You Need More Death
Wow... She's seriously beautiful...
If a rose flower were to come to life as a person, wouldn't it look exactly like this? That was what Anna was thinking.
Features as sharp and refined as a meticulously crafted work of art. Skin so flawlessly white it seemed untouchable. Hair that flowed like it had captured the night sky itself, and eyes of deep crimson so profound they threatened to pull you in forever.
Until now, Anna had never felt much of anything toward beautiful people. Even when she saw someone widely praised for their looks, it never really hit her. She had always found anime characters far more relatable. But having someone like this right in front of her changed everything. She finally understood the feelings of those otakus who lost their minds over pretty cosplayers.
I want to see this person tear someone apart with her words. It would suit her so well. It would really suit her...!
"Sorry for saying this the first time we meet, but could you swear at me a little?"
-Smack!
"Hngh..."
She had been slapped on the back. When she looked over, she saw her senior's face, the expression of someone fighting the urge to sigh.
"Sorry, sis... This kid speaks without running anything through her brain first..."
"It's fine. It was pretty entertaining."
Still wearing that relaxed smile, Lora sat down.
"Shall we talk for a bit?"
"Like I told you over the phone, this is my high school junior. Her name is Jeon Sojin, and... she's working as a streamer these days."
"Nice to meet you."
Watching Jeon Sojin bow her head, I immediately realized.
It's Shiroki Anna.
While sipping my black tea, I thought to myself.
Here's the surprising part. The true identity of the VTuber Nekozuka Rion was none other than my cousin, Oh Rion...!
......Honestly, wouldn't it be weirder if I hadn't figured it out? Did she seriously think changing the name a little to sound Japanese would hide it? The actual name part was identical, and she hadn't even disguised her voice.
Anyway, it seemed Rion had been doing her VTuber work behind the family's back. I had stumbled onto her secret the other day when I accidentally glanced at her email inbox.
Then what was that video editor story about?
Wasn't she already working as a VTuber? I still didn't understand why she had asked for my replay footage while claiming she was trying to get a job as a video editor. Maybe she was planning to juggle both.
There were still some lingering questions, but it wasn't important right now, so I set it aside.
In any case, there was no doubt that the Jeon Sojin whom Rion had brought was the EYEAI 5th generation VTuber Shiroki Anna.
Once I realized Rion was Nekozuka Rion, the rest fell into place easily. A quick search for Nekozuka Rion brought up the official EYEAI agency homepage. There, Nekozuka Rion was listed as a 4th generation member. And it looked like EYEAI only had up to the 5th generation so far.
If Rion was bringing a streamer and claiming she was her high school junior, the odds were overwhelmingly high that it was one of the 5th generation members.
There were four people in the 5th generation, so I had listened to each of their voices in advance. The one named Shiroki Anna in particular had a listless tone that stuck in my memory.
"You said you wanted to join the tournament, right?"
"Ah, yes.... Um, you can speak casually, Teacher."
"Then I'll talk comfortably. First, I'd like to see your Labyrinthos gameplay."
"I brought the replay videos like you asked. Your way of speaking is pretty unique, Teacher. Ah, I mean that in a good way."
Anna handed over the tablet PC as she spoke. Even from the little bit of her stream I'd watched before, I could tell she was the straightforward type. Just like Rion said, though, it really felt like everything came straight out of her mouth via spinal reflex with no brain involved.
I took the tablet and played through several of the replays.
The characters she plays are... the Saintess and Bard. Mostly supporter-focused.
Labyrinthos has six positions in total: Escapist, Tank, Frontline Dealer, Nuker, Sustained Dealer, and Supporter. The supporter role isn't all that different from supporters in other games. They are characters who assist their allies.
The method of assistance varies slightly depending on the character. Some heal wounds, some provide protection, others spread buffs that maximize their team's strengths, or cover missing crowd control.
But I believe every one of those actions ultimately comes down to the same thing.
Combat sustain. Recovering damage so your team can fight longer, obstructing enemies trying to dive in, dismantling enemy plans to prevent ally deaths. Strengthening your team and initiating fights can also count as combat sustain. Though in that case it becomes a very aggressive style where causing more enemy losses faster than your own losses is considered sustain.
"Hmm."
A small groan slipped out as I watched. It was textbook supporter play. And not in a good way. When an enemy dove in, she abandoned the dealer and retreated. She ignored the tank who needed healing most and mindlessly healed the dealer right in front of her instead.
"Rion, you have a VR rig in your room too, right?"
"Huh? Yeah, I do..."
"Then lend it to me. I need to cross swords with her in VR."
With that, I had Anna log into Labyrinthos. It was perfect timing—my three-hour login restriction had just ended. If it hadn't, I would have sent Rion in my place, but seeing it myself was better, so I logged in immediately as well.
After we added each other as friends, we launched the training arena mode.
[Teacher, what character should I pick?]
"Use the Paladin."
[Paladin? Understood.]
Anna sounded puzzled but picked the Paladin without complaint. I did the same. Instead of my usual main, the Dark Knight, I chose the Paladin this time.
We faced each other in the empty white space.
"Have you ever learned swordsmanship or anything?"
"No, I haven't..."
"It doesn't matter if you haven't. Just swing however you feel like swinging. But do it with the resolve to take me down."
"Huh?"
Instead of answering the bewildered Anna with words, I responded with action. I immediately raised my greatsword and swung. Of course, going all-out would mean she couldn't react at all, so I deliberately made the motion large and slow, giving her time to see and respond.
Anna looked panicked, but—
"Eek?!"
She squeezed her eyes shut and backed away. I stepped forward at once, closing the distance and making another exaggerated swing. I deliberately left myself as open as possible. Normally I would have swung with proper weight and balance, but since I was ignoring all that, there was no linking or follow-throughs. The whole point was to tell her to hit me if she could.
This wasn't a real duel to the death. It was simply a test to see what kind of person Anna was.
"H-hieek..."
-Clang!
The sound of metal colliding. I'd attacked slowly on purpose, yet instead of aiming for the openings I'd shown, Anna was completely focused on defending herself.
After only two attacks. And that stiff look on her face.
I felt like I had a clear picture of what kind of human Anna was.
"You're quite the scaredy-cat, aren't you?"
"Yes..."
Anna admitted it immediately. I didn't know what kind of person she was. Whether she was smart or not, whether her judgment was good, whether her situational awareness was useful. I couldn't tell any of that yet. But in her current state, none of it was even worth knowing.
No matter how good someone's judgment is, once fear takes over, they can't use their brain properly. And since Anna was fundamentally fearful, she made bad calls in games and abandoned her dealers to run away.
"To be honest, it's scary. When a sword is flying straight at your face, isn't being scared the normal reaction?"
"You're right. It is normal."
This game has excessively high realism. The depiction of blood, the sensation of cutting through flesh. That vividness is what gives the game such incredible immersion. The thrill of feeling like your life is truly on the line is the game's greatest strength, but it seemed Anna simply registered all of it as pure terror.
"It's a natural feeling, but you can't win games like that."
"I guess you're right..."
I held up three fingers.
"Let's set a goal to master three characters—the Magic Engineer, the Alchemist, and the Magic Swordsman."
"...Master?"
"You're entering the tournament. At the very least, you need to be able to play three different characters."
In Labyrinthos, ban picks happen before every match. The basic strategy behind them is to ban characters the opponent is good at but your team isn't. If you're a one-trick player who only knows one character, you can basically consider that character as good as banned. So in my opinion, you should have at least three characters you can play. Four would be even better.
"I get the logic, but... Alchemist, Magic Engineer, and Magic Swordsman? I've never touched any of them. Why those?"
"This is what I believe. If you only do personal training, you won't gain any realizations. But if you jump straight into real matches without any foundation, you won't internalize anything either."
The ideal is to build fundamentals through training and then apply what you've learned in actual combat. Of course, that's easier said than done. Anna's biggest problem by far was her fearfulness. Even if I taught her all sorts of techniques, if she froze up from fear during a real match, she'd never get the chance to use them.
"So in real matches, I want you to focus on the Magic Engineer and Alchemist."
"I don't really get why, but I'll try it. What about the Magic Swordsman?"
"The Magic Swordsman is for your personal training. Switch to the Magic Swordsman."
Anna changed her character from Paladin to Magic Swordsman. If the Paladin had looked dependable, the Magic Swordsman gave a slightly younger and more agile impression. The only piece of armor worth mentioning was a pair of wrist guards. It held a one-handed sword, leaving the other hand free. Overall it looked light. It had the advantage of being able to attack from range despite being a melee dealer, balanced by low defense.
"In personal training, we'll build your foundation. And the first foundation you need to build is—well, dying a lot."
"...Pardon?"
"There's a saying that human fear comes from the unknown."
I rested the greatsword on my shoulder.
"As a streamer, you've probably heard it before. Horror games are scary at first, but once you get used to them over time, they stop being so frightening."
"That's not true for me at all...! They stay scary even later on...!"
"Really? Then it must be because you haven't died enough yet."
-Slash!
I cut Anna's arm.
"Kyaaa?!"
"You'll get to experience all kinds of death, so don't worry too much. I'll teach you each one properly."
"S-Save me...! Hiiiek?!"
I drove my sword into Anna's mouth. Later, Rion scolded me for being too harsh.