Prologue - Part Two

—What does a 『Vtuber』 need?

If someone asked me that question, I would answer, 『a cute model,』 『a good voice,』 and 『the ability to charm your audience.』

Fundamentally, a 『Vtuber』 was something like an anime character without a script or storyline.

They might have background lore that created their character identity, but ultimately, it was nothing more than a setting, little more than a running joke that nobody cared about if it was forgotten.

Both the viewers and the person playing the 『Vtuber』 understood that there was a 『person behind the avatar,』 and nobody was really trying to hide that fact, so lore and backstories weren’t much of a weapon.

In the end, succeeding as a 『Vtuber』 came down to looking good, sounding good, and being cute enough to appeal to your viewers. Lore, age, all that stuff—it didn’t matter.

And even that still wasn’t enough to achieve outstanding popularity among the ever-growing number of 『Vtubers』 appearing one after another these days.

That was why I had decided to specialize even further by acquiring 『overwhelming skill at games,』 continuing to play even if it meant cutting into my sleeping hours.

The game I chose was 『OFA』.

It was what people called a first-person shooter—an FPS—a game played from the first-person perspective of the character you controlled. It was popular not only in Japan but around the world, had professional leagues of its own, and enjoyed considerable name recognition.

I thought that if I could excel at a game like that, maybe I could become famous, so I had practiced 『OFA』 relentlessly.

Even back when I couldn’t support myself solely as a Vtuber, I sacrificed sleep and fought match after match.

Even when random teammates cursed me out, I endured it, and even when I wanted to cry and throw everything away, I still clung on.

And now, I was known by many people as one of the more highly skilled players among even the big-name Vtubers.

Despite being independent, I had more than two hundred thousand channel subscribers, my name was among the participants in this 『OFA VtuberCUP,』 and people even said that any team with me on it would be a favorite to win.

And yet————

《—Hmm, I cannot seem to find any particularly good weapons.》

————Grit.

I unconsciously clenched my teeth.

Verchera Merisis…! A rookie Vtuber who had surpassed my subscriber count in barely over two months and casually collaborated with that massive agency, 『Gem Pro,』 like it was nothing!

Unlike me, who had practiced until I was sleep-deprived and had only recently managed to quit my job and become a full-time Vtuber, apparently the 『person behind her avatar』 was just a high school student.

…Don’t screw with me.

She barely struggled at all, just happened to get popular, casually started collaborating with a major agency, and because she kept acting together with the same team, her subscriber count shot up with the kind of momentum a Gem Pro newcomer got from an agency boost—and then she surpassed me. I couldn’t accept that.

She possessed aim so absurd it might as well have been cheating, but because Gem Pro’s management had denied the cheating allegations during her first collaboration with them, there weren’t even any viewers left trying to accuse her of cheating now.

But there was absolutely no doubt she was doing something.

Otherwise, there was no way she could control ricochets that well, and her aim should have wavered too.

I had tried using ricochets myself for flashy plays, but even now, I still couldn’t use them properly.

And yet a newcomer, an amateur, could do it? That was obviously wrong.

—How could I tear away that disguise?

The quickest way would be to have her play right in front of me, but Verchera Merisis and I had absolutely no connection, and there was no way she would suddenly agree to an offline collaboration with a complete stranger in the first place.

《Setting aside my collaborations with Effie and the others, apparently there has been some talk of holding a practice match.》

《It was never particularly secret. It is not some major collaboration, merely an invitation for anyone whose schedule permits to participate. Effie was apparently supposed to announce it on Monology last night, but…》

《Indeed. It seems she fell asleep. And so, I shall announce it in her place while also recruiting participants. There is no need to blame Effie. Though I do not know how much publicity announcing it on my stream will provide.》

《In any case, we are planning to hold an 『OFA VtuberCUP』 practice match this coming Friday. Priority will be given to tournament participants who are available, and any remaining slots will be filled by recruiting viewers.》

《If you already have plans, there is no need to force yourselves. It is not even the actual tournament yet.》

…Friday…?

As I stared dumbfounded at the information coming through the stream, the 『Connect』 server where the 『OFA VtuberCUP』 participants had gathered chimed with the sound of a new chat message.

—『Notice: “Laid-Back Custom Match,” a practice match for getting to know one another better.』

The explanation beginning with those words indeed contained exactly what Verchera Merisis had said: a proposal to gather any willing participants who were free on Friday and hold a practice match.

And the sender of that message was… a Gem Pro manager account….

Apparently, this 『Laid-Back Custom Match』 itself was a Gem Pro-organized event.

…It wasn’t an official tournament match, but still.

《Effie, Rio, Suu, and I are all planning to participate.》

…Oh, so she was participating.

If that was the case, then maybe… this would be my chance to tear away Verchera Merisis’s infuriating mask.

—But what if she really wasn’t cheating?

…No. That was impossible.

Because even I, after studying and practicing that much, couldn’t do what she did—and neither could professionals who were better than me.

There had to be some kind of trick behind it.

As I thought that far, a brilliant idea suddenly occurred to me. The corners of my mouth twisted upward, and I immediately sent a chat message to that person.

“…Aha…”

This was it.

With this, I could destroy Verchera Merisis for certain.

…Hehe. It had been a long time since I’d felt this excited.

Verchera Merisis.

I didn’t know what exactly you were doing or how you were doing it, but whether you were cheating or not, this was the end for you.

After staring at the message I had sent, I decided to start an impromptu stream.