The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

Suddenly, I snapped back to reality.

Inside the capsule.

‘…Did I fall asleep while playing the game?’

Through the semi-transparent glass wall, I could see the familiar ceiling. Staring blankly at the extinguished lights, memories before I fell asleep began to resurface.

I had raised my duel rank to Platinum.

Then a sleep warning appeared, and I logged out.

Just as I didn’t feel hunger in the virtual reality world, I didn’t feel drowsy either. But as soon as I returned to reality, a strong wave of drowsiness hit me, and I ended up falling asleep inside the capsule.

This was a common occurrence for me.

Falling asleep in my chair while playing PC games was almost a daily routine.

It was because my body had become overly accustomed to the battlefield. Although I was once the cherished jewel of the Ducal Family, I had become quite used to rough living.

That was partly because I had lived rather roughly even before possessing Laura Iris.

And after becoming Laura Iris, I had been zealously tackling dungeons and gates.

My physical abilities had also been enhanced due to the influence of magic from dungeons and gates.

Currently, I was physically stronger than most adult men. That’s why I didn’t engage in sports.

I could sleep on the bare ground, and I could sleep sitting up.

I never felt uncomfortable after waking up. And my average sleep time was about 2 to 4 hours.

I emerged from the capsule.

‘Should I try Gate Assault Mode starting today?’

The first thought that came to my mind as soon as I woke up was that.

Since I had raised my duel mode rank to Platinum, I had a rough grasp of all the characters. So, I wanted to try the main content of 6v6 battles soon.

However, it wasn’t without concerns.

1v1 was quite straightforward. Farming, boss trials, and assassination play—these three strategies were the core focus.

But 6v6 would have more diverse strategies, not to mention larger and more complex maps.

Even though I understood the characters, I was still unfamiliar with 6v6.

I wanted to learn some team play first before diving into Gate Assault Mode.

“…Rion’s not here.”

There was no sign of life in the house.

It seemed Rion had gone out.

I was planning to ask her about Gate Assault, but of all times, she wasn’t here now.

Even when I looked over at the computer, of course, no one was sitting in the chair. Before I fell asleep, she had been editing videos there.

Now, only the light of the computer tower was flickering on and off.

…Flickering?

“The computer is still on?”

The monitor was black, probably in sleep mode. Did Rion leave without turning off the computer?

I sat down and turned on the computer.

【Do you want to save changes to Untitled?】

【Save / Don’t Save / Cancel】

The screen showed a notepad and an internet browser.

The notepad didn’t contain anything special. ‘File 1 – Dark Knight duel with Paladin,’ ‘File 62 – Dark Knight duel with Assassin,’ and so on were listed. It seemed she had opened the notepad to organize my replay records.

“Then what’s this?”

When I minimized the notepad that was covering the internet browser, other things that had been hidden came into view.

===

【Inbox】

[Re: I’ve finished the edited video. – I’ve reviewed the edited video. Attached is the electronic contract….]

[Nekozukarion is live: 【Labyrinthos】 It’s another ranking match today, nya!]

[Nekozukarion is live: 【Labyrinthos】 I won’t sleep until I hit Gold, nya!]

===

Inbox.

At first glance, it was obviously not my inbox. Which meant it was Rion’s inbox.

It seemed Rion had completed the edited video and sent it to the company.

And she had opened her inbox to receive the company’s reply, but when she tried to shut down the computer afterward…

“The computer didn’t shut down because the notepad file wasn’t saved.”

That sort of thing happens often.

I understood the situation.

Judging by the emails, it seemed Rion’s employment had gone well, and her absence might be due to her job. So she might return quite late.

‘But then again.’

A question suddenly came to mind. Isn’t everything progressing too quickly?

It made sense that Rion had completed the edited video in less than a day. She might have made a short video of about 1-2 minutes and sent it.

But sending an electronic contract right after receiving the video seems excessive, doesn’t it?

As her cousin, I was starting to worry a bit that she might be entering a shady company.

But that would be meddling too much.

Even though I had stumbled upon it because of Rion’s mistake, continuing to snoop in someone else’s inbox wasn’t a good idea. Rion was an adult and could handle her own affairs.

If I was really curious, I could ask her directly later.

So I decided to stop looking further and pressed the close button.

I was about to.

“Wait a minute…”

A sudden thought crossed my mind.

I searched Rion’s inbox using the keyword ‘Labyrinthos.’

Nekozukarion is live: 【Labyrinthos】 It’s another ranking match today, nya!

Nekozukarion is live: 【Labyrinthos】 I won’t sleep until I hit Gold, nya!

Nekozukarion is live: 【Labyrinthos】 Promotion match, nya!

Nekozukarion is live: 【Labyrinthos】 Demotion match, nya! Please save me, nya!

Nekozukarion is live: 【Labyrinthos】 The cat-eared princess who rules the Gate, nya!

Live stream notification emails.

What particularly stood out were those titled ‘【Labyrinthos】.’

“Right. Even if Rion’s not home, I could learn from a streamer’s broadcast.”

Of course, I was thinking about Gate Assault Mode.

Rion’s suspicious behavior? The game was more important than that.

Is the game a joke? The game is life.

Anyway, these days are all about the video era.

People nowadays might have lower literacy in text but higher literacy in videos, right? I vaguely remember hearing that people study using videos nowadays.

So I opened one of the emails.

‘Judging by the flood of live stream notifications, this must be a streamer Rion likes, right?’

Seeing the word ‘Gold’ in the subject line, I figured this wasn’t a particularly skilled player. If that’s the case, is this streamer more about personality than skill?

For me, watching a skilled player’s broadcast would be more informative, but unfortunately, I didn’t know much about streamers.

All I needed was a basic understanding of how 6v6 worked. I didn’t know any other streamers, so I might as well trust Rion’s taste this time.

With that thought, I clicked on the hyperlink.

[Nyan-nya-nyang! The cat-eared princess from the cat planet, VTuber Nekozuka Rion, is here, nya!]

[Nyang~. I was originally supposed to become the queen who rules the cat planet, nya! But I got bored and ran away to Earth, nya!]

[Nyang~? You want me to do a cute pose, nya? I can’t help it, nya! Here’s Rion-nyang’s sexy pose, nya!]

[Have you fallen for Rion-nyang, nya? Marriage is out of the question, nya! Rion-nyang is everyone’s princess, nya!]

“……”

…Cousin, is this really your taste?

***

[Nyang! Th-that…! Damn assassin bastard, nya!]

[I got caught again, nya! The enemy’s guerrilla tactics are so damn annoying, nya! Damn it, nyaaang!!]

VTuber ‘Nekozuka Rion’s’ broadcast was… surprisingly watchable.

It was a bit chaotic and dizzying, but there was a certain charm in the chaos. When things are so frustrating, it’s often entertaining in its own way.

The skill? Well, it wasn’t particularly impressive.

Still, I got a good grasp of how Gate Assault Mode worked.

【Welcome to the world of Labyrinthos.】

Having gathered all the information I wanted, I immediately launched Gate Assault Mode.

Then, something different from Duel Mode happened—a ban-pick phase. The results were as follows:

Allies: Dark Knight (me), Paladin, Dual Bladesman, Spearman, Archer, Saint

Enemies: Heavy Armored Warrior, Martial Artist, Gunner, Necromancer, Mage, Bard

[Paladin: Damn it. Assassin got banned.]

[Paladin: Dark Knight, can you handle splitting off?]

After the ban-pick phase ended, the Paladin said that.

‘Splitting off’ is a unique strategy used in Gate Assault Mode.

Of the six party members, five handle the main force, while one splits off to play independently. It’s similar to the jungler role in AOS games.

The split-off player usually focuses on disrupting the enemy’s main force.

While the split-off player distracts the enemy, the main force typically defeats the dungeon boss—or so I learned from ‘Nekozuka Rion’s’ broadcast.

“Yes, no problem.”

To be honest, it was somewhat what I had hoped for.

The Dark Knight’s skill set is specialized for gritty, drawn-out fights. I thought it was a good fit for a split-off role.

Moreover, since I had only played Duel Mode so far, I wasn’t yet used to coordinating with other party members. So for now, it seemed better to take on the split-off role.

With these thoughts in mind, the ban-pick phase ended, and the surroundings changed.

Cold air brushed against my cheeks.

The space was filled with icicles all around, including the ground.

While the map in Duel Mode is fixed, in Gate Assault Mode, the map changes randomly with each match.

【Game matched: Ice Cave Map】

【Please satisfy one of the following victory conditions.

– Defeat the boss of the gate.

– Annihilate the enemy team.】

The victory conditions had also slightly changed. Unlike in Duel Mode, where winning was about defeating a single opponent, in this 6v6 battle, you had to annihilate the enemy team.

After confirming the differences one by one, I looked around.

The allied team members were standing a bit dazed, probably just finishing loading.

“Dark Knight, we’ll go to the right. You go to the left.”

“Okay.”

I nodded at the Paladin’s words.

And as usual, I threw off my armor.

“……Dark Knight?”

“Then I’ll head out.”

I immediately parted ways with the team.

As the distance between us grew, I heard a faint comment from afar.

“…Is this guy a troll bastard or what, damn.”

***

“Isn’t this person the smurf account troll that was on the forums?”

Choi Changyoung, a VTuber with the setting of being the Commander of the 999th Division’s Direct Special Company, who was playing as a Necromancer, muttered while looking at the chat.