A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 22

“…So you were actually streaming like this?”

Tuni’s voice resonated with a feeling of emptiness.

The broadcast she was currently watching, the Inquisition Officer… Rene’s Broadcast, was so terrible that it made Tuni mutter to herself without realizing it.

It wasn’t anything else that was the problem.

The voice, the content, the direction of the broadcast…

Those were issues that could only be addressed after fixing the current mess.

Right now, Rene’s Broadcast was experiencing occasional drops in video quality.

‘It didn’t look like this when I watched the video last time.’

The difference was that at first, she had received a video personally recorded by Rene, while now she was watching a replay left on Rene’s channel.

It was easy to deduce why such issues were occurring.

‘Looks like she didn’t adjust the settings properly for the stream…’

This was a mistake stemming from being a complete novice streamer doing her first broadcast.

Fortunately, since Rene was a newcomer streamer and her shocking PVP skills brought a decent atmosphere to the chat window.

‘Well, with skills like that, who would care about poor video quality? They probably won’t say anything for now.’

Those who were serious about gaming would tolerate some discomfort if the skills were up to par.

Especially true gamers who engaged in community activities.

But that was only a temporary phenomenon.

If these discomforts piled up continuously, it would eventually explode at some point.

Even die-hard gamers would naturally leave the broadcast if such inconveniences kept accumulating.

‘…I have to help her.’

Of course, Tuni still held no good feelings regarding the Inquisition Officer.

But after over three years as a streamer, Tuni was just glad that another streamer was relying on her, something she had never experienced before.

Just that alone filled Tuni with a sense of joy, making her want to help.

[Tuni: I have a lot of questions after watching, and I think it’d be good for me to tweak the broadcast settings myself.]

[Tuni: Would it be okay if I came over to Rene’s place?]

She also wanted to become closer to the newly found streamer acquaintance.

★

“Bora? I have an appointment today….”

“Just call me Bora casually!”

“I-I’ll try my best…”

I want to do that, but it’s hard, and why doesn’t Bora understand that?

I have my own circumstances…

“Anyway, I have an appointment today, a person will be visiting…”

“Can’t I stay with you?”

“W-Well, it’s not that you can’t, I just think it might be uncomfortable for you…”

“I’m perfectly fine!”

Bora rolled around on the bed as if she had no care in the world.

She didn’t seem the slightest bit bothered even after I mentioned that someone she’d never met was coming. I wish I could emulate that…

Certainly, in my case, meeting people itself wasn’t a problem, but I just worried they’d think of me oddly.

…Really, I wish someone would fix this for me.

“By the way, Rene.”

“Yes…?”

“Do you have an appointment too?”

“…Huh?”

“I know! People like you are called ‘lost causes!’”

“Pfft?!”

Bora’s innocent, clueless smile felt like a hammer pounding my heart today.

“B-Bora? Where on earth did you learn that…?”

“Huh? I asked my teacher at school! I asked what to call someone who, while sad about being broke, does nothing but stay home every day.”

“Oh, I see…”

“It’s okay, sis! I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life since you bought me chicken!”

Bora’s relentless attacks left me feeling dizzy.

But what saddened me more was that I couldn’t rebut her words at all…

To think I’d end up relying on Bora for the rest of my life in exchange for just one chicken.

Is it really something to be happy about?

“You’re happy too, right?”

“Ha ha, yeah…”

In the end, Bora decided to stay at our house.

“So, Rene, who are you meeting?”

“Uh, well… I suppose you could say it’s work-related…”

Honestly, I had thought about refusing numerous times at first, but ultimately, I had to give up.

How could I turn away someone who had come for me?

Especially since it was me who asked in the first place.

“Work? You’re working now?”

“I’m still in the stage of challenging myself…”

Of course, I kept the fact that I was doing internet broadcasts a secret from Bora.

I wanted to surprise her someday when I succeeded.

“You really don’t need to work…”

“Why not?”

“But I told you earlier, right? I’ll support you for the rest of your life since you’re a lost cause!”

That conversation wasn’t over yet…?

Bora looked genuinely happy, yet why did it hurt so much?

★

Listening to Bora’s chatter, the doorbell rang, ding-dong~.

Well, the only visitor we usually get is the delivery guy, but today is the day for friends to come over.

So I finished all the housework I had to do in advance.

“Bora, wait a moment…”

“Okay.”

Leaving the rolling Bora on the bed, I peeked through the intercom at the entrance, and there stood a familiar face smiling brightly.

Of course, it was familiar only to me.

“Who is it?”

[Tuni… Jung Seoyeon, the one who said she would come today~.]

With that familiar voice, I was convinced she wasn’t a thief here to rob me.

“Oh, uh….”

After answering, I turned the doorknob, and with a click, the front door opened.

“Oh, hello…”

“Hello!”

As I greeted Tuni face to face for the first time, for some reason, she seemed to be accepting my greeting yet stood there motionless.

“U-Um… T-Tuni?”

“Oh, yeah?! Sorry?! Uh, um… You must be the Inquisition Officer… no, Rene, right?”

“Yes, that’s right…”

After entering the house, Tuni had a perplexed expression as if she couldn’t comprehend something.

What on earth could be confusing her?

“Sis! When are you coming back?”

While I was locked in this incomprehensible standoff at the entrance, Bora peeked her head out of the room, seemingly exhausted from waiting.

“Um… is that your sister?”

“Yeah, she’s a girl living upstairs, just watching over her when our parents are out…”

“That’s not right, Rene! I’m watching over you!”

“…Huh?”

“Uh, well…”

“I’m here because I’m worried to leave you alone!”

Bora said that proudly, puffing her chest out and smiling.

Fortunately, Tuni seemed to take it as a playful remark from a child, smiling gently while scratching her head.

“Well, anyway, Bora, this is Tuni, who came to help me today. Tuni, this is Bora, as I mentioned earlier—my little sister…”

“Hello! I’m Yubora, first grader at Beautiful Elementary School!”

“I’m Tuni. Nice to meet you! Let’s be friends, Bora.”

“It’s okay to just call me Bora!”

“Got it, Bora. Just call me Tuni Oneechan. Let’s get along well, okay?”

“Yeah!”

Bora responded cheerfully to Tuni and looked at me with a bright smile.

In her gaze was a question that seemed to say, ‘Isn’t that hard for you, Rene?’

Yeah, it really is hard for me, so I hope you can overlook it…

“I’ll go get you something to drink, so you can rest in the room…”

“Ah, okay. Thank you.”

“Rene! I’ll find out if Tuni Oneechan is good or bad! Since you’re so innocent, you could be tricked by someone strange!”

“Ha ha, yeah…”

“…Please don’t look at me like that…