Chapter 33
The Tower isn't particularly at fault.
Wakamo's stats were changed by the 『Legendary Class』. If she had been an ordinary Climber, she would have had stats.
She might have been ten times stronger than she was now. It was a proper class, after all.
But Wakamo's class was a one-of-a-kind class determined by the achievements she had built up over the course of her life.
And Wakamo was the one who chose her Skills, so the Tower was merely the wronged party.
The Japanese Tower simply checked her entry ticket and provided the Climber with a [Skill] as usual.
And Wakamo was the one who chose it─the only problem was this.
No matter what she chose, she wouldn't have been able to use it because her stats were insufficient.
Skills usually required stats, after all!!
That was how great the drawback of a Legendary Class was.
The Tower had even considered subtly suggesting, How about changing your class? But....
Seeing what this bastard was doing, it figured she would rather die than change classes, so it left her alone.
※※※
Ding─
Viewers in Korea all turned on the stream when they received the message announcing that Wakamo's broadcast had begun.
The title was an intriguing one indeed: [Kyoto Tower Climb]!
Some people who were late to get the news, slow on the uptake, or had simply come to start a fire flooded in, furious and disappointed that she had abandoned Korea and gone to Japan, while others poured in asking, Is this for real?
The believers who had already been doing just fine ignored the meaningless echoes of the newcomers and trolls.
Wasn't our boss's stream always a complete mess?
They weren't worried, since they had already heard Ichigo talk about Wakamo while eating something delicious at the hotel that morning.
She was going to Japan to test the first and only [Tower Climbing Ticket] in history. The reason was that using Tower Transfer made it convenient to go to Japan. It was an utterly ridiculous reason, but the believers had long since given up objecting, figuring she just wanted to buy VTuber merchandise.
Some community users raised political concerns, wondering whether it was really all right for a foreign Climber to travel freely to Japan and worrying whether she had actually received permission from the government, as anyone with common sense naturally would.
But the heads of the Climber Associations had more power than the governments in both Japan and Korea, and since the two of them were friends, everyone simply chalked it up to their recklessness.
Of course, the greatest truth was......
It just seemed like it would be fun.
Because whatever happened, it looked like it would set the community on fire!!
For the internet dead who wandered in search of dopamine, any news was fine as long as it was entertaining!!
"Ddu-tta utta...."
Viewers excitedly flocked in, wondering what the boss would show them in Japan. With newcomers entering through links to the community from Japan as well, the stream reached its highest viewership ever.
And the newcomers found a giant woman sitting on the floor, babbling to herself.
The viewers who had just arrived began bombarding the chat with questions: Why was she like this? Was she always like this? What was she doing right now?─ It was pure chaos.
There wasn't even enough order to be restored by a few managers, but Wakamo just kept babbling.
-Why is the boss acting like this?
-Get up, boss... If you sleep here, your mouth will get crooked....
-Why is she so depressed??
"Wuu... Ddu-ttai... Wakamo... wanna go back to Korea...."
The sight of her completely shattered mental state made the believers start to worry a little, since Wakamo had always acted like a professional on stream.
What on earth had happened in Japan to turn the boss into such a good-for-nothing old bear?
"Wakamo... wanna eat... more candy.... The Tower... only gives Wakamo a little candy...."
-She seems to have developed dementia?
-Yeah, honestly, at her age, it's about time it came out....
-I'll take care of her, so everyone else please leave.
-This is the fifth time I've asked why she's acting like this.
Wakamo couldn't bring herself to say that she had chosen an [Attack Skill] but lacked the Intelligence to use it, so she was simply rambling incoherently.
A shigwi was shambling around, but since Wakamo was a mass of Mana with no life force, it didn't recognize her and merely wandered about.
It was an absurd sight: Wakamo sitting on the floor while the monster didn't attack and only loitered around. The newcomers flooded the chat with questions about what was going on, but Wakamo was too depressed even to offer a greeting.
-Is she broken?
-She's been around for a thousand years, so I suppose she lasted a long time.....
-So this is what our boss looks like when she turns into scrap.
-No, seriously, what happened to her in Japan???
-The breaking news says they treated the boss like a monster and attacked her?
-ㅋㅋㅋ? What?
-Seems they treated her like an intelligent monster that came out of the Tower.
-Well, she does look like one....
-But there aren't any monsters chosen as Climbersㅋㅋㅋ
-Is this for realㅋㅋ We aren't idiots, you know~
It was merely a small, insignificant bit of common knowledge.
Although all kinds of intelligent monsters had emerged from the Tower Collapse, not once had any such monster been chosen as a Climber. There were even Climbers whose species had changed. Some viewers had initially thought Wakamo belonged to that category too.
There was no such thing as a monster climbing a Tower. If there had been, its name would have appeared in the Tower, so it would have been impossible not to know.
That was all the more true because they were only described as 『intelligent monsters』.
It might have been different ten years ago, but in this age when monsters roamed everywhere because of the Tower Collapse, no one in Korea treated Wakamo as a monster.....
Because the fact that she was a Tower-recognized Climber, along with records proving she had been active in online communities since before the Tower Collapse, had been exposed everywhere thanks to her fame!!
-So the boss finally found out....
-Judging by the posts she wrote online, the boss really likes boobs.
-The polar bear is shedding tears again today.
-It really hurts because she's such a hardcore otaku....
-She went to Japan because she's an otaku... What on earth happened to her.....
-Boss! I uploaded a drawing you made ten years ago to the cafe, so go look at it and cheer up!!
-I uploaded the erotic manga archive the boss said was insanely hot!!!
-I started a thread on the aesthetics of the erotic triangle between the thighs that our boss talked about....
-You fucking bastards, just kill herㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
One might call it the tragedy of a celebrity being followed around... The manager squeezed their eyes shut at the horrific sight of believers trying to kill Wakamo in another way after performing an autopsy on every post she had uploaded to internet communities.
Records of the fox god enjoying modern civilization to the fullest under a fake human identity.
Believers teased her for adapting in a thoroughly MZ way the moment she emerged from her seal.
There was no problem, since nothing had exposed her personal information, but what Wakamo had uploaded was not going to disappear, so this truly was a tragedy.
Even her assumed identity(?) was no longer in danger of being discovered, since the government had erased the records.
But what Wakamo had written would not disappear!!
Things like saying, "That birthing-hip ass is insanely hot; this triangle between the thighs is the peak of eroticism," and drawings with horribly mangled human proportions that she had uploaded when her art skills were still poor would not disappear either!!
The viewers were looking at the chat and saying, Is this the time to kill myself? A streamer's life was truly cruel.
Of course, some people liked her even more for showing such a human side. There was even a carefully selected erotic collection recommended by the boss, with people saying, This is today's side dish....
That hit Wakamo harder than being told her Intelligence was 0 by the Tower, and thanks to it, her mind returned.
"Whoa, talk about snapping me awake. Nothing hits a person's mental state like their dark past.... I haven't done anything wrong!! What's wrong with being honest when I was born a beast!!"
-Did she go to Japan to buy VTuber doujinshi?
-She won't buy it unless the VTuber herself drew it.
-The only taboo in this stream is VTuber sex jokes.
-Why the hell is thatㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-I posted the link to the erotic collection the boss recommended!!
-Why isn't it the boss's erotic collection?
-You are hereby demoted from believer.
This sort of thing didn't really damage her mental state. It was just a little embarrassing.
As long as my red pill isn't exposed, I have no shame whatsoever in letting the public know my sexual preferences.
The courage to call something hot when it's hot.
That could be called the heart required to love VTubers.
"God Mio.... Please give me the strength to climb the Tower....!!"
Amid the viewers' support and attention(?), she squeezed every last bit of willpower from herself so she could climb without yielding to the Tower's absurdity.
Then, far away, Virtual Live's mama, God Mio, seemed to wave at me and say something.
[Uchiuchi, I'm a wolf, you know?]
I'm not a fox. I'm a wolf.
Ah, right. She was so cute that I forgot.
The Backrooms fox and the mama wolf...!!
I told the tourism bureau they were both foxes. But Mama... she looks more like a fox than a wolf... Anyway!!
"Wakamo revival!!!"
-An iron-willed person who even hit Like on the ten-year-old drawing meme just because someone looked at it.
-A person with no shame even after her sexual preferences were exposed through erotic manga....
-What's wrong with a beast living like a beastㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-No, more importantly, why is a fox looking for a wolfㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-God Mio counts, obviouslyㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-No, so what happened?
All right. Let's get a grip and climb the Tower.
"Konban Mio~on! I'm Wakamo Inarizushi!"
Once she came to her senses, the stream was packed with viewers who had flocked in from Japan as well, and Japanese and Korean were intermingled in the chat. She couldn't use an [Attack Skill], so she would simply have to clear the floor normally, but days like this happened too, right?
"What happened was, a ninja ambushed me and tried to kill me, but failed and didn't even greet me afterward. Remember how the Onmyoji Association tried to kill me because I was a great yokai? I never have good memories whenever I come to Japan."
-When did you come beforeㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The boss once wrote a post saying someone had picked a fight with her.
-As expected of the country of bullying. The local culture is different.
-The boss came to sightsee and almost got exorcised.
-According to Kyoto-style speech, this means they're ordering her to leave.
-That sounds right.
-They failed an ambush and didn't even perform an aisatsu!! What barbaric discourtesy!!
-I guess they served you ochazuke?
-In Kyoto-style speech, that means get the hell out.
-Failing to follow the complicated and bizarre etiquette of the Edo period means mura-hachibu!!
-If you act crazy, you're actually crazy.
"I wanted to learn karate, so I went to a dojo. But they came all the way there and attacked me."
-? They actually attacked you?
-If they tried to kill you, killing them would have been the right thing to do.
-No, why did you go to learn karateㅋㅋㅋ
-? Do you not know that it's common sense for VTubers to do karate?
-No karate, no VTuber.
-Show us your karate!!
-VTubers use karate. This is recorded in the Kojiki of Japan.
-No, boss... Why aren't you killing the people trying to kill you? Isn't this kind of frustrating?
-What kind of insane bastard is that guy aboveㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-A catharsis addict who's gone crazy for instant gratification.....
"Why don't I kill them? Killing or sparing them is my choice!! If someone challenges Wakamo, who does VTubing with this much strength... then they simply have to pay the price!! And even if they're Climbers, murder is illegal these days."
-If this were the Edo period, I would have killed them.
-The boss is so pitiful. She came to see Inari Shrine....
-So what's the summary?
-She crossed the sea to visit the Inari Shrine of her memories, but there was no god or real miko, and she got picked on the last time she came too. On top of that, now someone tried to kill her, so it's understandable that her mental state brokeㅇㅇ....
-The fox god came to the fox god's shrine, and this is how she's treated?
-When did she get picked on before? The Tenpyo Shoho era?
-Maybe around the Muromachi period?
-How far back are you goingㅋㅋㅋ
"Well, I did put something resembling a small shrine in the dojo. I'll go back to Korea after this is over. There's no place like home."
-The boss just revealed that Korea is her homeland.
-Inari... I'll put a shrine here too....
-This could be an entire dramaㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-No, if Japan drives the fox god out, where is she supposed to go?
-Didn't you know? They drove out all eight million gods.
-So that's why there are so many earthquakes....
-How could they treat a god who finally came back so poorly?
-Maybe she's bored because she killed so many ninjas and onmyoji that she's sick of them?
-Ah, that side?
She lightly loosened up from side to side while spending some time communicating with the viewers. Apparently, rumors had spread that she had built a shrine in Kyoto, and everyone had been worried that she might not return to Korea after all.
When she said she was sick of being attacked by Japan(?) and was going back, some sort of misunderstanding began growing like a snowball, but she looked happy, so they left her alone and took up a stance.
There was no need to say anything. The believers who had seen enough already knew that Wakamo taking a stance was a signal that she intended to fight.
The newcomers also realized that something was about to happen when the mood in the chat changed in an instant.
"[Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery]!!"
Sparkles appeared across Wakamo's entire body as she cast the Skill.
From the believers' perspective, they were surprised simply to see her use a [Skill].
Could Wakamo's class be [Onmyoji]? The Japanese association chairman watching the stream also opened his eyes wide when she used a [Skill] that could only be obtained by registering with the [Kuzunoha Family] Sorcerer Companion.
[Insufficient Intelligence.]
The Skill's effects could be seen, but the window announcing its failure was visible only to Wakamo.
-Didn't the cast fail?
A quick-witted viewer who knew a little about the subject pointed that out, but Wakamo drew the shigwi's attention by shouting loudly.
"Flying Swallow Slash─!!!"
It was a kick called an aerial somersault kick! The believers were puzzled as she flipped her body in place and kicked toward empty air──but the shigwi a short distance away were split in half.
An invisible slash unleashed through a collaboration between [Mana Manipulation] and [Idol's Body]!!
She manipulated the tips of her toes until they were as sharp as blades, packed them full of Mana, and unleashed it all.
[Stats]
Mana: 572,312 -> 72,312.
It was a crude strike that took advantage of Mana being restored upon climbing a floor! A life-shortening technique she wouldn't even consider using outside the Tower. Since it consumed twice as much Mana, both for the attack and from the recoil, it was nothing more than a mob-clearing technique that could be shown as a performance inside the Tower.
-This isn't a complete clear, is it??
-It could happenㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-"Why do I have to go all out for Japan?"
-Ahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Upvote if you were the Japanese chairman expecting a Complete-Clear Floor.
-Upvoteㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Isn't this Invisible Slash???
-"I'll show this to the sorcerers of modern Japan."
-Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah?
"....."
While the believers who had seen Wakamo's sorcery(?) realized that the festival had begun and rejoiced, Wakamo nearly lost her smile.
This was the first time she had performed an ordinary clear instead of a Complete-Clear Floor─and when Wakamo saw the reward she received, she was left speechless.
[No job-class equipment is available]
[3 additional stat points are provided to the Climber]
[You acquired 1 [Broadcast Point]. Current: 543]
[The Tower's rewards are accumulating]
'Fuck....!!'
Additional stats were completely useless to Wakamo.
No, in the first place, ordinary Climbers raised their Wisdom stat to gain Mana, but Wakamo didn't even have a Wisdom stat.
It was a structure where she couldn't raise her stats even if she received additional stat points!!
Moreover, because the advantage of a Complete-Clear Floor was being able to see how it was cleared, the rewards were structured to drop sharply if she failed to achieve one.
She had only realized that now.
This class─was an even bigger mess than she had expected!!
No, fuck!! I'm telling you, the Tower hates VTubers!!!
She tried allocating stats just in case.
[No stats available to allocate]
Don't say anything else....
Wakamo immediately walked toward the second floor without saying a word.
[You are climbing the Kyoto Tower Floor 2 World]
-Climber, test and prove your martial arts.
[Platinum Achievement Conditions]
-[Defeat 3 Gaki with an [Attack Skill]─
"[Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery]!!"
As soon as she arrived, she gulped down a [Crisp Elasticity Potion] and tossed it aside, then compressed the arm hidden inside her sleeve with all her strength. She kept pressing down harder and harder──
"Mach Punch!!"
The sound erupted a moment later, and with a thunderous boom, three Gaki with enormous mouths turned into a spray of blood in an instant. It was powerful enough to be called a shockwave rather than a punch... Wakamo, who took 100,000 Mana damage from unleashing a strike containing 400,000 Mana, hid her arm, which had burst apart, inside her sleeve.
She merely continued to show herself standing aloof as always!!
[No job-class equipment is available]
[3 additional stat points are provided to the Climber]
[You acquired 1 [Broadcast Point]. Current: 544]
[The Tower's rewards are accumulating]
[No stats available to allocate]
Flash─
Without stopping, she immediately moved on to Floor 3.
The believers were surprised because this was their first time seeing her climb floors consecutively. The viewers seeing her for the first time were horrified by the monstrous force she displayed. In the middle of it all, she was even inadvertently promoting [Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery].
[You are climbing the Kyoto Tower Floor 3 World]
-Climber, test and prove your martial arts.
[Platinum Achievement Conditions]
-[Defeat 1 Ushirogami with an [Attack Skill]─
As soon as she entered, a humanoid monster with a single eye on the back of its head sprang out from behind Wakamo. It was one of the Tower's occasional ambush-type floors, but Wakamo, without even turning around, flipped her body and leaped into the air.
"[Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery]!!"
She drew her legs up as far as they would go and thrust a kick toward the monster.
"Five-Million-Ton Crush!!!"
[Weight of Faith] detonated after she poured Mana into it!!
The poor Floor 3 monster could do nothing. It was crushed, split, and collapsed, then died buried beneath the ground, which shook so violently that the terrain itself seemed to turn over.
Wakamo stood aloof at the center of an impact crater that looked as though a meteor had fallen, then rose with blood staining her leg and headed for the next floor.
[You are climbing the Kyoto Tower Floor 4 World]
-Climber, test and prove your martial arts.
[Platinum Achievement Conditions]
-[Defeat 1 Katawaguruma with an [Attack Skill]─
It was an ultrafast clear that showed there was no need for a Complete-Clear Floor! The breakthrough was so fast that it made one wonder whether she was even choosing her rewards!!
No sooner had she arrived than a twisted monster surrounded by flames came rushing toward Wakamo, rapidly spinning its wheel and screaming. The violent, ferocious rotation looked capable of peeling human skin off with ease!!
And what about those scorching flames?
Wakamo was burning as she collided with the wheel with a screeching Kagagagak!! But inside those flames, she smiled with such seductive charm that it was almost bewitching, half-opened her closed eyes, and lightly grasped the Katawaguruma's cheek.
"[Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery]"
No explanation was necessary. Starting from the place Wakamo touched, the Katawaguruma gradually turned pure white and froze. It struggled desperately to survive, startled, but Wakamo did not let go and embraced it, turning it into an ice statue in an instant like a yuki-onna from mythology.
It was the effect of the [Soft Milk Potion] made by Yu Ying! Her entire body became cold enough to freeze solid, but Wakamo didn't care! Instead, the side touching Wakamo froze too!!
On Floor 5, the Rokurokubi stretched out its long neck and tried to wrap around her like a snake, but it was instantly killed by Wakamo's [Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery] [Great Explosion]. She gripped a [Sweet Flame Thrower] in her hand and punched it, causing a spectacular explosion!
On Floor 6, the Karakasa Kozō, hopping on one leg with an eye and tongue on its umbrella, spread it wide and flew up, boldly attempting aerial combat. But Wakamo used [Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery]─[Mana Manipulation] to strike the ground, rocket into the air, and split it in two with a kick.
On Floor 7, a giant woman the same size as Wakamo─a Yama-hime wearing a straw rain cape─charged at her demanding blood and bit her. But no blood could possibly come out, and the Yama-hime, whose teeth hadn't even pierced her, was met with [Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery].
"Baekdu Mountain Drop!!!!"
It was a shoulder throw filled with the spirit of taekwondo(?)! Just before the collision, she used [Weight of Faith] to smash the ground and put on a spectacular performance.
Then came Floor 8─the cannibal ogre Yamanba, in the form of an old woman, came charging at her with an ax-blade. [Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery].
"Fire Release!!!"
A breath powerful enough to be called a dragon's breath swallowed the old woman. Wakamo spat fire from her mouth through the effect of the [Sweet Flame Potion], displaying such monstrous strength that it was impossible to tell who the real yokai was, and reduced the old woman to ash.
At last, on Floor 9─a human-sized fox called a [Monster Fox] sprang out and immediately rushed at her with an agile somersault."
[Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery]─[Idol's Form]!!
She transformed into a giant fox and swallowed it in a single bite! The illusion covered the screen, while inside, she beat the fox to death!!
A swan always had to show only its noble side...!
Wakamo used [Idol's Form] to hide the corpse so it looked like part of the terrain, then stepped toward Floor 10.
[You are climbing the Kyoto Tower Floor 10 World]
-Climber, fight, survive, and triumph.
[Platinum Achievement Conditions]
-[Do not retreat against the [Wandering Revenant Warrior] (0/1)
-[Defeat the [Wandering Revenant Warrior] within 3 exchanges (0/1)
-[Do not suffer an injury (0/1)
-[Defeat it within the time limit of 1 minute (0:01)
A warrior stood there wearing armor pierced by broken and bent arrows, gripping a Japanese sword that looked ready to snap at any moment.
As though it had died on a battlefield and been resurrected by its resentment, it raised its head toward Wakamo, and light filled its empty eye sockets.
This was the first time she had encountered a time limit. It had started at one second and was still ticking away.
"Domo, I'm Wakamo Inarizushi"
She greeted it with a polite bow, her palms pressed together.
"If a warrior comes at me with a sword─then I'll use a sword too.... I'll show you the ultimate art of [Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery]...!!"
The ultimate art? Even the believers stopped typing in the chat and focused on the screen. It was a subject Wakamo had never mentioned even once. Was she about to show them the finishing move that Climbers sometimes possessed?
The viewers began chatting excitedly, full of anticipation about what would appear.
Would a shikigami come? Would a meteor fall from the sky? If not, would it be a slash that cleaved the world? Since it was sorcery, would she use Domain Expansion?
But as always─Wakamo showed them something beyond their imagination.
Vivid, multicolored light burst from between her breasts, accompanied by crimson plum blossoms erupting like blood.
She dramatically threw her head back, letting her long hair sweep in a crescent so the viewers could see it, then flexibly leaned her upper body backward and slowly raised her hand over her chest.
"[Kuzunoha-Style Sorcery]"
And then─
A gorgeously decorated Japanese sword appeared.
─ The Tower had gone all out to make the sword's appearance genuinely breathtaking for Wakamo, and combined with the staging, the sight was not merely sublime but majestic. The viewers stared in a daze, and even the chat fell silent.
Gripping the hilt, she slowly drew the unsharpened blade from the scabbard revealed between her breasts, bringing it into her hand.
She used a [VTuber Asset] to overlay it with red light, making it look like sword aura.
Mana check!
[Stats]
Mana: 583,402
"[Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi]"
The performance was so extravagant that even Wakamo found herself thinking, This is insane. Since she had performed it and was intoxicated by her own coolness, what could the believers possibly think?
Wakamo's otaku life.... She had always wanted to do something like this. It was the greatest display of bravado she had ever put on, and she was so intoxicated by the sweet emotion that she stood there dumbly for a moment.
The scene of the beautiful, rippling blade and the fox god gripping it looked like a painting, so her standing still actually enhanced the performance.
She poured 500,000 Mana into the sword and her arm, then swung it horizontally.
It was so fast that her arm seemed to disappear for an instant and reappear at her side. Even though she had moved only her arm, the recoil damage was 50,000, but the effect was spectacular.
Even without an edge, it was still a sword.
The single slash swung with absurd acceleration was impossibly fast.
The warrior took one step without even realizing he had been cut, and the sword dropped first with a clunk─
Then the warrior, cut along with his armor, pitched forward and collapsed.
An enemy collapsing without even realizing it had been cut.... A scene that should have belonged only in an anime had actually happened.
The chat was frozen as though it had been encased in ice. As if it would not give them even a moment to recover, the Tower announced its result.
[Kyoto Tower Floor 10 has achieved the Platinum conditions. Announce the Climber's honor and glory]
Along with the resounding fanfare of victory─Wakamo carefully returned the sword to the scabbard hidden inside her chest, storing it within her body. Then she turned toward the direction her viewers were watching from and smiled.
"Did you see? This body's sorcery. I would be grateful if you called it beautiful."
With a warm smile, Wakamo waved and turned off the broadcast while pretending to be at ease, even though her Mana was actually running dangerously low and she was terrified.
The viewers sitting before the black screen were still too shocked to realize that the broadcast had ended, then belatedly rushed to the community.
All kinds of GIFs were already flooding the community, excited Koreans were running wild, and opinions were divided over whether the sword that had appeared was the genuine article─
Meanwhile, a post titled The Onmyoji Association Is Screwed rose to the top of the community.