The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 131: SAN Check

It seems...

Rinko might have gotten herself a girlfriend.

"It’s not like that, I swear...."

Rinko covered her face with her hand.

"At the very least, you should keep this kind of thing outside of work hours, don’t you think? You had a proper collab schedule today, no matter how heated things got."

"Laura, you’ve got to believe me. I’m really not into that...."

"I’m just teasing."

I only wanted to mess with her a little for inconveniencing me.

In truth, I knew exactly who this person was right away.

"Son Narim. It’s my first time meeting you in person."

I looked at her.

She was breathing heavily, as if it was difficult to even catch her breath, and her gaze couldn’t seem to focus in my direction.

She was definitely unwell. Probably a cold or the flu—maybe both.

Even in her disheveled state, her appearance wasn’t bad. Not quite a striking beauty like me or Chel, nor someone with an unusual presence like Rinko.

She had the vibe of that one girl in every class—"not someone who stands out, but still quietly pretty."

That’s the kind of atmosphere Son Narim exuded.

"You recognized me immediately."

"Your voice gave you away."

"I recognized you, too."

"That’s hardly surprising."

I casually took off my sunglasses.

"By the way, Rinko, were you planning to leave me standing here forever?"

"Oh, right... Narim, you should go inside, too. You’re unwell and need to lie down."

Rinko let me into the house first, then helped Son Narim to the bed.

"It’s not a cold, just the flu. So it’s not contagious...."

Rinko sounded a bit uneasy as she explained.

Her home was a studio apartment.

"For someone who earns as much as you do, why are you living in a place like this?"

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

"I can’t handle the upkeep of a bigger place. Besides, this way I save more money."

It seemed she had her reasons for staying in a studio.

I don’t particularly like small living spaces. The way the living room and bedroom blend together feels stifling for someone of my noble standing.

Thanks to Rinko’s neat organization, it wasn’t unbearable, but still, sharing a space with Son Narim in bed was unavoidable in such a compact home.

"So, when did you two start living together?"

"I’ve never lived with Narim... She contacted me today, so I brought her here."

"That doesn’t make sense. Are you related, then?"

"No, we’re not."

That made even less sense.

I could understand why she was letting Narim stay—clearly, Rinko was taking care of her because she was sick.

But why Rinko?

The first thought that came to mind was family.

If I were to fall ill, Rion would take care of me—or I’d go back to my family’s estate for care.

Of course, there are situations where family isn’t an option.

But if Narim’s family couldn’t care for her, wouldn’t her manager or someone from her company take on that role?

Failing that, surely her colleagues in the same company—like Mashina or Eleonora—could step in.

It made no sense that someone like Rinko, who wasn’t family and worked at a different company, was the one helping.

"I didn’t want anyone to know I was sick."

Narim’s strained voice came from the bed.

"Especially the other Fantasy League participants... That’s why I asked Rinko-senpai, someone unrelated, for help."

"You didn’t want anyone to know?"

"Don’t get me started, Laura. Narim wanted to collab with me in this state."

Rinko sighed heavily.

"A collab while you’re sick? Why would you do that?"

"You see, Narim... never skips a stream unless something extraordinary happens. If she suddenly took a day off, it would be obvious something was wrong."

"So, you’re afraid viewers would notice she’s sick."

Narim didn’t want anyone to know about her condition, so she was determined to stream today, no matter what.

"But in her state, running a solo stream would be impossible... So she asked me for a collab."

"Stubborn, isn’t she?"

"Stubborn doesn’t even cover it. She’s relentless... and incredibly headstrong."

It seemed Rinko had been trying to convince Narim to rest, but she hadn’t budged an inch.

"Since Laura-san knows now, why don’t we make it a three-person collab?"

Narim, undeterred, even suggested that with a straight face.

"Why did she end up like this... Oh, she streamed for 16 hours yesterday," Rinko muttered, glancing at her phone with an exasperated sigh.

"The competition’s coming up soon. I thought I’d get some extra practice in."

"Not just once or twice—this has been going on continuously. Even office workers only put in eight-hour days."

"Office work is less demanding, and some people work nights."

"...Are you even sleeping properly?"

"Yes!"

Narim usually got about six hours of sleep. If she woke up early, she’d sometimes stream after just four hours, but on those days, she’d nap after lunch.

She thought she was managing just fine.

Maybe it was because she didn’t mix in exercise, but her stamina seemed to have plummeted. If she’d known it would come to this, she might have worked out more.

"Just take today off, Narim...."

"No."

For Narim, streaming was a promise to her viewers. And as someone who hated backing down, she also hated breaking promises.

On top of that, if her illness became apparent to viewers, her team might get criticized.

"Narim’s working so hard—what are you guys doing?" they’d say.

Narim despised all those possibilities.

So even though she felt awful, streaming seemed better for her mental health.

"I think I get it now."

Laura murmured as she glanced at Rinko’s phone.

She casually sat down on the edge of the bed.

Without a second thought, she looked down at Narim.

"Laura-san...?"

"I’ll say this just once."

Face-to-face, Laura spoke clearly.

"Do you absolutely have to stream?"

The mention of streaming hit Narim like a bucket of cold water.

"...I do. I will."

Because she hated running away, hated backing down, and hated giving up.

That was Narim’s answer.

"I see."

Then, Laura slowly moved her hand.

Her hand brushed Narim’s cheek roughly, as if checking her temperature, and then rested on her forehead.

"But I have no obligation to listen to you."

Smack!

Laura flicked her finger against Narim’s forehead.

Her index finger hit Narim squarely, and...

Narim passed out.

"Ah! L-Laura...?"

"Don’t worry. She’s just asleep."

Laura dusted off her hands and stood up.

"She must’ve been really exhausted to faint from just that."

"The sound was so loud... Is Narim really okay...?"

"No need to worry. Who do you think I am?"

Laura smiled brightly.

She couldn’t cook or clean, but if there was one thing Laura excelled at, it was knocking people out.

"Choking games can be dangerous without proper knowledge or technique. They can cause brain damage if done incorrectly."

"Uh..."

Why is she even bringing this up...?

Rinko couldn’t bring herself to ask.

"But I am a noblewoman. I possess both the knowledge and the technique."

"Why would you even know that kind of thing...?"

"Do you want to know?"

Laura asked.

N-no... I don’t... I really don’t...

"Now that she’s safely asleep, let’s focus on what we need to do."

"..."

Rinko couldn’t understand why the phrase "safely asleep" was even necessary.

This must be the essence of true terror.

"So, Laura, what do you want to eat?"

"Survive. Bow low and live another day."