Reincarnated into a World of VTubers, Challenging the Strongest While Staying the Weakest - Black Shadow — The First Battle

Morning light spilled through the gaps between the trees. The western edge of the Regret Forest. Takuto and Kanata had spent the night in a small clearing they'd reached the day before. Only the remnants of a campfire marked that they had been there. Takuto stretched. His body ached all over. That was what came from sleeping on hard ground. Bits of grass clung to his gray hoodie, and the VSPO! can badge on his chest pocket sat there as it always did. His black short hair had its usual single stubborn cowlick standing at attention. Rubbing his deep brown eyes, Takuto glanced beside him. Kanata, the girl with pink semi-long hair tied up in a side tail, sat slumped near the campfire. Her large golden eyes were cast downward, somehow different from her energetic demeanor yesterday. At her left ear, a star-shaped earring caught the morning light and glinted sharply. *(She must be exhausted.)* Takuto thought so. Kanata had kept watch late into the night. No — not just watch. She had seemed to be thinking about something the entire time. When Takuto approached, Kanata looked up. "Ah, morning. Did you sleep okay?" Her voice was bright. But not with her usual bursting brightness. There was something strained about it. "Yeah. You, though — didn't get much sleep, did you?" "Huh? I look that bad?" Kanata blinked rapidly. Then she smiled, just a little awkwardly. "I'm fine! I'm a streaming adventurer, you know. I'm used to all-night streams." She stood as she said it, but her body swayed unsteadily. Takuto instinctively reached to support her arm. But he pulled his hand back just before touching her. *(Don't. Grabbing her out of nowhere would be weird.)* Instead, Takuto spoke. "Don't push yourself. Let's take it slow today." "But Luminare's still pretty far, you know?" Kanata tilted her head. Her vivid pink hair swayed softly. "What kind of place is Luminare, anyway?" Takuto shifted the wooden stick on his shoulder. It was just a dead branch he'd picked up yesterday after driving off the monster. But right now, it was the only weapon he had. "Luminare is a huge city! It's in the middle of the Panorama Continent — the home base of streaming adventurers!" A bit of her usual energy returned to Kanata's voice. "There's a Grand Screen Tower in the center of the city, sixty meters tall. It streams live footage of popular streamers nonstop! And the Streaming Agency headquarters is there too... Ah, the Streaming Agency is like a government office that manages us streaming adventurers." "The Streaming Agency, huh. What do they actually do?" "They issue mirror panels, handle streamer registration screenings. They also mediate disputes between streamers. It was established after the Great Streaming War." "The Great Streaming War?" Takuto asked. A term he didn't know. "About a hundred and twenty years ago, streamers fought a war over viewers. It lasted three years, and they say thirty percent of all streamers died." Kanata's expression clouded slightly. "That's why the Streaming Treaty was created. No overlapping streaming territories, no aggressive poaching of viewers. If you violate it, your mirror panel gets confiscated and you're banned from streaming for three years." "Huh... so this world has rules like that too." Takuto was genuinely impressed. Video streaming in the real world had similar guidelines. Though a war over stealing viewers was on a completely different scale. The two began walking. They left the Regret Forest and emerged onto the highway. The morning sun filtering through the trees grew steadily stronger. The air was crisp, carrying the scent of grass. Birds called in the distance. The highway was a dirt road packed down by human traffic. Two wagon ruts ran straight ahead. Takuto thought back to yesterday. Meeting Kanata. Driving off the Shadow Hornets. And what he'd seen then — the black haze. That eerie shadow that had drifted around Kanata's mirror panel for just a moment. She hadn't noticed it. Maybe he should tell her. Takuto opened his mouth several times. But in the end, he couldn't say it. *(I'm not certain. And... not yet.)* Kanata's steps were heavy. It wasn't just fatigue from last night. There was something deeper inside her. That was what nagged at Takuto. "Hey, Kanata." "Hm? What?" Kanata turned around. Her golden eyes looked straight at Takuto. Takuto hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "...Never mind. More importantly, let's take a break. We haven't had breakfast yet." "Ah, good idea! I was actually starving!" Kanata broke into a smile. That smile resembled the one from last night, when she'd talked about Stella. Bright, yet somehow on the verge of tears. The two sat on a large rock by the roadside and gnawed on hardtack-like rations. Kanata complained, "It's so hard!" but still tore off small pieces and brought them to her mouth. Takuto glanced at her profile. *(She barely slept at all last night, did she.)* There were faint shadows under her eyes. Even so, she was trying her best to act cheerful when talking to him. *(Even if I tell her not to push herself, she won't listen.)* Chewing his hardtack, Takuto looked down the highway. Wasteland stretched out before them. Dry land with sparse vegetation. Rocks of all sizes lay scattered about, and a few dead trees stood in the distance. That was when it happened. A sharp whistle. Something pierced the ground just a few dozen centimeters from Takuto's feet. A hard crack. It was a black crystal. Takuto couldn't make a sound. A black crystal — the same color as the haze he'd seen yesterday. The crystal burst open. Black haze billowed out from within. The haze crawled along the ground, spreading through the surroundings in an instant. "Wha— what is this...!" Takuto stumbled backward. His heart began to pound like a war drum. The temperature seemed to drop. Shadows moved within the black haze. Three of them. Black masks. Three soldiers wearing black, twisted masks that covered the upper halves of their faces. They wore black cloaks and held curved daggers in their hands. At the center of each mask, a red light flickered ominously. "Found you, pink streamer." The man in the middle of the three spoke. His voice was muffled, impossible to read. Kanata stepped in front of Takuto. Her back was trembling faintly. Fear. Or — anger. "Eclipse...!" Kanata's voice dropped, cold. It was a voice Takuto had never heard before. She raised her right hand. A palm-sized floating screen — a mirror panel — appeared above her hand. Countless messages began streaming across the panel. *"Do your best!" "Cute as always today!" "Don't lose to Eclipse!"* Comments from her viewers. Those comments wrapped Kanata's body in light. The power of comments. The encouragement and emotions of viewers, converted into a streamer's strength, magic, and defense. The absolute rule of Streamveld. "How dare you... how dare you do that to Stella...!" Kanata lunged forward. She drove her light-clad fist toward the man in the middle. But the light in the man's mask flared especially bright. The next instant, black haze coiled around Kanata's mirror panel. The comment feed was being painted over in black. *"Kanata doesn't want your support."* *"You're the reason Kanata is cornered."* The black haze was flooding the comment feed with fake messages. The viewers' "do your best" was being twisted, replaced with different words. Kanata's movements visibly slowed. The light began to fade. "Ah... the comments...!" Two soldiers attacked simultaneously from left and right. Kanata twisted her body desperately, dodging one dagger. But the other attack grazed her shoulder. Her pink hair scattered in the wind. "Aaah!" Kanata was slammed to the ground. Her small body rolled across the dirt. "It's useless. Your comments already belong to us." The man spoke triumphantly. The mouth beneath his mask seemed to curl into a thin smile. "Give her back... give Stella back...!" Kanata tried to stand on trembling arms. "Stella? Ah, that first gray streamer. She was a masterpiece. We took her emotions, viewers and all." Another soldier said mockingly. "You bastards... I'll never forgive you...!" Tears welled in Kanata's eyes. Her face was a mess of rage and sorrow. She raised her hand to her mirror panel again. But the comment feed was still shrouded in black haze. The light wouldn't return. Even so, Kanata tried to charge. Driven by hatred. *(No, Kanata!)* Takuto tried to shout. But no voice came out. His legs were frozen. The killing intent of the black-masked soldiers. The sickening touch of that black haze. Terrifying. He wanted to run. His feet wouldn't move, as if glued to the ground. "Die!" Kanata charged recklessly. Raising a fist that had lost its light. But she was slow. And weak. One of the soldiers casually deflected with his dagger. With a sharp clang, Kanata collapsed to the ground again. The star-shaped earring came loose from her left ear and fell onto the dirt. "Is that all? A woman who's only lost her best friend is pitifully small." The man grabbed Kanata's hair and forced her face up. "Stella Mina screamed and cried like that at first too. 'Give me back my comments,' she said. She made quite an amusing sound." Kanata's golden eyes flew wide open. Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Stop... don't you dare defile Stella...!" That voice pierced through Takuto's chest. Fear transformed into anger. *(These bastards...)* Takuto's fists clenched tight. His nails bit into his palms, drawing blood. *(Talking about Stella like that...!)* But Takuto couldn't fight. No magic. No sword. No comments. People outside the stream were powerless in this world. What could Takuto, an otaku from the real world, possibly do? —Watch. Takuto told himself. It's okay to be scared. It's okay if your legs shake. But watch. The enemy's movements. The behavior of the black haze. The changes in the comment feed. Takuto stared intently at Kanata's mirror panel. The black haze covered the comment feed. Every time a fake message flowed through, more of Kanata's strength was drained away. And then — the light in the enemies' masks. Takuto noticed it. The mask light, which seemed irregular, was actually blinking in a pattern. Three short blinks, then one long flash. Immediately after that long flash, the black haze would suck up comments all at once. And more than that. Between the light blinking and the haze absorbing, there was a gap of about two seconds. —About two seconds. Something clicked in Takuto's head. *(No, wait.)* Takuto saw something else. The black haze was avoiding him. No, more precisely, it wasn't reacting to him at all. Takuto, being outside the stream, had no comments. So there was nothing to absorb. *(I see.)* Takuto slowly inhaled. The trembling in his legs subsided, just a little. He was still scared. His heart was pounding painfully. But. *(There's something only I can do.)* Takuto shouted toward the fallen Kanata. "Kanata! Get up!" Kanata raised her tear-streaked face. "Takuto...?" "Listen carefully. The enemies' mask lights — three short blinks, then one long flash. Right after that long flash, the haze absorbs comments. It takes about two seconds for the absorption to finish. During that time, they stop moving!" Kanata blinked in confusion. "Huh... what are you talking about?" "I'll be the decoy. That haze doesn't react to me since I'm outside the stream. I'll draw their attention. You aim for the enemy on the right the moment the blinking stops!" "Th-that's impossible! You can't fight!" "That's exactly why!" Takuto gripped the wooden stick again. Just a dead branch. Not even a proper weapon. But right now, it was all Takuto had. "I can't throw a punch. But I can run. I can buy time. You just need one instant — create an opening to take down the enemy. Th

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Episode 2

Name: Reincarnated into a World of VTubers, Challenging the Strongest While Staying the Weakest
Author: Novelia

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