A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 122

I woke up to find that yesterday’s broadcast hadn’t turned off.

Fortunately, nothing problematic had happened at all, but…

“Are you an idiot…!!!”

Bang! Bang!

What do you mean nothing’s wrong?

Yesterday, I was drunk and just what the heck did I do? I—

I called the Rebongi fans orphans, acted all weirdly cute, cried, didn’t even turn off the broadcast, and then woke up humming a strange tune—

Ah, I want to die… should I just die…?

The fact that the reactions weren’t too bad was the only relief, but… is that actually good news?

I don’t know.

I just hope all records of yesterday would vanish completely.

With that in mind, surely it would be acceptable to take a break during the Lunar New Year holidays…?

But obviously, they’d say it wasn’t allowed…

Just to be safe, I had searched for the word ‘break’ on Remagal earlier, and found multiple posts stating that if I took another break today, they would never forgive me.

What kind of sin have I committed?

“Sigh…”

I let out a breath and looked up at the ceiling.

At least today, there wouldn’t be anyone coming home, and I had no broadcasts to do, so it was, quite literally, complete freedom.

So I had to heal my wounded psyche by rolling around in bed.

…But would rolling around in bed actually heal this wound?

Somehow, I doubt it…

The more I rolled around in bed, the more the clips of yesterday’s broadcast uploaded to Remagal came to mind.

There were even editors on Miscode insisting on putting yesterday’s broadcast on OnTube for sure….

Why do such trials have to befall a virtuous person like me?

I didn’t want to have these worries….

“Sigh…”

Anyway, let’s do something.

The reason those videos keep coming to mind is that I’m rolling around in bed doing nothing.

Since I don’t have anything specific to focus on, my thoughts wander off unconsciously to that direction.

If I do something I have to focus on, wouldn’t that solve it?

…That’s probably the case.

Of course, I had just vowed to roll around in bed all day and heal my mind, but life can change for reasons unknown.

Then, my current promise would also be fate….

★

After logging into New Dimension, the place I aimed for was the Empire of Rias.

Naturally, my goal was the Golem Challenge.

There had recently been a tournament for the Golem Challenge at the New Dimension Gallery, and they said if you placed first, they’d give you a chicken and pizza set.

I must win first place so I can eat it together with Bora later.

“Yah!”

The giant Golem appeared in the final area of the Eastern Forest, known as the “Grave of the Fog Catcher.”

The monsters that appear in the Grave of the Fog Catcher are all at least level 64, and the giant Golem is naturally at the current final level of 70.

With a minimum requirement of gear from the Tagirion Raid, it’s definitely not an easy farming spot.

Of course, for the frontline players including me, it’s not that crazy, but still.

“Hmmm…”

The area around me was quieter than I expected.

I thought there would be a lot of people since this farming spot was newly discovered and a field boss was challenging, but it was oddly deserted.

Could it be because it’s the Lunar New Year?

Well, true.

On New Year’s Day, it’d be strange for someone to stay home playing New Dimension since morning.

And that strange person was me.

Suddenly feeling like dying, is that normal…?

Regardless, I navigated through the quiet Grave of the Fog Catcher, hunting field monsters.

Creeeak—

The Steel Golem, making an unpleasant sound like a rusty machine, was easily recognizable from its name, characterized by high physical defense.

Its magic defense was low, but since I basically never attack with magic in New Dimension, that was a moot point.

Smash!

Though honestly, it didn’t matter much since my attack power was far higher than that of the low-level Steel Golem.

Since I was moving for the Golem Challenge, avoiding unnecessary fights and moving quickly was definitely a wise choice.

However, the crafting item ‘Core of Steel’ dropped by the Steel Golem was quite useful in several areas, especially when it came to making rice cake.

Of course, I wasn’t making rice cake right now, and had no use for the Core of Steel, but maybe it’s just an old habit clinging to me?

But more than anything… hitting this Steel Golem with a Warhammer felt so satisfying.

For all those reasons, it was hard to just ignore and move past, so I took out all the Steel Golems as I progressed.

Before long, the fog in the forest began to thicken, which meant I was getting closer to my destination.

And finally.

[GOOOOOOOOO…!]

The field boss of the Grave of the Fog Catcher appeared.

I could finally see the gigantic form of the sleeping Giant Golem.

…It’s really big.

It’s not at Albion class, but it’s definitely the largest among the regular monsters I’ve hunted recently.

There must have been heretics of that size in the other world as well…

I can’t quite remember, but I don’t think it was a weak one.

“Hmmm…”

Unlike before, there were quite a few people around the altar now.

Of course, compared to the usual New Dimension, it wasn’t that many, but considering it was the Lunar New Year holidays and the time of day, I’d say it was quite a significant number.

However, there didn’t seem to be any players aiming for the Golem Challenge among them.

Thank goodness.

If someone had tried to challenge it first, I would’ve had to wait quite a while.

Still, to be cautious, I started to increase my pace and rushed towards the altar of the Giant Golem.

Fortunately, the situation I had worried about didn’t occur, and I got the chance to challenge the Golem Challenge.

Despite being a field boss monster, you couldn’t hunt the Giant Golem without satisfying particular mechanics.

Well, that also made things easier when challenging, but still.

“Phew…”

I set down the ‘Core of the Crimson Machine,’ which I had prepared earlier, on the altar.

And just in case, I used a barrier scroll to block others’ interference.

Now, all I had to do was wait about 10 seconds…

[GOOOOOOOOO…!]

Fortunately, my memory was spot on.

With an enormous tremor, the Giant Golem began to move.

Its presence was enough to make me involuntarily hold my breath.

Now, it was time to begin the challenge.

★

“Phew…”

Rene steadied her breath. She looked at the giant ahead of her, recalling its movements from the videos.

And in an instant, she dashed forward.

The key to defeating the Giant Golem was, of course, its unique weak point system.

She needed to attack the 21 weak points while dodging the patterns to break its balance.

[GOOOOO!!]

KABOOM!!!

As Rene dodged the right arm of the Giant Golem, an enormous roar echoed from behind.

If she were to be struck even once, it would surely be instant death, even with her wearing Full Body Armor right now.

And that was the most dangerous pattern we had to watch out for during the Golem Challenge.

If she died, it would mean nothing.

‘It really is fast…’

The Giant Golem, true to its name, was enormous, but it wasn’t slow at all.

It was truly a fitting embodiment of absurdity.

However, such words were nothing new to Rene.

“Haah…!”

With a light shout, Rene leapt forward, and the Giant Golem quickly swung its remaining left arm.

But Rene’s judgment was even faster as she assessed the situation.

Using her Leap skill, she jumped once more in mid-air and landed on the left arm of the Giant Golem.

Now, Rene’s job became simple and obvious.

[GOOOOOOOOOO…!]

The Giant Golem was in no way going to allow anything atop it and began to shake wildly.

However, such situations were far too familiar to Rene.

During the Albion Hunt, and while battling the Dragons, heretical beings in the other world.

Rene transformed into a blue comet, leaving behind a trail.

Then, the Giant Golem finally ceased its shaking and unleashed one of its patterns, releasing waves of heat from its entire body.

“Hmph…”

But that wasn’t enough to stop Rene completely.

The blue trail surged forward without interruption.

It soon reached the back of the Giant Golem, one of the most challenging weak points to hit.

And with all her might, Rene swung her Warhammer.

Boom!

Having successfully destroyed one of the 21 weak points, Rene was ultimately knocked to the ground by the intensified heat waves.

Now, there remained 20 weak points.

To succeed in the challenge, she needed to destroy all those weak points and bring its remaining HP to zero.

[GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!]

And the emotionless machine, now seemingly furious, stretched its giant arms high into the air.

The next pattern was clear.

KABOOM!

The colossal hands smashed the ground beneath where Rene stood.

This was one of the patterns called “Nautical Wave.”

It shattered the terrain, sending players soaring into the sky.

The activation condition was destroying the weak point at the back of the head.

And the way to mitigate its effects was… to destroy the other weak points beforehand to lower its impact.

But thanks to having destroyed the weak point at the back of the head from the outset, the Nautical Wave’s ferocity was, of course, at its peak.

In other words, the outcome would be Rene being ravaged by the debris shooting up in the air.

If she were anyone else, it would indeed be fatal.

KABOOM!

[GOOOOOOOOO?!]

This time, the left thigh’s weak point of the Giant Golem was destroyed.

“…Hmph.”

Rene was already fully aware of all the patterns of the Giant Golem, and she knew that destroying the weak point at the back of the head would activate the Nautical Wave, as well as its impact.

Knowing all this, she had taken the risk of destroying that very weak point.

If she could just endure this, she could undoubtedly set the record for the Golem Challenge.

And the method Rene thought of for enduring this Nautical Wave… was as simple as just maintaining her balance mid-air, which was frankly a rather unintelligent method.

She would leap just as the Nautical Wave was triggered, using the debris from the ground as a stepping stone.

If the broadcast had been on, it would undoubtedly have filled the chat with amazed comments from the Rebongi fans, exclaiming things like ‘That beastly girl…’

In any case, Rene became that beast and was able to destroy the weak point located on the left thigh.

“Phew…”

She was now a happy beast, thinking about eating chicken and pizza.