Facing Terry, who stepped onto the ring to issue a challenge, Qin Ming decisively accepted it.
With a casual flick, he threw the unconscious Andy aside, and immediately assumed a fighting stance.
Seeing this, Terry didn't spare a glance at his brother being flung away. Instead, he signaled his friend Joe Higashi to go take Andy away, while he himself got into his fighting posture.
The two locked eyes, sparks flying between them. After a brief three-second standoff, they struck almost simultaneously.
Terry opened with a special move—Power Geyser!
But Qin Ming charged in with a reckless, no-holds-barred Rhino Rush!
Qin Ming's surprise attack capability was top-notch! Relying on his intelligence advantage, he had even once taken down Vice, who had activated her Orochi bloodline, in a direct confrontation!
But Terry… unfortunately had no intel on Qin Ming.
Never having seen Qin Ming go all out, he only knew Qin Ming was durable, but had no idea just how durable.
So when he saw Qin Ming charging in, Terry instinctively counter-charged, trying to fight in close combat.
And then——
"Gah!"
With a shrill, off-pitch cry, Terry was forcibly bear-hugged by Qin Ming, lifted by the waist, and charged straight ahead.
What followed was slamming into walls! Into the ring! Into the ground! The two bulldozed along the arena's barrier wall, kicking up a storm of debris and drawing gasps from the crowd!
What? Compete in technique? What kind of lunatic tries to out-technique this kind of fighter?!
Qin Ming didn't fight with finesse—he grappled on sight and turned every bout into a wrestling match. His fighting style had zero technique—all emotion!
The core strategy? Iron headbutts! Blow for blow! Brutal, direct clashes!
So whatever you do, don't let Qin Ming grab you—or you're in for one hell of a beating!
Qin Ming's style wasn't elegant or flashy, but it was savagely brutal, soaked in the aesthetics of raw violence.
Spectators had come for a flashy martial arts showdown.
Instead, they got a bullfight!
And one where the matador lost and got gored!
After a few seconds of stunned silence, the audience stared at Terry—his face being ground against the wall at high speed by Qin Ming's single-handed grip, stones flying in every direction.
Seeing the once pristine round coliseum now in ruins after mere moments of combat…
The stunned spectators finally snapped back to their senses and erupted into thunderous cheers and roars.
Sure, they loved martial arts matches—or they wouldn't be here.
But blood and violence? That's hardwired into human instinct.
So this wildly unorthodox and barbaric fighting style? They loved it.
Below, Qin Ming and Terry went all out in a brutal brawl, exchanging blow after blow, body slamming each other.
Above, the crowd screamed, releasing all their pent-up emotion.
In that moment, the supposed King of Fighters showdown had fully devolved into a Roman gladiator match.
And when Qin Ming grabbed Terry by the leg—ignoring his desperate counterattacks—and slammed him full-force into a stone pillar, shattering a half-meter thick column on impact, the spectators hit a fever pitch. Their cheers merged into a tidal wave of excitement.
Qin Ming and Terry's clash, under the stunned eyes of the other contestants and the roaring crowd, ended in the most barbaric way possible.
After tanking four of Terry's supers and more than thirty punches and kicks, Qin Ming still managed to beat Terry half to death, and claimed victory in the first round.
What's that? Joe Higashi the Muay Thai King?
As a fast-striking type, Joe immediately realized he was heavily countered by Qin Ming's style—and never even dared step into the ring.
Terry's beatdown was that miserable.
Fighting Qin Ming didn't feel like challenging a master. It was more like being locked in with a raging bull in heat! With no chance of winning, Joe wasn't about to find out firsthand how he'd get stomped.
As the cheers echoed, Qin Ming—injured but victorious—raised his arms and strode off the ring.
At that moment, this man with a rugged appearance, previously unknown and never seen fighting before, suddenly exploded in popularity.
The cheers for him even drowned out Athena Asamiya, the superstar singer!
As the first match concluded, the rest of the tournament kicked off in quick succession.
Original storyline teams quickly found themselves clashing with adventurer teams in intense showdowns.
And among these adventurer teams, some included canon characters.
For example, the original "Boss Team" — Geese, Krauser, and Mr. Big — didn't show up as a team this time.
Instead, they'd been recruited into three different adventurer squads through "connections," forming separate teams.
Rugal's team was the same—he had strong teammates, allowing him to conceal his identity.
Otherwise, fighters like Kyo Kusanagi who had previously fought him wouldn't be so calm right now.
Additionally, some characters appeared who weren't supposed to be in this tournament at all.
Like the ninja Hanzo Hattori, or the gang enforcer Ryuji Yamazaki.
And in two seemingly inconspicuous teams, there appeared two very special characters—
Maxima and Angel—both of whom shouldn't even appear until King of Fighters '99 and beyond!
They were elite operatives from a powerful villainous organization—the NESTS organization!
Some adventurers had actually joined the NESTS organization ahead of time and brought those story characters out with them!
However, these two NESTS operatives were only acting under orders to gather intel, so they didn't stand out much.....
Only Ángel, with her special outfit—no better than Mai Shiranui's in terms of modesty—and who, despite being an adult, still wore crotchless pants, attracted a certain number of perverted fans thanks to her pretty looks and lively personality.
With a full day of battles over, the first round of finals finally came to a close, and the top twelve teams were officially determined.
To build hype, the organizers also held interviews with the audience and opened up voting, giving each of the twelve teams' members their own nicknames.
For instance: the Muay Thai beauty King, the kunoichi Mai Shiranui, and even Kasamoto Eri got a nickname of her own—"Military Madwoman."
After all, when she got on stage, she started swinging a one-handed axe straight at people's heads. Every move aimed for a vital spot—visually shocking to say the least.
As for Qin Ming? He also earned a fighter title in this world. But it was no longer "Hyena," since his current physique looked nothing like a dog.
Fans who worshipped violence gave him a more affectionate name: Rhino. The Rampaging Rhino.
When he first heard this nickname, Qin Ming really wanted to meet those fans in person and give them a warm greeting—with the giant dinosaur horns from his transformation!
Everyone else gets to be human—so how come I end up as an animal!?
Night fell quickly. Though the matches were over, the battles between the two factions were only just beginning.
Nighttime—that's when the real fighting begins.
Under the cover of night, a shadow darted through the city at high speed. It was Qin Ming, on the move.
For adventurers, securing treasure chests was the main objective. So Qin Ming didn't rest either—he was using the cover of darkness to hunt down story characters.
And the first group he chose to go after… was the Korea Team!
Because let's face it, they were the weakest among the teams, and two of them were even criminals.
Killing other characters might lead to big trouble due to their background connections.
Take Mai Shiranui, for example—if you take her out, her close girlfriends will definitely investigate, especially Kagura Chizuru. With her huge network, she'd track you down in no time.
But the Korea Team? Both Choi Bounge and Chang Koehan were serious criminals. Only their master and team leader, Kim Kaphwan, had any real backing.
As long as you don't mess with Kim, and only take out the two convicts, probably no one would care who killed them—except maybe Kim himself.
Of course, even going after Kim is doable... but his master isn't someone to be trifled with, and let's not forget that seductive yet strong wife and senior disciple of his.
If they find any clues and come knocking on your door, you'd better think hard about whether you can survive the fallout.
Unless you plan to never return—or if you do, not participate in The King of Fighters again—targeting characters with backing is a huge taboo.
Wind howled as Qin Ming landed on a rooftop, immediately rising to his feet.
He wasn't going to hunt—he had already completed the hunt and was now on his way back.
Chang Koehan was tall and tough, not easy to deal with thanks to his high endurance.
But that monkey Choi Bounge? Didn't even weigh 60 jin (~66 lbs). To Qin Ming, he was practically dough.
Seizing an opportunity, and using the advantage of surprise, Qin Ming tore him apart in one move.
As a third-rate, bottom-of-the-barrel fighter, Choi never even had a chance to fight back.
It was just a shame that Chang had made a mistake earlier and was now getting lectured non-stop by Kim Kaphwan, who had forcibly taken the role of master, trying to get him to turn over a new leaf.
Otherwise, Qin Ming might've gotten a double kill today.
Frowning as he scanned the area, Qin Ming mentally calculated who else he could hunt down.
Before he could finalize his thoughts, a loud explosion erupted from below.
His pupils shrank. He quickly looked down.
As he spotted the erupting firelight, he realized—he wasn't the only predator out tonight.
And from the looks of it… someone had made quite the mess.
Since there was noise...
His eyes flashed. Qin Ming crouched slightly, then suddenly leapt from the tall building.
As he freefell, his feet stepped along the vertical glass wall of the skyscraper in a full-speed sprint, launching a straight descent toward the chaos below.
He was going to see who was fighting! And if possible—he didn't mind killing both sides!
At the same time, down on the street, two groups were locked in fierce combat.
One side consisted of three adventurer teams who had formed a hunting squad.
The other side was a team of story characters.
And this team—was the Psycho Soldier Team!
Following the rule of: if you're going to make a move, go big or go home, the three adventurer teams decided to risk it all and go after the team with the highest stat panels—and the biggest rewards.
What? Athena Asamiya is super famous? Touching her is like touching a nuke? You might get put on the official wanted list?
These adventurers didn't care about consequences anymore! Why would they worry about that now!?
They'd already been knocked out of the official tournament. They were here to go big with one last job—hit hard and run!
Forget Athena—if they had the chance, they'd even dare to stab the Emperor!
(End of Chapter)