The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

【Ice Cave Gimmicks

– As time passes, the “Cold” debuff accumulates, reducing health and movement speed.

– The “Cold” debuff temporarily disappears if you defeat neutral monsters or acquire a torch.

– Torches exist somewhere on the map. Holding a torch will restore your health.

– Randomly, “Large Icicles” will fall from the ceiling. Adventurers can also make them fall directly.

– Some areas are slippery.】

In Gate Attack Mode, the map changes every round. Moreover, each map has its unique gimmicks, requiring even more delicate play than in a one-on-one duel.

“I found the torch.”

I grabbed the torch hanging on the cave wall with my left hand.

Since the Dark Knight is slow at hunting monsters, it’s hard to resolve the “Cold” debuff by hunting neutral mobs.

So, I had to find a torch somehow, and fortunately, I found one early.

‘The problem starts from here.’

The role of a deserter is to hinder the enemy’s main force.

To do that, I first needed to locate the enemy’s main force, but the problem was that the Dark Knight didn’t have any detection abilities.

If I could just find the main force, I could cling to them until the very end, but locating them was the tricky part.

‘This is typical for free starter characters.’

While the Dark Knight’s ability to engage in grueling combat is unrivaled, the character has some shortcomings in other areas.

There was nothing I could do. In this genre of game, perfect characters shouldn’t and couldn’t exist.

Since the Dark Knight didn’t have detection abilities, I had no choice but to run around and find the main force.

I started running.

***

Don’t overdo it.

This was a rule that Choi Changyoung had set for himself as a VTuber.

When the concept of VTubers first emerged, male VTubers were not well-received.

It was expected.

The primary audience for VTubers was what’s commonly called “otaku.”

For example, the runtime of an anime episode is about 24 minutes.

You’d have to watch three series to barely get an hour of content per week.

So, otaku are always thirsty.

Just watching anime leaves them feeling parched, so many of them turn to VTubers.

A character that could easily appear in an anime broadcasts content.

The voice is nice, the character’s background is interesting, and it’s free to enjoy. Plus, it feels a bit like anime.

Moreover, each broadcast lasts about an hour.

But what if they stream three times a week? That alone is over nine times the runtime of an anime episode.

And so, otaku began watching VTubers, but that didn’t mean they wanted male VTubers.

When they hear a male voice on a broadcast, otaku say things like, “It feels like my ears are tainted with sperm.”

If a female VTuber collaborates with a male VTuber, otaku would then say, “She’s not pure anymore.”

The birth of male VTubers began with oppression.

‘Of course, it’s not as bad now.’

As time passed, people began to think, “Male VTubers can be fun too,” and now there are male VTubers with over a million subscribers.

The existence of male VTubers has somehow been accepted, even by otaku.

Though there are still those who dislike them, the resistance has significantly decreased.

Even so, Choi Changyoung knew he had to be careful with his words and actions.

He shouldn’t act like he’s something special.

It’s not like he hadn’t seen female VTubers get in trouble for saying the wrong thing once or twice.

If that’s the case for female VTubers, it’s even worse for male VTubers.

He had to be careful.

Especially because he was a male VTuber.

-ㅇㅇ That person is definitely a smurf account abusing newbies.

-I thought they only did duels, but they’re doing Gate Attack too.

-Should we go teach them a lesson?

-Going in for a lesson~ Going in for a lesson~ Going in for a lesson~

-Looked up their stats, and it’s their first Gate Attack gameㅋㅋㅋ Trying to smurf here too? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

“All company members, attention, please.”

As the chat started getting rowdy, Choi Changyoung spoke up.

-Attention!

-Attention

-Company, ten-hut!

-Ten-hut!

-Yes, sir…

“I get that you’re upset, but we haven’t confirmed anything yet, right? This isn’t the time for reckless behavior.”

-Ack! That’s right!

-Ack! The company commander is right!

-Ack! We will correct ourselves!

-Ack! Please spare us, commander!

As Choi Changyoung watched the chat flood with responses, he secretly laughed. He was supposed to be playing the role of an Army company commander, so why were they responding like Marines?

Well, they certainly had strong unity.

“The smurfing and alt account claims are both just suspicions, right? What’s the word for it? Propaganda?”

-Pro?paganda

-Propa?ganda???

-Do amateur onions not go?

-Commander, I think you misunderstand the meaning of propaganda!

-Do you mean to say falsehood and fabrication, sir? I hope my inquiry is not considered disrespectful, Commander!
“Ah, that’s right. It could be a fabricated story, so let’s not respond too aggressively. Understood?”

When Choi Changyoung said this, countless “Ack!” messages flooded the chat.

There was nothing to gain by getting caught up in a controversy.

He hadn’t expected to be matched with a well-known smurf with an alt account, but now was definitely not the time to stand out.

There’s a saying: “If you stay still, you’ll avoid half of the trouble.” It was better to remain quiet than to speak out and face backlash.

Still, this was an opportunity.

The alt account smurf who was rumored to have never lost in a duel. Rumor had it that this person consistently ranked first in various PC games.

However, no one knew their true identity. Even though they had skills, they supposedly turned down professional offers—what kind of person were they?

‘Of course, there’s also the rumor that it’s just an impersonator.’

Whether it was true or not, uncovering even a bit of the smurf’s identity could increase his subscriber count.

Defeating them would be even better.

That’s what Choi Changyoung thought.

***

While running diligently, I came across an undead.

‘Was this created by a Necromancer?’

I paused for a moment.

I’d encountered Necromancers a few times in duels before, and to put it simply, they’re a “late-game powerhouse” type of character.

Late-game powerhouse.

A character that is weak in the early stages but becomes extremely powerful in the later stages.

The way late-game powerhouse characters grow varies slightly depending on the character. Some grow through farming, while others become stronger simply by surviving for a certain amount of time.

In that sense, the Necromancer was a very unique late-game powerhouse. For starters, the Necromancer themself doesn’t become stronger.

‘It’s a character that overpowers others with sheer numbers.’

The Necromancer’s passive skill is extremely simple. For every neutral mob that dies nearby, the Necromancer creates an undead.

As the Necromancer hunts more neutral mobs, the number of undead keeps increasing, eventually forming an army of dozens… and if the game goes on long enough, even over a hundred undead.

“But there’s only one?”

I didn’t see any other undead around. It didn’t seem like the Necromancer was nearby either.

That meant this one was a scout.

The Necromancer was probably creating undead and sending them all over the map, trying to locate our party members.

After thinking for a moment, I carefully moved behind the undead.

Then I immediately brought my sword down.

-Slash!

“Grrr…!”

As it was cut, the undead let out a raspy growl and lunged at me.

But it wasn’t much of a move. A few more slashes, and it crumbled to dust.

The Necromancer’s strength lies in their “horde.”

And because of that, individual undead are quite weak. Thanks to that, I could take it down easily.

“How will they react? They’ll probably come this way, right?”

Whenever an undead is destroyed, the Necromancer can sense it.

So the Necromancer would be curious. They’d want to check why the scout they sent had died.

After all, they’re trying to find our party members too. They’d want to verify any clue, no matter how small.

‘I’ll use that against them.’

If the Dark Knight couldn’t detect the enemy’s main force, I’d have to lure the enemy to where I was.

In any case, the bait was set.

Now it was time to fish.

I quickly climbed up the cave wall.

-Clang!

Since it was an Ice Cave, it was slippery. So I had to drive my sword into the wall as I climbed.

This was my first time climbing an Ice Cave wall. But fortunately, I’d had similar experiences before. Back when I was still a noblewoman, I’d climbed a snowy mountain.

Of course, I had professional equipment back then, but unfortunately, I didn’t have proper climbing gear this time.

So I couldn’t rely on just parkour skills and physical senses, but I somehow managed to reach the ceiling.

‘It won’t be exactly the same as in the duels.’

The surprise attacks I’d used several times in duels. I’d had success with this in my very first duel.

The problem was that this was an Ice Cave. The surface was so slippery that it was impossible to stay in one spot.

If I stayed here, I’d slide off before the Necromancer even arrived.

So I needed to make additional preparations.

***

“It seemed like the undead died around here….”

Choi Changyoung entered the cavern.

Of course, it could have been a trap, so he sent his army of undead in first. After that, he slowly surveyed the surroundings.

Then he noticed shards of broken ice scattered around.

“Ah, looks like an icicle killed the undead.”

While not common, it was something that occasionally happened when playing on an Ice Dungeon map.

Satisfied with that explanation, he looked up at the ceiling where the icicle had likely fallen from──and saw a bright red blade.

Huh?

-Slash!

In an instant, one of his arms was severed.

In front of him was a Dark Knight without their armor.

“W-Wait…! Mmpph?!”

Before Choi Changyoung could say anything, something was shoved into his mouth.

It was the torch.

A gimmick item meant to prevent the “Cold” debuff, but the Dark Knight had shoved it into Choi Changyoung’s mouth like a weapon.

As the overwhelming heat made him lose focus, the Dark Knight cut off his legs to prevent him from escaping.

After rolling on the ground, his vision flipping, the Dark Knight drove the sword into his chest and tore it open.

-What the heck???

-This is confusing;;

-Wowㅋㅋㅋ

-So brutalㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-One-shot kill!

-Rest in peace, Commanderㅠㅠㅠ