The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

That was something that happened last night.

[W-Would you like to meet in front of the company tomorrow…?]

Inagika had contacted me.

“Well, we’re all going to meet at the company anyway, so are you suggesting we meet alone?”

[Yes… that’s right…]

“I don’t understand. Why are you making such a troublesome request?”

[Meeting the others makes me nervous…]

Inagika mumbled.

[I haven’t had a proper conversation with Chel yet… I’ve talked with Sora, but Sora… she makes me a bit uncomfortable.]

“Uncomfortable?”

[Sora is an extrovert… She must’ve been really popular during her school days, unlike someone like me…]

There was certainly that vibe. She did seem the most approachable from the first encounter.

But she was also quite fake.

She didn’t reveal her true self and just tried to maintain a good image.

‘Come to think of it, she’s the most noblewoman-like person I’ve met so far.’

Granted, there weren’t many people I’d met since my return. Rion, Anna, Inagika, Chel, Sora. Even including CEO Jung Hoyoung and Manager Lee Jungwoo, it only made seven people.

Noblewomen are always skilled at wearing masks. They consider it a virtue to hide their weaknesses.

That’s why socializing with noblewomen is quite exhausting. It feels like you’re not having a conversation but rather acting in a play.

In that sense, I could understand why Inagika felt uncomfortable around Sora.

In ‘that world’ I lived in, commoners were always uncomfortable around nobles.

Nobles saw wearing masks as a means of survival, but commoners hated such things.

Inagika and Sora’s relationship seemed a bit like that.

[S-So I’m a bit scared to meet with Sora or Chel…]

“And what about me?”

[You’re the one I feel most comfortable with among the others… If you come with me, I’d feel a bit more at ease…]

Apparently so.

I was being loved again.

Sigh.

‘It’s starting to feel a bit overwhelming.’

I hadn’t even shown my face to Inagika yet, but just my voice had captivated her.

But this, too, was the fate of a noblewoman. Being loved by everyone was a daily occurrence, a responsibility I had to bear.

Had my capacity been smaller, I might have been crushed under this heavy burden, but fortunately, I was a person great enough to be compared to Atlas.

“Fine. I’ll generously grant your request.”

And so, today, the day after yesterday, I arrived at the company in a car driven by Rion.

“Drop me off in front of the company. I’m meeting Inagika.”

“Really? Well, I have some things to do, so I’ll head in first.”

I sent Rion ahead, opened my parasol, and stood under the blazing sun.

By the way, I’m resistant to both heat and cold. The scorching heat of summer couldn’t even scratch me.

During my time at the Iris Ducal Family, I had gone to a volcano a few times. Compared to that, this heat was nothing, and I quickly grew bored.

Just standing still felt a bit tedious, so I took out my phone.

‘Might as well watch some of the streams from my fellow trainees.’

Although I watched them occasionally, I prioritized games (streams), so I couldn’t say I had properly kept up with them.

Now that I had free time, and since I would soon meet them in person, it wouldn’t hurt to learn a bit more about them.

I clicked on the archives of my fellow trainees in order.

Inagika had been doing normal game streams.

Quonshin, Destruction: Moon Rail, and Lighting Wave. Lots of gacha games.

In chat streams, she talked about TRPGs and even mentioned wanting to play mahjong or poker. I wondered if she liked board games.

Chel was also doing game streams.

However, it was quite different from Inagika’s style.

Her main content was Blue Record. Aside from that, she played Ib, a free horror game, and The Witch’s Mansion.

I clicked on one of her streams, and Chel was dubbing everything herself. She seemed to use her ability to produce different voices effectively in her streams. Incidentally, Blue Record was also a gacha game, but its main story had no voice acting.

Chel also did anime watch-along streams, so she had quite a varied content lineup.

Lastly, Sora mainly did music streams.

‘Her gaming skills aren’t great.’

Of course, she couldn’t sing every day. So, her chat streams (zatsu) took up a significant portion, and recently she had been playing Rave the Diver.

But her control was… lacking.

‘She’s the type to button-mash in fighting games.’

I quickly figured it out after watching a bit. It seemed like she was playing without much thought.

Her enthusiasm was ahead of her, and she kept getting killed by fish. Because of that, all the items she had collected were lost.

-Can’t even play properly, LOL

-My eyes are rotting, they’ll soon become fermented food.

-Learn to play better, loser!

-Let’s just sing instead..

“Hmph.”

She had chosen a game that didn’t suit her.

Well, there’s a certain fun in watching someone be terrible at a game, but only up to a point. It quickly became frustrating to watch.

She was great at singing, though.

“…Aurora?”

A voice calling my name snapped me out of my thoughts.

“That voice… It’s Sora.”

I recognized it instantly.

I had just been watching her stream. Not to mention, I never forget a voice I’ve heard once.

As I slightly raised my head, I saw a woman standing there, staring at me blankly.

The first impression I got was ‘college student.’

She seemed about the same age as Rion.

But she had a more mature image compared to Rion. At the same time, there was a slight cuteness about her.

She was wearing a black mask that covered about half of her face, and it suited her quite well.

“Are you really Aurora…?”

Sora asked in a surprised voice.

I tilted my head slightly.

“If I’m not Aurora, who do you think I am?”

“That tone… You really are Aurora.”

Click.

Click.

Sora quickly approached me.

The shade from my parasol slipped over the top of her head.

She looked at my face with a fascinated expression.

“You look exactly like your model…”

“Of course. The model was made based on my face.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s no character design more beautiful than my face.”

“…Are you serious?”

Sora crossed her arms, speechless.

She kept staring at me as if she were scanning me, her eyes filled with curiosity.

There was no emotion in her gaze. It felt like she was deeply pondering something.

“Why are you standing here instead of going in?”

Sora’s lips moved.

Though she spoke, it didn’t seem sincere. It felt like she was just blurting out words as a reflex.

Her eyes were still fixed on my face, and she seemed mentally distracted.

“I’m waiting for Inagika.”

“Inagika?”

“She asked to meet in front of the company. But when is she planning to arrive?”

It had been quite a while already, yet Inagika had shown no sign of arriving.

To make a noblewoman like me wait… how bold.

As expected of my peer, she wasn’t to be underestimated. Then again, she had to be this level to be my peer.

I couldn’t help but smile and looked around, only to realize my assumption was wrong.

Inagika wasn’t late.

Far off in the distance, hiding behind a streetlamp…

A woman was peeking at us, fidgeting.

“Eeek…”

The moment our eyes met, she quickly turned her head away.

It was my first time seeing Inagika in person, but there was no doubt it was her.

***

She was losing her mind.

Sora was aware that she wasn’t in her usual state.

‘…Thank goodness we’re sitting side by side.’

That’s what she was thinking.

In the EYEAI conference room. The 6th generation VTubers were sitting next to each other.

From the outside in, the seating order was Sora, Aurora, Inagika, and Chel.

If Sora turned her head slightly, she could see Aurora’s profile.

Sora found herself glancing at that profile without thinking.

‘I keep staring at her…’

It was a natural human reaction, Sora thought.

People rewatch impressive scenes in movies or anime. Or they might keep looking at certain scenes in a comic book.

She thought it was the same thing.

In other words, she had been captivated by Aurora’s face…

‘I don’t want to admit it…’

There are times when you have to admit something, even if you don’t want to.

If she had been sitting across from Aurora, she would have stared at her face the entire time.

There was a kind of charm that drew your gaze beyond beauty. Honestly, it felt less like looking at a human and more like gazing at a snow maiden.

She recalled ghost stories of people being bewitched to death.

Until now, she hadn’t understood what it meant to be bewitched, but the ghosts in those stories probably mesmerized people in the same way.

Thanks to that, she couldn’t concentrate on the meeting.

“We hope the 6th generation will do a collaboration soon.”

“Do you have any ideas for activities you’d like to do with your fellow 6th generation members? Please feel free to share any ideas.”

“We also need to decide on a group name for the 6th generation. If you can’t think of anything, we could choose it with the viewers during a collaboration stream.”

Rion, sitting across from them, kept speaking.

Sora responded to each question, but honestly, she couldn’t remember what she had said. Her mind was elsewhere.

“We’re planning to produce a music video for the 6th generation. Is there a song you’d like to perform, Sora?”

“Uh… maybe Bump of Chicken’s Aristogenesis?”

“Aristogenesis sounds great. I really like that song too. Any other suggestions?”

She had just blurted it out, but Aristogenesis was eventually chosen. Since Sora was the most musically experienced among them, it seemed natural that her suggestion was accepted.

But she didn’t feel particularly happy or annoyed about her opinion being taken. She felt indifferent.

And when she came back to her senses, she found herself staring at Aurora’s profile again.

“Sigh… Get a grip…”

Sora lightly shook her head.

She felt like she was on the verge of losing herself.

If she lost her sense of self, she had no idea what would happen next, and she didn’t want to know. No one likes to be swept away; everyone wants to stay in control.

Besides, judging by the atmosphere of the meeting, it seemed like she was naturally being considered the leader of the 6th generation.

Chel, as usual, hadn’t said a word, just like in their Discord chats.

“Uh, I think Aristogenesis is good too…”

Inagika, almost like a yes-man, always went along with the majority and rarely voiced her own opinion.

And Aurora…

“What kind of song is Aristogenesis? I’d like to listen to it first.”

…She really didn’t know much about VTubers or subcultures.

Strictly speaking, Aristogenesis might not be considered part of subculture, but still.

So, leading this group was naturally Sora’s role.

‘So what if she’s pretty? It doesn’t matter.’

VTubers don’t rely on their looks to succeed; it’s all about what’s inside, their voice, and their wit. Why had Aurora even become a VTuber? With that face, she would’ve been better off as a streamer or model.

Not that I’ll be seeing her face all that often.

VTubers usually conduct their meetings online, and gathering in person like this is actually pretty rare.

I shouldn’t be shaken.

To succeed in the long run, mental fortitude is key. All I need to do is stay centered.

“Oh, would you all like to have lunch together after the meeting? I’d like to treat you.”

Rion said.

What.

“Sounds good. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten out.”

“I’m fine with it…”

“I don’t mind.”

In moments like this, the others responded quickly.

It felt odd to refuse now.

“S-Sure… I’ve been thinking we should have a meal together at some point…”

Sora stammered, trembling slightly as she answered.

And she couldn’t help but look at Aurora’s face as she spoke.