“Young master Rine! I beg you, please don’t go!!!”
A beautiful blonde girl screamed with a face full of anguish, her voice cutting clearly through the chaos around her.
Her face was marked with wounds, tears running freely down it, her trembling gaze fixed straight ahead.
With one hand broken and injuries covering her body, she still forced herself to stand and keep walking.
“Forgive me, Livia. I… I have to go!”
Standing at the center of the chaos was a figure with white hair and red eyes, features so sharp and handsome they barely looked real.
Dressed in ornate golden armor with a sword in his right hand already blazing with energy, Rine glanced back over his shoulder and said:
“I promise. Once this is over… I’ll marry you.”
In an instant, energy surged from Rine’s body in a way that anyone who had ever watched an anime would recognize immediately.
Hearing those words, Livia could only smile and trust him, even as her heart clenched with worry.
“You have to keep that promise… Rine.”
“I’ll come back…”
– Look at him!
He’s really committing to the bit lol
– bro’s feelings for the blonde girl are on a whole different level TuT #BlondeFanbase
– this is disgusting!
– I feel like throwing up…
– Lmaoo
– bro really said lemme look cool in front of my girl!!
Wwwww
The comment section kept rolling in, a mix of jokes, roasts, and excitement over what had just happened and what was coming next.
“Hmph! You’re all so loud. This is called true love between two people.”
– LoL
– LoL
– LoL
– wwwwww
[Safe Me has donated ₩100,000]
[Aigoo, less drama, just go beat the twin Villainesses already!]
Seeing the donation notification on screen made Rine genuinely happy.
It wasn’t much, but money was money, and Rine practically mauled his screen kissing the notification out of sheer excitement.
– I feel like throwing up again…
– Lmao
“Hahaha! Thank you so much to Safe Me-nim! I, Streamer Gaming Rine, will absolutely take down the twin Villainesses!”
“Watch and learn, newbies.”
Rine’s signature was being over the top and completely himself.
It was exactly that personality that had pulled viewers in and landed him endorsement deals with some major companies.
He had started as a small streamer playing games and doing the occasional mukbang just to afford something decent to eat.
The turning point had been the moment he let his real self slip through on camera, and that unfiltered version of him was what had carried him to where he was now.
Back then he couldn’t have dreamed of anyone donating, and now here he was.
No matter the amount, Rine greeted every donation with the same unhinged enthusiasm.
Even if his way of saying thank you was, admittedly, sometimes kind of gross.
Amid a blaze of fire that showed no signs of dying down, two women floated in the air.
Their faces were nearly identical, both beautiful, both with long hair, both looking like they had been made from the same mold.
But their outfits were deliberately opposite.
The woman on the left had long black hair decorated with a black ribbon and gold ornaments.
She wore an aristocratic black outer garment with gold detailing along the shoulders, arms, and waist, and beneath it a white high-collar blouse with black accents at the neck.
The woman on the right had long silver-white hair adorned with a white ribbon and matching gold ornaments.
Her outer garment was white, the design nearly identical to her sister’s, but the blouse beneath it was black.
Even their belts and the smaller details of their outfits ran in opposing colors.
Black and white.
White and black.
Two halves of the same whole, different but inseparable, as if Yin and Yang had decided to take the shape of twin sisters.
Rine looked up at them, brow furrowing as red energy began to gather in his eyes.
“Evelyn Nocturne and Elysia Nocturne. You’re going to end at my hands.”
– Shesss
– “You’re going to end at my hands.” Lol
“You’ve gone too far! Your actions have destroyed people’s homes and the academy itself. As of this moment, I, Rine De Heribov, will stop you!”
With his sword blazing in red energy, Rine launched himself straight at the two of them in an instant.
“Skill! Fire… SLASH!”
He swung horizontally.
A blade of energy wrapped in red fire shot toward the twin Villainesses, and then…
BOOM!
A direct hit.
The explosion sent a shockwave rolling out in every direction.
“Not done yet!”
Before landing, Rine raised one hand toward the explosion.
“Skill!…” A massive magic circle materialized above the blast, followed immediately by dozens of ice spears with points sharpened on both ends.
“Ice Missile! Third Casting!”
Hundreds of ice spears launched into the explosion.
With Third Casting tripling both the power and the number of projectiles, there was a very real chance this would be the end for the twins.
“Flying Sword! Edge! Take this too!”
Rine kicked the hilt of his sword toward the twins.
When it connected, another explosion erupted, larger than the first.
– Is it over?
– Idiot!
Don’t say that!
The collision of fire and ice had produced a thick cloud of mist around the twins, dense enough that it would take time to clear.
Rine was certain it wasn’t over though.
If his attacks had done real damage, there would be blood, or the twins would have dropped from the air.
Staying airborne required energy, and someone seriously hurt would be struggling to maintain it.
But there wasn’t a single drop of anything.
And the skills Rine had used weren’t low-tier.
Each one was A-Rank or higher, and he had fired them back to back without giving the twins a single opening to counter.
Rine took a few steps back, smiling tightly, looking up.
“Guys… I think the stream’s going to end here…”
– Huh?
Why?
– Do you need to use the bathroom?
Your face says everything.
Wwww
– We haven’t even seen the reward yet.
– That’s right!
Or wait, did you pull an SSS-grade item and you’re hiding it from us?
– Why though?
The comment section flooded with questions over his sudden announcement.
Rine answered with that same tight smile still on his face.
“W-well… because I’m going to die.”
– !!!
– !?
– It’s a bit!
– He said what?
– He said he’s going to die…
– Rest well in the next life, Rine T_T
– What do you mean?
– Look up!
The twin Villainesses were still floating in exactly the same position they had been in when the mist cleared.
Not a scratch on either of them after taking everything Rine had thrown at them back to back, and that realization hit both the viewers and Rine himself at the same moment.
Their cold eyes locked onto Rine, who was very visibly starting to panic.
“You have been talking this whole time about finishing us with your own hands.”
“And now you’re talking to yourself? You might be more unhinged than the rest of them.”
– Lmao
– “The rest of them?” Who are they referring to?
“I figured as much. All of you really are trash that deserves to die.”
“Disappointing. You couldn’t even get through our defense.”
Evelyn and Elysia raised their hands toward Rine, and a magic circle formed in each of their palms before merging together, producing a massive combined circle behind them.
Rine stared up at it and could only smile bitterly, sweat running down his face.
He turned the camera to point at the magic circle and the twins framed behind it.
Together, they spoke:
“Gavania.”
A laser-wide beam of light shot out from the circle and drove straight toward Rine, who just closed his eyes and accepted it before going into his stream outro.
“And… with that, we’re done here! Thank you so much for watching! Don’t forget to follow and I’ll see you in the next stream!”
The moment the stream switched to the outro screen, the sound of a massive explosion hit, huge and thoroughly destructive.
Even without seeing it, the viewers could fill in the rest.
* * *
“My ears hurt…”
Using earphones when watching videos in a crowded place was strongly recommended.
It kept the noise to yourself, and it meant the audio wouldn’t get mixed up with everything else going on around you.
So the recommendation was: wear earphones in public.
Just don’t crank the volume so high it starts hurting.
That was the kind of thing that could damage your hearing.
Obviously nobody in this day and age would do something that dumb.
Except for the person currently face down on the sidewalk of a public park, hands clamped over both ears, while nearby parents picked up their children and walked briskly in the opposite direction.
The sound of approaching footsteps.
While the person on the ground was still shaking, they felt something cold land on the back of their head.
GASP!
“Kang Minjae… What… What are you doing?!”
Kang Minjae looked up, still holding both ears, and as he did, something pinkish and liquid dripped from the top of his head down onto his face.
“What is this?”
“You… I’m not your father! Why are you bowing to me on the ground?! If I ever had a kid like you I would not want that!”
“What are you even saying, Choi Hyuk. And what is this?”
“Oh… It’s ice cream.”
Kang Minjae picked up his phone from the ground and stood up, one hand still pressed against the ear that hadn’t stopped ringing.
“Why is there ice cream on my head?”
“It was yours. I got so startled when you suddenly collapsed and bowed in front of me that I dropped it on your head.”
Choi Hyuk walked over and patted him on the shoulder while squeezing out what were very clearly forced tears.
“Minjae… I can’t be your father. We can only ever be best friends forever. I know you must have been going through so much all this time—”
PLAK!
Choi Hyuk stopped mid-sentence because Minjae had launched the chocolate ice cream directly at his face, where it landed and then slowly slid downward.
“Oops…”