Just How Delicious Is a Retirement Stream?

I know all too well, as the duke’s daughter, that people only see what they want to see and hear only what they want to hear. To be more precise, even when they know the truth, they fabricate lies without hesitation. All to tarnish my reputation, even if only a little. To undermine my voice, even if only a little. To drag down my authority, even if only a little. They spread baseless rumors, subject me to slander, and attempt to lure me into traps. What I mean to say is that this is an exceedingly familiar situation for me, the villainess. After all, I experienced it countless times in that world.

Chat messages raced upward at blinding speed. I quickly checked the Labyrinthos gallery as well. Fortunately, the coordinates seemed to have been posted correctly. Glancing at both the chat and the relay threads from the corner of my eye, I moved my keyboard and mouse.

“It is a pleasure to meet you all.”

I spoke into the microphone.

“I am Aurora, the sixth generation of EYEAI. I was originally scheduled to make my formal debut this Saturday, but I wished to speak with you first. That is why I have turned on the broadcast like this.”

“Those of you who have watched Rion’s streams will already know, but it seems various communities have been circulating quite a few stories about me.”

I displayed a single screenshot. It was a capture from my Labyrinthos gameplay. Had this been VR, I could have connected directly to the game and shown it live, but since I was streaming on PC, it could not be helped. Even a screenshot was more than enough to prove that I was indeed Glory of the Duchy.

“Of course, I am quite confident. There appear to be those calling me a ‘bad-mannered bastard,’ yet I have never once engaged in such behavior. ──Or so I say, but I suppose some of you will still refuse to believe me?”

I continued. When one browses community sites, such people are everywhere. Individuals who slander others every single day. They repeat the same claims endlessly. Even when someone tells them the truth, they pretend not to hear it. Sometimes, to avoid yielding their position, they deliberately distort the truth. To them, the truth does not matter. All they need is something to sink their teeth into.

“In that case, shall we do this? I shall refute your claims that I am a bad-mannered player. If I fail to do so, I will retire from VTubing cleanly and without complaint.”

I gripped the mouse once more. Click. The sound of the left click rang unusually loud as the broadcast screen changed. My hand, clad in pure white gloves, appeared on screen.

“Some of you must be thinking, ‘She says she’ll retire, but she doesn’t really mean it, does she?’ Very well. Let us keep it simple. Should I fail to refute the claims, I will raise the camera angle.”

In other words, I would reveal my face. Naturally, a VTuber showing their real face constituted a serious breach of contract. Most VTuber agencies discouraged webcam use. However, surprisingly few companies outright banned it. It was closer to a reluctant allowance for content diversification, such as cooking streams. Even then, many contracts included clauses stating that one’s bare hands must never be shown.

After all, revealing a person’s actual skin or hands inevitably broke immersion for a VTuber. EYEAI strictly forbade showing bare hands, to the point that streamers were required to wear gloves during cooking broadcasts. If merely showing one’s hands was this heavily restricted, deliberately revealing one’s face was essentially career suicide. It was grounds for immediate termination.

Well, I am the exception.

Since my real appearance was identical to my avatar, I might very well be the only VTuber in the world whose immersion would not be ruined by showing her face. Of course, the president had looked rather displeased. He had clearly wanted to stop me, but when I insisted, he eventually gave permission. Therefore, I would likely not be fired even if I revealed my face.

Still, I had no intention of taking any real risk. This was nothing more than bait. As always, all I had to do was win in the end.

“However, there is one condition.”

I moved the hand cam to the corner of the screen and brought up the Discord server window. Thanks to the server link I had pinned in chat, quite a few people had already joined. I created a voice channel.

“Anyone who wishes to claim that I am a ‘bad-mannered bastard’ may enter this voice channel.”

I set the maximum capacity to two. I occupied one of the slots.

“To be honest, I have been curious for quite some time. So many people in communities slander idols and athletes, yet I wonder if they could say the same things to someone’s face. If your claims are righteous, there should be no need to hide behind anonymity, correct?”

I smiled sweetly. After all, I had stepped forward with my real identity and even wagered my career. Therefore, the least they could do was discard their anonymity. One must at least step onto the stage for a proper duel, no?

“If no one comes forward, then the accusations that I committed bad-mannered acts are nothing but baseless slander. Naturally, I will have no reason to raise the webcam angle either.”

A brief silence followed my words. Then, after a moment, the distinctive ding of a Discord notification rang through the speakers.

“Hello.”

[…Ah, hello.]

“There ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is no need for lengthy preambles. If you have something to say, please speak.”

[Then let me ask. Why did you commit limb severance?]

“First, your wording seems slightly incorrect. I have never performed limb severance.”

I displayed several screenshots. They were captures I had taken during my plays.

“Limb severance refers to a state in which both arms and both legs have been completely severed. However, as you can see, I have never severed all four limbs, have I?”

[W-well, you still cut them off. What’s the difference?]

“There is a difference, I assure you. Naturally, if I fight an opponent with only one leg a hundred times, I will win all one hundred matches. Or can you not manage even that?”

[I… I can win, but…]

“Therefore, severing all four limbs would be teabagging, but destroying two or three can be considered simple neutralization.”

[That’s bull—]

“Do you believe it is nonsense?”

I deliberately interrupted without waiting. From experience, being logical did not guarantee victory in an argument. No matter how rich a person’s imagination, putting it into coherent words was surprisingly difficult. Conversation had its own techniques. The louder one’s voice and the stronger one’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right to speak, the more advantageous. If one also possessed initiative and charisma, it was perfect.

And I was both a duke’s daughter and a villainess.

“What is your basis for calling it nonsense? Do you have any?”

[That’s…]

“If you have none, then let us watch a replay together. There is footage of my single combat against a gladiator.”

I played the prepared replay.

[Uh…]

“As you can see, the opposing gladiator was farming neutral mobs. Meanwhile, I had not been able to grow at all because I was busy searching for a gladiator. Besides, a dark knight lacks burst kill potential, so I cannot kill a gladiator in one blow.”

[……]

“Therefore, I had no choice but to engage in a war of attrition. Legs are especially important for a gladiator, so merely destroying the legs drastically reduces their combat power. That is how I can gain the upper hand.”

[…………]

“Of course, even in that state, a clean hit from their sword could still kill me. Therefore, destroying the arms in advance allows me to win far more safely. That is why I did so. Do you have any objections?”

[Uh, that is…]

His voice trembled slightly.

[Uh… I have none…]

Yes, of course you would say that. You have no other choice.

“Then farewell.”

[……]

The first challenger left. Immediately afterward, the second challenger entered.

[But why did you take off your armor?]

The complaint flew in the moment he entered.

[If you’re a tank, you should wear armor like a proper tank. Why are you running around naked? Do you just want to flash your tits?]

“A dark knight has poor detection abilities and is not particularly fast at hunting. Therefore, I have no choice but to run around on foot searching for enemies. However, my mobility is low, making it difficult to cover a wide map, so I must remove my armor.”

[Just flashing your tits. Go on, flash them~. Let me jerk off to you.]

“Oh my, can you not refute me? Are you admitting defeat?”

Did he think I would blush at sexual harassment? Unfortunately, that would never happen. On the contrary, such words sounded like compliments to my ears. He had noticed how arousing I was.

[If detection is the problem, why don’t you just pick a different character~. Why is a troll like you talking so much?]

“If I carried the game, you could hardly call it trolling, could you? In fact, I have a perfect record in single combat.”

[Bullshit. Everything you say is just results-based reasoning. By that logic, if you lose in ranked, doesn’t that mean you trolled by not playing to your pick’s strengths?]

“I thought you might say that, so I prepared a replay. Shall we watch it together?”

I started the new replay.

[…Uh.]

“Is something wrong?”

[No, it’s just…]

“This is one of the games I lost in ranked recently. The moment the game started, the dual-wielder swung his blades at me.”

I showed the scene.

“Since the opponent initiated team killing first, I cleanly killed him and began the match. Such actions do not result in penalties. Afterward, I won my one-on-one against the enemy’s leaver, but our main force had one fewer person than the enemy’s main force and lost.”

[……]

“However, if you look at my position here, I would have been able to join the team fight with just a little more time. If our main force had kept the dual-wielder alive longer, they could have stalled just a bit more. Then, if I had joined the fight and activated my ultimate, we would have won ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without question.”

[But…]

“Were you about to call it results-based reasoning again, Mr. Roburijidaisuki, who played the dual-wielder that day?”

Click. I minimized the replay video.

Click. I maximized the gallery link I had been searching while talking.

Click. It appeared on the broadcast screen.

“When I searched the Labyrinthos nickname, I found that you have been active in both the Labyrinthos gallery and the VTuber gallery under the same name. If you will pardon my rudeness, which VTuber do you like?”

[N-no… How did you…]

“I have an excellent memory. Once I heard your voice, I remembered the nickname.”

After all, before I was the VTuber Aurora, I was the villainess Laura Iris. A villainess is the icon of defeat who has the male lead stolen by the heroine. Conversely, that means she must maintain a tense rivalry with the heroine until that moment. Only then can the readers of romance fantasy novels feel tension. Therefore, it was only natural that a villainess possessed superior specs by nature, and during my time at the academy I had never once lost the top seat. That was partly because I had received strict education from the duchy, but also because I possessed a memory that did not easily forget what I had learned.

[Why the hell are you posting this!]

“You came here to kill me, did you not? Then should you not be prepared to be killed in return?”

[Stop changing the subject, you bitch! What does this have to do with you trolling!]

“Mr. Roburijidaisuki’s logic was as follows: ‘The reason Glory of the Duchy lost in solo queue was because she trolled by playing dark knight.’ However, I am saying that the cause of the loss does not lie with me. Would you like to log into Labyrinthos, Mr. Roburijidaisuki?”

[……]

“You cannot? Or have you perhaps been restricted from playing after being reported for trolling?”

I also displayed the match history. There were no ranked games in the past several days. I assumed he had been penalized.

“I have never been penalized even once. Ah, this is a document Rion gave me. It states that Dead Rouse Korea has no record of penalizing me. Can you read the text clearly?”

[You fucking bitch…]

“Ah, now that I think about it, there is one correction I must make.”

I left a single comment on Roburijidaisuki’s post.

“It seems the troll was not me, but you. Please refute me, Mr. Roburijidaisuki.”

[……]

“If you have nothing to refute with, would you kindly leave?”

At those words, Robu-whatever-daisuki left the channel without another word. Once again, the voice channel contained only me. I adjusted my grip on the microphone and spoke.

“Next challenger, please. If you are confident enough, that is.”