Chapter 705: Epilogue - The Flames of Revenge Shall Not Extinguish Without the Waters of Accomplishment

Meat was sizzling.

"Over 500,000 subscribers from a single night's debut stream...... So jealous, that's the absolute streamer dream right there."

"Though it certainly had the quality to justify it. I see, he definitely has what it takes to become a celebrity in a VRMMO."

At a certain high-end yakiniku restaurant, two men were grilling meat in the middle of the day.

"Learning that you can look that spectacular if you bring out your full specs in ShanFro might be a decent harvest in itself, huhー...... Ah, let me have this one, Reizei."

"I was carefully raising that one............ Are you asking for a war?"

"That's actually not entirely wrong, you know."

Receiving a frigid glare, the man who stuffed his cheeks with piping hot premium kalbi pointed his chopsticks at the other man he had called Reizei.

"So, what are the thoughts from our designated skill representative?"

"Mind your manners, Tsumabuki...... Let's see,"

Deflecting the pointed chopsticks with the tongs he had used to grab the grilled meat, the man named Reizei fell into thought for a moment. Then, lightly squeezing lemon onto a grilled beef tongue, he placed it in his mouth, swallowed, and......

"There is an opening to exploit."

He declared.

"Ooohh, how reliable."

"......Even an amateur would know if they've played games to some extent. Reckless movements like those aren't the sign of an 'all-rounder'; an over-specialized build must have definitely sacrificed something somewhere."

"Well, in the case of the rumored UMA-kun, it's insanely obvious though...."

"Well, yeah. He probably shaved off his durability...... In other words, if it hits, we win."

"......Against that?"

What flashed through both of their minds was a sight that remained completely fresh in their memories even though half the day had passed. It was the video of a certain channel that made such a massive leap it made them want to scream "Is that even allowed?!" as fellow streamers.

Although the archive itself wasn't saved, a massive amount of mirror videos were already circulating, and more than anything, the stream video that the two of them had personally saved was the visualization of a certain "extreme" within the game known as Shangri-La Frontier.

"......I have a decent idea of how to handle it."

"Then I won't say anything more."

"What about your side? Word is they've got a tactician player over there too, right?"

"Hmm, it smells like they have spies and stuff, and the other side is playing completely 'for real' after all...... Well, if that's the case, we have our ways of dealing with it! Something like that. The rest depends on the results of the dating sim."

"......That wasn't an explanation. Tsumabuki, what are you doing for drinks?"

"Oolong tea."

"I suppose I'll order some shochu."

"You're putting alcohol in your system when you have a solo stream after this?"

"......If I don't say anything, they won't find out. Besides, I perform better with a little bit in my system."

"I'm a lightweight, after all...."

From there, no words in particular were exchanged, and ten-odd minutes later, the two finished their lunch. Having paid with a card and left the restaurant, the two men exchanged a bit more conversation inside the elevator heading up to the apartment they rented purely for "work."

"At this rate, it feels like the decisive battle will happen before Christmas, so we really don't have much time.... We'll have to stick strictly to ShanFro while doing our solo streams."

"What about our promotional sponsorships?"

"I accepted the ones for next year, but only took one for this year. We already recorded that one, so I'll edit it while Reizei is streaming."

"That helps."

"Maybe I should've ordered the pot ribs too, huh."

"............"

Tsumabuki casually brushed off Reizei, who was glaring at him with half-closed eyes for continuously ordering wagyu, but as if suddenly remembering something, he met the gaze he had been averting.

"Ah, right, you could just tell me already. Why were you so insistent on pushing for the New King's side? It ended up creating a nice structural setup, but when I asked you initially, you dodged the question, didn't you? I'll let the pot ribs go, so tell me."

"......It's a fairly personal reason, so I can't put it on stream."

"Eh, some kind of personal grudge?"

The elevator announced its arrival at the top floor and the doors opened. Stepping out of the elevator with an indescribable expression, ReizeiGarunose bluntly declared to TsumabukiPayabusa.

"I found a face that pisses me off. One that I wouldn't be satisfied with even if I spent a full three minutes punching it."

"Eh, scary. What did that guy do to earn that kind of grudge?"

Author's Afterword

You alone, I will never forgive.