The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 73: Dry eye syndrome

"Is this even possible???"

Rion exclaimed in a shocked voice.

"What’s the gacha rate for this? Three percent? Only three percent, and you pull four of them?"

"That's why I told you, there’s not much fun in me pulling gacha."

I sipped my tea.

Rion lightly tapped my arm.

"Hey, sis. Let’s just go all in, like, a truckload."

"It’s as if you think ‘a truckload’ is the name of someone's dog."

【Pork Rain has donated ₩99,000.】

【Found it while digging.】

【Mutsukkimesugaki has donated ₩100,000.】

【That’s actually my dog’s name.】

【NowPushIt has donated ₩200,000.】

【I’ve covered the fees too.】

【NongLOLNo has donated ₩300,000.】

【This month's taxes.】

"Hmm."

I wasn’t intending to provoke donations.

"Guess I could try pulling the pickup character then."

After all, I’m a VTuber. Since I’ve received something, I might as well put that much into the gacha.

Laura Iris.

My body is, in many ways, different from that of an ordinary person. After all, it's a body pulled straight from the game.

For one, I have immense physical strength.

I’ve spent the last ten years literally cutting down monsters. Clearing various gates, my body has been exposed to the magic of beasts and the gates themselves, which made me incredibly powerful.

It’s like a wizard in an RPG who, even after dumping all their stats into intelligence, still ends up stronger than most ordinary people.

Luck works the same way.

Maybe it’s because I inherited the blood of the Dukes, or perhaps it’s just the curse of being a villainess. Maybe both.

In any case, I’ve always had a peculiar kind of bad luck.

It’s the kind where the worse things seem to get, the more fortune finds its way back to me.

'I don’t exactly like it, though.'

Perhaps I was destined to be one of those villains who reappear no matter how many times the protagonist defeats them.

The kind that, despite getting beaten to a pulp by the hero, has a dark force reach out to them. Or they escape from prison just before they’re executed. Or even resurrect after being killed by the hero’s sword, thanks to some mysterious power.

Villains like that are notoriously persistent. Maybe Laura Iris was born with that kind of fate.

But honestly... wouldn’t it be smarter to just avoid being backed into a corner in the first place?

If I had to compare it, it's like surviving the destruction of my family while losing everything else.

Even if you’re given a chance for a comeback, it’s always better to protect what you already have.

That’s why I’ve never considered myself lucky.

In fact, I think it’s more of a curse.

For example, imagine my nemesis appears in front of me as I’m facing certain death.

If I somehow manage to throw a dagger and it lands in my enemy's chest, is that luck or physical skill?

Just thinking about that is unpleasant.

People say luck is part of skill, but victories earned through luck always feel a bit hollow.

If you’re human, you’d want to experience a victory that feels truly earned, wouldn’t you?

□■□■□

■□□■■

【Ceiling Points: 200】

"Whoa..., this is insane. Five 5-star characters at the ceiling!?"

Rion was making a big fuss beside me.

Even Chel’s eyes had widened, and the chat was blowing up with reactions. It seemed like everyone was getting a rush from my sudden streak of good fortune, after being stuck for so long.

But honestly, I wasn’t that excited. I can’t really enjoy the act of "testing my luck."

It’s as if when I charge 200 rolls, the first 190 are garbage, and then the last roll is guaranteed to hit the jackpot. It’s practically predetermined.

What’s the difference between that and just buying the character outright? Knowing the outcome removes all the excitement that comes from gacha games. That’s why I don’t really like them.

But hey, as long as everyone else enjoys it, maybe this is what a perfect world where no one gets hurt looks like.

I sighed and called Inagika.

[Laura...?]

"Do the ‘Lucky Inagikaja’ for me, please."

[Ugh... That’s embarrassing...]

"Aren’t we friends?"

[Uh, yeah... we’re friends...!]

"Then do it for me, just this once."

[Fine... This is totally... Lucky Inagikaja...!]

-Click.

I hung up after that call with Inagika.

But still...

'Wasn’t this supposed to be a story stream?'

How did it end up as a gacha stream?

After doing enough gacha pulls, we decided to get back to the story.

"Wait, this doesn’t have voice acting?"

We started Chapter 1, and Rion tilted her head in confusion.

"Bluereco doesn’t have voice acting for the main story," Chel replied.

"But the prologue is fully voiced."

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

"Yeah, just the prologue."

It was true; Bluereco didn’t have voice acting for the main story. The reason wasn’t entirely clear, though.

I could guess why. Before Bluereco, mobile gacha games like Girls’ Frontline or Idol Producer: Cinderella Kingdoms didn’t typically have full voice acting either.

Back then, it wasn’t that common for mobile games to have fully voiced stories. I can only think of Princess Connect as a game that did that.

Some games skip voice acting to speed up story production, though I’m not sure if Bluereco falls into that category.

Either way, the lack of voice acting was a bit disappointing, but it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

For some VTubers, it actually worked in their favor, and Chel was definitely one of the ones benefiting from it.

"We will protect our daily lives! Our freedom! Awoouuuuu!!!!"

A famous scene from Bluereco. The moment when the protagonists summon monsters to defend their way of life.

Chel passionately delivered the lines, her voice booming with emotion.

Her performance was impressive. Even though her expression stayed indifferent, her voice was full of life.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly like the original character’s voice.

But by adjusting her tone and pitch slightly, she managed to capture the essence of the original performance.

It made me think, 'Maybe that’s why Bluereco streams are so popular.'

After all, many VTubers have voices that sound almost like they belong in an anime.

Without voice acting, the story text can feel a little dry. But when VTubers voice it, it’s like the scene suddenly comes to life with color.

VTuber voice acting may not be as polished as a professional voice actor’s, but some of them make voice work their main content.

For those VTubers, Bluereco is probably like a hidden treasure.

"It’s not that hidden anymore. Big VTubers on the Japanese servers have been promoting it," Chel mentioned later. It made me realize how important VTubers have become as a marketing tool.

Anyway, I won’t spoil the story, but I could understand why Bluereco’s story gets high praise.

The proof? Rion was in tears.

"Sniff... These characters are just so tragic...."

Tears were rolling down Rion’s cheeks.

Her eyes were red, her face puffy from crying so much, and tear tracks were etched into her skin.

As I watched her sobbing, I took another sip of my sweet tea.

"Looks like you enjoyed it."

"Yeah... I thought it was going to be all bright and cheery, but then it got so deep all of a sudden."

"It definitely had a good theme. There are plenty of games with good stories, but it’s been a while since a mobile game’s story was this good."

"Yeah..."

"We’ll have to stop here for today due to time, but we can finish the rest of the story later."

"How about tomorrow? I’m working from home again."

"That doesn’t sound too bad. So..."

"Why didn’t you cry?"

As Rion and I shared our thoughts on the Bluereco story, Chel suddenly interjected.

"What are you talking about? Rion cried so much she might get dehydrated."

"Yeah... I don’t think I’ll have to worry about dry eyes for a while..."

"Do you have dry eyes?"

"Don’t all modern people have dry eyes?"

"But Laura didn’t cry."

Chel looked at me pointedly.

"Didn’t you find it moving?"

"I did."

"Then why didn’t you cry?"

Well, it wasn’t that moving.

It’s not like I’m emotionally dead inside or anything. But in noble society, tears can sometimes be seen as a sign of weakness.

I was the daughter of the Iris Ducal family and the heir who would one day lead the house.

A ruler isn’t supposed to be swayed by trivial emotions. A leader should be able to see the world with a broader perspective.

That’s why I was trained to feel joy, sorrow, and fear in my heart, but never show it on my face.

"Laura’s always been heartless, you know."

Rion seemed to think that was the case.

I guess that’s a bit of a misunderstanding. Rion seems to believe I’m incapable of fear, but I know how to feel fear and tension.

Especially in battle, fear is necessary. Too little tension leads to mistakes, and too much tension also leads to mistakes.

So while I may not show it, there’s no need to correct her.

Being misunderstood as heartless might actually give me an advantage. And in battle, those small advantages can be the key to victory.

"Every human has emotions," said the last person you’d expect to say such a thing.

"I’ll see you tomorrow. Take care."

Chel bowed slightly and left my room, leaving behind her tracking phone.

And the next day, Chel came back.

With Clannad.

Meanwhile, EYEAI’s CEO, Jung Ho-young, let out a deep sigh.

"...Is there really no other way?"

He could hear Rion sniffling, the quiet clink of Laura’s teacup, and Chel’s occasional words coming from his phone.

"You’ll probably have to choose from the sixth generation," suggested Manager Lee Jung-woo.

He knew that already.

"If we go with the sixth generation, we can’t leave Aurora out, right?"

"It should be fine. She seems to be the closest to Chel."

It seemed like a good choice, though Jung Ho-young still felt uneasy.

Aurora was difficult to deal with. Outwardly gentle, but there was no VTuber more challenging to handle.

At least she hadn’t caused any major incidents since her debut. But sometimes it felt like the people around Aurora were getting stranger, rather than Aurora herself.

'Maybe she’s influencing those around her.'

Was that a good thing?

No matter how many times he ran the numbers, the conclusion was always the same. If they were going to select someone from the sixth generation, they couldn’t exclude Aurora.

"Let’s go with Aurora and Chel, then."

Jung Ho-young finally made the decision.

On his desk was the 'Winter Voice Sale Plan.'