A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 269

“Um… I actually had something I wanted to talk about…”

[Oh? What is it?!]

At Eri’s lively voice, I felt a strange sense of guilt. What I was about to say was essentially asking everyone to lie.

“Remember how I mentioned last time that the playstyle I thought of for Rina seemed a bit unique…?”

[Oh, right! I was actually really looking forward to it today. I’m so excited to see what kind of play you’ll show us!]

“Well, about that… Would it be okay if I didn’t use Rina in today’s broadcast? I’d like to show it to you separately after the stream…”

[…Huh?]

“I’m not sure if it’s okay to do this on stream… I’d like you and Tuni to take a look and decide for me…”

[So, you’re saying you want to hide the strategy you’ve been thinking of?]

“Yeah, you could say that…”

Honestly, it wasn’t so much that I was confident in my playstyle and wanted to hide it, but more like, “Is it really okay to play like this?” Looking at my recent records, I’ve never even made it into the top 30.

But despite my records, I didn’t feel like my playstyle was wrong. That’s why I wanted to confirm it with Tuni and Eri.

Asking Mit-chan and Ne-chan on my friends list… Well, that was too embarrassing.

If they said something like, “You’ve barely started, and you’re already doing weird stuff?” I’d probably quit Bloody Night 2 that very day…

[I’m fine with it. But then, how should we proceed with today’s stream?]

“Well, I’ve watched the playstyle of that person you mentioned a few more times, so maybe I could try playing like that…?”

[But that’s a playstyle from the previous game, so it might feel very different from Bloody Night 2. Are you sure that’s okay?]

“Well, the champion skills are the same, so I think I can follow it to some extent…”

★

“I’m sorry…”

After the stream ended, I immediately apologized to Tuni and Eri. I had confidently said I could follow that playstyle, but I ended up holding them back the entire game.

…Well.

Before even talking about the difference between computer games and VR games, that VTuber had won the tournament twice. Thinking I could replicate their playstyle after just watching it a few times was ridiculous.

And to think, that VTuber was the one I had watched when I first started looking into VTubers. No wonder their voice sounded familiar.

[It’s okay. You said the playstyle you prepared was completely different, right? That’s our main focus today anyway.]

[In fact, isn’t it even better? If other teams watched our stream today, they probably wouldn’t prepare for us. Hehe.]

Tuni and Eri comforted me with a smile. I was grateful for their comfort, but I couldn’t help but assume the worst, so I honestly shared my thoughts.

“But what if the playstyle I came up with is completely useless? Wouldn’t that mean there’s no need to prepare for us at all…?”

[Hey, if that happens, we’ll just practice for three more weeks! And didn’t we say that just participating in the first place has meaning? No negative thoughts allowed!]

[Right. Everyone already expects us to be last anyway.]

[Hey, Tuni! I just said no negative thoughts!]

“…Thank you.”

We haven’t even started proper practice, let alone the tournament. But for some reason, I felt like I made the right choice teaming up with these two.

[Then let’s get started. Hmm… How about we do an AI match first? AI matches don’t leave records.]

“Uh… But I heard on the community that AI matches aren’t helpful for practice…”

[Right now, it’s not about practice but about seeing your playstyle. And you can adjust the AI’s difficulty, so it’s not like AI matches are completely useless.]

“Ah, I see…”

And so, we played against the highest-level AI, set to Gold tier.

“So… how is it…?”

[Tuni. This… We might actually pull off something crazy here!]

[I think it’s definitely a strategy that could work if the opponent has no information. But the problem is… How do we hide Rene’s playstyle?]

[…Oh. Right.]

[Your ID is already known from today’s stream, so even if we practice offline, they can still check your records. Of course, they can’t figure out everything from the records, but they can see what weapons we’re using. And if someone happens to recognize us, there’s no guarantee they won’t share our playstyle on the community…]

[Honestly, I’m surprised no one has shared this playstyle on the community yet. Maybe you’ve only been matched with complete newbies…?]

[That’s probably it. But we can’t rely on that kind of luck anymore. Of course, we can’t guarantee we’ll get caught, but we also can’t guarantee we won’t. Hoping we don’t get caught is the worst plan.]

After achieving first place in the AI match, Tuni and Eri had a long discussion.

[…Let’s not practice in regular matches at all. I think it’s best to only do AI matches where records aren’t saved. In my opinion… This playstyle seems to depend more on Rene’s condition than the opponent’s skill.]

[I agree!]

They came to the extreme conclusion that I shouldn’t practice in regular matches at all. Ranked matches were out of the question anyway since my level was too low.

“Uh… I think this tournament is also meant to promote the new game… Wouldn’t the developers want us to stream it…?”

[That’s true. That’s why we were invited…]


Streamers or VTubers with a decent number of viewers, of course, we hope they consistently turn on their broadcasts. But in my opinion… wouldn’t this way of doing things bring way more promotion than just randomly turning on a stream to show something?

Really, will it work out like that…?

[Also, I think we can consider a bit of a different approach for practicing privately. Right now, the Sirius 1st team is definitely playing Bloody Night 2. If we set it up privately, it’s possible to play as a 3-team game, so if we ask those people for some practice help, we wouldn’t have to rely solely on AI for practice.]

[…Isn’t the summer season currently ongoing?]

[Considering the help we got from Rene, I think we can spare this much time. At most, it’s just an hour.]

★

【Bloody Night Series Galleryⓜ】

【Title: Who do you think will win this General Assembly?】


【Written by: ShouldWePlayBloodyNight2🔸】


Watching the practice streams, the Japanese team Tsubasa, Akari, Ryoka << these guys seem like they’ll win. They’re skilled and communicate well.



【Likes: 16 / Dislikes: 1】



AloneW: The Japanese VTuber side is definitely the favorites, yeah. Has it ever not been like that?

└ShouldWePlayBloodyNight2🔸: I thought Bloody Night 2 would be a bit different though…

BloodyGallery: No standout teams from Korea?


└ShouldWePlayBloodyNight2🔸: Antique, Haram, Lewen.


└ShouldWePlayBloodyNight2🔸: They’re a bit sharp, but it’s like they’re barely showing potential?


└ShouldWePlayBloodyNight2🔸: It’s just that Tsubasa <<< these guys are too strong, I guess.



ㅇㅇ: I think Tuni’s team will win...

└ShouldWePlayBloodyNight2🔸: Don’t you dare go around saying you know how to watch Bloody Night 2…


└ThisIsNotIt: After watching yesterday’s stream, you still say that? LOL


└ㅇㅇ: Actually, I didn’t watch the stream…

…

【Title: Predicting this General Assembly ㅇㅇ】 (5)


【Title: Tsubasa’s side is obviously the favorite to win, it’s just about the battles below them, right?】 (2)


【Title: Brought a Tuni team victory scenario LOLOLOL】 (28)


【Title: Newbie here who got into the game after watching the tournament practice streams】 (11)


【Title: The General Assembly chaos is gonna flood in, should we weed out the randoms beforehand?】 (17)

…

【Title: Tuni’s team hasn’t streamed since the first day;】


【Written by: ShouldWePlayBloodyNight2🔸】


Do they not plan to practice? Since the first day, Tuni and Eri <<< these two occasionally play, but Rene <<< this girl’s record has completely stopped.

It’s obvious she’s the weak link, so why isn’t she practicing?



【Likes: 2 / Dislikes: 0】



ㅇㅇ: Maybe they just gathered on the first day to try it out?

└ㅇㅇ: Even if they practice, they’ll probably get eliminated early, so no need to practice LOL

└ShouldWePlayBloodyNight2🔸: Honestly, even if they practiced, they’d probably get eliminated early LOL;

…

【Title: Predicting Tuni’s team’s <<< day scenario ㅇㅇ】

【Written by: BloodyGallery】

Obviously, they’ll start with an early elimination.

They’ll die so fast they won’t even appear on screen LOL



But after the General Assembly ends, all teams get interviewed, right?

When they ask how they practiced, Tuni will step up and say, “Ah... Rene suddenly got busy, so our schedules didn’t match. Eri and I practiced together occasionally.” Subtly starting the gender tension.

Rene will apologize, and Eri will wrap it up with, “Just participating was a valuable learning experience. We had enough reason to join.” LOL



Seeing them as a pre-made team in the General Assembly, they must’ve been close, but it’ll end with their friendship breaking.



【Likes: 28 / Dislikes: 1】



ㅇㅇ: I can totally picture it in my head LOL



...



【Title: But isn’t it too much to not even stream at all?】

【Written by: ThisIsPerfectForYou】

Whether it’s the General Assembly or the VR Finals, there’s obviously a promotional aspect, right?

Especially since Bloody Night 2 just launched, streamers and VTubers are supposed to keep playing on stream to attract new viewers...



If you know you’re the weak link, shouldn’t you at least stream and practice alone?

At least Tuni and Eri occasionally play together, but it seems like they’re avoiding streaming to prevent other rumors.



At this point, isn’t it just plain rude?



【Likes: 19 / Dislikes: 1】



ㅇㅇ: They’re gonna get eliminated early anyway, so no need to promote LOL



PositionTooMuch: Honestly, this is facts;

└PositionTooMuch: Giving up completely because there’s no chance is just rude, yeah;



★



Three weeks passed by faster than expected.



During that time, I didn’t play any regular games as Tuni and Eri suggested, sticking to AI matches.

And once a day, I practiced in private matches with the help of the Sirius team.



Today’s condition... honestly, it was pretty good.

Earlier, I played a top-tier AI match alone and almost cleared it by myself.



[Then, let’s begin the Bloody Night 2 General Assembly!!!]



And so, the tournament began.