The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 157: The man of destiny in this era

Laura, who had been watching for a long time, suddenly realized something.

She noticed that Laura's gaze had changed, ever so slightly.

'What was this song...? Was it from a game cinematic...?'

Son Nalim was singing. The song’s title... was it Still Here?

My past was empty.

But now, it’s not.

There’s nothing you can take from me anymore.

It was in English, so I didn’t fully understand, but the lyrics were something like that.

Listening to Son Nalim's song, Laura seemed to be deep in thought, and soon, as if inspired, she entered a number on the device.

The title... Rest, O Spirits, at the End of Ambition?

'...I don’t know this song at all.'

Sora glanced at Son Nalim, but Nalim didn’t seem to know the song either.

"The spirits who cry out each other's names, embracing and wandering, until one perishes."

"If you're safe, let me know. An unreachable voice echoed."

"Sleep in the betrayal’s words, more than the love filled with emptiness."

"Your weak resolve, suffering from sad lies, I will not forgive."

That was the gist of the lyrics.

'Sounds like an anime ending...'

I looked it up and found out that there was a novel-based anime about a girl searching for 12 swords. This song seemed to be the 11th ending theme of that series, which was released in 2010... such an old piece.

I was honestly impressed that she found such a song.

"So, what do you think?" Laura asked after finishing the song.

"Huh, what?" I asked, distracted.

"This song—could you use it for your 3D broadcast? Since it's an ending song, I think it would work well as an outro."

"Hmm... it’s not ideal for an outro."

Sora said this calmly.

It wasn’t that the song was bad. It was actually good.

But the thing is, all humans have a duality to them. Even the most wicked person can be a gentle father to their child, and even the most virtuous can be a demon to someone else.

In the same way, Aurora, who embodies the aristocratic young lady archetype, is also a gamer who loves games, a master of survival in the wild, and a person with a mysterious warrior’s spirit.

If the era was different, she would have wielded a sword. If her nationality were different, she might have carried a gun.

This song really suited her.

But...

"An outro song should leave a lasting impression. It should evoke a sense of lingering emotion."

So, some people end their broadcast with an upbeat, catchy song. Others use melancholic songs like Secret Base to create a sense of wistfulness. Or sometimes, they use the signature song of the person or group to end the show with a bang.

"In that sense, this song’s recognition is too low. I think viewers will be more confused than emotional about it."

"I see. Guess we can’t help it."

Laura seemed slightly disappointed. She had clearly liked this song a lot.

After trying out a few more songs, Laura didn’t seem to get inspired by any of them.

"I guess I’ll have to think more about the outro song."

Son Nalim [Hello, Sora. It’s Son Nalim. Did you make it home safely?]

[I think today’s gathering was more enjoyable because you came. I really had fun, thanks.]

[I was thinking it would be great if we could all get closer as some of the few Korean VTubers in the Fantasy League.]

[Would you like to collaborate on a game? Laura and I are playing Dungeon Seeker, and it would be even more fun if you joined us.]

[It would also be great to work on other games or projects together!]

Since the karaoke, I had been receiving messages from Son Nalim often.

...Why?

Son Nalim [Would you like to use a Labyrinthos coupon?]

[I went to a Labyrinthos event at the end of the year and got a lot of coupons.]

[You can only use one per account, so if you're interested, feel free to use it.]

[(picture)]

Son Nalim [I saw the stream and heard you're looking for a binaural microphone.]

[I have a secondhand one. Would you be interested in it?]

"...Hmm."

Can a person really like someone without any reason? I wasn’t sure.

It’s not that I couldn’t understand it. It’s definitely possible. Some people fall in love at first sight, or they just feel a sense of liking from the very first meeting, and if the first impression is good, they might keep seeing that person in a positive light.

‘But... I’m not really the kind of person to inspire that, am I?’

Sora felt uneasy.

I wasn’t someone universally loved, but I wasn’t exactly someone who was always admired either. It was a gray area.

I was probably better than people like Inagika, who was always passive and had a deep darkness within, or Chell, who was stoic but loved strange wordplay.

But that was only because those two had quirks... I was just someone with average social skills.

I didn’t think of myself as a particularly charming person.

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It’s not surprising though, considering there was a woman next to me who was the very definition of charm.

"By the way, I think we got an advertisement offer."

"Huh? An ad offer? What for?"

"Mealworms."

"Meal... what?"

I saw Laura chatting with Mero.

Somehow, she had gotten close to Mero, and also to Rui and Son Nalim.

Before that, she had even gotten close to Rinco and Ainatsu.

It seemed like Laura never really went out of her way to approach others. She just did what she normally did, and people seemed to like her.

If you were talking about a truly charming person, it was probably someone like that.

‘...Is she really sending me messages because she likes me?’

We had only met briefly at karaoke. What else had I done with Son Nalim? An escape room game, maybe?

If Nalim was the type to fall in love quickly, I could understand it, but based on our interactions in the escape room, I didn’t think that was her style.

But then again, she was an experienced senior with quite a bit of career behind her... so maybe I should just play along and see where it goes.

Hmm...

...So, why was she being so friendly toward me?

"Sora, are you thinking about something?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing!"

I replied reflexively when Rui called out to me.

Recently, I had started dropping formalities with people.

Not long ago, I started using less formal speech with Leon, who had become my manager. Leon no longer called me Sora Unni, and I also decided not to call him Leon-senpai anymore.

And I had started speaking casually with Rui as well.

Rui wasn’t someone who liked being treated as a senior. I sensed she preferred a more equal, horizontal relationship.

Knowing that, I felt it was awkward to continue using honorifics, so I started speaking casually with her too.

"Are you okay? It looks like the broadcast is starting soon."

"Uh, yeah...! I’m fine."

Of course, I still felt a little nervous talking to Rui. She was a senior with more experience than Son Nalim.

But I knew I couldn’t stay too nervous.

Today's broadcast was a Fantasy League watch-along.

The Behemoth vs Cerberus match was about to begin.

Anna moved quietly, careful not to make a sound.

‘...I need to find the enemy quickly.’

But she also knew that being too cautious could be a mistake.

In this brawl, speed was more important than anything else.

Anna was playing as a Magical ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Engineer.

And the Magical Engineer class... wasn’t particularly great for this kind of brawl mode.

‘Ugh... I didn’t want to pick Magical Engineer...’

The class’s strength was overwhelming damage output.

And with its stealth ability through <Optical Camouflage> and its advantage in preemptive strikes.

However, no character in Labyrinthos only had strengths. The Magical Engineer also had its weaknesses.

It didn’t have any crowd control or survival abilities. So, once caught, it had no way to shake off the enemy.

It also didn’t have any movement abilities or skills to boost its speed. This meant its kiting capabilities were lackluster at best.

In other words, the Magical Engineer was great at setting up and fighting from a stationary position, but once it had to face the enemy head-on, it became quite weak.

To put it simply:

If the enemy and I face each other head-on, the Magical Engineer is at a disadvantage.If the enemy spots me first, I’ve basically lost.If I spot the enemy first, this is the only scenario where I can win.‘The problem is... I have no way of finding the enemy first...’

The Magical Engineer could only find the enemy by using its ultimate skill <Unboxing>, but to activate it, the ultimate gauge needed to be filled.

To fill the gauge, Anna had to hunt neutral mobs, which would obviously make noise. The enemy would hear the sound and find her first.

In other words, hunting neutral mobs was a guaranteed loss!

But the Magical Engineer had no detection skills other than the ultimate. So, to fill the gauge, it was certain to lose. What an ironic character...

So what to do?

Forget the ultimate! Just use my feet and find the enemy first!

Of course, finding the enemy like this was mostly up to luck.

In other words, Anna was relying entirely on luck for this brawl.

...If only the club owner hadn’t ordered it, I would’ve picked something else instead of Magical Engineer.

‘Ah, found it...!’

Anna almost shouted.

How much had she walked?

She finally spotted the dual-wielder ahead of her.

Luck was on her side!

Of course, Anna Shiroki, who had entered the Fantasy League, had already gotten close to Laura, spent time with Rui, and even went on a blind date.

The hero of the age!

The times were calling me!

But her excitement was fleeting.

The sensation of the gun in her palm quickly sobered her.

She carefully positioned herself and aimed at the enemy.

And with great caution...

She pulled the trigger.

-Paang!

The bullet hit the enemy, and blood splattered.

But the enemy didn’t fall.

It wasn’t odd for the shot to be a kill shot, but with a strange effect, the enemy stood firm.

It seemed like the enemy had taken the "Only survives with 1 HP once" trait.

"...Tch."

She thought she had won, but it wasn’t the case.

Anna quickly switched from single shots to rapid fire.

-Tududududu!!!

The gunfire erupted.

The enemy dual-wielder moved diagonally with quick movements, attempting to charge before the bullets hit.

Of course, Anna adjusted her aim to match.

The dual-wielder twisted his body, trying to dodge the bullets, but this kind of skill couldn’t last forever.

Eventually, the dual-wielder activated a skill.

<Enemy Breakthrough>.

The dual-wielder’s movement, survival, and damage-dealing skill.

A famous skill that cuts through everything in its path.

The bullets Anna fired were all cut away, and the dual-wielder rapidly closed the gap.

‘Already using a survival skill?’

Anna tilted her head.

The gap between them had shortened significantly, but this wasn’t a bad thing at all.

By using his only survival skill, the dual-wielder was now without a fallback.

But if he was going to use it so recklessly, wouldn’t it have been better to just retreat instead of closing in?

‘Well, how many people actually play logically in these games?’

If he thought running away with 1 HP wouldn’t work, he must have chosen to go in, but it was clear he had used the skill too early in his rush.

This was the most common interpretation.

But Anna remained cautious, kept her aim, and switched from rapid fire to shotguns.

The enemy was now in a position where just grazing them would be enough to kill, so Anna went for a wide spread of bullets.

She pulled the trigger again, and—

-Ting ting ting!

The dual-wielder blocked all the bullets with a parrying trait.

What?

"Parrying trait...!"

By the time she realized it, it was too late.

The dual-wielder ripped Anna apart.

"Ahhh...!"

In an instant, Anna was drenched in blood and collapsed.

She quickly tried to grab her fallen gun, but a blade was already in her neck.

"How...?"

"How?"

When she heard that, Sina was completely dumbfounded.

In the previous match, Aurora had sliced her apart, and before that, she had been interrupted by Aurora’s promotion battles five times.

But still, Mashina was a Diamond-tier player and a top player of Behemoth.

"You’re not Aurora, are you?"

Mashina said, and with that, the first set of Behemoth vs Cerberus ended.

Mashina vs Shiroki Anna in Duel Mode.

Mashina wins.

Behemoth +1pt.