A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 213

“…So, are you perhaps Rene?”

How in the world did they know?

I even made a new ID just to chat.

Their intuition is no joke, this person…

But since I couldn’t reveal the secret of being ‘2A’, I did my best to deny their words.

However, for some reason, the chat window was increasingly confirming me as ‘2A’.

Could it be my nickname was the problem…?

After that unnecessary anxiety, I immediately told Ga-eun through Miscode that I was not ‘2A’, but rather that action seemed to solidify others’ certainty even more.

How did it come to this…?

Yet, I still had a last resort left.

To be honest, I really didn’t want to use that method since my head was still foggy, but it was better than being discovered as ‘2A’.

…Actually, even if I got found out, nothing serious would happen, but it’s just embarrassing, isn’t it?

Bragging in the chat like that…

In the end, I dragged my lethargic body into the Reverse Capsule and logged into New Dimension.

[World Quest – Hunt of Tagirion]

[The Great Demon Tagirion embodies absolute evil with his very existence.]

[Remaining Time: 21 hours 08 minutes]

I was still in Tartarus.

Seeing there were no quests gathering Tagirion’s remnants, it seemed that part was already finished, but how on earth was I supposed to escape from here?

I thought it’d just automatically send me back to the original place…

Just as I was contemplating that while looking around, a hooded figure suddenly appeared again, like last time.

[You are the last of humanity remaining in Tartarus.]

I suppose so.

I immediately turned off New Dimension as soon as I arrived here.

It had been over two hours since the Hunt of Tagirion began; there wouldn’t be anyone left, right?

[Currently, the war against Tagirion has started on the surface. I can send you straight to the battlefield with my power. What will you do?]

Without hesitation, I nodded at that question.

I logged in to participate in the Hunt of Tagirion in the first place.

My physical condition wasn’t great, but… well, it should work out somehow.

[Understood. Then I will send you to Libra, the capital of the Astria Empire immediately.]

As soon as those words left, my vision went dark.

[Now I must begin preparing as well….]

[World Quest – The Emperor’s Request]

[An edict from the Emperor has been issued to all players gathered in Libra.]

[Edict – Hold back the main body until other heroes destroy the Heart of Tagirion.]

[If the Great Demon Tagirion comes into contact with the ‘Heart of Tagirion’ five times, the World Quest – Hunt of Tagirion will automatically fail.]

[This World Quest will automatically fail when the time limit of World Quest – Hunt of Tagirion ends.]

Then, a small voice came with a lifted sight, and it revealed the same World Quest that Ga-eun had received, alongside the massive body of Tagirion.

So this is automatically accepted, huh?

“Hmm….”

For some reason, the air felt quite warm.

And then there were players kneeling before Tagirion, including Ga-eun.

Was there some kind of pattern to this?

[Is this all?]

As I was pondering, just to be sure, Tagirion reached his hand toward the fallen Ga-eun with that line.

…If I leave that alone, she’ll die, right?

Well, she could revive a few times, so it wouldn’t matter… but if I save her and say I’m not ‘2A’, it might make my words more convincing.

Having concluded that in an instant, I jumped toward Tagirion.

Boom!

Pressing down on Tagirion’s hand, I quickly shifted my gaze, but my HP didn’t budge at all.

As expected, unless I destroy all the hearts, I can’t deal damage.

But I managed to prevent Ga-eun from dying, so that was enough for me.

[Cough!]

As I pulled my hand back with a shout, Tagirion retreated, and I immediately turned to Ga-eun.

[Inquisition Officer: Are you okay?]

“Ah, yes….”

[Inquisition Officer: I, Ga-eun, wasn’t watching the broadcast and was in New Dimension.]

“…Huh?”

With this, I proved I was gaming, so surely they wouldn’t think I was ‘2A’ anymore.

If I think about it, it was perfect… what’s the term for it again?

Something similar to a part-time job.

Anyway, that was it.

[Inquisition Officer: I also received a quest to come here…]
[Inquisition Officer: Let’s support each other!]

“…Um, okay, understood.”

Perhaps convinced by my flawless reasoning, Ga-eun eventually nodded as well.

So now what I need to do is fight this guy.

A foe I can’t deal damage to until all the hearts are destroyed means I need to endure until the conditions are met.

Well, that’s not too hard.

The only issue is if everyone here gets wiped out all at once and he heads for the hearts, but… I can just make sure that doesn’t happen.

[Alright! I shall present despair to you from here on…!]

As I was thinking that, Tagirion’s wings started to glow bright red.

And then.

[Stop, avatar of absolute evil.]

At the same time, the hooded figure I saw in Tartarus appeared before Tagirion.

[…You!]

[You know, don’t you? This time, the ending won’t change. It’s your destiny as the avatar of absolute evil.]

The hooded figure had a brief exchange with the momentarily halted Tagirion before turning to us.

[This is the last time I can intervene. So, heroes of the new era, may you claim victory.]

[??? bestows a blessing upon you.]

[All stats greatly increased.]

[??? uses the remnants of Tagirion to weaken Tagirion.]

[Tagirion’s stats are decreased.]

In an instant, the system messages flooded my vision.

At the same time, the warm wind enveloping my body felt weakened.

[How dare the abhorrent being…! Very well. Then I shall trample and burn your limbs, distorting that ostentatious face of yours…!]

…It feels like something similar happened with Albion.

In other words, the real raid was just about to begin.

★

“It’s finally starting.”

“Thank goodness. I thought it would really end like this…”

Everyone nodded at the words of the Planning Team Leader, letting out a sigh of relief.

The latter half of the World Quest has a time limit of 48 hours, but that certainly doesn’t mean it will take 48 hours to clear.

It was only a precaution against potential unforeseen circumstances.

And when assuming all the gimmicks were tackled as quickly as possible, the QA Team took a total of 20 hours to clear.

Thus, when the time taken for the ‘Minion Elimination Quest’ exceeded 24 hours and, for over 2 hours, everyone failed to notice the meaning of the term ‘World Quest’.

The staff of New Advent genuinely panicked at the thought that the World Quest could really fail.

Of course, they had prepared for scenarios where the World Quest could fail as mentioned in the broadcast, but they’d primarily prepared more plans based on a successful outcome.

However, thankfully the last gimmick was tackled, allowing them to finally catch a breath.

“But it turns out it’s no surprise that those on the list are exceptionally active, huh?”

“I told you that would happen from the beginning. Well, I wasn’t expecting Ga-eun to play such a crucial role, but….”

It was obviously Ga-eun who made a dominating contribution in the elimination of Tagirion’s minions.

She took down nearly 1,000 minions all by herself.

Considering the other players averaged about 300 minions defeated, that was truly an outrageous figure.

“Even the speed of clearing the Room of Evil Dream didn’t differ much from Rene, right? Sure, she started late due to the schedule, but still, she had to know the gimmicks, so I think that’s impressive.”

“Right. So, I’m sure Ga-eun will play a big role in the upcoming main body raid too.”

“That’s for sure. After all, it was Ga-eun who brought us this far.”

The employees of New Advent gathered in the meeting room were only able to confirm the progress of the World Quest through in-game screens, so they were unaware of how Ga-eun had discovered the answers.

Thus, it was only natural that Ga-eun’s evaluation rose, and everyone firmly believed that she would shine again this time.

[Huff!]

And responding to those expectations, Ga-eun began to stand out.

From an objective standpoint, her movements were at a level no one could contradict.

But the issue was.

[Please step back…]

[Understood.]

Stood next to her was none other than Rene.

While Rene had indeed played overwhelmingly in the Room of Evil Dream, her oddly premature death at the Minion Elimination Quest left her evaluation among the staff significantly lower.

Even more so because she had logged off right after dying and was just now logging back in.

Of course, she was the one who tackled the last gimmick, but since she just had to remain in Tartarus until the very end, it was hard to consider that as significant.

Thus, expectations toward Rene had remained unchanged.

But Rene swiftly overturned those evaluations with her performance.

Her performance was so perfect and overwhelming that even Ga-eun became overshadowed.

She was directly proving the reason she had received the elusive five-star ranking, surpassing even Ga-eun when the list was first created.

“Seriously, who was she back then…?”

No one among the staff could answer that question.

Only the Planning Team Leader remarked, “Was she really a bear?”