Chapter 13: Chapter 12

"Wow... She's Truly Beautiful..."

Anna couldn’t help but think that if a rose were to become a person, it would look like this.

Her features were as precise as a finely crafted piece of art, and her skin was so flawlessly white that it seemed too perfect to touch.

Her flowing hair looked as if it held the essence of the night sky, and her deep, dark red eyes seemed endless, as if they could draw you in forever.

Anna had never really been moved by beauty before. Even when she saw people who were known to be beautiful, she never truly felt it. She found animated characters more relatable.

But seeing this woman in person changed everything.

Now, she understood why some people get excited over beautiful cosplayers.

She wanted to see this person curse someone out.

It would definitely suit her, she thought. It would look absolutely perfect…!

"I'm sorry to say this when we've just met, but could you please insult me?"

Smack!

"Ouch..."

Anna was struck on the back.

Looking to her side, she saw her senior, Leon, who seemed on the verge of sighing.

"Sorry, sister... She tends to speak without thinking."

"It’s fine. I actually found it quite amusing," Laura said with a calm smile, taking a seat.

"Shall we start our discussion?"

"Like I mentioned over the phone, this is my high school junior. Her name is Jeon So-jin, and she’s currently a streamer."

"Pleased to meet you," So-jin said, bowing her head.

As I observed her, I quickly realized something.

‘This must be Shiroki Anna.’

As I sipped my tea, I reflected on the situation.

Here’s a surprising fact:

The Virtuber "Nekozuka Rion" was none other than my cousin Orion…!

…Well, wouldn’t it be stranger if I didn’t know?

Did she really think I wouldn’t recognize her just because she slightly altered her name to sound Japanese? Her voice wasn’t even disguised, and her name was practically unchanged.

It seemed Rion was keeping her Virtuber activities a secret from the family, but I had stumbled upon her secret when I happened to see her email inbox.

‘So what’s this about being a video editor?’

Wasn’t she already working as a Virtuber? Why did she come to me claiming she wanted a job as a video editor and then take my replay footage? Was she planning to juggle two jobs?

There were still unanswered questions, but they weren’t pressing enough to dwell on right now.

In any case, the person Rion brought along, Jeon So-jin, was undoubtedly "Shiroki Anna," a fifth-generation Virtuber from EYEAI.

Once I identified Rion as "Nekozuka Rion," everything else fell into place. A quick search for Nekozuka Rion led me to the EYEAI agency's website.

There, Nekozuka Rion was listed as a fourth-generation Virtuber, and it seemed EYEAI had only reached its fifth generation so far.

Since Rion brought her high school junior to meet me, it was highly likely she was a fifth-generation member.

The fifth generation had four members in total, so I had listened to each of their voices beforehand. "Shiroki Anna" stood out with her somewhat indifferent tone, making her particularly memorable.

"You mentioned wanting to participate in a tournament, right?" I asked.

"Yes, ma’am… Also, you can speak casually to me, teacher," Anna replied.

"Alright, I’ll do that. First, I’d like to see some of your gameplay in Labyrinthos."

"I brought some replay footage as you asked. But, teacher, your way of speaking is unique… I mean that in a good way," Anna said as she handed me a tablet.

I had noticed this when I briefly watched her stream; Anna seemed like a straightforward person. But just as Leon had mentioned, she had a tendency to speak without filtering her thoughts.

Taking the tablet, I played a few of her replay videos.

‘The characters she plays are… a Saint and a Bard. Mostly supports, it seems.’

Labyrinthos has six positions: Disruptor, Tank, Frontline Dealer, Nuker, Sustained Dealer, and Support.

The Support position isn’t much different from other games—it involves characters that assist their allies.

The methods of support vary from character to character, whether it’s healing allies, protecting them, boosting their strengths with buffs, or providing crowd control to supplement their team.

But I believe all these actions ultimately serve one purpose: "combat sustainability."

Whether it’s healing damage to keep allies fighting longer, disrupting enemies as they advance, or countering enemy tactics to prevent ally deaths, it all boils down to maintaining combat effectiveness.

Buffing allies and initiating engagements can also be seen as a form of combat sustainability—though in a more aggressive sense, where the idea is that causing more damage to the enemy faster than they can to you is also a form of sustaining the fight.

"Hmm."

As I watched the videos, I let out a small groan.

She was a typical Support player.

And I don’t mean that in a good way.

When enemies engaged, she abandoned her dealer and retreated. She ignored the tank, who needed healing the most, and mindlessly focused on healing the dealer right in front of her.

"Rion, do you have a VR setup in your room?"

"Huh? Yeah, I do…"

"Then lend your VR gear to Anna. I want to spar with her in Labyrinthos."

I had just finished my three-hour login restriction, so the timing was perfect. If I hadn’t, I would’ve asked Rion to spar in my place. But since I could log in now, it was better to see things firsthand.

After adding Anna as a friend, I launched the training mode.

[Teacher, what character should I pick?]

"Choose Paladin."

[Paladin? Understood.]

Anna sounded puzzled but complied, picking the Paladin.

I did the same, opting for Paladin instead of my usual main, the Dark Knight.

We stood facing each other in a blank, white space.

"Have you ever trained in swordsmanship?"

"No, I haven’t…."

"It’s okay even if you haven’t. Just swing your sword however you want. But make sure you do it with the intent to defeat me."

"Huh?"

Anna seemed stunned, but I didn’t bother responding with words. Instead, I raised my sword and swung it at her.

Of course, I didn’t go all out. If I did, she wouldn’t be able to react in time. I deliberately made my movements larger and slower to give her a chance to see and respond.

Anna looked startled.

"Eek?!"

She squeezed her eyes shut and backed away.

I immediately stepped forward, closing the distance and making another exaggerated swing.

I intentionally left obvious openings.

Ordinarily, you should swing a greatsword in line with its center of gravity, but I ignored that, making my swings unbalanced and difficult to follow up on.

I wanted her to try and hit me. This wasn’t a life-or-death duel but a test to see what kind of person Anna was.

"H-Hyaa…!"

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed.

Even though I had slowed my attack, Anna didn’t try to exploit my openings. Instead, she focused on defense.

Two strikes.

And Anna’s stiff expression told me everything I needed to know about her.

"You’re very afraid, aren’t you?"

"Yes…."

Anna admitted immediately.

I didn’t know much about Anna.

I didn’t know if she was smart, had good judgment, or was good at reading situations.

None of that mattered, though, because in her current state, those things weren’t even worth considering.

Even the most intelligent person can’t perform well if they’re overwhelmed by fear.

And Anna was fundamentally very fearful, which led to her poor decisions in-game and her tendency to abandon her dealers and flee.

"Honestly, it’s scary, isn’t it? When a sword is coming at you, being afraid is only natural."

"Yes, it is."

This game is incredibly realistic—blood, the feel of cutting through flesh, and all that.

The game’s strength lies in its immersion.

The thrill of a life-or-death struggle is what makes this game so exhilarating, but it seemed that Anna perceived it as terrifying.@@novelbin@@

"It’s a natural feeling, but you won’t win the game if you let it control you."

"Yeah, I figured as much…."

"Three characters."

I held up three fingers.

"Your goal is to master three characters: the Mechamancer, Alchemist, and Spellblade."

"…Master them?"

"You want to compete in the tournament, right? Then you should be proficient with at least three characters."

Before a match in Labyrinthos, there’s a ban-pick phase.

The basic strategy for ban-picking is to ban characters the opponent excels at but your team can’t play.

If you’re a one-trick pony, you’ll almost certainly get banned out.

That’s why I believe you need to be proficient with at least three characters. Ideally, four would be even better.

"I get it, but… Mechamancer, Alchemist, and Spellblade? I’ve never played any of those characters before. Why those ones?"

"This is what I think: if you only focus on personal training, you won’t learn anything. But if you dive straight into real matches without a solid foundation, you won’t gain anything either."

The ideal approach is to build up your basics through training and then apply what you’ve learned in actual matches.

Of course, saying it is easier than doing it.

Anna’s biggest problem is that she’s easily frightened.

Even if I teach her various techniques, if she panics in real situations and freezes up, she won’t be able to use them.

"So, in real matches, focus on playing Mechamancer and Alchemist."

"I’m not sure why, but okay, I’ll try that. What about Spellblade?"

"Spellblade is what you’ll use for personal training. Summon the Spellblade."

Anna switched from Paladin to Spellblade.

If Paladin was a sturdy character, then Spellblade was younger and more agile in appearance.

The armor was minimal, consisting of just wrist guards, and the weapon was a single-handed sword with the other hand free.

The overall impression was light and mobile.

It’s a melee dealer with some ranged attacks, but it has low defense, which balances it out.

"In personal training, we’ll focus on the basics. And the first basic to build is—dying a lot."

"…Excuse me?"

"There’s a saying: human fear stems from the unknown."

I rested my greatsword on my shoulder.

"As a streamer, you’ve probably heard this before, right? Horror games are scary at first, but as time passes, you get used to them and they’re not so frightening anymore."

"Um, actually… they’re still scary even later…!"

"Really? Then you just haven’t died enough."

Slash!

I cut off Anna’s arm.

"Kyaaa!"

"You’ll experience many kinds of death, so don’t worry too much. I’ll guide you through each one."

"S-Save me…! Eek!"

I plunged my sword into Anna’s mouth.

Later, Leon scolded me for being too harsh.