Chapter 103

Everyone has something they are good at.

For Maria, that “something” is [Iron Fist].

She could confidently say that, if nothing else, she was good at Iron Fist.

She had memorized all the numerous combos of the more than thirty characters for quite some time.

Her rank in the Iron Fist game was also at the top tier.

Even after becoming a member of [Gensokyo] as the Virtual YouTuber Cream, she didn’t stop playing Iron Fist.

She sometimes conducted viewer participation streams for Iron Fist, using it as a form of “hierarchy organization.”

No viewer had ever existed who could beat Cream, who had once received a proposal to become a professional gamer.

So, even if Diah was known as a great gaming Virtual YouTuber, she thought this time might be an exception.

– Thud—

– Whoosh—Thud!

[K.O—!]

“Uwaaaah!!”

After the first round, the second round ended in a complete defeat as well, and a heartfelt scream escaped involuntarily.

At that moment, the chat from numerous viewers who were eagerly watching Cream was overwhelming.

– Farewell, Cream. You are just a commoner who existed when Diah didn’t play Iron Fist—!

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

– To be honest, I think Cream should drop the rank status…!

– An unranked player getting taught a lesson by the Iron Fist ambassador, LOL!

– ???: Don’t you need a handicap? <<< This was aimed at you, LOL!

- Such a feeble being cannot be a ranker. Are you mocking me, Kurosaki Cream!!

Strictly speaking, the Iron Fist play with Diah was scheduled for a total of three games, but.

Since Diah had already declared that she would force Cream into a horror game as a reward, it didn’t matter how many games they played.

Anyway, now if Cream lost just one more time, it would literally be over.

If she lost even one round, she would be forced to finish a horror game filled with all sorts of zombies until the end.

The problem was Diah’s insane reaction speed.

- Miss! Miss! Miss!

‘This can’t be right. I can’t see the future or anything. How is this happening?’

No matter what attack Cream’s character, Tako, launched, it was evaded by a hair’s breadth.

As a result, even though only two types of attacks from Diah’s character, Tora, had been used— a scoop and a spinning heel kick— there was simply no way to win.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Diah was almost unconditionally avoiding all of Cream's attacks.

Without some sort of countermeasure, the third round would surely become the last round.

Eventually, she recalled numerous moments from playing Iron Fist.

Cream wanted to come up with a way to counter Diah using the only element that put her ahead, her "Iron Fist gameplay experience."

Thus, while maintaining a standoff between Tako and Tora.

Struggling and striving to find a way to deal with Diah's bizarre reaction speed.

- Even if it wasn’t hacking, that’s truly incredible, LOL!

The moment a viewer's chat expressing admiration for Diah's insane evasion speed caught her eye.

‘…!’

A light bulb went off in her head amidst the complex thoughts.

What followed was a strategy she had used a long time ago when facing an opponent who used hacks.

- Miss!

- Miss!

She deliberately swung Tako's punch wide, encouraging Tora to keep avoiding as she had been up till now.

Instead, she started slowly cornering Tora toward the edge of the battleground without Diah noticing.

- Come on, hit something, LOL!

- Why are you only hitting Evelyn, Cream?

- It was at least close before, but now you’re not even grazing!

- When did this become WWE?

“Uh~☆ At this rate, I might even dodge with my eyes closed~☆”

As Taka continued to throw meaningless punches, a few mental attacks from Diah and the viewers were exchanged, but.

After continued attempts, she somehow managed to corner Tora into the edge of the arena.

So, at the very end, she attacked Tora with a 'more practical straight' that was somewhat different from before.

- Miss!

“It’s obvious~.”

Once again, Diah evaded Tako's straight with that insane reaction speed, and just as she did, whoosh.

As soon as she input the straight command, the low spinning kick that had been input earlier flew toward Tora.

Thus, thud.

Tako's kick hit Tora, who was still in the rolling state, perfectly.

This was a hit possible because the character cornered in the arena has limited ways and paths to escape.

Thanks to Tako predicting Tora's rolling route, Tora eventually flew up in the air.

“Ah!”

Along with Diah’s startled exclamation, Cream executed her signature 11-hit aerial combo.

- Thud!!

- Whoosh—Thud!

- Bam! Thud—!!

Still floating in the air, Tora was continually struck by Tako’s successive combos, ultimately losing all HP.

Finally, Cream's first victory message appeared on the streaming screen.

[K.O—!]

“I-I won!!”

- Wow, a one-hit kill!

- Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins! Cream wins!

- Kyaaaaa!

- ‘Win.’

- The ranker skill level never goes away, LOL!

- This is it.

- I believed it from the start!

Was this how it felt for the famous Go player who won against an AI?

Unable to contain the excitement of finally securing her first victory, Maria turned to Ha Eun beside her.

“Uh, um….”

Her previous cheerful smile vanished as she looked at Ha Eun, who was flustered, and she couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

The thought that she had finally gotten one over on Ha Eun dominated Maria's mind.

Anyway, now that she had found a way to counter Diah.

She thought she could keep dealing with Diah this way in the future.

“…But I can’t let that happen.”

- Click.

Diah’s character suddenly swapped from Tora to “Count Mineta.”

Soon, a huge question mark popped up in Maria's eyes.

The broadcast chat was also filled with question marks.

This was understandable, as the character Count Mineta, with a vampire setting, was the worst-performing character in Iron Fist.

Count Mineta, who had the best looks among the Iron Fist characters, was popular by character design, but.

Due to its bad performance in contrast to its handsome appearance, few players ever played as Count Mineta.

Crucially, Count Mineta’s biggest counter was the character Tako that Cream was currently playing.

Because most of Count Mineta's attacks could be effortlessly countered by Tako's blocking and evasion techniques.

Nevertheless, the fourth round began.

While still puzzled by Diah's sudden character switch, Cream began launching fierce attacks against Diah once again.

And almost simultaneously.

- Swoosh—!!

Count Mineta’s special skill, “Rapid Bleed,” activated, dropping Count Mineta's HP by nearly 90 percent.

What appeared next was a red aura indicating that Count Mineta’s attack power had dramatically increased.

- ?????

- What is Diah doing right now?

- Why is she self-harming?

- Just one hit and she’ll die at this rate!

- Did she have such a technique?

Tako's fierce attacks continued, and similar to the previous round's Tora, Count Mineta was also gradually pushed toward the corner of the arena.

- Thud—

“Uh?”

For some reason, just before touching the corner of the battleground, Cream permitted one hit of attack.

Right then, when he briefly became invulnerable, he immediately counter-punched and struck Tako hard on the chin.

- Bang!!

The sound of impact was distinctly different from what had just come from Tako's punch.

Count Mineta's HP was now at the point where with just one hit he would reach K.O, so the attack power was certainly frightening.

Now, Tako's HP was literally diminishing at breakneck speed.

And, not even two seconds later, Count Mineta's poke hit Tako lightly and he ultimately.

- Thud.

[K.O—!]

“A-Aaaah!! Noooo!!”

Having lost all HP, he collapsed on the battleground.

Immediately after, the [YOU LOSE] message appeared on Cream's monitor along with her screeching shout into the broadcast mic.

“Cream-nee, hierarchy correction completed. From now on, I will stand at the top─!!”

As Diah executed a teabag, her youthful voice contributed to a surge of excitement in the chat that had reached new heights.

Cheers for Diah, who had finally secured her reward ticket, and chats looking forward to Cream's [Biohazard: Great City] broadcast intermixed chaotically.

The two games that followed somehow returned to Cream's victory, but.

There would be no more instances of Cream falling for Diah's cunningness.

“Using a reward ticket to get rid of your reward ticket isn’t gonna happen, you know~?”

“That, that’s not how it works!! It’s a wish!!”

“Anyway, nope~☆”

- Laughing

- Kyaaaaa!

- Go Diah!

- Diah knows a thing or two!

As a result, Cream's broadcast schedule was augmented with the [Biohazard: Great City] broadcast.

Soon after, Diah completely ended Iron Fist and began preparing for today’s second-part broadcast of the Ideal Type World Cup.

Thus, without further protests, Cream was forced to proceed with the J-Pop Ideal Type World Cup content together with Diah.

And just ten minutes later.

“No way, how can you remove Lemon!”

“Samurai Heart sounds better, doesn’t it?”

An unexpected serious debate began.

Quite ironically, the J-Pop tastes of Diah and Cream were sharply different, and the gap between their opinions could not be narrowed down at all.