Chapter 72: Chapter 71

Chel was crying.

[We will protect our daily lives! Our freedom!]

[Awoouuuuu!!!!]

“Sniff…”

Tears blurred Chel’s vision, making it impossible for her to read the text properly.

She had been playing Blue Record, or Bluereco for short, since the beginning of her debut.

It was a game she had started by chance, but to her surprise, it was a lot of fun. Two months into her VTuber career, Chel was still streaming Bluereco. She figured she’d continue doing so in the future.

Though she had been too busy with tournaments recently to stream the game.@@novelbin@@

Now that the tournament was over, Chel could finally return to streaming Bluereco, and the overwhelming emotions of the game had brought her to tears.

‘I have to tell everyone about this.’

It was such a great experience, yet so few people knew about it. That was a tragedy in itself.

Chel stood up.

An empty wasteland. In the distance, a man stood.

An X-shaped scar was etched across his cheek. In his left hand, he held a sword, and in his right, a blade made of pure light.

A dual-wielder.

Facing him, I was empty-handed. I didn’t have any weapons.

We locked eyes, sizing each other up.

The dual-wielder moved first. Without hesitation, he used a charge move, , to close the distance between us.

He swung his sword with his left arm first, and I caught the blade with my hand.

.

With a swift twist, I yanked the sword from his grip.

But it seemed he had expected this. He immediately swung the light blade with his other hand.

I had no choice but to thrust the sword I had just grabbed forward.

Clang!

The sound of two blades clashing. The force from the impact vibrated through the hilt I was holding.

Thanks to a passive ability that prevented me from injuring my hands on sharp objects, I was fine for now. However, if this power struggle continued, it would become a problem.

I was holding the middle of the sword. It felt more like using a dagger than a sword.

No, it was worse than a dagger. The blade was too short, and the handle was too long.

And I wasn’t even holding it by the handle, making it hard to apply force.

Meanwhile, the dual-wielder, though he had lost one sword, was handling the remaining one properly. He had a clear advantage in this struggle.

If this power struggle continued, I would definitely lose.

Thinking fast, I kicked the ground.

Thwack!

The dual-wielder seemed to anticipate a kick and moved to defend, but I hadn’t intended to attack with my kick.

Dust from the wasteland rose up, hitting his face. I quickly closed my eyes and held my breath.

Cough, cough.

Caught off guard, the dual-wielder coughed.

In that brief moment, I slipped behind him and plunged the sword into his back.

Thud!

Blood splattered, and the dual-wielder fell to the ground.

A faint sigh followed.

“…Wasn’t that a bit of a cheap shot?”

Rinko’s voice echoed.

The image of the dual-wielder flickered, and her avatar returned to its original form.

“Oh please, it was just a smart use of the map’s features,” I said.

“But winning like that doesn’t feel very meaningful, does it? …It’s just practice.”

Rinko stood up, clearly unimpressed.

“You should be trying to win using only your character’s abilities. Besides, this kind of tactic might work once, but it won’t work twice.”

“True.”

I nodded honestly.

Rinko and I were currently sparring.

The purpose of this training was for me to expand my character pool.

After mastering the Dark Knight and Berserker, I was now practicing a new character—the Thief.

“You should probably have a third character in mind, right? Solo queue has three bans,” Rinko had said. “What will you do if both Dark Knight and Berserker get banned?”

That had never happened, but Rinko wasn’t wrong. In fact, she had a point.

‘Even if it’s fine for solo queue, tournaments are a different story.’

Just recently, there had been the EYEAI Cup Labyrinthos tournament.

As a VTuber, I figured I’d be participating in more Labyrinthos tournaments in the future. Even if it wasn’t a major event, there might be casual matches, internal tournaments, or collaborations with senior VTubers.

In internal tournaments, targeted bans were common, and it was very likely that both Dark Knight and Berserker would be banned, just as Rinko said.

‘Not that I don’t have other characters.’

I could also play classes like the Tech Mage, Alchemist, or Magic Swordsman. But none of them felt as natural in my hands.

“What about trying the Thief?” Rinko had suggested. “It’s a bit like the Dark Knight.”

And that’s how I ended up giving the Thief a try.

Honestly, I wasn’t thrilled with the character. It felt like I was playing a petty criminal.

‘A noblewoman like me, playing as a common thief?’

Nobles valued honor above life itself. So naturally, the Thief class hadn’t appealed to me.

But after trying it out on Rinko’s strong recommendation, I had to admit there were similarities to the Dark Knight.

The Thief had a skill called . It allowed you to snatch your opponent’s weapon and use it yourself.

Of course, a weaponless opponent was at a clear disadvantage.

In that way, it was similar to the Dark Knight, weakening the enemy.

And it did have a satisfying feel to it.

“To think I was once the most noble lady in the empire, and now I’ve sunk so low,” I sighed dramatically.

“Don’t be so dramatic. You’re not going to play the Thief often anyway. It’s more of a last-pick option.”

Rinko dismissed my theatrics with a smirk.

Ever since we shared a meal of soup the other day, Rinko had been pulling me into more Labyrinthos training sessions like this.

It was part of her rehabilitation after a long break, and at the same time, I was preparing for the Fantasy League.

“Think of the Thief as a wildcard. No team’s going to ban it on purpose, but just knowing that you can play it will make them hesitant to pick weapon-reliant characters.”

“Good point.”

I nodded again, taking in Rinko’s advice as a league veteran.

There was something I hadn’t told Rinko, though. I hadn’t actually applied for the Fantasy League yet.

Rinko seemed to think I was definitely going to participate.

‘But I’m not so sure.’

I knew that participating in the league would bring many benefits: more subscribers, networking opportunities, sponsorship offers, fame, and fun.

The prize for winning was also tempting.

There was a special title and badge, and they even created a custom skin for one of your characters.

‘Hmm... I wonder if I could get my noblewoman outfit made for Dark Knight or Berserker.’

It wouldn’t suit them, but it was a fun thought.

Anyway, while I was interested, I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of competing.

The thought of gaining more subscribers or connections didn’t really appeal to me. I was already quite satisfied with where I was.

So I felt like I needed something more compelling to convince me.

Perhaps that’s why I was more interested in the other participants than the rewards.

There was MadMask, the player who had once given Rinko nightmares.

Anna, who was aiming to join the Fantasy League, and Rui, who had inspired her.

Then there was Son Narin, who had been branded a traitor and constantly compared to Rinko, and who had also declared she would be competing this year.

Finally, there was Navie, a female pro-gamer, and the VTubers from Horizon Air, who had also announced their participation.

[Are you busy right now, sis?]

Lost in thought, I suddenly heard a voice in my head.

“Rion?”

“What is it, Rion?”

“Rion’s calling me.”

I told Rinko, who was overseeing my training, to wait for a moment and answered Rion. Today, Rion was working from home.

“What’s up, Rion?”

[A guest has arrived, and I think you should come meet them.]

A guest?

“Let’s play Bluereco.”

The guest—Chel Sumeragi—said this out of the blue.

“What are you talking about, showing up out of nowhere?”

“It’s a god-tier game.”

“A god-tier game, huh…”

Whether or not Bluereco was a “god-tier game” depended on how one defined that term.

Some people said the game design of Bluereco wasn’t great.

However, the game wasn’t really designed for all players to have the same experience. You had to take that into account.

I wouldn’t say the game design was bad, but it was clear that Bluereco was more praised for its story than its mechanics.

“Regardless of whether it’s god-tier, why are you here?”

“You should play Bluereco, Laura.”

Chel spoke with a conviction I wasn’t used to seeing from her.

“And why is that?”

“Because it’s a god-tier game.”

“I see.”

I understood now.

I knew exactly how to handle Chel and what I needed to do.

I took a sip of the tea Rion had made for me.

“Rion, you handle this.”

“…What?”

“You’re my manager, aren’t you?”

That was the end of the conversation.

Hi, Rion. Now translate whatever Chel’s trying to say to me.