The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 82: Ripped

Serenade at 23:00.

When it comes to the most famous VTuber company in Japan, you can't leave out 11 PM Serenade.

In 2018 and 2019, Serenade basically dominated the VTuber scene, capturing the hearts of Japanese VTuber fans. Although the landscape started to change in 2020, before that, Serenade held a firm grip over the fanbase.

The reason? A sheer number of VTubers.

At that time, they had over 100 VTubers, offering a variety that satisfied everyone. If you were a fan, it was almost inevitable you'd end up following at least one Serenade VTuber.

One distinctive aspect of Serenade was its focus on male VTubers.

Historically, male VTubers had less demand compared to female VTubers and even faced suppression at one point.

From a business perspective, fostering male VTubers wasn't exactly profitable. But Serenade's strategy was all about "variety," so from day one, they've consistently debuted male VTubers and worked to change public perception about them.

If you're a guy planning to debut as a VTuber, aiming for Serenade is the best move.

That's how Vincent became a VTuber.

"Help me, brother! I'm being bullied!"

"Since when was I your brother?" Vincent sighed.

One of the biggest surprises after becoming a VTuber was interacting with foreigners.

The current call was with a foreigner too.

Masina. A Korean VTuber from Serenade KR.

"You're just going to ignore your sister getting bullied?"

"And since when were you my sister?"

Vincent folded laundry while talking. Large VTuber companies often operate on a multinational level. Unlike regular streamers, VTubers tend to attract fans from various countries.

English-speaking regions, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, and more.

Through a few chance encounters, he’d ended up mingling with KR-side VTubers, and somehow developed a bond with this Korean VTuber, Masina.

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"In the end, you just want me to duo with you."

Masina’s rant about being thrashed by another VTuber, "Aurora," in matches seemed a bit over the top.

"Just for the promotion match... just the promotion match, please..."

"Guess I have no choice."

Masina sounded so desperate that Vincent agreed without thinking.

He knew he was too soft-hearted. Ignoring a colleague from the same company didn’t feel right either.

"She doesn't usually ask for duos."

Vincent knew that Masina had a strong distaste for being ignored. There were always viewers questioning female streamers' gaming skills, after all.

That she reached out probably meant she was under a lot of pressure.

Additionally,

"Is EYEAI involved...? Would that be Rinco?"

Vincent muttered.

He remembered that one VTuber once sang 100 songs in a row, which took about 10 hours.

If Laura did a three-day-long rank climb, it would mean roughly 700 songs.

"...that's ridiculous."

Even if her vocal cords were indestructible, 700 songs would be impossible. A person would drop dead before then.

But he had some countermeasures.

Private Chat: This_Code with Inagika

Ayano Kouji Sora: [Come over]

Inagika: [Alright...]

To ease the burden, he called for Inagika. If push came to shove, he’d bring in other EYEAI seniors too.

The important thing was for Laura to climb the ranks quickly.

She had said "within 2-3 days," so maybe she could finish in a day or two. That seemed manageable.

With that, Sora prayed for Laura to finish her ranked matches quickly.

"The tea is quite delightful," Laura remarked, sipping tea (brewed by Sora) while singing.

"...why are you still here? Aren't you going to start the ranked matches?"

"A little relaxation is necessary," she replied, slicing the cake (ordered by Anna).

Sora sighed, but then again, Laura had been grinding ranked matches all night.

Perhaps allowing her a bit of rest wasn't too much.

"If she’s going to rest, she should sleep..."

But since she seemed wide awake, Sora grabbed the microphone.

They each took turns singing, assessing each other’s style.

"『Hey there, mister with your head down.』"

"『Had a rough day?』"

"『If you’re willing to talk, I’d lend an ear. I’m here to help, after all.』"

Chel's voice was sly, low-pitched. It was as if she had become someone else.

Even though her usual cold and blunt voice still had hints of femininity, at times, it was easy to mistake her for a man. It was surprising how effortlessly she switched tones.

He had known about her voice acting skills since her debut, but he hadn't anticipated that she would extend those skills to singing.

Thinking about it, VTubers specializing in voice acting rarely struggled with singing.

While her singing wasn't bad, it felt more like an "act" rather than a "song."

"Her choice of songs is quite peculiar."

Old songs like Legend of Love Miku and What’s up, People?, mixed with others like Corpse and Demon, and Destroying Angel Do**ro-chan.

At first, it seemed like she only sang old songs, but upon closer inspection, it was clear she picked ones where she could alter her voice.

In contrast, Anna stuck to a specific genre.

"What's your favorite food? Your favorite book?"

She only sang anime theme songs, to an almost excessive degree.

Though Chel’s song choices were unique, Anna took it a step further, singing songs like "Ming Ming Ming! Usamin!" He had never even heard of such songs before.

"But she’s really good."

Even if they were anime songs he'd never sing with non-subculture friends, her performance was captivating.

Laura, too, seemed to feel the same.

"Is it your first time hearing Anna sing?"

"Yes. I knew she specialized in ASMR and singing, but I hadn't really listened before."

It made sense. Recently, Anna had focused more on Labyrinth, but she was still a singer-VTuber like Sora.

"She could probably have a larger following..."

Anna recently hit 50,000 subscribers. In comparison to Rinco's 300,000, it wasn't much.

The reason for her modest follower count was her passive approach. She avoided external activities, rarely did voice recordings, wasn’t active even with her peers, and hardly produced music videos despite being a singer VTuber.

She was the type to enjoy a cozy time on her own channel.

Anna had two driving passions: her hobby, especially Hanabane Rui, and Aurora.

"How long do you plan on just listening?"

Sora suddenly realized that quite some time had passed since they began karaoke streaming.

"Oh my, time flies. I got carried away," Laura said.

"Alright, one more song, and then off to ranked matches, right?"

Sora subtly handed her the microphone. He was curious to hear Laura's singing ability.

"Well, I don't know that many songs."

Laura took the microphone, sat at her PC, and began browsing for a song.

"Oh, this one."

Laura clicked a few times, and the instrumental began.

As the first line played, Sora tilted his head.

"...is that French?"

In the distance, Chel’s eyes widened. Even Anna exclaimed, "Wow..."

Laura's pronunciation was flawless. She sounded as if she belonged in a classical music setting.

"...what song is this?"

It turned out to be Ripples, an OST from The Honored Gods, the gacha game Inagika loved.

"Wait, why does Laura know this song?"

He recalled that Laura and Chel had tried The Honored Gods two weeks ago, just to mess with her.

Was she seriously singing a song she had only heard for the first time two weeks ago?

"When did she even practice...?"

Sora didn’t dare ask.

Somehow, he understood that Laura had memorized the entire song in one go.

Virtual Idol Gallery

[Commentary] She tore it up!

Anyway, why is she so good at singing?

[Comments]

Isn’t she better than Sora? LOLNever expected Ripples...Has any VTuber ever sung this song?Not among Korean VTubers.

[General] Did she live abroad?

[Comments]

Maybe she practiced.Could anyone get this pronunciation down in two weeks?That's impossible...

[Commentary] I value practice

[Image]

It’s a song you can’t appreciate unless you understand the original, with that "vibe of a maiden." It was perfection. Survival.

[Comments]

Vibe of a maiden LOLEven if they didn’t release a video about it, she nailed it.

[Commentary] Please don't go, m'lady

[Comments]

She’ll be back after ranked matches, probably.

[Commentary] Woah, what?

[Image]

She matched with three VTubers at once in her final promotion match?

[Comments]

Four VTubers in one game? LOLComedy gold incoming.