The first match of the semi-finals featured Amy's Falke against Little Tess's Ibuki. This showdown between two female competitors—a mage and a young girl—left everyone eagerly anticipating the outcome. Even Marlin paused his game of Skyrim to watch his daughter's performance.
In the original Street Fighter V, these two characters were considered relatively niche. In Wayne's previous world, it was rare to see them at the top of the competitive ladder or winning major trophies. Even elite players like Fujimura, once hailed as the world's best Ibuki, eventually abandoned the character.
However, in this enhanced Virtual Reality version, the absence of "frame-skipping" changed everything. Hit detection wasn't based on system animations, but on physical contact—whoever struck first landed the hit. While damage and health stats remained the same, this change significantly compensated for the characters' traditional weaknesses.
More importantly, players physically entered the arena. They didn't just rely on experience to judge an opponent's moves; they could observe facial expressions, body language, and even the direction of their opponent's gaze to predict their next action. These were nuances that players behind a screen using a controller could never experience.
[Round One][Fight!]
The moment the battle started, both women went on the offensive. Retaining the original appearance of their characters, Little Tess jumped immediately, throwing an "Aerial Kunai" toward Amy. Amy hopped back to block in mid-air and, upon landing, raised her staff like an automatic rifle. She began firing bursts of purple psycho-energy, alternating between standing and crouching shots to keep Tess from closing in.
Amy's Falke even released a slow-moving orb of purple energy that drifted forward. With this projectile on the field, Amy could advance behind it or use it to punish Tess if she tried to counter-attack.
However, a stalemate is always eventually broken. As Amy charged energy for another projectile, Tess seized the gap. She landed a dash punch into Amy's waist, interrupting the movement and knocking her back. Tess immediately rushed in, initiating a barrage of high and low mixed attacks. Blue ripples, representing successful blocks, flickered across Amy's body.
Seeing herself getting cornered, Amy jumped, intending to find an opening with an aerial projectile. To her surprise, Tess caught her rising frames with another dash punch, followed by a boomerang toss. Tess then launched into a "Kazekiri" kick, sending Amy into the air just as the boomerang returned to strike Amy again!
"Whoa!!!"
Applause erupted in the net cafe. Spectators began to praise the performance. "The little girl is amazing!" "Exactly, at such a young age, her reactions and predictions are incredible. She caught Amy the moment she tried to jump." "Is everyone in this cafe this strong?" "Yeah, a little girl is this good, and Wayne still dismantled her. Thank goodness he's not in the final four, or no one would stand a chance." "Well, not everyone... look at that guy... he's also part of the staff, but he's terrible..."
The conversation shifted to Raymond, who had used the massive sumo wrestler E. Honda but had been unceremoniously "perfected" in the first round without putting up any resistance.
On the field, Tess won two sets in a row with her continuous close-range pressure, sweeping kicks, and Kazekiri finishers, successfully taking the first set of the match.
Inside her private box, Hasana's state of mind was simply: "I don't understand, but I am deeply shocked." As a female Troll rogue who had only arrived at the net cafe today, she still couldn't comprehend what a "game" truly was. She couldn't understand why these two individuals were using skills she had never seen before.
She even suspected that the Alliance had developed new secret classes, such as "Battle Mages," "Brawling Warlocks," or "Boxing Rogues." Otherwise, there was no explaining a mage who fired spells from a staff but frequently jumped and crouched to deliver long-range kicks.
Purhart wanted to explain it to her, but she had only played once herself—and that was Heroes of Might and Magic III, a slow-paced strategy game. This was her first time seeing a fighting game, and it was equally alien to her.
After a two-minute break, the second set began. Amy clearly adjusted her strategy. She continued to use projectiles at a distance to disrupt Tess's rhythm, but once they entered a clinch, she heavily incorporated throws. Since close-range throws cannot be blocked normally, they must be countered with a "throw-tech" in a split second. This required reflexes and experience that Tess, having only played for two and a half days, lacked.
After several successful throws, Amy repeatedly tossed Tess into the corner, maintaining pressure with dense energy waves and light kicks. This made Tess hesitate to close in recklessly. Under this exchange of moves and counters, the score eventually tied at 2-2.
Before the final set, Tess sought Wayne's help. Wayne shook his head and told her: "My advice wouldn't work for you. What I can do, you might not be able to, and vice versa." "Mathias Shaw is your rogue mentor, but he is him, and you are you. He can teach you rogue skills, but he won't make you mimic his every habit." "If I have to give one piece of advice, it's this: do what you are best at." "You shouldn't try to become someone else; you should become yourself."
Tess pondered these words. As the princess of the Kingdom of Gilneas, her father Gene Greymane and her brother Liam Greymane had very different ideologies and often argued. Gene insisted on isolating the kingdom behind the Greymane Wall to protect his people—standard "isolationism." Liam, however, believed the world's fate was interconnected. He argued that if the Alliance fell, Gilneas would not be spared, and thus advocated for rejoining the Alliance to fight the Horde and the Scourge.
While the son accused the father of being conservative and an appeaser, and the father criticized the son for being reckless and impulsive, Queen Mia and Princess Tess often acted as mediators. This led to the ambitious Liam once saying to Tess:
"None of us should aim to be the second version of someone else. We are the first version of ourselves."