The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 65: Ash

This happened not long after the Darkness Deception guerrilla collaboration.

"Let’s be honest. None of us on the Winter Team can win on physical skills alone."

One day, after finishing a stream, I gathered my teammates and said this to them.

"So, let’s set a new goal: winning with strategy."

"Strategy? You mean using our brains instead of physical skills?"

"Exactly."

I nodded.

In my opinion, there are three key elements in games: physical skill, strategic thinking, and game sense.

Out of those, physical skill refers to reaction time and control mastery.

But expecting our team of beginners to excel at that would be impossible.

Game sense, on the other hand, refers to micro-level decision-making.

For example, when an enemy attack comes your way, do you dodge to the left or the right?

Someone with high reaction speed wouldn’t care about the direction—they’d just dodge. Game sense is about quickly judging which option is most beneficial at that moment. Like if the exit is closer on the left, you’d instinctively dodge left.

But it’s unrealistic to expect game sense from my team either.

So, that leaves us with strategy.

Strategy, or strategic thinking, involves macro-level decision-making. It’s about setting a big-picture goal and direction, then analyzing the situation and crafting a detailed plan from there.

"Closing the gap in experience and skill will be tough. The seniors have been playing Labyrinthos much longer than we have."

However, there was one thing we could surpass them in.

Our understanding of Arcade Mode was about the same as theirs.

After all, Arcade Mode had only been patched in recently.

"The only way we can win is by thoroughly researching and analyzing Arcade Mode."

"Thorough research and analysis... doesn’t that seem impossible?"

Sora tilted her head at my words.

"Arcade Mode changes its victory conditions every round. Not to mention the maps change too. How are we supposed to research and analyze all that?"

"Well, we’ll have to rely on collective intelligence."

"...Wait, are you saying we need to play Arcade Mode every single day until the tournament?"

Inagika was horrified.

I shook my head.

"How much data could the four of us possibly gather? And as aspiring aristocrats, we need to know how to delegate tasks, not do everything ourselves."

"But... we’re not actually aristocrats..."

"Tell your viewers to send screenshots of Arcade Mode through a Go-gle form."

All of us 6th-gen members had a subscriber count of at least four digits.

Of course, not all of them would respond, but it would still be far more data than the four of us could gather on our own.

On top of that—

【LabyrinthosVR Gallery】

[Event] Arcade Mode Burger Giveaway Event

I’m trying to write a guide for Arcade Mode, but gathering data is tough.

If you can provide information on victory conditions or maps in Arcade Mode,

I’ll reward contributors with a burger!

To participate: Write your info post with the event tag [Event], and I’ll randomly select 20 winners for burgers.

We gathered data from our own gameplay, the data our viewers sent us, the info from the Labyrinthos forums, and even watched other streamers’ Arcade Mode broadcasts.

Thanks to all that, we managed to collect a significant amount of data, and analyzing that data fell to me.

"It’s possible to solo the Guardian."

After creating a custom room and defeating the Guardian a few times, I came to that conclusion.

"S-Solo the Guardian?"

"Yes. Though, not every character can do it."

The boss monsters in Arcade Mode, aside from the Guardian, weren’t particularly difficult.

After all, Arcade Mode was a 3v3 game. The difficulty was set so that three players could defeat the bosses without much trouble.

So while it took some time, even two players could handle it, and with certain characters, it was possible to solo.

‘A Martial Artist could solo the Guardian reliably.’

The Martial Artist is a character with a sub-tank role.

The key feature of the Martial Artist is Counter.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

When the Martial Artist uses Counter, they become invincible for a short time. During that window, any attack they receive is reflected back at the enemy, making them a parry-focused character.

With plenty of invincibility frames, solid damage output, self-healing abilities, excellent dodge skills, and decent mobility, the Martial Artist seemed almost overpowered.

But of course, there were clear weaknesses. Since they fight with martial arts, they struggle with range, lack crowd control abilities, and due to the nature of Counter, their playstyle is quite passive.

"Inagika, you’ll practice the Martial Artist."

"M-Me?!"

I nodded.

It wasn’t asking for much.

The Martial Artist was indeed a character that required good piloting skills, but that only applied when facing human opponents.

Against monsters with predictable patterns, it was more about learning than anything else.

Inagika had a tendency to panic in high-pressure moments, so it would be better for her to focus on one-on-one boss fights.

Thus, for the first round of the opening match, as planned, I took the most important pick: the Martial Artist.

As for the other two characters, they just needed to distract the enemy and hold them off.

Chel would use the Hunter with its excellent escape abilities.

Sora would play the Dark Knight with strong disruption skills.

And Inagika, left alone, would take down the Guardian by herself.

【Virtual iTuber Gallery】

[Live Commentary] Labyrinthos Tournament – How is Winter Team Winning?

What the heck...

[Comments]

Looks like they prepared a ton for this, lol.I never imagined Sora would pull out the Dark Knight.For real...Is Martial Artist broken? Soloing a boss shouldn’t be possible.It’s only possible in Arcade Mode.You can’t do that in normal gameplay.Spring Team’s getting wrecked, lol.[Live Commentary] Secret Area?

There was a secret area in the ruins???

[Comments]

First time seeing it.Someone posted about it on the forums yesterday.(OP) So AoiS scouted the forums to find a way to win, lol.AoiS has always been a Labyrinthos demon, no surprise there.How do they even find stuff like that?Winter Team’s analysis is insane, lol.[Live Commentary] Wasn’t Spring Team the Favorite?

They’re about to lose 3-0, what the heck!!!

[Comments]

Isn’t there a Spring Team fan to jinx their defeat?(OP) Screw you, lol.Honestly, Spring Team isn’t performing as well as expected...Betting on the favorite, lol. Should’ve gone for the underdog like me.(OP) Who the hell would bet on Winter Team?[Live Commentary] Inagika’s Victory Interview is Hilarious, lol

(Highlight video)

[Interviewer: Inagika, you played the Martial Artist very well. What’s your secret?]

[Inagika: My secret...? Um... When I applied my Wave... Oh, Wave Destruction: Rail for short... It might be because Clara and Yulli are fully maxed out.]

[Interviewer: Sorry, fully maxed out?]

[Inagika: Both are counter-attack characters! It’s... super fun! You should try it! Also, I played God Empires a bit when I was younger, so... maybe that helped...?]

[Comments]

What’s this about Wave? Lol.Can I become a Labyrinthos pro if I start using Wave?Inagika just throws money at the game, lol.God Empires? It’s been ages since I heard that name.How old is Inagika?A thousand-year-old elf, duh.Inagika is so random, lol.[Live Commentary] Chel’s Berserker Pick—What’s That About???

Giving Anna a magic buff and then going Berserker???

[Comments]

Berserker is the counter-pick to Magic users.(OP) Really?Yeah, even if they use optical camouflage, Berserker can still sense them because of the blood scent.The map is small, so they probably let Anna buff up on purpose.AoiS really thought this through, lol.[Live Commentary] Winter Team Wins!!!!

(Vote screenshot)

Shout out to the 6% who bet on them, lol.

[Now for the winning team interview! Winter Team, please come forward!]

At Veronica’s call, the 6th-gen members stepped up to the stage.

Aurora moved gracefully, followed by a nervous Inagika, and Chel with her usual blank expression.

[Oh? Is Sora not here?]

[Uh, well... Sora...]

[Sob... Sniff... I’m so sorry...]

Inagika’s trembling voice was accompanied by the sound of Sora crying.

[Sora cried... and then her VR capsule automatically logged her out...]

[That’s strange. You log out if you cry?]

[Well, you know how it automatically logs you out if you really need to pee? Tears kind of work in a similar way...]

[That’s a bit too blunt. Try not to use such direct words.]

[S-Sorry...]

During the victory interview, the 6th-gen members were having that kind of conversation.

Watching from her phone, Rinco smiled slightly.

“Youth, huh.”

Come to think of it, they named themselves AoiS as a group.

Since all the 6th-gen members came from fantasy settings, the name AoiS didn’t really fit their image. Plus, a lot of them didn’t even have blue as their signature color.

But looking at them now, they all seemed young and full of energy. The group name suited them well.

‘I’m kind of jealous.’

To think they could be so moved by something as simple as winning a friendly tournament.

Surely, there was a time when she had that same passion.

Even last year, during the Labyrinthos Streamer League, she had been full of fire.

But now, all that seemed to be left were ashes, and her sensitivity felt like it had dried up completely.

“They really prepared hard. Sora did her best, Inagika did her best, and so did Chel.”

And Aurora had the charisma of a star.

This victory was proof of how much the 6th-gen members had achieved.

It felt like a passing of the torch.

But she didn’t mind.

“Well, I guess I’ll finish things off with a bang.”

Rinco struggled to rise from her bed.

The new VTuber who defeated EYEAI's poster girl.

Starting today, that’s what they’d call Aurora.

The fact that she was looking forward to that was probably proof of her own weakness.

She really wished she could return to the martial arts world.

As she headed into the one-on-one exhibition match, that thought crossed Rinco’s mind.