[Light's Izakaya Diary] Double Champion at the Taiwan VTuber Triathlon 2023/9/3

For the past couple of weeks, my entire life has basically revolved around the Taiwan VTuber Triathlon. It all started when I dropped by Reida's stream and she casually asked, "Are you signing up?" Without overthinking it, I just went ahead and registered. The very next day, I dove straight into Ghosts 'n Goblins and spent over nine grueling hours trying to clear it. At that point, I seriously started questioning if I'd made a huge mistake.

But for whatever reason—maybe I just caught the bug—the next day I booted up Jump King, a game I hadn't touched since I beat it ages ago, and quietly started grinding. I also squeezed in a few more runs of Ghosts 'n Goblins. Pretty soon, I realized I was pouring an insane amount of time into prepping for this tournament—which is to say, I'd completely lost my mind lol. I even managed to grind my Jump King time down to around the top 600 in the world! By then, the hype had fully set in. The day before the event, I was practically buzzing, feeling exactly like a kid on the eve of elementary school field day. How did I go from pure misery to genuine excitement? I guess it’s just been a really long time since I entered the adult world that I’ve actually competed in such a massive, purely fun event.

Well! Fast forward to the event, and I actually took home the championship! On top of that, I snagged the Technical Award, making me a double champion.

I ended up getting a perfect score in the tournament. Honestly, there was only one reason I pushed so hard for that perfect score: a bet I made with Reida the day before. The stakes? If I managed to clear the hard mode of Ghosts 'n Goblins, she would have to beat the game herself. If I failed, I’d be forced to stream a full playthrough of Dark Souls II. Thank God for that bet, because it pushed me to try harder than I ever have in my entire VTuber career. I can't wait to see Reida suffer through Ghosts 'n Goblins.

Finally, I really want to take a moment to express my gratitude to the organizers. The Taiwan VTuber scene has always been a small and somewhat complicated space, but because of that, it’s cultivated a really unique culture of interaction. The VTuber Triathlon gave everyone a stage to show off what they’ve got. Whether you’re a small creator, an established channel, indie, or corporate, everyone was able to come together and join the fun. I honestly think an event with this scale and vibe is something you’d only see in the Taiwanese VTuber community—a place full of so much warmth and laughter.

But even so, it takes someone stepping up to make it all happen. A massive thank you to the organizers of this tournament, to every behind-the-scenes helper who worked tirelessly to keep things running, to all the participating VTubers, and to the viewers who showed up to support and cheer us on. Huge shoutout to Reida and Nika, who worked incredibly hard hosting the event that day. Thank you all for bringing us such an amazing event this summer. I genuinely, truly can't wait for the next one!