Heretics Absolutely Rejected
The question came from one of the party members. “Do you happen to have any Priests or Paladins?”
[Lene][Tagirion Raid. Heretic Rejection][New Dimension | 16 viewers | 0:00:32]
The Tagirion raid, which could be challenged once a week inside Cliphort’s Castle, was currently one of New Dimension’s endgame contents. Well, the community called it that, but in truth none of the players knew for certain whether it truly was the final content. The developers never announced new content in the patch notes. The only things they ever posted were balance adjustments. They claimed it was more fun for players to discover new content themselves. This very raid had been found by chance when some explorer stumbled across it while roaming the continent.
Anyway, the Tagirion raid was one of New Dimension’s current endgame contents. Strictly speaking, however, it had already been cleared by the top players four months ago. Once the patterns were fully analyzed and a party succeeded in clearing it, the raid began to turn into a kind of “daily chore.” Of course, it was still a goal for those who came after, and even the front-line players gathered at Cliphort’s Castle every time the entry limit reset in order to farm the final gear and currency. That was why Cliphort’s Castle was bustling with players today as well.
“Hmm. Shall we start recruiting the party, then?”
“Correct. We do not accept heretics in this party….”
“It is not difficult….”
Just as the chat had said, the same argument occasionally appeared on the community boards. People claimed that heretics were far too essential in raids. They argued that the self-proclaimed Priests’ buffs were excessively strong, the self-proclaimed Paladins’ tanking was excessively good, and that other classes felt relatively weak by comparison, creating an enormous gap in clear rates.
But I could say this with confidence: it was all complete nonsense. The idea that a clear was impossible without heretics? Then what exactly had all the raid parties I had led until now been doing? Ever since the patterns were solved, my party had never once retreated from the Tagirion raid. The fact that such comments were appearing even in my own stream chat showed just how thoroughly the heretics had incited and brainwashed people.
So today, at the very least, I would have to break that misconception for my viewers.
“Once the raid begins, I will explain everything. The notion that heretics are absolutely necessary is simply untrue….”
〔Tagirion Raid Recruitment. Heretics Absolutely Rejected | Inquisitor | Traveler〕
Once I opened recruitment, the thirty-five slots filled at a rapid pace. A quick check showed six tanks, nineteen dealers, and nine supporters besides myself. Satisfied with the composition, I immediately headed for the gates of Cliphort’s Castle.
Creaaak—.
An unpleasant sound scraped against my ears as my vision went dark for an instant. It was proof that every party member had accepted the raid entry. When my sight returned, all thirty-five of us, myself included, stood at the starting point of the raid: the Garden of Emptiness.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“How are we assigning roles?”
The moment the party leader greeted them, the area grew noisy. I spotted several familiar usernames and many new ones.
At my question, every party member nodded. Just in case, I checked their specs; they did not appear to be lying.
“No separate orders?”
It was not a lie. If everyone had memorized the patterns, there was no need for orders. Yet several party members with unfamiliar usernames and my stream viewers clearly did not agree.
“Hmm….”
Why did no one believe me? Did my words carry so little credibility? I thought my skill had been proven well enough through my PvP streams. Still, viewers were one thing; the actual party members raiding with me might feel differently….
“Excuse me, Party Leader. Do you happen to have any Priests or Paladins?”
…What? Did I hear that correctly?
“Even without Priests and Paladins, if the leader also gives no orders, it feels like it will be too difficult.”
“Haa….”
A sigh escaped me unintentionally. Being surprised by the lack of orders was understandable; I could accept that. But I never expected someone to protest the absence of heretics.
“I did not curse. And please stop calling me noona….”
Perhaps thinking they had caught me on the back foot with that sigh, the chat exploded with messages. It was hard to believe this was a chat window used by only sixteen people. I had thought there were no heretics among my viewers, yet the seeds of malice they had sown seemed to have taken deeper root than I imagined.
Still, helping these people escape that malice was clearly part of my duty as an Inquisitor.
“Party Leader? Could you answer….”
“No, that is not….”
“Ah, yes…. I will do my best.”
Fortunately, the man who had fallen into the swamp of heresy seemed to have repented, at least a little. The chat calmed down considerably as well.
“Everyone. I will show you clearly this time why I said heretics are unnecessary. Also, I have never trolled on New Dimension Gallery, and I am not your noona.”
After addressing my stream viewers one last time, I stepped forward to begin the Tagirion raid.
★ Triatu. Class: Mage. He was a player who had only experienced the Tagirion raid twice. Yet he was the so-called prepared newbie who had thoroughly studied every pattern beforehand. Precisely because of that, he could not understand the party leader’s actions.
No matter how much New Dimension allowed anyone to learn any skill regardless of class, one could not ignore the additional effects certain classes received from specific skills. That was the view held by most New Dimension players, excluding a few exceptions, and in the Tagirion raid the most critical factor was “how well the tanks could hold.”
In such a raid, Paladins, who tanked better than most classes, and Priests, whose healing skills increased in potency, were considered essential. Paladins in particular received additional effects from Priests’ skills, making them even more indispensable.
“No matter how I look at it, this seems impossible….”
Worried that they were simply wasting time, Triatu let out a quiet sigh that the party leader, “Inquisitor,” would not hear.
“Are you worried?”
The one who spoke from beside him was a Spearwoman using the username “Sea.”
“…Honestly, yes. There are no Priests or Paladins, and the leader said there would be no orders either.”
“Hehe. It seems this is your first time in Inquisitor-nim’s party.”
“…Yes.”
Sea smiled brightly, as if she had no worries at all.
“Do not worry. We will clear it anyway. I can guarantee it.”
What filled her voice was trust. And it would not take Triatu long to understand the reason for that trust.