Chapter 159

[Kariri Ch. / No Name]

[World of Arseria – Precious and Tiny]

[Broadcast Time – 1:10:38]

[Viewer Count – 37,057]

Humans learn from failure.

Reflecting on why I had to lose in both the placement test and the showcase, there were indeed reasonable explanations for it all.

The growth difference of NPCs.

I had naively thought that adding just one more NPC to my side was a simple advantage.

As the game progressed, events tied to NPCs and their stories were not merely about winning or losing.

There is a saying in League that if you skip the enemy jungle monsters, it’s like a double whammy.

Similarly, whenever I failed to fulfill one of those events here, I would absurdly turn the game around when I was winning or face a situation where the gap in growth widened when I was losing.

My instinct that I should earn more in areas without NPCs, because I was confident in my skills, ultimately became a false proposition.

[You have entered the Colosseum.]

[Blue Team (4/6) vs Red Team (3/6)]

“Whew! That was close! Ouch!”

A girl barely squeezed through the closing steel cage doors.

Even amidst that chaos, she was spreading tales of her clumsiness, getting herself stabbed by her own weapon.

“What the hell, how did you guys get here…?”

The enemy mage had a look of considerable surprise.

“Haha, you thought you had the numerical advantage this time in the Colosseum!”

Clank—!

Kariri rubbed her sharp claws together, eliciting an infuriating smile.

It was understandable that they were flustered.

Kariri and I had only been on the opposite side of the map just a minute ago.

– What are you going to do if you join without buying any health defense items!

– I’m not a fan of slow, so I’m going all-in on magic power, lol.

└ Lololololol

– Is this really the right strategy? Even if we win the Colosseum, it’s just breaking even, and if we lose, it will be a disaster!

In World of Arseria, players are continuously forced to make choices.

An NPC event providing beneficial buffs to allied soldiers or debuffs to enemy soldiers.

[That man is my father’s enemy. Not only did he disgrace the honor of my father, who was a gladiator, but he also plotted against him! I will never forgive Nahibitan!]

However, participating in these events would temporarily push our front line back.

Thus, whether to endure a momentary disadvantage for greater benefits or to delay events while capitalizing on geographical advantages was a decision solely for the players.

“Isn’t this a classic 4-drone strategy? You’re just all-in here, right?”

I added to the still-dazed mage.

“If the tank doesn’t invest in health defense, it’s insane. At least it should be for a conventional tank.”

“Right…! Kariri gets stronger as her health decreases! I’m an assassin, after all!”

– Lolololol

– That’s true, that’s true, haha.

– Is that… really right?

– Haha, isn’t that just sophistry?

Kariri’s character could hardly be described as aesthetically pleasing.

She wielded a weapon with an extremely short range.

If she could get into melee range, her extreme lethality and high mobility could be a real advantage, but that only holds if she could actually get close.

So before the game started, I had asked her about it, especially regarding the growth ability heavily focused on health and the tank-specific traits she had.

“Why did you think about building an assassin class as a tank from the beginning?”

“I thought tanks would probably hold out longer in fights compared to assassins?”

Her argument was simply that the condition of ‘needing to stick close to be strong’ translated to ‘it’d be good to use her as a tank.’

The idea that stronger attack power from other weapons would ultimately be nothing more than cumbersome trash if you leveled up health in-game.

So to somehow disguise her as a competent player, I devised this:

“AP tank? Are you joking with me right now?”

“You’ll find out if we try it out, won’t you?”

[The battle begins.]

[60s]

[59s]

The eight doors closed sequentially, and the sound of a horn signaled the start of battle.

A sturdy knight with a massive shield walked in front.

In response, Kariri quickly lunged forward, raking her claws across the shield.

Clang—!

As metal clashed with metal, both warriors exerted their strength.

Contrary to expectations of a tedious exchange, Kariri was actually dominating.

“What’s this strength…!”

“Hehe, you’re still far from done! Now, No Name!”

“Just keep holding on!”

As her health and defense stats rose, her movement speed began to drop.

On the other hand, aside from the stats naturally increasing upon leveling up, Kariri was wielding nothing but magic power items.

This was to maximize the effect of the trait ‘Chimera’s Hunt’ that her character possessed.

The trait granting lifesteal on melee attacks coincidentally had a proportional effect to the ‘magic power’ coefficient.

Considering that most melee attacks were based on ‘attack power,’ one could think it was almost useless.

However, thanks to claws, if she had a certain level of attack power and had HP comparable to a tank, activating Chimera’s Hunt would yield results.

While she might be trash alone, when paired with the HP regeneration of our ally healer, it could produce synergistic effects.

The reason I was so confident was that I had personally completed complex calculations for every level in advance and even validated them during practice mode.

A gold-necklaced wolverine, no, a badger.

A badger girl wearing a gold ring.

Though it felt quite out of place to see a young girl dressed in a style typical of an African American person, Kariri excelled at trapping the enemy leader effectively.

But,

“Ughhhh! I feel like I’m going to die! My health is draining too fast! Where are you, No Name, ahhh!”

It was only briefly that we had the upper hand.

The combination of speed in a single hit caused enemies who had mistaken that as her original strength to reevaluate the situation.

Where did the initial momentum go? Her feet slowly began to get pushed back.

Without a factor to turn the situation around, all I could see was a future where her claws would shatter.

However, our count was one higher than theirs, with 4 members.

This meant that in a 3v3 standoff, I remained entirely free.

I immediately drew my secondary weapon.

The cool silver line extending from the sheath sliced through the air.

Thanks to Kariri pulling back at just the right moment, the knight who was pouring strength forward fell forward.

Realizing too late, the knight raised his guard, but it was already too late.

I accepted the last words of the shield knight, exclaiming how this was ridiculous, as I drew my weapon from his penetrated shoulder.

Simultaneously, I cast a recovery skill on Kariri.

[Intermediate Heal]

[Chimera’s Hunt is stacking.]

Even during the process of recovery, the assassin who had once entered a near-death state erupted into an ‘awakening’ state like a berserker.

A red aura swirled around Kariri, radiating heat.

“You bastard! You startled me when you suddenly jabbed me in the side with your shield! Scratch, scratch, scratch!”

Kariri went on to finish with her slashing as the brief Colosseum match came to a close.

[‘Lunatic’ donated $10,000!]

– Ah, Kariri, good words!

“Hah! You didn’t hear me, did you?”

Kariri cupped her hands around her mouth and looked at me with trembling eyes.

“Older sister, I’ve been playing League for several years.”

“What the heck, so you’re experienced! Why is everyone making such a fuss? No Name said not to treat it like a little kid’s fantasy!”

“Well, I mean…”

– An experienced League player is acknowledged, lololol.

– The final destination for all dark spirits… what exactly is League all about?

– Kids like Kim Young-gwang are all over the top.

– Kariri, hurry and break one of the binds.

– It’s more surprising that World of Arseria has a 15+ rating while League is rated for 7+, lol.

[‘HoneyChyupa’ donated $50,000!]

– Kariri, an early adopter mode ON?

“Ahhhh! Didn’t I say not to use that phrase! Why are you doing this!”

“Early adopter?”

“Ah… never mind! Don’t mind it!”

“I know what it means. It comes from Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory.”

It refers to individuals who adopt new products earlier than others based on their consumer behavior.

Kariri seemed delighted to hear a familiar term in her conversation with the viewers.

These days, young people create so many bizarre neologisms that I often wouldn’t recognize common syllables.

“Ahaha… was that it…?”

No?

* * *

[‘Vegeta’ donated $5,000!]

– Hate stack: Currently at 4 stacks.

[‘Kaonashi (Manager)’ donated $20,000!]

– We, the whole Kariri fandom, sincerely apologize to No Name.

It was a slightly shocking metaphor that nearly made me dizzy, but I could probably brush it off as a joke from kids.

– Please keep it respectful while donating.

– The one actually enjoying this is Kariri, though?

– Is this really the idea of a madman, lolololol?

– Early adopter? Haha, ridiculous.

“I don’t intend to comment on others’ sexual inclinations, but at least within the bounds of the law, I hope they’ll keep it in check.”

“That’s wrong! No, I’m really not a lolicon!”

Caring for children and having a sexual liking for them are entirely different; the latter is close to an act that cannot be tolerated.

[Video Share – ‘Asantia’ has shared with 20,000!]

(I made statements during the Kariri whispers terror.mp4)

[I want to take No Name as my knight. Ah, I want to trap them in a dakimakura and hug them every night. Can’t you call me an early adopter instead of a lolicon?]

– How on earth does one’s brain work to think lolicon = early adopter?

– How does she even know such deep jokes? Haha.

└ You can just say she’s risking her life for gallery posts, lol. Kariri knows everything.

– What does that even mean?

└ You don’t need to know it, little one.

– It’s so dizzying, lol.

– This is really self-restraint, wow… wow… wow…

– Isn’t it dizzying?

– A shame to present anywhere, poor broadcast masterㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ.

“Huhhhh… I’m ruined… I prepared so hard for this collaboration, and now it’s all ruined!”

Kariri dramatically dropped to her knees and wailed.

The atmosphere turned quite uncomfortable.

It was only the first round, yet after the game ended, we were genuinely at a loss for words.

“You all know! I, No Name, prepared to collaborate with Kariri and stayed up all night watching VTube videos! I even joined No Name’s fan café! I promoted in No Name’s gallery with my IGN! Huhhhhhhhh!”

– Why the IGN though…? lol.

– Oh, such a fake cry.

– Even this crying is part of the concept, No Name, don’t worry about it.

– Looks like she’s probably smiling, getting ready for another joke, lol.

– Let’s tone it down and finish negotiating quickly.

– I expected at least four rounds but it looks like it’ll end at two.

“Kariri?”

“Uuuuuuuuu…”

This is not good.

I thought Kariri was joking with her crying, but it seemed partially sincere.

Glancing at the chat for a moment, I whispered to the viewers without her noticing.

“Instead, why don’t you show us how cool you were, Kariri, older sister?”

– Wowww.

– You’re so kindㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ.

– No Name! No Name! No Name!

– Our Kariri may look like this, but she’s actually really kind and pure.

– Ah, stop it, I’ve loaded in a donation, haha.

– Kariri is the ultimate collector!

– The mad movie is already overflowing.

“No, no, No Name…! It was a joke; I’m really okay, huh?”

Kariri finally pulled herself up and clung to my shoulder.

My gaze turned back.

At the same time, a large rectangular donation window appeared beside us.

[Video Share – ‘HoneyChyupa’ donated 300,000!]

(Kariri 2049 Year-End Concert.mp4) – ‘Chrysanthemum / LK’

“Why would you even do something like this?”

A flicker of something peculiar crossed her eyes.

And in the circular iris, I saw a reflection of her former self.

My head instinctively turned to the right.

In the video, she tightly grasped the microphone with both hands, looking somewhat shy, then hesitated and made an adorable little sound while clearing her throat.

As she opened her mouth and began to sing, countless support stick emoticons created endless waves in the chat.

Yet the waves were not rough; they rolled gently like ripples.

What emotions were held in those inviting golden hour eyes, now larger than before?

Her gentle voice stretched long, and when it felt like this moment could last forever,

“…Memories of Lioun, the tender heart.”

As the emotions in the song reached a peak, Kariri whispered the lyrics softly along with the video.

“Beneath the stone wall you passed, I wait for you alone.”

Soft tones flowed from her trembling vocal cords, adding sound to the air.

“Just enough to shake loose, just enough to endure.”

Her anxious gaze met mine for a brief moment. When I nodded slightly, her quivering eyes settled down.

“With tears, I’ll moisten the trembling I spilled, and let the green leaves bloom.”

Releasing a deep sigh, Kariri finished her duet with her past self. Yet the video continued to play.

“Wow, you really sing well.”

“Uh? Uh…”

At my casual compliment, Kariri flinched.

– Kariri is a goddess! Kariri is a goddess!

– Gacha life, lol.

– The experienced ones are different.

– She’s really good.

– Wowwwwwwwww.

– She really sings incredibly well.

– This is Catch the Rock, lol.

– THIS IS LEGEND.

– I played this song to the flowers, and they ran away saying it would turn into chrysanthemums.

– 10 points… 10 points…

– I just went to search for Kariri’s VTube right now.

└ For real, she’s got a regular stream going.

– She looks entirely different, lol.

– The best florist of our time.

– Kariri is truly a legend…

“Will you sing for me again later?”

“Hey… have you fallen for me, No Name friend? It’s normal to love a honey badger!”

She cheerfully smiled with her bright white fangs showing, giving me a few light pats on my back.

Returning to her playful tone, I felt a sense of relief for no particular reason.

She’s quite an interesting friend.

I understood why the viewers loved her.