Erii still chose her best character, Chun-Li, while Lu Mingfei didn't use Ryu this time. Instead, he picked his best character, Ken.
At the start of the match, the two of them only hesitated for a moment. For experts, a fight often ended the instant one of them showed an opening.
I had to admit that Lu Mingfei had still underestimated Erii's skill.
When Lu Mingfei left an opening, Erii seized her chance and unleashed a combo with Chun-Li, leaving him with only a sliver of health.
At that moment, Erii had about a third of her health left and held a steady advantage.
Erii focused intently on her controls. When the moment came, she unleashed Chun-Li's signature super move: the Hoyokusen.
Street Fighter 3.3 is a 60-frame fighting game. "Blocking" refers to a parry action. A successful parry prevents you from taking damage, and the input is valid for eight frames after pressing forward.
The Hoyokusen is a close-range rushing combo. It unleashes two consecutive Hyakuretsukyaku kicks, with the final kick launching the opponent into the air.
The hardest part is parrying the first hit as it connects, followed by counterattacking after parrying the final hit while jumping.
Every spectator thought the outcome was settled. But then something astonishing happened.
Lu Mingfei had anticipated Erii's Hoyokusen. He parried the first hit, then blocked all fifteen consecutive strikes of Chun-Li's deadly attack.
After Chun-Li's final upward kick, Lu Mingfei parried in midair, then followed up with a jumping heavy kick, a crouching medium kick, and a medium Shoryuken before finishing with a lethal super move.
Chun-Li's health bar emptied in an instant, and Lu Mingfei won the match.
That sequence set off the crowd, whose cheers seemed endless.
The host was just as fired up, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Today's King of Fighters has been crowned! It's the Sakura who fought her way through every opponent!"
Erii froze, unable to believe she'd lost. Her opponent really was strong. She lowered her eyes slightly, looking a little dejected.
Amid the roaring crowd, Lu Mingfei broke into a bright smile and held out his hand to Erii. "You're a formidable opponent. I'm glad I got to compete with you today."
Looking at that smiling face, Erii was stunned. In her world, no one had ever smiled at her so purely, without a trace of judgment in their eyes.
Even Gen Chisaki's smile always seemed a little weary, and she often felt as if she were some kind of replacement.
Erii hurriedly reached out, and they clasped hands. A hint of warmth passed from his palm to hers.
Then Erii took a pen and her little notebook out of her pocket. She wrote, "Sakura is so strong! No wonder you're the King of Fighters!"
Lu Mingfei smiled softly. He'd thought she was a cold girl, but he'd been wrong. The red-haired girl in front of him simply didn't show much expression. She reminded him a little of Chu Zihang.
Well, not quite. Chu Zihang was the stone-faced type, while Erii was simply expressionless. There was still a difference.
"Okay, I should go collect my prize."
Lu Mingfei gave a little wave and headed for the stage, where a million yen in prize money awaited him.
Erii stayed where she was, quietly at a loss for what to do. The outside world was unfamiliar, and she didn't dare wander off by herself.
Seeing that the match was over, Yaksha stood up, ready to go retrieve the Uesugi Clan Head.
Just then, the host announced, "The crowd's been so lively today that the proprietress has decided to give away a batch of game merchandise for free! First come, first served!"
The people below rushed forward as soon as they heard, scrambling for the merchandise. Some of it was worth a fortune!
The scene descended into chaos. Yaksha was stunned. In an instant, Erii disappeared from sight.
He hurriedly tried to contact the family members scattered throughout the crowd, but everything was so chaotic that he could barely get through to anyone.
"Damn it!" Yaksha pushed through the crowd toward the stage.
In the midst of the chaos, Erii was at a loss. There were so many people, and she didn't know which way to go.
After collecting his prize, Lu Mingfei came down from the stage. When he saw Erii standing nearby, unsure of what to do, he thought, The crowd's in such a mess, and this girl can't speak.
If I leave her here, something's bound to happen.
He squeezed his way over to Erii and shouted, "Hey, are you okay? I'll get you out of here."
It was King of Fighters Sakura! Seeing Lu Mingfei made Erii feel as though she'd found someone she could rely on. She wanted to write something, but her little notebook had been knocked out of her hands by someone in the crowd. All she had left was her pen.
Lu Mingfei saw how awkward she felt and smiled. "If you want to leave, just hold on to my arm."
Erii obediently grabbed Lu Mingfei's arm. With him leading the way, she slowly made it out of the crowd.
Yaksha reached the center of the venue, but Erii was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm done for. The young master's definitely going to kill me."
Once they were out of the crowd, Lu Mingfei let out a long breath. Having to protect the red-haired girl had slowed him down.
Looking at Erii, who was still holding on to his arm, Lu Mingfei asked, "Where's your family? Are they around here?"
Erii's gaze wandered as she thought it over. She remembered Gen Chisaki saying he was leaving, but she'd forgotten what he said afterward.
Then she firmly shook her head, indicating that her family wasn't around.
That was a bit of a problem. But had he forgotten something?
"Damn, my body pillow!"
Lu Mingfei suddenly realized he'd left his body pillow in the crowd.
As he looked at the chaotic throng, his feelings grew complicated. Why? Why was he the only one who had to deal with this kind of thing?
Erii stared blankly at Lu Mingfei, unable to understand why his expression had suddenly become so animated.
After thinking it over, he realized there was no way he could go back in. At least he still had a million yen in prize money.
"Um, if you don't mind, you can come with me for a little while. I saw that you lost your notebook, too. I'll buy you another one."
Lu Mingfei asked Erii. He couldn't understand why her family had let a girl who couldn't speak come to the competition alone.
She didn't seem to have much experience with the world. Maybe she rarely went out or talked to people because she couldn't speak.
Lu Mingfei couldn't just leave her on her own. Once he bought her another notebook she could write in, she should be able to communicate with other people normally. She ought to be able to make it home after that.
At Lu Mingfei's words, Erii's eyes lit up. Did he mean he was going to take her and run away from home?
Erii nodded repeatedly, having no objections at all to Lu Mingfei's plan.
Unfortunately, the only thing she'd brought with her was her Little Yellow Duck. Erii felt the toy in her pocket.
Lu Mingfei walked ahead, while Erii followed, holding on to his sleeve. She didn't know her way around very well.
The route she'd carefully memorized on the way there had completely slipped her mind.
She wondered if she might run into Naruto and Luffy on the way.
She was full of anticipation for the journey ahead.
The match between Erii and Lu Mingfei was based on a famous match in Street Fighter 3.3. I'll explain it here.
Before you continue