A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 126

[Rene]

[Hello]

[The Blue Sky Welcomes You | 2832 viewers online | 00:00:11]

─Oh, so we have Blue Sky ㄷㄷ

─Personal opinion) This game really doesn’t suit the host at all…

─I can see the future already.

Visual Novel.

A type of interactive fiction closely related to video games, often considered a subgenre of adventure games, but not always classified as a video game, blah blah blah….

…I have no idea what that means.

Anyway, it’s a game where choices are given, and the player picks one to see multiple endings of a branching story.

Honestly, I knew that the genre of visual novels existed.

But personally, I had never felt particularly interested in it, and I often wondered if it even counted as a game for me.

After all, isn’t it basically just a novel?

If I’m going to play a visual novel, I might as well just read a regular novel, right? That thought kept nagging at me.

…Of course, if you were to ask me if I read books or novels often, I would have to shake my head.

Yet here I am, playing a visual novel on my stream.

And if I have to credit someone for this… it all started with Tuni.

★

[Tuni: Rene, have you tried playing The Blue Sky Welcomes You?]

[Inquisition Officer: No, I’ve just heard the name for the first time.]

[Tuni: I played it after getting a recommendation the other day, and it was so much fun!]

[Tuni: I think you should definitely try it too! It’s really touching!]

[Inquisition Officer: I looked it up and it’s a visual novel, right?]

[Tuni: Yes!]

[Inquisition Officer: If it’s a visual novel, wouldn’t it be better to just read a novel?]

[Tuni: Rene, please don’t say that during the stream…]

[Inquisition Officer: Okay…]

[Tuni: I don’t think that’s entirely wrong, but it’s so much fun, so you should definitely give it a shot! It’s truly touching!]

[Inquisition Officer: I’ll think about it.]

Tuni sometimes recommends games to me on Miscode, but this time she really pushed for this one.

Of course, that alone didn’t lead me to make a decision.

I also did my own research.

─────────────────

【Gallery of The Blue Sky Welcomes Youⓜ】

【Title: Hi, I came to ask you something】

【Written by: ㅇㅇ】

Is this game fun?

【Recommend: 1 / Not Recommend: 21】

ㅇㅇ: Personally, I think it’s a great entry-level work.

└Written by ㅇㅇ: Can you tell me why you think that?

└ㅇㅇ: Classic storyline, charming characters, high-quality CG.

└ㅇㅇ: It was the best among recent visual novels.

└ㅇㅇ: The success of the season 2 funding tells you everything.

└Written by ㅇㅇ: Thank you.

Puhagal🔸: I’ve played a lot of visual novels, and it’s perfect as an entry-level game, ㅋㅋ.

└Written by ㅇㅇ: Thank you.

└Written by ㅇㅇ: Are there any downsides?

└Puhagal🔸: Season 2 hasn’t come out yet…

└Puhagal🔸: If it’s fun, there’s also a novel version, so check it out.

└Puhagal🔸: The story is the same as the true ending route, but interesting scenarios are added.

└Written by ㅇㅇ: Just curious, but wouldn’t you just want to read the novel from the start then?

└Written by ㅇㅇ: If you can know the true ending story and the settings are added in the novel…

└Puhagal🔸: Are you trolling?

└Written by ㅇㅇ: Huh?

─────────────────

Looking at the Q&A and the gallery’s concept posts, it definitely seemed fun.

But why was I IP blocked from the gallery…?

I thought I asked a perfectly reasonable question, but never expected to be IP banned.

Anyway, there were many claims that it’s a well-made visual novel and good for beginners, so with Tuni’s recommendation, I decided to play it on this stream.

[Inquisition Officer: So, Tuni.]

[Inquisition Officer: Is it okay to stream The Blue Sky Welcomes You?]

[Tuni: Oh? Are you really going to try it?]

[Tuni: That’s totally possible! I asked just to be safe before streaming it myself the other day.]

[Tuni: The developers said they didn’t have any broadcasting restrictions from the start.]

[Tuni: They created it because they wanted people to know the writer’s story, not to make money.]

[Inquisition Officer: Ah, thank you!]

[Tuni: Also, the visual novel genre is great for interacting with fans during the stream.]

[Tuni: So it’s really fun for both streaming and gaming!]

[Inquisition Officer: Thank you, I’ll definitely give it a try this time.]

[Tuni: Yes!]

Since it’s also good to play on stream, well.

★

[Rene]

[Hello]

[The Blue Sky Welcomes You | 5432 viewers online | 00:01:52]

“Hey, everyone… I’m Rene, the Inquisition Officer of the Iya Cult….”

─Did you hear that news, teacher? ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ

─Wow, you’re the junior of Streamer Rene, the VTuber, right?????

─So the conclusion is, they’re both crazy ladies who smash heads?

The chat window was buzzing.

The cause, of course, was my earlier statement as Streamer Rene.

Before starting the game, I should clear this up.

“…I’ve heard it’s been revealed that the Streamer Rene you’re talking about is my senior.”

─You heard that?

─Did you hear correctly?

“Those stories are all true, but… anyway, I and Senior Rene are different people….”

─ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

─Ah, I see.

─For real, even the names are the same, having the same crazy personality and being part of the Iya Cult, and being a female, but we could still be different people ㅇㅇ…

“Yes… Senior Rene and I are different people, so please refrain from mentioning her on the stream… After all, she’s a different streamer….”

─Can’t even mention the senior’s name…

─Isn’t this a coup d’état?

─Ah, so she’s a different streamer.

─That’s really surprising information…

“Now, let’s play the game I’ve prepared for today…. It’s a visual novel titled ‘The Blue Sky Welcomes You’…. It’s received quite good reviews, and I brought it after getting a recommendation from Tuni….”

─Rene, you really have to finish The Blue Sky on stream, it’s a masterpiece ㅇㅇㅇ

─Wow, you know Blue Sky, it’s really a masterpiece.

─What’s a visual novel, you filthy nerds?

─Personally, it’s the best visual novel I’ve played recently ㅇㅇ.

The chat window responses were fairly positive.

I guess it’s true that it’s currently popular.

“But if many of you have already played it, won’t it be boring if I play it too…?”

Since it would just be watching the same content again.

The visual novel genre doesn’t change just because the player is different.

Looking at it this way, it doesn’t seem like a game to stream at all….

─No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

─The reactions of a beginner are so nostalgic, it’s all good! ㄱㅊ;

I guess I can see how people could think that way.

Well, it’s a relief that it doesn’t seem boring to stream.

“Then, let’s get started….”

I said that and switched the screen to the game.

What appeared on the stream screen was an illustration depicting a blue sky, quite literally.

Should I say it fits the title, or should I say it feels awkward?

I swallowed those thoughts as I pressed the start button.

The text that covered the black screen appeared.

[Once upon a time, there was a farmer.]

[He had no family or friends. They all died when he was young due to an epidemic.]

“Uh…. This farmer is just like me… I had no family or friends either….”

─Hey, calm down with your sudden outburst.

─Hey!

─I didn’t do anything wrong, why am I sorry…

─I really don’t know how to react every time this happens, damn it.

─Last time, that damn Rene (referring to Streamer Rene ㅎ) made me an orphan…

─Mentioning other streamers is prohibited ㅎㅎ;

─Other? Streamer?

─That Rene… no, never mind, hang in there…

“Is this farmer the protagonist…? Then I can immerse myself completely….”

─Nope…

─The protagonist comes out separately…

─What’s the chat window vibe going to be like, dammit.

“Why are you telling me that….”

Why is it that whenever such talks come up, they hold me responsible while being all sorry?

I don’t care that I’m an orphan, but they keep feeling sorry for me on their own….

“Ha….”

A sigh escaped me.

But I couldn’t stop the game here, so I ignored the chat window atmosphere and moved on with the game.

[The farmer discovered a snail the size of his fist in the field.]

[The size of the snail was surprising, but even more astonishing was the fact that the shell was shining in a pumpkin color.]

[And the next day, something strange happened. When the farmer returned after finishing his work, the house chores were all done along with a warm meal on the table. It wasn’t a hallucination. It wasn’t a dream of the night.]

…Huh.

“Hey, I feel like I’ve heard this story before…!”

─For real?

─Even foreign VTubers know this K-folk tale ㄷㄷㄷ

─You know this!

“The story about picking up the snail and bringing it home… then waking up to find the chores done… turns out that snail helped with the housework…!”

─LOL, you really do know this!

─Where the hell have I seen this pattern?

“It’s the Grateful Snail…!”

─Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

─That explains it, damn it hahahaha

─As expected, changing the chat window mood is Rene’s job ㅋㅋㅋ

─I know this!(not really)

─This is still cute and funny ㅋㅋ

─For real, you’re foreign!

─Where did I say I saw this pattern? ㅋㅋ

─Rene mastering cultural studies, I see ㄷㄷㄷㄷ

…Huh?

“Uh, is it the Grateful Snail, right…?”

─It’s the Grateful Bride…

─It’s Grateful Bride, you idiot!

Ah.

“Okay. Let’s say I got most of it right….”

After all, it’s about being thankful for the help I received for the housework.

─Damn, are you becoming more and more brazen? ㅋㅋ

─It’s cute, so it’s all good…

─You almost got it (only two words…)

─Surprisingly, if you got the word snail right, that’s still 50% correct ㄷㄷ

─Whoa, LOL

─Yeah… knowing something as a foreigner is still impressive…

…In my past life, I was Korean.