by competitors, especially Mai Shiranui; she became the main target of attention.
But soon, the three women of the team noticed something was off about this group of competitors—
They were actually aiming for their clothes with every move!
Good heavens, the real-time viewership displayed in the background was visibly soaring, and even some viewers dispersed across other channels were partially siphoned over.
These guys understood traffic!
But just like the daring individuals who attacked the world's number one idol, immense traffic often comes with equally immense side effects.
For example, their act of attacking the women fighters' clothing immediately angered the Fatal Fury Team and the Art of Fighting Team, two of the favored teams to win the championship!
While Chizuru Kagura of the Women Fighters Team had no romantic entanglements with others, Mai Shiranui and King certainly had partners!
Mai Shiranui goes without saying; the wooden man Andy would also fight for her.
And the surgery fees for King's younger brother were entirely sponsored by Ryo Sakazaki, the senior disciple of the Kyokugenryu style!
When they learned that the Women Fighters Team was being treated this way, how could Andy and Ryo Sakazaki not be enraged?
Compared to these competitors who were genuinely using the preliminary martial arts competition as an excuse to act like hooligans, the three big-nosed fighters who merely made a couple of sharp comments were already very gentlemanly.
So, what these two teams would do was already obvious.
The preliminary competitors were sent flying, and under the organizer's mysterious tracking perspective, the Fatal Fury Team and the Art of Fighting Team rapidly approached the location of the Women Fighters Team.
Seeing this, some players also got an idea, changing from their original hidden standby state to actively joining the commotion.
It's easier to fish in troubled waters, after all~
The organizers, through the host's mouth, spoke of "civilized competition" and other such pleasantries, but in reality, they were secretly ecstatic, and Tokyo TV was also going wild with them. They hadn't expected this viewership siphon phenomenon to come so quickly.
At least for now, KOF97 has initially entered a breaking-out-of-the-circle state; many people who were originally uninterested in fighting games have also been attracted. How to retain them will depend on what these competitors do next.
Meanwhile, Cheng, whose attention and traffic suddenly plummeted, and who was suddenly ignored by almost everyone… "...Can you humans also do such cartoonish things, meow?"
Princess Cat, who had stopped fighting earlier, had her mouth wide open, her expression very subtle.
"As expected of my favored honorary meow disciple~~"
Nero Cat, who had already learned from Cheng Tian what exactly was in front of him, directly extinguished the cigarette butt in his mouth by forcefully jamming it onto his plump cat paw.
"Welcome to my laboratory."
Cheng Tian said this to the two cat spirits—
This guy, in his spare time, built a Hadmon Innovation Laboratory in the prime real estate of Tokyo, occupying Showa Memorial Park.