The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart

"Special person…."

Anna muttered to herself, making sure no one else could hear.

Just a simple five-letter word.
But it clung to her like a leech, unsettling her mind.

She never had any intention of becoming the special person for her favorite VTuber.

Just watching was enough to make her happy… Besides, they were from different countries. What Anna felt for Rui was closer to admiration than anything else.

Anna lacked motivation in general, so she naturally gravitated towards someone like Rui, who was hardworking.
Humans tend to admire qualities they don’t possess.

Among otaku, there are many who prefer not to get involved with their favorite characters.
They became otaku because they loved the world that their favorite characters existed in, and they feared they might shatter that world if they got too close.

So, they were content just to watch from afar.

"Arcane Engineer, your ultimate isn’t ready yet, right?"

It was hard to say how much time had passed since the game started when the Battle Mage asked this.

"No, not yet…," Anna replied.

"Then let the Heavy Armor Warrior move first, and we’ll follow."

With the Battle Mage’s command, the Heavy Armor Warrior stepped forward into the corridor.

There was a significant difference between playing the Arcane Engineer as a solo roamer and playing as an ADC. The main difference was in the growth rate.@@novelbin@@

As a solo roamer, the Arcane Engineer could quickly farm neutral mobs alone, allowing for rapid growth. Moreover, the ultimate gauge filled quickly.

On the other hand, as an ADC, everything took twice as long.

Farming neutral mobs had to be done with the team, so experience was split. Moving with the main team also meant reduced mobility compared to solo play, leading to fewer neutral mob encounters.

‘I need to get my ultimate ready soon.’

In Anna’s team, the members were the Heavy Armor Warrior, Martial Artist, Battle Mage, and Saint. None of them had any skills that could be considered detection skills.

The only detection skill available was her ultimate. In other words, the team naturally depended heavily on the Arcane Engineer’s ultimate.

So, Anna was feeling a bit anxious when suddenly, the Heavy Armor Warrior, who had entered first, shouted.

"Ambush…! Ambush! The enemy Puppeteer is ambushing us!"

Upon hearing the Heavy Armor Warrior’s shout, the rest of the team quickly caught up.

A long corridor.
Darkness shrouded the area, making the sound of the flowing sewage seem louder than usual.

To dispel the darkness, the Battle Mage raised a flame.

This revealed the Heavy Armor Warrior engaged in battle.

A large mannequin doll.
Its waist blades spun, scraping against the Heavy Armor Warrior’s armor.

Standing a bit away from the mannequin was a girl with emotionless eyes watching the battle.

A girl with twin tails, a cute appearance marred by doll joints visible in various parts of her exposed skin.

The Puppeteer.
A girl with the backstory of having transformed parts of her body into a doll in her pursuit of strength.

And, Hanabane Rui’s main character.

"…!"

The sudden appearance of Rui made the team hesitate for a moment.

Looking around calmly, they saw no one else besides the Puppeteer.
In other words, the Puppeteer was a "roamer," separated from her main team.

This wasn’t surprising. The Puppeteer was often used as a roamer.

The allied team members exchanged glances and then the Battle Mage and Martial Artist sprang forward.

‘…It’s hard to get a shot.’

Anna aimed her gun but couldn’t find a clear shot.

The underground sewer map was mostly composed of corridors, and these corridors weren’t particularly wide. They were just wide enough for six allied team members to walk side by side.

Up ahead, the Heavy Armor Warrior was already engaged with the mannequin, and now the Battle Mage and Martial Artist had joined in.

This obscured Anna’s view of the Puppeteer.

It was a lack of understanding on the part of her team members.
A lack of understanding of the sewer map, a lack of understanding of the Arcane Engineer, and a lack of understanding of team play.

"──."

The Puppeteer lunged forward.

As if in sync, the mannequin, which had been struggling with the Heavy Armor Warrior, pulled back slightly.
This caused the Heavy Armor Warrior to lose balance just a little.

Taking advantage of the moment, the Puppeteer made a slight gesture.

"Whoa!?"

The Heavy Armor Warrior fell.

Bind.
A skill that entangles the target in strings.
At some point, the Puppeteer’s strings had wrapped around the Heavy Armor Warrior, and she pulled him down.

The Puppeteer then rushed in, body-checking the Heavy Armor Warrior.

Now completely toppled, the Heavy Armor Warrior fell right into the sewer beside the corridor.

-Splash!

The sound of water splashing echoed as the Heavy Armor Warrior sank.

Hanabane Rui is a rare example of a highly educated VTuber in the industry.

Although she acts as a middle schooler in her character’s setting, in reality, she’s long since graduated from university.

Despite being an alumnus of a prestigious university that everyone knows, she’s chosen to be a VTuber.
God gave her a brilliant mind, but unfortunately, He didn’t give her much in the way of social skills.

Because of this, Rui considered her intelligence to be her greatest weapon.

-Thud!

She maneuvered her mannequin to clash with the Martial Artist.

The Puppeteer is a character that fights alongside a puppet.
The fighting style is like having "one mind but two bodies."

When controlling the puppet, her mind inhabits the puppet’s body. When controlling her main body again, she pulls her mind back.

It’s a real-time body-switching gameplay style that’s completely insane.

Because of this, the Puppeteer is known for its extreme difficulty in Labyrinth. The character’s controls are so challenging that it’s unpopular, mainly used by pro gamers.

It took Rui a considerable amount of time to master the Puppeteer.

But thanks to her quick thinking, she eventually made the mechanics her own.

Like now.

-Fwoosh!

The Battle Mage charged in from the side.

Rui quickly calculated. As she dodged the attack, she activated Bind.

She pulled the string, dragging the bound Battle Mage right in front of her.

-Bang!

A gunshot rang out from afar, and the Battle Mage’s shoulder was pierced.

It was Anna’s attack.
But Rui knew the Arcane Engineer was aiming for her, so she deliberately used the Battle Mage as a shield.

‘Taking on two at once isn’t too difficult.’

The Puppeteer’s advantage is being "one person with two bodies."
If you use "body-switching" effectively, the Puppeteer can play the role of two people.

So, dealing with both the Martial Artist and the Battle Mage simultaneously wasn’t much of a problem.

The enemy Dark Knight was likely playing as a roamer and wasn’t present here.

The enemy Saint was just a support character and wouldn’t have a significant impact on this battle.
The enemy Heavy Armor Warrior was drowning and would soon die from lack of oxygen.

The Arcane Engineer was troublesome, but fortunately, the map worked in Rui’s favor.

She could use the narrow corridors of the sewer map to force a situation where the allies would block each other’s line of sight.

"Ugh…"

The opposing Arcane Engineer’s expression showed frustration.

Seeing that expression, Rui was certain. She was rattled.

A psychologically shaken Arcane Engineer wouldn’t be able to shoot accurately. The only thing left to do was to buy time against the Battle Mage and Martial Artist.

Yes, just buying time was enough.

Simply by stalling, Rui would gain the advantage.

"KraaaaAAAAA!!!!"

A beastly roar echoed, and blood splattered.

It all happened in an instant.
A giant wolf leaped out from behind Rui and tore into the Battle Mage’s neck.

"Gugh… Ack…"

The Battle Mage struggled, trying to break free, but right beside him, the Dual Swordsman appeared.

Blood spurted as the Dual Swordsman left an X-shaped mark on the Battle Mage’s chest.

【Your Dual Swordsman has killed the enemy Battle Mage.】

The Battle Mage fell.
The enemy Martial Artist gulped and backed away.

In contrast, a Dual Swordsman and the Beast Tamer, riding the giant wolf, stepped forward to stand beside Rui.

And then the Cavalry, Enchanter, and Bard joined them.

Thanks to Rui’s stalling, her team’s main force had arrived.

‘We’ve won.’

Three against six.
There was no way the enemy could overcome this numbers disadvantage.

Rui prepared to use her skills to finish it off.

【Your Heavy Armor Warrior has died to a trap.】
【The enemy Dual Swordsman has killed your Battle Mage.】

Seeing these messages flash across the screen, I took a step forward.

The Battle Mage’s corpse lay on the ground, and the Heavy Armor Warrior was nowhere to be seen, likely having fallen into the sewer.

On the other side, the enemy Cavalry, Beast Tamer, and Dual Swordsman were charging in, and our Martial Artist was desperately trying to hold them off, even using his invincibility skill.

"Sensei!"

Anna called out when she saw me appear.

Her eyes weren’t bright.
There was a glimmer of hope, like seeing a savior, but the situation was dire, and the despair in her eyes was stronger.

"So, it’s come to this."

I nodded.

With two of our allies already dead and the enemy’s main force arriving, I quickly assessed what needed to be done.

I immediately used Wailing Wall.

Right behind the Martial Artist.

"What? Wait, what's this?!"

The shocked cry of the Martial Artist echoed from behind the wall.

After confirming that the wall was properly in place, I turned around.

"Sensei?! What are you doing…?"

"What do you mean, what am I doing?"

She saw it with her own eyes and still doesn't understand?

But, being the patient and kind person I am, I decided to explain it to her.

"We're going to lose if we keep fighting, so we're retreating for now."

"But why did you put the wall there? The Martial Artist can't get through! Did you place the wall by mistake…?"

As if I would make a mistake.

I am the perfect duchess, after all. Mistakes are not in my nature.

It’s just that…

"Sacrificing the Martial Artist will buy us more time. Now, let's get out of here quickly."

"That’s trolling!!"

Anna shouted.