The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

“…I’m doomed.”

Kim Garam, a second-year student in the mathematics department at K University, let out a sigh.

The total number of subjects taken this semester: 7.

Three had already reached three absences.

For two subjects, Garam submitted blank papers for the midterm exam.

For one, no assignments had been turned in.

Academic probation was confirmed.

“Ugh…”

Kim Garam abandoned the bed and sprawled out on the floor.

Back in childhood, math had come so easily. But now, after entering university, it felt like dealing with alien language.

Unable to adjust to university life, Garam was falling behind. But then again, this was a typical college student story.

The expensive tuition had long lost its value, there was no face to show to the parents, and it seemed unlikely that Garam would ever graduate.

“Should I transfer to another department…?”

Mumbling to no one in particular, Garam didn’t really believe the words. If changing departments would have solved anything, things wouldn’t have ended up this way.

Thinking about the future was depressing, so Garam stood up and entered the VR capsule.

“I’ll play one ranked match and then think about it.”

Maybe a change of mood would help figure things out. That was the conclusion Garam reached.

Of course, playing a game to clear the mind wasn’t going to lead to any solid conclusions. Garam already knew this, but just wanted to escape for a moment.

It was precisely this tendency to escape from reality that had led to the dismal state of the grades, but knowing that wasn’t going to change anything.

“I wish I could just play games forever…”

Muttering those words, Kim Garam launched into a ranked game of Labyrinthos.

The ban-pick phase began, and as the loading screen appeared, the usernames of the opposing team scrolled down.

“Huh? DucalFamily’sGlory… I feel like I’ve seen that somewhere.”

Garam tilted their head in confusion.

That was about five minutes before being completely annihilated by Aurora.

***

===

【Virtual VTuber Gallery】

[Live Broadcast] A-Grade Virgin has surpassed 50 hours of streamingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

【Labyrinthos】 She said it won’t end until she hits Master Rank in both Gate Assault and Duel Mode 【Aurora / EYEAI】

Is she crazy?

[Comments]

– What?

– Is it really 50 hours?

ㄴ (Author) Yup

– Why hasn’t the stream ended yet?

– Is she seriously going to stream until she hits Master?

– Noona, I’m dying…

ㄴ Right, this is death…

===

[Live Broadcast] Somebody stop her, please

I’m the one who’s gonna die, dammit…

[Comments]

– Even the fans are hating on her while she’s streamingㅋㅋ

– After getting scolded by Rion and stopping long streams, why is she doing this all of a sudden?

ㄴ (Author) She said she’s entering Fantasy League…

– Is A-Grade Virgin okay physically?

ㄴ (Author) She’s totally fine…

ㄴ Why is she so healthy?

ㄴ (Author) I don’t know, damn it

– How is it even possible to stream for 50 hours? Isn’t there a login time limit?

ㄴ (Author) She’s playing Minecraft on her PC…

ㄴ She’s really gone nutsㅋㅋㅋ

===

【Blackjack donated 1,000 won.】

【Is the streamer going to die at this rate?】

【OjousamagotoBet donated 1,000 won.】

【If you don’t go to sleep now, we’re going to dance.】

“If you want to dance, feel free.”

I adjusted the microphone settings and responded to the donation message.

Depending on the system settings, my voice could be heard only by the viewers, or by the people I was playing the game with as well.

It might not seem like much, but this was a crucial system setting. Not only could the enemies not hear my voice, but they also couldn’t hear even my breathing.

In other words, it made stealthy operations much easier.

“I found them.”

Spotting the enemy, I quietly hid behind cover.

I already had a mental image of their team composition. A Heavy Armored Warrior, a Swordmage, a Battle Mage, an Archer, and an Alchemist.

– The terrain isn’t favorable

– There’s no way to break through thisㅋㅋㅋ

Their team composition wasn’t strong at initiating fights, but they had incredible range overall.

Both the Swordmage and the Battle Mage had mid-range zoning abilities, and the Archer boasted the longest range in Labyrinthos. It would be hard to find a better team for kiting and keeping their distance.

To make matters worse, they had already taken control of the high ground.

Flanking them was impossible.

“There’s no choice. I’ll have to go straight in.”

– ?

– ??

– Are you out of your mind?

– Here we go again, doing something weird

The chat exploded with reactions, but I pushed forward.

Using the Phantom Thief’s second skill, Phantom Footsteps.

It greatly increased my movement speed while leaving no footprints or sounds behind.

‘Not that the lack of footprints matters in this situation.’

The character I was playing was Phantom Thief.

It had been recommended to me by Rinco, and since I had decided to enter Fantasy League, I figured I should practice the character seriously.

The Phantom Thief’s defining feature was the Steal skill.

Its powerful ability allowed you to steal the enemy’s weapon, neutralizing their strength.

But because it was so powerful, it came with a big risk. The range was extremely short.

That’s why the Phantom Footsteps skill was useful—it helped close the distance to the enemy.

It was a little disappointing that it only boosted movement speed. If it had been a dash, teleport, or stealth skill, it would have been even better. Though, if that were the case, it would probably make it too easy to approach enemies.

Anyway, as long as I could successfully close the distance, the Phantom Thief was a character with solid strengths.

In short, how I closed the gap with the enemy was the key.

I ran forward.

– Swoosh!

As soon as I closed some distance, an arrow flew towards me.

I had been spotted by the Archer’s detection skill. Even though my footsteps were silent, I had gotten close enough to be detected.

Still, being on the high ground meant that even though I was close, it would still take me time to actually reach them.

The moment I dodged the arrow, the Swordmage and the Battle Mage launched projectile skills at me, and the Alchemist threw a bomb.

“What an enthusiastic welcome.”

I dashed forward, dodging the projectiles from the Swordmage and the Battle Mage.

Then, as if they had predicted my path, another arrow flew towards me, this time from the Archer. I swung my arm and deflected it.

And then, a bomb with a slight delay began to descend.

It was thrown by the Alchemist.

But the Alchemist wasn’t very skilled. I knew I still had time before it exploded.

I grabbed the falling bomb and threw it back toward the enemy.

Boom!

The explosion kicked up a cloud of dirt.

Their vision was obscured for a moment, giving me more time to close the distance.

– Whoa, what the heck

– Catching a bomb mid-air is amazingㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– She’s better at catching than our infielders

– With that arm, she should be our team’s pitcher

I plunged straight into the enemy formation.

The first one I encountered was the Swordmage.

The Swordmage locked eyes with me and immediately thrust their sword forward.

The panic was evident in their strike. They hadn’t expected me to throw the bomb back.

Because of that, their attack wasn’t precise.

It was easy to grab their sword.

“Steal.”

Thwack!

I took their sword and stabbed it right into their neck.

Ding.

Bright red blood splattered, and the Swordmage collapsed. At the same time, I heard a sound effect in my ear.

The Phantom Thief had a unique trait where every time you or an ally defeated an enemy, your skill cooldowns would reset. The sound was proof that my cooldown reset had just triggered.

I activated Phantom Footsteps again.

From the left, the Heavy Armored Warrior charged at me, and from the right, the Battle Mage.

I reached out first to the Heavy Armored Warrior’s swinging mace.

“Steal.”

Thud!

I snatched the mace from the Heavy Armored Warrior and slammed it down on their chest.

The warrior’s posture crumbled.

I drove the sword into the gap between their armor.

Ding.

Skill cooldown reset.

Without retrieving the sword, I immediately reached out and stole the Battle Mage’s staff.

“Damn…”

The Battle Mage cursed under their breath, having lost their weapon.

They were about to cast a spell, but I had already activated the freshly reset Phantom Footsteps skill.

With my increased movement speed, I dodged their projectile and swung the stolen staff at their legs.

As they stumbled, I swung the mace I had stolen from the Heavy Armored Warrior at their head.

Thwack!

Ding.

Skill cooldown reset.

***

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

-“That’s unexpected. I thought you wouldn’t join, unnie.”

Most viewers didn’t find it odd that I was applying for Fantasy League.

After all, I had been active as a Labyrinthos-focused VTuber. So in a way, it was only natural for me to join Fantasy League.

The only one who found my decision surprising was Rion.

Since Rion had been watching me the longest, she knew me better than anyone else.

-“Recording the voices made me realize something.”

That I, too, had a sense of camaraderie.

Even I was surprised by this realization—that even a villainous noblewoman like me could feel a bond with others.

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

When I first met Sora, Inagika, and Chel on Discord, I didn’t think they would mean anything to me.

But instead of letting Sora or Inagika fill in for the voice recordings, I figured it would be better if I did it myself, so I joined in.

And because Chel had shown such passion for releasing a voice drama, I decided to play along and support her.

It had only been a couple of months, but spending that time together had made me grow attached to them.

Camaraderie was a curious concept at times.

Even in the military, people would band together simply because they were comrades, even if they were strangers before.

For me, the 6th generation VTubers were no longer strangers.

That’s why I decided to apply for Fantasy League.

“When will you do Labyrinthos?

The person who had been my main reason for applying to Fantasy League was still half-living at my house.

“Chel, how long has it been since we finished the voice recordings?”

“Three days.”

“So, that means you’ve been at my place for three days straight?”

“I’ve been here since before that.”

“Right. You were.”

Living with Chel had made me realize something: Chel might not actually be human.

Even if she turned out to be a cat disguised as a human, I wouldn’t be surprised.

‘Actually, a cat might be better.’

At least she knew how to do housework.

A cat that could do chores. Thinking about it like that didn’t make it feel like such a bad deal.

She was shameless, but still.

“Are you planning to stay here until I do Sanrabi?”

“Yes.”

“You’re like a heroine from one of those obsessive-romance novels. You’re surprisingly clingy.”

“I prefer to get all my errands done in one go when I leave the house.”

“If you left the house three more times, you’d become president.”

At this rate, if I met with Chel a few more times, she might end up ruling the universe. Right now, she’s just my housemaid, though.

“I told you before, I’m not going to do Sanrabi until I hit Master Rank in Labyrinthos. I won’t be able to play it for a while.”

“I’ll wait.”

“You’re stubborn. Do as you please.”

Despite her appearance, Chel was proactive, determined, stubborn, and completely indifferent to what others thought of her.

For some reason, it felt like most VTubers had some kind of issue with social skills. Was it just my imagination?

Well, not that it mattered to me.

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

‘Did she say she was going to Japan?’

Since VTubing originated in Japan, it seemed that EYEAI also had business interactions with Japanese companies.

Rion wouldn’t be back for a while.

If Chel took care of the cleaning and housework while Rion was away, that would be convenient for me.

With that thought in mind, I re-entered the VR capsule.

***

“…Why are you here?”

Upon hearing about Rion’s departure, Sora entered the house, punching in the passcode. Inside, Chel was vacuuming.

“Since you’re here, can you make me some food?”

Chel was feeling hungry.

It was still only October, so Sora hadn’t heard about the voice drama yet.

But without realizing it, Sora narrowed her eyes slightly.