Chapter 28
If you're a professional streamer, you must never panic, no matter the situation.
Panicking, acting startled, and even tumbling over can be charms in themselves, but that requires an image you've built up.
In Wakamo's case, she had always shown herself riding high as she climbed the Tower.
That might be fine for a variety-game stream, but she couldn't be frightened and cowed by an accident during a Tower climb or show an ugly side.
On a livestream watched by believers─if a VTuber named Wakamo Inarizushi was doing Tower-climbing content.
Even more so if it was one of a kind.
If she was a pioneer blazing a trail through the wilderness!!
Mistakes were absolutely unforgivable!
A fox is a cute creature that bewitches people, but in Korea it symbolizes wise conduct, while in the West it is a character like a troubleshooter who finds solutions. A fox is a symbol of quick judgment and adaptability.
If she called herself the fox god, a beast that also displayed cunning.
──Then all she had to do was overcome and transcend this situation with the wisdom she possessed!!
Assess the [Skills] she possesses and the [Mana] remaining, understand the enemy's patterns and Skills─and finally see and grasp everything with her own eyes. Through multitasking ability and concentration pushed to the limit, make this apparently desperate crisis elegant and beautiful.
And as always, smash them head-on with overwhelming force.
Right, first, the line was──
"To think I'd let you see me like this. I wanted to keep it a secret from my believers."
Her voice had not changed, but people cared more about appearances than one might think.
She had never imagined she would use the model she had prepared for sneaking out in this way.
ASMR gets one point, but this performance deserves a five...!!
※※※
The unprecedented broadcasting accident that erupted during Wakamo's stream.
But viewers, believers, and Climbers alike knew that a situation like this was bound to happen someday. Climbing the Tower was no different from always having to prepare for the unexpected.
If they complacently trusted only the information they had been given and could not respond when something unforeseen appeared, most such Climbers would be traumatized and quit climbing... or die without ever returning alive.
That was why some people vicariously enjoyed watching the unique VTuber Climber broadcasting from Korea.
There were certainly some who felt jealousy, envy, or yearning.
Even though she had not yet reached Floor 20, viewers were worried about Wakamo because of the pressure so intense it seemed as though the Tower itself wanted to kill her, and the vivid murderous intent they could feel even through the screen.
They called her a monster or a fox god, but being a believer ultimately meant being her fan.
After an [Elite Monster] appeared, followed by monsters that should have been on Floor 30, no one envied her anymore. Instead, more and more people thought Wakamo was amazing for overcoming things without panicking, even though she was climbing the Tower without any information, just like the early Climbers.
Some said that since she wasn't human, she should be able to do that much─but even if one wasn't human, everyone only had one life.
That was why the believers were aghast.
-No!! Why are demon-type monsters from Europe showing up here!!!
Six monsters completely unrelated to Incheon Tower had appeared—not just one, but six. They were the sort of enemies that should only have appeared above Floor 30.
But Wakamo had not even reached Floor 20 yet.
Some viewers said they might be similar to the [Goblin Horde], but─goblins normally appeared in groups, and this was different. The believers typed in chat that the difficulty had been getting strange since back then.
-Demon-types are tough without a Companion Skill!!
There were also comments from viewers overseas who appeared to be Korean believers.
As mentioned before, the Tower affected the entire world. If someone belonged to a major power, the Tower sometimes provided a 『Companion』 Skill according to that group.
That was why the Vatican's influence in Europe had grown even greater than before. Simply by joining, Climbers could obtain a [Companion Skill] capable of dealing heavy damage to demon-type monsters.
Virtually all of Europe's Climbers must have joined the Vatican.
In order to fight the demon-type monsters lurking in the Tower!!
But this was Korea.
To say nothing of the fact that Wakamo did not possess such a [Skill].
-Why won't the chains break?!
-Even when the streamer hits them, they don't even crack???
-No, if the chains are the weakness, what are we supposed to do if they don't break?!
-If she gets bound, it's over!
A chat window burning even hotter in greater panic than Wakamo.
Not only was the situation unfavorable, with six Chain Devils surrounding her, but the viewers imagined the horrifying scene that was about to unfold as the Chain Devils charged at Wakamo, who was completely bound because the chains would not break.
Wakamo might be able to withstand their attacks─but while unable to move a muscle, she would be burned alive and die in the six [Hellfires], a horrific scene.
But Wakamo showed them a sight that surpassed their expectations without limit.
The gigantic mountain that seemed certain to crush her vanished, and from inside the limp heap of chains walked a child so lovely and adorable that one wanted to embrace her.
"To think I'd let you see me like this. I wanted to keep it a secret from my believers."
Her voice had not changed─but Little Wakamo, whose footsteps made a little clopping sound with every step, spread a golden thread and smiled.
Soon, red plum blossoms began to scatter across the screen.
※※※
Clack─!
"How shameless, six of you ganging up on me. Still, I'll humor you. It looks like our believers will enjoy it."
Red plum blossoms drifted around Wakamo, who covered her mouth with a fan and laughed leisurely. They bloomed from empty air and scattered.
Was it merely an effect visible on the screen? Or else... what kind of [Skill] could make flower petals drift through the air?
Clatter──!!
The six Chain Devils scattered, took their positions again, and once more fired their chains at Wakamo.
When Wakamo responded by lightly fanning the air toward them, no one could understand what she was doing.
The flying chains stopped in midair, writhed, and soon lost all momentum before sagging to the floor.
They were chains with a sure-hit and binding effect that could not be dodged once thrown.
Of course, there were ways to deal with them. One could knock them aside with a weapon, block them with a shield, or deploy a [Barrier]─if one withstood the sure-hit effect, one could avoid the binding that followed.
But Wakamo knocked away all six chains without even looking at them or moving.
Her dazzling and incomparably elegant movements made her look like a master from a wuxia novel, but—
-Loli lmao
-The loli hag has arrivedee
-Wakyapahahak, Nongmo
-She looks young again.
-Pedo, die.
-Wakyapahahak, loli cutieㅋㅋㅋ
-The loli god has descended.
-The red pill has droppedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Loli cult, assemble!!!!
The immature believers were so excited by Wakamo's adorable appearance that they flooded the chat with comments. It was the fastest the chat had ever moved. It seemed to be scrolling five times faster.
What hopeless believers. Did they like it that much?
She pulled the camera closer and lowered it, winked, and fluttered her fan.
─What she was showing now was a kind of misdirection.
What she had hurriedly registered in [VTuber Assets] was the [Red Plum Blossom Effect]. Unlike light, the petals that settled on the floor clearly had physical substance.
She had made that choice because she had learned earlier that whether something had physical substance depended on what was implemented when a card was placed on the [Duel Disk].
All the petals drifting about consumed Wakamo's [Mana] for as long as they remained.
The fallen petals disappeared almost immediately, and petals simply kept falling from somewhere, but put another way, every one of those petals was identical to Wakamo's body.
Petals fluttered gently along with her hand. Red plum blossoms followed the path of her arm as she opened her fan, as if carried by wind.
Wakamo drew the petals toward her through [Mana Manipulation] and swung her fan wide, using [Idol's Form] to create red slashes that shot along its trajectory.
The Chain Devils, being humanoid monsters, saw the incoming slashes and dodged them, so Wakamo spread mirage mist made with [Idol's Form] in all directions along with the petals.
Realizing that they relied on sight, she spread mana in every direction and hid within it.
It was impossible to distinguish Wakamo within it.
She did not breathe, her heart did not beat, and her entire body was made of mana.
Exuding that mana and hiding within it was no different from a fish diving into water.
Cats standing on the surface could do nothing but wait until the fish showed itself.
And their positions were all exposed by the three cameras she had floating for [Video Recording].
Unaware of that, the demons turned their heads toward the sound as if bewitched by the little pattering footsteps.
When the pattering sound was heard simultaneously by all three floating cameras, they hurriedly turned around and stared at the cameras.
The viewers who inadvertently met the demons' eyes were horrified, but—
It's coming.
Along with the believers' anticipation─Wakamo's spinning kick burst from within the smoke as it cleared and slammed into the Chain Devil's head. It was a powerful kick accelerated enough to crumple the sharp spike protruding from it, but the result was no more than making its head tilt slightly.
─The damage is insufficient.
[Stats]
Mana : 501,231
Wakamo, checking her Mana stats in real time, could only lament that the blow had done almost no damage despite packing 10,000 Mana into it. Even if she had found a way to deal with the chains, that did not mean she could defeat the Chain Devils, including their [Hellfire].
So she gambled on the Skill the Tower had handed her just before she began climbing.
[Weight of Faith]
-It can become lighter or heavier in proportion to the number of believers.
Though the description was nothing more than a pitiful single line─she activated it to increase her weight by the total number of believers, [545,876].
[Weight increases by 545,876KG]
'Huh?'
The figure she quickly converted in her head was 545 tons.
A truck-shaped hydraulic crane weighed roughly 500 tons. Wakamo, now standing atop the Chain Devil, was something beyond the scale of a heavy truck. Considering that a tank weighed only 50 tons.....
Kwooooooong!!!
Wakamo plunged straight down, collided with the ground, and the Chain Devil crumpled and exploded with a boom.
Filthy black blood burst violently in every direction, while plum blossoms as red as blood drifted down onto the demon's blood.
Wakamo stood at the center of the impact crater, as though a meteor had fallen.
'I can't move!! No, if I move, this thing will kill me!!'
[Stats]
Mana : 501,231 -> 172,563.
She could not twitch even a finger. She could move, but instinctively sensed that she was low on mana.
On top of that, the impact from colliding with the ground during the fall had been considerable.
She immediately canceled the Skill and at the same time decided that she needed to adjust it to some degree.
She smiled at finally obtaining the [Attack Skill] she had wanted so badly.
If weight could increase, it could decrease too.
The five Chain Devils, their chains wrapped in [Hellfire], lashed out and tore through the plum blossoms as they attacked Wakamo, but she shot high into the sky in an instant and flew as freely as a bird.
She stood atop the falling petals.
With [Idol's Body] letting her choose herself as the reference point for all physical laws, and [Mana Manipulation] keeping the plum blossoms spread out, she slowly descended. With [Weight of Faith] setting her body weight to zero in that state, wouldn't it look at a glance as though she were walking through the air?
Keeping the Skill active cost an absurd amount to maintain.
She put on a leisurely show, but her Mana kept plummeting. [Weight of Faith] consumed Mana too!!
Wakamo also spent Mana to absorb the impact of the weight's recoil.
Silently grumbling inwardly, she ran a few steps through the air, treading on the plum blossoms.
Crack─
A 1,000-KG fox god drove herself down in a crushing stomp infused with mana, breaking the Chain Devil's neck.
Whirl whirl whirl─!
[Stats]
Mana : 172,563 -> 101,416.
Wakamo, sinking into the sea of death like a nearly holed ship, charged straight into the flurry of whips.
She violently swung her fan again and again, blocking the [Hellfire] with controllable plum blossoms, then struck them away with golden thread strengthened by [Mana Manipulation] beneath them.
Her eyes behind the red sunglasses darted back and forth at tremendous speed, tracking the whips' trajectories and parrying them.
Her small legs were accelerating not by running, but as though kicking off the ground and shooting herself forward.
Because she was light, she slipped in with nimble movements as though using qinggong.
And just before her leap drove the blow home, she increased her weight!
Boom!!
The Chain Devil flew away folded in half, crashed into the wall, and collapsed, flailing its arms and legs like a puppet with its joints torn out.
Shraaak!!!
She dodged a whip sweeping horizontally through the plum blossoms with a circus-like feat, leaping and twisting her body in midair, then curled up and slipped through the gaps between the attacks visible from the three floating cameras and the attacks closing in from every direction.
A gourd popped out with a plop from the fox tail curled into a circle and spinning around.
Hooking a finger through the string, she spun the gourd, imitated a martial-arts move from a drunken boxing movie, and filled her mouth with [Sweet Flame Potion].
Then she spewed Mana-infused red flames, illuminated by an asset effect so dazzling it overwhelmed the watching believers, reducing three Chain Devils to ash in an instant.
And as though she had anticipated the chain wrapped in Hellfire shooting through those flames, she struck it aside with her fan, then folded the fan with a clap!
Wakamo poured as much of her remaining Mana as possible into a throw that pierced the head of the last Chain Devil.
Flop─
Along with the final death rattle from the demon's limp body as it collapsed.
Wakamo stood against a backdrop of pouring plum blossoms, slowly adjusted her sunglasses, and manipulated the cameras.
The battle's vivid traces remained. The flames Wakamo had spewed and the Hellfire swung by the Chain Devils burned in a tangled mass as if devouring each other, while plum blossoms poured down and created an atmosphere as though she had been severed from the world.
Within it, a fox god stood proudly.
She did not turn her head.
She merely cast her eyes sideways and smiled.
"Then, that's all for today's stream. Sleep well, my believers."
She did not explain what this appearance was.
She did not say what the red plum blossoms were.
After showing all kinds of dazzling sights that would drive the believers mad, the stream ended!!
[Stats]
Mana : 53.
And in reality, she hurriedly shut everything off because she practically had no strength left to maintain it!!
'I really thought I was going to die.'
Frozen in place by fear, she did not move a single step. The one stroke of luck was that the [VTuber Model] did not consume Mana. It literally changed her appearance, but she still had not figured out whether it changed her body weight too.
Of course, she had only set it up and was using it for the first time today!!
She had no idea how many Skills she had used for the first time!!
She had put on a relaxed act, but in reality she had been struggling desperately because she really did not want to die!!
She only needed to show viewers the elegant swan floating on the lake's surface; she could not show them what was happening below it.
She waited for quite some time while recovering Mana for the Tower to give her a response.
[Incheon Tower Floor 17 has achieved its Platinum conditions and is being opened to all of humanity!!]
[Rewards are being calculated for the Tower's Platinum clear]
[Climber [Wakamo Inarizushi]'s Mana is restored]
[One [Tower Climbing Ticket] is provided to [Climber [Wakamo Inarizushi]]]
"....Hng...?"
[Tower Climbing Ticket]
Grade : Consumable.
Allows the user to climb another Tower while already climbing one.
Is unaffected by Tower-climbing penalties.
[Exclusive to Wakamo Inarizushi]
".....What am I supposed to use this for?"
Is the Tower trying to tell her something..? She had not even seen the Platinum-clear conditions, so how had she achieved them? Achieving it was nice, but it kept saying the rewards were still being settled.
There was more than one thing to complain about. Especially since complaining would not get an answer.
Should she at least be grateful that it had restored her Mana? This was the first time something like this had happened without her even climbing a floor.
Seriously, could the Tower have bugged out because of her existence...? Should she lie low for a while?
"Don't obsess over fully clearing floors and just try climbing too..."
Wakamo idly waved the Climbing Ticket around, then began trailing off as though she had realized something.
It was as if lightning had slammed down hard on top of her head, and Wakamo's pupils began to dilate.
"───This is an amazing item!!!!!"
This is the best reward she's received so far!!!
"Believers!! Wakamo is going to Japan!!!"
Can't resist a warp gate!!!