The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

Mashina and Vincent’s duo managed to corner Aurora with a perfect rush attack, but they lost focus afterward and ended up giving away the 2nd and 3rd rounds miserably.

Mashina failed to rank up…!

[Aaaaagh!! Lost again! Aaaaaaah!!!!]

– Ugh, you’re so loud, lol.

– Got screwed over again, huh?

– Officer! There’s a predator here!

– Ugh… I’m just a baby unicorn… I love this stuff…

[Give me some comfort!! Aaaaaaagh!!!]

Shocked by her failure to rank up, Mashina was throwing a tantrum. You could say she wasn’t acting her age at all.

Meanwhile, Vincent, acting his age, kept quiet.

‘Well done.’

He was shocked.

And then Vincent was surprised by the fact that he was even shocked.

Last year, Vincent participated in a streamer competition called “Daguh” and had even gone up against pro gamers.

There were times when he had been amazed by their skills while facing them.

But the shock he felt from Aurora was something entirely different from what he had felt back then.

‘What’s different about her?’

Vincent thought about it for a moment.

Then, he came to a conclusion. Aurora was rougher in comparison to professional gamers.

He didn’t quite understand why he felt this way himself.

It just felt like she was a wild beast, though supposedly a noblewoman expelled from the Ducal family.

A wild beast with intelligence.

That was the impression she gave.

If professional gamers honed themselves to be like machines in their precision, Aurora seemed to be heading in a strangely different direction.

‘Ah, that’s it. Her approach is different.’

For instance, there are players in open-world RPGs who bring in logic from completely different genres like fighting games or Souls-like games.

Their way of playing, and enjoying the game, is different.

Though in open-world RPGs, physical prowess isn’t as crucial, with more emphasis on items and skill setups. As a result, these players aren’t always at the top ranks.

But when moments requiring physical skill come, they showcase incredible prowess.

Aurora seemed like one of those players who had brought a completely different kind of logic into Labyrinthos.

He wasn’t sure what that logic was, though.

‘We’ll meet again someday.’

There were plenty of Labyrinthos tournaments, not just the Fantasy League coming up soon.

If she had enough skill, plenty of VTubers could even hold private tournaments.

Aurora was already gaining fame as a specialized Labyrinthos VTuber.

If she wanted to, she’d get invites to several tournaments.

So, one day, they’d surely meet in a tournament again, and the moment for a rematch would come.

‘How can I conquer her?’

That’s what Vincent was thinking about.

A competitive spirit? Humiliation?

It wasn’t about those things.

Vincent didn’t particularly like or hate losing.

It just felt like a puzzle had been placed on the table before him.

It’s similar to how a raid game works.

In raid games, the fun lies in figuring out how to defeat the raid boss.

Repeated failures and trials.

And when you finally figure out the strategy, break through the boss’s patterns, and take them down—the satisfaction you get from that is indescribable.

‘How can I defeat Aurora?’

It felt like there was a puzzle right in front of him, one he thought he might be able to solve.

That’s why Vincent was unknowingly getting lost in thought.

“Aurora, I hate you! Aaaaaagh!!!”

Mashina was still screaming like that.

Of course, Vincent ignored her.

***

“Congratulations on ranking up!”

In the waiting room after the game, I was being congratulated.

The chat window was scrolling too fast to read, and donations were pouring in.

Even Son Narin, who had played the game with me, was clapping her hands.

“Geez, it’s no big deal. It was the expected outcome.”

I reached out and pulled up the tea data.

Though I felt some joy and accomplishment, I wasn’t overly satisfied.

After all, I had already ranked first in numerous games so far.

Master rank was just another step along the way, merely the beginning of my long journey toward Dominator.

If it weren’t for the Fantasy League, I probably would’ve ranked up later.

Ranking up to Master too quickly would make the future games less fun.

“Haha… As expected from the Villainous Noblewoman!”

I didn’t really know what she meant by “as expected”, but Son Narin didn’t stop clapping. Just saying things off the top of her head, I see.

Honestly, ranking up to Master wasn’t what resonated with me the most. The fact that I had played with Son Narin hit me harder.

It was fun.

More fun than usual.

‘She’s a lot like me.’

That’s what I thought.

Though we hadn’t played together for long, I had a good grasp of her personality.

What I noticed while playing was that she was the complete opposite of Rinko.

Maybe it’s that she hates giving up more than anything.

Son Narin had a tenacious spirit.

‘She’s not exactly the same as me, though.’

If I was someone who would do anything for victory, Son Narin was someone who would do anything not to give up.

At a glance, these two goals might seem similar, but they’re fundamentally different.

Still, in this particular game, our goals aligned, and I thought we showed excellent teamwork.

There’s a particular thrill you feel when your teamwork clicks, a kind of fun that’s hard to experience when you play alone.

It had been a while since I felt that kind of fun.

It was an incredibly enjoyable game.

“Since we’ve met like this, can I add you as a friend?”

Apparently, Son Narin felt the same way.

“My contact info doesn’t come cheap, you know. But since we won, I’ll allow it. You should be grateful.”

“Thank you! I’d love to duo with you sometime!”

“That doesn’t sound bad. As long as we balance our composition better.”

“That sounds great! By the way, Laura, you’re participating in the Fantasy League, right?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded.

I knew Son Narin was also entering the Fantasy League this year.

She has a slight edge over other applicants.

After all, she participated in last year’s league.

‘Especially in this year’s league, Son Narin will have an even bigger advantage.’

Two of the four team owners have been replaced.

When a new squad leader takes charge, they tend to rely on long-serving lieutenants or sergeants.

So, the two pro gamers taking over as first-time owners this year will probably want streamers with league experience.

Not only does Son Narin have league experience, but she was even an ace who stood out last year, so she’ll definitely be picked.

“It’ll be fun if we end up on the same team.”

I said.

Then,

“That’s never going to happen!”

Son Narin strongly denied it.

“I’m going to hit Master rank this year too! So, I’ll be 1st tier, and so will you, Laura!”

“That makes sense.”

Each team must pick one streamer from each tier.

They can’t have more than one streamer from the same tier.

So, if Son Narin ranks up to Master, we won’t be on the same team.

“Then next time we meet, we’ll be enemies.”

That’s a little disappointing.

Our teamwork was great, we worked well together, and there aren’t many people who are at the same tier as me.

It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped.

“Next time, I’ll have to cut off your head.”

That’s what I said.

***

After parting ways with Son Narin, I played some more Duel Mode* ranked matches.

Unlike Gate Assault Mode, Duel Mode doesn’t use the time acceleration system.

While Gate Assault Mode spans up to five rounds, Duel Mode is always a single-round match.

The Duel Mode map is also smaller than the Gate Assault Mode map, making each match much quicker.

There’s no ban-pick phase either; characters are picked blindly.

As such, Duel Mode already has well-established character matchups and tiers.

Essentially, you can guarantee a decent win rate by picking 1st tier characters.

Of course, since everyone picks high-win-rate 1st tier characters, there are players who try to counter them with 2nd tier characters.

But there’s a reason why 2nd tier characters are in the 2nd tier. While they might have a slight advantage against 1st tier characters, they usually have weaknesses against other tiers, like 1.5-tier characters, making their win rates less reliable.

So, whether you choose a 1st tier character, a 2nd tier character, or some hidden gem, earning rank points wasn’t too difficult.

Since I’m still in Diamond rank.

In the upper ranks, like Dominator, matchups and strategies are more intense, but in Diamond, you can take it a bit easy and still maintain a good win rate.

After playing a few Duel Mode matches and saving my last burst of effort for later, I stepped out of the capsule.

“Die, die, die ♪ Everyone should die ♬ Die, die, die ♪”

Rion was singing a rather unsettling song.