I, the Duchess, am well aware that people only see and hear what they want to.
To be more precise, even when faced with the truth, many will twist it into lies.
They spread rumors to tarnish my reputation. They try to undermine my authority, diminish my voice, and drag down my status.
They spread false gossip, engage in slander, and lay traps for me.
What Iâm trying to say is...
As a villainess, this situation is all too familiar to me.
Iâve experienced this many times in âthat world.â
-?
- Retiring?
- Retiring before even debuting?
- Wow, starting a stream right away.
- Hiding behind your sibling, and now you show up?
The chat scrolled by rapidly. I glanced at the âLabyrinth Galleryâ briefly, and thankfully, it seemed like the rally point had been set properly.
As I skimmed through the chat and forum posts, I moved my keyboard and mouse.
- Aurora¶: https://thiscode.xx/C0m2h2r2â â [Pinned Chat]
- ????
- A Discord invite?
- What is this?
- ??
"Nice to meet you all," I said into the mic.
"Iâm Aurora, a 6th generation talent of EYEAI. I was originally scheduled to officially debut this Saturday, but I wanted to chat with you all beforehand, so I started this stream."
- Whoa
- Her voice is super hot.
- Is she really a girl?
- So you guys were whining about being beaten by a girl? What losers, lol.
"As those of you who watched Rion's stream may know, there have been several discussions about me in various communities," I said, as I pulled up a screenshot of my Labyrinthos gameplay.
If it were VR, I would have shown you all the actual gameplay by logging into Labyrinthos, but since this stream was being done on a PC, a screenshot would have to suffice. Besides, it was more than enough to prove that I was indeed "DuchessGlory."
"Of course, I am confident. Some people seem to label me as 'toxic,' but I've never engaged in such behavior. Although, Iâm sure some of you wouldnât believe me even if I said so, right?"
I spoke calmly.
After spending enough time in online communities, you come across such peopleâthose who criticize someone every day without fail.
They stick to the same baseless claims. Even when confronted with the truth, they pretend not to hear it. Sometimes, in order to hold on to their opinions, they forcefully distort the truth.
The truth isnât what matters to themâthey just need something to tear apart.
"So, how about we do this? Iâll refute your claims that Iâm toxic. If I fail, Iâll gracefully accept defeat and retire as a VTuber."
I grabbed my mouse again.
Click.
The click echoed loudly as the stream screen shifted.
A white-gloved hand appeared on the monitor.
- Hand cam?
- Did she turn on the camera?
- Why are her arms so thin?
- Her hands are beautiful.
- Why the sudden hand cam?
"You might be thinking, 'Sheâll just retire verbally,' right? So letâs keep it simple. If I fail to refute the claims, Iâll raise the camera angle."
In other words, Iâd reveal my face.
Of course, revealing a VTuberâs face is a serious breach of contract.
Most VTuber companies discourage using webcams. Although, not many outright ban it, as some allow it for content diversification, like cooking streams.
But even then, many have clauses stating that bare hands should not be shown.
After all, showing any part of a VTuberâs real body, like their hands or skin, can disrupt the immersion.
At EYEAI, showing bare hands is strictly prohibited, so weâre required to wear gloves even during cooking streams.
If just showing bare hands is such a big deal, intentionally revealing a face is essentially career suicide for a VTuber.
Itâs grounds for immediate dismissal.
"Well, Iâm the exception."
Since my face looks just like a cardboard cutout, Iâm perhaps the only VTuber in the world whose face reveal wouldnât break immersion.
The CEO wasnât thrilled about it, but despite wanting to stop me, he eventually gave me permission. So, I likely wouldnât be fired even if I did reveal my face.
Not that I plan to take any real risks, of course.
This is just bait.
As always, all I have to do is win.
- What is this, content gold, lol.
- A VTuber risking her career before debut?!
- Iâll admit, this is pure madness.
- Wonât this hurt Rion too?
- Mom, Iâm scared...
"But thereâs one condition."
I moved the hand cam to the corner of the screen and pulled up the Discord server video feed.
Thanks to pinning the server address in the chat, quite a few people had already joined the server.
I created a voice channel.
"If anyone wants to claim Iâm 'toxic,' feel free to join this voice channel."
I set the channel to allow only two participants at a time, and I took up one of the spots.
"Iâve always been curious. There are so many people in communities who criticize idols or athletes. Can they make the same claims face-to-face? If their argument is solid, they shouldnât need the shield of anonymity, right?"
I smiled.
After all, I was putting my reputation and career on the line.
So, they should at least be willing to drop their anonymity. After all, you have to step onto the stage to have a real duel.
"If no one joins, thatâll prove the accusations of me being toxic are just baseless slander. And of course, thereâll be no need to raise the camera angle."
I left it at that.
A brief silence.
Then, after a moment, the signature ding of Discordâs sound effect played from my speakers.
"Hello."
[⦠H-hello.]
"No need for pleasantries. If you have something to say, please do."
[Then let me ask, why did you cut off their limbs?]
"First, I think thereâs a misunderstanding. Iâve never cut off all their limbs."
I pulled up several screenshotsâimages Iâd taken during my gameplay.
"Limb removal refers to severing both arms and both legs. As you can see, Iâve never done that."
[Uh, well, you still cut them off, didnât you? Whatâs the difference?]
"There is a difference. Obviously, if you fight someone with only one leg 100 times, youâll win all 100 times. Would you lose?"
[Well, noâ¦]
"Then cutting off all four limbs might be considered teabagging, but disabling two or three can be seen as a tactical advantage."
[Thatâs a stretchâ¦]
"Do you think itâs a stretch?"
I cut him off before he could continue.
In my experience, winning an argument isnât just about logic.
No matter how imaginative a person is, verbalizing their thoughts is surprisingly difficult.
Conversation is a skill. The louder the voice, the stronger the argument. If you have control and charisma, even better.
And Iâm both a duchess and a villainess.
"Do you have a reason to think itâs a stretch?"
[Well, uhâ¦]@@novelbin@@
"If not, letâs watch a replay together. I have a duel with a gladiator recorded."
I started playing the prepared replay.
[Ohâ¦]
"The enemy gladiator was farming neutral mobs, as you can see. Meanwhile, I had fallen behind because I was hunting the gladiator. The Dark Knight doesnât have much kill power, so I couldnât finish him in one hit."
[â¦...]
"So I had no choice but to whittle him down. Since gladiators rely heavily on their legs, taking out a leg drastically reduces their combat power, giving me the advantage."
[â¦â¦...]
"Of course, even then, if I took a wrong hit, I could still die. So destroying his arms as well ensured my victory. Thatâs why I did it. Any objections?"
[Uh, wellâ¦]
His voice trembled slightly.
[No, noneâ¦]
Of course, you donât.
How could you?
"Well then, goodbye."
[...]
The first challenger was dismissed.
And immediately, the second challenger entered.
[But why did you take off your armor?]
His voice hit as soon as he entered.
[If youâre a tank, act like one and keep your armor on. Did you want to show off your chest or something?]
"Dark Knights lack tracking ability and arenât fast hunters. So, I had no choice but to run around the map to find my opponent. But since mobility is limited, I had to take off my armor."
[Show off your chest, then. Go ahead and flash us so we can⦠you know.]
"Oh my, are you unable to refute my argument? Are you admitting defeat?"
Did he think Iâd blush from his sexual joke?
Too bad for himâit sounded more like a compliment to me.
He knows whatâs hot.
[If tracking is an issue, just pick another character. Why are you whining about it, you troll?]
"If I carried, I canât be a troll, right? Iâve never lost a duel, after all."
[Bullshit. Itâs all hindsight. By your logic, if you lose in ranked, that means your pick was trolling too, right?]
"I thought youâd say that, so Iâve prepared another replay. Care to watch it with me?"
I started another replay.
[... Oh.]
"Whatâs the matter?"
[Well, itâs justâ¦]
"This is from a ranked game I lost recently. At the start of the game, a dual-wielder attacked me."
I showed the scene.
"The opponent tried to team kill me first, so I cleanly killed him in return. These actions arenât punished, by the way. I eventually won a 1v1 against their leaver, but our main force lost because we were down a player."
[...]
"As you can see from my position, I would have joined the main battle if weâd had a bit more time. If the dual-wielder hadnât team killed me, they could have stalled longer. Then I wouldâve joined the fight and used my ultimate to secure the win."
[Guhâ¦]
"Am I being too results-oriented for you, RoburyDiceKiss, the dual-wielder from that day?"
Click. I minimized the replay.
Click. I maximized the gallery link I had been searching.
Click. Displayed it on the stream.
[Virtual I-Tuber Gallery]
[General] Does she like cutting off limbs because she wants to be limbless herself?
She just wants to be some limbless flesh puppet~~. Probably whining in bed with Rion every night, right? Must smell like a non-virgin, pfft.
"I searched your Labyrinthos username and found you also post on the âLabyrinth Galleryâ and âVTuber Gallery.â Just curiousâwhoâs your favorite VTuber?"
[W-wait, how did you find thatâ¦]
"I have a good memory. As soon as I heard your voice, your nickname came to mind."
After all, before I was Aurora the VTuber, I was Duchess Laura Iris, the villainess.
Villainesses are often seen as icons of failure, doomed to lose the male lead to the heroine.
But, conversely, it means they remain the heroineâs rival right up until they lose. After all, a romance story has to maintain tension, right?
Naturally, a villainess has to be superior in every way before that final defeat.
I never once lost my top spot at the academy.
Part of that was due to the strict education I received as a duchess.
But my excellent memory, which never lets me forget what Iâve learned, also played a big part.
[No, but why would you post this?!]
"You came here to drag me down, didnât you? You should be prepared for a counterattack."
[Shut up, you bitch! What does this have to do with your trolling?!]
"Your logic was this, RoburyDiceKiss: 'DuchessGlory lost in solo queue because she trolled as a Dark Knight.' But Iâm saying the loss wasnât my fault. Would you like to log into Labyrinthos right now, RoburyDiceKiss?"
[â¦]
"Canât do it? Were you banned for trolling?"
I displayed his ranked history.
There hadnât been any games in the last few days.
So I assumed heâd been banned.
"Iâve never been penalized. Oh, and here are the documents Rion gave me. These are from Deadraus Korea, confirming Iâve never received any penalties. Can you read the text?"
[You⦠you bitchâ¦]
"Oh, by the way, I need to make one correction."
I left a comment on one of RoburyDiceKissâs posts.
[Itâs absurd to treat me like a B-tier. From now on, please refer to me as A-tier.]
- B-tier vs. A-tier, lol.
- Whereâs S-tier?
- What a crazy bitch, lol.
- Love the confidence. Itâs making me embarrassed for some reason.
- This is peak virginity.
- Aurora wins!
"The troll wasnât me, it was you. Care to refute that, RoburyDiceKiss?"
[...]
"If youâve got nothing to say, please leave."
With that, RoburyDiceKiss left without a word.
I was alone in the voice channel once again.
I adjusted the mic and said calmly:
"Next up. Come on if you think youâve got what it takes."