Chapter 62

I watched Akane’s struggle from the GM’s perspective.

Truly, the Queen of Streaming. She never breaks.

It varies, but on average, overseas internet broadcasters have shorter streaming hours compared to Korean internet broadcasters.

This is even more true for VTubers.

Streams over 10 hours were very rare, and most ended in less than 3 hours.

But Akane wasn’t like that.

Of course. Not giving up is what RP is all about. It would be stranger if the stream was short.

Even though it had already been over 10 hours since the collab started, Akane cranked up the tension as if it was just the beginning.

Mos’s main character, ‘Ishikawa Yuzuru,’ performed wire action.

Steel wires controlled by telekinesis pierced through walls and were fixed in place. This was repeated dozens, hundreds of times.

And then, steel wires with blades attached began to swirl around.

In the midst of this chaotic situation, Akane, like ‘Ishikawa Yuzuru,’ boarded the steel wire.

A blue haze rose from her shoes. It meant she had strengthened the object with magic power.

With that, she could step on the steel wire without special shoes.

Akane moved along the steel wire in a set sequence.

After dozens of tries, she had memorized Ishikawa Yuzuru’s patterns.

Akane’s sword flashed as she dodged Yuzuru’s electric attacks, performing acrobatics.

A blue afterimage remained, followed by a blue haze scattering.

It was proof that her magic control had stabilized.

At this point, Ishikawa Yuzuru was no match for Akane.

Swoosh.

After cutting down the enemy, Akane proudly raised her sword.

I applauded and greeted her.

“Akane, you’d do well even in the Hell Mode tutorial tower.”

“Yoorim, sometimes I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“That’s normal.”

Akane sheathed her sword and asked,

“Yoorim, how long has this game been in development?”

“Not that long.”

“Really? Is that possible?”

“There’s no reason it can’t be.”

As I calmly answered, Akane glanced at the bottom right. She was checking the stream time.

“It’s already been 10 hours.”

“As expected of Akane.”

“The game is really fun, but today I wanted to talk with Yoorim. Should I stop after just one more boss?”

“You won’t end the stream until you beat the next boss? Is that okay?”

“I don’t remember saying that, but yeah. Akane is fine.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Let’s finish it quickly and talk! I’ve prepared a lot of questions for Akane!”

With that, Akane hurriedly entered the portal.

I was inwardly impressed.

Truly, the Queen of Streaming.

She won’t end the stream until she beats the next boss.

This is what a shonen manga protagonist is like.

*

[10th Floor]

[Master of Elements]

Clomp. Walking down the corridor, a grand hall soon appeared.

Light streaming through stained glass illuminated the hall brightly.

A massive throne came into view.

On that grand throne, someone gazed down at Akane.

As Akane stood in the center of the hall. Shalak. The woman on the throne stood up, her white dress fluttering as she descended.

Clomp clomp.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the silent hall.

After a while, the clomping stopped, and they faced each other.

Akane saw Han Yoorim, no.

‘Thierry,’ and drew her sword.

A magic swordsman-type boss. This should be fun.

Thierry also drew her sword.

A blue aura enveloped Akane’s sword, while flames danced on Thierry’s.

Sssk. Without waiting, they both stomped the ground simultaneously.

Akane’s body shot forward like a bullet.

Boom. The ground rose, obscuring the view.

Though sudden, Akane wasn’t flustered.

This meant Thierry, a close-range character, couldn’t attack either.

Akane calmly circled the wall and exited.

Immediately after.

Sssshhh!

A water soldier’s spear aimed at Akane.

She dodged hastily, but an arrow that followed chipped away at her health.

I didn’t expect soldiers to be summoned here. It’s an elemental skill rarely seen in <Eternal World>, so I had forgotten about it.

But this is manageable.

After slashing through the trio of water soldiers with her magic-infused sword, Akane searched for Thierry.

Where is she?

Left, right, front, above. She was nowhere.

What. Where did she―.

Thud.

A sword pierced through Akane’s chest.

Someone had stabbed her from behind.

‘From behind?’

Returning to the empty 9th floor, Akane immediately entered the portal.

A boss that attacks sneakily from behind.

I wonder whose playstyle inspired this.

After experiencing the encounter→confrontation→charge→earth wall→summon pattern again, Akane twisted her body to dodge the attack.

Thierry’s sword, attempting a sneaky attack from behind, pierced through the air. Her stance faltered. It was an opening. Akane immediately swung her sword.

Ssshh—. A wound appeared on Thierry’s shoulder.

Not satisfied, Akane tried to deal more damage, but clang! Thierry parried Akane’s sword and jumped back.

A healing aura seeped from Thierry’s body. A healing skill.

As far as Akane knew, that skill took time to activate.

She couldn’t let it be.

Akane kicked off the ground and lunged at Thierry.

And then.

A dark orb, flying in from who knows where, hit her, stopping her mid-air.

Whoosh.

A flaming sword set the air ablaze.

Returning once more to the empty 9th floor, Akane immediately entered the portal.

So she mixes in dark elemental skills too?

Noted.

Still, Thierry was easier compared to previous bosses.

Compared to Marbil Flyle, who required extreme reaction speed, or Ishikawa Yuzuru, who demanded excellent spatial awareness, the strategy was already becoming clear.

I think she’ll beat it in about 10 tries.

After experiencing the encounter→confrontation→charge→earth wall→summon pattern again, Akane twisted her body and swung her sword.

The next pattern is to create distance and heal, so before that―.

Thud.

Mid-turn, Akane froze.

Someone from behind, just like before…

It was because she had been stabbed with a sword earlier in the front.

Come to think of it, the shape of the dirt wall was slightly different from before.

The end was slightly bent, making it perfect for someone to hide and then jump out.

So, while I understood what Thierry did, I didn’t understand why she did it.

Why didn’t she try to ambush by going around the dirt wall this time?

Why did the pattern change?

Why. Why did she stab the thigh instead of the heart?

As the sword was pulled out, blood gushed out. Part destruction. This made her temporarily unable to fight.

Akane sprawled on the ground and looked up.

Her eyes met Thierry’s.

In Thierry’s hand was a blood-stained sword.

“This is strange.”

Thierry opened her mouth.

Was conversation possible?

Akane was surprised for a moment, but Thierry continued speaking.

“You and I have just met, so why do you move as if you can predict me?”

“Akane—”

“Are you reading my thoughts? If so, you wouldn’t have been surprised just now. So, there’s only one answer.”

Thierry’s eyes calmed.

“You’ve been cursed by time. A regressor. Do you think what you’ve gained is a blessing?”

Swoosh.

Returning to the empty 9th floor, Akane felt a bit uneasy.

This was only her third attempt at defeating Thierry.

*

In the center of a huge hall, now a mess from all sorts of elemental skills, Akane lay face down, not moving a muscle.

I cautiously approached Akane.

“Are you alive?”

“……”

“Seems like you’re fine.”

I glanced at the broadcast time.

[34:12:38]

Guess being young means good stamina.

Are you going to see this through to the end?

As expected of the Vtuber King.

“…Ah.”

A small voice came from below.

Wondering what it was, I poked her with my finger, and Akane muttered.

“Akane… won.”

“Well done.”

“She was a tough one.”

“I modeled her after my own playstyle.”

“…I might not want to play games with Yoorim anymore.”

As we talked, it seemed Akane regained her senses. She got up as if resurrected and brandished her sword.

“Akane! A great victory!”

“As expected of Akane.”

“You’ve been doing that since earlier, is it a Yoorim thing?”

“Repetition is the essence of comedy.”

Laughing, Akane checked the time and spoke in a regretful tone.

“I prepared a lot of questions, but Akane’s too tired to do this now.”

“It’s okay. We’ve already had plenty of conversation, haven’t we?”

Thanks to the quizzes I often gave when the boss killed her, we had exchanged quite a bit of information.

Now I even knew that Akane liked dakgalbi and tteokbokki.

Akane nodded as if she understood and asked.

“So this game has up to the 191st floor?”

“Actually, it’s up to the 192nd floor. The final hidden boss is waiting there.”

“Huh. Akane might be a little curious about that.”

“Please try it. I worked hard on it.”

“Okay. I promise.”

The Vtuber King’s promises are heavy. Thanks to that, I felt reassured.

Not only could I showcase Thierry, modeled after my former master-level physical abilities, but also a full-powered Thierry with my current physical abilities. It was a relief.

I had also prepared a scene where Han Yoorim, the character I was controlling, merged with Thierry, and I really wanted to show it to the Vtuber King.

I spoke as if reminding her.

“You must see the game’s ending, right?”

“Just trust Akane.”

*

The collaboration with Yukimura Akane ended very successfully.

How do I know?

How impactful was it that Novella kept begging to officially release the game?

They offered to take only a very reasonable royalty and give all profits to me, and since Novella agreed, there were no copyright issues, so I gladly accepted.

And my game sales skyrocketed.

Thanks to the Vtuber King, who surpassed 500,000 live viewers while playing <Akane’s Tower Climb>, and the VTubers from Novel Live who were playing the game with my permission.

So now, I temporarily changed the game’s name to <Novel Live’s Tower Climb> and made it possible to choose and play as any VTuber from Novel Live.

Accordingly, the skill trees were diversified, and the response was quite good.

Rowing when the tide comes in. It’s one of the basic qualities of a super developer. No big deal.

<Akane 3 Seconds Before Losing Heart on the 20th Floor>

This is gourmet.

-Han Yoorim, is this chick really crazy? Why is the difficulty like this?

-I made it seriously difficult because the Vtuber King doesn’t give up, lol.

<Han Yoorim is Really Funny>

(Akirunuki where Han Yoorim says to Akane, who was resurrected after having her head smashed by Thierry, “Since Thierry, who resembles me, killed you, this is a kind of Teteetee.”)

Teteetee, lol.

-Han Yoorim is a famous crazy girl.

-She’s always like that.

I was browsing the overseas VTuber gallery and then turned on the VR broadcast gallery.

Now, let’s see what happened on V-TV while I was away.

The last concept post I saw was…

Hmm?

<Breaking News lololololol>(1432 comments)

A very simple title and an unusually high number of comments.

What kind of breaking news could have garnered so many comments?

My patience level was 99. I couldn’t resist and clicked.

<Breaking News lololololol>

Ga Joon-sik cleared the true ending of ‘Han Yoorim’ lololololol

Ah. So that’s it.

Despite sealing him away out of fear of his overwhelming power, it seems it wasn’t enough.

Ga Joon-sik, the greatest GOAT in streaming history.

Sealed in the artifact ‘Han Yoorim’ for about a month.

Finally escaped.