I'll Kill Them All, Meow

"I'll kill them all… I'll slaughter every last one of them, meow……."

I sat the devastated Leon down beside me. She stared at the monitor with hollow eyes. Feeling sorry for her, I decided to say something.

"Don't be embarrassed, Leon. This is the career you chose."

I took her hand in both of mine.

"So hold your head high. Just as I am noble, so too is my cousin. Your first broadcast may have been painfully awkward, but humans grow from failure. The very fact that you feel shame proves you've already matured beyond your past self. Lift your chin. Square your shoulders and stand proud. The same superior blood that flows through me runs in your veins as well. You'll only get better from here. This big sister will always be cheering you on. So work hard and become a popular VTuber, Leon!"

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUP!!!!"

"I'm glad to see you've regained your spirit."

I smiled brightly.

"Agh… If you weren't the landlord, I swear… Ugh…!"

"How cruel. I cherish you so much every day."

"Cherish me? You cherish me~? Do you even know who cleans your room?"

"You should feel honored. There is no greater privilege than cleaning my room. Isn't that right, dear viewers?"

"See? Everyone agrees."

"……"

"Leon?"

Leon had gone quiet. It didn't feel like she'd lost her words from anger or shock. Rather, she looked like she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was thinking about something.

"…Turn it on and you die, meow. For real."

"Let's do that. You may leave now, Leon."

"…Huh? Leave? Right now?"

"Farewell."

I ended the Discord call and shut down my PC for good measure. Then I walked past the still-stunned Leon and stepped into the VR capsule.

Upon logging into Labyrinthos, an invitation from Anna arrived. I accepted it immediately and moved to the custom room she had created.

"Teacher, Senior Leon says she wants to come too. What should we do?"

"Do as you like. It's not like there's anything for her to do even if she comes."

"A new character? Not the Magic Engineer?"

"You've already roughly mastered the Magic Engineer."

I said as much. The way to expand one's character pool is to pick one character and refine it thoroughly. If it suits you, you'll master it quickly; if not, it'll be difficult. Still, through the process you'll accumulate experience and understanding, eventually making it part of your repertoire. Once you understand how to refine one character, you'll have some idea how to approach others.

—That is the most textbook method, of course. But this is the kind of thing professional gamers do. It's too much to ask of Anna, an ordinary user. After all, she's participating in a streamer tournament, not a pro league. She doesn't need to perfect a single character to an extreme degree.

More importantly—

'In Anna's case, the problem isn't the character.'

It's her mentality. Her heart.

"The viewers all know, don't they? That Anna is quite the coward."

"That's why I had her play the Magic Engineer."

Through personal training I've been exposing her to various deaths to help her grow accustomed to them. But that alone isn't necessarily the best approach. Becoming too desensitized to death isn't ideal either. Freezing up from excessive fear is a problem, yet a certain degree of fear is necessary to maintain tension. A bit of tension helps humans focus, immerse themselves, and perform at their best. So while I want Anna to overcome her fear, I don't want her to lose it completely. Fear isn't something to erase—it's something to conquer. And conquest cannot be achieved through training alone.

"That's why we needed real combat. But if she keeps trembling in every fight, she won't grow. She needed a character that would let her focus purely on her own play."

That character was the Magic Engineer. A long-range class that treats all other party members as disposable shields and deals unilateral damage. In close-quarters combat her body would likely freeze from fear, but at range the intensity of that fear naturally decreases.

"But we can't keep her on a ranged DPS forever. Close combat is inevitable eventually. Especially as her rank rises, there will be times she has no choice but to engage the enemy directly."

"Then what should we do next…?"

"Alchemist."

I selected the Alchemist from the character selection screen.

"Starting today, you'll be playing the Alchemist."

It had been a while since my last Single Combat. But this wasn't a ranked match—it was custom mode. And I wasn't playing the Dark Knight right now. The glasses without lenses felt slightly awkward. Instead of armor, I wore simple cloth clothes. The sleeves were long and cumbersome, so I'd torn them a bit on purpose. Ripping the clothes of a ducal daughter was something that should never happen, but this wasn't my real appearance, and this wasn't a social gathering—it was a battlefield. It would be fine.

"Hmm."

I thought for a moment. Picking the Alchemist to show Anna and the viewers was good, but the Alchemist wasn't well-suited for Single Combat. The class had two main skills: Bomb Crafting - Sun Moon Fire and Reagent Crafting - Water Wood Earth. It was a mage-type support that crafted and utilized bombs and reagents. Not only was it weak in 1v1, it was also poor at farming neutral mobs. Dungeon boss attempts weren't its strong suit either.

After considering various options, my conclusion was simple.

I just had to fight.

I crafted a bomb and tossed it somewhere at random.

-BOOOOOOM!!!

A deafening explosion. Dust billowed up and filled the space. As I stared blankly at the smoke, I soon heard footsteps. Someone had come to investigate the noise. I dashed toward the sound and threw a punch straight at them.

"Guh?!"

The opponent took the hit to the face and their head snapped to the side. It was a Paladin. Against a Paladin, I had even less reason to hold back. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swung my other fist into their throat, then swept their legs while ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they were dazed. The Paladin fell. I kicked the greatsword out of their right hand, sending the weapon flying. As they tried to rise with a pained expression, I mounted them, pinning them down with my weight.

Mount position.

Right, left, right, left, right, left—thud, thud, thud, thud!

Once I figured their HP had taken enough damage, I shoved a bomb into their mouth and quickly backed away.

-BOOOOOOM!!!

Another thunderous explosion. Blood and dust sprayed into the air, clouding the space once more. Staring at the smoke for a moment, I finally spoke.

"Next."