A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 35

Name: Jeong Gunwoo.

Nickname used in New Dimension and the community: Saint.

In the past, he targeted an innocent New Dimension player, claiming they were a hacker.

However, the production company firmly denied the content of that targeting.

After additional inquiries, the only response he received was that the nickname ‘Inquisition Officer’ had not used hacks.

Naturally, a tremendous backlash ensued.

He became the most famous target of ridicule in New Dimension, while his acquaintances in the game pretended to offer consolation but distanced themselves from him.

It was a punishment dealt to a man who had attempted to ruin an innocent player.

And the emotion Gunwoo felt in the face of that punishment was,

“Foolish…”

It was intense self-reproach.

As a result of being PKed for reasons unknown, Gunwoo became agitated. It was only natural to react that way.

Thus, he attempted revenge with friends from high school, using the same PK method.

The result was a defeat that left him with no excuses.

And at that time, Gunwoo could not accept that defeat.

He did not want to acknowledge that he lost to a cowardly PK player.

The opponent ‘Inquisition Officer’ simply played the game better than him, yet he targeted and incited others, labeling him a hacker.

He should have rather raised the issue of PK itself instead of calling it hacking.

…Of course, even if Gunwoo had done so, it wouldn’t have changed anything.

PK was not a crime in New Dimension from the start.

Despite numerous inquiries about PK since the game’s release, the company had only responded that there was no issue with PK itself.

Thinking back, to think that playing PK in such a game was seen as cowardly.

In hindsight, it was evident that he deserved to be scorned.

…Though he still couldn’t understand why.

Anyway, he wanted to apologize.

He wanted to apologize for his pettiness in labeling the other a hacker.

Of course, immediately after it was revealed that he was not a hacker, he had a history of writing something ragged and filled with excuses and justifications that could barely be called an apology.

But now, Gunwoo was different.

He seriously reflected on his recent experiences, pondered why such events occurred, and acknowledged his faults.

“I want to apologize…”

Gunwoo’s words were genuine sincerity without falsehood.

However, the problem was, even if he wanted to apologize, he had no way to contact her.

He had no idea when or where that elusive person might appear.

As time passed, Gunwoo’s guilt deepened further.

One day, however, he heard news from an acquaintance.

The ‘Inquisition Officer’ was doing an internet broadcast.

Upon hearing that, he immediately searched for her broadcast channel.

Contrary to Gunwoo’s expectations, she was not playing New Dimension; instead, she was talking about something.

Knowing almost nothing about internet broadcasting, he understood barely half of what she was saying, but what was important for Gunwoo was the apology.

But it was clear that the atmosphere was not right for an apology at that moment, so he watched the Inquisition Officer… Rene’s broadcast without typing anything in the chat.

‘By the way, she was a woman.’

The most surprising thing for Gunwoo while watching the broadcast was that particular revelation.

Unconsciously, he had assumed she was a man, but to find out she was a woman was a shock.

The fact that her voice was very nice was also a surprising discovery.

[Rene is always open for questions… Wowww…!]

And while watching the broadcast, an opportunity finally arose for Gunwoo.

A plan established in the blink of an eye.

An image simulation that seemed perfect.

‘…This could end on a warm note.’

In Gunwoo’s mind, the scene was already playing where she accepted his apology with a smile and even added him as a friend in New Dimension.

Of course, the likelihood of her being too deeply hurt to accept an apology was higher, but he firmly believed that donating about 100,000 won would get her to listen to him…

[Ah, um. First, thank you for the 200,000 won donation… But right now, I’m thinking that might be possible, too, I guess. Uh, um… I’m not sure how to say this…!]

And somewhat unexpectedly, although Gunwoo had donated 200,000 won, Rene indeed seemed willing to accept the apology.

However, the problem was with the chat window.

Even Gunwoo, who was clueless about internet broadcasting culture, could clearly see that her fans were furious.

‘…Well. From their perspective, I must seem like the person attempting to question someone they like.’

Gunwoo easily understood that fact. Deciding to donate another 100,000 won after that and then leave the broadcast, he made up his mind.

[Saint. You do feel very sorry for me, don’t you?]

Her words.

[Then may I ask you one favor…?]

That statement.

[…Then would it be alright if I looked back on the video you made back then?]

Before hearing it,

“…Is she insane?”

Such a statement could only be interpreted as sarcastic.

It was unavoidable that such an exclamation slipped out of Gunwoo’s mouth.

★

[Rene]

[I have an important announcement]

[Talk | 20 viewers online | 1:53:52]

“…Then would it be alright if I looked back on the video you made back then?”

Right after I made that statement, I admired myself.

This is undoubtedly a brilliant thought, isn’t it?

Honestly, I didn’t have any particular feelings about that Saint person anymore, so I wasn’t pleased with the atmosphere in the chat window.

I wish they would ask me questions instead of pouring out malice towards that person.

Therefore, I wanted to quickly change the subject and atmosphere of the chat window.

But no matter how much I said it was okay, my viewers, the Rebongi, didn’t seem to have any intention of forgiving him.

Then how should I divert their attention?

After a brief thought, I realized it was simple.

Since more than half of my viewers were obsessed with New Dimension, I just needed to talk about it.

Of course, I had nothing to do in New Dimension at the moment, but isn’t there someone who could be the topic right now in my broadcast?

I could do a New Dimension-related broadcast that my Rebongi would love, and I could also change this uncomfortable atmosphere, making it a win-win situation.

No.

Considering the standpoint of that Saint person, it could even be considered a win-win-win, as I’m giving an opportunity to improve his New Dimension skills while providing him with absolution.

Perhaps the Rebongi would all think I was amazing?

─Receiving 200,000 won and publicly denouncing him feels a bit much, doesn’t it? LOL

─If this guy suddenly seems so pitiful, then upvote! LOL

─(The way he thinks is just so different from ours, don’t you think?)

─He’ll probably make some lame excuse about how perfect his explanation was, and then poof! LOL

─Rene/Preparing to add to the controversy, haha.

─Apologizing to Saint who was obviously the one at fault! LOL

─Doesn’t this mean it’s an open invitation to attack him???

─200,000 won, ohhhhhh.

…Wait, what?

Why?

For some reason, the Rebongi were suddenly cursing at me while comforting Saint.

Well, I did indeed want to change the atmosphere because I disliked the vibe of cursing at that person, and as a result, he wasn’t getting cursed at;

But that didn’t mean I wanted them to curse at me!

This is strange….

“Hmm… So, would that be alright, Saint?”

Yet I couldn’t just stay silent.

Upon asking him again, he replied that it was fine.

Well, since I decided to do it, I had to proceed with it.

After all, everyone would surely change their reactions after watching my recap.

Since I had diligently prepared for a day like this again someday.

As evidence, there hadn’t been any comments recently claiming my voice was too quiet in the chat.

“Then… Ah, I found it. I’ll start now.”

Although that person’s past posts targeting me had been deleted, thankfully, after searching the internet, I found nearly ten videos from that time.

I played one of them and displayed it on the broadcast screen, continuing my commentary.

[Die!]

“Here, you can see the surprise attack from behind, right? At this point, the whole meaning of surprise is thrown out the window. Since it is clear I’m being attacked from behind, it becomes simple to dodge…”

─Oh.

─Why does this seem so professional?

─PK expert’s PK lecture! Ddddddd.

★

【Rene Galleryⓜ】

【Title: A Recap of the Gallery Master’s Past Targeting Video.mp4】

【Author: ㅇㅇ(Paddak)】

(1vs3 Combat Scene.mp4)

[Since dodging is simple, it’s also easy to judge the situation after dodging, right?]

[The opponent has three. I’m alone. What do you think is the most important thing here?]

─Do I need to avoid getting surrounded by three?

[Correct, Lainel. You seem to have watched my broadcast almost from the beginning, so you know well. To be precise, I need to prevent the opponent from going behind me. I can easily block or dodge attacks from the front and sides, but attacks from behind are impossible to predict.]

[Considering that, the terrain here was good. There’s a rock wall right in front, so I can lean against it and block attacks coming from behind.]

[Then the next thing I need to do is understand the opponent’s weapons. There’s one spear and two knuckles, right? The spear has a longer reach than I do, and the knuckles have a shorter reach. So what I should do here is keep the spear master in front of me. If the spear, which can attack at a longer range than a Warhammer, gains distance, it becomes troublesome.]

[Honestly, I was pondering how to create that setup here… Luckily, these guys all rushed in together on their own. The spear master inadvertently limited the attack range of the other two.]

[To be honest, from this point, it was already over. If they were going to do this, why didn’t they just attack one by one instead?]

[And if you watch here, you can see the spear master’s shoulder slightly leaning back, right?]

─I can’t really tell.

[Ah, let me show you slowly. …Do you see it? The spear master’s shoulder leaning back mostly indicates it’s a thrusting attack. Although this thrusting attack is indeed fast, it’s easy to predict once you know about it, right? So it leads to my parry scene.]

[People on the free bulletin board or gallery say things like ‘That doesn’t make sense’, but anyone can do this if they just pay attention to a little bit of their movement.]

…

[But after finishing this recap… No matter how I look at it, it seems that I didn’t do anything well; rather, the opponent made too many mistakes.]

[Honestly, at this level, they’re the equivalent of a mid-level PVP AI… How did this hacker controversy even arise? Do people play games without any thoughts? I would be embarrassed to say someone was hacking after watching that….]

[Oh, Saint and those two might feel that way. They must have rushed in out of anger, so naturally, their judgment wouldn’t be right. So this isn’t truly their skill, obviously. I’m speaking from the viewpoint of a third party who has watched and judged. Still, I apologize if you felt uncomfortable….]

[But I still don’t quite understand why the hack controversy originated…]

[Is there actually no one who plays New Dimension on the freedom bulletin board?]

【Recommendation: 12 / Disapproval: 1】

ㅇㅇ: Wait, what? Is this really actually informative this time?

Great Demon Rene: Great Demon Rene.

ㅇㅇ: Even the way you turned it around at the end was perfect, insane! LOL

Daegros🔹: But watching it this way makes it seem like the Gallery Master really thinks a lot while playing the game.

└Daegros🔹: Seems like their physical skills are also really good.

└ㅇㅇ: But why the heck is the Jumping Up…?

└Daegros🔹: LOL.

ㅇㅇ: A 200,000 won lecture! Ddddddd.

└Dakkaturi: It seems somehow valuable…