The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

“It’s raining monsters, more than I expected.”

I looked up at the crimson rift floating in the sky as I spoke.

Before long, it flashed, and things like meteors started to fall to the ground.

All of those were monsters spewed out by the gate.

“The longer we drag this out, the more dangerous it will get.”

“That’s true.”

“We should split into two groups, Lady Laura.”

Cecilia suggested.

“Please hold off the monsters, Lady Laura. In the meantime, I’ll defeat the ‘Monster of the Red Mist’.”

“That’s quite an interesting plan. Although, it has two problems.”

“What might those be?”

“First, do you really think I can handle that many monsters?”

The sky rained down shooting stars like a meteor shower.

Dozens, maybe hundreds of them.

“Can’t you block them all, Lady Laura?”

“You underestimate me. Flattening them under my feet wouldn’t be hard. But if you don’t manage to kill the ‘Monster of the Red Mist’, I’ll have to keep working endlessly.”

The gate wouldn’t close until the ‘Monster of the Red Mist’ was dead. Which meant I’d have to keep fending off monsters for eternity.

“I know. That’s why I’m asking you to hold them off, Lady Laura.”

“And why is that?”

“Even though you’ve left the Academy, there are still many people who follow you. Only you can gather the survivors in hiding.”

That much was true.

The gate had swallowed the Academy, but there were still many survivors. They were just hiding somewhere for now.

The number of people capable of leading them was small.

His Highness, the Crown Prince, the most distinguished person in the country.

The son of the Grand Duke who was renowned in the North.

The Student Council President, who stood at the top of the students.

Other than them, perhaps the Academy’s headmaster or some faculty members.

If none of them were able to function, then a noblewoman like me might be able to lead the survivors.

“I believe it would be possible to handle the monsters if we cooperated with the survivors.”

“That’s likely.”

“And Lady Laura, the second problem you haven’t mentioned yet—is it perhaps this? That I, Cecilia Blonnie de Allemis, might be killed by the ‘Monster of the Red Mist’.”

Cecilia stood up from her wheelchair.

Finding the hem of her dress bothersome, she tore it apart, cutting off her sleeves for good measure.

Then, she drew the greatsword that had been resting behind her wheelchair.

“If I die, it just means I was nothing more than that. A human too small to overcome the trial.”

Carrying the greatsword on her shoulder, Cecilia walked away into the distance.

“We’ll see once we cross swords. Whether I devour the trial and kill the ‘Monster of the Red Mist’, or if I, Cecilia Blonnie de Allemis, get devoured and become food for the trial.”

“Cecilia.”

“If I die, you can return to your Duchy, Lady Laura. Thank you for your help so far. Even if I lose my life, I won’t forget this favor and will repay it.”

Leaving those words behind, Cecilia departed.

***

Even if one leg was severed, she still had the other. She supported herself on one leg, swinging her sword.

But Laura didn’t intend to leave things as they were.

She crashed her body into her, trying to throw off her center of gravity.

She gritted her teeth and endured, but the cost was terrible. One of her arms flew off.

But there was still something left. She swung her remaining leg.

The leg flew off, and now, all she had left was one arm.

‘…I can’t win.’

From the moment her planned falling attack failed, Rinco’s spirit had already broken.

She had kept attacking out of sheer momentum. She didn’t even know what kind of momentum it was.

She just swung aimlessly, kicked, and launched attacks devoid of thoughts or feelings, attacks that, unsurprisingly, didn’t work.

She was utterly broken.

No, maybe she had been broken from the start.

—“I’ll stop MadMask this time for sure.”

—“While you do that, Narin will break through their main force.”

She remembered her exact words from the past.

She had known, even as she told them, that she wouldn’t be able to defeat MadMask, nor stop him.

It was just stubbornness, or maybe arrogance.

Or perhaps it was simply the same inertia as today, or some twisted sense of professional pride as a VTuber.

She hadn’t admitted what she needed to admit, and the price was steep.

“A wall.”

Rinco, ejected to the waiting room with the word “defeat” displayed on the screen, muttered to herself.

She had felt it since the first time she fought MadMask. That she was just an ordinary person who happened to know how to play the game a bit.

Pro gamers were on a different level, and she had fallen before even touching that wall.

The overwhelming magnitude of the wall she had felt back then.

The guilt she had felt toward her teammates.

What could she possibly do now, with her passion long since burned out, leaving nothing behind?

Was there even any point in victory?

With such an empty core, she couldn’t possibly win.

In her heart, she had already lost to Aurora.

Round 3 would undoubtedly end in defeat as well.

【Arcade Mode: Underground Sewer Map】

【It is a dark underground sewer. The passageways are narrow, and dirty water flows right beside you.

You win by either defeating the opponent player or taking down the boss before them.】

With blank eyes, Rinco read the description of what would be the last round.

How should she wrap up the finale?

How should she pass the title of Labyrinthos representative VTuber of EYEAI over to Aurora?

She couldn’t think of anything else.

Having her arms and legs cut off again like before didn’t sound so bad.

Being utterly destroyed might make it easier to let go.

Thinking like that, Rinco locked in her choice as Gladiator──.

“Why did I cut off her arms and legs?”

Rinco stopped her click at the last moment.

She didn’t need to do that to win, did she?

Cutting off one leg was one thing, but was there really a need to thoroughly destroy her piece by piece? She could have just gone for her neck or stabbed her heart.

By the end, she had let her guard down, leaving herself full of openings.

A question.

After thinking for a moment, Rinco called Aurora through Discord.

[Senior? What’s the matter?]

Senior.

Aurora had called her that from the moment they first met.

Even though Ainatsu had quickly dropped the formalities, Aurora continued to treat her with respect.

Rinco didn’t understand why, but she decided to ask the question on her mind.

“Why did you go so far in the end? You could’ve won without cutting off my arms and legs, right? Oh, I’m not mad or anything, just genuinely curious.”

Rinco added quickly.

Aurora responded with a calm voice.

[Do you remember how Sora cried earlier?]

“…?”

Sora?

Why bring her up now?

“You mean when the Winter team won? And then she got auto-logged out from the VR capsule.”

[Why do you think she cried?]

“Well… because it was emotional?”

[I believe it’s because she was serious about it. If she hadn’t been serious, she wouldn’t have felt the emotion.]

That was true.

But what did that have to do with this…?

[So I was serious about it too. Isn’t that what makes things fun?]

“Hmm…”

Now that she thought about it, Laura was always thorough, even when it seemed like she was being reckless.

She was the type who, once she believed she had the upper hand, didn’t take unnecessary risks. She wouldn’t give her opponent a chance to reverse the situation if she could avoid it.

That’s why she was strong.

It wasn’t that she was particularly defensive. Every action she took was calculated, based on a sharp mind that accurately weighed risks and benefits.

‘And that’s probably why she’s been misunderstood.’

In any case, she understood now.

Even though Kisaki Rinco had fallen apart, Aurora had never let her guard down until the very end.

“I see. Thanks for answering.”

Rinco ended the call with Laura.

Once again, she was faced with the character selection screen.

As she looked at the Gladiator’s portrait, Rinco sat there, deep in thought for a moment.

“…I’m pathetic.”

Maybe she shouldn’t have asked at all.

There was nothing unusual about Laura saying she didn’t let her guard down. From Rinco’s perspective, Laura was like a flawless superhuman.

It was just that Laura’s example of Sora had bothered her.

Suddenly, Rinco started feeling pathetic.

Ayanokouji Sora. A junior who had only debuted about a month ago.

Though she showed some boldness compared to the other 6th-gen members, to Rinco, a first-gen member, she still seemed inexperienced.

Which was normal, of course. It was unusual for someone to be as fearless in front of their seniors as Aurora was.

To be honest, Rinco had underestimated Sora.

No matter how much Aurora had taught her, what could Sora really know about Labyrinthos? She had only had about a month to prepare for the tournament.

At least Anna had played Labyrinthos a little before, and then she received instruction from Laura.

But Sora had been a blank slate.

Rinco had thought she might be a burden to the team.

But results speak for themselves. The Winter team won.

She had taken the tournament more seriously than anyone else, and when they won, she had cried and automatically logged out of VR.

‘My juniors are better than me.’

“I’m the senior, though.”

The words slipped out in a mutter.

“Yeah… that’s what it was…”

And then she realized it.

Why Kisaki Rinco was standing here.

What Kisaki Rinco had to do moving forward.

What remained for Kisaki Rinco.

What meaning there was for Kisaki Rinco.

“…”

Her fingers trembled.

Fear and hesitation crept in.

It felt just a bit like she was dreaming a nightmare.

“…Because I’m the senior.”

With a sigh, Rinco clicked.

Trickster locked in.

***

There once was a first VTuber.

After witnessing the first VTuber’s success, many aspired to become VTubers themselves.

Then came those known as the Four Heavenly Kings of VTubers.

They represented the VTuber industry and, each with their own agency, took on juniors to guide them.

But all of that was in the past.

The era of 3D VTubers that dominated the scene was over, and the age of Live2D VTubers had arrived.

Due to profitability issues, many 3D VTubers chose to retire.

The VTubers once hailed as the Four Heavenly Kings began to vanish one by one.

Even the first VTuber ceased their activities.

Many who had pioneered the path of VTubers disappeared amidst failures and hardships,

But the VTuber industry kept turning.

—Tap.

—Tap.

In the darkness of the underground sewer, footsteps echoed.

Rinco, who had been standing there blankly, glanced over. In the distance, she saw glowing red eyes.

“Rinco-senior?”

Seeing Rinco just standing there, doing nothing, Laura called her name as if in concern.

A small flicker of fear stirred inside Rinco as she looked at Laura.

A wall.

She could feel it instinctively. She could never beat Laura, just like she couldn’t defeat MadMask.

But at this point, it didn’t matter anymore.

Winning or losing held no meaning.

“You probably wouldn’t understand, Laura, but in this industry, there are a lot of people who become VTubers because they admire other VTubers. Did you know that?”

Rinco asked.

Laura nodded.

“Anna is one of those cases.”

“That’s right. She said she liked Louis, didn’t she?”

Rinco chuckled. Last year, she participated in the same league and interacted with Louis.

It was rather amusing. Rinco herself was a VTuber from the same company, but Anna admired a VTuber from a different agency.

“I wonder if anyone became a VTuber because they admired me.”

“There must be.”

“Then, was I a VTuber worthy of their respect?”

“I think so. At the very least, I’m sure you were more respectable than Ainatsu.”

“So Ainatsu is already being called ‘that kind of person’?”

Not that it was surprising. Ainatsu kind of deserved that treatment.

“I want to be remembered as a good senior to you all. As a senior worth looking up to.”

“…”

“One day, you’ll all become seniors to someone as well. Maybe the 7th-gen VTubers will join next year.”

The VTubers who were once great have disappeared into the distant past.

But it’s because they existed that today’s VTubers can shine.

That common saying, ‘A senior is someone who leads their juniors’,

In other words, it means ‘A senior becomes sustenance for their juniors’.

Rinco—

She yanked her left hand.

—Sssh!

“Oh my.”

Blood spurted from Laura’s left arm.

Laura reacted quickly, so it didn’t turn into a severe wound, but it wasn’t a small injury either.

It must have caught her by surprise.

That Rinco would pick Trickster.

“Have you ever tried the story mode in Labyrinthos?”

As Rinco fiddled with her fingers, a ‘piano wire’ slipped into her palm.

Predicting where Laura would come from, Rinco had set up piano wires and other traps all around and pulled them, slashing Laura’s arm.

“The Gladiator in story mode says this: Anything that can’t kill me is just a trial.”

Rinco tucked the piano wire away and adjusted her grip on the sword in her right hand.

A foil.

The Trickster’s primary weapon.

“──From now on, I’m your trial.”

Aurora.

Devour me and grow stronger.

Or crumble under the weight of this trial and die.

Now, I only have one thing left.

That I am your senior.