Tess pondered the words of Wayne and her brother, questioning what kind of person she truly was. She thought for a long time before landing on a single question: As a rogue, what is the most important thing?
Once the final round began, everyone noticed a shift in Tess. When in close quarters, she frequently used rapid, light punches and kicks to control her positioning relative to Amy, preventing Amy from easily landing throws. At mid-range, she waited for Amy to strike first, exploiting the brief recovery frames to close the distance. Her choice of attacks no longer prioritized long combos but focused on disrupting Amy's rhythm and pushing her toward the edge of the stage to maintain constant pressure.
This was the answer to her question: control and evasion.
The soul of a rogue lies in these two points. Whether it is Cheap Shot, Sap, Blind, Kidney Shot, or Gouge, they are all powerful control skills designed to interrupt an opponent's attack while pulling the battle into one's own tempo. Second is evasion—not just dodging, but fluid movement that includes rapid shifts in position. By moving quickly and unpredictably, a rogue can avoid attacks, attempt to get behind the opponent, and force the enemy to constantly adjust their own positioning. With these two elements, a rogue can overcome their fragile nature and deliver bursts of damage.
On the fighting stage, Tess completely ignored Amy's patterns, remaining "self-centered" in her approach. No matter how many projectiles Amy fired, Tess looked for the gaps to counter-attack. It was like one person playing an instrument while another tapped a beat—but tapping that beat precisely between the notes. It easily threw the musician off rhythm, eventually forcing them into the wrong tempo.
Furthermore, Amy was fundamentally a mage. Although she had temporarily gained Falke's abilities in the game, she lacked the lifelong training in hand-to-hand combat that a physical fighter possessed. Ultimately, Tess swept through like a storm, using the Critical Art "Kachofuugetsu" to kick Amy into the air and finishing the semi-final with a ki blast. Tess had secured her spot in the finals.
The other match featured McBride as Zangief against Chen as Guile. McBride was strong—exceptionally so. Everyone, including Wayne, felt that if McBride had been placed in the other half of the bracket against either of the female players, he would have won in a landslide.
Before the internet became widespread in Wayne's original world, his generation first encountered Street Fighter on the NES and coin-operated arcade machines. Due to limited hardware, designers prioritized visuals and hit detection over complex audio. Since most players didn't understand Japanese or English, they gave characters and moves nicknames based on how they sounded—a practice later known as "mondegreens" or "soramimi."
For example, Ryu in his white gi was often called "White Madman," while Ken in red was "Red Madman." Their signature "Hadoken" was shouted as it sounded, and the "Tatsumaki Senpukyaku" became the famous "Jajaburugen." Blanka was the "Savage," M. Bison with his red cap was the "Policeman," Chun-Li was the "Chinese Girl," and Vega with his claws was "Forks."
Chen's character, Guile, had a similar history. Though his move was "Sonic Boom," the arcade audio made it sound like "Mo-Lie-Si-Gu" to many, leading players to call the character by that name. His name was originally "Guile," but a magazine error in the past had supposedly printed it as "Gulie," leading the entire Chinese-speaking world to refer to him as "Gu-Lie." The name stuck so well that Capcom eventually officially adopted "Gu-Lie" as his Chinese name.
McBride's Zangief was another veteran character, a Russian wrestler often called the "Soviet Strongman." As a grappler, Zangief's goal was to get close and use command throws to break an opponent's guard. With moves like the "Screw Pile Driver" that could practically suck people in, once he got close, he would toss his opponent around like a ragdoll.
But his opponent was Chen. While McBride was a Grand Marshal, his rank meant he hadn't fought on the front lines with a sword in years; his role was that of a commander overseeing armies. At over fifty years old and always surrounded by guards like Verdan, he hadn't engaged in personal combat for a long time. His foundation was there, but compared to a monk like Chen—who traveled the world fighting beasts and sparring daily—the gap was immense.
As the match started, both chose to use their real physical appearances. McBride skillfully used jumps and low kicks to close the distance, successfully throwing Chen toward the edge. However, Guile in Street Fighter V was a very balanced character with few weaknesses. Chen quickly pushed McBride back with a series of Sonic Booms.
Unlike Amy, Chen didn't use projectiles just to keep distance. He used them to force a block, then closed in to deliver a barrage of physical strikes to break the defense. For a monk used to channeling "Chi Burst," this was a fighting style carved into his very bones. Even though Chen was much stouter than Guile, when the green energy of the "Sonic Boom" gathered on his wrists, it looked perfectly natural—as if the energy itself belonged to him, a perfect application of a monk's Chi.
Chen quickly took a 2-0 lead. Just as it looked like he would sweep the match, Verdan shouted from the sidelines. Despite losing to Chen in their previous real-life duel, Verdan was incredibly stubborn about losing in the game, blaming his poor performance on a lack of time or a lapse in judgment. He advised McBride to stay grounded and stick to Chen, mixing high and low attacks between throws to make his movements unpredictable.
As a Grand Marshal, McBride might have been a "scrub" at playing, but his analytical skills as a spectator were top-notch. By using heavy crouching kicks and command throws, he began to pin Chen down, slamming him into the ground. The score became 2-1.
Chen found it difficult to find openings for his projectiles in that round; his rhythm had been disrupted. During the three-minute break, it was Li Li's turn to offer advice. Li Li, nicknamed "Wild Dog," simply suggested that Chen increase his attack density, following the philosophy that "the best defense is a good offense." This was easier said than done in a game where attack intervals were strictly governed by frames.
As the match was about to resume, Chen suddenly thought of a scene from Kung Fu Panda 3. In the final battle, Po couldn't defeat Kai through normal means. Finally, Po realized: if he couldn't beat Kai here, why not take Kai somewhere else? He grabbed Kai and used the "Wuxi Finger Hold" on himself, transporting them both to the Spirit Realm to finish the fight.
If brute force failed, he would adapt to his opponent's style. When the round started, Chen stopped firing projectiles entirely. Whenever McBride tried to move in for a throw, Chen interrupted him with light punches, followed by a chip-damage combo. Since Zangief lacked long-range attacks, he was forced to keep trying to get close, only to be met with preemptive strikes or, surprisingly, being thrown first by Chen himself.
Chen took the set 3-1 and went on to defeat Tess 3-0 in the finals without any suspense. Amidst the cheers and applause, he earned the title of "First World Fighting Champion" and a 200-gold grand prize. Tess took second, McBride third, and Amy fourth.
"Congratulations, Chen!"
As Wayne handed over the prize money, Chen pushed it back. "Wayne, as we agreed, I have something very important to ask you." Chen gave a solemn cupped-hand salute.
Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, the two walked out of the net cafe toward the lakeside. It was already night. Upstairs, Hasana was both shocked by the strength of these fighters and unwilling to let the title of "World Champion" stay with the Alliance. Her deep-seated Horde desire for honor drove her to see exactly what this champion was made of. She descended to the first floor, entered stealth under the cover of darkness, and crept toward Wayne and Chen.
Wayne: "Go ahead, Chen. What's so important that you'd give up 200 gold?"
Chen looked around and said, "Please tell me the location of Pandaria."
Wayne's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You... why would you ask me? I'm not a Pandaren. How would I know?"
Chen smiled slightly. "Since the night of my duel with the Grand Marshal, when you were able to identify my 'Fists of Fury,' 'Blackout Kick,' and 'Tiger Palm,' I knew you must know where the ancient kingdom of the Pandaren lies. I have traveled all of Azeroth searching for my homeland, but on this continent, aside from Li Li and myself, there is not a third monk in existence. Yet you recognized a monk's skills at a glance. There is only one possibility."
"You have been to Pandaria!"
Wayne thought to himself that the big guy's analysis was sound, and he had indeed been to Pandaria... a long time ago. But the Pandaria he visited and the way he got there were nothing like what Chen imagined.
At that moment, an alarm rang in his ear: [Extreme Threat Detected][Threat Level: Medium]
A sharp whiz filled the air as a Flare shot into the sky and landed right next to Wayne and Chen. A woman over 1.9 meters tall was holding a dagger, poised to strike Chen in the back.
Hasana never expected that at the final moment of her "Ambush," she would be mysteriously revealed by a Flare out of nowhere. There wasn't even a Hunter nearby. The three of them stood there, staring at each other in silence.
Wayne couldn't help but ask, "What... are you trying to do?"
The vending machine, having been fully charged by the energy from over thirty players gaming for three consecutive days, was at max power. Without waiting for Hasana to answer, it unleashed a Massive Dispel.
Just like that, a hideous female Troll with two protruding tusks was revealed in her true form...