Rainier followed Wayne's training method and selected "Training Mode." They worked in pairs, one attacking and one defending, focusing on path replication to master specific moves.
Shadowbreak, Brother Wilhelm, and others started with "Survival Mode" on Easy difficulty. In this mode, players challenge a continuous string of CPU opponents with a single health bar. After each victory, they can choose rewards like health recovery, power-ups, or score bonuses. If they are defeated, the run ends. Shadowbreak found this the fastest way to train against various opponents in a combat setting while learning the general abilities of the entire roster.
Amy, Andromath, and other casters who rarely engaged in physical brawls chose "Challenge Mode" after some discussion. This mode begins with "Tutorials," where each character has a customized curriculum. Although Wayne's livestream was exciting, every character in Street Fighter V has two different "V-Triggers" to choose from.
Simply copying Wayne wouldn't lead to mastery. Following the tutorials was the "Trials" mode, which guided players from basic combos to increasingly difficult advanced sequences. These spellcasters, who excelled at logical thinking and structured learning, believed tailored training would yield better results than blind practice.
The latest to start were Old Chen and Li Li, who waited until they finished all three Kung Fu Panda movies before entering the game. The ending of Kung Fu Panda 3 had left Old Chen deeply moved. In the film, Grandmaster Oogway, who passed away in the first installment, had entered the Spirit Realm.
There, he had sealed an evil bull warrior named Kai five hundred years prior. For five centuries, Kai had sought to break the barrier and return to the mortal world by killing other warriors who entered the Spirit Realm and stealing their "Chi" to turn them into jade puppets.
When Oogway and Kai eventually clashed, Oogway suppressed Kai using Chi, even manifesting the energy into calligraphy, writing a massive character for "Chi" in the sky. To Chen, this "Chi" was the exact energy source he had been taught about since childhood on the Wandering Isle—the essence gathered by Pandaren Monks from the spirit of the heavens and earth.
The Tai Chi concepts shown—using softness to overcome hardness and emptiness to strike reality—were the lost martial arts techniques that allowed Brewmasters like Chen to continuously dissolve and neutralize damage.
Although Kai eventually escaped the Spirit Realm by overpowering Oogway with stolen Chi, Oogway told him his destroyer had already appeared. Soon, Po met his biological father, Li Shan—a panda just as fat and clumsy as himself—and the father and son finally reunited.
Chen immediately said to Li Li, "See? A panda's father is definitely a panda. Your grandfather was surely a panda too."
As the story progressed, they learned the history of Kai and Oogway. They were once brothers-in-arms. When Oogway was wounded in a great war, Kai carried him to a hidden panda village. These pandas used their secret art—Chi—to save Oogway and taught him how to harness it.
Seeing this, Chen and Li Li were certain that the world of this movie was inextricably linked to the legends of Pandaria. It might even be taking place in Pandaria itself!
In their years of adventure, they had met many great figures—from the powerful Archmage Jaina Proudmoore to the righteous King Magni Bronzebeard and the swift Horde hero Rexxar.
Yet, since leaving the Wandering Isle, they had never found anyone else in Azeroth who used "Chi." They were convinced this was the secret heritage of the Pandaren, and its appearance in Kung Fu Panda was no coincidence.
Excited, Chen gathered Chi in his palm. Seeing the green, glowing orb of energy—identical to the green Chi shown in the movie—the last sliver of doubt vanished from his heart.
"Li Li, I am going to win this fighting tournament!"
Li Li clapped excitedly, knowing her uncle's strength better than anyone. "Great! With that 300 gold, we can travel and eat our way across the continent!"
Chen interrupted her. "No. I want to use the championship title to exchange for a piece of information from Wayne."
With that resolve, the two entered Street Fighter V. Since they had missed Wayne's tutorial, they fumbled through the menus and accidentally entered "Online Mode," where they discovered a library of match replays from other players.
Li Li: "Uncle, look! This person has a strange name: Daigo Umehara..."
Chen: "I've never heard of him... He doesn't seem to be in the net cafe..."
They clicked on the replay and within thirty seconds, their jaws dropped. Li Li: "This person is amazing! How is he so good with that blonde character?"
Chen: "The character is Guile. Remember that..."
On screen, Guile battled various opponents, sometimes crushing them and sometimes in a dead heat. His Critical Art, "Sonic Hurricane," left them in awe.
Chen: "Incredible! Guile's Chi is also green. And he can release it in circles—fast, slow, vertical, or horizontal. I'm learning so much... As expected, relying purely on speed and raw power is a taboo in martial arts."
As they dug deeper, they felt like they had found a treasure trove. Li Li clicked on another player's replay. Li Li: "Uncle! Look! This person is called 'Xiaohai' (Kid). Why would someone pick a name like that?"
Chen: "Ahem, probably a nickname... I mean, you're a kid too..." He thought to himself: Back on the Wandering Isle, the masters called you 'Wild Dog' because of your unruly fighting style. 'Kid' sounds much better than 'Wild Dog'.
They realized Xiaohai was a peak-level master, and then they watched a player named "Tokido." Coincidentally, Tokido's opponent in the replay was Xiaohai. Xiaohai used the female character Cammy, while Tokido used the fearsome Akuma. In the match, Cammy's strategy was simple: "Sticking." She used light and medium attacks after dashing, or aerial kicks to prevent Akuma from creating distance. She chased him relentlessly.
This suited Li Li's taste perfectly. That was exactly how she got the nickname "Wild Dog." Whether fighting seniors or boys her age, she would rather take three punches to land five of her own. It wasn't about a graceful exchange; it was about who would break first. Cammy even had a dashing kick move called "Hooligan Combination," which Li Li loved. A "Wild Dog" paired with a "Hooligan"—it was a match made in heaven. Li Li decided to use Cammy for the tournament.
Meanwhile,
Chen watched how Akuma handled the pressure. A true master must not only expand an advantage but also find opportunities to counter-attack when behind. Facing Cammy's relentless assault, Akuma was often pinned to the edge of the screen, losing room to move. Yet, through precise defense and back-throws to switch positions, he managed to turn the tide. Once the distance was created, his "Gohadoken" made Cammy's life miserable.
Wayne stretched his arms. Having just finished training Arator, he sipped his cola and checked the system backend to see what everyone was doing. Dughan was still hunting Velocidromes... Wayne closed that window after one second.
Shadowbreak was on the 16th stage of Survival Mode... A good training method. Next. Rainier was practicing a 13-hit combo with "Kage" in Training Mode to end with a Shoryuken... Not bad, though real combat isn't as simple as hitting a wooden post. Amy was practicing with the staff-wielding "Falke." Wayne had high hopes for her, as she was one of the few who could translate game moves into reality. She was experimenting with "Psycho Cannon" and "Psycho Blade" to create crowd-control combinations.
Finally, he switched to Chen's box. Wayne suddenly bolted upright from his seat. His heart raced as he sprinted toward Chen's room. But there were only the two of them—no third person, let alone Xiaohai or Daigo.
Seeing the bewildered Wayne, Chen took off his goggles and stood up. "Wayne, I have something to discuss with you."
Wayne looked at their screen and finally realized: the game installation included replays of top players from his original world. They hadn't actually transmigrated. He scratched his head. "What is it? Oh... I was just walking around to see if you needed anything, haha..."
Chen: "I want to use my championship prize money to trade for a piece of information."