Hobbyist VTuber

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Everyone has at least one thing they’re good at.

For Jeong Maria, that ‘one thing’ was [Iron Fist].

She could confidently declare that, when it came to Iron Fist, there was no competition.

Of course, she had memorized the countless combos of over thirty characters for quite some time.

Her rank in the Iron Fist game was also among the top-tier players.

Even after becoming a member of [Fantasy Realm] as the Vtuber Cream, she never stopped playing Iron Fist.

She occasionally hosted viewer participation broadcasts for Iron Fist, using it as a kind of “ranking system.”

Once upon a time, there was even a pro gamer who sought her out for a challenge, but to this day, only one viewer had managed to beat Cream.

So, no matter how renowned D.I.A was as a gaming Vtuber, she thought this time she’d be able to win.

-Thunk─!

-Swish─Thud!

[K.O─!]

“Uwahhh!!”

After the first round, she lost the second round as well.

To the point of complete defeat, a genuine scream slipped out.

At that moment, the chats filled with comments from the many viewers who had been cheering for Cream.

– Goodbye, Cream. You were just an ordinary person back when D.I.A didn’t play Iron Fist─!

– Are you losing? Losing? Losing? Losing? Losing? Losing? Losing? Losing?

– To be honest, I think Cream needs to stop calling herself a ranked player..!

– An unranked player beating the Iron Fist ambassador lolololol

– ???: Don’t you need a handicap? <<< Oh, that was directed at you, huh lololol - There’s no way a tiny creature like this can be ranked. Are you mocking me, Kurosaki Cream!! Strictly speaking, the Iron Fist matches with D.I.A were supposed to be three games long. However, with D.I.A already declaring that she would demand a horror game as a wish if she won, it didn’t matter how many games were played. Anyway, if she lost just once more, it would be over for her—literally. If she lost even a single round, she'd have to face the fate of clearing a horror game filled with all kinds of zombies to the end. The problem was D.I.A's insane reaction speed. -Miss! Miss! Miss! 'It's not like I can see the future. How can this be?' No matter what attack Cream's character, Takuo, made, D.I.A always dodged at the last moment. Thus, even though D.I.A’s character Tora had only managed to perform a sweep kick and a back kick, she still couldn’t win. It wasn't an exaggeration to say D.I.A dodged nearly every attack. If she didn’t come up with a strategy, the third round would surely be the last. And then, she recalled the multitude of experiences she'd had while playing Iron Fist. Using her 'Iron Fist play experience'—the one factor that allowed Cream to best D.I.A—she sought to come up with a way to counter her. So, while maintaining a standoff between Takuo and Tora... She struggled and struggled to find a way to match D.I.A's ludicrous reaction speed. -Wow, that's insane, it can't possibly be dodging hacks lolol At that moment, a comment from a viewer praising D.I.A's crazy dodge speed caught her eye. '...!' A light bulb went off in her chaotic mind. Immediately following that thought came a strategy she had previously used against an opponent who relied on dashing attacks. -Miss! -Miss! She made a deliberate show of swinging Takuo's punches widely, encouraging Tora to continue dodging as she always had. In return, she started slowly pushing Tora into a corner of the arena, careful enough that D.I.A wouldn’t notice. - Come on, try to hit me lololol - Why are you only hitting Evelyn, Cream Cream? - At least before, it was close, but now you’re not even grazing her. - When did this become WWE? “Hmm~☆ At this rate, I’ll be dodging even with my eyes closed~☆” As the viewers and D.I.A mentally assaulted Cream in response to Takuo's aimless flailing, she somehow succeeded in cornering Tora. Then, at long last, she used a slightly different yet “more effective straight” to attack Tora. -Miss! “Obvious~.” As once again, D.I.A dodged Takuo’s straight with that insane speed. Whip. As soon as she entered the command for the straight, Takuo executed the lower roundhouse kick that had been pre-input with lightning precision. Thus, thwack. Takuo's kick hit Tora while she was in her roll. The hit was possible because Tora, trapped in the corner of the arena, had limited options for escaping. Thanks to Takuo's prediction of Tora’s rolling path, Tora eventually rose into the air. “Ah!” Accompanying D.I.A's astonished exclamation, Cream initiated her trademark 11-hit aerial combo. -Thwack!! -Swish─Thud! -Thunk! Thud─!! Tora, still airborne, was repeatedly hit by Takuo's relentless combo until she finally ran out of HP. At last, Cream's first victory message appeared on the broadcast screen. [K.O─!]

“I-I won!!”

– Wow, she scored a perfect hit

– Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins!

– Yayyyyyy

– ‘You win.’

– The ranker’s prowess is still intact lololol

– This is it

– Honestly, I believed from the start!

Was this the feeling of a famous Go player who had just won a game against an AI?

Overwhelmed by excitement from finally seizing her first victory, Jeong Maria turned to Ha-eun sitting right next to her.

“U-Um….”

Ha-eun, who until just now had a bright smile, was now looking flustered, causing an uncontrollable chuckle to escape from Maria.

It was because that thought of having finally hit Ha-eun was overwhelming her mind.

At any rate, now that she had figured out how to counter D.I.A’s skills…

She thought she’d handle D.I.A like this in the future.

“…I can’t let you win.”

-Click.

D.I.A’s character suddenly switched from Tora to “Baron Mineta.”

Immediately, a giant question mark bloomed in Jeong Maria’s eyes.

The chat was also filled with question marks.

It made sense because Baron Mineta, characterized as a vampire, was the worst-performing character in Iron Fist.

Despite being the best-looking character in the game, not many players actually played Baron Mineta due to his dismal performance that starkly contrasted with his looks.

Most critically, Baron Mineta’s biggest counter was Takuo, who was currently under Cream’s control.

Most of the attacks Baron Mineta could make were easily thwarted by Takuo’s blocking and dodging techniques.

Yet, the fourth round started.

While Cream was still bewildered by D.I.A’s sudden character switch, she began fiercely attacking D.I.A once more.

And just as that was happening…

-Pee-pee-pee-pee─!!

Baron Mineta’s special move ‘Rapid Hemorrhage’ activated, almost taking down 90 percent of Mineta’s HP.

Immediately following that was the display of a blood-red aura indicating Baron Mineta’s attack power had skyrocketed.

– ?????

– What is D.I.A doing right now?

– Why is she hurting herself?

– If I even touch her once, she’ll die.

– That was a skill too?

Takuo’s relentless attacks continued.

Like Tora in the previous round, Baron Mineta too was slowly being pushed into a corner.

-Thwack─!

“Wait, what?”

For some reason, just before hitting the arena’s edge, a sudden attack was allowed.

And immediately, in a brief moment of invulnerability, he threw a massive counter punch that smashed Takuo’s jaw.

-Bang!!

The impact sound differed from the one made by Takuo just moments before.

With Baron Mineta’s HP now at a point where even a single blow could lead to a K.O, his attack power had also become quite fearsome.

Soon, Takuo’s HP was literally dwindling rapidly.

And not even two seconds later, a harmless poke from Baron Mineta’s zoning attack…

Takuo finally succumbed.

-Thud.

[K.O─!]

“A-Aah!! Nooo!!”

Cream lost all her HP and lay down flat on the arena floor.

Moments after, the [YOU LOSE] message appeared on Cream’s monitor, alongside her ear-piercing scream echoing through the broadcast mic.

“Cream unni, your rank has been decided. From now on, I shall stand above you─!!”

With D.I.A’s youthful voice, she performed a teabagging move, and the chat for the broadcast became more frenzied than ever.

The praises for D.I.A, who had finally earned her wish ticket, mixed chaotically with the anticipation of Cream’s [Biohazard Metropolis] horror game broadcast.

Though the next two games somehow ended up with Cream emerging victorious, there would be no more times when she fell into D.I.A’s crafty tricks.

“You know you can’t just wish to remove your wish ticket, right~?”

“W-What kind of wish is that!! It’s a wish!!”

“Anyway, it’s not allowed~☆”

– Gah!

– Yayyyyyy

– Great D.I.A

– D.I.A knows a thing or two

As a result, Cream’s broadcast schedule was altered to include the [Biohazard Metropolis] horror game session.

Eventually, D.I.A had completely shut down her Iron Fist game and started preparing for the second part of her broadcast today, which was an ideal type tournament content of J-Pop.

Thanks to that, without being able to raise any objections, Cream was helplessly forced to participate in the J-Pop ideal type World Cup content alongside D.I.A.

And less than ten minutes later…

“Seriously, how can you pick lemon?”

“Samurai Heart sounds way better!”

An unexpected heated debate ensued.

Particularly, the J-Pop preferences of D.I.A and Cream drastically contrasted, leaving both of their opinions irreconcilably divided.