When the trembling referee raised Cloud's blood-stained hand and roared with all his might the historic announcement:
"The final winner is—Dragon Nation Team! KOF 94 Champion, the First King of Fighters—Cloud!!!"
The Sydney Opera House, after a full thirty seconds of server-crash-like silence, erupted with earth-shaking, roof-lifting cheers and screams!
"Holy shit! He won! He actually won!"
"Dragon Nation Team! Gods forever! That Cloud kid actually took down Kyo Kusanagi!"
"Dark horse! Epic super mega dark horse! I bet on him winning at 100-to-1 odds! I'm rich! Tonight at the hostess club, everything's on me!"
"Cloud! Cloud! Cloud!"
Amid the ocean of cheering, countless ribbons and flowers rained down like a storm, completely burying the still-dumbfounded figures standing in the lava crater.
The competitor spectator area had already descended into chaos.
"He won! He won! Cloud won!"
Yuri Sakazaki bounced up and down excitedly, her little face flushed red, her sparkling eyes full of unconcealed admiration and little stars of love.
"Hmph... I guess... he's pretty good..."
Mai Shiranui tried hard to maintain a tsundere "whatever" expression.
But her slightly upturned lips that she couldn't suppress, and her beautiful eyes already curved into crescents, completely betrayed the wild joy in her heart.
"I knew it... that guy can always create miracles." Athena covered her mouth, eyes slightly red, heart filled with proud joy.
Terry went absolutely crazy, jumping onto his chair, ripping off his red vest and waving it wildly in the air, howling like a wolf.
Only Ryo, watching his sister who had completely become a "Cloud stan," wore a face black as the bottom of a pot, forcing out through gritted teeth: "Hmph, just... got lucky is all."
But his slightly trembling fists showed his heart was equally unsettled.
...
On stage, Cloud remained in a philosophical state of "Who am I? Where am I? What did I just do?"
It all felt so unreal.
I'm... the King of Fighters now?
What happened to the epic battle? The hot-blooded fight to the last drop?
How come at the end it felt like... a fixed match?
Just then, a voice that made his scalp tingle sounded in his ear.
"Well done... my foolish otouto (little brother)."
Cloud spun around to see Kyo, who had been "unconscious" and "knocked out," somehow "fully recovered" and standing up.
Far from showing any post-defeat depression, he wore an expression of relief, affection, and "big brother is proud of you" as his uninjured hand heavily patted Cloud's shoulder.
Cloud: "???"
Otouto?
Dude, did I hit you stupid? Are we even close?
Before Cloud could react, Goro Daimon and Benimaru also approached.
Their expressions were similarly... tender?
"Young Master, congratulations." Goro Daimon, this silent-as-a-mountain man, actually bowed slightly to Cloud. His voice remained ancient yet filled with respect.
"Hey, my little broth~" Benimaru flamboyantly flicked his golden hair and blew Cloud a kiss.
"Don't know what backwater you crawled out of, but... welcome home. From now on, let big brother show you what the real high life looks like!"
Cloud: "???"
Young Master? Little broth?
What is happening?!
I came to fight in a tournament—how did this suddenly become a mass "family reunion"?!
He felt his CPU about to melt, completely unable to process this soap-opera-worthy plot development.
"Um... everyone," Cloud struggled to speak, "did I... miss some plot? Is there some misunderstanding between us?"
"Misunderstanding?" At this, Kyo's face showed an "I understand everything" expression. He put his arm around Cloud's shoulder, led him aside, and said in a voice full of apology and sincerity:
"Little brother, don't worry. I know you've been cast out all these years, suffered so much—you must have resentment toward our Kusanagi clan. That's all our fault—Dad's fault! Don't worry, once we're home, I'll make sure he gives you an explanation! The Kusanagi clan owes you recognition!"
His words were so heartfelt, so moving, that if Cloud didn't know he was a genuine transmigrator, he might have actually believed it.
"No... I..."
"You don't need to explain!" Kyo cut him off. "I saw everything! At the edge of death, you awakened our Kusanagi bloodline and threw that pure Oniyaki! That's ironclad proof! Nobody can deny it!"
Cloud: "..."
He finally understood where the problem lay.
So... it was his "cheat" that caused this mess!
He opened his mouth, wanting to explain that his flames came from forcibly stealing them through a nonsensical system.
But... could he say that?
Would anyone believe it?
They'd probably treat him as a "heretic" on the spot and have Kyo and Goro physically "exorcise" him!
For a moment, Cloud found himself in the biggest "silence" crisis since his transmigration.
Looking at Kyo's eyes full of "brotherly love" and sincerity, Cloud felt this "black pot" was... definitely stuck to him now.
...
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