Chapter 62: Chapter 61

I always wanted strength of mind.

I didn’t care about making a lot of money. I didn’t care about being popular. I didn’t care about being criticized.

From the beginning, I received more luck than I deserved. It was a blessing beyond my worth.

The truth is, Rinko Kisaki is just an ordinary woman, nothing special.

People call her the face of EYEAI, but she doesn’t believe she has the ability to live up to that title. In her mind, it was simply a matter of debuting as a first-generation VTuber and managing to hold on until now.

Sure, she’s better at games than most.

But if you scoured Korea, you’d find someone more skilled, more entertaining, and cuter than her.

Take someone like Aurora, who debuted recently.

Even though so many talented people are buried in obscurity, Rinko wonders if she really deserves all the blessings she’s received just because she debuted early. That’s the question that remains unresolved for her.

If she had debuted with a different company, she would have been buried in obscurity as well. She wouldn’t have made much money, and she certainly wouldn’t have gained any popularity.

Yeah, she’s familiar with the saying, “Luck is a skill too.”

She’s not naive enough to think the world is fair. Someone will always get more than they deserve, while others won’t get the recognition they merit. That’s just the way things work.

Maybe being chosen as a first-gen VTuber for EYEAI was her skill.

But recognizing that and accepting it are two different things.

That’s why she craves strength of mind.

Even if she doesn’t make a lot of money, if she has strength of mind, she believes she’ll achieve something someday. Even if she’s not popular, with strength of mind, she’ll rise one day. Even if she’s criticized, with strength of mind, she’ll endure and overcome eventually.

As long as she can hold onto her sense of self, she knows she can succeed at anything. So, she wants to have that kind of strength—strength of mind that allows her to believe in herself.

But even now, four years into this, she doesn’t know how to gain that strength.

If you want to build muscle, you just have to push your body to its limits.

But why doesn’t the heart grow stronger when it’s put under stress?

Sometimes, no, every day, she wishes she could reincarnate into a martial arts world.

She thinks that if she could learn some kind of mental cultivation technique, she’d become a better person than she is now.

But this isn’t a world of martial arts or fantasy.

When she looks out the window in the early morning, she sees a world where people keep going, even when their spirits are broken, heading to work.

What mends a broken spirit, anyway?

She still hasn’t found the answer.

Chuseok was approaching.

Sora came over.

“Aren’t you going to head home?”

As I waited for my tea, I couldn’t help but ask.

Inagika went to Busan to spend Chuseok with her relatives.

Chel did the same, heading to Gangneung, where her grandfather lives.

“No, my family doesn’t really go anywhere for holidays. Dad even told me I didn’t have to come home.”

Sora leaned back in her chair, casually scrolling through her phone. She was ordering delivery coffee.

So, it was just me and Sora staying put.

During the holidays, all I do is make brief phone calls with my family. Honestly, ever since I became Aurora, my family has made me a little uncomfortable.

I still have memories of who I was before I became Aurora, but my family has none of that.

That’s why I try not to mess with any relationships I had before becoming Aurora.

In that sense, my social circle is incredibly small. Pretty much everyone I know or am friends with now is connected to the VTuber industry.

“Rion-senpai left too, right? You’d just be left making a mess if you stayed here alone. Since I don’t have anything better to do, I might as well stick around.”

She was talking like she was my mom.

‘Come to think of it, there’s been a weird meme going around about Sora lately.’

Something crossed my mind, and I opened my phone.

[Virtual iTuber Gallery]

[General] Sora is the mom of the 6th generation.

Overflowing with motherly love.

[Comments]

Lol, for real.

Finally, she’s pregnant with Laura’s child.

Wahh, Mama Sora… feed me… └ So, it’s not motherly love overflowing, it’s breast milk?

└ [This is totally Lucky Inagika’s doing]

└ When did this become a thing? LOL

[Fan Creation] ??? : “Why was Laura born so early?”

(Sora fan art)

“I wanted to give birth to Laura myself…”

[Comments]

LOL this is killing me.

Better than that other meme at least.

This kid is becoming more cursed by the day.

They’ll probably sell a yuri voice pack with Laura and Sora soon. LOL └ I’d buy it in a heartbeat. └ For real, when’s it coming out???

└ Did Laura and Sora beat Skotomo???

└ How long has it been since Skotomo last did anything..?

└ Just let it go, LOL.

└ Nope, can’t let go~ come back~ please~~~~

Apparently, Sora was my mom now. Funny how Sora’s younger than me, but somehow, she’s my mom.

“So, what’s a ‘voice pack’ exactly?”

“A voice pack? …Wait, why are you looking at that?”

Sora pressed the back button on her phone, embarrassed.

“It’s when you record roleplay scenarios and sell them. Like a Valentine’s Day voice pack or a summer festival one.”

“Sounds like a one-person play.”

“Yeah. It’s a pretty good deal, too.”

Record your voice, upload it to a download site, and you’re done.@@novelbin@@

I’ve heard that sometimes VTubers write the scripts themselves. In that case, it cuts costs even more, making it an easy product for companies to sell.

“We both have good voices, so maybe we’ll get a chance to do one soon.”

“You mean like a yuri voice pack?”

“…Not something so niche. More like an autumn voice pack or a Christmas one.”

Compared to 3D modeling, voice packs are cheap to produce. That’s why even newcomers like us often get opportunities to record them.

“Oh, the coffee’s almost here. I’ll go grab it.”

Sora, who had been checking the delivery rider’s location on her phone, stood up and left the room.

Shortly after, the door opened again.

“Where’s Sora? Did she go to the bathroom?”

It was Rion.

She was dressed to go out, carrying a suitcase.

“She went to pick up the coffee delivery. Are you heading out?”

“Yeah.”

Rion nodded.

Since that impromptu horror game collab, Sora had started visiting the house more often, and she and Rion had become friends.

As it turns out, Sora is just a year older than Rion. So, Rion, who used to call her “Sora-san,” recently started calling her “Sora-nee.”

If Rion hadn’t retired from VTubing, she’d probably still be calling her “Sora-san,” even in private.

Rion is diligent like that. She’d avoid calling a junior “nee-san” on stream, so it’s unlikely she’d ever use the term “Sora-nee” in public.

Though Nekozuka Rion hasn’t fully retired, she has no interest in streaming again.

“Are you going to make Sora play another horror game today… like last time?”

Rion narrowed her eyes as she asked.

I got in trouble for revealing during that last horror game collab that I was making an MV. And it wasn’t just Rion who scolded me—CEO Jung Ho-young gave me a talking-to as well.

“Well, I haven’t really planned anything for today, but Sora still has a bunch of unfinished horror games, so we might.”

“Isn’t that a bit cruel…? Tell me, do horror games even help improve Labyrinthos skills?”

Rion asked curiously.

I think she said something similar when I made her play Darkness Deception. She said Sora needed to learn how to stay calm.

“There might be some benefit, or maybe not.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that Sora needs to find the meaning for herself.”

I replied.

She’s probably learned a bit of calm by now.

Horror games are usually scariest the first time you play them, but after experiencing the same jump scares and deaths repeatedly, you start to get used to them.

You become calmer over time.

Especially when you’re watching someone else play after getting the hang of it yourself. It helps you see things more objectively.

She’s probably picked up some tricks by now, but it’s unlikely she’s seen a dramatic change.

“No one’s going to suddenly get good at Labyrinthos just from playing a few horror games.”

The problem with Sora is that she overthinks things.

Some people put way too much importance on small things, like farming CS or getting solo kills during lane phase.

They’ll take unnecessary risks just to grab a few more CS or score a kill.

But that’s focusing too much on the micro. CS and solo kills are just part of the process—they’re not the game itself.

“I just wish Sora wouldn’t put so much weight on the little things.”

But it’s not something you can just change with words. Her tendency to overanalyze everything and feel anxious is part of who she is.

To change that, she’d need to go through something extreme.

Or discover a bigger purpose on her own.

“Don’t push Sora-nee too hard. You’ve only just gotten close to her, and it won’t help if things get tense. We’re all supposed to be having fun in this tournament.”

Rion sighed as she spoke.

“Winning the tournament isn’t that important. It’s not even like you’re competing directly, so your reputation won’t take a hit.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“So just focus on beating Rinko-senpai. People will care more about that.”

With that, Rion pulled out her phone.

“I’m heading out. Don’t cause any trouble while I’m gone.”

And with that, Rion left.

“Rinko, huh…”

I muttered.

[iRadish Wiki]

2nd LabyrinthosVR League Summary

Top 3 Worst Players

Top 1. Kisaki Rinko (EYEAI / Korea)

The reason for the Black Team’s early exit.

Drafted as the Black Team’s 1st-tier pick, but ended with a disastrous -20 points.

Though the competition was tough, the fact that she didn’t live up to her role as the Black Team’s ace is undeniable.

Especially when you compare her to Son Nareum, who was drafted as the Black Team’s 2nd-tier pick and scored +22 points, it’s a painful comparison.