SWNOVELXO Chapter 117
Sora scolded me.
“You’re going to be misunderstood as a psychopath if you keep this up!”
“That’s why I turned off the stream and practiced, you know.”
“That’s not the point!”
Sora berated me once again.
It had been nearly two weeks since Team Leviathan was formed.
There was roughly a month-long gap between the draft and the league’s start, so the other teams were also diligently focusing on practice. Especially Cerberus and Gryphon, who would face off in the opening match, were undoubtedly in the midst of rigorous training.
Our Team Leviathan was practicing in our own way, and I had been personally giving lessons to Mero every day.
The lessons, however, were always consistent. They involved repeatedly “educating Mero’s mentality by annihilating her,” over and over again.
At first, I streamed these lessons, but after a few sessions, the novelty wore off. Moreover, they were too brutal to be considered entertaining content.
Training sessions aren’t typically enjoyable, are they?
So recently, we had been practicing in secret with the stream turned off.
Especially since Mero has been getting some strange nicknames lately.
Some viewers had started calling her “Ducal Food” or “Ducal Boiled Pork.” How the prestige of the Ducal Family had fallen so low was beyond me.
“You never know what might become a problem these days! You have to be careful all the time!”
“Hmm.”
I nodded absentmindedly at Sora’s shout.
She wasn’t wrong.
For example, there was an incident where a VTuber unknowingly displayed their browser during a stream, revealing a bookmarked ■hub.
Other cases included food vloggers accidentally reflecting their faces in a plate, exposing their private identity, or streamers inadvertently using an old account tied to their pre-VTuber life when playing Nintendo ■ games.
There are countless examples of things that seemed fine but turned out to be problematic.
Especially for someone like me, a sensitive Villainous Noblewoman, being mistaken for a psychopath was out of the question. As Sora said, I had to remain cautious.
“Why on earth did you do this in the first place? …Do you like Mero-senpai’s face that much??”
“It’s nothing like that. Mero, come here.”
I called Mero over.
Mero, who had been watching from a distance while I was getting scolded by Sora, hesitated.
Though she had gotten close to me, she still seemed awkward around Sora.
Upon hearing her name, Mero timidly approached.
I put my arm around her neck.
– Thunk
“Hi-Hiik…!”
“Mero, do you know how many times I’ve killed you so far?”
“I-I don’t know….”
“Exactly 117 times.”
As I’ve mentioned before, human memory is incredibly subjective.
For instance, you might think you’ve never lost while playing as a Paladin, but when you check the records, there’s always one or two defeats logged.
Similarly, people have difficulty recalling exact numbers—unless they’re as perfect as a Villainous Noblewoman like me.
So, while Mero likely remembered being beaten by me, she wouldn’t remember precisely how many times her neck had been severed.
“I’d really appreciate it if you could act a bit more rationally, Mero.”
I whispered in her ear.
Mero flinched in my arms.
Though she enjoyed initiating physical contact with others, she seemed unaccustomed to receiving it herself. She had the look of a frightened rabbit.
And truthfully, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with physical affection either.
Physical intimacy and noblewomen don’t coexist easily.
“Hmm…. You’ve gotten pretty close to Mero-senpai, haven’t you?”
Even Sora looked at me curiously. She must have found the sight of me wrapping my arm around Mero’s neck unfamiliar.
Anyway, Mero nodded.
“Ah, okay…. I’ll keep that in mind….”
“Thank you. So, Mero, are you free tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow… I have plans.”
“That’s a lie.”
Her eyes briefly darted away.
It was obvious she was lying. Mero was generally honest about her desires, making her easy to read in moments like this.
“Come tomorrow too, Mero.”
“To-Tomorrow too…?”
“Yes, tomorrow too. Under the same rules as always.”
I tightened my arm around her.
As our bodies pressed closer, Mero’s gaze dropped.
Then, noticing her hand sneaking toward my backside, I flicked her forehead.
“Ah, I get it….”
“Let’s strive to improve one another as teammates.”
I grinned.
*
===
【Virtual VTuber Gallery】
[General] Is there any value in Geum Taeyang if he can’t do NTR?
(Mero image)
He can’t even pull that off, tsk tsk.
Pathetic fool.
[Comments]
Geum Taeyang getting conquered by a virgin, lol.
Laura gets NTR’d, and Sora ends up masturbating in defeat???
ㄴ Geum Taeyang is such a loser, lol.
Why does this guy get stuck with the Geum Taeyang meme, lol?
He’s just a family servant from a noble household.
ㄴ Family servant, lol.
===
[Broadcast] Why Is Laura So Harsh on Mero lolololol
(Clip)
Laura: I think Mero plays the game way too brainlessly.
Laura: I’d like her to learn that brainless actions lead to severe consequences.
Laura: So today, I plan to play “Surviving Somehow in an Apocalypse World” with Mero.
Laura: Mero, do you see that building over there?
Mero: Yeah, I see it.
Laura: Go inside alone.
Mero: What?
Laura: According to the information I got, the serum needed to make the vaccine is stored in there.
Laura: I’ll wait here, so go fetch it.
Mero: You want me to go alone?
Mero: With that many zombies inside???
Laura: If you manage to come back alive, I’ll grant you one wish. Anything you want.
Mero: Anything?
Mero: Really??
Laura: Yes.
Mero: …What if I don’t make it back?
Laura: Don’t worry about that.
Laura: I’ll just revive you as a clone.
Mero: You devil…
Laura: What did you say?
Mero: Ah, nothing…
Mero: I didn’t say anything…
[Comments]
– Mero finally gonna score with the A-Grade Virgin?
ㄴ As if.
ㄴ Betting my entire fortune that it won’t happen lololol.
ㄴ She can’t even beat Laura when she’s down to 1 HP, so how??
– Did they unlock the A-Grade Virgin cloning tech?
ㄴ (Author) Yep, they unlocked it recently.
ㄴ If cloning’s unlocked, can we resurrect the SerenadeKR members too?!
ㄴ Not a chance lololol.
– Mero’s basically part of a death squad now lololol.
– These days, Laura’s pattern is to kill Mero first before anything else.
– What did Mero do in her past life to deserve this…
ㄴ She committed her sins in her current life, though.
===
[Broadcast] ???: My Poor Friend, Mero
(Screenshot of Laura’s stream screen)
“Alas, you’ve become a zombie.”
[Comments]
– She became a zombie in the end, huh lololol.
– She turned her into a zombie and now pities her? What’s up with that lololol.
– What happens next?
ㄴ (Author) She just killed her lololol.
ㄴ Without hesitation, she just decapitated her lololol.
– But if the A-Grade Virgin could solo the level, why send Mero in the first place?
ㄴ Because then she wouldn’t have a legit reason to behead Mero.
ㄴ Like she hasn’t illegally killed Mero a ton already lololol.
– Wow, that’s hot.
ㄴ ?
ㄴ Zombie bodies can be sexy, you know.
ㄴ Still warm…
===
[General] ???: About Mero…
(Kim Yushin meme)
“The horse’s head must be severed!”
[Comments]
– What the hell are you saying lololol.
– But it’s true Mero’s just Laura’s livestock.
– Even Zhuge Liang would agree.
ㄴ “Execute Ma Su.” lololol.
– Mero the Duke… Why has only your head come here…
===
【Ally Puppeteer has defeated the enemy Saint.】
【Ally Dual Swordsman has defeated the enemy Heavy Armored Warrior.】
【Ally Battle Priest has defeated the enemy Paladin.】
【Ally Dual Swordsman has defeated the enemy Gunner.】
【Ally Dark Knight has defeated the enemy Necromancer.】
【Ally Puppeteer has defeated the enemy Martial Artist.】
Six kill logs appeared in perfect sequence, followed by the word “Victory”.
Looking at those two large letters on the screen, Rui sighed with relief.
“Mero! That initiation was great!”
Whack!
Barubara enthusiastically slapped Mero on the back.
As a male VTuber, Barubara was typically cautious about any physical contact with female VTubers to avoid controversy.
Mero, however, was an exception.
Her image was so far from feminine that Barubara essentially treated her like one of the guys.
“Eek?! Wh-What was that…?”
But Mero jumped back, startled, her expression uneasy.
“Oh, did it hurt?”
“N-No, that’s not it….”
“Anyway, your initiation was great! You’ve improved a lot!”
“Aha…ha….”
Mero laughed awkwardly.
‘Something feels off.’
Watching her from a distance, Rui thought to herself. Normally, wasn’t she overly energetic to the point of being annoying? Not to mention, her behavior was usually crass.
But lately, Mero had become oddly docile.
“Mero.”
“Eek?!”
This time, no one hit her—just called her name—but she flinched anyway.
The voice calling her belonged to Laura.
“Lo-Laura…. Wh-What is it…?”
“I’ve been observing your gameplay from afar. You did well this time.”
“Oh, uh… Th-Thank you….”
Mero avoided making eye contact, but Laura looked at her as if she were adorable.
Hmm….
It seemed Mero might’ve taken a few hits from Laura.
‘She didn’t even listen to me, but now look at her.’
Rui was quite close to Mero.
In fact, among the six members of Team Leviathan, Rui only personally chatted with Mero and Kirin on CocoaTalk.
She had even met Mero in person before and had meals with her, though she wasn’t easy to handle. She often behaved like a wild horse out of control.
To see Mero tamed like this was surprising.
‘I heard Laura knows how to ride horses…. Maybe that’s related?’
For some reason, Mero was already established as Laura’s “mount” on community sites.
There were memes of Mero lying flat with Laura sitting on her like a chair, and even fan art of Mero wearing reins, crawling on all fours with Laura riding her.
Some versions of the fan art depicted Mero naked, while others didn’t, reminding Rui of the diversity of humanity.
In any case, Rui appreciated Mero’s improved behavior.
Moreover, Mero’s skills were improving, and even Sora seemed to be leveling up in subtle ways.
‘Mero and Sora have been trained well enough for now, so what’s next?’
Come to think of it, all Rui had heard from Choi Gaho was to “train Mero and Sora.” No further plans had been mentioned.
It had been about two weeks since Team Leviathan began practicing together, but Choi Gaho hadn’t shown up since their first meeting.
He occasionally chatted in the Discord server, but as a professional gamer, his real-life commitments kept him busy. Perhaps being a married man contributed to this.
It would be nice if Choi Gaho explained the next steps himself, but if not, Rui planned to DM him later.
That was the team leader’s job, after all.
‘I also need to decide what games to play with the team and maybe plan one or two new concepts.’
Busy, busy.
But Rui didn’t mind.
If anything, she preferred being busy. As a workaholic by nature, she felt most anxious when there was nothing to do.
Rui’s ultimate goal was to make Team Leviathan the most popular team in the Fantasy League.
Winning was great, but ultimately, VTubers engaged in these activities to gain popularity and subscribers.
“Take good care of my kids, Rui. I’d appreciate it if you could support them.”
“It won’t be a bad deal for you either. I’ll make sure to repay the favor somehow.”
These were words Rinco had recently said to Rui.
Offer grace to someone when they are weak. That way, they will never forget it later.
Aurora was destined to become the biggest star VTuber in EYEAI, with all the buzz and charisma to back it up. Strengthening ties now would surely pay off in the future.
‘So, how do I support them….’
As Rui was pondering this, a message popped up.
-Ding.
Checking the message, Rui saw it was from Kaiser, the organizer of the Fantasy League tournament.
Among the tournament staff, Kaiser was perhaps the most invested in its success.
Kaiser
[Boss, I’ve got an idea for an event. Are you free?]
[It’d be great if each team could send 2-3 members.]
[I found a fun-looking game.]
[It’s an escape room game.]
[If you fail to escape, you turn into a little sister.]
“……?”
What kind of nonsense was this guy spouting?