- "Has the pure and innocent A-maiden VTuber whoâs only ever known her parents, and no other man, made her debut yet?"
- "First chat is already a mess, lol."
- "Iâve been waiting for a VTuber like you."
- "A-maiden! A-maiden! A-maiden! A-maiden! A-maiden! A-maiden!"
- "I fell in love at first sight after your last stream, please marry me."
- "Letâs gooooo!"
"......"
It was currently 8:29 PM. Rion was nervous.
It was strange. She had watched countless VTuber streams, yet she had never once felt nervous. Probably because it wasnât her stream.
But now, Rion was more nervous than when she streamed herself.
"Please let Laura succeed.
Please let Laura be accepted by everyone."
Only then...
"Only then can I quit..."
Rion repeated this to herself.
Another minute passed, and it was now 8:30 PM.
The screen for Labyrinthos appeared.
�
**- "?"
"??"
"Labyrinthos from the start???"
"Starting with a Labyrinthos screen, lol."**
Judging from the chat reactions, she wasnât the only one greeted by the Labyrinthos screen.
She thought she might have opened the wrong channel, but in the bottom right corner was a character that looked exactly like Laura.@@novelbin@@
Hair as dark as the night sky.
And eyes even more crimson than in real life, radiating an intense blood-red hue.
Her black gothic dress, both ornate and ominous, was breathtaking. With her pale skin, it all felt surreal, making her seem like an otherworldly being.
The Laura on the screen smiled.
[Hello. This is Aurora.]
And with no hesitation, she selected the Berserker.
The queue had already been set before the stream even started.
"What the..."
Rion, who had been lying on her bed watching on her phone, jumped up.
In record time, she sat at her desk and placed her hands on the keyboard.
**- "Why start with Labyrinthos on your debut stream???"
"What happened to the introduction???"
"No profile introduction???"**
Rion, in a panic, sent the kind of chaotic chat messages she usually scorned, but she felt no regret. After all, she had logged in with her alternate account in advance, just in case.
Maybe her sincere comments were conveyed because Lauraâs voice, tinged with amusement, replied.
[Since itâs my debut stream, I should probably introduce myself.]
[My birthday, height, likes, dislikes, etc. are all listed in my profile, so please check that on your own.]
Lauraâs profile appeared on the stream.
However, the profile was tiny, tucked into the top-left corner, barely covering any of the game screen.
**- "The text is too small to read, lol."
"No seriously, at least do a proper introduction."
"So now we just check profiles ourselves, huh?"
"If I knew this, I wouldâve stalked her beforehand."
"At least post it on social media."
"Get Rion in here!"**
**- "Whatâs the point of a tiny profile screen?"
"Are you really not going to introduce yourself properly???"**
[Oh, the gameâs starting.]
Ignoring the comments, Laura focused on the game.
Rion sighed. â¦She thought she understood what Laura was thinking.
"â¦She probably believes showing her true self is the best."
Rion had known Lauraâs narcissism longer than anyone. She was certain Laura believed that no matter what kind of content she produced, the viewers would love it.
Thatâs why she didnât feel the need to consider her viewers. Laura probably thought that if she just did whatever she wanted, the viewers would naturally follow.
Laura must be the type of VTuber who operates this way.
Rion believed there were two types of VTubers.
Those who "strategically plan to create entertaining content," and those who think "just me streaming is the best entertainment."
Hanabane Rui was the former.
And Laura must be the complete opposite of her.
â¦But Laura being self-centered was nothing new.
And judging from the chat, the viewers didnât seem too upset, so Rion decided to just let it slide.
But still,
"Why Berserker?"
Rion finally began to question it.
The character on the screen had dark blue skin, a result of countless experiments.
With wolf ears sprouting from their head due to the blood of a werewolf, their eyes were bloodshot red.
Their wrists and ankles were shackled with broken chains, fitting their backstory of being an imprisoned experiment.
But most striking was the weapon they heldâa sword even larger than the ones used by knights or gladiators, giving them a commanding presence.
It was the Berserkerâs signature weapon: the colossal greatsword.
[Ah, itâs heavy as expected.]
And as soon as Laura started the game, she discarded the greatsword.
�
**- "How do you expect to fight without a weapon, lol?"
"Is this trolling?"
"What tier is she in?"
"Even Bronze players wouldnât do that, lol."
"'My weapon is my faith and the cross in my heart.'"
"Lmao."
"Rion, is your cousin really okay??"**
Without her greatsword, Laura sprinted forward. Rion suddenly felt a strong sense of déjà vu.
â¦Oh, I get it.
"Sheâs trying to expand her character pool."
Rion recalled Laura mentioning sheâd been getting banned out of her Dark Knight pick recently.
It seemed like Laura was becoming recognized as a Dark Knight specialist. And when she couldnât play Dark Knight, she had been picking Mech Engineer more often.
But Rion knew Laura didnât like Mech Engineer much.
After all, Laura was the opposite of Anna. While Anna felt fear when facing enemies head-on, Laura thrived in that kind of adrenaline.
So, while Anna had a good match with Mech Engineer, Laura found it too lacking in direct combat. Despite her elegant and graceful appearance, Laura was quite the aggressive player.
Maybe that rough side was Lauraâs true nature.
"So thatâs why she picked Berserker."
Rion quietly accepted it.
[Found you.]
Lauraâs voice echoed.
Rion snapped back to the screen to see a Dual Swordsman standing opposite her.
Perhaps they had been hunting neutral monsters just before, as the remains of a neutral mob lay at their feet.
[My opponent this time is a Dual Swordsman.]
[Not bad.]
Their eyes met, and they charged at each other.
From the Dual Swordsmanâs perspective, there was no reason to back down. After all, their opponent was a weaponless Berserker.
Of course, swords have longer reach than fists. The Dual Swordsman had the range advantage and the first move.
Their swords swung in wide arcs, like a pair of arms ready to hug. While it wasnât exactly a refined attack, it didnât matter. The opponent was unarmedâhow could they possibly dodge?
So Laura didnât dodge.
Thud!
Laura slammed her fist downward, breaking the trajectory of the incoming swords.
Because the Dual Swordsman had used such a wide motion, their timing was predictable. Laura struck the side of the blade, diverting it away from her body.
Seizing the opening, Laura advanced.
[â¦!]
The startled Dual Swordsman tried to retreat, using the infamous beginnerâs skill, Breakthrough.
They moved away, trying to maintain distance, while Laura smiled and activated her skill.
Berserkerâs second skill, Charge of Destruction.
Berserker was a high-risk, high-reward character.
Using skills required health as a resource, and they had tricky conditions for activation.
But if you could land them, they had immense payoffs.
If you could land them, that is.
Charge of Destruction was a dash skill with unlimited range.
However, once you activated it, you couldnât stop or change direction.
The only way to stop was by colliding with something, and if you crashed into a wall, the Berserker would be stunned.
But if you hit your target, you would stun them for a long time, and you would be immune to crowd control while charging.
Laura activated Charge of Destruction, rushing straight toward the Dual Swordsman.
Naturally, there was no reason for the Dual Swordsman to just sit there and get hit.
If they could dodge the charge, Laura would crash into a wall, giving the Dual Swordsman the advantage.
Though Laura was fast, the Dual Swordsman had already started to retreat, so there was still some distance between them.
Seeing Lauraâs skill animation, the Dual Swordsman swiftly moved to dodge.
They narrowly sidestepped Lauraâs body check.
And then they got grabbed.
Thud!
By the collar.
Lauraâs outstretched fingers caught hold of the Dual Swordsmanâs collar as she charged past.
[Itâs hard to pay attention to things like collars in tense situations.]
[Especially when every second counts.]
Laura provided a brief commentary.
She yanked on the Dual Swordsmanâs collar, pulling them toward her.
The stunned Dual Swordsman froze in shock.
Without hesitation, Laura picked them up and threw them.
Crash!
The Berserker, strong enough to wield a massive greatsword, easily hurled the Dual Swordsman into the nearby wall.
Before they could recover, Laura slammed her shoulder into their solar plexus.
Thwack!
The Dual Swordsman gasped, expelling air from their lungs, completely paralyzed by the stun.
With the Dual Swordsman helpless, Laura rained down blows on their face.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Crunch!
She didnât hold back at all, her punches unrelenting.
Only when the "Victory" message appeared did Laura finally stop.
[Like that.]
Laura said, shaking the blood from her fist.
Hmm...
**- "Like that, lol."
"Wow! What an amazing discovery!"
"Is she saying sheâll beat us all up if we donât watch her stream?"
"Fun fact: if you remove one character from âAurora,â you get âOraoraoraoraora!â"
"Iâm not sure whatâs happening, but should I donate lunch money?"
"Alright, alright, stop, theyâve had enough!"
"Please have mercy."**
The chat exploded with comments.
The process had been a bit odd⦠but had it worked?
Calling her a VTuber who beats people up on her debut stream sounded strange, but the impact was undeniable.
Besides, it was all in a game, not real life.
Making a strong impression was what mattered most.
In that sense, this wasnât a bad strategy.
"Looks like my cousin used her head a bit."
At first, Rion had been concerned when Laura ditched the profile introduction and dove straight into the game. But judging by the chat and reactions on the gallery, it seemed like things were going well.
Feeling relieved, Rion crossed her arms.
On-screen, Laura smiled and queued up for the next match.
â¦â¦
"â¦Is my cousin insane?"
**- "Arenât you going to introduce your hashtags?"
"When are you going to share the next stream schedule??"
"Did you come here to stream or just to play games??"**
"Ughâ¦, I canât even send a donation messageâ¦!!"
Rion desperately wanted to send a donation message to get some attention, but unfortunately, the donation window was closed.
Corporate VTubers didnât have the freedom to monetize their channels right away.
Damn itâ¦
- Nekozuka Rion¶: Can you at least show the hashtags and schedule?
In the end, Rion had no choice but to log in with her main account.
**- "Rionâs here, lol."
"Rion, tell your cousin to calm down, lol."
"Iâll draw fan art if you just give us the hashtags!!!"
"Come to think of it, we still havenât seen the hashtags."
"Nope, I donât care about streaming, I just wanna play games~."**
[Oh, Rion, youâre here.]
Laura responded.
The moment Laura reacted, Rion typed again.
- Nekozuka Rion¶: Hashtags and schedule.
[Thatâs a bit difficult.]
[Itâll cover the screen, you know.]
- Nekozuka Rion¶: ???
It took Rion a moment to understand what Laura meant.
In order to show the hashtags and schedule, she would have to overlay the images on the stream screen.
And Laura didnât want to cover up the game screen.
"Argh! I canât take it!"
Rion stood up from her seat.