Please Cook for Me

"Please cook for me."

"Damn it..."

Kim Garam, a second-year mathematics major at K University, let out a heavy sigh. He was taking seven courses this semester. He had three absences in three of them, turned in blank sheets for the midterms in two, and failed to submit an assignment in one. Academic probation was all but guaranteed.

"Ugh..."

Kim Garam abandoned his bed and collapsed onto the floor. He had definitely been good at math when he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was younger. But the moment he stepped into university, everything might as well have been written in an alien language. He had never adjusted to college life and was falling further and further behind. In that sense, he supposed he was a perfectly typical university student.

The exorbitant tuition had long since lost all meaning. He couldn't even look his parents in the eye, and he was beginning to suspect he might never graduate at all.

"Maybe I should transfer departments..."

He muttered the words, but they didn't carry much weight. If simply changing majors fixed anything, he wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. Thinking about the future only made everything feel darker, so Kim Garam hauled himself up and climbed into his VR capsule.

"I'll play one ranked match and think about it after."

A change of mood first, then serious contemplation. That was the conclusion he reached. Of course, a change of mood was unlikely to produce any proper conclusions. Kim Garam already knew that perfectly well, yet he still wanted to run away for a while. It was exactly this escapist tendency that was annihilating his GPA in real time, but knowing it didn't make it any easier to change.

"I just want to spend my whole life playing games."

With those words, Kim ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Garam launched into a ranked match of Labyrinthos. The ban-and-pick phase began, and during the loading screen the nicknames of the matched opponents scrolled past.

"Huh? DucalGlory? Feels like I've seen that somewhere before."

Kim Garam tilted his head in confusion.

It was roughly five minutes before he got completely dismantled by Aurora.

"If you wish to dance, then do so as you please."

I switched my microphone setting and answered the donation message. Depending on the system options, I could make my voice audible only to the viewers or let it be heard by my teammates as well. It might not sound important, but it was actually a rather significant feature. Not only my voice, but even the sound of my breathing would be inaudible to the enemy.

In other words, it made stealth actions considerably easier.

"Found you."

The moment I spotted the enemy, I quietly slipped behind cover. I had already memorized their composition: heavy-armor warrior, magic swordsman, battle mage, archer, and alchemist.

The terrain was unfavorable, and their combination lacked strong initiation. However, the entire party boasted excellent range. Both the magic swordsman and battle mage possessed mid-range harassment skills, and the archer held the longest range in all of Labyrinthos. In a kiting battle that maintained distance, it would be difficult to find a better composition. To make matters worse, they had already seized the high ground. Flanking from behind was impossible.

"It seems I have no choice. One must charge straight in."

The chat erupted, but I continued forward. The Phantom's second skill, Ghost Steps. Movement speed increased dramatically while leaving neither footprints nor sound.

'Footprints don't really matter in this situation, though.'

The character I was currently playing was a Phantom. Rinko had recommended it, and since I had decided to participate in the Fantasy League, I had resolved to practice the Phantom properly.

The Phantom's defining feature was, without question, Steal. The powerful ability to rob an opponent of their weapon and neutralize their strengths. Naturally, it came with equally significant risk. Its range was short, after all.

That was why the Phantom's second skill, Ghost Steps, existed to help close the distance to the enemy. It was slightly disappointing that it only increased movement speed. A dash, teleport, or stealth skill would have been preferable. Though if that were the case, approaching enemies would have become far too easy.

Regardless, if I could only succeed in sticking to the enemy, the Phantom was a character capable of displaying its own distinct strengths. In other words, how one narrowed the distance to the opponent was the most crucial factor.

I ran.

Whoosh!

The moment I closed some distance, an arrow flew toward me. I had been caught by the archer's detection skill. Still, thanks to the silenced footsteps, I had managed to get rather close.

However, because of the high ground, even though it looked close, there was still a considerable distance to cover. The instant I dodged the arrow, the magic swordsman and battle mage launched projectile skills while the alchemist hurled a bomb.

"Quite the enthusiastic welcome."

I continued charging forward, dodging the projectile attacks from the magic swordsman and battle mage. Then, as if predicting my escape route, the archer's arrow came flying in. I swung my arm and deflected it. A bomb fell a moment later—the one the alchemist had thrown. But the alchemist's proficiency was slightly lacking. I knew there was still time before it detonated.

I snatched the incoming bomb out of the air and immediately hurled it back toward the enemy's main force.

Kwaaaaang!

An explosion erupted, sending clouds of dust billowing upward. The enemies' vision was momentarily blocked, and I was able to close the distance even further.

I immediately plunged into the enemy formation. The first to meet me was the magic swordsman. The moment our eyes locked, he thrust his sword forward. Panic was evident in that sword path. He clearly hadn't expected me to throw the bomb back. Because of that, the strike lacked precision. It was simply a desperate swing, so catching the blade wasn't particularly difficult.

"Steal."

Shunk!

I snatched the sword away and immediately drove it into his throat. Ding. Bright red blood sprayed as the magic swordsman collapsed. At the same time, I heard an effect sound in my ear. The Phantom had a trait that reset skill cooldowns whenever an ally—including herself—killed an enemy. The sound I just heard was proof that the cooldown reset had activated.

Therefore I activated Ghost Steps once again. A heavy-armor warrior charged in from the left and the battle mage from the right, but I reached out toward the mace the heavy warrior was swinging first.

"Steal."

Thud!

I stole the mace from the heavy warrior and slammed it into his chest. The heavy warrior's posture crumpled. I drove the sword into the gap in his armor. Ding. Skill cooldown reset. Without even retrieving the sword, I immediately stretched out my arm and stole the battle mage's staff.

"Crazy..."

The battle mage who had lost his weapon let out a groan. He tried to cast a spell immediately, but I had already activated Ghost Steps again with its reset cooldown. With my increased movement speed I dodged the projectile, then struck his leg with the stolen staff. As the battle mage began to fall, I swung the mace I had taken from the heavy warrior at his head.

Thwack!

Ding. Skill cooldown reset.

After finishing the voice recording, I decided to apply for the Fantasy League.

"That's unexpected? I thought you wouldn't participate, sis."

Most viewers didn't find it particularly strange that I was applying for the Fantasy League. After all, I was a VTuber who specialized in Labyrinthos. In that sense, applying was only natural. The only one who found my decision odd was Rion. Having watched me the longest, Rion knew me better than anyone.

"While doing the voice recording this time, I realized something."

That even I possessed a sense of camaraderie. It was quite the unexpected realization for me as well. To think that even a villainess had sensory organs capable of feeling camaraderie.

'There was a time when I thought things like camaraderie were meaningless.'

When I first met Sora, Inagika, and Chell in Discord, I hadn't thought they would come to mean anything to me. Nevertheless, I had participated in the voice recording because I decided it would be better if I did it rather than letting Sora or Inagika handle the filler parts. And because Chell had shown such passionate desire to release a voice drama, I went along with it.

Though it had only been about two months, we had spent time together, and it seemed bonds had formed. Camaraderie was sometimes a truly mysterious word. Even though they were complete strangers with no prior acquaintance, in places like the military, people naturally grouped together with their peers. To me, the sixth generation were no longer strangers.

That was why I had decided to apply for the Fantasy League.

"When are you doing Sanrabi?"

And the very person who had become the motivation for my applying to the Fantasy League was still half-living in my house.

"Chell. How many days has it been since the voice recording ended?"

"Three days."

"Which means you've been in our house for three full days."

"I was here even before that."

"Ah, yes. That is true."

Living with Chell had made me realize something. Chell might not actually be human. Even if she turned out to be a cat wearing human skin, I wouldn't be surprised.

'No, perhaps that's better than a cat.'

At least she could do housework normally. A cat that could do housework. When I thought of it that way, it didn't exactly feel like a bad deal. Though she was certainly shameless about it.

"Do you plan to stay in this house until I do Sanrabi?"

"Yes."

"You really are like a heroine from one of those yandere novels. Your obsession is far stronger than your appearance suggests."

"It's just my style to stay inside and handle all my tasks at once when I do go out."

"If you left the house about three times, you would probably become president."

If I met her a few more times, Chell might become the ruler of the universe. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠For now, though, she was simply our house cleaner.

"As I said last time, I intend to continue playing Labyrinthos until I reach Master. I won't be able to do Sanrabi for a while."

"I'll wait."

"You certainly are stubborn. Do as you wish."

Contrary to her appearance, Chell had excellent drive, firm convictions, strong stubbornness, and didn't care about other people's opinions. For some reason, it seemed like all VTubers carried some kind of social deficiency. Or was that just my imagination?

Well, for me it wasn't a bad thing.

In fact, Rion had left for an overseas business trip today.

'She said she was going to Japan.'

Since VTubing originally began in Japan, it seemed EYEAI also had dealings with Japanese companies. Therefore Rion wouldn't be returning home for a while. If Chell took care of cleaning and housework while Rion was gone, it was certainly convenient for me.

With that thought, I climbed back into the VR capsule.

"...Why are you here?"

Sora, who had heard the news of Rion's departure. The moment she entered the passcode and stepped inside the house, she came face to face with Chell who was running the vacuum cleaner.

"Since you're here, please cook for me."

Chell was hungry at the moment. It was still October, so Sora hadn't yet heard the news about the voice drama, but she unconsciously narrowed her eyes.