Chapter 124: Kanagawa

After a brief introduction to the world, the Dream Badge continued to transmit notifications: "Current world scenario: GBA River City Ransom EX. Difficulty: D."

"At D difficulty, the Space will no longer provide notifications regarding the number of Dreamers entering the world or their faction affiliations. Furthermore, there will be no early warnings when other Dreamers approach. The Badge inquiry function is now enabled; if you suspect someone might be a Dreamer, you may pay 100 currency points to confirm their identity."

"River City Ransom is a scenario within the expansive River City series. The River City series is characterized by brawling, and firearms do not exist in any of its installments. Consequently, firearms will be significantly weakened in this scenario, with their damage reduced to 10% of their original output. Furthermore, using such weapons will result in a severe, two-level penalty to your post-mission evaluation."

"In one month, Reihou Academy will kidnap Mami, the girlfriend of the story’s protagonist, Alex. Kunio and Alex will then launch a revenge operation. The month prior to the start of the plot is designated as a period of free exploration for Dreamers. The reputation system for this scenario is now active. During this free period, you must accumulate a certain amount of reputation to justify your intervention when the plot begins."

"Main Quest I: Within one month, accumulate 1000+ reputation and attract the attention of any top-tier gang leader in this scenario. During this time, you must not engage in any activities that have a substantive impact on the future development of the plot. All Dreamers are prohibited from contacting the protagonists Kunio and Alex, or the heroine Mami; otherwise, you will suffer a penalty of deducted reputation."

"Failure to complete the main quest within the time limit will result in erasure."

Upon hearing all the notifications from the Dream Badge, Wang Ling was somewhat surprised. At D-grade difficulty, some of the protective measures for Dreamers had indeed been removed, especially the lack of proximity warnings, which made sneak attacks much easier. It was no wonder there had been no alert regarding the enemy Dreamer’s approach in the previous world's promotion mission; it was clearly intended to let Dreamers familiarize themselves with this element in advance.

What gave him a headache was that in this brawling-focused world, firearms would be heavily nerfed. Moreover, using one even once would drastically lower his final evaluation and, consequently, his rewards—a prospect that left Wang Ling feeling quite frustrated. He had only just upgraded his white-iron flintlock to L-grade and had even trained in marksmanship; to be met with such a setback just as he intended to show off his skills was demoralizing. Additionally, Wang Ling was surprised that there would be a full month of free time before the plot kicked off. It seemed he would be spending quite a while in this world. As for the reputation system, in a city controlled by gangs of delinquents—to borrow a term from Hong Kong cinema, a city run by "triads"—earning reputation shouldn't be too difficult.

The restrictions against affecting the plot prematurely or contacting the main characters were also quite strict.

Wang Ling had played River City Ransom before, though it had been quite some time. In fact, it wasn't just River City Ransom; he had played other games in the series—River City Fighting, River City Soccer, River City Edo, River City Basketball, and River City High School—back in his childhood. The protagonists of every game were Kunio and Alex, and their famous skills, the Mach Kick and Mach Punch, had left a deep impression.

Recalling these memories, Wang Ling suddenly felt excited. Although the River City series consisted of old games, the skills within them were incredibly rich, far surpassing games like Double Dragon, Final Fight, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Skills like the Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku (Tornado Whirlwind Leg) existed in the River City series, though they were merely skills possessed by ordinary bosses. The skills held by high-level bosses were even more powerful! The bosses appearing in River City Ransom likely possessed dozens of skills in total, and if one added the team-up techniques from River City Fighting, there were even more. It was easy to imagine that this world scenario would yield a massive number of E-grade and D-grade skills.

After pondering for a while, Wang Ling took out the rare item used to unlock hidden plots.

"Tiger Mask Fighter’s Challenge Letter: This item is a precious rare prop. When entering a world scenario related to the River City series, using this challenge letter can trigger a special plot: The Tiger Mask Fighter issues a challenge to experts from various schools and convenes the River City Fighting Tournament. You will receive an invitation, allowing you to find another Dreamer to form a two-person team and participate in the River City Fighting Tournament alongside experts like Kunio and Alex."

After he took out this item, the badge immediately prompted: "Detected that Dreamer No. 10521 possesses an item related to this plot world. Using it will not affect the normal mission flow. Do you wish to use it?" Wang Ling naturally chose to use it, and the envelope in his hand dissolved into countless specks of light.

"Using the Tiger Mask Fighter’s Challenge Letter. The special plot will unfold after the standard main quest of this world is completed. At that time, you will receive the qualifications to participate in the River City Fighting Tournament. This tournament is a two-person combat event; you must find another Dreamer to form a team. Before the River City Fighting Tournament begins, Kunio and Alex must not die, or the plot will be canceled."

"Participating in the River City Fighting Tournament will earn you rewards based on your ranking. If you win the championship, the prize will be a River City Contract capable of forming a special team."

"Finding another Dreamer? That’s a bit troublesome. Without a trustworthy partner, one might even get stabbed in the back during battle. After all, the martial artists participating in the tournament all have powerful ultimate moves and team-up techniques involving energy projection; it will require fighting at full strength. Furthermore, the fact that Kunio and Alex cannot die is also a major headache. I wonder if any Dreamers have received a mission to kill them."

The prompt received after using the item made Wang Ling frown, but since the reward was a contract to form a special team, he absolutely could not let this opportunity slip by. He knew very well how precious special contracts were.

"I’ll deal with the rest when the time comes. Let's finish the main quest first. A whole month... that's plenty of time to properly arrange my actions in this world. The school is full of delinquents, and there are fights everywhere; there’s no need to study at all. I like a world like this!" Wang Ling’s mouth curled slightly, and he wore a wicked, dangerous expression, his teeth reflecting the sunlight with a dazzling glint.

Walking along a narrow street lined with pigeon-hole-style houses, none exceeding three stories, Wang Ling checked a newspaper at a stall outside a convenience store. He learned that the date was September 25, 1989, and the location was, naturally, Japan.

The setting of River City Ransom was in a less affluent region of the Kansai area. Looking at the surrounding buildings, Wang Ling felt as if he were in a Chinese "county" or "town" from his own world. The people he saw on the road were dressed in styles far from the fashion of the 21st century.

Wang Ling was dressed in simple jeans and a T-shirt, not much different from the surrounding crowd, but at over 1.7 meters tall, he stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens. Combined with the handsome features he gained after obtaining the Dragon Bloodline, he frequently drew envious glares from the local short men and admiring gazes from the girls.

Actually, despite looking sharp, he didn't have a single cent in his pockets; he was completely broke. Fortunately, this was a world themed around delinquent youth, so obtaining money wouldn't be difficult. The real questions were where to go now and how to survive for the next month.

After standing in place to think for a while, Wang Ling asked a passing girl about the local situation. Under his gaze, the girl immediately blushed and stammered, drawing all the nearby high schools and streets on a piece of paper for him. Although the earliest mobile phones had appeared by this time, they were not yet popularized; otherwise, the Japanese girl might have even written down her phone number...

With the map in hand, Wang Ling looked at the names of the dozen or so high schools and his mouth twitched. He discovered that the place he was in was called Kanagawa, and he saw the name "Shohoku High School" on the map...

"Although there is basketball in the River City series, it’s an unrestricted fighting basketball game! To include Shohoku here... what are you trying to do, Space Mainframe? Also, Kanagawa is supposed to be in the Kanto region, but here it is in Kansai. It seems this place is a fictional world scenario, different from the real world." After mentally disdaining the Mainframe, Wang Ling didn't believe characters like Hanamichi Sakuragi, Hisashi Mitsui, or Takenori Akagi would appear. After all, every world had its own theme. If two worlds belonged to the same company's games—like Final Fight and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs both being Capcom games—and the plot years were similar, a crossover might be possible.

There was a Slam Dunk game on the Famicom, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the River City series, just as it would make no sense for characters from Capcom's Street Fighter to show up in SNK's King of Fighters!

"If one could merge the worlds of Slam Dunk, Captain Tsubasa, and The Prince of Tennis into the River City world, while unreasonable, it would be a creative idea. However, if those protagonists came to River City, they would probably get the stuffing beaten out of them by the delinquents. Hanamichi Sakuragi and his ilk are way too weak compared to the delinquents here." Wang Ling looked at the hand-drawn map he had obtained from the girl and decided to head to the nearby high school: the very same Shohoku High School.

Shohoku was incomparable to the River City High School where the protagonists resided or the Reihou Academy where the main villains were based. The school was small, with a total population of just over 1,000, placing it at the bottom of the hierarchy in this area dense with high schools. Its sphere of influence was suppressed by neighboring schools, limited only to the school grounds and a small surrounding block.

It is worth mentioning that there was no police station in Kanagawa. This region was controlled by various delinquent gangs. As long as there wasn't an incident involving hundreds or thousands of deaths, even if a dozen or so people died, it wouldn't be a big deal as long as one kept a low profile. It was truly a paradise for criminal syndicates!