Anna Logged Back into the VR

Not to play the game, but to share her screen with Laura. Given that the in-game time of Labyrinthos was five times faster than real time, trying to watch it through her phone or PC in real-time wasn’t feasible.

“Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ll be seeing the teacher’s gameplay directly.”

She had seen the highlights on the forums and the videos edited by Rion, but never a live performance.

To be honest, watching those videos didn’t help Anna fully grasp Laura’s gameplay.

As a beginner, it was impossible for her to understand the underlying strategies and decisions that guided each move.

The gameplay was dazzling when it needed to be, precise at other times, and even understated when necessary. But what bothered Anna slightly was that Laura never seemed to lose her smile.

Anna had watched pro gamers’ matches and streams before, and those players rarely smiled.

Maybe it was because smiling could be seen as disrespectful to their opponents, or perhaps because they needed to maintain intense focus.

So Laura’s constant smiling felt strange.

“Maybe she practiced smiling?”

Meeting Laura in person confirmed it—Laura hardly ever wasn’t smiling. Anna wondered if Laura had been trained to always have a pleasant expression, as if she had undergone acting lessons or customer service training.

But somehow, it didn’t feel like that. Whatever the reason, Laura left a strong impression. Every little action of hers lingered in one’s memory.

That was probably why Anna had been drawn to her, why she had asked Laura to be her mentor—because Laura was, undeniably, an extraordinary person.

And this extraordinary person was currently...

[I’ll play as a Roamer.]

[Wait, what? Roaming as a Mechamancer?]
[Mechamancer Roaming? Didn’t people experiment with that a while back? Does that even work anymore?]
[A ranged DPS as a Roamer? Great, we’ve lost this one...]

...trolling.

“Teacher, is that really okay?” Anna couldn’t help but ask.

Even as a novice, she knew this wasn’t right. It was like trying to jungle as a marksman in a MOBA.

But Laura’s voice remained cheerful.

[To be honest, the Mechamancer isn’t well-suited for solo queue. Party members can sometimes get in the way.]

“In the way?”

[The essence of playing a stealth character is not getting detected while cloaked. But sometimes, Supporters mindlessly cast buffs or shields on you. If the enemy spots the Supporter’s animation, they can figure out your location, which makes things very difficult for a stealth character.]

“Teacher, you’re not angry, are you?”

[Oh, of course not. There’s no one as kind-hearted as me, after all.]

There was a certain edge to her words...

But the point was clear. To fully utilize the Mechamancer’s Optical Camouflage, Laura needed to play solo, so she chose the Roamer role.

[You should try roaming as well if there’s no spot for a ranged DPS.]

“That’s a bit...”

After all, Anna was a well-known Virtuber. If she made a mistake, it could end up on the forums, and she’d be mercilessly mocked on social media. She couldn’t afford to troll around.

As the game began in earnest, Laura confidently broke away from the main group to farm neutral mobs.

Oddly enough, it started to look like a good strategy.

Ratatatatatata!!!

The sound of rapid gunfire echoed.

On the screen, there was a turret spewing bullets—one of the Mechamancer’s skills, Turret Deployment.

Laura was using the turret as cover while firing at the neutral mobs.

The mobs were shredded by the barrage of bullets.

“The farming speed is incredible.”

Laura continued to hunt neutral mobs. The more Anna watched, the more confused she became.

Was she always this fast?

Sure, turret placement and kiting seemed crucial.

But on the flip side, if your control was good, it looked quite stable. The turret tanked most of the damage, so Laura hardly lost any HP.

So why don’t more people play Mechamancer as a Roamer? It seemed perfect for farming.

[The fundamental reason the Mechamancer isn’t used as a Roamer is because it lacks the ability to disrupt the enemy’s main force.]

Had Laura read her mind? Suddenly, Laura provided an explanation.

And with her words, everything clicked.

If a Necromancer showed up leading a horde of undead, it would be terrifying. It would take ages to break through, and you’d lose a lot of health in the process.

But if a Mechamancer showed up alone?

Just focus fire with your tank at the front, and that’s it.

An assassin might at least have the mobility to escape, but the Mechamancer doesn’t.

Even if you tried to escape using Optical Camouflage, the enemy’s scouts would likely spot you, and you’d be hunted down.

Understanding this, Anna couldn’t help but wonder… then why was Laura playing Mechamancer as a Roamer?

[That’s why the Mechamancer has to play differently from other Roamers. Focus solely on charging your ultimate.]

On the screen, Laura’s eyes flashed. It was a sign that she had activated her ultimate.

In Labyrinthos, ultimates don’t have a cooldown but require a charged gauge to use.

There are various ways to fill the ultimate gauge, but the basic principle is that it fills as you deal or receive damage. It’s similar to the way special move gauges work in fighting games.

This also applies to neutral mobs. Killing neutral mobs fills the ultimate gauge.

In those brief 10 seconds,

Laura’s mind must have processed the map layout, the location of neutral mobs, and the positions of both enemy and ally teams.

With this knowledge, Laura immediately started moving.

After running for a while, she suddenly stopped and hid behind a pillar.

There, gathered, were her ally teammates from earlier in the match.

[Archer, use your scout skill, please.]
[Just a moment... Oh, we’ve got a hit. The enemy’s main force is heading this way.]
[Looks like it’s the enemy’s main force. Should we engage here?]
[Let’s do it.]
[Cavalry, initiate, please.]
[Roger that.]

Laura’s allies were discussing their strategy.

But Laura didn’t join the main force.

She didn’t participate in their conversation; she just leaned casually against the pillar, seemingly unconcerned about whether her teammates were setting up an ambush.

Soon, as her teammates had predicted, the enemies appeared.

Some of the enemy team had scout skills, so it was inevitable that they’d converge like this.

Both sides were looking for a fight.

The enemy cautiously advanced.

Seeing this, the Cavalry initiated the fight.

[Ah, that was a bit too early.]

Laura muttered quietly as she watched.

It was a common occurrence. Sometimes initiators engage without considering their team’s position.

This was one of those times. The Cavalry’s mobility was so good that they initiated the fight outside the range of their allies’ attacks.

Naturally, the allies couldn’t follow up.

They were either out of range, or didn’t have the high mobility skills needed to keep up.

[Damn it! I initiated, why isn’t anyone following up??]

The panicked Cavalry shouted, but complaining wouldn’t change reality.

The Cavalry, who had charged too far ahead, was quickly beaten down by the enemy Barbarian. To make matters worse, the enemy Bard added crowd control, leaving the Cavalry completely immobilized.

An 8-second kill.

That’s how long it took for the isolated Cavalry to become a corpse.

[Ugh, what a terrible initiation....]

The allied Brawler cursed.

With the Cavalry dead, the enemies advanced.

Laura’s team was now down to four players, while the enemy still had all five. The numbers were in their favor, so they likely thought they could push forward and win the team fight.

And they were right.

The basic role of a tank is to maintain the frontline.

To block the enemy’s advance and protect allies by serving as a “wall.”

The Cavalry was supposed to fulfill this role, but now that they were gone, the allied team couldn’t stop the enemy’s advance.

They were helplessly pushed back.

The Brawler tried desperately to hold the line, but he was a bruiser, not a pure tank.

Outnumbered, there was no way they could hold out.

“...But why isn’t the teacher doing anything?”

Her team was being slaughtered, yet Laura watched calmly, not intervening. Was she really just going to let them lose?

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

Only after the Brawler fell did Laura finally make her move.

[Anna, you’re watching, right?]
“Yes, I’m watching.”
[Remember this, if nothing else: the Mechamancer shines when you treat your teammates as disposable.]
“...What?”

Anna didn’t understand what she meant, but Laura didn’t elaborate. She simply activated Optical Camouflage.

With Optical Camouflage active, Laura was invisible to both her allies and enemies as she circled around behind the enemy team.

Click

Laura quickly set up a turret.

Then, she leisurely aimed her gun, the barrel pointing directly at the enemy Bard.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

Laura’s gun roared to life.

Her recoil control was perfect, and her aim was dead-on, the bullets tearing into the Bard’s head.

The Mechamancer already had powerful basic attacks, and after farming neutral mobs, she was well-fed and stronger.

Given that it was a headshot and the target was a Bard, there was no way the Bard could withstand it. As a support, the Bard was inherently squishy.

[The allied Mechamancer has slain the enemy Bard.]

[What? Where did that come from?]
[Behind! The Mechamancer is behind us!]
[When did she get there?]
[Tank!! Get back there and stop her! You have to stop her!]

The enemy team finally realized Laura’s presence, but it was too late.

Their frontline was already committed.

With the Cavalry and Brawler down, only the damage dealers and supports were left.

If they could kill the damage dealers, they could win the round.

Seeing victory within reach, the enemies had already used all their ultimate and mobility skills.

With the enemy frontline’s skills on cooldown, there was no one to stop Laura, who now had a clear shot.

Moreover, Laura was behind them.

From Laura’s perspective, the enemy had exposed their backline—where the squishy damage dealers were positioned.

Click

Laura aimed her gun at the enemy damage dealers and pulled the trigger.

[Wow, that was an amazing flank, Mechamancer.]
[Apologies for the earlier comments. I didn’t realize you were so skilled.]
[If you were going to carry, you should have said so! You made me look like such a fool~.]

The same players who had criticized Laura for trolling earlier were now singing her praises.

That’s the nature of overwhelming power.

[I’ll roam again next round.]

[Fine, I’ll trust you again, just this once.]
[I still think you’d be better as a ranged DPS, but if you want to roam, I won’t stop you~.]
[Ha, if you go ranged DPS, I’ll guard you with my life.]

Even so, they weren’t fully sold on the idea of a Mechamancer roaming.

As Anna watched all of this, a small smile crept onto her face.

“...But wait, didn’t the teacher call me ‘Anna’ earlier?”

That was odd. She’d only told Laura that she was a streamer, not a Virtuber.

Had she ever introduced herself as Shiroki Anna?

Maybe she misheard…?