Masina and Vincent, despite putting up a fierce offensive, had ultimately cornered Laura with a calculated surprise attack. However, their concentration wavered, and they lost rounds two and three in spectacular fashion.
Masina, promotion match failedâ¦!
"Aaaagh!! Lost again! Aaaaaaagh!!!"
"Oh, shut up, lol"
"Did you get wrecked again?"
"Officer! We have a public menace here!"
"Ugh⦠Iâm a baby unicorn⦠I love this stuff."
"Give me some sympathy, damn it! Aaaaaagh!!!"
Masina, whose wits had clearly suffered from the defeat, was throwing a tantrum. She was definitely acting below her age.
Vincent, on the other hand, was the picture of composure, staying silent.
"Not bad," he thought.
He was taken aback, and he was surprised that he was so taken aback.
Vincent had faced pro gamers before when he participated in the Streamer DAG event last year. Heâd been awed by their skills at the time, but what he was feeling now with Laura was different.
"Whatâs different here?"
He pondered over the question.
Then, he found the answer: Laura, compared to pro gamers, was more⦠raw.
He couldnât quite explain it, but she felt like a wild beastârough and unrefined. She was supposedly a disgraced noble duchess, and yet she fought like an animal.
She was a wild beast with a hint of intellect. That was the impression he got.
If pro gamers are like humans striving for mechanical precision, Laura was oddly unique in her approach.
"So thatâs it. She has a different approach."
There are players in open-world RPGs who bring completely different gaming logic, like from fighting games or soul-likes. They play and enjoy the game differently.
In open-world RPGs, item builds and skill setups often matter more than raw physical skill, which is why top-tier players aren't always the best in combat. But when the moment calls for it, they can display incredible peaks in physical performance.
Laura was likely bringing a completely different logic to Labyrinthos.
He wasnât sure what logic it was, butâ
"Iâll see her again someday."
There are plenty of Labyrinthos tournaments. Not just the Illusion League, but others too. Plenty of VTubers even host their own private tournaments.
Laura was already gaining fame as a specialist in Labyrinthos.
If she wanted to, sheâd get plenty of calls to join tournaments. So, sooner or later, theyâd face each other again, and heâd have another chance to compete.
"How can I defeat her?"
He was contemplating that question.
Was it a matter of pride? Humiliation?
No, not really.
Vincent didnât particularly love or hate losing. It was more like a puzzle had been placed in front of him.
If you think of raid games, it might be easier to understand. The best part of a raid game is figuring out how to bring down the raid boss.
Countless failures and retries. When the strategy finally clicks, and you crush the boss's patterns, the rush is indescribable.
"How can I bring down Laura?"
A puzzle was sitting right in front of him, and he wondered if he could solve it.
Thatâs why he found himself brooding over it.
"Laura, I really hate you! Aaaaaagh!!!"
Meanwhile, Sina was ranting away.
Vincent, of course, ignored her.
"Congratulations on the promotion!"
In the post-game waiting room, I was being congratulated.
The chat was flying by so quickly it was hard to read, and donation messages kept popping up.
Narim, who had played the game with me, was also clapping in celebration.
"No need to make a fuss. It was the expected outcome," I said, pulling up a virtual tea set.
I felt satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment, but it wasnât overwhelming. Iâd achieved rank one in various games before. Master rank was just another stepping stone on my long journey to Dominator.
If it werenât for the Illusion League, I might have taken longer to reach this point. Achieving Master this early would probably reduce the fun moving forward.
"Ahaha⦠youâre such a villainess, after all!" Narim said, still clapping. Whatever she meant by that, she didnât stop applauding. This one sure talks a lot.
Honestly, playing with Narim left a more significant impression than reaching Master rank.
I had funâmore than usual.
"Sheâs a lot like me," I thought.
Even though I hadnât played with Narim for long, Iâd gotten a pretty good read on her.
Sheâs the exact opposite of Rinco, Iâd say. She has this fierce determination and hates to give up on anything.
"Not quite the same as me, though."
Whereas I would do anything for victory, Narim would do anything to avoid giving up.
They might look the same on the surface, but theyâre fundamentally different. Yet, for this game, our goals aligned, and I think we demonstrated some excellent teamwork.
Thereâs a unique pleasure when teamwork clicks like that, something I rarely feel playing solo.
It had been a long time since I felt that kind of enjoyment. It was an incredibly fun game.
"Since we met here, how about adding me as a friend?"
It seemed Narim felt the same way.
"My contact info isnât cheap, but since we won, Iâll make an exception. You may rejoice," I replied with a smirk.
"Thank you! Iâd love to duo again sometime!" she said, beaming.
"Not a bad idea. If we put together a solid composition."
"Sounds good! By the way, youâre entering the Illusion League, right?"@@novelbin@@
"Indeed."
I nodded.
I knew Narim was entering the Illusion League
this year too.
She has an advantage over other applicants. After all, she has experience from last yearâs league.
"Especially this year, Narimâs got an edge."
Each team is led by four captains. Two new captains replaced others this year.
New leaders often lean on experienced sub-leaders or sergeants, right?
The two pro-gamers who became captains this year donât know the Illusion League's atmosphere, so theyâll probably want to bring in streamers with league experience.
Narim, having not only participated but also performed well last year, would certainly get picked.
"If weâre on the same team, itâll be fun," I said.
But thenâ
"Not a chance!" Narim firmly rejected.
"Iâm hitting Master this year, too! So Iâll be Tier 1, and youâll be Tier 1 too!"
"True."
Each team drafts one streamer per tier. They canât draft more than one streamer from the same tier.
So if Narim makes Master, we wonât be on the same team.
"Then next time, weâll be enemies."
A bit disappointing, I must admit.
Our teamwork clicked, we worked well together, and there arenât many people on my level.
But it canât be helped.
"Next time, Iâll be slicing through your neck."
I left her with that thought.
After parting ways with Narim, I queued up for Duel Mode ranked matches.
Unlike Gate Conquest Mode, Duel Mode doesnât have a time acceleration system. Itâs a single-round game mode instead of the maximum five rounds of Gate Conquest Mode. Also, the maps in Duel Mode are smaller, so each match ends much faster.
Thereâs no banning or picking phase; characters are chosen blind. Duel Modeâs character tiers are pretty well established.
Honestly, if you pick a Tier 1 character, youâre almost guaranteed a decent win rate.
Of course, since everyone picks high-win-rate Tier 1 characters, some players bring out Tier 2 characters to counter them.
But thereâs a reason Tier 2 characters are Tier 2. They might have a slight edge over Tier 1, but they often struggle against 1.5 Tier characters, which lowers their win rate.
If you consider whether to pick Tier 1, Tier 2, or some hidden gem, racking up rank points isnât too difficult.
Iâm only in Diamond rank, after all. At the Dominator level, things get more intense, but in Diamond, you can win without too much effort.
So after a few rounds in Duel Mode and leaving some last-minute matches for later, I climbed out of the capsule to hearâ¦
âI wish youâd all just die~⪠I wish youâd all just die~⬠I wish everyone would die~âªâ
Rion was singing a rather suspicious tune.