The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

—

【Welcome to the World of Labyrinthos.】

The lighting was a bit dim.

The smell of alcohol stung my nose from all directions.

A rowdy atmosphere.

Empty liquor bottles rolled across the floor, and some people were shouting boisterously. Judging by their flushed faces, they seemed quite intoxicated.

A tavern.

No matter where I looked, it was unmistakably a tavern.

“An adventurer’s tavern, huh.”

I strolled through the tavern with a familiar gait.

I had been to this tavern a few times before.

Of course, not as Aurora, but as Laura Iris.

As the daughter of a ducal family, I didn’t really want to set foot in such a chaotic place, but I had to visit a few times to progress the story.

I had been accosted by some rough adventurers.

I had even trampled some of those adventurers underfoot.

For some reason, it felt nostalgic.

I sat down in a chair.

[Unnie, can you hear me?]

[Say something. I need to check if I can hear your voice.]

“Rion?”

[I can hear you, but your voice is a bit low. Hold on, I’ll adjust the sound.]

“Where are you talking from?”

I looked around, but Rion was nowhere to be seen.

[I’m monitoring you. If you connect the VR capsule to the monitor, you can watch from the outside.]

[That tavern is like a waiting room. When you log into Labyrinthos, you usually start in that tavern.]

[If you look at the table, there should be a menu. Can you check it out?]

Just as Rion said, there was a menu on the table.

A menu in a medieval fantasy world tavern? Although it seemed strange, I picked it up.

【Story Mode】

【Duel】

【Gate Assault】

[Do you see the three big buttons on the menu? I’ll explain them one by one.]

[Story Mode isn’t much. It’s like a tutorial that teaches you how to control the character.]

[Duel is a one-on-one mode, and Gate Assault is the main content of Labyrinthos where you play 6-on-6.]

“You seem to know a lot. Have you played this game before?”

[It’s a popular game, of course, I’ve played it. In fact, it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t played it like you, Sis.]

“Is that so?”

To think Rion had played Labyrinthos. It must really be a popular game.

Though it felt oddly strange, I could understand. Just looking at this ‘waiting room’ made it clear.

The realism and texture were so vivid that it was hard to believe it was virtual reality.

If the tavern was of this quality, I wondered what the ‘battlefield’ would feel like.

[I recommend starting with Story Mode.]

[In Story Mode, you can select a character and view their story while also learning how to control them.]

“No, thanks.”

I immediately pressed ‘Duel’.

[Wha…? Wait, you’re going into a duel without even knowing what characters are available?]

[Are you, are you crazy?]

Rion kept muttering something, but I continued without paying any attention.

Is there really a need for a tutorial?

I had lived in ‘that world’ for ten years.

—

“You’re so stubborn…”

Rion sighed in resignation.

She accepted it. After all, since she was living off of Laura, she couldn’t assert herself strongly against her.

At the same time, she thought, ‘Unnie must have her reasons too.’

Laura was arrogant and headstrong, but she wasn’t a fool without any sense.

Rion knew this better than anyone.

—

【Please select the adventurer you wish to play.】

【The following 8 characters are available for free.】

Frontline: 【Paladin】 / 【Barbarian】 / 【Dark Knight】

Midline: 【Archer】 / 【Gunner】 / 【Assassin】

Backline: 【Mage】 / 【Saint】

—

When Laura pressed ‘Duel,’ the menu screen changed.

Portraits of the eight characters appeared on the menu. This was how character selection was presented in Labyrinthos.

“If it’s among those characters, Paladin or Assassin would be good…”

Rion crossed her arms and muttered to herself.

The Paladin was the easiest pick for beginners. The Assassin was more difficult to use but was the best pick for duels.

However, Laura’s finger pressed the ‘Dark Knight.’

…That one’s difficult.

The Dark Knight was the exact opposite of the Paladin.

While the Paladin was a character that strengthened itself through buffs and skills, the Dark Knight weakened the opponent.

It wasn’t a bad pick, but it would be difficult for a newbie who just started the game. The Dark Knight had a slow movement speed and poor kill potential.

Without understanding Rion’s concerns, Laura locked in the Dark Knight.

【The Duel has been matched.】

【Please fulfill one of the following victory conditions.

– Defeat the Dungeon Boss.

– Defeat the other adventurer.】

As soon as Laura picked the Dark Knight, the pop-up window appeared, and the surroundings changed.

The wooden floor, once littered with bottles, transformed into a blood-soaked dirt ground.

And pieces of bone and flesh were scattered everywhere.

Laura’s appearance had also changed.

She was clad in black armor and held a blood-red one-handed sword. She looked every bit like a Dark Knight.

Laura tilted her head slightly and swung the sword a few times.

Then she immediately began stripping off the armor.

‘Ack?! Wh-why?’

Rion was startled.

The Dark Knight was classified as a tank in Labyrinthos. So, it was shocking to see Laura remove her armor, lowering her own defense.

But Laura didn’t stop.

She removed her helmet, gauntlets, shoulder armor, chest armor… even her boots, leaving her barefoot.

Now, Laura’s only equipment was a sword.

As if satisfied with that, Laura started running.

-Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of her footsteps echoed clearly.

Rion clutched her head in disbelief. ‘Making that much noise will give away her position to the opponent…’

The Duel mode in Labyrinthos wasn’t your typical PvP.

Normally, one-on-one PvP meant testing each other’s skills, but in this Duel mode, there were two victory conditions. You could either defeat the other player, or you could defeat the dungeon boss hidden somewhere in the dungeon.

In other words, if you couldn’t defeat the other player, you could go after the dungeon boss instead.

‘That’s why information is more important than skill.’

No matter how skilled you were, if your opponent avoided the fight, it wouldn’t mean much.

So, the sound of footsteps was crucial information.

But Laura was casually revealing her position.

[Oh.]

Laura’s laughter echoed from the screen.

Wondering what was going on, Rion saw a figure appear at the edge of the screen. Did the other player hear her footsteps and come to ambush her?

Rion thought so for a moment, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a person. Five goblins were blocking the path.

Neutral monsters… Similar to jungle mobs in AOS games.

They weren’t much different from actual jungle mobs. Defeating neutral monsters would grant you experience and make you stronger.

The basic strategy in duels was to grow stronger by killing neutral monsters, then use that growth to either defeat the boss or the opposing player──but Laura didn’t stop.

She only took down two goblins with a single slash and kept going.

‘Well… I guess that’s the right choice.’

Although defeating neutral mobs would make you stronger, it also took time.

The Dark Knight was a slow hunter, so she had deliberately chosen not to engage all the monsters.

‘…But how did unnie know that?’

‘It was strange for a newbie who just started the game to have such a deep understanding of the character.’

‘…Is it just my imagination?’

‘She probably didn’t know that killing monsters would grant experience. Maybe she just found fighting goblins bothersome and skipped it.’

Laura encountered a few more monsters, but she ignored them all the same.

After running and running, she finally reached a large door.

“A boss room…?”

A massive door, grand in scale. Anyone could tell that a boss awaited behind it.

The door was tightly shut.

Judging by the lack of any signs of it being opened, it seemed Laura had arrived ahead of the other player.

‘…Did she skip the monsters to get here first?’

It appeared that Laura had aimed to find the dungeon boss before her opponent from the start.

Thinking that way, her actions made sense.

She had removed her armor, despite the risk of lowering her defense, and had sprinted even though her footsteps might be heard by the enemy—all to secure mobility.

Though it was impressive for a beginner, Rion felt a bit disappointed.

‘She should have farmed more.’

Skipping most of the neutral mobs meant Laura hadn’t grown enough. In her current state, it would take a long time to defeat the dungeon boss.

The other player, who would have farmed, would likely arrive at the boss room soon.

Rion could easily imagine a future where Laura, fighting the dungeon boss, would be ambushed and defeated.

What a shame.

It would have been better if unnie knew more about Labyrinthos.

I’ll teach her some things after this game is over.

─Just as Rion thought that, Laura ran straight toward the wall.

“Ack?! Can a Dark Knight even do that?!”

Rion’s eyes widened in shock.

On the screen, Laura was running up the wall. It was parkour.

It didn’t take long for Laura to reach the ceiling. She quickly stabbed her sword into it and waited.

A moment of silence passed, with even the sound of breathing absent.

Then, a voice that wasn’t Laura’s broke the silence.

[…Strange. I thought I heard footsteps.]

In front of the tightly closed boss room, a grown man tilted his head in confusion. He had no idea what was above him.

Laura didn’t hesitate.

She pulled out the sword that was embedded in the ceiling and plunged downwards.

The weight of the sword sliced through his flesh.

-Slash!

Blood spattered.