Chapter 4
Never climb the Tower and choose skills without thinking.
If you truly believe there is no hope, your only option is to give up on climbing the Tower, lose everything you have built, and start over from the beginning.
The thing most necessary for climbing the Tower is a [Skill].
Either join an organization like some [Companion] and receive [Common Skills],
or, if you dislike that, you must climb by taking advantage of the strengths that offset the extreme drawbacks of the one-of-a-kind unique class known as a 『Legendary Class』.
Whether it is easy to operate outside the Tower or useful inside it depending on the situation and environment─there is truly no information about a Legendary Class until changing class. The Awakened individual must discover everything for themselves. That was why the [Idol's Flame] skill Wakamo had shown was literally Wakamo's own unique skill.
At a time when Wakamo could hardly afford to choose anything but an offensive skill, this monumental idiot chose [Video Recording].
[Video Recording]
-Creates a camera recognized by the [Climber].
-Automatically sends the footage to the linked account, [Shrine].
"A shrine!"
Certainly, in the modern era, a YouTube account could be called a shrine engaged in a form of idol worship. The idol the Tower had in mind was surely a godlike existence that vanished without people's faith and trust, using that faith itself as power. It was the idol worship that had disappeared as the world became modernized.
From the Tower's perspective, people were worshipping a virtual existence(?), so it had thought, Ah! I suppose they're worshipping idols again...!!
"Whoa... It really does look like the camera used for 『Virtual Chat』."
The camera looked like a disc floating motionless in the sky. Wakamo worried about whether it was actually recording properly. Since it was merely filming, the footage would have to be checked separately later. For now, Wakamo adjusted the distance precisely using the sense gained through long experience with 『Virtual Chat』 activities.
There was something more important than assessing the situation or checking the floor information after reaching the second floor.
'A VTuber's greeting is important! It is practically the lifeblood of a VTuber!!'
First of all, the innocent VTuber persona was dead on arrival. YouTubers generally had little chance of being forgotten, but Wakamo was especially hopeless. Wakamo would hurl abuse while playing baseball, spew sexual jokes while trading Bitcoin and stocks, and engage in horrific trolling when playing AOS or FPS games alone. In collabs, Wakamo's energy was great, but Wakamo was often treated as a race starter and instantly slaughtered.
It was far too late to return to being a serious character!
'On top of that, the concepts overlap...!!'
In truth, Wakamo's concept had simply been that of a fox god who had been sealed away for 1,000 years before being resurrected. But there was a recently debuted Wakamo at Stellamis who was the exact opposite—a fox god who was a gaming whiz. Of course, countless fox, nine-tailed fox, and fox god VTubers existed in this world, but if there were two fox gods in one country, wouldn't it look like one of them had copied the other's concept...?
"Kon-kon Kitsune, konban Wakamo. Konmiko, Wakamo, everyone's fox god. From here on─a worldly, good-for-nothing fox who quit training to become a gumiho and lives as a one-tailed fox!"
The greetings poured out before Wakamo could even worry for long. Every one of them belonged to VTubers Wakamo knew. Wakamo had even picked only foxes.
"I've only ever been a clipper...! There's no way someone like me can be a VTuber!!"
They were jewels showing off their talent as they worked toward their dreams and moved forward. Wouldn't dropping a lump of stone among them be treated rather poorly? Wakamo did not care if Wakamo got stepped on, but the first concern was that the gems placed beside Wakamo might get scratched for no reason.
What did someone need to become a VTuber?
A virtual YouTuber was ultimately an extension of a streamer. It required the skillful eloquence to control viewers, instinctive lines that landed at exactly the right moment, and the sociability to become friendly quickly, including with people who spoke foreign languages. It required broadcasting experience built through arduous years of perseverance, something that could never be accumulated easily. It also required the diligence to make up for all that, along with the character and integrity to ensure that even if everything were exposed later, it would not damage a streaming career...!!
Above all, what mattered was the diligence to stream consistently!
If it was that, Wakamo was confident. The countless VTuber streams Wakamo had watched as a clipper.... Wakamo had countless teachers!!
Although Wakamo was practically a worthless garbage player at games despite being a VTuber, Wakamo was nearly a professional at playing instruments and had skills built up by drawing every single day to create fan art.
Wakamo had no trouble roaming community sites and absorbing knowledge about games, anime, and memes.
Never forget! VTubers are content at the heart of otaku culture!
Pretending not to know anything while showing the innocent reactions of an ordinary person would only backfire at this point!!
"If my body was going to change, couldn't it have changed my voice too...!!"
The androgynous voice was enough to make viewers unsure whether Wakamo was male or female. Female VTubers might have an easier time attracting viewers than male VTubers, but... with a voice like this, proper vocal technique was out of the question.
"A VTuber who can't sing still has a charm of their own, so I suppose it's fine...!"
Wakamo had more than enough of the most important asset a VTuber could need! On top of that, Wakamo had no trouble coming up with the content plans needed for daily streams! Wakamo possessed unique, overwhelming content in a world so overflowing with VTubers and streamers that the sea had turned red and then black! As long as Wakamo did not make a mistake! If Wakamo handled things properly, Wakamo would stand in an overwhelming position that no one could take away!
I stream alone in the Tower!
The channel could even be named that and get away with it.
As long as the Tower remained, there would be no limit to Wakamo's content!
'In truth, none of these problems matter. In the end, VTubing is a profession where RP matters above all else. Even if my identity is that of a clipper, now that I've become a VTuber, I have to uphold the setting of a fox god who was sealed away for 1,000 years before emerging into the modern world. From my greeting to my speech and behavior, I have to embody another self who is a fox god!'
Of course, there were also people in the real world who hid themselves behind the mask of a VTuber while working as idols and artists. But there were also people who became VTubers with their own concepts─and that was the part Wakamo loved most and considered most VTuber-like. Of course, that did not mean Wakamo refused to acknowledge the former type of VTuber...
Idols are stories!!
VTubers are too!!
"VTubers walk a path of asura that cannot even be compared to climbing the Tower..."
Sometimes, people might think it looks easy and jump into the field, and if their viewership grew, it would certainly be fun. But at the same time, they would gain plenty of antis─and how many VTubers and streamers had already fallen and disappeared before even reaching that point? No matter how thick-skinned a clipper might be, even Wakamo was stressed by all sorts of things flooding the inbox.
VTubers were a profession that required maintaining one's persona even more strictly than other streamers. In some cases, people maintained their concepts and continued acting until they graduated. Some broke character, but they had to keep streaming while calling themselves by their "VTuber name" forever.
The VTuber setup, including concealing one's identity, had its advantages──but could Wakamo do it?
Just as Gotham's Batman used Bruce Wayne as a mask for being Batman, Wakamo had to think of Wakamo's own existence as having completely died at this very moment and been completely reborn as a fox god!! Wakamo had to live as though Wakamo had always been a fox god, whether this was possession, reincarnation, or awakening memories of a past life.
Since Wakamo needed to increase the subscriber count, streaming as a VTuber was effectively mandatory.
At the very least, Wakamo wanted to live until next year's festival and the debut of the eighth generation.
And─if I can preserve the profession called 『VTuber』! The other VTubers we love will no longer have to climb the Tower!!
If they were leaving after succeeding as actors, singers, or professional gamers, Wakamo would send them off with a smile and wish them well.
But Wakamo could not send off VTubers who were working toward their dreams through Tower climbing, where they might die.
"I have no choice! I have to do it!"
Wakamo's talent was at a level that would disqualify Wakamo as a broadcaster, since Wakamo could not even decide on a greeting! Wakamo had no idea whether the recording was working properly, what should be filmed, or what line to say while alone in an empty place! Wakamo had watched and enjoyed countless broadcasts and remembered them, but even when something came to mind, Wakamo could not say a word.
A VTuber becoming ashamed of their own concept was no different from dying! (That's not true.)
"I regret living as a clipper without preparing a greeting. I'm called Wakamo Inarizushi. As you can see, I was living freely off the abundant resources overflowing in the modern era.... But the Tower dragged me here of its own accord!! My power as a god has weakened, too. Huh? You mean I really was a fox god? I told you, I'm a fox god!"
Wakamo muttered toward the camera alone, as though lamenting the situation. The lines were delivered as naturally as possible, as though Wakamo had been a fox god from the beginning.
"So that's how it happened, and I decided to stream my Tower-climbing VTuber activities through sorcery.... No, no... this isn't it... I need to be more shameless."
But Wakamo soon realized the verbal slip, struck the forehead with a fist, and let out a sigh.
If things went like this, viewers would retort, "Huh? Then aren't you just a streamer?"
'Let's climb first and think about it afterward.'
The camera could either remain fixed with Wakamo at the center or follow Wakamo. Wakamo placed it in front for now and slowly looked around the second floor.
Only after deciding to climb the Tower did information about the second floor come to mind.
[You are climbing in the 2nd-floor world of the Incheon Tower]
-Climbers must know how to use the Tower's environment as a weapon! Let's hunt [Horn Bunny]!
[Platinum Achievement Conditions]
-Use at least 3 natural objects found on the 2nd floor to craft a weapon (0/1)
-Defeat [Horn Bunny] without being injured (0/1)
"Whew... The first floor was an easy stage, so I figured everyone would come up right away, but this is strangely complicated in its own way."
A passage to the second floor appeared immediately after defeating [Oil Slime]. That was why there had never been a [Platinum Achievement] on the first floor of the Incheon Tower. Who would light a campfire there and sit staring into the flames? Everyone simply went up as quickly as possible.
If the first floor was for resting, the second floor was for hunting. It was a kindness unbefitting a 100-floor tower. Apparently, every Tower up to the tenth floor was kind to Climbers... Climbers could also leave a Tower at any time, so as long as they did not make a real mistake, there were almost no casualties. Of course, even if someone came out with a fatal injury that could not be healed, they would still die in the end......
"Besides, if my entire body is 100% mana, doesn't that mean I don't have muscles or bones..? How am I any different from a ghost... Ah, is that why I'm an idol?"
Even while grumbling, Wakamo fixed the camera properly in front and chipped away at a stone by striking two rocks together like a caveman.
Clack! Clack!
Not getting tired was certainly an advantage.
'I could register with the Association as a Climber and receive equipment suited to my [Class]... but with my profession in this state, I suppose I need to get used to it.'
Not obtaining a [Skill] was a fatal loss. The biggest problem with a Legendary Class was the class itself. No matter how Wakamo thought about it, the only class related to VTubers was something in the priest class. Even if Wakamo insisted it was another class, the [Class Restriction] on equipment would stop Wakamo cold.
Crack, crack.
On top of that, was there any chance Wakamo could wander around outside in this body without getting shot and killed? Look at Wakamo─anyone could see that Wakamo was not human.
Even when a Tower collapsed and monsters poured out of it, human civilization did not collapse because, unlike in novels, ordinary human firearms worked just fine. No matter how many Green Skins went on a rampage, helicopters could mow them down with machine guns and tanks could blast them apart, resolving the situation in an instant.
In that sense, the fact that Seoul had still not been reclaimed meant that something terrifying enough to withstand modern weapons must be living there.
"Oh, it worked."
Wakamo examined the fairly evenly carved stone, then tied it securely to a thick, Y-shaped branch using strips torn from a tree. Along with the pleasant nostalgia of feeling like Wakamo had returned to childhood, Wakamo performed an Uho-Uho dance of joy like a caveman, happily capturing a good moment for the stream before searching for a [Horn Bunny].
A Horn Bunny was exactly what its name suggested: a rabbit with horns on its head that charged into things. It was said to be about as large as a giant rabbit, but Wakamo did not need to search far before its eyes met Wakamo's in the grass.
"First strike wins!!"
The axe swung right in front of the Horn Bunny and struck the floor.
Even Wakamo thought the miss was idiotic and smacked the forehead in amazement, while the Horn Bunny lunged straight for Wakamo's head and stabbed the vital target—an eye—with a thunk!
"Agh!!! My eye!!! My eye... my eye?"
Why didn't it hurt?
The Horn Bunny that had stabbed Wakamo was startled as well, standing on two feet with its rabbit eyes fixed on Wakamo.
Wakamo was only briefly surprised that the stab had not left a wound. Wakamo swung the axe and smashed the Horn Bunny's head.
"This needs to be edited, right?"
[The 2nd floor of the Incheon Tower is being opened to all humanity upon achieving its Platinum conditions!!]
"Oof, that's loud. Seriously, this time I really need to pick an attack skill..."
Wakamo knew how horrendous Wakamo was at games, but had not realized that the reflexes were this hopeless. If Wakamo could miss a surprise attack on a Horn Bunny that had its back turned and had not even noticed Wakamo, striking the ground instead, then without the support of a [Skill], Wakamo was practically destined to be buried in the wilderness as an early-stage Climber.
[Your rewards have increased for clearing the Tower's Platinum objective]
"I'll choose [Idol's Flame]."
[Please choose 1 reward]
[Idol's Flame]
-Consumes mana to create a flame.
[Idol's Lightning Strike]
-Consumes mana to fire a lightning spear.
[Worshipped God]
-Mana recovery speed increases in proportion to the number of believers.
[Internet Connection]
-Connects to the Internet from inside the Tower.
[You have acquired the skill [Internet Connection]!]
"Ah, fuck, I'm screwed!!!"
No! My hand moved on its own...!!
But!! But!!!
"I can't stand not watching VTuber streams while climbing!!!!"