The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

【SerenadeKR Group Survivor Status (2/4)】

【Jungseok】

【Choi Changyoung】

【Elenoa (Deceased)】

【Mashina (Deceased)】

Noa was running late, and Shina, who had gone to the bathroom, was also oddly delayed.

It wasn’t until a little later that Changyoung realized the two of them had died.

“Huh?”

Noticing the survivor status displayed on his smartwatch, Changyoung’s face showed surprise.

As Jungseok saw this, he was about to ask what was going on—when the sound of a gunshot rang out.

-Bang!

A sharp crack resonated from the window.

Changyoung instinctively ducked his head, though his reaction was actually a bit late.

If they hadn’t replaced the windows with bulletproof glass for base reinforcement, he would have been dead already.

“What, what’s going on…!”

At the sudden gunfire, Jungseok got to his feet.

Changyoung opened his mouth to speak but had no idea what to say. He could mention that Noa and Shina were already dead, but the important thing was why the two of them had died.

What did the bullet embedded in the reinforced glass mean? How should he interpret this situation and approach it?

He needed time to process all of it.

But, of course, the other side didn’t intend to give him any time to think.

-Bang!

-Bang!

-Bang!!

Bullets kept flying toward them.

Of course, there was no way the reinforced glass would shatter.

But the repeated explosive sound and the cracks spreading across the glass inevitably agitated his nerves.

‘Stay calm… stay calm…’

Even as the bullets repeatedly struck the window, Changyoung finally managed to reassure himself that, at least for now, his life was safe.

However, his unease didn’t dissipate so easily.

What came to his mind was a news story he’d seen about an aquarium with reinforced glass that had broken.

When he saw it, Changyoung had been fascinated by how the reinforced glass had been destroyed. After some research, he’d found out that reinforced glass was strong against impact but weak against ‘torsion,’ which caused it to break.

Although Changyoung was playing the role of a virtual squad leader, he wasn’t exactly sure what would happen if bullets kept hitting the reinforced glass.

Would torsion cause the glass to shatter? Or would it hold up until the end?

“Hah… hah…”

Without realizing it, Changyoung let out a rough breath.

Though this was just a game, the realism in Deadraus’s games was excessive.

The lifelike immersion made him feel as if he were truly standing in the middle of a battlefield.

Standing on the edge of genuine terror, Changyoung hesitated for a moment, but he quickly realized that the longer he delayed, the more likely the reinforced glass would fail to protect him.

He stood up.

Through the spiderwebbed cracks covering the window, Changyoung saw it.

While the reinforced glass still held, he ducked his head again to secure his safety.

“Sora!”

“What?”

“Ayanokouji Sora! Aurora’s peer! 6th generation EYEAI!”

Changyoung, in a frenzy, relayed only the bare essentials to Jungseok.

Through the fractured glass, he had caught sight of Sora aiming a gun from a nearby building.

‘Was that a sniper rifle?’

It looked like a sniper rifle, though he couldn’t be sure. The distance made it hard to confirm the type of weapon.

Not that it necessarily mattered. Would it make any difference if it wasn’t a sniper rifle but an assault rifle?

How useful could a sniper rifle even be in a world like this?

It’d be much easier to handle zombies with an assault rifle, and a sniper rifle would only be useful in certain circumstances.

Like hitting an enemy from a distance.

Or accurately assassinating a living human, rather than a zombie.

“…EYEAI attacked us?”

When it came to strategy, Jungseok was much sharper than Changyoung.

Using the sparse information available, Jungseok assessed the situation.

“Why… wait, did they find out about the two vaccines? Did Noa or Shina say something…? So they attacked us to claim the vaccine??”

“Jungseok! This isn’t the time to think about that! Think about how to get out of this!”

Changyoung shouted, seeing Jungseok’s panic.

Though he seemed like a level-headed guy in glasses, he was clearly shaken by the unexpected turn of events.

Maybe it was just the nature of calculated people to collapse when things went off track.

Not that this was the time to blame Jungseok for his fragility.

-Bang!

-Bang!

The shots kept coming.

The increasingly damaged window seemed to mirror Jungseok’s fraying nerves. They kept firing at the reinforced glass, possibly aiming to destabilize their mental state, or so Changyoung guessed.

And the opponent’s tactic was working well.

Though Changyoung was keeping his composure better than Jungseok, the urgency of the situation slowed his judgment.

He still tried to maintain a cool head and understand the situation.

‘The reinforced glass won’t break anyway. Even if it does, we can just move to another spot.’

When he reached that conclusion, he realized there were probably more enemies than they had seen.

Now that he thought about it, how exactly did Noa and Shina die?

The whole building was reinforced with bulletproof glass.

And until now, they hadn’t heard any gunshots.

Conclusion: Noa and Shina didn’t die from gunshots.

Changyoung jumped up in alarm.

-Thud!

Just as he moved, the door swung open.

Laura, gun in hand, started to step in.

Changyoung had already flung a chair in that direction.

[Laura, watch out!]

“Oh my.”

A loud voice sounded from the radio in Laura’s left pocket. It was Sora’s shout.

From the cracked window, Sora had spotted Changyoung’s movement. Thanks to the alert, Laura easily dodged Changyoung’s attack.

Effortlessly evading the incoming chair,

Laura aimed her gun at Changyoung.

-Ratatatatata!!

Laura emptied an entire magazine with precision.

But Changyoung managed to roll across the floor, barely making it behind a desk.

“You damn…!”

Meanwhile, Jungseok took aim at Laura with a gun he had grabbed.

He pulled the trigger, and the muzzle spat out bullets.

“Could you refrain from swearing? It’s quite unbecoming.”

With elegance, Laura swiftly found cover.

Her relaxed demeanor, devoid of any tension, only made Changyoung and Jungseok more intimidated.

“Hah… hah… Aurora! What the hell is this!”

“Shall I ask you instead? What do you think this is?”

“Is this because of the vaccine…! I told you, we don’t have the vaccine on us!”

“Are you going to keep lying, even though it’ll eventually be found out?”

Laura spoke as she reloaded her magazine. She seemed excessively composed.

But Jungseok needed time. He needed to gather his composure and figure out a way to resolve this situation.

To buy some time, Jungseok spoke up.

“Fine! We had one extra vaccine! But does that mean you had to attack us!”

“Oh, Rion… my poor little sister.”

“…What?”

At Laura’s unexpected words, Jungseok blinked in confusion.

But Laura kept talking, undeterred.

“In this ruined world, what meaning is there in saving people or upholding justice? When you can’t even protect the family you treasure most. Justice can’t save anyone…”

As she said this, a single tear fell from Laura’s eye.

What…?

“My poor little sister… Your unnie will save you… sniff.”

With those words, Laura drew her knife.

It was an emotional performance, tears and all.

For a villainous noblewoman, shedding tears on command was a basic skill. To frame the heroine as a villain, one had to at least be able to do this much.

Of course, Laura wasn’t particularly fond of using this technique.

She only tried it because she thought it would be effective in the current situation.

They say the opposite of justice is simply another kind of justice.

Jungseok had his reasons for not handing over the vaccine, and Laura also had her own justification for starting this fight.

The line between good and evil was impossibly blurred. In such cases, the one with the more compelling appeal would dominate the game.

And especially considering that Laura had never shed a single tear after going through Blue Record, Authority’s Faith, April Fool’s Deception, or Clannad.

She was so emotionally dry that even her viewers would ask her, “Are you really human?”

That’s why this first—and possibly last—display of tearful appeal was powerful.

The viewers watching, Jungseok, and even Changyoung were caught off guard. Chel, who had been secretly watching the broadcast, felt spiritually satisfied, though.

“Ugh!”

Changyoung, almost reflexively, pulled the trigger.

While Jungseok and Laura had been exchanging words, Changyoung had somehow managed to reclaim his gun.

He had been waiting for a chance to catch Laura off guard, but her sudden tears threw off his aim, and he fired without precision.

However, Laura had anticipated Changyoung’s movements, so she dodged without difficulty.

By slightly tilting her head, the bullet embedded itself in the wrong wall.

In that instant, Laura closed the distance between herself and Changyoung.

-Bang!

-Bang!

Laura fired a couple of rounds into Changyoung’s shoulder, throwing off his tempo.

Then, without missing a beat, she swung her knife.

Summoning all his strength, Changyoung grabbed the blade with his hand.

“Jungseok!”

Changyoung shouted his name.

Jungseok nodded, immediately pointing his gun at Laura.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger—

-Thunk!

Something struck Jungseok’s head.

It was Shina’s severed head.

“Aaaah!?”

Seeing Shina’s head flying toward him, Jungseok let out a scream.

Immediately after, a sharp pain spread from his shoulder.

A bullet had struck Jungseok’s shoulder.

“Damn… missed the mark.”

Sora, who had just entered the room, muttered to herself.

How did she…?

Now that he thought about it, the gunfire outside had stopped for a while.

Although he’d only realized it after Laura’s sudden intrusion.

But had there been any point in paying attention to what was happening outside?

With the bulletproof glass in place, sniping was practically blocked. Unless it shattered, there was no need to worry about enemy support fire. Thus, he’d realized too late.

But how did she get in here?

He’d definitely seen her sniping from the adjacent building, so how did she get here?

‘Is that…?’

As Jungseok steadied his position, he noticed something in his line of sight.

A rope.

It was hard to see due to the cracks in the window, and his fear of the sniper had kept him from looking outside, but…

Now that he looked closely, a rope was stretched between the two buildings.

Jungseok wasn’t the only one who’d been buying time.

Laura, too, had been stalling, waiting for Sora to cross over via the rope.

‘How… is that even possible?’

Had she really crossed over on a rope?

Even an adult man would struggle with that, yet a woman had done it?

What kind of creatures were these sixth-generation talents…?

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Sora’s gun clicked into position, aiming squarely at Jungseok.

“Waaah!?”

Jungseok dashed toward the back door.

Leaving Changyoung behind.