The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

First, we started with introductions.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Jungseok.”

“I’m Elenoa! Please, call me Noa.”

The intellectual-looking man with glasses. The well-mannered florist’s daughter.

And then, a tall man dressed in a military uniform.

“I’m Choi Changyoung. …Do you remember me, by any chance?”

“Of course, I remember. You were a Necromancer, right?”

– “She remembers that?”

– “How long ago was that? Lololol”

– “Oh, right, they’ve met before. Lol”

– “Wasn’t that before she debuted as a VTuber?”

“Such a surprising reaction.”

I glanced at the viewer chat and commented.

I thought they already knew about my good memory. I mean, I had proved it from my very first stream.

If I remembered correctly, we met during the first Gate Assault Mode ranked game.

I knew from his username back then that he was a VTuber, but I hadn’t realized he was with SerenadeKR. What a small world.

“Hmm~? So, you know Changyoung?”

And Ainatsu apparently knew all the VTubers from SerenadeKR.

I later found out that, despite how she appeared, Ainatsu was a very active VTuber in terms of external collaborations.

While she didn’t really interact with overseas VTubers, she seemed to frequently collaborate with domestic ones.

“I wouldn’t say we know each other, but we did meet once in a ranked game a long time ago.”

“Got it~. So, what are you all doing here?”

Ainatsu smoothly stepped forward.

It seemed like she intended to bridge the gap between me and the SerenadeKR VTubers.

Despite appearing to have a few screws loose most of the time, surprisingly, Ainatsu knew how to act the part of a senior.

“Hm? Are you guys headed to the bank, too?”

Ainatsu, who had been listening on my behalf, widened her eyes a bit.

In summary, it went something like this:

The SerenadeKR VTubers had also received a sponsorship from Deadraus, like us. Streamers from various countries had apparently been offered similar sponsorships.

So technically, if you could cross the sea in this world, it would be possible to meet Japanese VTubers sponsored for the same event. Though, crossing the sea would be incredibly challenging.

Anyway, the four SerenadeKR VTubers who had taken up the sponsorship were also engaged in survival activities, and like us, they needed money and had come to the bank, where we ended up running into them.

However, their ultimate purpose differed slightly from ours.

We were looking to earn enough money to pay the entry fee to a shelter where we could safely log out, whereas SerenadeKR was already preparing a safehouse.

“Going to a shelter is a total waste of money. It’s much better to just make a secure house yourself.”

Mashina commented like this.

“Oh my, is that possible, Shina?”

“…Keep your distance. Talk to me from over there.”

“How heartless.”

For some reason, I ended up being disliked.

The viewers once compiled some stats for me, showing I had interfered in Shina’s promotion matches five times. Could that be why?

“As you explore here and there, you can come across NPCs. Some of these NPCs are willing to trade. The shelter’s facility manager is one of those NPCs, and they all seem to demand cash,” Elenoa explained.

That was an interesting concept. In a world where everyone was a zombie, cash would be one of the least useful items.

Perhaps money in this world was a sort of collectible item.

Like how you mine ore in a sandbox game, or gather herbs in a forest, it seemed in this world, you farmed cash in banks.

“Through trades, you can also purchase weapons and make your base stronger. I think you’ll probably need money to progress in the tech tree as well.”

“I see. So, Shina, have you visited the bank yet?”

“…Why are you asking me?”

“Because we’re close.”

“We’re not close at all!”

With a huff, she tried to look intimidating, but she was just too short.

Standing next to the towering Ainatsu, she wasn’t intimidating in the slightest.

“We were going to visit the bank, but we’re having trouble with a higher-tier zombie inside,” said Choi Changyoung.

He explained that the strength of the zombies in this game was categorized by ‘infection stage’.

Infected Stage 2 was stronger than Infected Stage 1. It was a concept that was easy enough to understand.

All the zombies we’d encountered on the streets so far had been Infected Stage 1. They were slow and brainless, the most common type.

From Infected Stage 2 onwards, they were a bit faster, though not vastly different from Stage 1.

Starting from Infected Stage 3, zombies began developing ‘distinct characteristics’.

Some would have extended arms, while others could climb walls.

“The zombie occupying the bank now is an Infected Stage 5. If we were to compare it to an RPG, it’d be elite or boss-level.”

Its legs were rooted to the ground, so it couldn’t move.

Instead, it controlled all the zombies inside the bank and shot acidic liquid from long distances.

Getting close enough to engage it was challenging, so they hadn’t managed to enter the bank yet.

“What floor is it on?”

“It’s on the top floor.”

“So that’s why you haven’t been able to enter the bank….”

“I did bring a special bomb, but with the elevator broken, even getting up there won’t be easy.”

“In that case, could you lend me that bomb?”

“Pardon?”

“The bomb…?”

I held out my hand to the SerenadeKR VTubers.

Initially, they looked puzzled.

But with the negotiation skills and charisma of a noblewoman, I effortlessly convinced them.

– ???

– What’s she planning now…

– Now she’s even extorting them, lol

– Just borrowing it for a bit~

– She really is a Villainous Noblewoman…

After receiving the bomb and a walkie-talkie, I climbed up the building’s outer wall.

“What in the world….”

Choi Changyoung’s baffled voice rose from below, but I continued up to the top floor.

Opening the window, I tossed the bomb inside.

To brace for the impact, I held onto the window ledge tightly to avoid falling.

-KABOOM!!

A deafening sound echoed, and the shockwave reverberated even to where I clung to the outer wall.

Carefully, I climbed inside through the window.

Then, I drove my knife into the zombie’s neck, which was already half-mangled.

-Squelch

“This is Aurora. I’ve taken it down, so start clearing the floors from the bottom up.”

[O-Oh, understood….]

Choi Changyoung’s voice trembled over the walkie-talkie.

***

“Wow….”

Elenoa, a VTuber from SerenadeKR, gazed at Aurora in awe.

So cool….

Maybe it was her lack of education. Noa always found people who were better than her to be cool.

“Wow… that freak.”

Beside her, Shina looked appalled.

She seemed to be suffering from some kind of promotion PTSD.

“They say it’s clear, so let’s go up.”

Jungseok adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

He was the team leader among the four SerenadeKR members this time. His appearance fit, as he was the most analytical and intellectual of the group.

Following Jungseok’s lead, Noa and the other SerenadeKR VTubers (+Ainatsu) entered the bank building.

Each SerenadeKR VTuber was carrying a gun.

Coincidentally, they had spawned near a military base. After encountering a few zombified soldiers, they managed to loot guns and ammunition.

-BANG!

The smell of gunpowder spread as they pulled the triggers.

Unfortunately, ammunition was scarce. To conserve bullets, they had set the guns to single-shot mode.

Even so, taking down an Infected Stage 1 zombie was no problem. A single headshot was enough to bring them down.

Maybe because it was early in the game, only weak zombies appeared for now.

‘But they say the game gets harder as it goes on….’

They’d heard that the world level would increase over time. As things progressed, it might become impossible to continue this easily.

So Noa was already starting to feel anxious.

Perhaps this was a good opportunity to get closer to Laura.

She might end up helping again.

“Have you arrived?”

By the time the SerenadeKR VTubers reached the top floor, Laura was already leisurely waiting in a chair.

Zombies’ corpses lay scattered around her feet.

It looked like she’d cleared everything with only a survival knife.

…She’s awesome.

“Ainatsu, can I leave the rest to you?”

“Yup! I can do it, mom!”

“Um… would it be alright if we also used the computer system here?”

Choi Changyoung carefully asked Laura.

Laura smiled faintly.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Thank you!”

Choi Changyoung bowed his head.

Afterward, the ‘Great Ducal Family’ and ‘SerenadeKR’ accessed the bank’s computer system and obtained withdrawal permissions.

Now, they could withdraw cash from the ATM machines.

Although Korea had dozens of banks, and there were about ten different ATM types in the game, they couldn’t withdraw money from every ATM.

To use a different type of ATM, they would have to visit that bank’s main branch again and re-access the computer system to obtain the new permissions.

Still, just having access to one type of ATM was a relief.

For now, they wouldn’t have to worry about money. That alone was a significant achievement.

“There’s an armored cash transport truck here, too.”

As they searched the bank, Laura found the armored vehicle.

There was a massive stash of cash sleeping in the bank’s main branch. With everything set, they decided to load as much cash as they could into the transport truck before moving on.

The SerenadeKR VTubers drove the armored truck.

Laura and Ainatsu drove a smaller car, clearing the way for the cash transport truck.

“We really owe a lot to EYEAI,” muttered Jungseok, looking a bit awkward.

With that, the two vehicles safely made their way to SerenadeKR’s stronghold.

Tall walls surrounded the place, topped with sharp iron spikes. It even seemed to have an electric current flowing through it.

The windows were similarly fortified with bars and electricity, and upon closer inspection, it was clear they were made from some highly resistant material.

CCTV cameras were installed all around the house, constantly monitoring the surroundings. With AI overseeing real-time surveillance, there were no gaps in security.

“This place looks really secure,” Noa commented without thinking.

Laura replied, “Right? It was quite a job replacing the windows with sturdy ones.”

“We’re even planning to install interceptors here.”

“Oh my, interceptors? How are they operated?”

“Seems like the AI takes care of everything.”

“That’s excellent. That means you’ll be even safer thanks to me, right?”

“Exactly! Thank you so much for helping us today!”

“It’s no problem.”

Laura gave Noa a gentle smile.

“It’s not like I helped for free. So there’s no need to thank me too much.”

…Huh?

Swoosh.

For some reason, Laura drew her survival knife.

“SerenadeKR, you can say that the reason you obtained withdrawal permissions was all thanks to me, correct?”

“Uh… yes, that’s… correct…?”

“But, you know what they say. To gain something, a sacrifice of equal value is required—the Law of Equivalent Exchange. So, don’t you think you all should show your appreciation in some way?”

Steel… or was it iron blood…? Was she talking about an alchemist?

Seeing Noa flustered, Jungseok stepped forward on her behalf.

“…Thank you for helping us today. We’re willing to compensate you. What would you like?”

“This house.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’d like you to gift me this house.”

Laura stated.