The Virgin Hunter Who Became a Popular Streamer

On that battlefield, where heroes gathered for their own separate reasons, stood a noble knight.

She gazed across the field of battle with a somewhat sorrowful expression.

She was the kind of person who looked like a painting just by standing still, so even a simple look of sadness radiated an aura of nobility.

The knight looked ahead.

Before her lay four fallen allies, their breath already departed. Rushing toward her were five assassins.

It seemed defeat was inevitable in this battle.

Even the one commanding this undefeated knight had, in the deepest corner of their heart, already accepted defeat.

Yet, the knight clasped her hands together.

To summon a miracle, she poured all her mana and devotion into a single prayer.

She offered a prayer to the gods, carrying her desperate wish to win this war.

Despite her prayer, the assassins rushed the noble knight without a moment's hesitation.

Superior in numbers, strength, and every other metric against a lone female knight, the assassins were certain of their victory.

If anything, a knight praying as if she had given up all hope was easy prey. They did not waver.

But then.

The knight conjured a miracle.

Something those wretched assassins could never hope to replicate.

The divine protection granted only to a pure believer.

The knight successfully invoked the mystery of immortality.

The enemy assassins, who had just unleashed everything they had, could not hide their panic at the miracle unfolding before their eyes.

The woman who should have been dead was standing there, completely unscathed.

Seizing the opening, the knight moved to claim all five of their heads.

As if forcing them to repent for failing to believe in the gods until their final moments, she swung her sword in a beautiful arc.

The sharp clang of clashing steel echoed.

Soon, even that sound faded into silence.

The victor of this war had been decided.

Golden hair fluttered in the wind.

The noble knight's golden locks served as a banner heralding her triumph.

We were certain that the victor of this war was the knight named Chloe.

The outcome of the battle was...

...an utterly absurd display of power, as if an omnipotent god had descended upon the earth.

Flaunting her majestic golden hair like a lion's mane, the victorious knight offered a prayer to her god.

It was not a plea for salvation, but a prayer of praise and gratitude.

It was a prayer that sealed the victory of this unpredictable war, and at the same time, a prayer of rest for the departed.

The beautiful golden-haired knight thus declared the end of the long, arduous war.

And...

This war, which could have been a badge of honor engraved on the heart of a loyal and devout knight...

...was actually just a clip of a game that broke my disastrous nineteen-game losing streak at the end of my stream two days ago.

A video of a match where I dragged a seemingly hopeless game to a come-from-behind victory.

Yes.

That realistic battlefield footage, looking as if it were pulled straight from the pages of history,

...was merely a replay clip edited from a video game.

And right now, it was playing on my stream screen as a video donation.

...It seemed someone had edited that match and uploaded it to YouTube, and it had completely blown up.

On a normal day, my stream averaged about three hundred viewers.

That was a bit too small to make a living, but today, a crowd large enough to maintain over a thousand viewers even as time passed had flooded in.

All thanks to a single game.

...What should I do?

I don't really feel like playing her today.

I clicked the Legend of Fantasy client and logged into the game once again.

Even the simple act of launching the game drew a wave of "ohhh"s from the chat, as if they had all been holding their breath waiting for this exact moment.

...The atmosphere is definitely different from usual.

It felt completely different from my usual chat, which barely paid attention even when I started the game.

Was it because of the crowd?

Every single move I made seemed loaded with anticipation.

Maybe that was why.

I suddenly felt a wave of stubbornness.

Like a rebellious child doing the exact opposite of what their mother asked, I wanted to be difficult.

Spiting the viewers who were spamming Chloe's name in the chat, I deliberately selected a different female character.

...Hey, why is everyone acting like this?

Of course, I knew the reason.

I knew exactly why so many people had gathered in my channel.

Most of these viewers, easily numbering over a thousand, had come after watching the Chloe video.

So naturally, what the majority wanted to see was me playing Chloe.

I knew it.

What they expected from me wasn't the merely pretty female character I had just selected,

...but Chloe, the noble knight who carried the team to victory with insane plays on the battlefield.

But what could I do if I didn't want to?

Even if the tide is coming in, if you don't want to row, you don't have to.

To calm down the chat, which was currently being spammed with "Abyss" and insults calling me an idiot with zero tact, I brought the microphone close to my mouth.

"I..."

My voice trembled.

It was the voice of a child right before they burst into tears, on the verge of an emotional explosion.

That voice carried through the microphone to the viewers.

I definitely hadn't intended to sound so tearful... Was it because the chat was flaming me so harshly?

For some reason, I found myself sniffing as I continued speaking to the viewers.

Even though I was the one who had acted purely on a whim.

"I don't want to play Chloe today."

The chat, which had been busily spamming "Abyss," suddenly erupted with question marks.

Part of it was probably because they found my refusal to play Chloe absurd,

...but the main reason was likely my tearful voice, which sounded as if I were about to cry at any second.

Realizing this, I kept speaking to the audience.

"I just wanted to play the game... I just didn't feel like playing Chloe today... but everyone is getting mad, mocking me, and telling me to go to the abyss..."

Uh-oh.

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really hadn't planned on crying.

Even though I was a woman now, the mind of the man I was born as hadn't been raised to be weak enough to cry over something like this.

Yet, for some reason, the more I spoke,

...and the more I poured my heart out to the viewers, the more overwhelmed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with emotion I became.

In the end.

"You guys are so mean."

I hung my head in deep sorrow and burst into tears, crying loudly enough for the microphone to pick up every sob.

A fully grown adult, crying like a child. How embarrassing.

...Should I cry a little longer?

I mean, I really was crying because I felt hurt, but now that the money was rolling in...

Seeing them throw sums of money I could never dream of earning in such a short time, all to comfort me and tell me to stop crying...

...the sadness and resentment I felt toward them vanished in an instant.

On the outside, I was still sobbing, but on the inside, the emotions that had triggered the tears were long gone.

Seeing the viewers continue to donate massive sums, completely unaware of this...

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

...Maybe I should keep crying just a little bit longer?

I'm not a trash person.

I just... really like money...