Chapter 165
Nu2meg: "H-here! Be shields for me!"
Lucas: "Hey, hey! Isn’t this taking the role-playing a little too far...!?"
On screen, Yugdraia entangles an old man and a small child with her tendrils, hoisting them up before Dr. Sandalphon as living shields. It seems Babel—or whatever it's called—doesn't extend to audience viewing; on the large display monitor set to Japanese mode, Lucas's lines scroll in real-time subtitles. Honestly, isn't that still insane?
No Face: "Still feels some shame. Sixty points."
No Name: "Using a child and an elder as hostages—good. Seventy-five points."
Commentator: "U-um, excuse me..."
As I harshly critique Megumi's performance from a dialogue standpoint, and No Name awards high marks for her actions, the live commentator... was it Fishcake Knight?—gingerly approaches us.
Commentator: "May I, um, ask you a few questions?"
No Face: "Eh? Ah—"
No Name: "Go right ahead! The Mysterious Helper (the beautiful one) will gladly answer anything!"
At this point, her consistency is starting to make me genuinely want to respect her. Snatching the mic that was pointed toward me, No Name pulls it eagerly toward herself and answers brightly. That said, both she and I have our voice changers switched on, so the resulting voice is... hard to describe.
Commentator: "Then... why is Natsume playing in such an, um, vicious way?"
No Name: "Fufufu, you see... it is our firm conviction that this style of play is the correct combat doctrine for Galaxia Heroes Chaos!"
Commentator: "What do you mean by that?"
No Name: "This game features a gauge... what you'd call a super move gauge in a fighting game. But it doesn't fill solely through simple punching, kicking, or blocking—"
While No Name shows off a glibness so fluent you'd lose track of who's supposed to be hosting, I, with time on my hands, begin fiddling with the gimmicks built into my cosplay helmet. It's not like I'm not paying attention to Megumi and Lucas's match. I am. But that doesn't change the fact that my hands are idle.
This pumpkin helmet is oddly elaborate—pressing a button near the collar causes the faceplate to slide open. That said, the upper portion that covers most of the face is physically fixed in place; the only part that moves is the section from the nose down, over the mouth. There's probably all sorts of character lore from the source material behind this, but from my perspective, my reaction stops at, "Oh, so I can eat without taking the helmet off."
Click, clack. Click, clack. Flash!
No Face: "Nnf—!!"
I was opening and closing the mouth section when my hand slipped and hit the button next to it... the power button for the lights embedded throughout the helmet. To an outside observer, the sight must have been a surreal one: a pumpkin, jaw flapping open and shut, suddenly lighting up. And right now, someone who got a direct view of it clearly couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. Who on earth...
Sylvia: "F-fu, fufufufu..."
It was you. I stare, a little exasperated, at Sylvia Goldberg as she bows her head and trembles... when, suddenly, a mischievous impulse takes hold of me.
Rustle, rustle. (I pull out the energy drink I'd forcibly jammed into my holster.)
Pshhht. (Open.)
Slurrrrp... (I stick in the straw and down the energy drink.)
FLASH! (Lights up.)
Sylvia: "Pffhyu—!!"
Johnson: "...Bwahah?!"
This time the black musclehead took the bait too. The white one seemed to be looking for someone, craning his neck toward the audience seats, so unfortunately I couldn't hook him. Sylvia Goldberg is practically convulsing at this point, and the black musclehead—er, I think his name was "Married Man Johnson"—is laughing openly without even trying to hide it. Could you call this a kind of off-stage tactic? I mean, making them laugh—what does that even accomplish...? Crap, the camera's closing in. Am I supposed to say something here?
No Face: "...It works great."
Left with no choice, I strike a triumphant pose, holding up the energy drink label for the camera.
No Name: "What're you doing?"
No Face: "Contributing to sales? I'd love for them to start selling it in Japan soon."
No Name: "Yeah, yeah... Hey, things are moving again."
No Face: "Oh, you're right."
Looking up, the screen now shows Yugdraia, whose hostages have been taken and who is being forced on the defensive, and Dr. Sandalphon, who—with the human shields removed—has transitioned into a full offensive without reservation.
No Face: "Think she’s about to lose the round?"
No Name: "Hard to say. The other guy spent gauge to free the hostages just now. For Natsume-chan, it comes down to whether she carries her gauge over or spends it here, right?"
Tough call. If she blows her gauge in the first round, she's obviously at a disadvantage for the rest of the match. But the advantage of taking the first round is worth pushing for, even if it costs you. If it were me, I'd go for the round without hesitation. Pencilgon, on the other hand, would probably conserve gauge. And Megumi, whose style is similar to Katzo's...
No Face: "She spent it."
No Name: "If she can stall in the next round, Round 3 starts looking winnable... but who knows..."
Briars that shatter the earth and ensnare pitiful victims gouge heavily into Dr. Sandalphon's health. A combo follows... and knockout. The first round ends with Megumi claiming the first win. A few seconds of loading, and Round 2 begins.
No Face: "Honestly, isn't this rough?"
No Name: "Right? ...If it were me, I'd have surrendered the first round and aimed to take Rounds 2 and 3."
Beyond the hostage-snatching, Lucas seemed to be reading Megumi's movements better the more time passed. Even if the hostage tactic itself is effective, once your opponent is reading you, the advantage flips. And the biggest problem: Megumi's hesitation is visible, shame aside. Sure, there aren't many people who can use human NPCs as meat shields with a straight face. I'm not blaming her for hesitating. But their opponent isn't soft enough to let half-heartedness slide.
Commentator: "Ahhh! Natsume, trying the hostage strategy again, has been ambushed from behind!"
No Name: "Oof, that's bad. She gave him just enough gauge in the last round, so now he's using surprise attacks and ignoring gauge buildup entirely."
No Face: "And their spawn points being close is bad luck too. RNG really is evil. Pure evil."
The ambush from behind forces her to release the hostages, and from then on it's a punching bag match. She's not just getting crushed—she's counterattacking too. But even to an amateur eye, if you asked who has the advantage, most respondents would point to the same person.
No Face: "Ah, she ran."
No Name: "Dutiful, or maybe earnest... She's trying to stall for time."
Right now, Ms. Sasa-Fishcake is off conducting an interview over by StarRain. Free from the worry of the mic picking up our voices, we chat without restraint, watching Yugdraia flee sloppily through back alleys while planting her trap-skill seeds. The audience is starting to boo at the pathetic display... Eh, pay it no mind. If you win in the end, all the bashing becomes nothing more than the howls of losers.
No Name: "Looks like she’s given up on winning this round. She’s switching to gauge farming."
No Face: "Whoa. A police car just went flying."
The Villainic Gauge increases through villainous actions. Fighting heroes does it. Threatening innocent civilians also fills it. Even destroying the cityscape counts as a gauge-building activity. Yugdraia continues rampaging until Dr. Sandalphon finally catches up and depletes the last of her health.
No Name: "Yep, seems like each character has its own unique gauge-fill conditions."
Since most of StarRain's members' signature characters were hero-types, we inevitably ended up practicing almost exclusively with villain characters, which is how we noticed. For example, with Yugdraia, directly harming NPCs fills the gauge faster than simply destroying buildings. Moreover, actions like using them as substitutes for your own safety or as meat shields fill it faster than just inflicting harm. And even further... persistently bullying helpless NPCs fills the gauge—are there actually people who enjoy playing like this? Well, there was one right next to me.
No Face: "Whether a player can stomach vile acts for the sake of character performance... All of these characters sort people out in a different way."
No Name: "Faithful recreation is a real double-edged sword, huh. They'll probably ease it up eventually."
If this were a martial-artist-type villain, you could just challenge the hero fair and square. But characters like Yugdraia, who thrive on underhanded tactics, seem like they'll pose plenty of problems.
No Name: "Alright, final round. How far do you think Natsume-chan can push it?"
No Face: "You look like you're having a hell of a lot of fun."
No Name: "I absolutely love watching people move according to my orders."
No Face: "A genuine, dyed-in-the-wool taskmaster, huh..."
Hang in there, Natsume-chan. A weird aura—just like that heroine-chan—is starting to drift around you, but hang in there!!