A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 245

Rice Eating.

It’s a gaming term that means “exchanging game currency for real cash to buy rice.”

Due to various past incidents, the majority of gamers have a negative perception of it to this day.

As evidence, there’s a culture of scornful names like ‘rice-eating bug’ or ‘rice monkey’ aimed at those who specialize in it.

Of course, the real rice-eating and trading leftover currency after enjoying the game is a completely different story.

Head-Broken Priest… Jin-ho knew this fact well too.

However, the term rice-eating itself inevitably carries a negative connotation.

But standing in front of Jin-ho was the player.

The Inquisition Officer, Rene, boldly declared to Jin-ho that she had indulged in rice-eating in New Dimension.

…In truth, even when hearing such a thing from Rene, Jin-ho was already aware.

He knew how weak she was in the field of communication.

It wouldn’t be entirely accurate to call her a true Rebongi, but because he had been watching her broadcasts since quite early on.

‘Back then, it’s already the time when Tabung had finished all the farming, so…’

Plus, since he knew how sincere Rene was about New Dimension, he didn’t take her words about rice-eating at face value.

But now, the problem arose elsewhere.

When Jin-ho saw Rene struggling with money issues in the past, he had said to her, “Aren’t you in a position where you can earn money just by playing games?”

At that time, Rene had become a hot topic in the New Dimension community.

And Jin-ho was one of the few who knew Rene’s skills better than anyone else.

‘There’s quite a gap in time between when I said that and when this girl started her broadcast….’

Jin-ho thought it was naturally due to a different reason.

To broadcast means to show oneself to an unspecified number of people.

People would naturally feel nervous about that, and he thought Rene was such a case.

But the fact that she had never even considered the option of internet broadcasting after his advice hit Jin-ho like a huge shock.

‘Until now, I thought it was obvious she started because of me….’

Whenever Rene became a hot topic in the community, he didn’t express it explicitly in places like New Dimension Gallery, but he felt a bit of pride like, ‘You guys can watch that broadcast because of me.’

But now the involved party outright denied that.

Of course, Jin-ho knew that hearing the phrase about earning money from gaming would easily remind anyone of rice-eating.

But Rene’s situation at that time was quite unique, and he added the words “you should be able” to emphasize that fact.

Upon hearing that, Rene seemed to acknowledge it.

Most importantly, the conversation that followed made Jin-ho think up until now that he was the founding hero.

“Back then, didn’t you say it would be hard because people suspected you of being a hacker…?”

[Inquisition Officer: That’s right?]

[Inquisition Officer: People don’t buy items from suspected cheaters.]

[Inquisition Officer: If they get involved, it could be troublesome.]

[Inquisition Officer: Fortunately, that suspicion was cleared, so nothing happened.]

“Ha, haha….”

In a situation where they were in the spotlight for hacking allegations, he thought he could earn some money by broadcasting.

After all, the hacking suspicion itself had already been denied by the company, so there’s absolutely no problem, and if he used it well as broadcast material, it could boost his broadcasting tier—a killer move.

That was why Jin-ho said what he did back then.

However, Rene understood it differently.

Having already finished her raid farming, she had plenty of raw material items, and she could earn money by selling them.

Plus, since the hacking allegations had been denied by the company, there would be no issues when selling the items.

[Inquisition Officer: But why did you mistakenly think I started broadcasting because of you?]

Misunderstanding arose from the difference in intent behind Jin-ho’s remarks and Rene’s interpretation.

No.

Actually, it was hard to even call this a misunderstanding.

If, from the very beginning, Jin-ho had said, ‘Why don’t you start broadcasting on the internet?’, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Rather, it was Jin-ho’s sole mistake for thinking that Rene had understood his intentions all on her own.

No matter how perfectly the situation had seemed to invite that perspective, in the end, that and this were separate issues.

More than anything, Jin-ho himself knew that if looked at superficially, his remark could easily be taken as “go and rice-eat.”

“Phew….”

The mounting embarrassment was amplified by Rene’s gaze.

Ultimately, Jin-ho made a resolution at the end of it all.

“Damn it, rice-eating bug…!”

★

Kkaang!

…It was something much harder to deal with than usual.

It felt just like when heretics made their last stand in that other world.

[Inquisition Officer: Can I ask you what your Raiming nickname is?]

“Why would I tell you that? You’d ban me if you heard it anyway.”

What a wicked heretic, he thought.

Even in that other world, there weren’t many heretics this ruthless.

After all, if he took one more hit here, he’d die, yet he wouldn’t give up.

Nor would he repent.

Why are they doing this…?

Regardless, when they conducted a proper heretic-extraction operation next time, the result would ultimately be the same…

“Haah…. Repent….”

Kkaang!

After wrapping up the fight like that, I quietly looked up at the sky.

Thanks to this heretic attacking first, I, from my position, didn’t receive the PK penalty, which could not have been more unjust.

But what was this emptiness?

I surely want peace more than anyone in this world, so why have I ended up in this relationship with the Rebongi…?

No.

More than that, why on earth am I under account suspension and unable to broadcast?

I didn’t say anything bad, I just echoed the words I heard in that other world.

Of course, I would be told that would still make me guilty for uttering it.

It’s just too sad….

“Huah…”

With such thoughts, I logged out of New Dimension and emerged from the Reverse Capsule.

I want to play New Dimension.

But when I do, the heretic Rebongi comes for me.

If only I could turn on my broadcast, this wouldn’t happen.

In reality, the regular break periods had certainly led to some burning in the gallery, but very few Rebongi turned into heretics and came to look for me.

Isn’t there a good way out…?

Jaehun told me not to collaborate when I’m under a suspension.

Of course, even if it were allowed, I wouldn’t have thought about it.

I just threw out a vague comment since I had nothing to say, and Jaehun’s serious response surprised me.

…Should I leave a serious post on Remagal?

Asking them to stop this act called ‘fan meeting.’

Even though the Rebongi can be mischievous, they’re the type to listen when I earnestly ask them.

After all, when I mentioned that a fan meeting existed before, Tuni had said something like this, right?

“Wow, that sounds a bit malicious…. Is it even right to call that a fan meeting? It feels more like a mere excuse; in other games, it’s almost the level of a targeted attack, right? If I were you, I would be angry and definitely tell them not to do this.”

If I emphasize that kind of point, surely the Rebongi would repent and listen.

★

The night before the drinking collaboration.

Rene and Tuni started a call to discuss how to proceed with the collaboration, and now, even though they had ended their story, the conversation continued.

Of course, to say they were continuing speaking, it was more like Tuni was almost talking unilaterally.

“So I want to hold a fan meeting someday, too.”

[Fan, Fan meeting?]

“Yes. It’s because of the fans who like me that I can be here like this, right? I want to meet them directly and express my gratitude. I couldn’t do it for various reasons in the past, but now, almost everything is resolved…. If I could, I’d be really happy.”

[I didn’t find that very pleasing….]

“What?”

Suddenly, Rene rebutted Tuni’s words.

Tuni, who had her dream publicly denied, gasped in surprise.

[Meeting fans or fan meetings aren’t necessarily good… I guess.]

Then, Rene quietly began explaining her experiences with the Rebongi during her extended breaks.

And when the story wrapped up, she said, “Wow, that sounds a bit malicious… Is it even right to call that a fan meeting? That sounds like so much of an excuse, and it resembles an ambush in other games, right? If I were you, I would be angry and definitely tell them not to do this.”

Tuni honestly spoke about her impressions.

But then Rene, for some reason, didn’t respond at all.

“…Rene? Where did you go?”

[Ah, no…. I’m here….]

“Is it burdensome to directly tell them not to do such things? If so, I can find a way to phrase it….”

[No, it’s okay…!]

“Excuse me?”

[In the end, it’s something I need to do…! There might be someone genuinely trying to repent among them…!]

So there’s no need to stop the Rebongi from such actions.

As long as it continues like this, there’s no problem at all, and she is truly okay with it.

Summarizing Rene’s words, that was the meaning, and Tuni quickly grasped the meaning of that remark.

“So you’re bragging now, right, Rene?”

[…Huh?]

“The Rebongi love you this much! That’s what you’re implying!”

[Ah… That, that’s not it….]

Rene, who had said that, fell silent again and cleared her throat a bit, then opened her mouth.

[No, it might be true…. The Rebongi just fell momentarily into heresy because they wanted to see me, and I don’t necessarily dislike that fact… Or maybe? I’m not sure….]

“Rene?”

[Yes…?]

“Bragging is prohibited.”

[Huh…? It’s not bragging….]

“Bragging, prohibited.”

[…Ah, I understand.]

Of course, Tuni didn’t really think Rene had brought it up just to boast.

She knew how sincere Rene was about New Dimension.

But still, Tuni brought that up because of the image of Rene, who looked somewhere between enjoying herself and complaining.

[It wasn’t really bragging…]

Rene seemed not to realize that.

★

【Rene Galleryⓜ】

【Title: If I start broadcasting on OnTube, would you come?】

【Writer: Rene🔸】

【Likes: 101 / Dislikes: 0】

Nore Rene No Life🔹: What else would you do if not go?

Here’s where it’s nice since there are no emojis.

ㅇㅇ: Can I finally breathe now????

ㅇㅇ: From now on, you should praise the manager or something.