Chapter 6: TS Broadcasting, this and that…

The two figures stood facing each other in a vast palace.

On the right was a beautiful woman. Her hair, more lustrous than blood, accentuated her pale skin, and her crimson

eyes shimmered like rubies. She licked her lips slightly and smiled.

On the other side was a cute girl. Her ashen, scruffy hair resembled that of a wolf, and her emotionless pink eyes

invoked a mysterious sense of dread in her opponent. Tilting her head, the girl stared at the woman.

The sound of a bell signaling a bloody battle rang, and the woman with the red hair was the first to move. She waved

her hand through the air, and sticky blood began pouring down from the sky.

As the blood pooled on the ground, a soft plop sound was heard, and a hand emerged. It was a small doll. It wore

armor like a knight, but the sight was so out of place that anyone watching would chuckle.

But that moment passed quickly.

The doll flashed brightly, revealing its true form. Clad in jet-black armor, it was nothing short of a dark knight. There

was no better way to describe its formidable presence.

“…!!!”

With a deafening roar, the dark knight stepped toward the girl, and soon, its enormous sword came crashing down,

an attack so brutal that the fragile girl seemed like she could never withstand it.

But—

“Hmm.”

With a small sigh, the girl casually raised her hand to touch the greatsword. A silver light shimmered in her hand,

and the dark knight’s sword was pushed back as lightly as if it were a feather.

The dark knight retreated before disintegrating into dust.

The silver-haired girl remained expressionless.

Of course, the red-haired woman was still smiling.

“…”

“Haha!”

A dazzling light, blinding in its brilliance, illuminated the palace. Countless pools of blood emerged, so many that

counting them was futile. The air trembled. The girl’s body and everything around her began floating into the air. A

loud rumble echoed from the earth as dolls, created solely for slaughter, were born.

-What was driving them to such a violent battle?

-If one were to ask, neither would hesitate to answer.

-A small piece of something, floating above the palace.

-They were fighting to the death for that single fragment.

The Queen’s Crown.

The fight to determine its rightful owner had already begun.

“Aah, I won again!”

-The louder she gets, the more annoying it is. -Is it just me? -She’s got a talent for pissing people off, lol. -Seeing her smirking makes me irrationally angry, is that normal?

The chat was on fire.

My first opponent in this 10-set match was a beginner, ranked in E-tier, with barely any experience in ranked games.

Of course, my rank on this account was also E-tier.

But who am I?

Back when TLQ first launched, I was a ranker who made it to A-tier. You could even call me a cheat code in this

world—thanks to my past life memories as the Owner.

Sure, this might not be your typical reincarnation web novel or even a V-tuber setup.

But who cares?

The important thing is, I’m winning, overwhelmingly.

The burning chat? Doesn’t bother me at all.

-Not gonna lie, that’s some talent right there. -Did you see that guard cancel earlier? -LOL, this player’s definitely high-level. -Calling yourself a newbie, yeah right. -Even considering they’re both E-tier, the skill gap’s massive. -She even stomped when she had the counter-matchup.

Because now, little by little, I started seeing messages praising my skills.

After a flawless, undefeated victory in the first round of the 10-set, I could steer the chat in my favor.

“I’m sorry for winning so easily, Fire of Love.”

-It’s okay. I’ll give it my all until the end!

“Yeah! Let’s do our best until the very end!”

-She’s mocking them, lol. -Please, please, let her lose the last match!

Sorry, but you’re going to be my first victory offering!

After exchanging pleasantries, we picked our ninth-round characters.

I chose Scarlett, the Flame Alchemist.

Fire of Love picked Iris, the Mercenary.

This was a clear counter-matchup in their favor, to the point it could be called extreme.

But it didn’t matter.

I had already won every time they had the counter, so this would be no different.

[3, 2, 1.]

[Usurp The Last Crown!]

As soon as the match started, I immediately used a zoning attack.

Scarlett stretched her hand, and a red flash shot forward. Iris quickly raised her shield to block the attack. As soon as

the guard held, Iris lowered her defense and tried to approach me.

But I instantly stepped back, creating some distance before using another zoning attack.

“If I keep this up, I can win….”

-What a coward, lol. -Fight fair! -And this is supposed to be a ‘fun’ character? “Well, I can’t help it, okay? In this

matchup, I have to fight like this.”

Scarlett is specialized in long-range zoning, and if Iris, who is focused on mid-range combat, gets close, it’s over.

Of course, TLQ is, at its core, a fighting game. You can’t rely on zoning alone to win.

But with the difference in skill between me and my opponent, maintaining my distance shouldn’t be an issue.

That confidence—no, arrogance—was already firmly planted in my mind, and it wasn’t misplaced, as I secured my

ninth victory.

“Wow, I may be a newbie, but I’ve just won nine times in a row! Maybe I’m better than I thought?”

-She stops stuttering the moment she has the upper hand, huh? -So smug when she’s winning. -This is real, okay?

Y’all haven’t noticed after yesterday’s stream? -‘Keyboard warriors,’ take note, this is your queen!

• Go ahead and mock me if you want, it doesn’t bother me.
• At 9 wins and 0 losses, those insults don’t matter.
• If you’ve got something to say, come in here and beat me!

“What should I do for the last match? I might lose, so I’m really debating here…”

-Yeah, she doesn’t seem worried at all.

Of course, I already had my last character planned.

It was my main back when I played TLQ, and the one I practiced the most yesterday.

The Blood Doll Queen, Leticia.

And Fire of Love’s final character was…

“Huh?”

Just like the first round, they chose Shiro, the Silver Witch.

Leticia and Shiro are obvious counters to each other.

While Shiro is recommended for beginners with great guard abilities, Leticia is specialized for guard breaks, though

she has tricky combos and weak hitboxes.

We’d fought three matches with Leticia and Shiro already in this 10-set, so Fire of Love should know the outcome by now.

“Was that a mistake?”

-Yeah, seems like they just gave up. -Or maybe they’re just resigned to losing?

In the chat window, there were questions about why the opponent had chosen Shiro. They had even picked Shiro

later than I did.

…Could it be that they’re doing this to neatly achieve 10 wins?

If that’s the case, it would be polite to accept their gesture.

“For now, I’ll just proceed. Even if there’s a mistake, the world of the top 10 is a harsh one…”

Just from talking, it seems like they’re a fighting game veteran ᄏᄏ

Given their record and guard cancel usage, they might be the real deal

Veteran in fighting games but a newbie in TLQ, huh? ᄃᄃ

[3, 2, 1.]

[Usurp The Last Crown!]

As soon as the game started, I immediately summoned Leticia’s combo starter, the Black Knight. After summoning

the Black Knight, I closed the distance to either use the Black Knight’s close-range attacks or Leticia’s long-range

control to create a situation.

Usually, you would use the Black Knight’s characteristic slow speed to catch a counterattack, but Shiro is so slow

compared to others in TLQ that it’s almost insulting to compare.

So, while Shiro has excellent hitboxes and guard performance, as mentioned earlier, Leticia is optimized for guard

breaks.

In simpler terms, once Shiro is caught in this choice, the game is as good as over…

“…Huh?”

For some reason, the character lying on the ground was my Leticia. And the Black Knight had somehow disappeared

due to Leticia’s downed state.

“Huh?”

What just happened?

In that brief moment of confusion, Shiro closed the distance and easily launched Leticia into the air.

Oh no, it’s over.

Shiro’s advantage: Excellent hitboxes.

To put it differently, once Shiro starts a combo, all kinds of strange techniques follow.

Just like that, I was completely defeated without landing a single hit.

“It’s okay! It’s just the first match!”

Yeah. It’s just the first match.

ᄏᄏᄏ They were so confident but didn’t land a single hit?

Shrinking back immediately after losing one match ᄏᄏᄏ

Got a perfect with a disadvantage, how pathetic ᄏᄏᄏ

The chat window was full of taunts, as if mocking me for my past mistakes, but it was okay.

I just need to win one more match to finish it.

They still need to win 9 more times in a row.

I-I’m not panicking at all?!

It’s just luck! Thinking that losing one match ends it all, my hands are trembling…

Why does it feel like the words from “Love’s Flame” in the chat are taunting me with a laugh?

I absolutely cannot lose.

With that resolve, I quietly selected the next character.

“W-why?!”

ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ

This is happening ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ
ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ
This is… weird.

This is… weird.

Is this really happening?!

The score in the top left of the screen read 9W 9L. The chat window was already full of comments.

This is really the last match! Looking forward to it!

Love’s Flame was still speaking politely.

“Let’s do our best.”

I can hear the nervousness from here ᄏᄏ

Stream ending in 3 minutes ᄏᄏᄏ

Didn’t someone say they were confident when ahead but timid when behind?

So if they’re slightly disadvantaged, they go back to their old self ᄏᄏ

Focus.

-Don’t let those chat comments distract you.

-When I win, I win overwhelmingly.

-I’ve only been perfect at once in the first loss.

-The rest were evenly matched, right?

-I can definitely, definitely win.

I took a deep breath and selected Leticia for the last time.

And Love’s Flame chose Shiro, almost as if mocking me.

Shiro appearing ᄏᄏᄏ

Definitely showing determination to make it tough until the end

If I lose this, I’m not sleeping tonight ᄏᄏ

Hope they lose with effort…

Please lose ᄏᄏ

Looking at the reactions in the chat.

I absolutely cannot lose.

With that resolve, I…

With just one hit left to win, I was completely turned around and defeated.

“Waaaaaaaaaah??!!!”

ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ

Ah ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ
Stream ending soon ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ
ᄇᄅ ᄏᄏᄏᄏ
Voice is really loud ᄏᄏᄏ
Season 1’s big scream ᄏᄏᄏ

The broadcast screen transitioned to the ending credits. It was probably the manager remotely ending the stream.

There was no time for a proper farewell as the broadcast ended abruptly. It was a short, less-than-an-hour broadcast

titled as a 10-win streak event. And the opponent was a lowest-tier E rank.

It’s strange. The person who was supposed to be a practice opponent said they could even handle an A rank.

Could it be… that the opponent was also a reincarnation owner, like me…?

In the midst of that thought, the “ding” of TLQ’s chat sounded.

Oh, they hadn’t closed the game yet. Looking at the screen, I saw that Love’s Flame’s character was still in the lobby.

Thanks for the match.

• It was a really nail-biting contest.
• By the way, could you check this link?
• I’ll keep watching your streams and enjoy them ☆(2w)/ Song
• With that final message, they left the lobby.

“…What is this?”

I copied the link they had entered in the chat and slowly pasted it into the address bar.

What appeared on the screen was:

“Love’s Flame?”

An unfamiliar nickname and the letters SS next to it.

Glancing slightly upwards, it was easy to see that this site was the TLQ ranking site. And SS rank indicates the top 0.1% in TLQ.

In other words:

“…Aaaaaah!! That bastard was an alternate account!!! Damn!!!!”

For a while, screams echoed throughout the room.

Ding.

[Manager: The mic wasn’t turned off!]