Chapter 6

"Damn, who are you calling a loser?" Lin Tong suddenly got angry, glaring at him and saying, "Last time I lost because my joystick was bad. Do you really think you're that good?"

"Yeah, yeah, I've seen too many like you, always blaming the joystick when you lose." The short guy gave him a disdainful glance and then looked at the bar, saying, "Shan Shan, give me a coin."

"Don't call me Shan Shan." The girl frowned, took out four coins and threw them to him, while taking the one yuan coin from his hand.

"You poor bastard, buying just one coin." Lin Tong sneered, not forgetting to mock him, but the short guy didn't get angry; instead, he laughed and tossed the four coins in his hand, saying coldly, "I don't even need one coin. Ask everyone in this room, who's better at 97 and 98?"

After he said this, many people turned to look, but seeing it was him, none of them spoke, indicating that the short guy was indeed good at arcade games.

However, for some reason, Lin Nan didn't remember him, which was normal, after all, so many years had passed, and he couldn't possibly remember everything from the game hall back then.

But at this moment, Lin Tong was a bit angry, glaring at the short guy and saying, "Kid, don't just brag. If you're so good, let's play another round."

"You?" The short guy glanced at him, "A hundred yuan a round. If you dare, let's play. Otherwise, you'll just say the joystick is bad again, no fun."

"Damn, do you look like you have a hundred yuan?" Lin Tong clearly showed some fear, but then the short guy took out his wallet, pulled out three red bills, and waved them, saying, "Not that I look down on you, but if you win, I'll give you three hundred. If you lose, you give me a hundred. Do you dare?"

"Damn, why not? Let's go!" Lin Tong said, taking out a hundred yuan and holding it. The short guy, excited, quickly ran to the two KOF 97 machines in the center, and said to the two people fighting, "Brothers, I'll give each of you a coin. Let me play a couple of rounds."

"No need, no need, you go ahead." The two knew the short guy was a pro, and watching a pro match was often more exciting than playing themselves.

"Come on, loser, the machine is free." The short guy waved at Lin Tong and sat in the negative joystick position. At this moment, Lin Nan gently pulled Lin Tong and whispered in his ear, "Tong, I think we should give up. This kid is really good. It's not worth losing a hundred yuan."

"It's fine, just for fun. Maybe I can win." Lin Tong ignored Lin Nan's advice and went to the positive joystick position. They both inserted their coins.

At this moment, almost everyone in the game hall, except for a few middle-aged men gambling with coins, gathered around. After all, a match with a bet was rare in this small game hall, especially when both seemed to be KOF 97 pros.

Ding ding ding, in less than two seconds, both had chosen their characters. Lin Tong chose Kyo, Geese, and Red丸, while the short guy chose Terry, Mai, and Yuri.

When the short guy chose Yuri, everyone, including Lin Nan, was surprised. In a match between pros, choosing a character widely considered one of the weakest in KOF 97 was a clear sign of disrespect.

Papapapa, the characters lined up. Lin Tong put Kyo first, while the short guy put Terry first. Anyone who played KOF 97 knew that Terry had no advantage over Kyo at the same level, so the crowd was stunned again.

Three... Two... One... Ready... GO!

With the GO, the match officially began.

Lin Tong's Kyo started with a jump, trying to use Kyo's heavy kick to pressure the short guy, but was hit by Terry's two diagonal heavy punches, knocking Kyo to the ground.

Lin Tong became cautious, realizing that jumping tactics didn't work against the short guy. He started to control Kyo to move around, looking for an opportunity.

However, since Kyo had already taken two hits, if he kept moving passively, he would lose when time ran out. So the short guy didn't even move, occasionally throwing a few balls and jumping to avoid them.

Lin Tong became anxious, seeing that over thirty seconds had passed. If he kept this up, he would definitely lose.

"Damn, let's go all out." Lin Tong's Kyo charged forward, then jumped, trying to hit the short guy's Terry with a heavy punch. The short guy sneered, not countering this time but instead taking a defensive stance. When Kyo touched Terry, the short guy suddenly used a BC roll, then jumped behind Kyo and hit him with a heavy punch, light kick, low kick, light punch, and a special move.

Papapapa!

Terry's flaming uppercut hit Kyo, and Lin Tong was stunned. He had never seen such a combo before. Seeing Kyo's health bar almost empty, he jumped again and was hit by Terry's heavy low punch, ending his life.

K.O

Perfect!

Terry didn't lose a single point of health, and Kyo was K.O'd. The crowd cheered.

"Wow, Wei Chen is too strong. He got a Perfect against this guy."

"Yeah, that combo was amazing. I've never seen him use it before."

"How about that, loser, I told you you couldn't do it." The short guy looked at Lin Tong with disdain. Lin Tong gritted his teeth, his face pale, and muttered to Lin Nan, "Damn, this guy must have been holding back last time. There's no way he could suddenly become so good."

"Ah..." Lin Nan sighed, but then a beep sounded in his head, followed by a familiar mechanical voice.

"Card book activated. Based on your current situation, it is recommended to activate the KOF King Li Xian's talent card."

"What!" Lin Nan was stunned again, scratching his head, wondering why he kept having these hallucinations. Could it be because he was too obsessed with Character and Talent Online in his previous life?

"Li Xian's card, damn, if I could really activate his card, not just this short guy, even the current national champion of KOF 97 would be a loser to me."

Lin Nan muttered to himself, knowing that Li Xian was a KOF King who mastered 48 arcade games and dominated the national and even international scenes, making him one of the more underappreciated Level 2 cards in Character and Talent Online.

But what Lin Nan never expected was that after he said this to himself, a golden card suddenly appeared in his mind, the Level 2 KOF King Li Xian card. Then, a row of red text flashed on the card: Activate, duration 2 hours, cooldown: none. Suddenly, some mysterious memories flooded Lin Nan's mind, making him feel like he understood something.

"Hmm? This Geese doesn't know how to defend against air attacks, no wonder he gets beaten... And this Terry isn't much better, just a bit stronger than Geese..."

As he thought this, Lin Nan realized he had become an arcade master!

"Damn, is this Character and Talent system real?" Lin Nan was stunned, overwhelmed by the shock. If this system was real, his life would be incredibly amazing!

At this moment, seeing Lin Tong's Geese being beaten to death by the short guy's Terry, Lin Nan subconsciously patted Lin Tong's shoulder and whispered, "Let me play the last round."

"You?" Lin Tong looked at Lin Nan with a bitter face and sighed, "Fine, you go ahead. We're going to lose anyway."

Lin Tong moved aside, letting Lin Nan sit down.

As soon as Lin Nan's hands touched the joystick, a familiar feeling surged in his mind, as if he had experienced thousands of matches. Looking at his last character, Ryo, he felt a surge of passion.

Ryo was a good character in KOF 97, often the first choice for beginners. But the short guy, seeing Ryo, was full of disdain, and Terry immediately approached.

However, what the short guy never expected was that Lin Nan's Ryo, like a charged spirit, quickly charged at him, and in just a few moves, reduced his health to zero.

K.O!

With the final lightning punch hitting the short guy's Terry, Terry let out a scream and fell to the ground.

"Damn, Nan, when did you get so good at KOF 97? I never saw you play much before." Lin Tong excitedly patted Lin Nan's shoulder, but Lin Nan just smiled and said, "It's not that I'm good, just that he's too weak."

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