The Ace's Invitation
A string of whispers arrived from Inagika.
Inagika’s avatar stood motionless in the distance. She had probably lied about going to the bathroom and simply gone AFK. Dealing with the seniors by herself must have been too much for her.
“Hello, Rinko-senpai.” I greeted her with a smile.
“You’re so stiff. You can call me more casually.”
“I’m not very familiar with VTuber etiquette, so I’m not sure what the proper way to address you would be. Might I ask you to teach me?”
“Your speech is really unique. Just call me whatever. You can say Rinko, or if that feels off, Rinko-nee or Rinko-senpai.”
“There are so many choices it’s hard to decide. But is it really all right to speak with you like this?” I asked.
“We sixth-generation talents still have collab restrictions that haven’t been fully lifted. I was told we can only interact with seniors through chat.”
“That’s true. But we’re not streaming right now, are we? No viewers are listening, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Oh my, I see.”
I nodded. After only a few exchanges, I understood. Kisaki Rinko carried considerable influence within EYEAI. She clearly believed bending the rules a little was no great issue.
“It’s because Rinko-senpai has so many subscribers,” Anna explained through a whisper. “Normally the company holds all the power. They own the rights to our plates, so the standard is to obey without question. …But someone like Rinko-senpai, who essentially represents the entire company, is basically a super-employee.”
Suppose Rinko announced her retirement tomorrow. She had three hundred thousand subscribers. That would be nearly the same as watching three hundred thousand people vanish in an instant. Of course, not every single one would leave EYEAI. Even so, the damage would be enormous. More than anything, the company’s image would suffer a devastating blow. A company that couldn’t even protect its own signboard. Who would want to join after that? If they couldn’t safeguard their top star, there would be no faith that they could manage anyone else.
EYEAI was Kisaki Rinko. Kisaki Rinko was EYEAI. At this stage, the two were essentially one and the same, which was why, according to Anna, EYEAI gave Kisaki Rinko exceptionally generous treatment.
No wonder she seems to have such a strong voice in Discord.
“What brings you seniors here today? This is a rather shabby place—there isn’t much worth seeing.”
“I heard my cute juniors were carving up a mountain. It sounded far too harsh, so I came to help.”
Kisaki Rinko glanced toward the mountain. Several senior VTubers’ avatars were visible there, all wielding flashy pickaxes and shovels as they carved away at high speed. Some were even setting off bombs with cheerful explosions.
“I wanted to lend a hand with the mountain carving. After all, the root cause of this whole Three-Headed Specter incident was Sora wanting that beacon, wasn’t it?”
“If we’re speaking of causality, that would be correct.”
“And I heard Sora wanted the beacon because of the ‘increased work speed’ option attached to it—so she could carve the mountain even a little faster. Since we failed to take care of that part, this mess happened.”
“Oh my, how gracious.”
If this were the military, Kisaki Rinko would be something like a squad leader. The thought crossed my mind for a moment.
“—Or at least, that’s the official reason. Really I just wanted to have a proper conversation with the famous Aurora.”
Rinko took quick, light steps and headed off. She kept glancing back at me, clearly telling me to follow. When I did, we arrived at a quiet stretch of forest away from prying eyes.
“Lora, do you know about the Labyrinthos VR Streamer League?” she asked, almost tossing the words out.
“I do. Anna wanted to participate, after all.”
“I see. Are you planning to join?”
“Well… I haven’t given it any thought yet.”
In truth, I had never once taken part in any game tournament. There was no special reason. Most competitions were team events, and forming or choosing a team was simply a hassle. There were far more male players than female ones. Even the tournament scenes were dominated by men; throwing a woman like myself into the mix could easily make the atmosphere strange. On top of that, scrutinizing every team condition one by one was exhausting.
That was why I had never applied for any tournament, regardless of the game. I didn’t want to lose the ability to enjoy games purely for fun.
“Then start thinking about it properly from now on,” Rinko said, her voice suddenly serious. “And think in the most positive direction possible.”
“It sounds as though you’d like me to participate.”
“Yes. Your viewers will probably want to see it too, so it’s something you should seriously consider at least once.”
Having said her piece, Rinko walked ahead once more.
“That’s all I wanted to say. It doesn’t matter if you pretend you never heard it.”
“Please play Party Play Time! But only if it’s with Lora…!”
Rion had returned home from work. The moment she stepped inside, she saw Anna bowing deeply in front of me.
“…What exactly are you doing in our house?”
“I came to beg for my life.”
“Your… life?”
“I’ll actually die if I play horror games! If I have a heart attack during a horror stream, will you at least process it as a workplace injury…?!”
“A person’s heart doesn’t stop that easily, you know…?”
Rion looked utterly dumbfounded. Anna must have hated horror games so much that she had come all the way to our house.
After grasping the situation, Rion let out a long sigh.
“Sis, what are you going to do about her?”
Just from her eyes you could tell she was filled with iron resolve. If we didn’t relieve her of the horror-game obligation, she would cling to this house for the rest of her life. It was headache-inducing to see her display such willpower in the most useless area imaginable.
…Had Anna always been like this? From what I remembered, she was a slacker but carried a cooler aura. After meeting me, however, her personality seemed to have taken on a subtly different shade.
Rion was technically Anna’s manager, but honestly she probably just wanted the girl to go home. She shot me a look that clearly said, Just give her a vague answer and send her away quickly.
“If those are the conditions, we’ll have to play the entire series.”
Fortunately the quick-witted me immediately read Rion’s thoughts. Of course, because of my noble-duchess concept, I could not simply nod without a proper exchange.
“…Pardon?”
“The series went up to number three, correct? If we play all the way through Party Play Time 3, I shall accept.”
I spoke elegantly. For me, that was quite the concession. Rion seemed to think so too. After all, I normally never gave anyone any slack.
She secretly finds Anna cute, doesn’t she?
There was a hint of that feeling. True, Anna could be annoying at times, yet she possessed a strange charm that made it impossible to truly dislike her. Besides, Anna had been my first proper connection in the VTuber world. Perhaps I simply regarded her as special in my own way.
“Then that means I get to collab with Lora three times…?”
“It would seem so.”
“I get to meet Lora three times… If that’s the case… yeah…”
Anna eventually nodded as well.
Rion decided there was nothing wrong with the arrangement. From my perspective, horror games were an experience I would have to go through sooner or later anyway. Horror content drew views regardless of whether the streamer was from a major agency or a tiny indie. The appeal lay in watching the reactions, so it usually performed well.
However, it was difficult to expect the same from me.
…That sister of mine doesn’t feel fear at all.
If there was one emotion I lacked, it was probably fear. I insisted it wasn’t true, but anyone who watched me beat down enemies and monsters in games would call it a lie. Someone like me was unlikely to produce tasty reactions even if ghosts or zombies appeared. Therefore, Rion judged that pairing the scaredy-cat Anna with me for horror content might not be so bad after all.
With that, the dramatic compromise was approved.
Yet Anna… did not go home.
“It’s already late, so I’ll sleep over tonight.”
Has this girl coated her face in steel plating…?
I seemed slightly soft on Anna, and Anna clearly held strange affection for me, so it was decided she would stay the night. Still, Anna insisted on paying for dinner. She ordered a mountain of delivery food.
One of Anna’s few virtues—if not her only virtue—her “golden-spoon trait,” was being put to full use here. I had no complaints. Considering we were letting her stay overnight, accepting this much as lodging fees seemed only fair.
While the three of us were eating together—
“Rinko-senpai said that?”
I heard an unexpected story from Anna.
“Yes. She spoke to Lora in a very serious voice.”
“So that happened…”
I stole a glance at my face, but my expression remained the same as always—a flawless smile. Relaxed, confident, and elegant at all times. It was therefore impossible to tell what I was feeling or thinking.
…Well, I was the sort of person who wouldn’t flinch even if a meteor fell from the sky. There was no need to worry about me.
Rather, I’m more worried about Rinko-senpai…
It had been roughly three months since Rinko last touched Labyrinthos, and even before that she had barely played. After the end of the previous season, it was fair to say she had practically quit. This was despite holding Master rank.
But Rinko-senpai has her reasons…
When Anna and I secretly exchanged glances, she merely blinked. We reached a silent agreement not to mention “that incident” from last year. It wasn’t something for others to bring up, and there was nothing to gain from digging it up. Above all, it would be better if I continued to treat Rinko with pure intentions.
Still… what if Rinko-senpai is still burned out?
Rion unconsciously clicked her tongue.