A Different Logic
The next time they met, the Masina and Vincent duo had cornered Aurora with their trump card, only to lose focus afterward and hand over the second and third rounds like idiots. Masina, promotion match failed……!
Shaken by the promotion match, Masina threw a tantrum. She really wasn't acting her age. In contrast, Vincent, who was acting his age, quietly kept his mouth shut.
'She's good.'
He was shocked. And Vincent was surprised that he had been shocked at all. Last year, during the Streamer Grand Prix, he had faced professional gamers. He had even been impressed by their skill. Yet the shock he felt from Aurora was somehow different from what he had experienced back then.
'What's different?'
Vincent pondered the question, and an answer came to him. Aurora was cruder than the pros. He couldn't quite explain why he felt that way. It simply felt like a wild beast running rampant. Even though her character setting was that of a noble daughter exiled from a ducal house. A wild beast that somehow possessed intelligence. That was the impression he got.
If professional gamers were people who refined themselves as humans and tried to become more like machines, Aurora's direction was strangely different.
'I see. Her approach is different.'
For example, some open-world RPG players bring in logic from completely different genres like fighting games or Souls-likes. Their way of playing and enjoying the game is different. However, in open-world RPGs, item setups and skill setups often carry more weight than raw physical skill, so many of them never reach the absolute top. Still, when the moment for physical skill arrives, they display terrifying peaks.
In the same way, Aurora was a player who brought an entirely different logic into Labyrinthos. He didn't know what that logic was, but…
'We'll meet again someday.'
There were plenty of Labyrinthos tournaments. Not just the upcoming Fantasy League. Quite a few VTubers hosted their own private tournaments if they had the capability. Aurora had already gained fame as a Labyrinthos specialist VTuber. If she was willing, calls would come from various events. So they would meet again in tournaments, and there would come a moment when they would clash once more.
'How can I break through her?'
Vincent found himself thinking about it. It wasn't competitiveness or humiliation. Vincent neither particularly liked nor disliked losing. It simply felt like a riddle had been placed on his desk. It was easier to understand if he compared it to raid games. The most fun part of a raid game was figuring out how to defeat the raid boss. Endless failures and attempts. When a tactic was finally completed and the pattern was broken to bring the boss down, the sense of satisfaction was indescribable.
'How can I defeat Aurora?'
A riddle sat before his eyes, and he felt that if he tried, he might be able to solve it. That was why Vincent found himself pondering without realizing it.
"I hate Aurora so much! Aaaaaagh!!!"
Sina was throwing a fit like that, but Vincent ignored her.
"Congratulations on your promotion!"
In the waiting room after the game ended, I was being congratulated. Viewer chat was scrolling too fast to read, and donation alerts kept popping up. Son Narim, who had played with me, clapped her hands as well.
"Don't make such a fuss. It was an obvious result, wasn't it?"
I reached out and summoned the black tea data. There was joy and a sense of accomplishment, but I wasn't particularly satisfied. I had already reached rank 1 in various games before. Master rank was merely a passing stage, the very beginning of the long journey toward Dominator. If it weren't for the Fantasy League, I might have achieved it even later. Reaching Master this early would only reduce the fun from here on out.
"Ahaha… As expected of the villainess!"
I had no idea what she meant by "as expected," but Son Narim didn't stop clapping. She was just saying whatever came to mind, this girl.
Honestly, the fact that I had played a game together with Son Narim felt more real to me than achieving Master rank. It had been fun. More fun than usual.
'Just as I thought, we're similar.'
That was what I was thinking. The time I spent gaming with Son Narim hadn't been long, but I had figured her out quite well. What I felt while playing together was that she was the complete opposite of Rinko. She hated giving up more than anything. That tenacious side of her was visible in Son Narim.
'Not exactly the same as me, though.'
If I was someone who would do anything to win, Son Narim was someone who would do anything to avoid giving up. The two might seem similar at a glance, but they actually carried different meanings. Still, in this particular game, our goals had aligned, and I thought we had shown quite good teamwork. There was a unique pleasure that came when teamwork clicked, a kind of fun I rarely got to feel since I usually played alone. It had been a while since I experienced that. It was an incredibly enjoyable game.
"Since we met like this, it's fate. Can I add you as a friend?"
And it seemed Son Narim felt the same.
"My contact information isn't cheap. Since we won, I'll make a special exception. You may rejoice."
"Thank you! I'd love to duo with you again sometime!"
"That wouldn't be bad either. If we refine our synergy a bit more."
"Sounds good! By the way, you're applying for the Fantasy League too, right, Lora?"
"That's right."
I nodded. I knew Son Narim was also applying for this year's Fantasy League. She had a slight advantage over other applicants because she had participated in last year's league.
'Especially this year, Son Narim will have an even bigger advantage.'
Each team was represented by four team owners. Two of them had been replaced with different people. New team captains naturally relied on long-serving vice-captains or sergeants. So the two professional gamers who were becoming team owners for the first time this year were probably in a similar position. Those two, unfamiliar with the Fantasy League atmosphere, would want to bring in streamers who had league experience if possible. Son Narim not only had league experience but had also been an ace who performed well, so she would definitely be picked.
"It would be fun if we ended up on the same team."
I said that, and Son Narim strongly denied it.
"That absolutely won't happen!"
"I'm going to reach Master this year too! So I'll be Tier 1, and you'll be Tier 1 as well, Lora!"
"I see."
Each team had to pick one streamer from each tier. They couldn't pick more than one streamer from the same tier. Therefore, if Son Narim also reached Master, there would be no chance of us being on the same team.
"Then next time we meet, we'll be enemies."
It was a little disappointing. Our teamwork had been good, our synergy had been decent, and there weren't many people whose tier was close to mine. It was a shame, but it couldn't be helped.
"Next time, I'll be cutting off your head."
I said that.
After parting ways with Son Narim, I queued up for Single Combat ranked matches. Unlike Gate Attack Mode, Single Combat Mode didn't have a time acceleration system. While Gate Attack Mode could last up to five rounds, Single Combat Mode was always best of one. On top of that, the maps in Single Combat Mode were smaller than those in Gate Attack Mode. As a result, each match took much less time. There was no banning phase either; character picks were done blindly. Because of that, the character matchups and tiers in Single Combat Mode were already well established. In truth, it was a game where simply picking only the top-tier characters guaranteed a certain win rate. Of course, since everyone picked only the high-win-rate top-tier characters, some players brought out second-tier characters to counter those top tiers. Still, there was a reason second-tier remained second-tier. There were quite a few factors where their win rate against top-tier wasn't guaranteed, whether it was a slight advantage or being preyed upon by 1.5-tier characters.
While weighing whether to pick a top-tier, a second-tier, or a hidden gem character, earning rank points wasn't particularly difficult. After all, I was still only Diamond rank. At the highest level, Dominator, there would be more intense matchup research, but at the Diamond stage, even playing with a bit less effort still produced wins.
After playing a few Single Combat ranked matches like that and leaving the capsule with one final push remaining, I heard Rion singing a song with unsettling lyrics.
"It'd be nice if you died♪ It'd be nice if you died♬ It'd be nice if everyone died♪"