Chapter 090: The King of Fighters 98 Championship [Second Update]

After watching "Titanic," Huang Juan seemed to have transformed overnight. The innocence and yearning for love that marks a young girl was on full display in her demeanor. Yang Tian often found her sitting alone by the window, lost in thought, a dreamy smile lingering on her lips.

When she was with him, she was no longer as carefree as before. At times, when sensitive topics came up, her cheeks would flush instantly. Each night after returning to their lodgings, she no longer wandered about in her nightdress in front of Yang Tian; if she wore it, she would draw the curtains, and even when she occasionally stepped out to speak with him, her face was tinged with crimson.

What amused Yang Tian most was that, in the past, Huang Juan would bathe at their place, simply pulling the curtain, setting up a large plastic tub and hot water, sometimes even asking Yang Tian to fetch her clothes. Now, she went home for her weekly bath and changed her clothes away from his sight; if he accidentally caught a glimpse, she’d lower her head in embarrassment.

On stormy nights, she no longer slipped into Yang Tian’s bed for comfort, but if he reached out protectively, she would still quietly embrace him as she drifted to sleep.

Yang Tian was not surprised by Huang Juan’s changes; in fact, he thought it was a good thing. The little girl was growing up—this was a rite of passage for any young woman.

As for him, he was preparing to launch a new project—one that would astonish the whole city of Binhai: the "King of Fighters ’98" Tournament.

Using the main branch and eight subsidiaries of Hongyu Internet Café as the stage, he planned to host a top-tier, live competition for all King of Fighters enthusiasts across the city.

"Ah Tian, what’s this?" When Yang Tian arrived at Hongyu Internet Café with a stack of documents in his arms, Zhang Zhi quickly approached him.

"Ah Zhi, come here and see my new project!" Yang Tian replied with a smile. After careful planning, he felt this project could finally begin. The key was that four new branches of Hongyu had opened just last week, all thriving, which gave him the confidence to initiate this tournament.

"I knew it! You’ve been deep in thought lately—you must have been brewing something big!" Zhang Zhi perked up, and Zhou Bing and Ah Gui hurried over as well.

"Brother Tian, what’s the new project?" Zhou Bing shouted, his face full of excitement.

"The ‘King of Fighters ’98’ Tournament! We’ll use our eight branches as eight district divisions for group matches. The top two from each division will enter the quarterfinals, then semifinals, and finally, the grand finals will be held right here! You all know ‘King of Fighters’ and ‘Red Alert’ are currently the hottest games, but ‘King of Fighters’ lends itself perfectly to competitive play. We’ll seize this opportunity to spark a city-wide gaming craze. This is going to be big!" Yang Tian produced his tournament schedule and handed it to them for review.

The eight branches of Hongyu Internet Café were perfectly distributed across Binhai’s eight districts. Using these as boundaries, they would accept registrations from gaming enthusiasts and organize the matches—a well-structured, large-scale gaming event.

"This is brilliant! So many people play ‘King of Fighters’ now; there’ll definitely be tons of competitors!" Zhang Zhi grinned ear to ear. He knew if this tournament succeeded, Hongyu Internet Café would become a household name in Binhai.

"And to fuel gamers’ passion, here’s what I’ve envisioned: First place gets a hefty prize of three thousand yuan, plus the title ‘Supreme King of Fighters.’ Second place wins fifteen hundred yuan and the title ‘Great King of Fighters,’ third place gets eight hundred yuan and the title ‘Little King of Fighters.’ Their names will be recorded in our café’s King of Fighters Hall of Fame!" Yang Tian continued. The others grew increasingly excited. Gamers played not for the money, but for the thrill and joy of victory. These titles would surely lure them in.

"Supreme King of Fighters? That name alone packs a punch—every KOF player would want it! Brother Tian, this is genius!" Zhou Bing gave a thumbs-up.

"Of course, we have two goals: first, to collect registration fees—fifty yuan per participant, which should turn a tidy profit; second, and more importantly, to make Hongyu Internet Café famous. If every gamer in Binhai knows Hongyu, our business will only get better!" Yang Tian laughed.

"Exactly! Hosting a tournament is the best advertisement—beats all our posters hands down! Zhang Zhi, I think this will work!" Ah Gui and the others chimed in, awaiting Zhang Zhi’s final approval.

"Ah Tian, to be honest, your idea is fantastic! But for such a large event, we’ll need approval and supervision from the cultural authorities. Most participants will likely be students, and I’m worried they might accuse us of misleading or enticing students to neglect their studies, and not give us the permit," Zhang Zhi raised a practical concern.

"Oh, that’s easy. Your family has such strong connections—a phone call and everything’s sorted!" Zhou Bing said bluntly, and indeed, with Zhang Zhi’s family backing, approval wouldn’t be an issue.

"But Zhang Zhi wants to run the café on his own, without family help. I’ve considered this already—leave it to me! I guarantee I’ll have the approval documents in three days!" Yang Tian replied confidently.

"Really?" Zhang Zhi’s eyes lit up.

"Of course! Do I look like someone who talks nonsense? Zhang Zhi, when are you going to let go of that false modesty? What’s wrong with family help? If I had your backing, I’d be a fool not to use it!" Zhou Bing said, slapping Zhang Zhi’s shoulder and looking disgruntled.

"You don’t get it. If Zhang Zhi let his family help, we’d be out of jobs—Hongyu would have branches all over the country, managed by seasoned IT pros. We wouldn’t even be able to set foot there! Zhang Zhi wants to earn his own way—young people should strive for independence. If you let your family do everything, you might as well stay home, eat and idle all day," Yang Tian scolded Zhou Bing, who nodded in agreement.

"You understand me best, Ah Tian! Then I’ll leave everything to you!" Zhang Zhi laughed.

"Ah Zhi, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you," Yang Tian shooed away Zhou Bing and the others, then, a bit hesitant, spoke to Zhang Zhi.

"No need to say it—I already know. You want forty percent of the tournament profits, right? Ha, that’s only fair. Let’s split it fifty-fifty. I’ll cover the event expenses, but you must handle the tournament with full commitment. Deal?" Zhang Zhi saw through Yang Tian’s intentions and laughed heartily.

"Agreed! Tomorrow I’ll head to Luohe Town to see my sister, then I’ll sort out the approval, and we’ll launch the ‘King of Fighters ’98’ Tournament—let’s make a splash in the first half of the year!" Yang Tian grabbed a can of beer from the counter, clinked it with Zhang Zhi, and downed it in one go.

Zhang Zhi, delighted, picked up a second can and drank it all in one breath.