Chapter 52: Chapter 51

[Whisper from Inagika: Sorry, Laura...]

[Whisper from Inagika: The seniors suddenly showed up at our base...]

[Whisper from Inagika: Could you deal with them for me...?]

Inagika sent me a whisper.

For reference, Inagika’s avatar was standing motionless in the distance. She probably made an excuse about going to the bathroom and was now AFK.

She must’ve found it tough to deal with the seniors alone.

“Hello, Rinko-senpai.”

I greeted her with a smile.

“You’re too formal. You can be more relaxed with me.”

“I’m not that familiar with VTubers, so I’m not sure how to address you properly in situations like this. Could you teach me, senpai?”

“You have a unique way of speaking. You can call me whatever you like—Rinko, Rinko-nee, or even Rinko-senpai if you prefer.”

“There are so many options, I’m not sure which to choose. But is it alright to talk like this?”

I asked.

“We 6th gens aren’t fully cleared for collabs yet. I thought we were only allowed to interact with the seniors via chat.”

“You’re right, but we’re not streaming right now, are we? The viewers can’t hear us, so it’s fine.”

“Oh, I see.”

I nodded.

Even after exchanging only a few words, I understood. Kisaki Rinko wielded significant influence within EYEAI.

She didn’t seem to think bending the rules a little was a big deal.

“Rinko-senpai has a lot of subscribers,” Anna whispered to me.

“In general, the company holds the power. They control the copyrights to our channels, so we usually have to comply with their rules. But for someone like Rinko-senpai, who basically represents the company, it’s a different story. She’s what you’d call a ‘superpower.’”

Imagine if Rinko decided to retire tomorrow.

She has 300,000 subscribers. It would be like that number disappearing overnight.

Of course, not all 300,000 people would leave EYEAI, but the impact would still be significant.

More importantly, the company’s image would take a massive hit.

A company that couldn’t protect its star.

Who would want to join EYEAI after that? If they couldn’t even safeguard their top talent, how could anyone trust them to take care of the others?

When people think of EYEAI, they think of Kisaki Rinko.

When people think of Kisaki Rinko, they think of EYEAI.

At this point, Kisaki Rinko is EYEAI, and EYEAI is Kisaki Rinko.

Anna explained that EYEAI treated Kisaki Rinko with special privileges.

‘No wonder she seems to have so much influence on Discord as well.’

“What brings the seniors here, senpai? There’s not much to see in this humble place of ours.”

“I heard that the cute juniors have been grinding away at that mountain. I thought it was too harsh.”

Kisaki Rinko glanced at the mountain. Several senior VTubers’ avatars were visible there.

They were all wielding flashy pickaxes and shovels, rapidly digging away. Some were even detonating bombs.

“So, I came to help with the mountain digging. After all, this whole Three-Headed Ghost incident started because Sora wanted a beacon, right?”

“If you trace the cause, I suppose that’s true.”

“And Sora wanted the beacon to use the 'Work Speed Boost' option to dig the mountain faster. We failed to support her, and that’s how all this happened.”

“Well, thank you very much.”

In military terms, Kisaki Rinko seemed like a squad leader.

That thought crossed my mind for a moment.

“That’s just the surface reason. To be honest, I really came because I wanted to talk to the famous Aurora.”

Rinko took quick steps, heading somewhere. She glanced back at me as if to say, “Come along.”

When I followed her, we arrived at a secluded forest.

“Do you know about the Labyrinthos VR Streamer League?”

She asked bluntly.

“I know of it. Anna wanted to participate.”

“I see. What about you, Laura? Do you have any plans to join?”

“Well, I haven’t really thought about it.”

In truth, I’ve never participated in any game tournaments before.

Not for any particular reason. Most tournaments are team-based, and choosing a team is honestly a hassle.

There are far more male players than female ones. Even in tournaments, most participants are men, so if I were the only woman, it might create an awkward atmosphere.

Besides that, going through all the team selection criteria is just tiring.

So, I’ve never applied for a tournament in any game. I was afraid it would ruin the fun of playing.

“Then start considering it seriously.”

Rinko’s voice took on a serious tone.

“And think about it in the most positive way possible.”

“It sounds like you want me to participate in the tournament.”

“Yeah. I’m sure your viewers would love to see you in a tournament, so it’s something you should seriously consider.”

After saying that, Rinko walked ahead again.

“That’s all I wanted to say. You can pretend you didn’t hear it if you like.”

“I’m asking for party playtime! But with Laura, please…!”

Rion had come home from work.

And she saw Anna kneeling in front of Laura.

“…What are you doing in our house?”

“I’m begging for my life.”

“Your life…?”

“If I play the horror game, I’ll really die! If I die from a heart attack while playing, will you cover it under workplace injury insurance…?!”

“A person’s heart doesn’t stop that easily…”

Rion was dumbfounded. How much did Anna hate horror games that she came all the way to our house?

After assessing the situation, Rion sighed.

“Sis, what are you going to do about her?”

From Anna’s determined look, it was clear that if we didn’t ease the horror game punishment, she was prepared to stay in our house forever.

The unnecessary determination she was showing was giving me a headache. …Was Anna always like this?

As far as I remember, she was lazy but had a cooler demeanor. It feels like her personality has changed strangely since she met Laura.

Though Rion was also Anna’s manager, she honestly wanted Anna to just go home.

With her eyes, she told Laura to appease Anna and send her off quickly.@@novelbin@@

“Well, if that’s the condition, you’ll have to do the entire series.”

Luckily, Laura was quick to read the room and understand Rion’s intentions.

Of course, Laura never gave in easily thanks to her villainess persona.

“…Excuse me?”

“The series is up to number three, isn’t it? If you play Party Play Time up to the third game, I’ll accept your request.”

Laura said calmly.

For Laura, that was quite lenient. Rion thought as much.

Laura usually never relents, no matter what.

‘Maybe she actually finds Anna kind of cute?’

Rion picked up on that vibe.

While Anna could be annoying at times, there was something about her that made her hard to hate. Plus, Anna was essentially Laura’s first real connection in the VTuber world.

Perhaps Laura considered Anna special in her own way.

“So, I’ll get to do three collabs with Laura…?”

“That’s right.”

“Three times with Laura… Yeah, I can handle that.”

In the end, Anna nodded in agreement.

Rion thought it wasn’t a bad deal. Laura would have to play a horror game eventually.

Horror games are good for views, regardless of whether you're a big streamer or a small one.

People enjoy watching reactions, so it’s generally popular content.

But with Laura, it’s a bit of a different story.

‘That woman isn’t afraid of anything.’

If Laura had a missing emotion, it was probably fear.

Even though she denies it, judging by how she smashes monsters and enemies in games, it seems like a lie.

So even if Laura plays a horror game, it’s unlikely she’ll have any entertaining reactions to ghosts or zombies.

In that sense, having Anna, a certified scaredy-cat, accompany her for a horror game collab seemed like a good compromise.

With that, the dramatic compromise was settled.

But Anna… didn’t leave the house.

“It’s late, so I’ll stay over tonight.”

Has her face been coated in iron?

Laura seemed a bit soft on Anna, and Anna clearly liked Laura, so they decided she’d stay for the night.

Still, Anna offered to pay for dinner.

She ordered a ton of delivery food.

Anna’s few redeeming qualities—or perhaps her only redeeming quality—was her gold spoon status, and it was shining brightly now.

No complaints here. Honestly, given that she was staying the night, I figured this was enough to cover her "lodging fee."

As the three of us ate dinner together, a surprising topic came up.

“Did Rinko-senpai really say that?”

It was something unexpected that we heard from Anna.

“Yes. She said it to Laura in a really serious tone.”

“That’s surprising…”

I glanced at Laura’s face, but she wore the same calm expression as usual. It was a perfect, impenetrable smile.

Always composed, confident, and elegant. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking or feeling.

…Well, she’s the kind of person who wouldn’t flinch even if a meteor fell on her.

There was no need to worry about Laura.

‘I’m more worried about Rinko-senpai…’

It’s been about three months since Rinko stopped playing Labyrinthos. And even before that, she had barely played.

Since the end of the last season, Rinko had more or less given up on Labyrinthos.

Despite being at Master Rank.

‘But Rinko-senpai has her reasons…’

I exchanged a glance with Anna, and we both blinked in silent agreement: we wouldn’t bring up “that incident” from last year to Laura.

It wasn’t our place to talk about it, and nothing good would come from dredging it up.

Besides, it would be better if Laura continued to treat Rinko with pure intentions.

‘But what if Rinko-senpai is still burnt out…?’

Rion clicked her tongue unconsciously.

EYEAI Official @EYEAI_official

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EYEAI Labyrinthos VR Tournament Announcement!!!

╰━━━━━━━ｖ━━━━━━━╯

To celebrate the release of Labyrinthos Arcade Mode! A tournament featuring EYEAI talents!

Main Tournament Teams:

Spring Team (Coach: Kisaki Rinko)

Summer Team (Coach: Taneba Ainatsu)

Autumn Team (Coach: Miyamoto Veronica)

Winter Team (Coach: Aurora)

(Team members will be revealed one per day)

Tournament Broadcasters and MCs:

Kisaki Rinko, Taneba Ainatsu, Miyamoto Veronica, and Aurora

Special One-on-One Event Match:

Kisaki Rinko VS Aurora