Chapter 145
“So you've been publicly executing me all this time! They say sworn enemies eventually meet on a narrow bridge! Get over here, NoName!”
The girl with Wolverine claws equipped on her hands was already growling before the game had even begun.
Her long, black-and-white two-tone hair fell to her waist.
She wore a cute animal hoodie, but it was not easy to guess what animal it was supposed to be. At a glance, it looked more like a mole or a beaver.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋIt should be sworn enemies, shouldn't it?
-What are you talking about, Kariri?!
-She's saying she's determined to cripple herㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-No, Kariri, you were the one who stream-sniped her!
-A narrow bridge foretoldㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Ah, so she was the one who set it upㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Is it okay for a streamer to snipe someone like that?
-She actually pulled it off!
-Dae-riri! Dae-riri! Dae-riri! Dae-riri!
“You don't know how I feel, unable to take the video down! I'm going to tear NoName into six pieces!”
The story of how Kariri, a honey-badger-themed V-Tuber, came to swear revenge on NoName began about ten days earlier.
The Japanese anime cover songs she had been uploading since middle school.
One of those videos had played a major role in making Kariri a popular V-Tuber, but it was also her greatest source of embarrassment.
Still, V-Tube's algorithm was good enough that people who weren't interested in that sort of thing would probably never come across it in their entire lives.
But when NoName kept playing her song as her stream's opening theme, it eventually spread even to viewers with no immunity to otaku culture.
The wholesome comment section, previously filled mostly with elementary schoolers, was soon packed with prank comments and vicious criticism from people with years of experience in online communities.
Kariri happened to hear about it, carefully read through every one of those comments, and was deeply hurt. To make matters worse, she stayed up all night and ended up six hours late to her stream the next day.
“We can win easily with a team like this. Good luck, everyone! Hehehe... Welcome to hell, NoName!”
“Wait, Ms. Kariri, did you join by stream-sniping me?”
The moment NoName announced that she was playing a normal game, Kariri abandoned whatever content she had been doing and rushed over.
And luck was always on her side.
After successfully sniping NoName in the very first game, Kariri checked the gap between the two teams and gave a sinister smile.
[Nocturne Nailink vs Crown Prince Friedrich]
[Map: Arseria Forest]
[Crown Prince Friedrich has joined your team.]
[Capture the checkpoint to secure the high ground.]
She was confident in this game, at least—World of Arseria was the one game in which she had managed to maintain a Platinum rank.
Normally, she wouldn't have wanted to face an opponent with such an overwhelming combat-power advantage, but today was different.
“All right. If I kill NoName just once—only once—then Kariri wins!”
-Why did you decide that?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Stop making up rules as you goㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-A single kill on NoName would be a lifelong achievement, though.
-You'd never get another chance like this, for real.
-Wow, why does NoName have so many viewers? She's almost matching Kariri.
└ Who is she? Is she famous?
-Let's goooooo~!
Kariri had heard plenty about NoName because her younger brother was a devoted viewer.
A force of nature who displayed phenomenal skill when it came to the game.
The character she was using now even had the combat power of a world number one.
The teammates who tacitly agreed to wear NoName down split into pairs and groups of three to search for her, believing they could win easily if they seized the initiative and kept her off balance early on.
But as Kariri's status window turned red and the screen was washed in gray, even keeping track of the viewers' reactions became difficult.
[2 kills 10 deaths 4 assists]
“Why?! Guaaaaaaaah!”
“Stop throwing yourselves at her! You're only making NoName stronger!”
-Is NoName seriously insaneㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-How long has she been camping out up front without even going home?
-Infinite stamina from self-healing, wow ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ
-How can six people not kill one healer?
Until they won the team fight over the first objective, they had thought victory would be a comfortable one.
Although NoName disappeared midway and failed to add to her kill count, the game itself was proceeding smoothly.
However, after giving up the objective and successfully taking the two remaining neutral checkpoints, NoName defeated Kariri's teammates one after another and sent them back to their respawn point.
“Get out there, quick! You're the tank!”
“What do you expect me to do? I get killed in five seconds if I go out.”
“We're telling you to go because you can last five seconds! We get killed in one!”
“The damage dealers can't put out enough damage, so what's the point of me going out there to body-block? Question mark.”
“This insane, socially maladjusted WoA addict is actually saying ‘question mark’ out loud!”
As you could see, the teammates' situation was desperate as well.
“My... my revenge is ending this pointlessly...?”
And when an executioner appeared, beheading anyone who stepped out the instant their invincibility ended right in front of the respawn point, no one was willing to step forward.
[Unique (★★): The Blue Team has slain Alphonse Shipot!]
The second objective had just been hunted down.
And despite not farming at all, NoName, who was staring down the six of them, continued to grow stronger.
[NoName (Priest): 38/0/4]
[Combat Power: 39572]
“The game has only been going for fifteen minutes! This is too much!”
-She must have over 6,000 gold in her pocket already, and she's at 40,000? Are you kidding me?
-Look at those Platinum bugs being utterly bewilderedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Her presence is freaking terrifying.
-I just figured out the one surefire way to beat NoName.
└ What is it?
└ Keep running away without giving her even one kill. The moment you give her one, hit surrender and claim a psychological victory.
└ Fuck offㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋThis game is already doomed.
-Kariri, let's just surrenderㅠㅠ
-We gave her kills way too easily at the start.
“Huh? NoName's leaving?”
“Great, let's get out of here while we can!”
[Yggdrasil has begun growing in each faction's territory.]
And from the fifteenth minute of the game onward, the colossal tree began to grow.
Having already destroyed every weapon protecting Yggdrasil alongside her teammates, NoName finished the game before the third objective even appeared, making it seem as though Kariri's revenge would end in anticlimax.
* * *
[Victory]
[Time: 19:44]
[NoName (Priest): 45/0/6]
“Victory... We won...! We actually won!”
Perhaps the thrill of battle had not yet faded, because the boy trembled all over.
“Why had I never played this god-tier game, WoA, before? I feel like I've missed out on half my life.”
“Multiplayer is incredible! My heart is pounding so hard.”
Unable to believe the unbelievable result, they remained in the waiting room for a long while.
In particular, the man holding the zweihander shifted his gaze to the side.
It wasn't just him.
No one's eyes could tear themselves away from the beautiful woman.
She had rallied her allies, driven straight through the game that had seemed certain to end in a helpless defeat, and broken through.
The woman who had plunged into the formation that collapsed in an instant and cut down the enemy commanders one by one then assigned the allies their respective tasks.
Everything had been clumsy at first, but thanks to her meticulous command, they could see even the enemy's impregnable fortress slowly crumbling.
And then, victory was theirs.
Unaware that she had kindled a fire in the newbies' hearts, Name turned her head and met their eyes.
“We won?”
For a moment, the five people felt as though a halo had appeared behind her head.
Joy and satisfaction boiled up inside their chests.
Above all, the face of the woman greeting them with a smile was more beautiful than anyone else's.
“NoName, are you seriously insane? How are you so calm after carrying the game this hard!”
“How can this be your main account...?”
Some cheered in the joy of victory, while others were dejected by the difference in talent; their reactions varied.
Then the middle-aged man, after catching his breath, approached Name, held out his hand, and asked,
“You said you're streaming? Could we get your streamer name?”
“Hey, bro! Even in virtual reality, you can't just go around doing that—people these days...”
Name took the man's hand without hesitation.
“NoName. I'm NoName, streaming on Twishy.”
“Thanks to you, I had a great experience. Much obliged.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Even after that, the intense fan meeting continued, and Name tried to hurry out of the waiting room.
However, the girl in the honey badger hoodie appeared again. She was also the unfortunate girl who had been killed by Name thirteen times.
Finding her familiar, Name tilted her head once, but Kariri stood proudly before her and faced her head-on.
“Hmm? Ah.”
“Yes, that's me! Kariri!”
“Oh, yes... I think I've seen you a few times in videos before.”
“After making me die eighteen times today...! No, that's not what I wanted to say. My song video! How long are you planning to keep playing it as your opening song, anyway? It's so embarrassing!”
Kariri stamped her feet.
Name scratched her head with an awkward expression.
“But your voice sounds similar to mine, Kariri.”
“That's my voice from four years ago... and I even used Auto-Tune! It isn't my voice anymore, okay?”
“Then should I stop?”
“No!”
“...?”
“Instead, would you do a collab with me? Then I'll let you play any of the songs I've sung whenever you want!”
She said it with her chest puffed out and her eyes sparkling.
“No.”
“Eeeeeeeh? Why, why? Why not?”
“I just don't want to. If it makes you uncomfortable, I won't use the video.”
“Nooo-!”
Name firmly rejected Kariri's pleas and dashed out of the waiting room.
They say there's no paradise in the place you flee to; now she would have to face viewers who were burning with excitement.
[Pending donations: 148]
[Accept all]
[Manager 1: Wait, streamer, if you press that!]
-WTF, are you really under 15?
-How on earth did you clear Nightmare?
-How is this real? How is this real? How is this real? How is this real?
-We're living in the age of NoName.
-You're lying, right? You have to be lying!
-G.O.A.T.
-Look at those donations, you senile streamer!
-14? 13? Don't tell me she's a 12-year-old elementary schooler?
-If you think you're worse than someone who only finished elementary school, give this an upvoteㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Bha VV
-Urban legends are real.
-Did you really play 50,000 games of LoL when you were in elementary school, teacher?
-Ahhh, Namen—
-Twishy's youngest partnered streamer ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ
The cat was already out of the bag.
Now that the game system had definitively established that she was under fifteen, there was no need to hide it anymore.
Name stretched luxuriously and let out a long yawn.
Having met the camera's gaze head-on for the first time in a long while, Name spread her palm and waved.
“Huaaawn. Well then, see you next time. I have school tomorrow.”
* * *
[Kariri's channel]
[‘Manmanman’ donated 1,000 won!]
-Kariri, did you hear? They say NoName is fourteen!
“Huh? What does that—”
[NoName hosted 19,038 viewers!]
And the person who took in NoName's viewers—who had been stoking the kindling until they were blazing and on the verge of exploding—was none other than Kariri.