The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 177

Anyway, Na-rim’s mental strength was stronger than anyone else’s.

Losing to Laura was incredibly frustrating. As a dragon knight expert, she had received praise even from professionals, but now her identity as such was being shaken.

But who would care if her identity was shaken? No one would give her food, nor would anyone help her win this match.

There’s no benefit in dwelling on negative thoughts. So, why be depressed? She needed to think about what to do next.

"By the way… what should we ban in the next pick?"

The owner of Gryphon, Navie, cautiously asked, looking at Na-rim.

Na-rim paused for a moment.

"I think we should ban the Sacred Knight and Alchemist. Both Laura and Sora can use the Sacred Knight."

"And the last ban? The Puppeteer?"

"Yeah. That should work, right?"

"If you’re okay with it, we can do that… but what are you picking this time?"

"The Dragon Knight…"

Na-rim stopped mid-sentence.

"…Is it okay if I pick the Dragon Knight?"

[The band picks for what might be the last round have started. Leviathan has released the Dragon Knight again. And the first pick is... a Thief?]

Kaiser tilted his head.

[Isn’t this one of Aurora’s main characters? But with this, Gryphon can just take the Dragon Knight immediately, right?]

[Well, I’m not sure what Son Na-rim will pick.]

Meanwhile, MadMask narrowed his eyes.

[The Dragon Knight is indeed a counter to the Thief. The Thief struggles with having their weapons stolen. But Son Na-rim lost even after activating the Dragon Knight’s ultimate in the second round.]

[So, the Dragon Knight is essentially a pick for certain defeat?]

[We can’t say it’s that certain, but Leviathan has apparently made a decision internally. They think that even if Gryphon takes the Dragon Knight, they’ll still win.]

"......"

Na-rim fell into thought.

She had lost in a direct face-off with Laura. With her signature pick, the Dragon Knight. Even after activating her ultimate.

Now, winning with the Dragon Knight was uncertain.

'But I don’t want to change my pick just because I lost in the first and second rounds. And in terms of matchups, the Dragon Knight is still favorable against the Thief.'

In the end, Na-rim chose the Dragon Knight once again.

The band picks were completed, and the third round, which might be the last, began.

[Son Na-rim has restored her traits to their original state. It seems she plans to go with the standard strategy.]

[That’s surprising. Against a Thief, using the ‘Fast Dragon Blood Sword’ would have been a good choice.]

[Maybe she wants to block Aurora’s pick.]

The 'Fast Dragon Blood Sword' build avoids enemy divers in the early game but relies on building the ultimate gauge for a carry in the later stages.

But despite that, Na-rim had lost to Laura and decided to return to her original strategy.

Her real role wasn’t to beat Laura, but to block her.

[Especially, Son Na-rim has personally experienced Aurora’s Thief’s power. She doesn’t want to let Aurora into the main team.]

For that reason, the ‘Fast Dragon Blood Sword,’ which focuses on avoiding divers, wasn’t suitable for this match.

So, Na-rim moved to where she expected Aurora to be.

At the right location, they finally met.

"Did you come alone?"

Laura asked casually.

An unexpected greeting. Na-rim was a little taken aback and tilted her head.

"What are you talking about all of a sudden…? Of course, I came alone."

At first, Na-rim thought Laura was asking if she came with the main team. But Laura shrugged her shoulders.

"Na-rim, you lost to me one-on-one, didn’t you? Right?"

"Well… yes."

"Then I thought maybe you would use a Double Diver strategy this time. After all, you can’t beat me alone."

"Me, use Double Diver?"

That was an idea Na-rim hadn’t considered.

And no wonder—Double Diver in solo lane is like trolling with two junglers. It’s not a standard strategy, and of course, Gryphon had never practiced Double Diver.

"It’s odd to not bend, but at the same time, it’s also demonic."

Laura chuckled.

"Not giving up is a virtue to be respected, but you become obsessed with the fact that you didn’t give up. And that’s why you can’t beat me."

"What are you talking about…?"

"Shall we start?"

Without much ceremony, Laura rushed in.

Na-rim quickly adjusted her posture.

She swung a wooden stick toward the incoming Laura.

"<Steel>."

Laura casually grabbed the wooden stick that was flying toward her and immediately took it from Na-rim.

She then swung the stick back at Na-rim.

Thwack!

Na-rim raised her arm to block it.

Her forearm tingled, but it was just a wooden stick.

Laura, too, seemed to find the wooden stick inconvenient, as she dropped it after it was blocked.

Left hook.

Whoosh!

Laura’s punch swung at Na-rim.

Barely managing to react, Na-rim stepped back and dodged.

But Laura pursued her, swinging her right fist.

Thwack!

Na-rim awkwardly deflected the punch with her palm.

However, Na-rim couldn’t find an opportunity to retaliate, and Laura continued to swing her fists in quick succession.

Na-rim’s guard posture was constantly being hit by Laura’s punches.

Bruises started appearing all over Na-rim’s body.

[Hmm…]

[She’s really good at fighting even with her bare hands.]

Na-rim was being pummeled so badly that she almost thought, 'Isn’t she a former thug?'

'This... I can’t win...!'

Na-rim had also tried to strike back, but even with a slight tilt of Laura’s head, her punches missed.

At the same time, a counter-punch came, turning Na-rim’s head.

If they were just exchanging blows, it wouldn’t have been this one-sided.

But punches were a bit different.

Na-rim had fought countless times with a wooden stick while playing the Dragon Knight.

Compared to a sword or a gun, it was an inferior weapon, but still, it was something she had been given.

Na-rim had become accustomed to the wooden stick, and in terms of proficiency, she was far better than Laura.

But she had lost the stick.

Now, with no wooden stick, she was left with only her fists.

'I can’t win with punches...!'

Her opponent was a noble young lady who knew how to throw punches. And Na-rim was just a regular girl with no experience in punching.

She was getting beaten up simply because of the difference in experience with fists.

"Haah… Haah…!"

Panting heavily, Na-rim thought.

Anyway, the Thief didn’t have any real crowd control abilities.

Her HP was low, but that didn’t matter.

As long as she activated <Reignite>, she could recover the HP she had lost.

She hadn’t built much ultimate gauge yet, but for now, she decided to use <Reignite> to retreat.

And then, after recharging a bit, she would face Laura again.

She just needed to keep marking Laura and make sure Laura never reached the main team.

With that belief, Na-rim activated <Reignite>.

"Sora."

At those two words, Na-rim’s breath caught in her throat.

A hammer, flying in an arc, landed right next to her, and a powerful light erupted around, consuming the area.

The second skill of the Battle Priest <Sacred Explosion>.

[Sora’s CC skill interrupted Son Na-rim’s <Reignite>! <Reignite> cooldown is... running...]

Kaiser shouted from the commentator's desk.

"Why…?"

Na-rim looked at me with a hopeless expression.

Silently.

Sora, who had been hiding, approached me and retrieved the hammer she had thrown.

She then gave me a look. Should I handle this?

"I couldn’t kill you alone. So, I needed Sora’s help."

At first, we had researched a Double Diver combo with multiple options.

We just used the Sacred Knight in the first round because it was the most optimal.

They probably thought we wouldn’t use Double Diver if the Sacred Knight was banned, but how could I not know the Thief’s weaknesses?

The Thief had no crowd control, so it couldn’t interrupt the Dragon Knight’s <Reignite>.

For this, Sora’s help was essential.

"Such a pity."

Yeah, it was a pity.

In the second round, we had fought a fierce battle, but in this third round, the match ended in such a deflating manner.

It couldn’t be helped.

I had known from the start that Na-rim would pick the Dragon Knight again.

Especially when I picked the Thief, Na-rim would definitely pick the Dragon Knight, which was favorable against it.

But honestly, the Dragon Knight only shines in the late game.

So giving Na-rim the Dragon Knight wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

It meant we would dominate the early game, and based on that, we could create a snowball composition to counter her.

She wasn’t completely unaware of that.

Na-rim came at it with the mindset of "I can do it," but she didn’t change her strategy.

'Her vision is fundamentally narrow.'

Na-rim hated to give up.

She hated running away, never turned down a challenge, and always faced difficulties head-on.

Because of that, compromise was hard for her, and even when there was an easier way, she would choose the difficult path.

She didn’t want to do things with others; she wanted to do everything herself.

And the fact that she clung to things meant she didn’t pay attention to her surroundings.

That's why most people couldn't keep up with her pace.

Even though Na-rim had a lot of experience in SerenadeKR, she didn’t have many close friends, and that was probably the reason.

"You should rely on others more."

I said that casually.

As I motioned to Sora with my chin, Sora swung her hammer at Na-rim.

And then...

Wham!

An arrow pierced Sora’s shoulder.

"Eh?"

Na-rim’s eyes widened.

Figures appeared one by one in the distance.

Gryphon’s team members had somehow shown up.

"No! Why are you here?!"

Na-rim, too, seemed to have no idea what was going on and shouted.

Then, one of the Gryphon team members, Shinomiya Yuki, called out brightly.

"I thought about it! I don’t think we can win this round!"

"What?!"

"So, since we’re going to lose anyway, let’s just take out their ace and end it cleanly!"

With that, Shinomiya Yuki pointed her sword at me.

"Don’t you dare mess with Na-rim! You bad villainess! We’ll make you pay!"

"A bad villainess, you say? That almost makes me sound like a good person."

Doesn’t multiplying a minus by a minus make a plus? So, isn’t a bad villainess just a noble lady?

This was the first time I was having a conversation with Gryphon’s tier 2 member Shinomiya Yuki, but from our first meeting, I could already tell: she wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

I shrugged.

"Fine, bring it on."