Basement-Dwelling Loser VTuber

[【Star’s Flow Phantasm Chronicle Tournament】The 1st! Star’s Flow Phantasm Chronicle Tournament!! Are you all ready?! Let’s go!!! #Star’s Flow]

[As expected, Team 7 is strong!]

[Choosing Estelle means Natsune Nanase loses one card, and the strategy used against Team 5 earlier can’t be used anymore. They’re definitely a favorite to win.]

The current score is 3 to 5.

Team 7 was leading by a gap of 2 points.

[It wasn’t a bad idea to put Satori in the frontline, but changing the strategy makes us a bit unaccustomed.]

[Now, on to the ninth round! If Team 7 wins this round, it’s match point!]

– I think it’s impressive they won three rounds in an unfamiliar situation.

– So, in the end, it’s the finals between teams 2 and 7…

The ninth round began amidst various discussions.

This time, Yukari moved first.

Her actions stemmed from the confidence that she could definitely beat Natsune in close combat.

No matter how well Izumi supported with Hiyori from the back, it couldn’t make up for the difference in close combat skill.

But then.

[Huh? This is how you come out, Izumi?!]

[Seems like you figured out that fighting head-on leads to defeat.]

Izumi knew this fact well from the previous eight rounds, so she immediately changed her strategy.

It was only natural for Natsune to lose against Yukari.

Then what about the opposite?

The same applies.

Kaede would obviously lose against Izumi too.

Abandoning long-range support completely, Hiyori charged past Natsune and Yukari towards Estelle.

In an instant, Yukari snapped to attention at Kaede’s voice and tried to rush towards Izumi.

[Sorry, but I’ve figured your moves out!]

Natsune wouldn’t allow that.

Thus, a standoff was set between Izumi and Kaede, and Natsune and Yukari.

Of course, due to the game nature of Phantasm Chronicle, one cannot take down an enemy in a 1v1 match all at once.

It’s designed that you must hit all skills under the assumption to successfully trap the enemy with the second combo.

And Natsune was well aware of this thanks to Izumi’s commentary, so she refrained from following up on Satori’s combo.

She just used skills one by one to prevent Yukari from getting closer to Izumi as much as possible.

Given Izumi’s confidence in winning against Kaede, this was a viable play.

The showdown.

The first to fall was Estelle from Kaede.

Right after that, under Yukari’s changed assault, Natsune also fell.

[In the end, it’s a 1v1 between Izumi-chan and Yukari-chan!]

[Izumi has a slight advantage in health, but with that amount of health, the one who lands the combo will win regardless…]

[So that means Yukari-chan has the upper hand, Tsubaki?]

[If they can clash, Yukari definitely has the advantage. Gamma has plenty of charge skills, making it easier to close the distance. But…]

As if on cue, Yukari’s Gamma started using a skill to charge in.

Yukari knew that if they clashed from a distance, the close-combat character, Gamma, would be one-sidedly attacked and lose to the long-range character, Hiyori.

At that moment, silver arrows flew toward Gamma.

If hit, Yukari’s defeat would be confirmed, but…

[Did she dodge that?!]

Using a blink item, Yukari slid behind the silver arrow.

The distance between the two shrank in an instant.

From this distance, the close-combat character, Gamma, was certainly stronger than the long-range character, Hiyori.

Using the R skill, Swift, Gamma moved behind Hiyori and followed up with the W skill, Thunder Strike, stunning her.

But at that moment, a silver effect flickered from Hiyori’s body.

System skill: Purify.

[Yeah. Earlier, Yukari used Purify against Natsune, but Izumi didn’t use it while fighting Kaede.]

Thus came the Sky Strike flying towards Gamma, along with an endless rain of arrows from above.

The conclusion.

In the ninth round, Team 6 won.

Score: 4 to 5.

★

[We won!!!]

“Aah….”

– We did it!!!

Upon seeing the word [Victory] displayed on the screen, the tension drained away, and I felt all my strength melt away.

Score: 7 to 5.

Starting from the ninth round, we managed to achieve four consecutive wins and advance to the finals.

[The dash of Team 6 isn’t over yet! The ones who made it to the finals, just as Team 2 predicted, are Natsune and Izumi-chan!]

[The psychological battle of the leaders until the very end was impressive. Especially Yukari’s smoke item decision was good, and Izumi’s response with her ultimate was amazing too.]

It wasn’t easy.

As soon as we changed our strategy, Yukari Akabane switched characters, so we had to revise our strategy again in response.

Had I made even the slightest miscalculation, the screen would have displayed the word [Defeat].

And the victory gained from such effort was incredibly sweet.

[Well! It’s unfortunate, but sometimes you just have to lose. That was a good fight. Now that you’ve beaten me, make sure to win, Natsune, Izumi!]

[I can’t believe I missed out on Izumi’s back hug… This is really demotivating.]

[Is it really that much?]

…But as Yukari said, the tournament wasn’t over yet.

There was still the final boss left.

Aki and Kurokami-senpai’s Team 2 remained.

[So, the finals are between Team 2 and Team 6? I wonder if anyone predicted this matchup?]

[I bet no one did.… I mean, how could anyone imagine that the game’s weakest, Natsune and Hikari, would meet in the finals?]

[Tsubaki?! P-Please note that my previous comment has nothing to do with me, Shoko Mizuki!]

– This is Yeo-sang, huh?

– At a tournament hosted by Shoko, this kind of Yeo-sang…

[This is totally unfair!]

[Well, it was evidence that the two of them practiced hard, right?]

[Don’t try to dodge the issue like that, Tsubaki! I didn’t even say that in the first place?!]

…Honestly, even if I were a viewer, I wouldn’t have expected this final matchup.

[So, Tsubaki, which team do you think will win?]

[Hmm. Considering both teams have defeated favorites, you could say their skill levels are similar, but I think Team 2, having beaten three teams 7 to 0, might be a bit stronger.]

[Yeah, certainly… I’m also curious if Izumi-chan and Natsune have come up with countermeasures for Alice and Setanda.]

[Well, in any case! Final match! Let’s hear the determination of both teams one last time!]

★

As the tournament for Phantasm Chronicle was decided, on a day dedicated to showcasing their skills, there was a group collaboration.

Izumi thought to herself.

To win this game, the skills of the relatively weaker members were crucial.

And Nekoto thought,

To win this game, the skills of the relatively stronger members were crucial.

Thus, they each prepared for the tournament in different ways.

Izumi did her best to raise Natsune’s skills.

Nekoto taught Hikari the basics while enhancing her own skills.

Though it’s the same game, the perspectives are strikingly different.

‘I want to win alongside Natsune.’

‘I want to beat Izumi in this tournament.’

And despite being the same game, the goals couldn’t be more different.

Yet, they still ended up meeting in the finals.

[Now, let’s begin the long-awaited finals of Star’s Flow 1st Phantasm Chronicle Tournament!!!]

The characters chosen by Nekoto and Hiyori were the Joker card Alice and Setanda that silenced the team of Linze.

The characters chosen by Izumi and Natsune were KAGAMI and Estelle, who they had been training with.

A close-combat character would take the front while the long-range one supported, which is the most basic strategy.

And the score of the match was.

[They’re both performing exceptionally well?!]

6 to 6, match point.

A nail-biter.

But right now, the goddess of victory was raising her hand for Team 2, Nekoto and Hiyori.

[Both members of Team 2 still have their ultimates, but Team 6 just used Natsune’s ultimate in the last round, so they need to take that into consideration.]

[So, Team 2 definitely has the advantage…?]

[Yeah, if things carry on like this.]

Thus began the final round.

[Huh? What is this?!]

[Seems Team 6 had a secret card held back.]

Natsune had changed her character.

The character she had first used in Phantasm Chronicle, Natsuri.

★

…This is going to be tough.

The score was now 6 to 6, match point.

But in the previous round, she had used Natsune’s ultimate to win.

While my ultimate is still available, the ultimate of the opponent, Aki and Kurokami, was also left untouched.

Of course, it wasn’t completely hopeless.

Since Phantasm Chronicle allows for character changes that reset skill cooldowns via resource consumption, if Natsune changes her character here, she can use her ultimate once more.

However, the previously chosen character couldn’t be reused, meaning the only character Natsune can select is Satori.

But this would throw off the balance of the overall team composition.

Simply changing for the sake of using an ultimate would be clearly detrimental.

As I leaned towards the conclusion to continue with this combination despite the struggles…

[Izumi, I’m going to change my character.]

“…Huh?”

Natsune spoke with a smile for some reason.

Before I could say anything, Natsune’s Estelle had already vanished from the field.

– Huh?

– Is this okay?

What appeared was Natsune’s preference, yet the character she hadn’t practiced much.

Natsuri.

[You’re not backing out now, are you, Izumi? You said you wanted to win.]

There was no tension in Natsune’s voice.

It was undoubtedly because of the confidence built from all the hard work put in thus far.

“…Did you secretly prepare all this?”

[A little, maybe?]

Natsune giggled as she said that.

…Well, this might be okay for the final round.

But,

“I-I won’t do back hugs even if we win, okay?”

I definitely had to clarify that point.

[Huh? Why not?! After all this hard work!]

“B-Because there was never such a prize…”

– Nananai’s teete!

– A noble sight, truly delightful!

Yeah. I’m not secretly upset about Natsuri since she practiced without me or anything at all.

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