Scared or Provoked?

Inagika wasn't much of a singer. "I-if I could become a constellation with you…!" "A night of falling stars, a fleeting wish~♬"

Karaoke Loser Trait #1: She spends ages just watching others sing, then nervously reserves a song out of sheer embarrassment, fully aware she won't outperform anyone.

Karaoke Loser Trait #2: The moment she starts, some karaoke social butterfly inevitably barges in and drags her into an unwanted duet.

Karaoke Loser Trait #3: And of course, that person sings far better than her.

Karaoke Loser Trait #4: Her high notes falter, her voice constantly drowned out by theirs.

Thus, the song Inagika had barely managed to reserve ended up with Anna enthusiastically belting it out and completely overshadowing her. Anna, of course, harbored not a shred of malice and remained blissfully unaware of the emotions churning inside Inagika.

The first thing Kisaki Rinko saw upon arriving was exactly that scene.

"I'm sorry, Rinko-senpai. You must be busy, yet you still came."

"I wasn't particularly busy, so it's fine."

Kisaki Rinko perched on the edge of the bed. Though they were broadcasting from a karaoke room, this was undeniably Rion's room. With nowhere else to sit, she had taken the bed, wondering if it was appropriate. Rion was probably watching the stream from Japan—what must she be thinking?

"One, two, three, four… Where's Chell?"

"Chell went to sleep. She said she needs rest if she's going to run at dawn."

"…You guys really stream hardcore."

Oh Lora planned to keep singing nonstop until she finished her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rank climb. No matter how Kisaki Rinko looked at it, the plan was insane. She made a mental note to contact Ichika and a few others later—some of them might even show up in the middle of the night. Even two or three extra songs would ease the burden considerably.

"This won't last much longer. Lora's promotion match is in its final stages."

Ayanokouji Sora casually showed her phone. On the screen, Oh Lora's promotion match played at 5x speed—time flowed differently between the two sides. If she'd wanted to watch leisurely, 1x speed would have been the choice, but this was only to check Oh Lora's situation; proper viewing was impossible anyway.

"Lots of familiar faces."

Masina, Vincent, and Narim, if she wasn't mistaken.

"Looks like a smooth promotion. She's teamed with Narim, after all."

"Is she good?"

"Narim's solid. More than that, even."

Kisaki Rinko shrugged without thinking. "She's the complete opposite of me."

New kill logs appeared one after another. Let's summarize the situation. Six kills in total. One was Masina, killed by me. Four of the remaining five were ally deaths. Only the last one belonged to the enemy.

"Looks like our main force lost to theirs."

The conclusion was simple, but the situation was anything but. It was downright disastrous. This was getting troublesome.

While she was thinking that, something flew toward her from afar.

A mini-dragon?

Flap, flap. Wings beating, a baby dragon approached, its tail wrapped around a sword. Come to think of it, their main force had five members, yet only four ally death logs had appeared. That meant their Dragon Knight—Son Narim—was still alive.

She wants me to follow.

The mini-dragon circled her. The Dragon Knight's first skill was Resonance, which let her control the mini-dragon. "Control" was generous—the creature's combat power was pathetic. Its only ability was firing a single fireball, nothing more than a scouting tool.

She followed the mini-dragon to a cave a short distance from the starting point. Inside, a campfire burned low.

"Welcome!"

Son Narim greeted her with a bright smile.

"I'm so sorry! You carried the deserter play so well, but I messed up!"

The excessive deference felt out of place for a senior VTuber who'd debuted long ago. In the military, rank from another unit meant little more than "some old guy," but VTubing apparently worked differently. Even from another company, an earlier debut made you a senior. Respect was expected, even if elaborate courtesy wasn't—Rion had told her that once.

"'Messed up' feels like the wrong word. You did take one of them down, so you did what you could, didn't you?"

"No! I really did mess up! I should have seen this coming…"

Son Narim let out a self-deprecating sigh.

"Do you know Vincent? Full name Vincent Edward."

She'd heard the name. One of the male VTubers who'd competed in last year's Streamer League. Not particularly close since they'd been on different teams from Kisaki Rinko, but still.

"Vincent's great at shotcalling. I got caught in his strategy."

Son Narim explained the enemy composition: Cavalry–Beast Tamer–Dual Swordsman–Mage–Pathfinder–Rogue. No healers like Saintess or Battle Priest, no sustained ranged DPS like Musketeer or Magic Engineer. A glass-cannon rush composition that would never appear in pro play due to its terrible balance. But in ranked, people sometimes ignored synergy for comfort picks.

—At least, that's what Son Narim had thought during the draft.

"Their plan was an early rush."

Every composition had strengths. Theirs leaned toward an all-in aggression. The Cavalry wreaked havoc on the main base with overwhelming mobility. The Mage and Beast Tamer rode a giant wolf, spamming spells everywhere. The Pathfinder's ultimate, Drill!, let them tunnel underground after the enemy team fed it all the neutral mobs, then the Dual Swordsman joined for a pincer attack from behind. In a proper teamfight their side might have won, but the chaotic multi-directional brawl played perfectly to the enemy's strengths. Their team had been swept away.

"They must really hate losing to me."

Oh Lora crossed her arms. Masina had prepared a custom strategy just to beat her. This wasn't ego talking.

The bans on Dark Knight and Berserker were suspicious ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the start.

It was odd enough that Vincent, an overseas player, was queuing ranked on the Korean server. The most natural explanation was that he was duoing with Masina. They'd banned Oh Lora's two best picks, noticed she'd taken Rogue, and convinced their teammates to run an early-rush composition that succeeded.

Unbelievable.

"So I've been thinking," Son Narim said brightly despite the dire situation—two allies versus four enemies. "What if we just let them take the boss?"

"Boss steal, huh."

A last-resort play common in MOBA games—sniping the final hit on an objective the enemy was already claiming. It was a reasonable suggestion given how bad things looked. When the odds were this stacked, sometimes you had to gamble on a sliver of hope.

The problem was that the enemy had no reason to give them that opening.

"There's a flaw in that plan. They're four, we're two. Wouldn't they just use the numbers advantage to run us down instead?"

"Then we run to the ends of the earth! They'll give up chasing us and go for the boss!"

"You're forgetting the Beast Tamer has a tracking skill."

"Tracking isn't omnipotent. We can still escape!"

Son Narim insisted that dragging things out would eventually create an opening—the classic "just lie down and wait" strategy. It was more stubborn optimism than anything else. Her refusal to give up was admirable, but…

"Let's just teamfight."

As if that would work.

Oh Lora spoke.

***

Narim walked alongside Lora. Whether they ran or fought, staying in the cave was a waste of time—they'd agreed on that much.

"But can we really win a teamfight?!"

Narim asked the question even as she remembered the name Kisaki Rinko. They'd exchanged casual messages recently. And Aurora was currently Rinko's most cherished junior. Aurora had become quite famous, with people already calling her Rinko's successor. From what little Narim had seen of her streams, she had star quality too.

Still, Narim had never been particularly interested in Lora herself. People misunderstood—Son Narim seemed bright and cheerful, but her inner world was rather dry.

"Winning a teamfight is basically impossible! We really need a different strategy!"

That was what Narim believed. The word she hated most was "give up." Nothing disgusted her more than abandoning something. In ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that sense, Lora's suggestion to "just teamfight" rubbed her the wrong way. It sounded like mindlessly charging in and throwing the game away.

So Narim had no intention of agreeing with Lora's proposal.

"Are you scared?"

……

…What?

"It's two of us versus four of them. If each of us takes down two, we win. You don't seem very confident, though."

"……"

Huh. She's trying to provoke me. And she's even dropped the honorifics. I'm the senior here.

Maybe being Rinko-senpai's successor gave her that kind of nerve. Narim smiled like the sun.

"Fine! Let's do it! If I back down after hearing that, I'm not even human!"

"I never said anything that dramatic. Are you angry?"

"No! I'm not angry at all! If anything, it was great motivation. Yes. Really good motivation. Mm. I'm grateful, even."

"You got provoked."

"I did not."

Narim had been provoked but refused to admit it. The one saving grace was that she was considered the most well-mannered VTuber at Serenade KR. Even when provoked, she never lashed out at others. She was provoked, but she showed no outward sign of displeasure. The smile plastered across her face made her a model VTuber. Provoked, but still.

"I wasn't provoked at all, so will this really be okay?!"

"Stop emphasizing it. It's too obvious."

"But with just a Dragon Knight and a Rogue, isn't this going to be tough?! I'm not saying this because I'm provoked—I'm genuinely curious!"

"If you don't believe me, I can do it alone. Feel free to hide and watch my performance."

Oh Lora's resolve seemed unshakable. She truly believed in herself, and Narim quickly judged that persuasion was impossible. In that case, the only option was to bet on the method with slightly higher odds. Fighting together, even if clumsy, offered better expected value than fighting alone.

Son Narim hated giving up and disliked bending or compromising, but she wasn't socially inept. She decided to try fighting together once. If it failed, they'd go for the boss steal.

"By the way, Lora-ssi!"

"You may call me Lora-nim or Miss Lora."

"No thanks! I've been wondering since earlier—why are you carrying Sina on your back?"

It had been bothering Narim the whole time. Strapped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Oh Lora's back was the corpse of the Assassin. The floating nickname above its head was one Narim knew well—Masina, her direct junior at Serenade KR.

"I was thinking of cutting off the head."

"……Excuse me?"

"Wouldn't the enemy be surprised if a teammate's head suddenly came flying at them? We could use that moment to launch a surprise attack and improve our odds a little."

Oh Lora spoke in her usual elegant tone.

She's insane. What a stupid idea.

"Let's do it right now!"

But Narim wasn't exactly normal either. The woman who refused to give up would do anything if it meant not surrendering. That was who Son Narim was.

"Should we gouge out the eyes too?! That would shock them even more!"

"You're not quite right in the head either."

"I don't want to hear that from you, Lora-ssi!"

Still, with what little humanity they had left, the two of them somehow managed to resist actually removing the eyes.