The Fantasy League 2024 Announcement

The announcement of the streamer league had gone live.

Even for a marathon stream, she wrapped it up pretty quickly, didn't she? Whenever it started to drag, Aurora would just clear the stage for them.

By the time my exhausted genmates had crawled out of bed and I had finally ended my own stream, the press conference had already begun. To be honest, I held no particular interest in watching a press conference. Yet when Sora unexpectedly suggested, “Since we’re all here, why don’t we watch it together?” I found myself nodding along.

“Are you interested in the tournament?” I asked.

“Huh? Isn’t that you, Lora?”

“…Why would you think so?”

I could only tilt my head in genuine confusion. Sora gave me a small smile.

“You told us Senior Anna wanted to enter this tournament so badly that she came to you for guidance. So I figured you’d be curious.”

“Ah.”

Now that she mentioned it, I was a little intrigued. Anna had wanted to join the streamer league because she longed to meet Hanabane Rui. The fact that a hosting announcement broadcast was happening today likely meant applications would open once the EYEAI Cup Labyrinthos tournament concluded. I wondered whether Anna still wished to participate. After joining Rui’s watch party, perhaps some of that longing had been satisfied.

Still, she’ll probably apply, won’t she?

When I checked recently, Anna had climbed all the way to Gold tier. It felt like only yesterday she had been stuck in Bronze, yet she had grown tremendously. There was one more thing. Rinko had spoken to me not long ago.

Rinko wanted me to participate. I did not know her exact reasons, but there had to be one. Therefore, I settled onto the sofa with my genmates and turned on the living-room television.

A man wearing sunglasses appeared on screen.

“He looks rather intimidating,” I observed.

His features were rough, almost thuggish. The sunglasses and the black leather coat draped over his shoulders like a cape, paired with a sharp suit underneath, gave him the perfect hardboiled aura.

“He’s an indie VTuber named Kaiser,” Sora explained. “His concept is the leader of a volunteer organization.”

“With that appearance?”

“Ah, once you get to know him, he’s incredibly diligent… He’s widely respected as a genuinely good person in the industry…” Inagika added quietly, fidgeting.

As Rion had explained before, surviving as an indie VTuber was no easy feat. Corporate VTubers devoured most of the audience share and held it in an iron grip. Those indies who nevertheless thrived generally fell into two categories: people who had already been famous before debuting (illustrators, manga artists, and the like), or veterans like Kaiser who had debuted during the early “blue ocean” days and simply never left. Kaiser made his debut in 2018. He was a true elder of the scene.

“He’s impressive in another way too,” Sora continued. “Most female fans don’t subscribe to male VTubers, but Kaiser has that rare ‘a man other men admire’ appeal.”

It seemed so.

A flashy effect burst across the screen, and the words Fantasy League 2024 appeared in bold lettering.

I nodded thoughtfully. In other words, each team would consist of one player from Tier 1, one from Tier 2, one from Tier 3, and so on. The teams would naturally develop ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very different flavors. If Cerberus picked a tank for their Tier 1, they would be incredibly sturdy. If Leviathan chose an assassin-type for theirs, they would excel at disruption. The classic question of whether an unstoppable spear or an impenetrable shield would prevail never failed to quicken the pulse.

The live viewer count for the press conference had already surpassed seventy thousand. With pro gamers involved, the tournament’s popularity was only natural.

Kaiser continued introducing various other details: the championship trophy, the in-game titles awarded to participants, the exact version of the game that would be used, entry rules, and the prize pool.

“The prize money is rather modest,” I remarked.

“That’s how most streamer tournaments are,” Sora replied. “The real reward is the massive subscriber boost you get just by appearing.”

Streamers entered these events hoping for exactly that. More subscribers meant more income; to them, a surge in followers was essentially the same as prize money.

With Kaiser’s energetic closing shout, the ending video began to play. It was a highlight reel edited from last year’s matches, clearly meant as promotion. Several spectacular moments flashed by, and Hanabane Rui’s face appeared more than once. Come to think of it, Anna had mentioned that Rui participated every year. That meant the pros kept drafting her.

“…Hm? Is that not Rinko?”

A gladiator appeared on screen. The name Kisaki_Rinko_V floated above her head as she was being thoroughly overwhelmed by a spearman.

“Senior Rinko participated last year too,” Sora murmured. “She got crushed, though.”