A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 6

The job of an Inquisition Officer is… more uneventful than I thought.

Well, if there are no heretics, then there’s nothing to do, right?

Other priests have plenty of work to keep them busy—starting with confessions, writing prayers, and supporting the slums. But as for Inquisition Officers, our entire job revolves around interrogating heretics.

…Well, to be honest, I did try to help other priests with their work when I first started out, but I was turned down outright, saying it wasn’t necessary…

Thinking back, it seems like the other Inquisition Officers were able to help out normally.

Did they dislike me?

I guess so, huh…

Anyway, when we hear about demons showing up in some region, we go there, smash some heads, and take them down.

When a heretical religion pops up in a region, we head there, smash the heads of everyone involved, and bring them back.

And we keep smashing heads until the heretics show signs of repentance.

Thanks to that, when I’m busy, I’m busier than any other priest, but when I’m free, I’m far more idle than anyone in the cult.

But in this New Dimension, there are so many heretics, and those heretics show no sign of repentance at all.

There’s absolutely no time to be free.

I never once doubted my abilities…

Did my faith diminish after returning to Earth?

Since there’s no cult around here anyway, wow…

[There he is!]

“Ahh….”

Hearing the loud voices of NPCs, I hid myself in the bushes.

If you were to ask when the most annoying time in New Dimension is, I’d say it’s exactly now.

〔Inquisition Officer〕

The nickname hovering above my head was dyed a bright red.

It indicated that I had committed PK (Player Kill) in town three times or more within a certain period.

With this mark, I can’t buy items in town, and on top of that, a bounty notice has been issued.

If I die, all my equipment disappears as a penalty.

It’s like they mixed all the annoyances together.

I just wanted the heretics to repent and extended my goodwill, so why am I having to go through such a terrible experience?

There’s definitely something wrong with the game’s system.

There have been quite a few people chasing after me due to some strange controversy, and getting a PK bounty on top of that would be quite troublesome.

To lift this stigma, I have two options: either not commit PK in town for a week or confess and donate to the heretic cult.

Of course, I have nothing to offer the cult, so I chose the first option.

At least it’s a relief that thanks to the effect of the helmet I’m currently equipped with, I only have to endure three days of not committing PK, not a week.

Plus, there’s an effect that lowers NPC recognition, so once I completely shake off their awareness, the penalty drops to almost nothing.

In other words, what I need to do now is hide for three days, avoiding the gazes of users and NPCs.

If I manage to pull that off, I can resume fulfilling my mission nicely, and hopefully by then, this nonsense controversy will have faded away.

So just hold on a little longer.

Patience is my forte, so there shouldn’t be any problem… or so I thought.

★

“…It doesn’t seem to end.”

More than a week has already passed since that day.

Yet the most talked-about thing in the New Dimension community is still my story.

Whenever it looks like the flames are about to die down, someone throws in another log, and just when that fire seems to be dying out, someone throws in more.

It’s literally an endless loop. A bottomless swamp.

“What exactly do they want me to clarify?”

Even looking at the videos that claim I’m hacking, the movements presented are perfectly reasonable.

In fact, the three who came at me seem to be acting like they were programmed by a beginner AI.

What, do they want me to apologize for “being too good at the game”?

I’m not an idiot.

In the first place, I’m not even that good at games.

“This is giving me a headache, seriously…”

Even though the PK stigma is gone, all I can do in the New Dimension is interrogate heretics.

Of course, even though my job is being an Inquisition Officer… I still want to enjoy at least a minimum level of gameplay.

There’s AOS, PVP, and a travel mode, but what drew me to the New Dimension the most was still the open-world RPG aspect.

The beautiful sight after defeating a strong enemy is something I can’t easily give up.

“Sigh…”

Ding!

Just as I released a sigh, suppressing the bubbling anger inside me, a notification from my phone greeted me.

And the content of that notification only made me even angrier.

I had spent half of my remaining living expenses for the next year just to stay in the New Dimension.

The New Dimension had been open for one year and three months this month.

In other words… I was running out of money.

[Notification]

[JB National Card, Selene]

[11/10 Credit Card Bill]

[345,720 won (as of 10/27)]

Upon seeing the credit card bill notification, I immediately launched the account management app, Toss.

And after confirming my remaining living expenses with fingerprint recognition.

[JB General Account – Savings]

[443,170 won]

It was clear for anyone to see that I was nearing the bottom.

★

I need to make money.

Just that fact alone can sap the life out of a person in an instant.

Every time this happens, I find myself longing for that other world.

Back there, I could secure three meals and a place to sleep just by smashing heretic heads…

But now, I needed to set those past memories aside and focus on making money.

However, the biggest problem here…

How on earth am I supposed to make money? As someone who never asked for it even once, what kind of job can a forced hermit like me find?

I had cut my spending down for 15 months, cut and cut again.

Thanks to purchasing the reverse capsule, half of the living expenses I had left for a year had vanished.

That’s why what should have been long gone by now had managed to last until this month.

But now that’s over.

The moment November 10 arrives, my account will only have 97,450 won left.

There’s no way to describe it other than saying it’s imminent doom.

At least it’s fortunate that I won’t be kicked out of my house right away.

If I were to get kicked out or anything, this is my house to begin with.

When I first found this out, I was thrilled…

I thought having a house in South Korea was proof of having succeeded and that I could live off it for life without working.

But no.

Having a house only meant I qualified to be a rich idle person, it didn’t mean I was guaranteed to be one.

As a result, I’m set to be just another unemployed person with a house but no money.

Of course, I can’t just sell this house…

I feel lost, seriously.

“Sigh.”

…Well then, since there’s nothing immediate I can do, let’s just play the New Dimension for now.

If I help the heretics, maybe Iya will grant me a miracle in return for my goodwill?

I thought about it, which seemed like a wonderful idea.

★

Comprehensive game streamer, Tuni.

The recent chat window on her broadcast was bustling to the point that it was hardly accurate to call it chaotic.

No, to be precise, “burning” is a more fitting description.

─Have you ever talked to the Inquisition Officer after that?

─That guy’s totally hacking, right?

The Inquisition Officer mentioned in the chat isn’t referring to the job in the New Dimension, but rather a notorious gamer with the nickname Inquisition Officer.

‘What on earth do these people expect from me…’

It was nice that the number of viewers had increased.

For Tuni as a streamer, more viewers meant more revenue, and she desperately needed that revenue as an underdog of this streaming world.

But most of that influx was from trolls?

While immediate earnings might rise, it was clear that future earnings would plummet.

It’s a common story in internet streaming that trolls disrupt the atmosphere, and previously loyal fans would drop out.

If at least that could lead to her becoming a so-called “big enterprise,” it would be a silver lining…

The problem is, these troublesome trolls will take off without hesitation as soon as the excitement of their subject declines.

In other words, that would lead not to a big success, but to bankruptcy.

For Tuni, being an underdog, she absolutely needed to avoid that situation.

‘Why are they coming to me with this…’

Just because “Inquisition Officer” showed up in Tuni’s recent stream, the coordinates were drawn in the community.

Some might wonder how people gather from just that, but unfortunately, in this vast world of the internet, there are plenty of crazy folks like that.

─Why isn’t Tuni clarifying anything?

─Tuni, let’s make this public!

‘What am I even supposed to clarify?’

Tuni was just managing to hold on, but honestly, she was already at her mental limit.

However, despite that, if there was one thing Tuni felt…

‘Honestly, I don’t think he’s hacking…’

There was a sort of trust directed toward the Inquisition Officer.

Being a streamer, Tuni was sensitive to community reactions, and she certainly knew the gist of the situation regarding this “Inquisition Officer incident.”

A surprise 1 vs. 3 fight.

In a situation where it was clear one side was disadvantaged.

But that one side gracefully dodged the surprise attack and launched a counterattack, while the three couldn’t land a single proper attack, including the surprise attack, and ended up losing.

Is such a thing even possible without hacking?

That was the crux of the current incident.

The community’s opinion was 90% to 10%.

90% claimed it was hacking, while 10% argued for skill; Tuni belonged to that 10%.

Despite having her skull cracked dozens of times, having played countless games, she had never felt anything particularly odd about the Inquisition Officer’s movements.

‘Perhaps among those claiming it’s hacking, some simply think it’s more fun to believe so…’

─Isn’t that the Inquisition Officer?

─No way, right?

“Eh?”

As she caught sight of a chat that drew her attention, she saw someone approaching her fully clad in Full Body Armor, wielding a Warhammer.

Clang, clang.

A sound both familiar and ominous.

A sound that not only reminded her but also triggered PTSD in Tuni.

The owner of that sound was, of course, the most famous user in the New Dimension community at that moment.

〔Inquisition Officer〕

It was the Inquisition Officer.

“…I guess I’m dying again, huh?”

─You’ve already died.

─Clearly. LOL.

─Tuni really took a hit there, huh? LOL.

─Why haven’t you clarified anything until now?

─Hey, should we just dump the priest?

Tuni already had no will to resist.

All that remained was a calm mind waiting for the familiar death.

Clang, clang.

And the moment the Inquisition Officer came up to her.

─Let’s get an interview with the hacking user! Let’s get an interview with the hacking user!

Seeing a malicious viewer’s spamming, Tuni’s consciousness awakened.

“Excuse me, Inquisition Officer, wait a second?!”

Tuni’s instincts were screaming.

Her instincts as a streamer were shouting fervently.

‘This is definitely going to work…!’