Hyogo Prefecture's anchor, Hokushin Genichiro, slowly walked up to the battle station.
He was tall and lean, his face cold and stern, his eyes as deep as an ancient well, betraying no emotion at all.
In the previous matches, he had always used random characters, winning every round with effortless ease. His strength was unfathomable, veiling him in a layer of mystery.
Yet at this most crucial moment of the finals, he broke from his usual pattern.
When the character select screen appeared, Hokushin Genichiro's fingers flicked the joystick and stopped; the cursor settled steadily on a character nearly every professional player would instinctively avoid—
The final boss, Geese Howard!
On the screen, the crime boss in traditional Japanese training clothes, his eyes looking down on all living beings, appeared before everyone with a suffocating pressure.
The entire Budokan instantly fell into dead silence, then erupted with mountain-roaring, sea-surging cries of shock and discussion.
"Geese?! He actually picked Geese!"
"Is he crazy?! Using Geese in an official match? That execution difficulty isn't meant for humans!"
Even the commentator's voice was filled with incredulous shock.
Because although Geese Howard's move priority was powerful, his controls were extremely complex. In particular, his core skill, "Atemi Throw," demanded timing to an almost punishing degree, and very few players dared use him in such an important match.
Bai Ye adjusted his breathing again, trying hard to calm his heartbeat, which had grown somewhat chaotic after the string of fierce battles.
He met Hokushin Genichiro's utterly rippleless eyes.
The match began.
The moment the round opened, the Geese controlled by Hokushin displayed a terrifying aura entirely different from every opponent before him.
Every probing attack from Bai Ye's Andy, every cautious bit of footsies, seemed pale and powerless before Hokushin's precise reads, as though he