Chapter 164: Mimic the Grudge, Be Faithful to Thy Evil

Lucas Garcia. The gamer we strategized against under the codename "Womanizer" is, in a word, the "Brainiac" type.

To put it simply, he's just like Katzo—the "gets stronger the more he researches" type, which makes him relatively the weakest among the four Star Rain members this time around. Well, "weak" only in the sense that a Level 97 is weaker than a Level 99; the base premise of him being an absolute monster remains unchanged.

That said, word on the street is he's an analytical demon who either loses by a hair or completely crushes his opponents in regular tournaments. There are even rumors that instead of just picking up girls on the road, he actually seduced a female paparazzi.

"He's totally the type who looks like he belongs in a gal-game bad ending, y'know?"

"Nah, more like the handsome dude who dies halfway through a zombie panic movie."

"Ah, I can totally see that."

Looking up, the giant display showed Natsume-shi and the Womaniz—... I mean, Lucas, currently on the character select screen. In a festival game like Galaxia Heroes: Chaos, the whole selling point is characters from different IPs duking it out, but the Nitro Squad was doing things a little differently this time.

『Lucas locks in "Dr. Sandalphon" as his character!』

『That's his main from the previous title! Even though the system mechanics have undergone massive changes, going with a character he knows inside and out is definitely the better choice for his playstyle!』

"Yep, that's one win for me! Guess our wrap-up party is gonna be sushi, right? Hmm?"

"...It ain't over yet."

He just looks like an exhausted old dude rocking a tattered lab coat, sandals, and a flip phone, but apparently, he's technically a Hero. A doctor who fights monsters created by an evil mad scientist using a phone-shaped psychic amplifier... or something like that.

Regardless, the secret "Guess which character the non-Sylvia machos will use" betting pool Pencilgon and I had going on was off to a terrible start.

I'm begging you, Black & White Machos! I want to eat Yakiniku way more than sushi...!!

『Whoa! And in response, Natsume locks in Yggdrya!! It's a Hero vs. Villain showdown from the exact same IP!!』

『If we look at the previous game, Yggdrya had a 6-4 matchup advantage on the diagram, right? Will she be able to maintain that advantage in this title? We'll definitely have to keep our eyes peeled!』

The Idol-san on commentary—who totally lost to Saint-chan—was hyping up the matchup like it was some crazy coincidence, but obviously, it wasn't.

This was the Nitro Squad with Cosplayers' combat policy: "Original Work Recreation Roleplay". By analyzing Star Rain's past match records, we predicted what characters they'd pick and prepared to counter them with their canon rival characters.

We were abusing the "fun factor" inherent to an exhibition match to stall for time by putting on a more dynamic, more dramatic fight.

"Sunra... I mean, No Face-kun, aren't you gonna chug your energy drink yet?"

"My personal theory is that the caffeine peaks exactly thirty minutes after you down it."

"By the way, do you know what the placebo effect is?"

"That's the thing where the pitch drops when an F1 car goes zooming past you at high speeds..."

"Yeah, that's the Doppler effect."

What the hell is she even trying to say? Whatever. Watching Natsume-shi struggle is way more important right now.

To be brutally honest... yeah, Natsume-shi is just a budget Katzo. Which also means she's a budget Lucas. You could say she's normally strong but normally weak—she can do her job, but she definitely isn't the type who excels at overturning a pure difference in raw skill. That kind of vibe.

By the way, Pencilgon's evaluation of Natsume-shi was even worse. What the hell do you mean, "She might mimic a carnivore, but her soul is a herbivore, so she's just gonna get eaten"? That's not how you evaluate a human being.

Who am I, a total amateur, to judge an active pro gamer like that? But hey, considering I've won three out of five matches against her, I'd say an amateur gets at least a little bit of speaking rights.

That being said, those evaluations only apply to a straight-up, head-on fight. If you mix in the cheese strats of the peerless scumbag tactician Pencilgon, even a scarecrow could be hailed as a hero.

"Listen up, Natsume-shi... don't forget the fundamentals of roleplay..."

"Exactly. The absolute foundation of roleplay, rule number one of absolute compliance..."

It really wasn't that big of a deal. Just throw away your shame.

This once-in-a-lifetime chance was a path of thorns escorted by a demon and a devil.

That was Megumi Natsume's brutally honest take on her current situation. To add to that, she'd probably say the path was also soaked in gasoline and ready to burst into flames at any second.

(Why the hell do I have to pull some BM troll strat against a regular Star Rain player...?)

Tracing it back, she was only here because she canceled a family trip to answer Kei's request. She'd even gotten a call from her parents in Guam last night completely ignoring the time zone difference, but that was whatever.

To put it bluntly, her only role here was to act as the opening act to set up the match between Kei and that dangerous woman... Sylvia Goldberg. It was a bit frustrating, sure, but she had accepted it.

But somewhere, somehow, things had gone terribly wrong. Why was she currently challenging America's top pro gaming team alongside a charismatic model and a mysterious gas-mask freak?

It wasn't that she had complaints about fighting side-by-side with two amateurs. Even from Megumi's perspective, those two clearly possessed an insanely high level of skill.

No, she just wanted to file a complaint against the person who created this current reality—where she was attempting an absurdly reckless strat with people who trash-talked each other as easily as they breathed, demolished buildings, and moved like glitchy freaks.

(Doesn't that just mean you want to complain to Kei?) The calm part of Megumi's brain pointed out.

But whether her not-so-calm side had been infected by their "heat," or whether the character profile of Yggdrya she had hastily crammed into her head was influencing her, Megumi ultimately concluded that "It's mostly destiny's fault."

"I absolutely won't lose to destiny...!!"

Yggdrya was a counter-type character centered around trap setups, meaning she had the natural advantage against a close-range brawler like Dr. Sandalphon.

But because of who her opponent was, she had to play it incredibly safe... is what she might have thought up until a few days ago.

"Aargh, screw it, let's do this!!"

The most Yggdrya-like, hype-inducing action. In that case, she shouldn't be prepping for an interception. The gaze of the woman implanted with plant DNA by an evil mad scientist locked onto... the hospital.

"Man, as expected of Lord No Name. Ordering her to 'secure hostages and stall for time' without a second of hesitation."

"Hey now, wasn't it you who chimed in with, 'Wouldn't it feel way more evil if we hit a hospital or something?' You're quite the villain yourself, ya know?"

In Galaxia Heroes: Chaos, morals were something you threw straight into the gutter. You had to be more villainous, more heroic—and even among the roster, Yggdrya was the flavor of Villain with a few screws loose. In one sense, she was easy for beginners to pick up, but in another sense, you couldn't truly master her unless you were an advanced player.

Villains had their own unique charm precisely because they weren't just simple bad guys. Those who fell to darkness for tragic reasons, those walking the path of evil with unwavering conviction, those who simply rampaged to satisfy their own desires... Just as Heroes had their justice, Villains had their unshakable behavioral principles.

And amidst all that, Yggdrya's behavioral principle was dead simple. That is, entirely self-centered logic devoid of any moral compass. She wouldn't hesitate to do absolutely anything as long as it made her happy.

"This game's seriously well-made, huh... The Villains seem to have the upper hand early, but the longer the match goes on, the more the advantage shifts to the Heroes."

"Isn't that the absolute worst-case scenario for us, since we're deliberately planning to drag this out?"

"If that's the case, we just deal with it accordingly, Mr. Pumpkin. Isn't that exactly what our little cram session was for?"

"...I actually feel bad for Natsume-shi, having her real face and name exposed to the world while doing this."

"Even so, I'll totally give Natsume-chan props for actually standing up there and doing it."

Pencilgon and I were fine. No matter what kind of vile, scumbag tactics we broadcasted on a global scale, the ones taking the hate would just be "No Face" and "No Name". But Natsume-shi was about to commit pure atrocities with her real name and face out in the open. Even if it was just roleplay in a video game, that kind of sheer guts deserved both sympathy and praise.

"To think we've got her out there working so hard, while the man himself is hiding in the bathroom..."

"I knew it, we definitely need to wring that bastard's neck once this is over, don't we?"

"A lightly seared Katzo instead of a lightly seared bonito?"

""Ahaha!""

I'd find out a little later, but apparently, the sight of a Pumpkin Mercenary and a Ruined Kingdom's Lady Knight casually laughing and chatting while watching sudden atrocities unfold on the screen was universally considered incredibly creepy.

I-It gave off that overpowered final-boss vibe, so it's fine, right? Yeah.