"Okay, Ryuji!"
Mai looked happily at the cute Tifa. Although she really wanted to buy clothes for Ryuji and admire how handsome he looked, they had come together as a group and she wasn't going to waste everyone else's time just to satisfy her own desires.
After all, she and Ryuji had plenty of time in the future.
So, she exchanged a glance with her mother, then the two of them grabbed Tifa, who was trying to say something and pulled her toward the fitting room.
"Miss Mai, I... I think my current clothes are fine…"
Tifa tried to resist but quickly realized she couldn't break free from Mai's grip. Mai was far stronger than her. She could only let herself be dragged into the fitting room by the mother and daughter.
As she was pulled inside, there was even a hint of panic on her small face.
Ryuji suddenly felt a sense of relief and he noticed the exact same expression of relief on his future father-in-law and Hanzo's faces.
The three of them walked together to the waiting area, sat down and fell into an awkward silence, staring at each other.
Mai's father sized Ryuji up, wanting to say something but not knowing how to start. Hanzo sat there like a statue. The three grown men didn't say a single word, sinking into silence.
Ryuji felt a bit awkward, so he pulled out his phone. After fiddling with it for a bit, he connected it to this world's network.
Although the network permissions and ports were different, the phone he had was specially made by people from Erina's family. So after adjusting a few parameters, he successfully connected to the internet of this world.
And then… he was speechless.
There was basically nothing.
The internet here was still stuck in the era before 2000, with just simple chatrooms and the like. There wasn't even a proper messaging app. Even mobile data was something new. If he hadn't been inside a large shopping mall, he probably wouldn't have found any Wi-Fi at all.
Now that I think about it… I could probably invest in this area. If I bring over software systems from other worlds, it should be pretty easy to set up.
Ryuji rubbed his chin, ideas like food delivery apps and payment platforms flashing through his mind. In this world, those concepts were basically still science fiction.
But for Ryuji, it wasn't like that at all.
He could easily obtain fully developed systems from other worlds.
But doing this kind of thing in a fighting world feels a bit strange… and besides, connections aren't something you can just build overnight.
Things like Alipay and Tencent weren't something an ordinary person could just create. Sure, company choices and development paths mattered but sometimes, the easiest way to eliminate competition was physical removal.
After all, business competitions are too exhausting. It was much easier to just… remove someone in a physical sense.
Ryuji estimated that if he really got into so-called "business competition," anyone trying to compete maliciously with him would suddenly awaken teleportation abilities in the middle of the night… and accidentally teleport themselves to the bottom of the ocean or into a volcano.
That way, his business would run very smoothly.
"Come to think of it… the merchants in this world are all strong fighters. That's probably the reason, huh?"
Ryuji couldn't help but think of the famous businessmen in the King of Fighters world. Most of them were powerful fighters, and even Robert, the heir of a financial conglomerate, trained obsessively in Kyokugenryu Karate.
Although part of that was due to personal interest, it still reflected something.
In the King of Fighters world, if you didn't have some strength, running a company simply wasn't safe.
Ryuji himself was strong enough, but that would make starting a company quite troublesome...
Forget it, I don't have enough manpower… wait…
His gaze shifted toward Hanzo and Mai's father, and he asked,
"By the way, Mr. Hanzo, what level would count as truly reviving the Shiranui-ryū in your eyes?"
Ryuji was genuinely curious about this.
Hanzo fell into a brief daze. Facing the cause he had devoted his entire life to, he was silent for a moment before answering.
"Probably… reaching a level where the entire country of Japan knows about us and even foreigners come to learn from us."
He himself was a bit uncertain. He had never clearly defined what "revival" meant. Was it restoring the former scale? Or becoming the best in the world?
Restoring the former scale was impossible, because that path was too painful. He would never allow the Shiranui-ryū to return to that kind of darkness.
As for becoming number one in the world, that would bring endless challengers. That wasn't good for developing the school.
So, he focused on reputation. With enough fame, everything else would follow naturally.
Students, influence, growth of the Shiranui-ryū—all of it could be achieved as long as someone strong enough showcased their strength and brought attention to their school.
"In that case, that's pretty simple. Starting from next month, I'll begin challenging all the fighting competitions in this world."
Ryuji stretched lazily. Originally, he had planned to start this month, but after fighting Akuma, he needed time to consolidate his gains.
After that, he would fight strong opponents, force out their special techniques, learn from them, absorb their ideas and approaches to prepare for his next battle with Akuma.
But at that moment, an unexpected guest arrived with a sudden gust of wind.
Ryuji tilted his head and saw a man dressed in a blue priest's robe.
Moreover, this man gave him a strange feeling. And when the man noticed Ryuji looking at him, he smiled slightly, holding a Bible casually in his hand, and spoke:
"I see… are you seeking even greater power?"
The corner of Ryuji's eye twitched. Clearly, this guy wasn't someone good.
Leaving aside the fact that he had been able to conceal his presence to the point that Ryuji hadn't noticed him, that alone was already alarming.
Even more so was the eerie feeling he gave off the moment he revealed himself.
"You must be one of the so-called Hakkesshu, right?"
~~~~~~~~~~
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