A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 210

When I woke up, the first thing that came to mind was what I had said right before ending my broadcast yesterday.

“I could never hate you guys… It’s not that, it’s just that today is that day…”

Everyone.

There’s someone here who revealed in front of 9,000 people that they were hit by a magical day…

… No.

Who knows?

The Rebongi might not know that the day I mentioned on stream is the magical day for women.

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【Rene Galleryⓜ】

【Title: It’s okay, Rene, being healthy isn’t something to be ashamed of. You can be confident!】

【Title: After hearing that yesterday, I realized again that the Gallery Master is a woman…】

【Title: Starting off with a weird broadcast, I ended up declaring it’s a woman’s day.】

【Title: Since it’s that day, I really want to hug the exhausted Gallery Master and pet her endlessly…】

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Well, that can’t be true.

“I want to die…”

So that’s how the saying about dying from embarrassment comes about.

… No.

Let’s not worry about it.

Worrying just makes things harder for me.

“Uwaaah…”

My body still felt sluggish, but it was definitely better than yesterday.

If only today was the start of a World Quest, I might have been able to participate.

… I wonder how the World Quest is going?

If I’m right, the minion hunt should be wrapping up soon.

With those thoughts, I logged into New Dimension Gallery.

The atmosphere there was… pure chaos.

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【New Dimension Gallery】

【Title: Damn, can we even kill that Tagirion dude???】

【Title: If minions are like that, how strong is Tagung?】

【Title: Current NPC death rate 21%, lol.】

【Title: Hey, for real, protect the NPCs, guys!】

【Title: I think we probably failed the World Quest, lol.】

【Title: Wait, we still need to hunt 8000 more?】

【Title: We really need to think this through, we have to consider the quest for the dead ones too…】

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I didn’t even need to read the posts to know.

They hadn’t cleared the Tagirion minion hunt yet.

… Are we seriously going to fail this?

With that anxiety, I clicked on the concept post summarizing the current situation.

“Hmm…”

To summarize, it wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but it was far from looking good.

Quite a few players had died hunting minions, but as more players gather in Tartarus, they could obtain more “remnants of Tagirion.”

So, if we could just clear the minion hunt, we’d have a chance to flip things around.

After checking all the concept posts in New Dimension Gallery while lying in bed, I put my phone down and stared at the ceiling.

In the end, I was gonna have to take a break until tomorrow, so what should I do for two days?

I still felt lethargic, and I didn’t want to move, but doing nothing felt like wasting time.

Of course, reflecting on my experiences, I’d probably end up doing nothing for two days anyway.

It’s a waste of time, but whatever I do seems too bothersome.

…I guess I’ll just sleep until Bora comes over.

★

“I’m leaving, sis!”

“Okay…”

As Bora left, it was unsurprisingly 5 PM.

If it were a normal day, I would be getting ready to start a broadcast, but… it’s break time until tomorrow.

So, I really have nothing else to do but lie in bed…?

I wonder what it was like when that day came in the other world.

First off, Pope Grandpa always said to take it easy that day, so he never made me work as an Inquisition Officer. If I remember correctly, Ariel would always call me.

I still don’t quite know why she called me.

Whenever I went over, she didn’t really ask me to do anything.

She just sat me next to her and did her own things. Why did she even call me?

And… Iya kept talking to me.

She talked a lot about useless things with intentions I couldn’t figure out.

If I responded, she would somehow laugh…

Did I end up getting teased by the two of them…?

Anyway, there wasn’t really anything to do on that day in the other world either.

Should I be liking this or hating it?

“Hmm…”

I wonder if the Remagal is still talking about my day.

Well, thinking about it.

For the Rebongi, my broadcast yesterday must have been a shocker.

To find out that the reason I looked worse than usual was because of that day.

It’s a story that sounds so ridiculous it’s laughable.

Or not?

Considering that most Rebongi are Newbies, they might be busy with the World Quest.

…Should I at least watch New Dimension’s broadcast?

Having landed on that conclusion, I accessed the streaming site, and the first channel I saw was Tuni’s.

[Tuni]

[Don’t mess around, my Puddings]

[Talk | 2153 viewers | 01:13:44]

Just a chatting stream, huh.

Well, she did say before that she wasn’t interested in New Dimension’s World Quest.

Should I just take a peek at what she’s talking about?

[Hey, did you see that Rene?]

… Huh?

[Of course, I saw it. I was worried when I heard that the very day Rene would take a break was the day New Dimension’s World Quest was opening. I thought it might be a serious situation.]

Why are they talking about me…?

[So, about that… um. Well, since you said that! Anyway, I knew about it. I just didn’t think you would actually say it during the broadcast…!]

Yeah.

I didn’t think I would either.

[But after I saw that video, I was really astonished. How should I say this? If I put it in Japanese, should I say my womanly power skyrocketed? The atmosphere felt… unreal. Hearing your voice gave me goosebumps, but in a good way!]

…Huh?

Womanly power? What does that even mean…?

I’ve seen it in the chat and Remagal posts before but never bothered to check what it meant.

I never felt curious about it.

But hearing Tuni say that piqued my curiosity…

[Of course, Rene, despite your image, you have always been incredibly feminine. From the way you speak to your cooking skills. But what happened yesterday… wow. They don’t call you a true woman for nothing…!]

…Why did I even look?

Sure, I don’t deny that I’m a woman.

But that doesn’t erase the fact that I was a man in my past life.

So why do they keep calling me a true woman?

If you examine my actions closely, you might feel like there’s something manly about me too.

I just didn’t understand why the Rebongi kept saying those things, and now Tuni says that too.

I felt betrayed.

I should’ve just watched the New Dimension broadcast from the start…

Regretting that, I returned to the streaming home and found Ga-eun’s broadcast catching my attention.

[Ga-eun]

[Starting New Dimension World Quest]

[New Dimension | 16482 viewers | 02:55:14]

Even a broadcast on the New Dimension World Quest that I wanted to see?

I definitely have to watch this.

The minion hunt should definitely be over by now, I wonder if they’re fighting Tagirion…?

[At this rate, it seems unusual if it isn’t a World Quest. Just a bit longer, and it feels like they would have definitely failed.]

But contrary to my expectations, what I saw on Ga-eun’s broadcast was the scene of finally finishing the minion hunt.

The second half of the World Quest, which runs for a total of 48 hours, began yesterday at 5 PM.

And the current time is… 5:35 PM.

In other words, there’s barely a day left until the World Quest ends.

[This seems to be cutting it close. The minion hunt is likely a preparation quest for the hunt of Tagirion, but it took them more than a day to finish…]

Maybe Ga-eun shared my concerns as she summarized the current state with a worried tone.

〔System: All Tagirion minions have been eradicated.〕

〔System: The Great Demon Tagirion descends upon the capital of the Astria Empire, Libra.〕

And thus, the real World Quest began.

★

〔World Quest – Hunt of the Great Demon Tagirion〕

〔The Great Demon Tagirion embodies absolute evil with his very existence.〕

〔Remaining Time: 23 hours 41 minutes〕

There was no lengthy system message common to quests.

Just a description explaining who Tagirion was.

And Ga-eun was currently in the capital of the Astria Empire, Libra.

So it wasn’t weird for Tagirion to appear before her.

[So you are the heroes of this new era…?]

He was about 1.5 times bigger than any Tagirion we had faced in previous raids.

Wings that seemed to cover the sky and an ominous, pitch-black aura.

That’s why he’s called the avatar of absolute evil.

That question would have been answered just by the existence right in front of me.

[This time, I will burn everything to the ground…!]

By now, countless players had gathered around Ga-eun.

Their only target was Tagirion.

“First, let’s check the patterns and respond slowly! It seems there’s no penalty for resurrection, and this is completely different from previous raid formats, so we can push ourselves a little!”

At Ga-eun’s shout, all the players around her assumed their stances and, almost simultaneously, Tagirion swung his massive hand.

In an instant, the ground crumbled, and Ga-eun, who stood in the front, lost her balance.

[First, I will quench your fighting spirit!]

Then an enormous pool of lava erupted around Tagirion, converging to form a small sphere.

It looked like a miniature sun, and merely seeing it was enough to send a wave of unease through everyone’s minds.

[Burn forth, Surtr’s flames!]

As soon as Tagirion said that, the small sun expanded, sweeping forward and igniting everything in its path.

It was clear to everyone that they shouldn’t allow that attack to land, but no one had to say it out loud.

Ga-eun immediately corrected her stance and threw herself to the right, dodging it just in time before dashing toward Tagirion.

Upon reaching Tagirion, a red aura enveloped Ga-eun, and the onslaught began.

As Ga-eun’s fists rained down like a storm, Tagirion began to be pushed back little by little.

That created an opening, and the other players also began to unleash their attacks on Tagirion.

However… for some reason, Tagirion’s HP didn’t budge at all.

[…Is this all you’ve got?]

Then a shockwave pushed everything around Tagirion away.

In an instant, more than 90% of Ga-eun’s HP vanished.

All the surrounding players were in the same boat.

In other words, with a single strike, all players gathered in Libra had fallen into a dying state.

“What the hell…!”

Ga-eun’s voice sounded shocked.

People around her started to murmur, questioning if this was even plausible.

[Is this all you’ve got, heroes of a new era?]

Tagirion’s hand pierced through Ga-eun’s chest.