KOF: Rise of the King of Fighters

"Is this reasonable?!"

The blond-haired leader was so surprised that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Yan Yue used a folding stool to beat everyone senseless. That makes perfect sense...

After Yan Yue beat the last henchman to the ground, she looked at the blond-haired man and the fallen Li Mei.

Without pausing, he continued walking towards the blond-haired man. "You said it yourself, you told me to beat you up... so don't run away..."

Huang Mao, enraged, burst out cursing, "No...this is impossible!"

Huang Mao still didn't believe it, so he leaped into the air and unleashed a killing move, raising his leg and slashing down fiercely.

Ultimate Weapon: Battle Axe!

"Watch out!" Li Mei was startled when she saw Huang Mao unleash this deadly move.

However, just as the blond-haired figure flew to within inches of Yan Yue, a sudden change occurred.

Yan Yue was even faster, striking the blond-haired man squarely in the face with a folding stool at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

boom!

The folding stool shattered and fell apart, while the blond-haired man was sent flying and crashed to the ground, his front teeth shattered and his nose collapsed. He seemed to have witnessed true power, and his eyes instantly became much clearer.

However, Yan Yue did not stop. Seeing Huang Mao fall to the ground, she instantly stepped on him, raised the folding stool high with both hands, and continued her fierce attack.

Instantly, the yellow-haired man's pig-like screams echoed throughout the streets and alleys.

"He fell to the ground in one move?" Li Mei looked at this series of illogical events and felt like she was dreaming. She pinched her face hard.

"It hurts... This isn't a dream!"

Yan Yue continued beating everyone unconscious until the hallway finally quieted down.

Just then, a girl's clear voice came from behind: "Hey! Thank you!"

Yan Yue turned around and saw Li Mei looking at him with bright eyes, her face covered in dust, and beads of sweat sliding down her cheeks, making her look both disheveled and stubborn.

Yan Yue mumbled, "It's nothing, just something I did on the spur of the moment."

"Just passing by?" Li Mei walked up to him and looked him up and down.

"Have you studied martial arts? Your moves just now were amazing, but... a little..."

Ha ha ha ha……"

She couldn't help but laugh, revealing two small canine teeth. "Why are you using a folding stool as a weapon?"

Yan Yue was speechless. He couldn't very well say that he didn't have any bricks on him and could only pick up this cheap plastic folding stool, could he?

"Uh... this folding stool is lightweight, practical, and environmentally friendly. It can be used for both offense and defense, and you can even fold it up to sit down and rest when you get tired... it's one of the top ten weapons in the martial arts world..." Yan Yue forced a reason.

"Hahaha..." Li Mei blinked, clearly not understanding the strange reason, but her laughter became even brighter.

Yan Yue didn't laugh, but noticed Li Mei's injuries. Out of kindness, Yan Yue gave Li Mei some of the medical supplies from her backpack.

"This is a miracle cure. Apply it to your body in a moment, and the bruises will disappear quickly..."

Li Mei generously accepted Yan Yue's special medicine, "Brother, thank you so much..."

My name is Li Mei, you can also call me Li Zhenzhu. I work at a clothing store nearby. What about you? What's your name?

Yan Yue explained, "I can't reveal my real name, you can call me A Yan... I'm Chinese..."

"Brother Yan? Are you here looking for someone? You don't seem to know this place very well."

Yan Yue's heart skipped a beat. Li Mei was a local; perhaps she knew about Jin Jiafan's dojo? But he didn't want to be too direct.

He could only vaguely say, "That's right, I came to Korea to find a man named Kim Ka-bum, he's a Taekwondo master..."

"Master Kim Kap-bum?" Li Mei's eyes lit up. "I know him! He's a martial arts master in our country! And I've heard he's a really nice person... I admired him since I was a kid..."

Just as Yan Yue was about to ask for the specific address, her stomach rumbled at an inopportune moment.

This made Yan Yue's face turn red instantly, after all, she hadn't eaten all day.

Li Mei couldn't help but chuckle. Seeing Yan Yue's embarrassed expression, she roughly guessed what was going on.

She took a neatly packaged rice ball out of her pocket and handed it to Yan Yue: "Brother Yan, haven't you eaten? Here, take this. It was given to me by the owner of the laundry shop where I work. It's still warm."

Yan Yue looked at the steaming rice ball, her throat moved, and her stomach growled even louder.

He wanted to refuse, but he couldn't resist the temptation of the food. "Thank you."

While chewing her food, Yan Yue asked vaguely, "Where exactly is Kim Kap-bum's dojo located?"

“Kim is in Busan, which is far from here…” Li Mei’s eyes showed some disappointment.

"It's okay, you just need to tell me which direction it is... I can walk there..."

"Leave? How is that possible?" Li Mei looked at Yan Yue as if she were a monster. "It's two cities away from here!"

"It's okay, we'll get there if we walk slowly..."

"Actually, you can just keep going west... and you'll reach Busan... but that's too far..."

She glanced at Yan Yue's clothes and realized he clearly wasn't poor. Curious, she asked:

"Brother Yan, did you lose your money? Is that why you can't even afford to eat..."

"Yeah, I didn't expect you to see through me..." Yan Yue said, trying to fool him.

Li Mei stared at Yan Yue curiously, and Yan Yue's face was covered by a hat, which made Li Mei even more curious.

"Why don't you come sleep here?"

"What?"

Yan Yue almost spat out the food in her mouth, her mind suddenly exploding.

[What's going on?! A minor girl bringing a strange adult man home?! Something's not right here!]

"I... I'll just find any place."

Seeing Yan Yue's reaction, Li Mei frowned, still feeling a little reluctant.

“There’s a small warehouse behind our laundromat. It’s a bit small, but it’s clean and we have blankets. If you don’t mind, why don’t you stay there tonight? It’s better than sleeping outside.”

Yan Yue was stunned. He hadn't expected Li Mei to be acting out of pure kindness. This filled Yan Yue with immense guilt, and he even started thinking about strange things.

I'm so damn stupid!

"Then...I'm sorry to trouble you."

Li Mei smiled and shook her head: "No trouble at all! You saved me, this little thing is nothing."

By the way, Ah Yan, why did you come to see Jin Guanzhang? Do you two know each other?

After finishing the last bite of her rice ball, Yan Yue wiped her mouth and her gaze became somewhat distant: "He's... an old acquaintance. I'm going to Japan and I need his help."

"Japan?" Li Mei blinked curiously. "What are you going to Japan for?"

Yan Yue looked up at the night sky outside the corridor, but he couldn't say it aloud, so he changed the subject: "That's a long story... Shall we go to the warehouse now?"

Li Mei nodded, turned around and led the way: "Follow me..."

Along the way, she kept complaining, "Brother Yan, the way you fought with that folding chair just now was so funny! Hahaha..."

……

We arrived at the laundromat.

Li Mei gently pulled up the roller shutter door of the laundromat, making a rustling, old-fashioned sound.

The store was filled with the faint scent of laundry detergent mixed with a hint of dust. Several old-fashioned washing machines stood side by side against the wall, and neatly folded clean clothes were piled up in the corner.

Yan Yue followed behind Li Mei, her steps extremely light, as if afraid of disturbing the tranquility of the night.

"Brother Yan, please sit down wherever you like. I'll get you a glass of water." Li Mei took off her dusty work jacket, revealing a simple white T-shirt underneath, and turned to walk towards the small water dispenser behind the counter.

Yan Yue didn't move, but simply found a corner against the wall and stood there. She activated her senses to survey her surroundings.

Li Mei walked over with a glass of warm water and couldn't help but laugh when she saw his tense expression.

"Brother Yan, why are you like a masked hero in a tokusatsu drama? You always cover your face completely and always look like you're ready to fight at any moment."

Yan Yue paused, taking the water glass with a slight hesitation: "Masked Hero?"

"That's right!" Li Mei's eyes lit up. She sat down on the bench next to her and said excitedly, "It's like those heroes who wear masks and strange clothes and secretly protect others! Look at you, wearing a hat to cover your face, and then suddenly saving me, you're exactly the same!"

She rested her chin on her hand, staring at Yan Yue's hat brim. "Speaking of which, do you, like the heroes, have some secret identity that you can't let others know? Like... are you actually an agent of some mysterious organization?"

Yan Yue almost spat out the water in her mouth. She coughed twice and mumbled, "Don't make wild guesses. I'm just an ordinary person."

"Can an ordinary person fight off a group of gangsters with their bare hands and a folding chair?" Li Mei raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing it.

"I can tell you're not simple! By the way, why do you always wear a hat? Is there some secret hidden under it? Like... a scar? Or a mark of superpowers?" She became more and more excited as she spoke.

"..." Yan Yue was speechless for a moment.

Li Mei's eyes darted around, and she smiled again, saying, "Could it be... that you're not good-looking and you're afraid I'll see you?"

"Hey, hey, hey...this is getting more and more outrageous..."

Yan Yue's lips twitched. Just as she was about to retort, her stomach rumbled again at an inopportune moment, this time louder than it had been in the hallway, and exceptionally clear in the quiet laundromat.

Li Mei burst out laughing again.

"Looks like Brother Yan is really starving... Let me see what you look like, and I'll get you some more food, okay?"

She stood up and went behind the counter to rummage through the items.