Chapter 61: Chapter 60

[Virtual iTuber Gallery]

[General] I’m exhausted...

A guerilla stream that lasted over 20 hours?

[Comments]

Oh right, this was a guerilla stream, lol.

Did they call all the 6th gen for it?

ㄴ (OP) Yup.

ㄴ Looks like the 6th gen is pretty close.

No one expected them to go for a full clear, lol.

[General] Still, for a full clear, didn’t they finish pretty quickly?

Whenever things started to drag, Aurora would clear it for them.

[Comments]

Considering they didn’t continue from a previous save, it’s pretty fast.

Honestly, I’ve never seen a VTuber clear eight stages in one go, lol.

It was fun since they took turns playing, lol.

But doing it on a weekday is unforgivable.

ㄴ Why should the villainess care about the common folk?

ㄴ If you’re mad, just become unemployed, lol.

ㄴ Only the rich and idle nobility can watch this stream.

[General] Aurora’s doing LabyrinthosVR arcade mode until her friends wake up.

She seriously doesn’t need sleep???

[Comments]

She’s a short sleeper.

She said she’s fine with 2 to 4 hours of sleep a day.

ㄴ (OP) That’s insane, lol.

Does she love streaming or gaming more?

ㄴ (OP) She just loves games.

Aurora should just live as a VTuber forever.

ㄴ (OP) For real, it’s her calling.

Please have mercy, Lady Aurora…

[General] Streamer League Announcement

[#FantasyLeague2024] Tournament announcement and press conference [Kaiser/Vtuber]

Looks like they changed the tournament name?

Let’s go, let’s go, let’s gooo~~~

By the time my fellow 6th gen members woke up, I had already ended the stream, and the press conference had started.

Honestly, I wasn’t that interested in the press conference, but…

“Well, since it’s on, why don’t we all watch it together?”

Surprisingly, it was Sora who made the suggestion.

“Are you interested in the tournament?”

“Huh? It’s you who’s more interested, Laura.”

“...Why’s that?”

I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.

“Didn’t Anna-senpai say she wanted to join this tournament to learn? I thought you’d be more curious because of that.”

“Oh, right.”

Hearing that made me realize I did have some interest. Anna had wanted to join the Streamer League to meet Hanabane Rui.

Since today’s broadcast was the tournament’s announcement, registration for the Streamer League would probably start after the EYEAI Labyrinthos Tournament.

I wonder if Anna still wants to participate?

She might have gotten it out of her system after joining Rui’s viewer-participation stream.

‘She’ll probably sign up anyway, right?’

Not too long ago, I noticed that Anna had ranked up to gold tier. It felt like just yesterday that she was stuck in bronze, so she’d grown a lot.

And there was one more thing.

I remembered a conversation I had with Rinko.

“From now on, think carefully and as positively as you can.”

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

“Yeah. Your viewers probably want you to participate, so it’s something you should seriously consider.”

Rinko wanted me to participate in the tournament. I wasn’t sure why, but if she said there was a reason, it was worth considering. So, I watched the press conference with my fellow 6th gen members.

When we turned on the TV in the living room, a man wearing sunglasses appeared.

“His face looks kind of scary.”

With his rough, gangster-like appearance and sunglasses, he looked like a loan shark.

He wore a black leather coat draped over his shoulders like a cape and had a suit underneath. A real hard-boiled guy.

“He’s a solo VTuber named ‘Kaiser.’ His character’s backstory is that he runs a volunteer organization.”

“...With that look?”

“Ah, but he’s actually really diligent. In the industry, he’s known for being a man of integrity…”

Sora added her comment, and Inagika chimed in as well.

As Rion explained once, it’s tough for solo VTubers to survive in the industry. Most of the audience and sponsorship deals go to corporate VTubers.

Yet, despite that, some solo VTubers, like Kaiser, have managed to survive for a long time. There are generally two types.

The first type is people who were already famous before debuting as VTubers (like illustrators or manga artists).

The second type, like Kaiser, debuted as solo VTubers during the early days of the scene and have been active ever since.

Kaiser debuted back in 2018. He’s truly a veteran VTuber.

“That guy is impressive. Most male VTubers have female fanbases, but he’s got that ‘guy’s guy’ appeal.”

It seemed that way.

[Thank you for attending the press conference.]

A polite voice echoed, not something you’d expect from his rough exterior.

He spoke in Japanese, but since it was a pre-recorded broadcast, there were helpful Korean subtitles.

[Thanks to all the streamers, organizers, and viewers, last year’s second LabyrinthosVR Streamer League was a huge success.]

[Riding on that success, we’re happy to announce this year’s tournament. We’ve made some improvements and changes, and I’d like to take this opportunity to explain them.]

-Pop!-

With an effect, the words Fantasy League 2024 appeared.

[First, while the name LabyrinthosVR Streamer League was straightforward, many found it a bit too plain. So, starting this year, the tournament will be rebranded as Fantasy League.]

[Secondly, until last year, the teams were simply called ‘Red Team,’ ‘Blue Team,’ etc., but many found that outdated as well. So, we’ve updated the team names as follows:]

Team Cerberus (Captain: MadMask)

Team Behemoth (Captain: Code1)

Team Griffin (Captain: Navie)

Team Leviathan (Captain: Gaho)

[Last year’s captains, Destiny and Arima, had to step down due to personal reasons, so Navie and Gaho will be taking over this year.]

[In this tournament, pro gamers will take on the role of team captains and select their team members through a draft. Specifically, we’ll be using a lottery-based draft system similar to those in Japanese baseball.]

[As in previous tournaments, participants will be assigned a ‘tier’ based on their LabyrinthosVR rank, ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 6.]

[Captains must select one player from each tier.]

“Hm.”

I nodded.

In other words, each team would have one Tier 1 player, one Tier 2 player, and so on. That’s how the teams would be formed.

‘So, each team will have a unique identity.’

For instance, if Team Cerberus picks a tank as their Tier 1 player, they’ll have a solid, reliable team. But if Team Leviathan picks an infiltrator, they’ll be excellent at disrupting the enemy.

The classic debate—an unstoppable spear vs. an impenetrable shield—always stirs excitement.

The live viewership of this press conference had already hit 70,000. With pro gamers getting involved, it was no surprise this tournament had such hype.

[Since this tournament also aims to promote LabyrinthosVR, we’ve made some changes to the format compared to last year.]

[Previously, the tournament only featured Gate Conquest Mode

and Duel Mode. This year, we’re adding Arcade Mode to the competition.]

[Winning in Gate Conquest Mode will award 5 points, Arcade Mode will award 3 points, and Duel Mode will award 1 point.]

[The teams will be ranked based on points, and the semifinals and finals will follow a double-elimination format.]

Kaiser continued to introduce several other elements, including the winner’s trophy, in-game titles for participants, the tournament version, and the prize pool.

“The prize isn’t that big.”

“That’s typical for streamer tournaments. Just participating can massively boost your subscribers.”

Streamers entered these tournaments mainly to grow their following. A larger audience meant more revenue, so for them, gaining subscribers was practically the same as winning a prize.

[Any official streamer with at least 1,000 subscribers, regardless of nationality, can apply. We look forward to your participation this year!]

With a shout full of enthusiasm, Kaiser’s speech ended, and the closing video played. It seemed like a highlight reel from last year’s tournament.

As the clip of various memorable moments played, Hanabane Rui’s face popped up here and there. I remembered Anna mentioning that Rui participated in the tournament every year. That meant she was always drafted by one of the pro teams.

“...Isn’t that Rinko?”

A gladiator character appeared on screen.

Displayed above the character’s head was the name Kisaki_Rinko_V, and she was losing to a spearman.

“Rinko-senpai participated last year too. She lost pretty badly, though.”

Sora muttered quietly.

[EYEAI 1st Gen Server]

# General Chat

Mano Ichika

[@Kisaki Rinko]

[Rinko]

[The Streamer League announcement is out.]

[(Hyperlink)]

[Wanna screen share and watch together?]

Kisaki Rinko

[I’m outside right now.]

Mano Ichika

[smh]

[So, what’s your plan?]

[Are you going to apply?]

Kisaki Rinko

[I’m not planning to.]

Mano Ichika

[Why not?]@@novelbin@@

Kisaki Rinko

[I just don’t feel like it.]