Chapter 175 - During a Certain General Player's Stream
Please treat this as something of a side story.
"—Heeey, great work this week, everyone~ For those of you working through the weekend, I hope this broadcast gives you the strength to keep going! It's Friday at nine p.m., which means it's time for 'Hiyori Biyori'!"
『 W E ' V E B E E N W A I T I N G 』
『I live for this』
『Ahh… I got to hear my queen's voice again this week…』
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"Thank you, everyone. For this project, masquerading as a weekly radio show, your host today, as always, is illustrator and Archiver Mitsueda Hiyori!"
『KYAAAH, HIYORIN!!』
『You forgot 'voice actress.'』
『You forgot 'idol,' too.』
『And 'current university student.'』
『Her main job is painter, obviously.』
"Aah, you're all so noisy, so noisy! I don't remember becoming a voice actress or an idol. And as for 'current university student,' where on earth did that come from?"
『Says Female Student C, who upstaged the heroine with her voice and acting, getting her character erased from existence.』
『Isn't that the Female Student C who ranked fourth in the overall popularity poll with only three minutes of screen time?!』
『The woman who became a legend in a guest role she only took because the author, a huge fan, begged her to.』
『Painter, idol, voice actress, illustrator, and Archiver (20-year-old university student)…?』
"Alright, let's get right to it, just as I announced! It's time for our regular segment, the quick rundown and Q&A corner for the Four Pillar War!"
『She ignored it, lol』
『As always, she has eyes that can't see inconvenient comments.』
"If I keep flirting with all of you, we'll never get anywhere. Be good kids now and open the file I've put in the description box, and play along with me, okay?"
『A stream where you can flirt and play along with Hiyorin…?』
『Ahem… how much do I have to pay?』
『Donations: OFF is the biggest bug in the system.』
『Still the same selfless stream.』
『Just what you'd expect from a painter whose work is displayed in some huge museum.』
『You can just feel the financial stability.』
『My life's only goal was to live inside Hiyorin's wallet.』
"Okay, we're really not getting anywhere, so let's hurry up! Open the Four Pillar War outline template—did you open it? Okay, I have an important announcement to make. Some of you might have noticed right away, but… I, Mitsueda Hiyori, realized just before the stream that I had lost the file I was using up until now!"
『There it is.』
『The usual.』
『Does she have a condition where she's not satisfied unless she messes something up at least once a month?』
『It's almost like she's doing it on purpose.』
『So cunning.』
『Classic Hiyorin, so cunning. I love it.』
"I'm truly sorry about this. I hastily threw together a new outline, but… there are a lot of parts I couldn't remember, so I'd appreciate it if you could help me fix it up."
『She's so good at apologizing properly.』
『If anything, this could be a good review.』
『The old one was a patchwork mess anyway. Just make this one better.』
"You all only pretend to be nice at times like these, don't you? Even though a few seconds from now, you'll be demanding apology illustrations and apology voice lines."
『I wonder what you mean… In any case, I'll be waiting naked for the illustration, okay?』
『What a baseless accusation… It's about time you blessed us with some ASMR, you know?』
『Apology Hiyorin.』
『We want Apology Hiyo.』
"Apology Hiyo… What's that? Are you demanding me myself…?"
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"Haaah… Thanks, everyone, you've been a huge help. And with that, now that the template is fixed, it's time to make up for lost time! Let's move on to the Q&A corner!"
『The 'Tell me, Hiyorin' corner.』
『Study time with the bottom-tier general player, Professor Hiyorin.』
『I love how she's amazing in the real world but a total weakling in the virtual one.』
『Let's hit her with the hard questions.』
『Watching her get flustered when she can't answer is always so cute.』
"…………Yes. Well then, I'm turning on the message function now, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask."
『She suddenly got so low-energy.』
『Her downer voice is also lovely, so it's not a problem.』
『And thus begins the impromptu art stream.』
『She turns to drawing like it's a tranquilizer.』
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"Okay, let's get to answering these questions one after another. Fiiirst uup is… huh? Ah…"
> Exceptional player, lmao.
"Suuuu—… It was a typo. My apologies."
『The first one isn't even a question, I'm dying.』
『lol』
『That's hilarious.』
『Looking at the comments, most of the viewers didn't notice either, lmao.』
『Exceptional player… Well, even if they aren't rank holders, they've been selected for the Four Pillars, so it's not exactly wrong, is it?』
『Yeah, if you ask whether the selected members are 'general' players…』
『The Northern members are barely… just barely… uhh…』
『The South is the Queen's army, and the East is full of Istia-brains…』
"Ah, haha… A-anyway, pulling myself together, let's move on to the first question."
> Are there any rewards other than points for defeating players who aren't rank holders? Like a consecutive kill bonus or something.
"Nope! No matter how many you defeat, or how many you defeat in a row, you only get one point per person."
『If there were consecutive kill bonuses, the Artillery-Specialized Mages would go absolutely nuts.』
『The Eastern Wings would probably reduce everything to nothing.』
『Yeah, the Istia folks would become literally unstoppable, and not just the AoE specialists.』
"And the 'Princess' would become even more unmanageable… Alright, next question!"
> If players from multiple factions all attack and defeat one person, how are the points awarded?
"That's decided by contribution… by the amount of damage dealt. For a general player, the faction that dealt more damage gets the 1 point. If it's a rank holder or a General, the points are distributed based on the contribution ratio."
> When you destroy a 'Pillar,' do you only get points? Does it give or receive any other effects?
"Just like defeating a general player, there's nothing else. …Ah, well, system-wise there's nothing, but the morale of the side that got it destroyed…"
『Basically, you can't let your Pillars get broken.』
『Lately, the battles tend to be about attacking or defending the Pillars.』
『The area around the Pillars usually becomes the main battlefield.』
『100P per Pillar is pretty steep.』
"…And that's how it is. Three years have passed, and the Four Pillar War is starting to develop its own set of standard strategies. How you outmaneuver the enemy's defenses to take down their Pillars is crucial, so… yeah, I guess you could say the effect is that it significantly impacts player morale."
> How much durability does a 'Pillar' have? Can a single person destroy one?
"Yes, they can. They're tougher than you'd think but also more fragile than you'd think—it's a very fine balance. They won't just snap in two, but… hmm, if a power-type warrior with a ton of buffs went all out, it would probably take… one hit, maybe?"
『That's about right.』
『It's tough to break them with magic, though.』
『Shouldn't you explain about the barrier?』
"Oh, right, right, the barrier. 'Pillars' are surrounded by a barrier with a radius of about twenty meters that blocks all passage, so you can't snipe or bombard them from a distance. You have to get up close, but of course, there are tons of players from that faction defending the base of the Pillar, so…"
『If a squishy ranged build tries to get close, it's instant death.』
『Most of the time, you can't even reach the inside of the barrier.』
『In Pillar assaults, ranged types usually stick to a support role, with some exceptions.』
『Exceptions… Scorching Gaze… a single wink and the entire defense force explodes into dust…………』
『(All praise Hinayo-sama…)』
『(A dual-pistol-wielding beauty with a killer figure is just too powerful of a combo.)』
『(Her dress is always so gorgeous, thank you so very much.)』
『(The weak little chickadee chirping 'hiyo hiyo' and the mighty Hinayo-sama… where did their paths diverge?)』
"Is that 'weak little chickadee' supposed to be me? Hmmm?"
『hiyo hiyo hiyorin』
『A chickadee trying to be intimidating is just, you know?』
『The chickadee is cute. Cuteadee.』
『Cutesidee...?』
『If the river floods, the little chickadee will be washed away.』
"…Honestly, what are you all talking about? So noisy, so noisy! Next question!"
> Do you know the location of a 'Pillar' when it appears?
"Only if it's within your line of sight. The maze walls are about ten meters high, and the pillars are about thirty, so you can see them. They don't show up on the radar or anything."
> Can you destroy the maze walls?
"Nope."
> Can you use support magic over the walls, or bombard the other side with magic across them?
"Nope. First of all, the maze walls are really thick, so they're treated as almost a separate area, meaning you can't even target someone for support magic. As for bombardment… you mean like firing in an arc over the wall, right? The force field I mentioned in the outline affects more than just players, so that's a no-go. If you throw a weapon, it gets knocked down, and magic just fizzles out."
> How do you actually capture a base?
"To capture a wartime base, it's game over the instant a player from another faction touches the giant crystal at the very back of the entrance hall. Normally, that's where the stone monument engraved with the names of the rank title holders is, but it's replaced with that object during the war."
> Can the player who initiated the 《Engage》 also use 《Break》?
"They ca—… uh… umm…"
『Ca?』
『Ca…?』
『Caaaaa』
『Caaaaan...???』
"They, c… …W-with one illustration, I'll…"
『THEY CAAAAAAN'T!!!』
『Yeah!!』
『 W E G O T ' E M 』
"Mmph… A-anyway, that's how it is. 《Break》 can only be used by the one who was challenged, it seems."
> Is it possible for a rank holder to weaken another rank holder and then let a general player get the final blow?
"Wow, that's a pretty… messed up question. If you're asking if it's possible, then yes, but there's no point in doing it. If you're after the special skill, that's only awarded 'when general players alone defeat a rank holder,' so…"
『You'd get so much hate for doing that.』
『It's all about sportsmanship, or Arcadian-ship, I guess…』
> Can 《Interrupt》 be activated by the player 'inside' the duel?
"You mean the person who was challenged with 《Engage》 trying to activate it for someone outside? No, that's not possible. It's strictly a skill for helping an ally from the same faction from the outside."
> Can you immediately use 《Engage》 again on an opponent who just used 《Break》?
"That's a no, too. Using 《Break》 grants a temporary effect that repels 《Engage》… I think it lasts for about five minutes?"
> Can you join the war midway through?
"Huh? Join midway… no, you can't. Only the three hundred people who pre-registered can enter the field. Even if you left spots open, you can't summon those players in later."
> Hinarin, aren't you participating in the war?
"It's H i y o r i n, o k a y? The Mitsueda Hiyori-chan that everyone loves and adores, you know?"
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"Alright, everyone… with most of the questions answered, it's about time we wrap things up for today!"
『Otsu-hiyo~』
『Otsu-hiyo-hiyo~』
『Your voice was lovely today.』
『Thanks for the Hiyorin supply.』
『You were talking nonstop more than usual, so please take care of your throat.』
"Thank you all, too! And that was today's 'Hiyori Biyori.' To those of you heading off to dreamland, and to those of you who still have a long night ahead, thank you so much for joining me!"
"—…Fwaaah."
That concluded the stream. She displayed the illustration she'd just finished on the screen, bringing another weekly radio show, a tradition for the past three years, to a safe and sound conclusion.
The talk went well, as always, thanks to the vibe of the comments, and her drawing was well-received, as usual. The silent lighting up of her phone, which she'd set aside, to announce an incoming call was also part of the usual routine.
"Yes, hel—shii!?"
Seeing a familiar name, she answered the call without hesitation—but what came from the speaker wasn't a voice, but a muffled thump-thump-thump sound, as if the phone was being slammed against something soft.
"Okay, okay, I get it, I get it. Stop banging it, I'm sorry."
Smiling wryly, she turned back to her PC and opened a chat room, another part of her routine.
She knew 'she' was angry on the other end of the line, and she knew exactly why. It was because of the illustration she had just uploaded… a picture of a girl modeled after a certain young lady, and a boy drawn purely from imagination based on stories she'd heard.
She had placed the two characters side by side and titled the piece 'First Love.' And it seemed the piece had been seen by none other than the model for the girl herself.
"—You're sharp, Nia-cha. I only made the eyes look like you, you know?"
She laughed without a hint of apology, and a flood of complaints began appearing on her monitor one after another.
Even setting aside the fact that she was used to their little squabbles, she could tell with perfect clarity that her friend on the other end of the line was blushing furiously, so there was nothing to be afraid of.
"Alright, alright. My best friend really is the cutest."
As she teased, she could sense the phone on the other end being subjected to soft, violent abuse once again.
Lately, her friend had been overflowing with a new charm thanks to some new encounters. Feeling a warmth in her heart… Mitsueda Hiyori—a player who went by the name 【Bush Warbler】 in the virtual world—spent her Friday night peacefully, just before the big event.
Friday, April 28th.
Two days remained until the main event of the Four Pillar War—the grand stage of the virtual world that everyone was waiting for.