A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 197

“Manager! You know the first gimmick in the Room of Evil Dream, right?”

“Oh… the Black Knight gimmick?”

She nodded in response, continuing her explanation.

“The QA team has reached out saying they want to increase the visibility of that gimmick.”

“Isn’t it already sufficient? Touching it more might make it harder to see.”

“That’s true, but they suggested that releasing it as is might lead to misunderstandings where players think they can just defeat the Black Knight.”

“Hmm, I see. Then we should increase the torch brightness a bit and modify the patterns to be clearer.”

Understanding her words, the manager immediately sent a message with related instructions to the team.

“But what if, after all this, players still mistake it for a simple defeat of the Black Knight?”

“…There’s no way that would happen. Sure, they can retry endlessly, but they’d be unlikely to make such a misunderstanding. We didn’t create it in a way that’s just unreasonable.”

Based on the current ultimate equipment of Albion, each hit would nearly deal 10 percent damage, while the Black Knight himself had a buff that reduced all damage by 90 percent.

Even the speed of the patterns was above that of the average field boss.

Even if they initially didn’t grasp the patterns, through continuous retries, they had no choice but to recognize them.

“With even a little thought, they will quickly catch on. Don’t worry.”

“True, that makes sense. It’s definitely not an opponent anyone can just defeat without effort.”

★

[Rene]

[Hello]

[New Dimension | 8,416 viewers | 00:56:19]

BAM!

With a loud crash, the Black Knight slammed into the wall, before finally turning to ashes.

Remaining HP: 4 percent.

At first, I thought it wouldn’t be too hard, but it proved to be more troublesome than expected.

Or maybe…

I might have dulled my senses after returning to Earth.

─I’m gonna break this, damn it, LOL

─How the hell am I, a scrub like me, supposed to break this if this beast is having such a tough time????

─Isn’t this New Haven team messing up the difficulty settings for real????

…Isn’t the fuss a bit too much?

All I have to do is dodge when it attacks and then hit it.

Sure, it wasn’t easy, but with a little focus, anyone could manage it.

=‘I’ll give a polar bear now’ donated 10,000 won.

Breaking news) They just revealed another method to clear the Black Knight, LOL

“‘I’ll give a polar bear now’ thank you for the 10,000 won… Hmm?”

Another method to clear it? What could that mean?

=‘I’ll give a polar bear now’ donated 20,000 won.

(Video donation)

One of the Rebongi sent a video donation.

Since they just mentioned there’s another way to clear it, it was certainly related to that.

…Did they really find another way to do it?

Swallowing my disbelief, I pressed play on the video that had arrived as a donation.

In the video, someone was reflecting on screen, but it appeared to be a male streamer in the Room of Evil Dream, just like me.

Based on the situation, it seemed he had also defeated the Black Knight…

[Wow, you really barely defeated it!]

[Seriously, if the gimmick debuffs it this much, how strong was it at the start?]

[I genuinely didn’t die seven times for nothing!]

[They must have prepared for a failure path in New Haven, right?]

[“That’s just because you suck…” Ah, don’t say that! Are you challenging me? If you clear it without debuffing in ten tries, I’ll give you a million won. You know my personality, I’m serious.]

[Ah, there’s no way I can clear it! It’s just ridiculously unfair. No one could do it.]

[Honestly, you can totally tell when you’re dying, right? This wasn’t made for you to beat it!]

[Isn’t it ridiculous that you can’t even feel that? Are you an idiot or something?]

[Either way! If someone can clear it in that state, from that point on, they’re not human but a beast.]

[…Are you looking down on Rene? I’ve never even talked to her, what do you mean?]

[…Is Rene seriously trying right now without dying even once? …For real?]

[…Yikes.]

With that last comment from the unknown streamer, the video ended.

…Huh?

─LOL

─“Isn’t it ridiculous? Are you an idiot or something?”

─??? : If you clear it in that state, you’re just a beast from then on.

─The fact is, the room leader is indeed a beast, so there’s no need to take that kind of talk to heart…

─In that one video, it holds all the words I want to say to the leader.

“…That’s just unreasonable.”

He’s simply mad because he couldn’t do it, throwing insults at someone who succeeded.

By that logic, countless people around the world would be considered idiots and beasts.

The idea that there are different patterns is totally absurd.

I really didn’t notice any patterns at all?

A gimmick that someone with my level of attention couldn’t see…

It was clear they designed it for a basic clear while having separate gimmicks prepared for those who struggled.

─Is it?

─The unreasonable thing is clearly what you’re directing at other New Dimension players, right?

[What on earth…?]

But even with my words, the countless insults in the chat didn’t dwindle.

Watching those chats, the voice of Tagirion echoed in my ears once more.

[How on earth did you defeat that…?]

─Information) Just swooped in and smashed it!

─The bear just ripped through everything.

─Did you see Tagirion freaking out? LOL

─For real, how did you defeat it????

─They made it impossible to defeat normally, yet some beast girl just smashed its head!

[Hehe… Is that so? It seems I have enough qualifications then…! Far better than those cowardly guys… But just that won’t end the Room of Evil Dream!]

And as Tagirion’s words came to a close, a girl appeared.

On her head were long, golden horns curling back, and behind her spread massive crimson wings.

Her bright red hair reached down to her shoulders, sticking out in various directions, which was quite intriguing.

She was significantly shorter than me.

Smaller than Edde and a bit larger than Bora?

At first glance, she looked like a complete small child.

Yet her outfit was a strangely revealing dress, and her skin tone was so pale it had a slight bluish tint, making it evident she wasn’t an ordinary girl.

…That skin. It feels like I’m looking at one of those demon tribes from that world.

Since Tagirion called her a Great Demon, it must be expected.

Though the shape of her horns was entirely different.

─Nnnnnnng, LOL

─Wow, looks like a loli villainess! LOL

─Damn those New Haven devs! LOL

─I can’t believe it! LOL

─Super dweeby, seriously, f*ck;

─Information) The New Dimension devs were a gathering of super nerds from the start!

─Honestly, it wouldn’t be bad if the New Dimension world just crashes and burns, right?

Well, the reactions from the Rebongi and New Dimension players were overwhelmingly positive.

There were even comments suggesting to just give up right here.

Unfortunately, I had no intention of doing that whatsoever.

[Now! Kneel before me!]

Ereshkigal declared, producing an incredibly long whip.

One of the few weapons that had a terrible matchup against Warhammer.

Well, considering it, how many favorable matchups does Warhammer have at all?

WHOOSH!

Then, Ereshkigal swung her whip toward the ground, signaling the beginning of the battle.

[Fall!]

At the same moment she swung her whip mightily.

Her whip struck the ground, bouncing like a bullet with tremendous force, and dove towards me.

With the available space being awkward, dodging was tricky, and blocking was…

[I got you!]

Ereshkigal’s cheerful voice.

She seemed delighted to have completely ensnared my Warhammer with her whip.

…This is exactly the issue.

While other weapons could somewhat compensate for their poor matchup with skill, this whip was particularly troublesome due to its elasticity, making it hard to shake off even with a Warhammer’s power.

With my weapon completely wrapped as it was, it was extremely inconvenient.

And loosening it from my end wasn’t easy either.

[Release it!]

Ereshkigal began to pull on her whip at that moment.

A literal battle of strength began.

And it was clearly favorable for her.

No one could think of pulling both my Warhammer and the weight of my full body armor at the same time.

Just a moment of easing up, and I felt my balance about to crumble.

After enduring for about ten seconds…

[Hmph! This is too much!]

Ereshkigal puffed her cheeks and released the whip.

─Ugh, that’s too much! It’s a child asking nicely!

─Right? You should learn to be merciful!

─Rene, even as a Rebongi, this seems a bit off…

No, you guys should be supporting me right now!

“Everyone… Are you suggesting that I shouldn’t do anything and just lose…?”

─Yes!

─Are you seriously saying you want to see Rene humbly following Ereshkigal? How humiliating is that????

─Bring it on! Up to five bowls, please! Ooooh!

─That’s right!!!

─Totally understood!〔Deleted message.〕

─Polar bear, just die already! LOL

─Loli would totally approve!

…Looks like I should ignore the chat for a while.