The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

It had been six days since I started the punishment game.

To be precise, since I crossed the date boundary, it was now the seventh day. In other words, today was the final day.

On this last seventh day, I was planning to visit Rinco’s house.

But before that, I wanted to recount three things that had happened so far.

#1. Sora & Anna’s Binaural Chat

[This person is seriously dangerous.]

Anna began with that remark.

The ASMR stream that started at 11 PM.

Originally, it was supposed to be a stream where Sora would try out various ASMR techniques. But after the Mimena-me (ear-licking) incident, Anna decided to focus on a talk-centered broadcast.

For reference, Laura wasn’t there.

Laura had borrowed Anna’s VR device to do a promotional stream for Aseosal.

Thus, Anna was streaming alone with Sora.

[Why are you bringing that up again….]

[Earlier today, I had lunch at Sora’s house with Laura, right?]

[In return, Sora-chan wanted to touch QU-IOO, so we came to my house.]

[So earlier, while practicing ASMR, I tried having Sora-chan give it a shot.]

[Laura-chan said she hadn’t properly listened to ASMR before either, so I lent her my earphones.]

[But then this person suddenly started doing Mimena-me!]

-Mimena-me lolololololol

-Did she really lick??

-She must do that kind of play a lot with the A-grade virgin

-This is the main wife route

-Why only you?

-Let us hear it too!!!!

[Even big companies don’t do Mimena-me. Why would you even do that…?]

[I… I didn’t know….]

[I just listen to whatever comes up in the algorithm. There are lots of people doing ear licking, so I thought it was something everyone does.]

【NowAdmitIt donated 1,000 won.】

【If you’re doing ASMR, Mimena-me should be a standard feature.】

【ViscountFamily donated 1,000 won.】

【I’m Aurora, and I totally agree with Sora.】

[But Anna senior.]

[I saw that Horizon Air VTubers were doing it, too….]

[Mimena-me was once classified as adult content.]

[Back then, channels could get suspended for it.]

[Really?]

【ArarararagiSora donated 1,000 won.】

【Back in the day, even singing streams could get demonetized lolol】

[Yeah, that happened too.]

[But the standards are more relaxed now. They don’t crack down like they used to.]

[Even if you do Mimena-me, you won’t get demonetized. You might get an age restriction, though.]

[Still, some companies outright ban Mimena-me.]

VTubers who maintain a pure image don’t do ear licking.

Neither do their companies.

Many strictly forbid it to protect the image of both the company and their affiliated VTubers.

[Our company is relatively lenient about these things, though.]

[Even so, doing something like that without prior approval could get you in trouble.]

[Sora-chan owes her life to me.]

Anna said that.

Sora, sitting next to her, widened her eyes in surprise.

[Anna senior.]

[This is the first time you’ve acted like a real senior.]

It might have been the first time Anna had truly shown her seniority.

Though she often did childish things, Anna was indeed a senior.

This happened about a month before Sora purchased a binaural mic.

#2. About the MV Song

The story had to rewind a little.

I had visited Inagika’s house to ask her to cook for me, and in return, I rolled the gacha for her in Authority’s Will.

After that, I was heading back to Anna’s house when a thought struck me, so I asked Inagika this question:

-“Inagika, if I were to sing a song, what kind of song would be good?”

I hadn’t decided on the song for the MV yet, so I thought I’d ask her.

Inagika, being very knowledgeable about subculture, was probably the most well-versed in VTuber-related topics among us 6th Gen.

But she misunderstood my intent.

-“A song…? Oh, are you talking about the 6th Gen One-Man Live…?”

She reacted like that.

Now that I thought about it, only Sora, Anna, Rion, and I knew about the MV.

-“How do you know about the 6th Gen One-Man Live?”

-“Oh, well, uh, didn’t you mention it during the draft watch party…?”

-“Laura said she wanted to try doing a 6th Gen One-Man Live….”

-“So you watched my draft watch party stream.”

-“Uh, w-well… that’s…!”

-“Anyway! I was thinking… wouldn’t it be good to decide on a theme…!”

Inagika, embarrassed to admit she’d secretly watched my stream, tried to change the topic.

-“You know, like a unifying theme for the One-Man Live…?”

-“It’s not absolutely necessary, but it might make the performance feel more cohesive. Plus, it might make song selection easier.”

-“So I thought… since our group name is AoiS, what about ‘youth’ as the theme…?”

She suggested that.

Youth, huh.

It felt like too generic a theme. But then again, could I come up with something other than youth? That seemed difficult.

After all, the 6th Gen didn’t have many commonalities.

The most we had in common was being VTubers with fantasy personas—a banished noblewoman, a bard, an elf, and a fortune teller. But choosing fantasy as a theme for song selection felt unrealistic.

Besides, when it came to “songs about fantasy,” none immediately came to mind. Maybe just a few isekai anime openings and endings?

In that case, a youth theme seemed like the safer and easier option for song selection.

‘Then let’s set the AoiS One-Man Live as a youth-themed performance.’

And as preparation, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try out some youth-themed songs in advance.

“That makes sense.”

When I mentioned this to Sora and Anna after the ASMR broadcast, Sora nodded.

“A youth theme sounds good to me. Chel would probably agree too.”

“But I can’t think of many youth-themed songs.”

“Ordinarily, they’d be about school days, right?”

“School days, huh.”

If that was the concept, I wouldn’t be able to sing youth-themed songs.

I mean, I could sing them, but it would likely be mechanical, devoid of genuine emotion.

‘After all, I did attend high school.’

But that was before I became Aurora.

To be more specific, it was before I became Laura Iris.

A time when the “me” of back then was distinctly different from the “me” now.

In this world, I had always been recorded as Aurora, and there was no trace of the “me” who wasn’t Aurora.

Perhaps that was why my high school days felt so distant.

In fact, my time as Laura Iris, attending an academy in “that world,” felt much closer in comparison.

But could that academy life even be considered youth?

What came to mind were masked conversations among noble ladies, confrontations with the Paladin protagonist, and conquering gates and dungeons. None of it fits the typical concept of youth.

In that sense, Aurora’s youth might be something that didn’t exist anywhere.

“If school days are tough, how about uplifting songs?”

“Cheer songs, you mean?”

“Like… BiTiS’s Dynamite?”

“Isn’t that a Korean song?”

An unexpected suggestion, but Sora nodded.

“Globally famous K-POP songs are sometimes covered by Japanese VTubers. Although I’ve rarely seen them sing Korean songs, they do seem to cover English-only Korean songs often. And Laura, your English pronunciation is pretty good, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

Now that I thought about it, there wasn’t any particular reason to stick with Japanese songs.

If anything, singing English songs might be better for appealing to a more global audience.

In reality, I was more confident in English than in Japanese.

I was still in the process of learning Japanese.

“Hah… This is why extroverts are…”

Anna, who had been quietly listening, clicked her tongue as if in disbelief.

“…What’s that supposed to mean, Anna senior?”

“Nothing? It just hit me all over again that Sora-chan is a total extrovert. People like Sora-chan always pull that fake modesty nonsense, saying, ‘Oh~, I’m not an extrovert, why would I be? I don’t even have anyone to hang out with these days, I like anime, too! I’ve been eating alone every day lately~.’”

“I never said anything like that….”

“A real introvert is someone like me, who can’t even say a single word to their favorite person! Huh? You’ve gotten all buddy-buddy with Rui, haven’t you?!”

Anna shouted.

She still seemed to be harboring some jealousy toward Sora.

For Anna’s sake, I had arranged a very special punishment for her, and she’d get her due soon enough.

“If it’s a youth song, wouldn’t something like ‘Elegy of Lost Youth’ or ‘■kyo Teddy Bear’ fit the bill?”

“…Those don’t count. Especially the latter—it’s way too depressing.”

“Most school days are depressing!”

“That’s just a stereotype….”

Sora let out a sigh.

Anna’s opinion was undoubtedly extreme, but in a way, I found myself leaning slightly closer to her perspective.

Youth wasn’t necessarily always bright and cheerful.

Especially in my case, where one could argue I had lost my youth entirely.

Besides, when I played Blue Record with Chel, I realized something—the game, which was about youth, had its fair share of dark and somber moments.

Perhaps the bitter moments were what made youth feel so genuine.

“This won’t do, Ayanokouji Sora. Follow me to the rooftop.”

“…Rooftop?”

“Wait, I misspoke. Follow me to the karaoke room.”

“Oh?”

Sora’s eyes lit up.

“Does that mean you want to settle this with a song battle?”

“Exactly. Since Laura doesn’t even know what youth songs are, let’s take turns singing one each.”

“Sounds fun. Then let’s have Laura decide the winner. Whoever sings the song that appeals to her the most wins.”

“That works for me. Come on, Laura-chan! Get ready to go out!”

With that, Anna put on her coat for going out.

‘She just wants to hang out at the karaoke, doesn’t she?’

I realized that much, but I didn’t bother pointing it out. If they were willing to help me pick songs, that was a good deal for me.

And so, we sang at the karaoke until 7 AM.

#3. When I Went to Rinco’s House

Anna and Sora, utterly exhausted from singing all night at the karaoke.

Sora went home, and Anna returned to her place, ordered some easily digestible porridge for delivery, ate, and passed out.

So, I headed to Rinco’s house alone, just in time for lunch.

[Hello? Sorry, Laura, but I don’t think I can do the collab today.]

On my way there, I got a call from Rinco.

“You can’t do the collab?”

[Something suddenly came up…. I was going to cook lunch for you, but I’m really sorry!]

“That’s a problem. I’m already here, you know.”

[Huh?]

-Ding dong

I pressed the doorbell.

“Canceling a prior commitment at the last minute must mean you have a compelling reason, doesn’t it? And I believe I’m entitled to know what that reason is.”

[Uh, well…]

“Come out and explain. If you truly feel sorry and want my forgiveness, you should at least explain, don’t you think?”

I said that and ended the call.

Soon enough, Rinco opened the door.

“First, talk. I’ll listen.”

“Uh, well… there’s someone who’s sick….”

“You’re saying it’s a family member? I thought your family lived overseas.”

“…Did I ever mention that?”

“Didn’t you stream during the last Chuseok? I’ve been curious why you didn’t go to your family’s place for the holiday, so I looked into it.”

For reference, Rinco’s family background was well-documented on her wiki.

“If it’s not a family issue, does that mean you’re living with someone? I was under the impression you lived alone.”

I crossed my arms and gave a sly smile.

Having something come up suddenly and canceling plans—it was a situation I could understand.

But considering that I, a maid and a noblewoman, had gone out of my way to visit, I thought I deserved at least a proper explanation.

As I stared intently at Rinco,

“…It’s okay, Rinco senior. You don’t have to do this because of me.”

A voice came from beyond the door.

And then, the door opened.

A woman I’d never seen before appeared.

Her face was flushed red.

Her hair was messy.

She was wearing slightly unbuttoned pajamas.

……?

“Rinco, don’t tell me.”

“It’s not what you think.”

In a situation rife with misunderstanding, Rinco said,

“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but I’m not that kind of person.”