The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 135: Out Friends Child

The Dungeon Seeker promotion had been running for several days.

December 24th, 3 a.m.

Hanabane Rui, who had been busy with the Dungeon Seeker collaboration throughout the day and evening, was hard at work.

“...It’s Christmas Eve.”

Realizing this fact, Rui let out a small sigh of irritation.

This was the time of year when couples nationwide were at their peak of excitement. Rui thought if they were going to be so hot and bothered, they might as well boil over to 100 degrees Celsius and die. All of them.

Not that Rui particularly wanted a partner.

Rui had never thought about wanting to experience love. No more than Aurora had.

It was just that Rui didn’t particularly like seeing people happier than her.

“Maybe I should take a break...”

Rui leaned back in her chair.

She was working on preparing materials, mostly PowerPoint slides, for an upcoming planned broadcast.

‘Everything’s going smoothly.’

That’s what Rui thought.

There were a few preliminary steps to handle before broadcasting the Aurora Showdown.

First, she needed to strengthen the camaraderie among the Leviathan team members. Lately, they had been frequently doing Dungeon Seeker collaboration streams together, and by now, the viewers probably assumed they were close.

Still, Rui wanted to solidify this perception further. She had an idea for a simple project to build that bond, but since she didn’t have the energy to handle it herself, she planned to leave it to someone else. She had already tossed the idea to Inui Kirin, trusting that it would be taken care of.

Meanwhile, Rui was preparing for "Anna’s Punishment."

“...You’ve gotten pretty good at ordering your seniors around.”

Rui chuckled despite herself, finding the situation amusing.

It was Laura’s request. She wanted to execute a specific project as Anna’s punishment, and Rui’s involvement was deemed essential. Thus, Rui was left to handle the preparations for the broadcast.

Not that it was necessarily a bad thing.

“Anna’s Punishment” would take place on Rui’s channel, and it provided an excellent opportunity to further strengthen her connection to superstar Laura.

“...Just a little more work after a short break,” Rui murmured.

Ding!

Just then, a notification chimed from Discord.

The sender was from the Leviathan server.

“...At this hour?”

Rui opened the Discord window.

【This_Code: Leviathan Server】

Online—3

Hanabane Rui: Working

Aurora: Playing Labyrinthos: Dungeon Seeker

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

Kaga Mero: Playing Labyrinthos: Dungeon Seeker

Three people were online at this ungodly hour.

And the message was from none other than their superstar.

Aurora

[@Hanabane Rui]

[Come here.]

Just two sentences. That was it.

...Come where, exactly? Surely she wasn’t asking her to come to Korea? Rui had never once traveled abroad.

“Is she streaming...?”

Checking YouTube, Rui found that Laura and Mero were streaming together.

It didn’t seem like a planned collaboration; it looked more like Laura had been streaming alone and called Mero in midway.

Rui found this slightly surprising.

Dungeon Seeker was a harsh game for players. If it were a typical game, Laura wouldn’t bother calling someone else in. She’d have just obliterated the enemies on her own.

But in this game, it seemed Laura couldn’t wield her usual overwhelming power, so she must have brought in Mero for assistance.

And now, apparently, even that wasn’t enough, so she was calling on Rui.

‘I’d prefer to keep working.’

Still, it was about time for a break. “Anna’s Punishment” broadcast was planned for next week or the week after, so while she wasn’t exactly swimming in free time, it wasn’t a dire rush either.

Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to show the Leviathan team members being close and working together.

Reluctantly, Rui booted up her VR equipment and logged into Dungeon Seeker.

【System: Aurora has used the “Summoning Stone” item.】

【System: Will you respond to the summon? Y/N】

As soon as Rui logged in, a message popped up.

The Summoning Stone was an item purchasable in the Dungeon Seeker shop. It cost a hefty 1,000 gold.

When Rui pressed the Y button, her vision wavered.

A rotten smell wafted through the air, tinged with the stench of blood and vomit.

The nauseating odor filled the space entirely.

“You’ve arrived?” Laura asked.

Mero was nowhere in sight.

【Holy Church Heresy Tracking Unit “White Crow” Squad Member Status】

【Healer Aurora: Online】

【Scout Hanabane Rui: Online】

【Survivor Kaga Mero: Unknown】

“...Where’s Mero?”

“Who knows? I lost sight of her a while ago. I suppose she’s dead by now?”

“...Why do you sound so cheerful about it?”

“Death is common in this game, isn’t it? Either way, go find Mero’s corpse.”

That was Laura’s order. From a junior who had been active for less than half a year.

The treatment from her junior was still rough.

Not that Rui particularly disliked it.

“I’ll head this way; you take the other direction,” Laura instructed.

“You sure you’ll be okay on your own?”

“Are you asking out of concern for me, or are you just scared of being separated from me?”

Laura smirked and walked off. ...Why did Rui feel like she’d just lost something by showing concern?

Well, it was more efficient to split up and search.

‘Laura will be fine.’

Laura’s class was Healer, which had incredibly low survivability, yet somehow, she inspired trust. Since starting the game, Laura hadn’t died even once. How was that even possible?

Rui began her exploration.

Dungeon Seeker had six classes, which could be grouped into three categories:

Scout/Explorer: For map navigation.Survivor/Protector: For combating monsters.Collector/Healer: For earning money.

Rui’s class, Scout, specialized in detecting creatures and objects in the vicinity.

She carefully moved forward, picking up faint sounds in the distance. Footsteps. From the sound alone, Rui could tell the person was slightly taller than her and humanoid.

‘Is it Mero’s footsteps?’

They matched her memory of Mero’s steps, but Rui wasn’t careless enough to approach without caution.

“....”

She opened a door.

The room resembled a laboratory.

Toppled shelves held broken test tubes, and fragments of flasks littered the floor. The workbench was destroyed, with moss growing in patches.

In the corner of the room, however, a locker remained intact.

While lockers in games like this often held surprises, Rui’s Scout skill confirmed it was safe. She slipped inside.

‘I’ll wait here for now.’

The owner of the footsteps would eventually pass by. Rui decided to remain hidden and wait.

The footsteps grew louder.

Click. Click.

Even though she listened several times, the sound was clearly that of shoes. Naturally, it wasn’t a monster that would be wearing shoes.

However, the figure that soon appeared was not human.

It was Mero. But not Mero.

Something was embedded in her chest. A leech-like thing. Not just one—upon closer inspection, there were more black objects attached to her crown and the back of her neck.

Spiderweb-like black veins spread across her skin, covering her entire body. Her pupils were unfocused, her gaze empty.

“Ah... ugh...”

A dry, rasping voice.

Rui had seen Mero infected during one of Laura’s previous Ace Assault streams, but this was similar, yet distinctly different.

She’d been overpowered by some kind of monster.

“...I’ve found Mero.”

Rui quickly pulled out her radio to contact Laura.

[Really? Can you describe where you are?]

“...It looks like a laboratory. I’m hiding in a locker right now, and Mero seems to be parasitized by some kind of strange creature.”

[What does the creature look like?]

“Well... it looks like a leech...”

[That’s troublesome. You can’t kill those things unless you burn them. Can you get out of there?]

Rui cautiously peeked outside to assess the situation.

“Not sure... she’s practically right in front of me...”

[No helping it, then.]

Through the radio, Rui heard Laura sigh.

CRACK!

Mero’s head twisted suddenly.

Somehow, Laura had already entered the laboratory. She was holding a steel pipe.

“Ah... ugh...”

WHACK! CRUNCH!

The sound of something breaking echoed loudly.

Mero, despite being struck, didn’t seem to feel pain. Like a zombie, she simply reached out toward Laura.

Laura, looking irritated, continued to swing the steel pipe with force.

WHACK!

Another resounding blow, and...

Suddenly, something snake-like popped out from Mero’s waist. It looked like a tail.

The tail, sharp at the tip, slithered into Laura’s blind spot and lunged toward her leg.

“Hm.”

THUMP!

Laura nonchalantly stomped on it, pinning it to the ground. That alone was enough to block the attack.

WHACK! CRUNCH! WHACK! CRUNCH!

The steel pipe swung freely, creating deep bruises all over Mero’s body.

The pipe gradually bent out of shape, and as it did, Mero’s movements began to falter. Her body seemed unable to bear its own weight.

“Rui, do you have any rope?”

Apparently deciding the pipe was no longer useful, Laura casually tossed it aside and picked up what looked like a broken table leg. ...Was she planning to fight with that now?

“Rope...? I don’t have any on me, but I’ll look around.”

Rui stepped out of the locker and used her Scout skill to locate some rope. Luckily, she found some nearby.

When Rui returned with the rope, Mero was crawling on the floor, completely subdued.

“I’ve got the rope.”

“Hand it over.”

Laura snatched the rope from Rui and skillfully bound Mero’s hands and feet.

Mero struggled, but it was futile. Laura had tied her up so securely that she couldn’t put up any resistance.

“You’re good at tying knots...”

“I read about it in books. Knowing how to tie knots can be quite advantageous in survival situations.”

“Survival? Oh, right, you used to be into camping, didn’t you?”

“Not really. I’ve just had a lot of experience sleeping outdoors.”

“For a noblewoman, why would you sleep outside so often? ...Anyway, what are we going to do about this?”

Rui gestured at Mero with her eyes.

Laura had said the parasites could only be killed with fire, but there didn’t seem to be any tools for starting a fire nearby. Though, given how good Laura was at making fires, it probably wouldn’t be a problem.

“There’s something I want to try. Will you help me?”

“Something you want to try?”

Rui tilted her head in curiosity.

Ten minutes later.

Laura was carrying Mero (along with the parasitic creatures) on her back as they left the dungeon.

“Ugh...”

Drool dripped from Mero’s mouth, soaking Rui’s shoulder.

...How had it come to this?

Dungeon Seeker, like RE:sir Company, Phasmophobia, and Content Watching, was ultimately a game about making money. Strictly speaking, Content Watching was a bit different, but the premise was similar.

In Dungeon Seeker, players were reconnaissance agents sent ahead to gather information for raiding parties tasked with clearing dungeons. Because of this, all dungeon-related data was valuable.

Records of dungeon ecosystems.Mapping information.Rare ores or items unique to dungeons.Even parts of monsters’ bodies.

‘If you could bring back an entire monster intact, wouldn’t that be worth a lot of money?’

With that thought, Laura had ordered Rui to bring Mero back.

As for herself, Laura stayed behind in the dungeon.

There was no need for both of them to leave when just one person could handle transporting Mero. It made more sense for Laura to stay and continue collecting valuable resources.

As she explored the map, updating mapping data and stuffing her bag with found items:

【Exploration Results】

Dungeon Creature Submission: +50,000G

Party Member Resurrection Fee (Employee Discount): -100G

It seemed Rui had safely brought Mero out of the dungeon.

Fifty thousand gold.

Not bad at all.

‘Usually, a single exploration earns around 10,000 gold.’

Whether it was RE:sir Company, Phasmophobia, or Content Watching, games of this genre often treated monsters as something to avoid.

Dungeon Seeker was no exception, with most monsters being extremely difficult to kill. Even those that could be killed often required specific methods.

Given the difficulty of subduing monsters, their body parts—or entire corpses—fetched high prices. Capturing them alive seemed to be even more lucrative.

【Summoning Stone (1,000G)】

【Weight: 0.5 / Consumable】

【Use this item to summon a party member. If the party is full or the member refuses, the item will be consumed without effect.】

【System: Kaga Mero has been summoned using a Summoning Stone.】

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Selling me off like this?”

Mero’s voice was filled with disbelief the moment she was summoned.

“Beating someone like a sandbag! Do you have any idea how scary that was? It was like watching a Yakuza movie! Seriously, tell me the truth. Did you used to be some kind of thug, my lady?”

“Oh my, you’ve got such wild ideas, Mero.”

“Wild ideas? WILD IDEAS?! You sold me off like a slave, beat me without hesitation when I got parasitized, and you expect me to believe you’re not holding a grudge against me?!”

“How could I ever hate you? I treasure you so much.”

Laura put an arm around Mero’s shoulder. They were friends, after all.

“Mero, think about it. Who else has such close physical contact with me?”

“...No one, really. But this still feels like being a lackey...”

“And who else in the world would stay up playing a game with you at this hour? That’s what makes us truly close friends, don’t you think?”

“Hmm.”

Mero seemed like she wanted to retort but couldn’t think of anything to say. She looked both frustrated and a little pleased to be called a friend.

Laura had recently noticed that Mero was a bit of an "I-noticed" type—someone who secretly craved attention and connection.

“Ahem. Then as a friend, could you treat me a little more gently?”

“Of course.”

When Mero sneakily reached for her backside, Laura swatted her hand away with a smile.

“My dearest friend, Mero. I have one more favor to ask of you.”

“A favor?”

“Yes.”

Laura nodded.

“Get parasitized one more time.”