Chapter 5: The Arcades of That Era

  I knew Tong Xinfeng would say something like that. With his unique physical condition, he never pursued others himself, but when it came to ambiguous relationships between classmates, he had a bit of a gossip spirit. This gossiping wasn't unique to Tong Xinfeng; almost all high school students back then had this spirit. Liu Yifei remembered being the same way back then, taking great pleasure in discussing such matters. However, on the first day after his rebirth, he became the subject of others' discussion. He glared at Tong Xinfeng and said, "What nonsense are you spouting? I just happened to run into her; her car broke down, so I accompanied her for a walk."

  "Knit! Knit hard! His car broke down, and you went to accompany her? Then why didn't you accompany me?" Tong Xinfeng curled his thick lips in disdain.

  "You don't believe it anyway." Liu Yifei casually flipped through the things on his desk, these things were all his, but they were completely unfamiliar, and he had to get familiar with them.

  "Don't look at Wang Ke, who usually blushes even when talking to boys, but unexpectedly you've managed to chase him down. You're really amazing! Quickly tell me, how did you manage to get him? Don't worry, I definitely won't tell anyone else." Tong Xinfeng's small eyes shone with excited light.

  As for this gossip spirit, Liu Yifei was also completely helpless, and smiled lightly, saying: "Alright, you've chatted enough here, I want to read a book now."

  "Reading books? What's the point of reading books, didn't we agree to play games today? I've even bought game coins already. And now there's a new game out, Fist of the North Star 94, it's super fun." Tong Xinfeng patted his own chest pocket, and suddenly a clinking sound came from inside, clearly indicating that there were many game coins in there.

  The King of Fighters series was absolutely the master of street games at that time. Those who had not played The King of Fighters did not dare to say they had played arcade games. Liu Yifei, in his previous life, was completely obsessed with The King of Fighters, from the first release in '94 to later versions in '97 and '98, and subsequent series. Liu Yifei was very familiar with all of them and could clear the game with any three characters he chose, after which he lost interest in playing anymore.

  Liu Yifei was no longer interested in the game, and he also wanted to take advantage of this time to review his books. He shook his head and said, "I'm not going, you go."

  "What? You're not going?" Tong Xinfeng stared at Liu Yifei with a pair of small eyes, looking at him like a monster, and asked again: "You really aren't going?"

  "What's real and what's fake, I won't go and you can still save a few game coins."

  "You're not feverish, are you?" Tong Xinfeng stretched out a thick, bear-like hand to touch Liu Yifei's forehead. "It's rare for me to invite you out, and once we leave this village, there won't be another restaurant like this."

  Liu Yifei from his past life had reached a state of near addiction to gaming at this point, with his weekly 30 yuan allowance being spent entirely on games, 15 yuan for food and 15 yuan for gaming, sometimes even skipping two meals just so he could keep playing.

  Thinking back, 15 yuan could get you six meals at school, which is unimaginable for high school students over a decade later.

  He slapped Tong Xinfeng and Liu Yifei glared at him, saying: "Alright, you can go now. The mid-term exam is tomorrow, I still need to study."

  This slap actually made Tong Xinfeng's gaze at Liu Yifei normal, he rolled his eyes and said: "What the hell are you reading, hurry up and get out of class." Then he dragged Liu Yifei out of the classroom.

  The arcade in '94 was absolutely on fire, the most common ones were Street Fighter, King of Fighters and Thunderbolt, although these games are too simple compared to later computer games, but at that time they were definitely the favorites of countless young people.

  The arcade was not small in scale, with two rows of nearly thirty arcade machines. The music and sound effects from the games themselves were already quite loud, and with people playing at each machine, the shouting and yelling made the place exceptionally noisy.

  The arcade of Fist of the North Star was crowded before, and it's not easy to get through to play. Liu Yifei took a look from behind and felt a bit ridiculous. The kid who was playing only thought about how to launch an attack, without considering any strategy. Although he occasionally came up with some fancy moves, he couldn't get past the second level and would get defeated as the difficulty increased.

  The next few people are almost at the same level, and this game has just come out, it's not easy to get started.

  Tong Xinfeng's large body took advantage of the situation, and he quickly squeezed in and started playing. The level was basically pitiful, and with his shaking head, fiercely pounding on the keyboard, it made Liu Yifei and the surrounding onlookers laugh uncontrollably.

  "With this level of skill, you still dare to play King of Fighters? If I were you, I would have drowned myself in a puddle of urine long ago!" The laughter stopped, but this sentence was quite hurtful.

  They were three seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boys, one fat and two thin, the fat boy wearing a pair of glasses, with mocking expressions on their faces.

  Game hall, one fat and two thin three boys from Second High School, then a Fist of the North Star competition, Liu Yifei and their four high school people were killed and lost.

  Liu Yifei's mind suddenly conjured up such a scene, and from then on, the students of the four high schools in the game hall had a period of time when they couldn't lift their heads.

  At this time, Tong Xinfeng indeed quarreled with the three men, and the other side also quickly issued a challenge. However, Tong Xinfeng hesitated and did not dare to agree immediately, after all, his level was too poor, and at this time, only a few people from the fourth high school had arrived.

  "Look down on our Fourth High? Come on! I'll compete with you!" Just then, a person squeezed through the crowd, over 1.8 meters tall, broad shoulders and waist, thick eyebrows and big eyes, straight nose and wide mouth, with hair styled in the popular "board inch" fashion at that time.

  "Jia Bo! You little scamp is here!" Tong Xinfeng suddenly exclaimed with surprise, then shouted at the three men: "Our expert has arrived, see if you still dare to be arrogant."

  Jia Bo is also a high school student, but not in their second class. This guy was a big shot in high school, not because his studies were good, but because he fought the most in school and could be said to be the most capable person. He was quite famous in school, almost got expelled several times, but his family seemed to have some connections, so he was always saved. Liu Yi Fei might recognize him for a moment, but definitely can't remember his name.

  "Jia Bo... seems quite capable, but today we're here to compare fists with the Boxing King, not to fight with you guys." Those three people also seemed to have some fear towards Jia Bo.

  Jia Bo's eyes widened, his body straightened, and a fierce aura grew thicker. He shouted: "If you want to compare fists, let's compare fists! Our four high schools aren't afraid of yours! Say it, this is our territory, you set the rules, otherwise, I'll say Jia Bo bullied you."

  The fat man took a step back and said, "Alright, let's compete in eleven games. As long as it's the four of you from high school who can come on stage, we'll see who wins more in the end."

  "Alright! Let's compete like this, I'll go first, who's next?"