The Villainess VTuber Tears People Apart

【# Apocalyptic Lifeform Management Record 045

Entity Name: ■■■

Management Grade: Yellow-Flower (Level 3)

Friendliness: Friendly

: ■■■ formed an attachment to Test Subject T after observing them.

Desiring to establish a deeper social relationship with Test Subject T, ■■■ approached them disguised as Test Subject Q, T’s close friend.

Disguised as Test Subject Q, ■■■ persistently manipulated T to prevent them from leaving the laboratory.】

***

As I entered the inner area of the party room, I realized there were guests who had arrived before me.

“Haa… Haa… Rui unnie, you smell so good…”

A girl was clinging to Rui, sniffing at her nape.

This was undoubtedly a virtual reality world. Rui’s body, at this moment, was nothing more than a VR avatar composed of data.

It shouldn’t have been possible to simulate something like a smell, yet the girl calling her “unnie” was sniffing eagerly.

“…Rui?”

“…Hello.”

Rui glanced over at me with hollow eyes.

The early arrivals numbered four.

In other words, all the participants in this collaboration were gathered in this party room.

And apart from Rui, the other three had all reverted to younger versions of themselves.

Anna (Mental Corruption Stage 5) was burying her face in Rui’s neck.

“What happened to end up like that…”

“…I don’t know either.”

Well, I mean, I know because I saw Anna gradually becoming more brazen right in front of my eyes. But even though I witnessed it myself, it wasn’t something I particularly wanted to understand.

-“I-I’m so nervous I can’t breathe…”

That was the first thing Anna had said to Rui.

Despite her frequent whining about wanting to collaborate with Rui, when the two were left in the same space, this was the result.

Like a timid young man with no experience dealing with women… Anna had no idea how to communicate with her ultimate favorite.

If this continued, she would (happily) die.

Thinking that way, Anna gave up her humanity in order to protect her own life….

That was the situation now.

‘If it’s Mental Corruption Stage 5, does that mean Anna’s avatar is entirely controlled by AI?’

In Shina’s case, the AI only intervened sporadically. But for Anna, it seemed reasonable to conclude that the AI had completely taken over.

Thus, the five-year-old Anna rubbing her face against Rui’s neck was not the real Anna.

She wasn’t doing such unsettling things of her own will.

…That’s what I hoped.

It had to be.

“So, how did everyone end up gathered here?”

“Anna and I started at the same location from the beginning, and the other two joined us along the way.”

“No, that’s not what I meant… I’m asking why you’re all here in this room.”

“Ah, I see. Let me explain.”

Rui pointed upward with her finger.

It was only now that I noticed. The ceiling of this party room was absurdly high.

The height was comparable to that of a three-story building… No, maybe four or even five stories.

It was so tall that you had to tilt your head all the way back to see it.

And there, high up, was an open passageway.

“Don’t tell me we have to go through there…?”

“I’ve thoroughly examined this place. That’s the only way out.”

“But how are we supposed to get up there?”

I looked around but saw no stairs or elevators.

At the very least, if there had been a rope, that would’ve been something. But there wasn’t even that, so physically climbing up seemed impossible.

“There is a way.”

Rui pointed this time at some chairs.

Amid the scattered decorations, there were five chairs standing upright in the party room.

Upon closer inspection, the chairs were firmly fixed to the floor.

I sat in one of the chairs, curious, and Rui also took a seat.

“Everyone, take a seat as well.”

Following Rui’s instructions, the remaining chairs were filled.

Then, with a low mechanical hum, a ladder began to slowly descend.

“Ah!”

Startled by the descending ladder, I instinctively rose from my seat.

But as soon as I did, the ladder retracted.

“Huh? The ladder went back up…?”

I blinked in surprise.

To summarize:

1. Each of the five chairs was equipped with a pressure switch.

2. When all five chairs were occupied, the ladder descended.

3. If even one person got up, the ladder would retract.

“It seems we need at least five people to solve this gimmick in this room.”

Rui had been waiting for the other players to arrive for this reason.

After hearing Rui’s explanation, I looked at the ladder again.

‘…The ladder doesn’t retract too quickly.’

I began running a simulation in my head.

Could I leap to the ladder the moment it fully descended?

After calculating it a few times, I shook my head.

‘…It’s almost impossible. The distance between the ladder and the chair is too far.’

The chairs were bolted down.

Even if I had a screwdriver to loosen the bolts and move the chairs, there wasn’t one in sight.

“It seems five of us will need to stay here.”

***

Laura, who had been observing the situation, finally spoke.

Laura was still holding hands with Shina.

“No! I think there must be another way! Like, putting something else on the chairs…?”

“I already tried that. It didn’t work.”

Rui shook her head.

The pressure switch inside the chairs required a person’s weight. In other words, objects equivalent to a person’s weight would need to be placed there.

However, the slight incline of the chair cushions caused most objects to slide off.

And to make matters worse, the chairs had armrests. This made placing large, heavy objects even more challenging.

“There’s no choice. We’ll have to split into two groups.”

“Split into two groups…?”

“Yes.”

Aurora nodded.

“Let’s divide into those who will sit on the chairs and those who will climb up. There might be something like a rope up there.”

“That makes sense…”

From what we could see after scouting the area, there didn’t seem to be any tools to resolve this situation.

So, the logical assumption was that there might be something upstairs to pull people up. That seemed like the natural conclusion.

“The issue, then, is how to split into two groups…”

“Isn’t that simple? Those at Mental Corruption Stage 2 or higher should stay here.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Do you think climbing a ladder in the body of a child is going to be easy?”

That was a fair point.

Thus, it was naturally decided that the four with severe mental corruption would remain seated.

The remaining members were Laura, Rui, Narin, and Sora, who was still only at Mental Corruption Stage 1.

Since there were five chairs, one more person had to stay behind. To be fair, they decided by playing rock-paper-scissors.

The result: Rui would sit on a chair.

“Alright, we’ll go ahead, so wait here.”

Soon, the ladder descended, and Laura was the first to climb up.

Sora followed, and lastly, Narin climbed, her head tilting slightly in confusion.

‘…What is this?’

She couldn’t quite explain it, but Narin felt an odd sense of unease about Laura.

Since setting foot in the party room, something had seemed off. It was hard to put into words, but it left her feeling unsettled.

Even if she tried to dismiss it as her imagination, the discomfort lingered.

But there wasn’t much time for deep thought, as the situation demanded her attention.

Before long, she reached the top of the ladder.

There, a straight corridor stretched ahead.

“That looks like the exit.”

At the end of the corridor, a door stood wide open.

In this game, doors acted like borders between spaces.

Often, passing through a door led to an entirely different location, so it seemed likely that stepping through this one would mean they couldn’t return to the party room.

“I don’t see anything like a rope. Should we head back down?”

“Do we need to?”

“Sorry?”

Narin blinked at Laura’s response.

“If we leave as we are, won’t it give us an advantage in the competition?”

“W-Wait a minute… Laura, are you suggesting we leave them behind?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Laura crossed her arms, flashing a faint smile.

“Rui is a formidable competitor. Just look at how far she’s come, even with someone as severely corrupted as Anna. Wouldn’t it be better to eliminate her now for the sake of staying ahead?”

“But… That’s too cruel! We came here saying we’d help each other!”

“Narin, you seem to be under a misunderstanding. This is an individual competition.”

Laura shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

Then, she stepped closer, until she was so near that Narin could feel her breath.

Their faces were nearly touching, with their noses barely avoiding brushing against each other.

‘Her eyes are beautiful…’

The thought crossed Narin’s mind involuntarily.

“In an individual competition, we can’t keep cooperating forever. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity?”

As Laura leaned in with her arms crossed, her elbow gently nudged Narin’s chest.

Narin felt a strange dizziness.

Thinking back, this was only her second encounter with Laura.

Their first meeting had been a random match in the game.

At that time, they had both been too flustered to notice much about each other.

‘It feels like locking eyes with a celebrity…’

It was hard to breathe.

Even so, Narin managed to stay grounded because she fundamentally disliked giving up.

“I don’t want to.”

Hating to give up meant hating loose ends and compromises.

Though Laura’s logic was sound, this situation felt inherently unfair.

This wasn’t competition; it was merely abandoning others to secure an advantage.

Narin didn’t want to resort to such measures.

“Suit yourself. Do as you please.”

-Pat.

Laura turned to Sora, who was standing nearby, and took her hand.

“See you later, if we meet again.”

Then, with quick but graceful steps, Laura walked off with Sora.

It was only after they had disappeared completely that Narin remembered how to breathe.

“…I thought my heart was going to explode.”

***

The space they entered beyond the exit was a school.

A long school corridor.

Sora was being led down the hallway by Laura, who hadn’t let go of her hand.

“It’s just the two of us now.”

Laura spoke with a smile in her voice.

“Maybe this is for the best. Acting with fewer people is easier than managing a large group.”

“──You’re not Laura, are you?”

-Thwack!

Sora slapped Laura’s hand.

No, she slapped the hand of whatever it was that had taken Laura’s form.

“Who are you? Where’s Laura?”