The God Game That Made a Stoic Cry
Hey, Leon. Chell was crying.
“Hic…”
Tears blurred her vision so badly that Chell couldn’t even read the chat properly. Blue Record—or BlueReco for short—was the game she had started playing right after her debut. She had only picked it up on a whim, but it turned out to be surprisingly fun. Now, two months into her streaming career, she was still regularly broadcasting BlueReco. She would probably keep doing so for the foreseeable future.
She hadn’t been able to stream it much lately because of the tournament, but now that the event was over, she could finally return to the game she had put on hold. And that was exactly why Chell was currently sobbing with overwhelming emotion.
This… everyone needs to know about this.
It was truly a shame that so many people still didn’t know about something this wonderful.
Chell rose from her seat.
A barren wasteland stretched out in every direction. Far in the distance stood a man with an X-shaped scar carved into his cheek. In his left hand he held a steel blade, and in his right, a sword made of pure light. A dual-wielder.
Opposing him was me—completely empty-handed. I carried no weapons at all.
The dual-wielder and I locked eyes, silently sizing each other up. He moved first. Without hesitation, he activated his charge skill, Enemy Line Breakthrough, and closed the distance in an instant. His left arm swung the steel sword in a wide arc. I caught the blade with my bare hand.
Steal.
With a sharp twist and yank, the sword slipped free from his grip. But he had anticipated it. The moment the first blade left his hand, the sword of light came slashing in from the opposite side.
I had no choice but to thrust the captured blade forward to block.
—Clang!
The ringing clash of metal vibrated violently through my palm. Thanks to the peculiar passive effect that prevented me from cutting my hands on bladed weapons, I wasn’t injured. For now, at least. But if this turned into a contest of strength, I would be in trouble.
I was gripping the sword roughly around the middle. It felt more like wielding a dagger—actually, even worse than a dagger. The blade was too short and the hilt too long. Since I wasn’t even holding the handle properly, I couldn’t transmit force effectively. Meanwhile, even though the dual-wielder had lost one weapon, he still handled the remaining one with perfect form. He had a clear advantage in a power struggle.
If we kept this up, I would be the one pushed back. The moment I realized that, I kicked my foot upward.
—Thud!
The dual-wielder seemed to have predicted a kick and moved to defend, but my kick wasn’t meant to hit him. Dust from the wasteland exploded upward into his face. I quickly shut my eyes and held my breath.
“Cough, cough!”
The dual-wielder, caught completely off guard, began coughing violently. I circled behind him in that opening and drove the blade into his back.
—Squish!
Blood sprayed as he collapsed. A faint sigh followed, and then—
“…Wasn’t that a bit cheap?”
Rinko’s voice echoed across the arena. The dual-wielder’s form flickered for a moment before reverting to Rinko’s usual avatar.
“Oh dear. Cheap? I simply made use of the map’s environmental features.”
“But winning like that doesn’t really mean anything, does it? …This is just practice.”
Rinko stood up, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
“You’re supposed to win using only the character’s own traits. Besides, that kind of tactic might work once, but it won’t work a second time.”
“That’s true.”
I nodded honestly. Right now, Rinko and I were sparring. The goal of this training session was to expand my character pool. After Dark Knight and Berserker, I was now practicing a character called ‘Phantom Thief.’
“Wouldn’t it be better to have at least one more character ready? Solo queue has three bans, you know.”
“What are you going to play if both Dark Knight and Berserker get banned?”
That was what Rinko had said. It was true that both characters had never been banned at the same time before, but her point was still valid. In fact, it was quite reasonable.
Things are different in tournaments than in solo queue.
The recent EYEAI Cup Labyrinthos tournament had proven that. As I continued my VTuber activities, I would likely participate in various Labyrinthos competitions. Even outside of official events, there could be exhibition matches, internal scrims, or collaborations with seniors. Especially in internal matches, targeted bans were very effective. So the chance that both my Dark Knight and Berserker would be banned wasn’t low at all.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have other characters I can play.
I knew how to play Magic Engineer, Alchemist, Magic Swordsman, and many more. They just weren’t characters that felt quite right in my hands.
“Then how about trying Phantom Thief?”
“It’s somewhat similar to Dark Knight.”
So Rinko had recommended Phantom Thief. Honestly, it wasn’t a character I was particularly drawn to. It was basically a glorified pickpocket.
To think that I, a duchess, would end up playing a common thief.
Nobles valued honor far more than life itself. In that sense, Phantom Thief had never appealed to me. Still, since Rinko had strongly recommended it, I gave it a try. And indeed, there were similarities to Dark Knight.
Phantom Thief possessed the skill Steal, which allowed me to take an opponent’s weapon and use it myself. Naturally, the opponent who lost their weapon also lost their greatest strength. In that sense, it shared the same weakening concept as Dark Knight.
And it did feel quite satisfying to use.
“I was once the most noble person in the empire, yet here I am, fallen so low.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. You probably won’t play Phantom Thief that often anyway. It’s strictly a counter-pick.”
Rinko spoke with an exasperated tone. Ever since we ate gukbap together last time, she had been frequently dragging me into Labyrinthos training sessions. It served as rehabilitation for her long hiatus, while I was preparing for the Fantasy League.
“Think of it more as a joker pick than a main. There probably won’t be any teams that ban Phantom Thief on purpose, but just knowing you can play it will make it difficult for opponents to pick weapon-dependent characters.”
“I see.”
I nodded twice at the advice from someone with actual league experience. There was one thing I hadn’t told Rinko, though.
I still hadn’t submitted my application.
Rinko seemed to assume I would participate in the Fantasy League, but…
I honestly don’t have strong feelings about it.
Of course, I knew that joining the league would bring many benefits—more subscribers, new connections, advertising deals, fame, and fun. The prize for winning was especially tempting. I liked the idea of an exclusive title and emblem, and apparently the winning team could have a commemorative skin made for one character of their choice.
Hmm… I wonder if I could put a duchess outfit on a Dark Knight or Berserker.
It probably wouldn’t suit them very well. Anyway, while I was interested, I still wasn’t sure if actually competing was all that appealing. The same went for subscriber counts and networking. I was already quite satisfied with my current situation. So I felt like I needed something more decisive to push me over the edge.
Perhaps that was why, rather than the benefits of the Fantasy League itself, I found myself more concerned about the participants.
There was MadMask, the one who had given Rinko nightmares. There was Anna, who was aiming for the league, and Hanabane Rui, who had become her motivation. There was Son Narim, who had been treated like a traitor in comparison to Rinko and had already declared her participation this year. And then there were the announcements from the female pro gamer Navie and the VTubers from Horizon Air.
[Sis, are you busy right now?]
I had been lost in thought when a voice suddenly rang inside my head.
“Leon?”
“Lora, is something wrong?”
“It sounds like Leon is calling me.”
I told Rinko, who had been supervising my training, to wait a moment and accepted the call from Leon. He was working from home today.
“What is it, Leon?”
[Suddenly a guest showed up. I think you need to come out, sis.]
A guest?
“Play BlueReco.”
The sudden guest—Chell Sumeragi—said exactly that the moment she arrived.
“You show up out of nowhere and that’s what you say?”
“It’s a god game.”
“A god game, huh…”
To determine whether BlueReco was truly a god game or not, one would first have to define what a “god game” even meant. Some people claimed BlueReco had poor gameplay. However, it was difficult to say that its gameplay was something every user could enjoy equally from the start. That fact also had to be taken into consideration. So while I wouldn’t outright criticize its gameplay, I did know that BlueReco was a title evaluated more for its story than its mechanics.
“Whether it’s a god game or not aside, why exactly did you come here?”
“Lora has to play BlueReco.”
Chell spoke with a determination that was hard to imagine coming from someone who was usually so quiet.
“So why?”
“Because it’s a god game.”
“Hmm, I see.”
I realized something. I now understood exactly how I should deal with Chell and what I needed to do.
I lifted the black tea Leon had brewed to my lips.
“Leon, you talk to Chell.”
“…What?”
“You’re my manager, aren’t you?”
That was what I told him.
Hey, Leon. Translate whatever Chell is saying.