While every horror game is different, there are occasional cases like this.
Cases where the game itself implements a ranking system.
It's not common.
Horror games aren't meant for ranking in the first place; their purpose is for the gamer to enjoy the terror within the game.
But when speedrunning becomes its own form of content, and the game developers integrate that content directly into the game, the story changes.
When a company tries to generate buzz by having rankings update in real-time through an online network connection.
When they implement a system allowing YouTubers and gamers to check speedrun records directly within the game, rather than having to upload them to some other site.
That was the situation now.
"Second place. A shame, isn't it."
Lacian set down the controller and stretched.
"You say it's a shame, but you don't look very disappointed."
"Is that how I appear?"
"Yeah. You have this look that says, 'I did the best I could.'"
"Yes. With this controller, this record is my limit."
43 minutes and 29 seconds.
It was a record about two minutes faster than the previous second-place time.
Though it was about five minutes slower than first place, Lacian simply threw up her hands rather than trying to shave off those five minutes.
"Weren't you aiming for first? Weren't you going to carve the name 'Lacian' into that number one spot on the leaderboard?"
"I am content with achieving my personal best through my utmost effort. Surpassing that record would be in the realm of luck."
"Luck?"
"Yes. In terms of what can be controlled within the game, this is the fastest time possible."
With a familiar touch, Lacian operated the mouse.
Since she had recorded her gameplay separately through her streaming software, she could replay her world-second-place run on the computer anytime.
"Here, this boss is the problem."
"The one that throws dolls from a distance?"
"That doll-throwing pattern is... hellish. It fires randomly, making it impossible to react to quickly."
In the video, Lacian's character was perfectly dodging the enemy's attacks, but she couldn't extend a hand to strike back.
There was no window to deal damage.
There should have been a moment to attack during the pattern to chip away at the enemy's health, but the boss repeated its invincibility pattern several times, as if mocking her.
Fortunately, the pattern broke shortly after, allowing Lacian to cram in enough damage to secure victory, but it was undoubtedly a situation one could only call 'unfair.'
"That's so cheap, seriously. You wasted almost two minutes there, didn't you? If you hadn't lost those two minutes, you would've easily taken first place."
"It cannot be helped. Rather than spending time making multiple attempts to conquer the realm of luck for first place, I believe it would be more useful to use that time for something else."
"Like what?"
"Shall we play a different game?"
Lacian showed no lingering attachment to the game she had already finished.
"I must play as many games as possible before my debut, so that those who watch my streams can do so comfortably."
"You know, people don't just watch for skillful gameplay."
There are also streams people watch for the sheer frustration of it.
In those moments, you can ride the wave of the atmosphere and legally unleash a torrent of curses.
"I am sorry. I am not good at that."
"At what?"
"I am not good at being bad."
"...You should say that exact line to your viewers when you debut as a VTuber."
Her voice was so full of confidence it bordered on shameless, but since she had actually achieved a world-second-place record, it wasn't really a problem.
"Say it to all the people who are dying to find you right now."
"Pardon? Could it be that my identity as someone from another world has been...?"
"No. People are just curious about the world's second-best player who appeared out of nowhere. Especially the viewers of the person who used to be number two."
I pulled up a streaming platform for Lacian and turned on the broadcast of a horror game streamer whose viewer count had already climbed to 800.
🔴 LIVE
"I heard his average viewership is usually 300, but ever since you took his world record, he's been going crazy trying to surpass not just second place, but first place."
"Hoh."
Lacian's eyes sparkled as she watched the stream.
"Indeed. So this is the skill of the former second-place holder."
It felt like the余裕 of a champion thinking, 'For a mere mortal, his skill is enough to be compared to mine.' I felt a slight sense of awe and curiosity at her composed gaze.
"Aren't you curious about the number one player?"
"Pardon?"
"Yeah. The top rank. It's an overseas user."
"Hmm... I may not know for sure, but may I speak my mind based on what I've felt from playing this game a few times?"
Lacian straightened her posture and spoke to me seriously.
"What is it?"
"If we're not talking about something outside the realm of normal control, then my record is the absolute best result a human can achieve, whether with a controller or a keyboard and mouse. That is, excluding that one unfair pattern."
"...Huh?"
"It may be difficult to express, but considering the game's structure, enemy placement, and monster speed, that time is simply impossible."
"So you're saying...?"
"I cannot describe it precisely. Should I say a miracle was performed with the power of magic? No. In this case, would it be black magic...?"
"You think they used a hack?"
"Pardon?"
"Cheats. You know, fraud."
I had watched Lacian play from right beside her.
While her physical skill made me feel a sense of a wall I could never overcome, she had demonstrated a prowess formidable enough to push Korea's second-best player down to third.
Game sense and pattern recognition could be memorized through repetition, so speedrunning was, in essence, a contest of physical skill.
That's why I had to give some credit to what Lacian was saying.
"So you believe the first-place record is impossible to achieve?"
"Most likely. Unless some special method was used."
Unless there was some bug or glitch that allowed for a segment skip, or unless some form of cheating was involved, the first-place record was impossible for a human to achieve?
"...Could they have used an AI?"
"Pardon?"
"It happens sometimes. They record a video that looks like a person is playing, but the actual gameplay is controlled by an AI that intervenes with the program."
In the world of speedrunning, there was one thing that was regrettably unavoidable.
Manipulation.
Many people, desperate to be number one, would resort to all sorts of dishonest methods to claim a world record, operating under the mindset that it's fine as long as they don't get caught.
"Hmm..."
If Lacian wanted, it wouldn't be a bad idea to investigate that record.
Before being a producer, I was a gamer. And as someone who had recommended this game to many VTubers and watched them scream in terror or handle it with smooth skill, I couldn't just let this nagging feeling go.
The problem.
"Miss Lacian."
"Yes."
"You don't have any intention of going for first place, then?"
"Rather than pouring my efforts into the realm of luck by attempting 40-minute runs over and over again just to get first place, I would prefer to spend that time enjoying a variety of new games."
With Lacian's mind already elsewhere, how could I force her to sit down and say, 'Go get first place'?
'If she were the type to be obsessed with being number one, she'd still be playing Jump Queen. No, she'd have already hit world number one in Jump Queen and moved on to something else.'
She wasn't the type who couldn't rest until she was number one.
If that was the case, then.
"Miss Lacian. I have a proposal."
"What is it?"
"Even if your VTuber debut is later, how about debuting as a YouTuber first?"
I couldn't let this opportunity slip away.
"Pardon?"
"I can create a channel in no time. We can make an account right now. Normally, considering the algorithm, you'd prepare thoroughly before uploading, but we can't just let a moment like this, with so many eyes on you, pass by."
Even if we weren't streaming, wasn't the viral marketing about us already in full swing?
"Look at this."
I pointed to the streamer who was in the middle of trying to shave down his speedrun time.
— Streamer [Ah, damn it...! One minute...!] — Viewer1 - Just give up. — Viewer2 - Farewell. You were just a scrub who was #2 until that 'La-something' appeared. — Viewer3 - You weren't even #1 to begin with lol
The viewer count had already reached 1,000.
Just by aiming for the world ranking of a universally known game, and with the person whose rank was stolen trying to reclaim it, a steady stream of promotion about Lacian was already happening.
"He's grinding away like this right now. Imagine if we upload your video. What do you think will happen?"
"Hmm... Is that what you call 'teabagging'?"
"It is teabagging. And that's how you get attention."
In the beginning, grabbing attention is crucial.
"What do you think? Should we upload it or not?"
"I will follow my producer's judgment, of course, but do we not lack a VTuber model, subtitles, and all of that?"
"We do. But we have the most important thing, don't we?"
"Which is...?"
I looked over the recorded video again.
There wasn't even a voice captured by the microphone in the video, only the game screen rapidly moving as the character pushed forward.
That's right.
Only the gameplay video.
"A video of Archmage-level skill."
"...."
"The moment we upload it, it'll be instant promotion to those 1,000 viewers over there."
"How will it be promoted?"
"Well, obviously..."
I observed the build the third-place streamer was using to cut his time, then re-examined a few segments of Lacian's video.
"Cuckoos."
"??"
"The only reason that guy is even grinding his run right now is probably because a cuckoo flew in."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[3 hours later.]
"Haaaah..."
The streamer,
—
"No, how can I just sleep? Damn it, I thought the build was perfect..."
He had managed to reduce his time.
He had beaten his own personal best.
But despite that, the wall of second place was thick.
"Damn it. I'm sorry, everyone. This 'stream until I win' is..."
httpS.....
"?"
A link suddenly appeared in the chat window.
Just as he was about to tell his moderator to ban the user, thinking it was a stream terrorist, ReaperAjo realized the person who posted the chat was his top subscriber.
"What's this link?"
Normally, he would have just said, 'Get rid of the troll,' without a second thought, but a link from someone who gave him over a million won a month was worth at least asking about out of courtesy.
"This video donation is..."
⭐ Top Donator — Chairman - The #2 player just uploaded her run to YouTube?
"What?"
ReaperAjo hurriedly but cautiously opened the link in a private browser tab on his smartphone.
With the sound muted to prevent any on-stream accidents, he quickly played the video.
"...Wow."
Watching the video on his phone, he swallowed hard.
"...Everyone."
Tap, tap.
"I'm lifting the video donation restriction for a moment."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Is this crazy bastard really milking this for donation money...?"
"Is this... what a professional streamer is?"
"Ha."
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