Chapter 165: Shining Metamorphosis, Laughing Foreigner, and Tipping Point Part 2

I would use the gauge to win the round, and I’m sure that Pencilgton would opt to save as much of it as possible. And judging that Natsume-san has a similar playstyle to Katsu……

「She decided to use it?」

「Even if she loses the second round, she’ll always have a chance of snatching the victory in the third round.」

Suddenly the ground cracks and crashes all around the two fighters, and what emerges from it are tentacles that wrap themselves around the NPCs and Dr. Sandalphone, effectively reducing his physical strength. If someone were to receive a nice combo while being in a state like that…… a certain knockout. So the first round ended in Natsume-san’s victory. There was going to be a short break before proceeding to round two.

「Talk about cutting it close, huh?」

「Yeah…… If it was to me, I would have gave up on this round and let him have it in the rounds to come.」

Even though she took hostages to stall for time, Lucas managed to adapt his playstyle quickly and respond accordingly. Even if taking hostages may be effective course of a action, it can all be for nothing once your opponent learns how to deal with that.

And the biggest problem lies in Natsume-san’s nature. Because she’s shy, she tends to be somewhat indecisive at times. I know that they are all NPCs, but truly, no human being would be able to use others as meat-shields with unwavering conviction and unfazed psyche. I don’t blame her for that, but it’s also something that your opponent won’t miss the next time they fight.

「Ooohhh! All of a sudden Player Natsume, after taking hostages again, was attacked from behind out of the blue!」

「Not good…… She used half of her gauge last round, so if she ends up using more of it unexpectedly, it’s going to take a while for it to recover.」

「It’s also bad that that they happened to spawn so close to one another. Give us a break, RNG!」

Since she was attacked from the back, Natsume-san let go of the hostages, since they wouldn’t be of any use to her right now. She was doing her best to fight back, but it was right about time to make a decision that sets the amateurs away from professionals. What to do in such a situation, if all odds are against you?

「Ah, she’s running away.」

「It might be called a ritual of sorts, or maybe a sign of taking this seriously…… But she’s trying to earn some time to come up with a strategy for a counterattack.」

Sasahara Eight went to do a short interview with the members of Star Rain. So now we could discuss the current development without having to worry that a microphone would pick any sounds. We watched as Yggdryer made his escape, plating seeds - his special action - all over the back alleys.

We can hear booing all over the audience in reaction to that miserable display…… But that doesn’t matter right now. If that strategy allows you to win in the end, all that booing is nothing more but the barking of a sore loser.

「It seems as though she abandoned hope for victory in this round and wants to regain as much of her gauge as possible.」

「Wow, it’s raining police cars all over the place.」

Villain gauge increases with every action that is becoming of a true Villain. When fighting against Heroes, threatening the civilian also counted as an action that increased the gauge.

Destroying the city also counted as the act of villainy, and Yggdryer continued to do just that until finally Dr. Sandalphon caught up with his and starting to damage him once more.

「I knew it, it seems that each character has its own unique conditions for increasing their gauge.」

The conclusion we arrived at after investigating Star Rain was that they were mostly proficient with Hero characters, so we naturally started to train ourselves in Villain characters.

For example, in Ydddryer’s case, inflicting harm directly onto civilians would yield better results than damaging the buildings and causing environmental damage. Furthermore, using people as meat-shields would earn you even more gauge. What’s more, if you torture people and let them to die, you’d earn even more gauge than before…… Was there anyone who would enjoy that particular playstyle? Sure there was. She was sitting right next to me.

「Allowing your enemy to perform acts of evil as they see fit…… Only a complete idiot would allow something like that and not try to stop it.」

「While faithful reproduction is indeed a good idea, isn’t it too early to relax just yet?」

If it was indeed the case of a fighter-type villain, there would be no problem. You could have just taken the action straight to the Hero and finish this once and for all. But in case of Yggdryer, a character that favors sneakiness, such solution may not be available. It brings its own set of problems to the table.

「Now then, it’s time for the final round. Just how far is Player Natsume willing to go in order to win this!?」

「It looks fun to me.」

「I just love it when someone does things exactly how I tell them to.」

「What are you? A pacifier or what……?」