There’s a system in VR called ‘My Room.’
To put it simply, it’s a system that lets you decorate your own personal space in the virtual world.
When I was teaching Anna, it was common for her to invite me to the My Room she had created.
Even earlier today, the collaboration had taken place in Sora's My Room.
So, this was actually the first time I had ever invited someone else to the My Room I made.
"Why does your My Room look so empty?" Sora said as soon as she arrived.
Sora's avatar was more of a flat design than a reflection of her real self.
It made sense. Instead of risking her real appearance being revealed to viewers, it was better to make her VR avatar look like a simple flat panel.
These days, AI technology has advanced so much that you can just input a flat image (or illustration), and the AI will generate a VR avatar from it.
It makes you wonder why we don’t just create 3D models for all VTubers this way, but apparently, the technology isn't quite perfect yet. The exterior looks fine, but there are still various issues with the inner workings.
That might explain why Sora’s avatar looked so plain for someone who’s supposed to be a bard.
"Aren’t you going to decorate your My Room?"
"Heh, have you ever seen a noble lady decorate her own home? I certainly haven’t."
"...No, but seriously, put in a little effort. Give me some permissions."
Once I granted Sora partial permissions, she started adding decorations to my My Room bit by bit.
The room, which had only had a giant monitor before, was now getting a carpet, and furniture was gradually filling the space.
"You're mainly a VR streamer, right? You should at least decorate your My Room."
"Technically, my main content is Labyrinthos."
"Still, you’ll probably show your My Room to viewers now and then, right? Like during collaborations. It’s pretty common to host them in your My Room, isn’t it?"
"I suppose so."
I nodded.
Even in Minecraft, decorating and building have never really been my thing.
I had neglected it all this time, but Sora was right. Even places that aren't visible should be taken care of if I want to call myself a proper noblewoman.
Who knows? I might invite people to my My Room more often in the future.
"You want to practice more?"
"Yeah."
"That’s unexpected."
I sat back in my recliner and crossed my arms.
"I thought you didn’t like Labyrinthos."
"Me? Not like it? Why would you think that?"
"You’re not really into physical games, right?"
So, I thought she was reluctantly participating in the tournament. It was just that, as 6th-gens, we didn’t have the seniority to refuse.
When I said that, Sora shook her head.
"I'm not used to them, but it doesn't mean I dislike them."
"So, did you enjoy the game?"
She didn’t seem to be as into it as she was with Minecraft. Since Sora rarely won, it was probably hard for her to fully enjoy it.
And she didn’t deny it either.
"Since there’s a tournament coming up, I want to get better."
"Rion told me that winning or losing isn’t the focus of the tournament."
"Rion-senpai said that?"
I nodded and told her what Rion had said about the Mafia game. After hearing the story, Sora responded with an understanding "Ah~."
"It’s kind of like real life, right? Even if someone is in the wrong, the person who made them cry is seen as the bad guy."
"Yeah, there’s definitely that kind of atmosphere."
"That’s how I see it too. But isn’t it kind of funny? VTuber A was just trying to win the game seriously, right? After all, isn’t that what Mafia is about?"
Sora continued.
"Of course, I know. Viewers cherish their favorite VTubers, and if their favorite is having fun, the viewers have fun too.
But viewers aren’t dumb. They can tell if a VTuber is taking the game seriously or not. Like you said, it’s not about winning or losing, but about creating ‘entertaining moments,’ right?
In the end, I believe those entertaining moments come from us genuinely putting effort into the stream. If you try to fake entertaining moments, viewers will catch on."
Even if they don’t catch on, fake moments can never beat the ones that happen naturally.
That’s Sora’s philosophy, and her conviction.
"If that’s what you think, alright. I’ll go along with it."
I nodded.
"But I’m going to train you Spartan-style. Can you keep up?"
"...Why does that make me nervous all of a sudden?"
Sora's expression stiffened.
Before I knew it, September had arrived.
The tournament date had also been set: September 22nd, the Sunday right after Chuseok.
As we entered September, a lot of things changed.
Our 6th-gen channels were officially monetized, and Rion had officially quit being a VTuber.
On August 31st, there was even a ‘Not-Really-Retirement’ stream.
All of the VTubers at EYEAI adjusted their streaming schedules so they wouldn’t overlap with Rion's Not-Really-Retirement stream.
Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.
Thanks to that, Rion hit 20,000 subscribers, but it seems like she plans to keep working as staff moving forward.
Another change was the near-completion of recovery efforts on the EYEAI Minecraft server, which had been devastated.
VTubers who hadn’t logged into Minecraft for a while joined the recovery efforts just for fun. Even now, at the start of September, some senior VTubers are still playing.
But with the tournament coming up, I have a feeling the Minecraft boom at EYEAI is going to die down soon.
Now that the tournament date was set, everyone would probably focus on Labyrinthos this month.
Leading the charge was none other than my fellow 6th-gen member, Ayano Kouji Sora... who was driving me crazy.
Ayano Kouji Sora [@Aurora] [Are you up?] [I’m logged into the labyrinth.]
Every time I went online on Discord, Sora would hit me up like this.
So, I would log into VR and teach her.
Even after lunch, I would be teaching her.
And then, Sora would go live, playing Labyrinthos on her stream, and I’d end up teaching her there too.
"...We’re basically spending the entire day together."
I muttered to myself.
"What are you even talking about? It’s nothing like that," Sora said, clearly exasperated after reading the chat.
"This is a tournament where team leaders guide their members. I’m just getting proper training, okay?"
___________
【A user by the name of "Ziralshinai" has donated 1,000 won.】
【Then why aren't Inagika and Chel included?】
"That, um..."
"Seriously! Stop teasing me!"
Sora burst out in frustration.
For the past few days, I've been showing up on Sora’s stream almost daily.
It wasn’t something we had planned. While teaching her, before I knew it, her stream time would arrive, and she'd say, “I’m about to go live, is it okay if we continue on stream?” and start streaming just like that.
Five days of consecutive collaborations.
'...Thanks to that, I haven’t had much time to play my own games.'
Outside of the streams, I’ve been helping Sora, and even during the streams, I’ve been stuck helping her. Sometimes, even during my own stream time, she’d latch onto me.
The only time I have to myself is when Sora is sleeping in the early hours of the morning, but lately, I’ve been spending that time playing Arcade Mode.
To teach Sora and the others in our group, I first needed to understand Arcade Mode myself.
The thing about Arcade Mode is that the maps and win conditions change with each match, so every game feels fresh in a way.
Because of that, analyzing Arcade Mode takes a lot of time, so recently I haven’t had much time for Gate Conquest Mode or Duel Mode.
Looks like things will stay like this until the tournament ends.
"...Am I being too clingy?"
Sora suddenly asked, sounding anxious, probably from something the viewers had said.
"Honestly? A little, yeah."
"Ugh, come on! You’re supposed to deny it!"
But how could I deny the truth?
Anna was also serious about Labyrinthos, but she didn’t contact me every single day.
Thinking about it, that was probably because Anna had different priorities. Her number one priority was likely Hanabane Rui, and Labyrinthos was just a means to get closer to Rui.
In Sora’s case, lately, her top priority has been Labyrinthos.
Part of it might be her personal drive, but it’s also just who Ayano Kouji Sora is as a person.
‘She’s the type who gets anxious if she’s not constantly doing something.’
I’ve realized this over the past few days of sticking by her.
There are people like that—those who view resting as a kind of sin.
On the one hand, it shows how passionate and dedicated Sora is, and I respect that.
But rest is important, too. When you follow the inertia of always working, your perspective narrows.
As your perspective narrows, you lose imagination, and your thoughts become more rigid and one-dimensional.
"Sora, you should always consider yourself lucky to have me as your comrade. I am, after all, the most noble lady in existence. Every minute of my time is worth astronomical amounts, and people have had to show their utmost sincerity just to buy a single minute of it."
【A user by the name of "Aurora Foot Mat" has donated 500,000 won.】
【How many minutes can I buy with that?】
"Hmm."
I hadn’t meant to prompt donations.
"Why are you saying stuff like that all of a sudden...? What’s this about sincerity? Are you saying people should pay you now?"
"Of course not. You should always be thankful. Oh, and make sure you play that horror game I gave you with reverence."
"I will! I really will! I’ll play it soon, I swear..."
Sora sighed in defeat.
"Well then, take care of that horror game first. A bit of personal time for both of us wouldn’t hurt either. I still need to check in on Inagika and Chel, after all."
"Yeah, you’re right. Speaking of which, is there anything that’s been bothering you lately?"
"Bothering me?"
"Yeah."
Why would she ask something like that out of the blue?
Though it seemed strange, I answered.
"Rion has been working late a lot recently, so the housework’s been piling up. That’s about it, I suppose."
"So, where should I throw the trash?"
The next day.
Sora was standing there, holding a bag full of trash.
"...Why?"
"Huh? Why what? You said housework was piling up, didn’t you?"
Well, I did say that, but...
"Oh, I contacted Rion-senpai to ask for your address. I made sure to come around her work schedule, so she let me in. Now, where’s the recycling station?"