I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 322: Chapter 304: The ’King of Fighters ’97’ Competition and Enthusiastic Sign-ups

The one who volunteered was Wang Peng, another regular at the shop.

The customers might not have known each other by name, but they all looked familiar.

Wang Peng looked familiar to Lu Xiangyun, too. ’Is this guy going to fight me?’

Excellent!

Lu Xiangyun nodded repeatedly. ”Great, great. After you, please!”

Wang Peng replied, ”After you!”

Li You brought two stools out from the shop, and the two men sat down in front of an arcade machine.

Lu Xiangyun voluntarily gave up the 1P spot, the one on the left.

He was very confident in his skills.

Generally, most people preferred the 1P spot because it felt more natural to play and offered a slight advantage.

Once the two of them sat down, everyone else gathered around to watch with great interest.

Even the people who hadn’t come out of the shop before all came out now.

Being watched by so many people, both Lu Xiangyun and Wang Peng felt a thrill of excitement.

The game went to the character select screen, and they started picking their fighters.

The three characters Lu Xiangyun chose were Yagami, Mary, and Da Men.

Wang Peng, on the other hand, chose Yagami, Shenle Qianhe, and Big Pig, also known as Chen Guohan.

Judging by their character picks, it seemed both players were experts.

Sure enough.

As soon as the first match began, everyone could immediately tell that these two were experts.

You could tell at a glance whether someone was an expert or a rookie at this game.

The fact that both players were experts made all the onlookers even more excited.

After all, a duel between experts was bound to be much more spectacular.

And the result was indeed quite spectacular.

In the end, Lu Xiangyun managed a narrow victory.

This came as a bit of a surprise to Lu Xiangyun. ’I didn’t expect my first opponent to be this strong.’

Even though he was on the 2P side, he could have still won easily if there had been a large gap in their skill levels.

To have only just scraped by with a win meant their skills were about on par; at most, his opponent was only a hair less skilled.

’It seems there are many King of Fighters ’97 experts among the customers who eat here regularly!’

’I originally thought that if I entered the tournament, a spot in the top few, if not the championship itself, would be in the bag.’

’Now it seems it won’t be that easy after all.’

But this only made him more excited. It meant he could face off against more experts. If he still managed to get a good result in the end, the sense of accomplishment would be that much greater.

If all his opponents were rookies and he breezed his way to the championship, it wouldn’t be very interesting.

Lu Xiangyun was now even more excited and eager for the tournament.

Wang Peng felt the same way.

Wang Peng had originally thought he would win easily, so he was surprised to have lost. ’And I lost even as Player One.’

’Even though he won by a hair’s breadth, it at least proved his opponent’s skill wasn’t inferior to his own—he might even be slightly better.’

’But this is a good thing. It makes it more interesting.’

Wang Peng was also looking forward to the tournament even more now.

Just then, Lu Xiangyun said to Li You, ”Boss, when does the tournament start? I want to be the first to sign up.”

Wang Peng added, ”Me too, I’m signing up.”

Li You mused, ”Well... how about the day after tomorrow, Saturday? We’ll pick King of Fighters ’97 for the game. We can start with KOF ’97 and hold tournaments for other fighting games later on.”

Both Lu Xiangyun and Wang Peng were pleasantly surprised to hear this.

’The day after tomorrow is great! The sooner, the better.’

”Does that mean registration starts now?”

Li You nodded. ”It starts now, and the deadline to register is 9 AM the day after tomorrow. The tournament will officially begin at 10 AM. I’d appreciate it if you all could help spread the word.”

The customers all nodded. ”No problem. We’ll make sure the news spreads throughout the whole town by the end of the day.”

Li You thanked the crowd and continued, ”As for the tournament format, I’ll decide on that after 9 AM the day after tomorrow, based on the total number of participants.”

Lu Xiangyun, Wang Peng, and all the others nodded repeatedly. ”Sounds good, sounds good.”

Li You continued, ”As for the prizes, we’ll tentatively have rewards for the top ten finishers. The higher your rank, the better the prize. The rewards might be discount coupons, a complimentary dish, or even some of the shop’s liquor.”

This announcement made everyone present very excited.

Lu Xiangyun, Wang Peng, and the others who planned on signing up were all rubbing their hands together, psyching themselves up to win a prize.

The customers who didn’t know how to play King of Fighters ’97, on the other hand, were all quite disappointed.

They were destined to be mere spectators for this tournament, with no chance of winning a prize.

They could sign up, of course, but they’d just be cannon fodder, guaranteed to be eliminated in the first round.

’Then again, is it too late to start practicing now?’

”Boss, I’d like to sign up.”

”Boss, sign me up too.”

...

In their excitement, many people, including Lu Xiangyun and Wang Peng, eagerly signed up.

Li You took out a pen and paper and jotted down their names one by one.

”What the hell! You don’t even know how to play King of Fighters ’97’. Why are you signing up?” someone said to a friend who had just registered.

”You can sign up even if you can’t play. I just want to experience the tournament atmosphere.”

”You’re just cannon fodder. You’re just signing up to get crushed by someone else. You’ll definitely be brutally eliminated in the first round.”

”It’s all about participating! Besides, who says I’ll definitely be eliminated in the first round? What if I get lucky and my opponent is also a rookie who can’t play? If neither of us knows what we’re doing, then anyone could advance.”

”That... actually makes some sense. In that case, I’ll sign up and check it out too. It’s not like it’s embarrassing to lose, anyway.”

...

As this conversation reached the ears of everyone present, the eyes of all the non-players lit up.

’Looked at that way, it really was possible to advance to the second round even if you didn’t know how to play.’

’If that’s the case, why shouldn’t I sign up and get a taste of it, too?’

Many of the people who couldn’t play were thinking the same thing.

Even if they got lucky and made it to the second round, they would still have no chance at the final prizes. But just advancing to the second round was exciting enough.

’Sign up, sign up, and try my luck!’

And so, even more people who couldn’t play chose to sign up.

This included some of the women.

Seeing that women were also signing up, Lu Xiangyun, Wang Peng, and the other experts all felt an inexplicable surge of excitement.

’Still, I hope none of the women get matched up with me,’ they thought.

’It wouldn’t look good to be ruthless to a lady.’

The customers were signing up with great excitement and enthusiasm, which made Li You very happy. This way, there was no chance the event would be a flop.

’Deciding to hold a tournament was absolutely the right call.’

Speaking of which, he really had to thank the customer who had suggested this in the first place.

If it weren’t for him, Li You might not have ever thought of holding a tournament.

At least, he wouldn’t have thought of it so soon.

’I wonder if that person knows how to play King of Fighters ’97? What’s his skill level like? Will he sign up to compete?’

Li You was very much looking forward to it and hoped that the man would sign up.

After the flurry of excitement, the registration session ended.

Li You did a quick count—26 people had already signed up.

That was far more than he had expected.

’At this rate, the number of participants might exceed 200 by the morning of the tournament.’

’So many people... Everyone’s more enthusiastic and interested than I imagined.’

’But this is a good thing. The more the merrier; more people means a livelier event.’

’As for the tournament structure, that’s simple. We’ll just use a double-elimination format for the early rounds. It’ll be easy to arrange, no matter how many people there are.’

Once the registration was over, the customers trickled back into the shop to finish their meals.

None of them had finished eating yet.

However, some customers didn’t go back inside. Instead, they sat down at the arcade machines. ”I’ll practice a couple of rounds before I go in to eat,” one said.

”The tournament’s the day after tomorrow, so time is tight. I’d better get some practice in and get my feel for the controls back. I’ve barely played at all these last few years.”

”Then I’ll practice a few rounds as well.”

...

Some customers had already switched into practice mode.

Seeing everyone in such high spirits, Li You was even more pleased.

’From now on, these arcade machines will be free for customers to use all day.’

’From eight in the morning to eight at night. During that time, customers can play whenever they want.’

’It feels like four machines might not be enough.’

’I’ll observe for the next few days. If the machines are far from meeting customer demand, I’ll just buy a few more.’

’There’s plenty of space, so a few more cabinets will fit just fine.’

’At that point, this place will have really turned into an arcade.’

’That doesn’t sound too bad, actually.’

With these thoughts, Li You walked into the kitchen. He still hadn’t finished cooking the orders.

Just then, new customers arrived to eat.

Before they even got close, they spotted the arcade machines set up in front of the shop.

’The arcade machines are here already?’

The newcomers were pleasantly surprised and quickened their pace.

All four machines were occupied, and everyone was playing King of Fighters ’97.

”You guys are fast, already playing! And hey, how come everyone’s playing King of Fighters ’97? Is it everyone’s favorite?”

”Hahaha! We do all like it, that’s for sure. But there’s another reason: the first King of Fighters ’97 tournament starts the day after tomorrow. We’ve all signed up to compete, so we’re getting some practice in.”

”What the hell! Seriously? When was this announced? How did I not know? When did you all sign up? Where do I register?”

”Haha! The boss just announced it a little while ago. The news hasn’t spread far yet, so it’s normal you didn’t know. But now you do. To register, just talk to the boss. The deadline is 9 AM the day after tomorrow. You wanna sign up too?”

”Of course I am! I love this game too. But I’m just signing up for fun. My skills are terrible; I feel like all of you are way better than me.”

”I’m not that great either. There were two guys who just had a match—now those were real experts. Still, there are prizes for the top ten this time. Hopefully, I’ll get a good draw in the bracket and have a shot at the top ten.”

”I think you play pretty well. You’ve probably got a shot at the top ten. Anyway, I’m done talking, I’m going to find the boss and sign up.”

”Alright, alright.”

...

The new customer walked into the shop, went to the kitchen doorway, and said to Li You, ”Boss, I’d also like to sign up for the King of Fighters ’97 tournament the day after tomorrow.”

Li You smiled. ”Alright, no problem.”

He then jotted down the customer’s name and information.

After that, more customers arrived to eat, while others finished their meals and departed.

And as they left, news of the tournament began to slowly spread throughout Wenxian Town.

...