hotmtlnovel Chapter 54
Chapter 54
[Broadcast] Getting torn apart more than I imagined
"How have they not caught Aurora even once? LOL."
[Comments]
"Isn't Aurora the only one in EYEAI, aside from Rinko, who can take on Aurora?" (OP): "That's why it’s funny! They can’t catch her even in a 3v1! LOL.""But Chell did fight well." (OP): "Chell isn’t even good at playing Gladiator, though LOL.""That’s why they said they won’t play Gladiator anymore LOL.""Seeing the Winter team play, it looks like they're going to get wrecked at the tournament LOL."
[Broadcast] Isn't the Winter team the weakest?
"I don’t think the other teams would be this bad."
[Comments]
"The second-generation members might do better?""Unless Aurora steps in, they’re never winning.""They were never meant to win anyway LOL.""Having members who've never even played Labyrinth once is a big problem." "Who are you talking about?""Sora.""Why is Sora even in the tournament?" "Probably just to fill the numbers.""It’s because the 6th generation debuted with one less person compared to other generations LOL.""Blame the boss for that."
[Broadcast] Oh, now they’re doing a 3-man queue without Aurora.
"Will they win?"
[Comments]
"Doubt it.""I checked in, and they’re already getting wrecked LOL.""Well... as long as they’re having fun.""Shouldn’t Aurora replace Sora for balance’s sake?"
[Broadcast] At least they’re preparing hard.
"It’s nice to see them preparing for the tournament seriously, but... when is Sora going to play a horror game??"
"Isn't it a maiden’s duty to scream in terror?"
[Comments]
"LOL, this is neglecting her duties.""Speaking of which, why haven’t Terror Artists played any horror games lately?" "Anna said she’d play with Aurora.""What a scaredy-cat LOL.""Is Sora really a maiden?" (OP): "I’m an expert in maiden studies, and her voice definitely has maiden vibes.""LOL, no way. She probably has a boyfriend."(OP): "[Nope, Con].""Sora is dating Aurora, though???""Fact: Sora’s purity belongs to Aurora, as stated on Su-bak-do."
[Broadcast] So, when does this end?
"It’s 1 AM, guys."
[Comments]
"Didn’t Leon scold them for streaming too long?" "They said they’d stream for 8 hours, with each person doing 2 hours.""Since when did collabs add up the total time? LOL.""Labyrinth demons LOL."
[Ghost Town Map / Information Gathering Mode]
[Use the camera to document 'incident traces' scattered across the map. Gather information from the map to uncover the truth of the past, or eliminate the opposing team to win. 'Incident traces' may be in the form of data stored in your camera or as photo items. If time runs out, the team with the most incident traces wins automatically.]
The desolate town was empty. The buildings' walls were cracked, and cobwebs and ivy were scattered all around, showing how long the place had been abandoned.
The screen showed the three characters cautiously climbing to the rooftop of a building.
[It looks like it's over there...]
Inagika, playing as an archer, spoke up, seemingly using a detection skill to find something.
Sora crouched low and began moving toward the direction Inagika pointed.
As she crawled forward, she peeked her head over, and there, below the building, stood a massive, muscular man.
[What the heck? What’s with that character? He's got a huge beard, and he's walking around shirtless... Is he a pervert or something?] [No, he's probably a berserker...]
"Calling a berserker a pervert is a bit much, don’t you think?" "S-Shut up...."
When I pointed it out, Sora, sitting next to me, looked a bit embarrassed.
At the moment, the 6th generation members were reviewing the replay.
Technically, this wasn’t a replay in the game system's sense. It was a video Sora had recorded from her point of view.
The replays provided by Labyrinth don’t record voices, and the camera work is from an omniscient point of view, meaning some details are missed.
As the coach of the Winter team, I needed to understand the emotions Sora had while playing the game.
[W-What should we do?] [What do you mean? We fight.]
On the screen, Sora and Inagika were discussing their next move.
Sora then looked over at Chell, who nodded in agreement.
I paused the video.
"Why did you make this decision?"
I turned my gaze from the monitor to the faces of my teammates sitting beside me.
Inagika looked timid as always. Chell seemed spaced out.
Naturally, it was Sora, playing the leader role, who answered my question.
Maybe because she was being questioned, Sora seemed a bit nervous as she replied.
"...Well, there was only one enemy, and there were three of us." "Can you elaborate a bit more?" "If we split up haphazardly, we’d just get picked off one by one. Plus, this game mode's objective was 'information gathering,' right?"
Sora explained her reasoning.
In the 'Information Gathering' mode, much like in Extermination, it’s advantageous to spread out. The goal is to collect as much information scattered across the map as possible.
However, there’s one major difference from Extermination.
Still, she was alive.
She rushed to assist Chell, but before she could get close, something flew past her.
-Whoosh!
An arrow flew and hit the horse Chell was riding.
It was a clean shot. The arrow pierced the horse’s neck, and Chell was thrown off.
[S-Sorry...! I messed up!]
-LOL, aim issues. -Inagika killed Chell! -Don’t jump down!!! -They're playing so terribly LOL.
A cavalry character has little to do after being dismounted. Chell’s head was promptly split open by the berserker’s axe, and she died.
Next up was Sora, whose health was already critically low.
She hadn’t even retrieved the hammer she threw earlier, and there was no way a support character like her could take on a berserker alone.
Sora died too.
After finishing off both of them, the berserker casually made his way up the building.
A triple kill for the berserker.
“We've become the laughingstock of everyone.”
That was the only way to describe it.
Getting completely wiped by a single person in a 3v1 wasn’t easy.
Even if you asked a pro gamer to fight three bronze-tier players, they wouldn’t be able to guarantee victory. Honestly, if you asked me to take on three in an open field, I might not win either.
But the berserker's triple kill happened because it wasn’t an open field.
“Calling us the laughingstock... isn't that too harsh?” “What can I do? It's true. Let’s move on to feedback. First of all, Sora, you're too impatient. Try to stay calm.” “...Got it.” “Inagika, you get too nervous during critical moments. Try to play with a lighter heart.” “S-Sorry....” “The strategy itself wasn’t bad, so let’s aim for more precise play next time.”
I summarized the feedback.
I could have pointed out a lot more, but criticizing too much wouldn’t help them improve.
The real problem comes when people get even more hesitant during their next game. It’s better for people who make aggressive mistakes to gain experience, rather than someone who plays too cautiously.
If you think of it like a souls-like game, you’ll understand. People who take risks and die learn from those experiences and eventually defeat the tough enemies, while those who play too cautiously just end up extending their playtime without much progress.
'Of course, if they play recklessly, they won’t learn anything, no matter how aggressive they are.'
Sora had a bit of a tendency to go brainless sometimes, but she wasn't entirely reckless, so it seemed fine.
Giving them a balance of praise and feedback should help keep things efficient and maintain the team's morale.
Besides, there wasn’t much need to be strict about this tournament anyway.
-"You don’t really need to worry about the tournament too much." -"The reason you’re coaching the Winter team is more for show. Since you coached Anna before, I thought it’d be fun to have you coach your peers too." -"But in truth, it doesn’t matter who wins the tournament." -"There’s no big reward for winning; it’s just for everyone to have fun." -"Like I said, the goal of this tournament is to share subscribers."
That’s what Leon had told me.
So it seemed like there was no need to be overly fixated on winning.
What the viewers wanted was to see the VTubers enjoying themselves and getting along.
In fact, viewers tended to dislike excessive competitiveness.
If the atmosphere got too intense, it could alienate the audience.
-"There was a time when the VTubers played Mafia." -"VTuber A, who played as a citizen, completely out-argued VTuber B, who was playing as the mafia." -"A systematically tore down B’s logic, leaving B unable to say anything." -"Although the citizen team won thanks to A's performance, the one who got the most criticism that day was A." -"Fans of B didn’t like how A 'bullied' B." -"If you were playing alone, it’d be different, but you can’t go too hard on fellow VTubers." -"So just focus on the event match."
That’s how it was.
"Let's end it here for today. We’ll announce the next collab schedule on SNS, so let’s call it a night."
-Nooo. -Don’t leave! -Princess, what are you saying?! -I just sat down! -My chicken hasn’t even arrived yet! -This will be the death of us!!! -Good night, Miss!
The stream ended.
As soon as the stream ended, Chell simply said, “Goodbye,” and logged off immediately.
"Th-Then... see you next time...!"
Inagika also left.
And then I heard a voice.
"Can you teach me more about Labyrinth?"
Just as I was about to exit VR, Sora stopped me.
"I want to practice more. What should I do?"