A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 250

【New Dimension Gallery】

【Title: But Rene, isn’t that just one-person protest?】

【Author: Remagal】

Didn’t they go on about the heretics with their one-person protests?

Honestly, it was really funny to see it in action, lol.

【Recommended: 1 / Not Recommended: 2】

New Dimension Expert: I remember them saying they would do it just once and stop.

└Remagal: What’s with that stubbornness, damn it.

└New Dimension Expert: Apparently, it’s all due to the Rebongi who don’t believe in them…

└Remagal: (Tagirion Confusion)

└New Dimension Expert: Why is this confusion even happening?

★

A break… or rather, the third day of broadcast suspension.

I woke up and saw that post on New Dimension Gallery.

“Hmmm…”

This was my one-person protest against other players swayed by the heretics.

The real reason I stopped after just one protest was obviously not that the Rebongi didn’t believe in me…

Why on earth did they write such comments?

What would happen if others really misinterpreted it?

Anyway, the actual reason I only did the protest once was that I felt it was inefficient.

No matter how much I yelled that the situation was wrong, most players dismissed it as just provocations and moved on.

It’s astonishing that the miracle created by all players is being claimed by the heretics as their achievement, and no one finds it suspicious…

Manipulation is truly terrifying.

It’s clearly a bizarre situation for anyone to see, right?

Yet, excluding me, no one feels anything unusual.

Can’t they see they’re just taking advantage of what little effort I put in?

Anyway, most New Dimension players are already manipulated.

At least the Rebongi probably didn’t fall for the heretics’ schemes, so that’s a relief, but considering the number of New Dimension players, we definitely lack strength.

I need to find a way to turn this around somehow…

What if I gather the Rebongi and stage a group protest? That would be better than a one-person protest, right?

I thought about that, and surely, it would be far more effective than a one-person effort, but it feels like it wouldn’t yield a definitive resolution.

Then how should I handle this?

“Uhhmmm…”

No matter how hard I think, no clear answer comes to mind.

Let’s take it step by step.

Iya told me before that when things get complicated, I should think it through from the beginning.

That sometimes the situation may turn out to be simpler than expected.

The biggest issue facing me right now is that the heretics have grown too powerful.

After the World Quest was over, the heretics banded together, and nothing I did alone could change anything now.

So, is there a weakness in such a massive power?

How am I supposed to know that?

That’s why I’m troubled in the first place.

Sometimes I feel like Iba’s advice sounds too good to be true…

…Wait a second.

I feel like I’ve experienced something similar in that other world before.

Sure, if I compare the details, there’s a lot different.

But the fact that the heretic’s massive force made it hard for me to act alone is similar.

How did I handle it back then?

★

“How dare they insult the gods…!”

The Pope of the Elun Cult.

Marcus Raphaella II gritted his teeth and lamented after returning to his residence.

Recently, the Elun Cult had been thriving.

They had grown powerful by joining forces with the Scadi Cult, with whom they had been on rocky terms to the point of war.

Thanks to the Elun God’s blessing that played a significant role in defeating the Great Demon Tagirion, the continent’s faith had never been so strong.

How tragic was it to suffer for the only heretics during the Crusade?

Yet, overcoming that adversity made the cult stronger than ever.

But perhaps because they had become too powerful?

Or because they previously realized that faith isn’t absolute?

Numerous movements began to emerge around the Astria Empire aiming to suppress the cult.

“Do they not realize that without the Elun God, the entire continent would have turned into a sea of flames, those fools….”

Even with the faith throughout the continent weakened, Elun still offered mercy in the form of blessings.

And yet, to receive such treatment…

As Pope of the Elun Cult, Marcus couldn’t accept this situation.

“I’ll bring this up again tomorrow.”

Marcus vowed internally as he began to prepare for sleep, startled by a wave of unease that suddenly coursed down his spine.

“An intruder!”

And indeed, that unease turned out to be justified, as the voice of the Paladin Order echoed throughout.

★

“Team Leader! Rene is…!”

“Uh. I’m already watching.”

Responding to the staff’s call, the Planning Team Leader chuckled while looking at the monitor.

On the screen, a player was seen fleeing from the Paladin Order.

That player, in order to reduce their weight, was empty-handed, but just by looking at the jet-black full body armor, it was clear that this player was Rene.

“I never thought someone would actually try this…”

This wasn’t a World Quest.

In fact, the planning team hadn’t confirmed the next World Quest yet.

However, the intermediate stage for beginning the next World Quest had already been set, and Rene had certainly touched the trigger for that.

What was originally supposed to unfold naturally after a set period was now set to begin based on player actions.

And what Rene had done was pull that time forward significantly.

“We need to work harder too.”

“Pardon?”

“With someone enjoying the world we created this much, shouldn’t we work even harder than now?”

As the Planning Team Leader grinned and spoke, the staff nodded in agreement.

Of course, Rene’s actions hadn’t considered such things at all.

And the staff who had come to report to him already knew that.

But regardless of that, watching Rene genuinely enjoy the game ignited a fiery passion within them.

“Now that I think about it, something similar happened before, right?”

“Yes, it was during that time. Although you weren’t a streamer back then.”

“…Thinking about it, maybe it was destined to end up like this from the start.”

“Maybe that’s true.”

Engaging in such trivial conversation, the two headed to the meeting room.

★

Thinking back, I’ve faced a power that I couldn’t handle alone before.

It was exactly that feeling when facing the heretic prince in the other world.

How did I handle it back then?

I didn’t confront them head-on but rather took the prince with me.

Well, I did faint the emperor and the royal knight order that were beside the heretic prince, but that hardly counts as a proper confrontation.

Of course, a war between the empire and the cult began afterward.

But what matters now isn’t the later situation; it’s the fact that I had experience taking just the prince away.

If it’s hard to face them head-on, there’s no need to do so.

I just need to target the important figures.

Just like I snatched the heretic prince in the other world.

In New Dimension, I could kidnap these self-proclaimed popes and make them repent.

With that conclusion in mind, I infiltrated the heretics’ stronghold like before and began searching for the self-proclaimed popes.

[Logout is impossible at this time.]

But the situation was significantly different from before.

I distinctly remembered being thrown out instantly last time.

No.

To be precise, as soon as I attempted to attack, the screen switched, and I was expelled by the heretics.

But now, the screen didn’t even switch, and a system message arrived informing me that the heretics were beginning to pursue me, leaving me in a situation where logging out was impossible.

My goal was just the self-proclaimed popes, so I didn’t touch other heretics.

Is the only difference that this was supposedly the Papal Office and not just some random heretic dwelling?

Perhaps being the leader of the heretics gives this place some sort of special event or something.

Honestly, I want to show these chasing heretics the taste of a warhammer, but… it feels like this situation is dragging on longer than I’d like, so I gave up.

For now, I’ll just keep running until I can escape this pursuit.

…Wait?

Hold on a second.

Thinking about it, why should I be the one to run when I haven’t done anything wrong?

It’s the heretics who should be ashamed.

The absurdity of an innocent person fleeing from the guilty.

I felt a strong refusal to accept this unjust reality.

[The stranger has given up on fleeing! Must capture alive for interrogation!]

One, two, three, four… twelve?

This might be a bit tough, but can I somehow manage it?

It’s a straight corridor, so it should be easier to face them, and anyway, they’re NPCs, so their battle patterns should be predetermined.

“Phew…”

To move a bit lighter, I equipped the warhammer I had stored in my inventory.

They had longsword sets. Great sword sets. Two spears. Four in the rear.

Honestly, it would be hard to take them all down on my own since this isn’t the other world.

But they don’t look like the crucial NPCs I faced during the last war over there.

So I guess they’re just at a challenging level, nothing impossible.

Concluding that, I took a deep breath and stretched my legs and the warhammer back while getting ready.