LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 26 - Terrible Human Being
I stabbed the Dual Swordsman in the chest.
“Ugh, g-ugh…”
The Dual Swordsman struggled briefly, but soon all his strength drained away, and he collapsed onto the ground.
I glanced around.
The severed head of a horse. Next to it, a Cavalryman lay dead, his arms completely severed.
A giant wolf, its body drenched in blood as if it had been used as a rag. The Beast Tamer, having lost both legs, had his head crushed.
After stepping over the Dual Swordsman’s corpse, I also noticed the thoroughly destroyed mannequin puppet.
“Thanks to you, we were able to win. Thank you.”
I turned around.
There stood the Saint, with a somewhat awkward smile.
“N-no… it was all thanks to you, Dark Knight…”
“Hehe.”
I responded with a laugh instead of words.
As promised to Anna, I managed to take down three people.
It wasn’t purely by my own strength, though. Several conditions aligned in my favor.
I had been hunting neutral mobs, so my defense was slightly boosted.
As a result, I was able to withstand most attacks, and on top of that, the Saint’s support was substantial.
The Dark Knight’s ultimate skill,
At the same time, it enhanced the Dark Knight’s healing effects, which meant the Saint’s recovery skill was even more effective.
Thanks to that, the enemies, seeing the Saint’s skill effects shining brightly even in the darkness, went wild trying to capture her.
This allowed us to take advantage of their openings, making it easier to defeat them one by one than I had anticipated.
It seemed that the enemies were also wary of Anna’s covering fire. Their excessive caution toward the rear was noticeable.
‘Looks like Anna did well on her side, too.’
When I looked over there, the Enchanter was already dead, and the Puppeteer had collapsed, blood trickling from between her brows.
Anna, with a twisted smile, was about to finish off the last remaining Bard.
Watching her, I thought to myself:
‘But wasn’t that line just a little too much?’
I mean, this is being broadcasted.
***
===
【Virtual VTuber Gallery】
[General] “The Greatest Love Confession of Our Time.”
(Anna Fan Art)
“I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time.”
“I respect you. So please die.”
[Comments]
– Is she a sociopath? LMAO
– Our embarrassing Anna, no matter where she goes…
– I really thought she was a psychopath after hearing that LOL
– Maybe gaming is an illness after all
– Annaaaa ㅠㅠㅠ Smash the world ㅠㅠ Smash Louis’s palace too ㅠㅠㅠ
===
[General] It was hot today
I realized that the friction between Anna and Louis is literally setting the world on fire.
And when I thought that, it somehow started to smell good.
[Comments]
– I’m losing it
– Anna’s meme has evolved in such a weird way LOL
– Even polar bears would agree with this
– “Smells good” really? LOL
===
[General] Louis’s reaction after being violated by Anna
(Highlight Video)
“Huh?”
“What was that? A confession?”
“Hmm…”
“Did you know that female viewers are much more serious than male viewers?”
“Male viewers always jump ship to another VTuber at the drop of a hat.”
“Female viewers… there aren’t many of them, but some say they, um, pleasure themselves to my voice…”
“I just suddenly thought of that.”
[Comments]
– What…
– She’s really treating her fans like creeps LOL
– Is this for real?
– She’s talking so casually about something so bizarre LOL
– Is Anna a lesbian…
– Is this what they call ‘kill stealing’?
– Anna, thinking of Louis, masturbating to victory, LOL
===
“No, noooo!!”
Anna buried her face into the bed.
If she stayed like this, maybe she’d suffocate to death.
That’s what she was thinking.
“Arghhh!!!”
She pounded the innocent bed.
Why on earth had she done something so stupid? Anna muttered, her nose and mouth still buried in the bed covers.
Of course, there was no clear answer. Humans often believe they understand themselves well, but in the end, they’re tragic creatures that never truly do.
She had acted on impulse. That was the only explanation.
“Hoo…”
Anna flipped over onto her back.
It was common for VTubers to create embarrassing moments, and if viewers could turn her cringe into content, maybe it would bring some… relief? But could it really?
Even after thinking it over, she couldn’t just laugh it off. Humans are weak creatures, after all.
‘Was this how Rion-senior felt after her expose stream?’
Back then, it had been hilarious, but now that Anna experienced something similar, she felt a bit reflective. Though she had already apologized, maybe she should apologize again. She knew where Rion lived, so she could drop by with a gift.
“…Let’s shake it off. Let’s shake off this feeling.”
Anna got up and stepped into her VR capsule.
She booted up Labyrinthos and bought a name-change ticket, switching her username from V_ShirokiAnna to something else.
…In her current mental state, if someone recognized her, she felt like she’d die from embarrassment.
She queued for ranked games.
The character she chose was a Swordmage.
As soon as a team fight broke out, Anna slashed through a Dual Swordsman in one swift stroke.
“Hngh!”
The sensation of flesh tearing vibrated from the tip of her sword, and blood splattered, staining her face.
Since that day she participated in Louis’s stream, her ranked games had been going smoothly.
In fact, she was climbing fast. With her rank score rising steadily, she figured she’d hit gold soon.
It was strange. Until recently, she could only play support characters.
Now, she was cutting down enemies as a melee fighter like the Swordmage.
…Though, to get to this point, the cost had been high. On her first day, she’d truly died over and over…
Laura, despite her calm appearance, played extremely aggressively.
Dismemberment? That was nothing. Anna had been decapitated, sliced, dragged out, crushed, ripped apart… she had gone through every possible humiliation.
And at the end, she’d even been forced to kill her own idol with her own hands.
‘It’s all because of the Teacher…’
Anna’s defense mechanism blamed everything on Laura for her growing collection of cringe moments.
But, when standing in front of Laura, all complaints would vanish.
Because, let’s face it, her face was just too damn beautiful.
It wasn’t just her looks, though. There was an aura about her. Like no matter what you said, she wouldn’t budge an inch, which made Anna feel like voicing complaints would be meaningless.
Besides, Laura was undeniably skilled.
‘…Maybe the Teacher knew.’
That Anna was such a terrible person, that is.
In hindsight, it was all contradictory from the start.
How could someone who claimed they were content just watching from afar try to enter a tournament just to meet their favorite VTuber?
Looking back, becoming a VTuber herself had also stemmed from that. She wondered if it would give her even a small chance to get closer to Louis.
In the end, Anna had never been someone satisfied with just observing from a distance.
At first, she believed she was purely supporting Louis with an innocent heart.
But like they say, human greed knows no bounds, and now she realized that at the core of it all, there had always been a dirty desire lurking beneath.
‘…Streaming was always like that, I guess.’
For example, those who send donation messages. Do they really send money just to support the streamer?
They probably want their names to be called out.
Deep down, they want to have even a tiny impact on the life of their favorite, even if it’s essentially a one-sided relationship.
That’s why Anna no longer feared standing on the battlefield.
…No, that’s a lie. She was still scared.
But she realized that if she endured a little fear, she could gain something much bigger.
In the moment of death, she knew she’d be remembered.
And that’s why she believed she could make that final moment her own.
-Slash!
Anna severed the Paladin’s head.
“…What am I even thinking right now?”
Shaking her head, Anna took a deep breath.
…Had she been cooped up at home for too long? How had she ended up with such twisted thoughts…?
No, they weren’t that twisted. Wasn’t this the kind of thing anyone would think at least once? Sniping your favorite streamer and continuously getting kills on them—plenty of people did that.
And then they’d post it on a forum, saying, ‘I owned that bitch!’.
“Ughhh…”
Feeling like she’d glimpsed the darkest corners of human nature, Anna sank into self-loathing.
…It felt like the more she played, instead of shaking off her embarrassing moments, she was being forced to face them.
Streaming.
Yeah, streaming would do the trick.
Sure, the viewers would probably tease her mercilessly, but that was better than continuing to acknowledge her weird quirks.
Besides, she’d already prepared a safety net to deal with whatever teasing was coming her way.
【Labyrinthos】 Today, the Teacher has graced us once again 【Shiroki Anna/EYEAI】
As soon as the game ended, Anna logged out of Labyrinthos.
Even though there was about an hour left until the stream started, she had everything set up and decided to call early, worried that staying alone any longer would just lead to more strange thoughts.
“Teacher, want to chat before the stream starts?”
Naturally, Laura was already logged into Labyrinthos.
She spent most of her day gaming, so every time Anna checked, she was online in VR.
When Anna sent her a voice chat request, Laura responded immediately.
[Chat? What do you want to talk about?]
“Uh, well… nothing in particular… I just felt like chatting…”
[Hmm? Alright. I’ve actually been meaning to ask you something.]
Soon, Laura finished her game and entered Anna’s virtual space.
Her avatar looked exactly like her real self.
But perhaps because of VR’s nature, there was a slight chibi quality to it, so it didn’t carry the same intensity as her real-life appearance.
Still, it was impossible to look away from her.
‘She’s probably going to be famous one day.’
No, she was already well-known in Labyrinthos.
She probably wasn’t aware of it yet, though.
Who knows what Laura would become in the future? A pro gamer? A streamer?
And when she became a star, Anna could proudly say, I was a fan back when she wasn’t that famous.
Maybe that’s why she had invited Laura to stream together in the first place.
It was the perfect way to leave behind proof.
“So, Teacher, have you ever thought about becoming a streamer?”
Anna asked casually.
There’s a saying in the VTuber industry: if you think someone will become famous, be kind to them in advance.
That way, they won’t easily forget your kindness, and you can maintain a good relationship with them.
Anna had heard that somewhere.