Climbing the Tower and Streaming as a VTuber at the Same Time

[Author : Gyuljjang]

[Title : Yesterday's Game Stream Summary by VTuber Stand-In Ichigo]

(A GIF of Ichigo teaching the Fox God how to shoot a gun at the training grounds)

If Wakamo is learning the game, doesn't that make her Ichigo's student?

There are similarities between them. As expected.

If you're awful at a game, bring along a friend who's good at it.

But what was that about the head mod shooting Ichigo in the back of the head?

Did she really get hit by Kyoka Suigetsu? Is she seeing an illusion?

That's right, it might be better if the head mod doesn't come along.

The head mod is probably... the worst player among us!

-You're slow. Even hitting your targets...

-Is that so... Do they look like enemies...?

-Head mod!! Who the hell are you attacking right now!!

-You want to control your aim, don't you?

-Welcome to the upside-down world.

ㄴBoth allies and enemies are all reversed.

-Since when... did you start thinking the head mod was above Ichigo?

-You're the only one who can climb the game, Ichigo!!

-If everyone finds out I'm good at games, they'll all tell me to do nothing but game streams....

The process of convincing yourself you've won is always ugly.

ㄴNobody said it was ugly, though.

ㄴAha.

-No, what the hell is this? Why did the head mod turn into a beast?

-Stop projecting your own agonies onto Ichigo....

-Wakamo, you're a blockhead.

-Do you know this, kid? If you lose, there'll be no chicken.

ㄴ"Then just win."

-So that was the players' skill level? Thanks. If there are ninety-eight guys as good as this, I think we'll somehow manage.

ㄴ(While getting 58 kills)

ㄴFuckㅋㅋㅋ Get out of the casual game already!!!

[Author : Baby Chick]

[Title : Let's Learn About Our Cute Newcomer, Hajime Ichigo]

If you interpret the name, Hajime means beginning.

Ichigo can roughly be understood as Number 1.

Yep, so the meaning of our Ichigo's name is "VTuber Unit 1."

Listening to her, she seems like a 【Victim of a Tower Collapse】.

She's seventeen, but supposedly an expert after surviving an apocalypse-like world for ten years.

She awakened at seven, making her the youngest Climber, so she has at least ten years of experience as a Climber.

How she knows all this and where she picked up this knowledge is an insane gap moe.

When we asked what the fandom name was, it was 【Friends】, yep....

She said she never had anyone to talk to like this.

So she wants us to be friends.... That really touches the heart....

Mom, I made a girlfriend.

-Why did things go so well, only to turn into this shit at the end?

-If Ichigo quits streaming, I'll track her down and kill her.

-"Then let's be fwiends." I got a little emotional.

-She says she's happy because the boss kidnapped her, but isn't she an underage foreign laborer...?

ㄴ"I'm above the laws of the Republic of Korea, you know?"

ㄴ"The younger a VTuber is, the better."

-And in the middle of all this, fuckㅋㅋ Is it true that a clip of Ichigo went up on the head mod's channel?

-The unbelievably awful Wakamo doesn't appear at all....

-This is truly shameless with no beginning or end!!

-I heard that "mold-free bread" is soft and delicious, so I opened my wallet.... I can skip one meal.

-She looks like a snow woman who would eat people when she smiles with her eyes, but the moment she opens her mouth, she turns into a retrieverㅋㅋㅋ

[Author : Sellaemos]

[Title : A Collection of Our Friend's Quotes from Yesterday]

"If the color looks okay, you can eat it."

"People are scarier than ghosts."

"If I miss with a gun, I'll die."

"Sometimes you have to rely on your ears rather than your eyes."

"A gun is better than being shot clean through."

"If I don't kill them, they'll kill me."

"Can't we search through the trash cans?"

"I like the Friends because they're kind."

"I'll work hard and get praised by the boss."

"Boss, Ichigo is good at working."

"Boss's breasts are soft and warm."

-I'm really worried this might be gaslighting a minor.

-It's hard to complain when she picked up a kid who was living such a difficult life and is raising her....

ㄴDidn't she throw away the ones with no talent as VTubers...?

ㄴThat's how they do things in Sparta.

ㄴAhem! A thousand years ago, this was everyday life!!

ㄴAbandonment is so Wakamoㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴ(A picture of Wakamo abandoning Ichigo and running away to live alone)

-She has to grow up strong and healthy.....

-No, she looks sharp and talks cute, but her way of speaking is on an agent's level.

-You didn't know? In the martial world, you have to beware of women, old people, and childrenㅋㅋ..

-It was incredible when she got sniped, lost her helmet, and killed the sniper with a counter-snipe.

-I'm happy she did twelve hours of game streaming... but isn't this labor exploitation...?

-It's funny that when Ichigo made a mistake and died, Wakamo comforted her because she started crying.

ㄴ"There, there. It's okay, it's okay."

ㄴShe doesn't scold her over little things like thatㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴFor real, the head mod is even worse at games. Shouldn't she be the one feeling self-conscious?

ㄴShe looks like she wouldn't shed a single tear, but this is insane.

ㄴ"I'll buy you ice cream." "Yay! Ice cweam!"

ㄴThis really is a case of the Fox God picking up a stray cat.

ㄴWhat is this stray-cat-reversal-world thing?

[Author : ㅇㅇ]

[Title : Aren't VTuber Fans the Most Pathetic People in the Community?]

I'm going to become one of the pathetic people now too.

Poor Ichigo.... I should give Ichigo a thousand won....

I watched the stream all day, and it was fucking fun.

They duo-queued in League, playing ADC and support.

She hard-carried the head mod, who was fucking terrible.

She spoon-fed her kills, saying, "Eat up, our elderly boss," and made her chew them thoroughly.

Then she ate them right back and flailed around with dementia, which made me sigh.

In the end, she even won by herself through a forced guerrilla backdoor as support. I was impressed.

So she really was a VTuber stand-in.

-For real?? Starting today, we're best friends, right?!!

-Welcome, you bastardㅋㅋㅋ

-Are you afraid of the new age?!

-VTuber fans are pathetic, and you even use the community? Isn't that double pathetic?

-It's not like we're going out to meet friends anyway.

-Our friend is streaming, so shouldn't the Friends gather together?

-"The boss says I'm not allowed to stream with men."

ㄴShe accidentally queued for a duo and ended up in a viewer-participation game, but killed the guy because he was a man.

ㄴAn unhinged virgin who would make even a unicorn panic.

ㄴThe unicorn bastards call them saintly virgin Valkyries and stuff, don't they?

ㄴThose bastards are always insane.

Contrary to our worries, 『Hajime Ichigo』's stream was a success. Her profile introduction ended up revealing almost everything, but I thought that was fine in its own way.

A beautiful seventeen-year-old Climber who had spent ten years fighting to survive in an apocalyptic world.

Someone might say that was too much if it were just a concept, but after she shared a few stories from her vivid journey of survival, the 『Friends』 changed their reaction to, Where did Wakamo pick up a girl like this?

Ichigo praised Boss as the savior who had saved her life, and kept saying that Boss bought her delicious food, gave her a soft bed, and felt warm when she hugged her.... Everything she said revealed how much a young child had suffered, turning the stream into a pit of sorrow.

Of course, perverts also asked persistent questions about the feel of her breasts and tail, starting with the ones who asked what color her panties were. All kinds of trolls flocked in because donations were open at a low price, but since it was only the first day, I decided to let it slide.

I think I need to raise the unit price quite a bit.

Though I can't raise it above ten thousand won.

When Wakamo blew up and died because she was bad at games, people gathered to say how cute Ichigo was whenever she got teary-eyed, along with perverts searching for maternal love in the way Wakamo cared for Ichigo like a mother.

I thought people would criticize me for not climbing the Tower if I did other content, but the stream was successful in many ways.

Ichigo was extremely nervous at first, but she also realized that the people on the other side of the screen couldn't attack her.

From her perspective, they were kind, gentle people who even gave her money, so she happily called them "Friends," but that part worried me a little.

What if she became too immersed and some malicious people tried to manipulate her? Even corporate VTuber agencies had plenty of scumbags who tried to take control and pull the strings. Wasn't this an era when many people sneered that someone only had lots of subscribers because they had joined a major agency?

I was truly glad that the government was behind me.

"Boss, can Yu Ying eat that too? Really?"

"Yes, yes. I'll buy you everything."

A life of watching VTuber streams all day, clipping them, holing up, and searching for new VTubers was possible because I genuinely loved it and it made me happy.

Now that I had a cute VTuber I was raising, I absolutely had to set aside time for her. I might have a little more cold rice to eat, but so what?

I had said I would take responsibility for Yu Ying and raise her while she sincerely worked hard as a VTuber, but I had no intention of leaving a deficient child who had grown only physically and knew nothing but the survival knowledge she had taught herself, then telling her to grow up on her own.

That would be irresponsible!!

The fish-headed boss over there had also dreamed of creating a VTuber idol agency and founded a company, but hadn't he made many mistakes because he knew so little about women? That's why he hired a manager to cover for what he lacked.

You must immediately identify what you lack. If you can cover for it yourself, you have to do so.

Therefore, unlike Virtual Live, which operated with a reasonable distance and without excessive interference, I was a VTuber myself, so

I could communicate directly like Stellamis, look after my children as though raising them, and entertain viewers by being harried from place to place.

Under no circumstances would I let an owner-related risk occur.

Hadn't there been a yellow monster somewhere with plenty of capital but frequent operational mistakes that caused a great deal of trouble?

Thinking about such things, I couldn't help feeling that I was truly lucky.

"I can walk the easy road across the wasteland that countless pioneers went ahead of me and painstakingly paved, while watching and learning from their journeys...."

Is it really all right for life to be this easy??

Then all the more reason never to let my guard down or become complacent!!

Anyway, while I wiped the ice cream dripping down Yu Ying's chin with a handkerchief at the Climber Association, patted her head and told her to brush her teeth before bed, and waited with her sitting on my lap,

"You've been waiting, right, Lady Wakamo? The procedures for handling her status were completely finished today. Since you aren't changing her name, only her nationality will be changed to Korean."

Manager Won Da-hye brought Yu Ying's naturalization certificate and handed it to me. Since she was still young, I was listed as her guardian, and apparently she would receive a resident registration card once she became an adult.

I was worried that Yu Ying would also have to attend school, so I asked about it, and she shook her head, saying that would probably be difficult.

"Naturalization was possible because she met the requirements for special naturalization. You are a Climber who has made contributions to the Republic of Korea, Lady Wakamo. Yu Ying being a Climber also helped, but as you know, Climbers are superhuman. If the students got into even an accidental fight at school, the minimum outcome would be a fracture, wouldn't it? For her education, a private tutor or online classes would be better."

"I work hawd."

"Don't push yourself too hard."

Whenever Boss Wakamo told her to do something, Yu Ying showed her motivation by saying she would work hard! I wiped the ice cream covering her mouth once more. Sigh, my conscience hurt at the thought that I might be pushing this helpless child too hard out of my own selfish desires.

"To begin with, Yu Ying is not only exceptionally talented as a VTuber, but [Alchemist] is an ideal job for a Climber's partner. If you obtain a 『Complete-Clear Floor』, the Climber Association can supply her with materials, and she can use the necessary materials to make things."

"I see?"

"Since you're here anyway─would you like to take a look at the things obtained from Wakamo Inarizushi Floor 1 before you go? VTubers do hand-cam streams too. Couldn't crafting be used as content?"

Manager Won Da-hye was working seriously as a consultant, including as my manager, more than I had expected.

Of course, all of that was probably a benefit that followed from my diligently climbing the Tower.

'I was worried before that things were too one-sided. I should remember that other Climbers are watching my broadcasts too.'

Hadn't a Chinese Climber terrorist named 『The Collector』 attacked Korea along with his followers?

As a broadcaster, I should hide whatever cards I could afford to keep hidden, but I also needed to make sure my weakness wasn't exposed.

─"The weakness that my body was made of mana."

Back when I drank a potion Yu Ying had made and felt my mana burning.

I thought I might be far more vulnerable than I had imagined to Skills that targeted mana, including those in the [Wizard] family.

Conversely, when fighting an opponent unaffected by magic, my attacks might be judged similar to magic and be nullified.

It would be troublesome if such a disaster occurred.

At the very least, I needed an effect where blood or something would flow if I got injured.

Looking at the butchered corpses of the [Angry Boar] and [Feral Deer], another thought flashed through my mind.

But I also worried that I wouldn't be able to show it if a Tower-clear condition was attached that seemed unlikely to let me take damage.

※※※

"Her name is Yu Ying (劉 英). She's seventeen, from Beijing, and awakened at seven.... The youngest first-generation Climber, is she? Did she use Tower entry and abandoning climbs to travel long distances efficiently? She acted remarkably wisely for such a young age."

Among Climbers, those with especially sharp minds often awakened as [Wizards] or [Alchemists].

People in the world often mocked that by calling it a Fortune Coin.

That was understandable, considering how enormous the gap between jobs was.

A Wizard who commanded the battlefield while raining down dazzling magic, versus an Alchemist who might lose even after conquering the Tower if they had none of their prepared items.

The difference was so great that [Alchemist] had such a poor reputation that some people called it a dud and even abandoned Tower climbs in an attempt to change jobs somehow.

Even so, it wasn't entirely without advantages. One might call it a late-blooming type of class.

At first, they had to grow while receiving all kinds of support just to survive. Even with sponsorship, however, it was a job where success was difficult.

Besides, it was a late-game class in the [Non-Combat Class] family that could make things like [Potions], so it was indispensable.

However, taking a potion-based class down an aggressive Skill tree for combat was an unavoidable choice.

That was why competent potion makers were so valuable.

Now that obtaining materials had become easier in Korea, the future looked bright, since they could raise these non-combat Climbers as well.

The Association president stood there with an indifferent expression, looking at Yu Ying's photograph and pondering the description that said 『Climber Matched by the Tower』.

"It is one of the most representative surnames among the Han Chinese."

"Pardon? Is that so...?"

"Haha! Well... I suppose Manager Won Da-hye wouldn't be interested, being a woman. It reminded me of Sun Jian and Yuan Shu, and finally the 『Imperial Seal of the Realm (傳國玉璽)』 that Cao Cao obtained...."

The Association president laughed it off as a mere guess. Still, hadn't descendants survived into the modern era?

It was only a vague suspicion. But if it was correct? Could he lead an army of 500,000 believers on a conquest to unify the realm?

"How delightful. This is so delightful...."

Although it had happened several hours earlier, the Association president had watched Wakamo talking with Manager Won Da-hye from a distance. She had Yu Ying sitting on her lap and was caring for her like a mother while wiping ice cream from her face.

Such kindness and maternal affection would be all the more special to a child who had struggled to survive alone.

But as a Tower conqueror and someone who had climbed countless Towers, he could feel it.

He could sense the tremendous magical power flowing beneath that skin, even though he couldn't tell where her closed eyes were looking.

Wakamo was the Fox God who loved VTubers, spoke casually and playfully, laughed, and communicated with viewers through a screen.

But anyone seeing her who was on a similar level as a Climber would be unable to escape a shiver of horror.

He could infer it because, rather than merely seeing it with his eyes, the [Skill] possessed by the Association president let him sense [Mana] even more strongly.

A lower-floor [Wizard] Class usually obtained [Mana] stats ranging from at least 500 to as much as 1,000.

But even a rough estimate put Wakamo's value at the level of an upper-floor class.

Her magical power was so intense that everything around him seemed bright red, and he almost forgot that she was on a lower floor than he was.

'If that was the power of an idol whose prime had been entirely stolen and who had declined, then heh heh....'

It was enough to make him fear that perhaps gods really had existed in the mythological age.

And he felt relieved. She was a monster who might be able to destroy Incheon Tower alone if she set her mind to it.

Yet that monster loved humanity so deeply, so intensely, that she couldn't live without it and clung to it.

'Should I consider it fortunate that she's addicted to the dopamine provided by modern civilization?'

If the President could see what the Association president saw, he might have sent the army to subjugate her.

It seemed the President was already making moves behind the scenes while contacting foreign countries, but if he knew the truth, he would have acted in earnest.

"Hehe.... So, what is today's broadcast schedule, Manager Won Da-hye?"

"I heard she plans to climb Floor 12."

"I'm simply delighted that she's so passionate about climbing. I only hope she doesn't overdo it. Give her the maximum support at all times."

"Yes."

Overwhelming physical strength could, by its very existence, become a force that protected a nation.

If she grew even stronger in the future, couldn't she perhaps turn every Tower in the Republic of Korea into a national resource?

'Still, it does bother me. What would happen if she really were a descendant of Liu Bei....?'

Looking through the gallery, the Association president had even seen people saying Wakamo had picked Yu Ying up because she resembled a descendant, so he couldn't help being concerned.

'That young lady.... Didn't she lie about her age?'

She had claimed to be 1,000 years old, but what if she had drastically lowered her age, like someone in their thirties saying, "I'm seventeen"?

'I'm too afraid I'll get hit if I ask....'

A woman was a woman no matter her age, after all.

One had to maintain that much courtesy.

※※※

"Boss! Ichigo made it!"

To make it easier for Ichigo's viewers to watch, I ran a hand-cam broadcast of the [Alchemist]'s potion crafting, content only she could provide, and the results were roughly as follows.

The potions had colors and pleasant aromas that made them look delicious, but their descriptions were truly murderous.

[Sweet Firebomb]

Grade: Consumable.

Contains gum and smells like strawberries.

A firebomb that ignites immediately and explodes when thrown.

Its contents are sticky and adhere easily.

[Soft Milk Potion]

Grade: Consumable

Tastes like soft-serve ice cream.

It causes the lungs to harden when drunk.

Beware, as the entire body will freeze solid.

-This room is really doing alchemyㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-The kid worked hard to make it for her mom.

-Shouldn't she drink it? Look at how excited her hands are because she wants praise.

-It really does look delicious....

-Compared to the blonde pea next door, she's an angel!

"Gueck."

KABOOM─

"Oh, it tastes like strawberries."

-She really drank that shit???

-They say she won't die because she's a VTuber~~

-Why does the explosion sound so flashy, like something from an anime?

-If it came from our child, I could swallow poison too!!

-I didn't know raising a child was this terrifying....

-Didn't you know? When playing house, you had to eat the dirt you made things out of.

-There are realms men simply don't know....

-What do we do if she gives that to the Friends as a present?

-What else? You have to eat it.... It's the first thing a woman has ever given me....

Ichigo was horrified that Wakamo had actually drunk it when she gave it to her, but she boasted to the viewers that poison didn't affect her much.

When people asked whether she had really drunk it, she showed the empty bottle to the camera that was filming her hands.

Most of the potions Ichigo made were used for traps and were nothing but poisonous substances.

But since their drawbacks were so powerful, their effects were equally strong, and they could clearly be useful in some situations.

The problem was that they were feats only Wakamo could pull off.

'The potion I used before could really come in handy.'

Was it called a gourd bottle? I bought one to disguise the potion as alcohol, then filled it to the brim with [Sweet Fire Potion].

It would normally burn through one's stomach and esophagus and kill them, but Wakamo could spit it back out as fire, so there was no problem.

There was also one potion I packed while thinking, I don't know how I'll use it... but I have a body made of mana, so it'll probably be fine, right?

[Crispy Elasticity Potion]

Grade: Consumable

The taste of fried chicken lingers in the mouth.

The elasticity of the entire body increases tremendously.

Stretched and torn muscles do not return to normal.

'But come to think of it, I don't have any bones in the first place, do I?'

Despite looking like the Fox God, she wasn't actually the Fox God!! It was practically begging people to say something like that.

Let's be careful. If I show something too monstrous, I might seem less human and my reputation could suffer.

For now, I showed through the broadcast that ordinary poisons had little effect on me.

"[Tower Entry]!"

※※※

"Ah, damn it."

[You are climbing in the Incheon Tower Floor 12 World]

-[The difficulty increases according to the achievements of the Climber [Wakamo Inarizushi]!

-Overcome the [Elite Monster]!

-Defeat the [Cunning Goblin Horde].

[Platinum Achievement Conditions]

-Hunt the [Cunning Goblin Horde] (0/10)

-Do not take damage from the [Cunning Goblin Horde] (0/1)

-Do not be detected by the [Cunning Goblin Horde] (0/1)

"I'm screwed...."

This was genuinely difficult. How was I supposed to hide a giant who was over two meters tall...?

It wasn't even an ordinary monster, but another Elite-grade one, so a sigh escaped me first.

In fantasy, goblins are ordinary trash mobs, but in some manga, aren't they portrayed as irredeemable demons? Unfortunately, this was the latter.

They threw poisoned knives and darts, dug traps and lured people in, and used their small stature to launch ambushes.

Their noses were sensitive, and they could see well even in the dark. Needless to say, their hearing was sharp too.

-Why is the head mod's difficulty level so brutal?

-Wow, the Vietnam front!!

-Going up against guerrillas is a massive disadvantage....

-Even America can't beat them. I saw it myself.

-Of all places, it's a fucking forestㅋㅋㅋ

-Poison doesn't work on the head mod, but she's going to swear like hell while searching the forest.

-A lot of Awakened people retired after underestimating these guys. Is this really okay?

Reading the viewers' worried chat, Wakamo hunched over and spoke to the camera.

"Oh dear, this is serious, Cameraman. Goblins are rather troublesome opponents. It's important not to be detected. With that in mind, I'll teach you how to hunt in the wild."

-?

-?

-Bear-type? Are you Bear Grylls?

-We're foxes, not bears, so even if we learn it, we can't use it.

-Can someone that big really hunt stealthily?

-If there are no witnesses, isn't it assassination?

-I'm just looking forward to seeing what the head mod shows us.

Wakamo smiled as she watched the viewers' reactions.

Before long, after seeing what she had done, the believers began offering their condolences to the goblins.