[Phantasm Chronicle Training for the Tournament Starts!!! Keep up the hard work, Natsune! #KainohIzumi#NatsuneNanase#StarsFlow]
[Wah?! What was that just now, Coach Izumi!!!]
“I, I used the purify effect to save my teammates while they’re dizzy.”
…Not bad, huh?
That was the conclusion I came to.
It’s not just because I’m the eighth star; objectively, it wasn’t bad at all.
Currently, Natsune is practicing with Estelle.
Estelle was a character great for supporting allies from a distance, and Natsune was fulfilling that role quite well.
When my character, ‘Kagami,’ was being double-teamed, Natsune helped from a distance, saving our purify… just looking at that…
Of course, there were some areas for improvement.
But considering that Natsune is a beginner, these issues were all manageable.
If she practices hard during the remaining time, she’ll definitely be able to fix it.
– Three losses in a row, huh…
– They’re still in the process of getting used to each other.
– But you can see the skill improving little by little.
Well, as the chatroom said, right now, Natsune and I are on a three-loss streak… to be honest, that’s a pretty bad record.
However, the overall reactions weren’t bad, and there were quite a few supportive players who thought similarly to me.
…Could we really win this thing?
Gradually, I began to feel that expectation rising.
Of course, it’s only been a day since we started practicing.
Getting excited and expecting results from just a day of practice is jumping the gun, but… I just couldn’t help but feel hopeful.
That’s because, initially, I thought I’d just enjoy this!
But seeing such hope unfold makes it impossible not to feel excited!
“Estelle’s R is fundamentally short in cooldown… so feel free to use it for harassment.”
[R skill… not bad for harassment… OK! I’ll take note of that!]
Moreover, if Natsune is taking notes on my advice… with her level of commitment, it’d be a crime not to get my hopes up.
[Finally, we won!!!]
Thus, our first day’s practice results turned out to be 1 win and 5 losses.
Looking purely at the results, it was dismal, but neither I nor Natsune voiced any disappointment.
– Congratulations!
– 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
And the chatroom was sincerely congratulating our first victory.
Really. The fact that Natsune, who couldn’t even hit a sandbag with Sky Strike yesterday, has grown this much in just one day is a touching story even in a movie.
Yeah. Honestly, I feel like crying too.
“So, Natsune. I, I’m counting on you again tomorrow!”
[Yep! Let’s do our best again tomorrow! Everyone, mataNatsune~!]
“I-I’ll see you next time!”
– Bye, Izumi!
★
[Hikari… that wasn’t bad just now.]
[Oh ho ho! Of course, it’s only natural when I give it my all, right?]
[Suzuha. In a situation like just now, it’s better to use purify to push back the enemies.]
[Then, what should I do when I’m the one being attacked later?]
[It’s my job to prevent that from happening.]
The screen reflected the collab broadcast of various Stars Flow members.
Naturally, the collab’s topic was Phantasm Chronicle.
To win the tournament happening in two weeks, all members of Stars Flow were training with all their might.
“It’s not enough…”
And Nanase let out a quiet sigh while watching them.
She herself knew very well that when it came to individual skill for this tournament, she was the weakest.
Of course, for Nanase, gaming was just a means to communicate with fans, but…
[Yes. I want to win…]
Hearing the true feelings of Izumi, who had joined the team, she resolved to change her mindset this time around.
She had to win.
No. She wanted to win.
Yet, she was far from it.
By comparing her own gameplay today with the other members showcased in the current video, it became painfully clear.
If things continued like this, no matter how well Izumi played, they’d be out before the first round, let alone winning.
After the broadcast today, Izumi had said that it seemed like they could realistically aim for victory, but from Nanase’s perspective, that was absolutely not the case.
Nanase needed to do better from here on.
“Haah…”
Even if things carried on like this and she was eliminated in the first round, Izumi would undoubtedly smile nonchalantly.
Although she wanted to win, she figured Izumi would definitely say it was fine since they had fun together for two weeks.
Izumi, after all, often showed a gentler side because she was a bit of a softy since she was the eighth star.
However, Nanase couldn’t accept such an ending.
“Okay. Let’s practice.”
What Izumi was currently teaching Nanase were just very basic aspects of Phantasm Chronicle.
That just wasn’t enough.
Practicing for only about two hours a day was terribly inadequate.
So Nanase launched the Phantasm Chronicle game that she had just stopped.
The goal of the Nanai Team was victory.
The success or failure of that rested in Nanase’s hands.
★
[Star Flow Phantasm Chronicle Tournament Round 1! Stars Flow’s Phantasm Chronicle Tournament!! Are you all ready?! We’re starting!!! #StarsFlow]
Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
Unfortunately, Natsune didn’t have time to practice with Natsuri more than she intended, but she still became quite adept at handling both Estelle and Satori.
From halfway through, Natsune’s skills noticeably improved, leading to admiration from me, the supportive players, and all the eighth stars.
[Hmm! Everyone, Konshoko! Today’s the first round of the Phantasm Chronicle tournament, and I’m Mizuki Shoko, a homeroom teacher of Atlas and the event’s host… alongside!]
[KonTsuba~! This time, I’ve got the role of commentator, Tsubaki Namikawa, the flower spirit!]
On the left monitor, Mizuki’s broadcast of the tournament was being streamed.
They were smoothly explaining everything about today’s Phantasm Chronicle tournament, and while listening to their voices…
[Nanoize Team! Our goal is to win! Woohoooo!!! #KainohIzumi#NatsuneNanase#StarsFlow]
I had my own broadcast running.
Of course, I made sure to inform my manager properly, reported, and wrapped up with a consultation, and to be safe, I turned off Mizuki’s broadcast sound on my stream, so there were no issues.
“K-Kaizumi… who’s the atmosphere maker, Kainoh Izumi…”
– Hiyazumi!
– Your voice is shaking.
“Y-Yeah. I’m really, really nervous….”
To be honest, my heart started racing already.
I was confident after working hard with Natsune, but what if my mistake caused us to be eliminated in the first round?
I almost wanted to forfeit right now…
Such negative thoughts kept flooding in.
[Calm down! Breathe, Izumi! Yes, we’ll definitely be able to win!]
“Uaaaaah…”
What calmed me down was Natsune’s usual bright and energetic voice.
How to put it, but Natsune should be even more nervous than I am…
…Right.
What’s the point of me being anxious right now?
Get your act together. I’m the leader here.
Now’s my chance to lead Natsune…!
I lightly slapped my palm against my cheek.
With a smack! sound, I felt my mind clear up a bit, taking a deep breath.
“I can do this…. I can do this. I can do this…! I can do this! Yes! I can do it!!”
– Fighting!
– Let’s show the results of our hard work with Natsune!
Did the supportive players notice I was really nervous? They were kinder than usual.
If they were always this nice, that’d be great.
But saying that would lead to remarks like “Then Mei-chan would get spoiled and go overboard!”…
Why are they so strict with me, anyway?
[I was getting butterflies watching everyone practice recently. I also thought I made a mistake volunteering for the commentator role.]
[If you did that, it’d be weird with the number of people, right?]
[Well, that’s true. So? Who do you think will win?]
[Hmm…. To be honest and without favoritism, it’s probably Rinze-chan’s team.]
[I see. They haven’t lost once during the recent practice streams, right?]
[Yes! They’re too strong! It just felt natural to think that way!]
Namikawa-senpai and Mizuki-chan seemed to expect that the winning team would be Rinze-senpai and Suzuha’s team.
Certainly, we only barely managed to win once when we competed three days ago.
…But personally, the team I’m more wary of is Aki-chan’s team with Kurokami-senpai.
When we faced off against them, our win rate was 3 wins to 3 losses, a 50 percent rate.
But how should I say this?
I felt an instinctual urge not to let my guard down.
[Alright, let’s take a look at today’s matchups!]
[Team 1: Kaguya Aoba | Hina Amatsuka VS Team 2: Aki Nekoto | Hikari Kurokami]
[Team 3: Rinze Yuzuki | Suzuha Koga VS Team 4: Ichika Minazuki | Sakuya Suzumichi]
[Team 5: Ayaka Utsumi | Tsukasa Tsurusaki VS Team 6: Kainoh Izumi | Natsune Nanase]
[Team 7: Yukari Akabane | Kaede Hatakawa]
[The winning team between Team 5 and Team 6 goes head-to-head with Team 7, right?]
[Yes. With seven teams, we had no other choice~.]
[If we went out as the commentator team, it would have been exactly eight teams.]
[Then there wouldn’t have been anyone to run it, you fool!]
[Hehe!]
In any case, our first opponent was Team 5, led by Tsukasa, a true supportive player.
Being a supportive player, Tsukasa wouldn’t simply let this pass during the tournament.
[Tsukasa and Ayaka primarily use a Bastet and Mithra combo, right?]
“Yes… both are close-range combat characters, so I think it’s better for me and Natsune to use Satori.”
Using Estelle for ranged support is fine, but since Bastet and Mithra have strong diving capabilities, using Satori, who excels in area stuns, would be easier to handle.
[Alright, let’s hear the resolve of each team’s leader!]
“I-I’ll be back, Natsune….”
[Yes! Go teach them how scary we are, Izumi!]
★
[Alright, now let’s hear the resolve of Team 6’s leader. What does Izumi-chan have to say?]
[I have a lot of expectations for Team 6, personally.]
– Since Mei-chan is here!
– Just the fact that Mei-chan is with Natsune makes them stronger!
Hearing Tsubaki-senpai and Mizuki-chan’s words, I took a deep breath and began to speak.
“Natsune and I are here to win, so I’ll make sure to take every single one down…! Especially our first opponent, Ayaka, is the one who made me participate in this tournament…!”
[Eh? Izumi-chan participated because of Ayaka?]
“Yeah… U-Utsumi provoked me to join…. So, Team 5 will definitely lose!”
And boldly declaring that we would wipe out every last one of them.
[Eh~. Izumi, that was because Ayaka asked Nekoto to provoke, right? Don’t you think you should let that go?]
The truth that emerged was just as I suspected.
“…No way! I’ll punish both of you!”
[How cruel~!]
As I left behind Utsumi’s cries of despair and listened to Akabane’s resolve, finally, the Stars Flow First. The Phantasm Chronicle tournament began.
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