The Patch No Inquisitor Wanted
Anyone who's a priest and happy about this, upvote lol. “Happy New Year, Lene unni!” “Happy New Year, Lene.” “Please take care of us again this year.” When I woke up, Bora’s family had descended on our house, bringing rice cake soup her mother had made.
“Oh, uh… H-Happy New Year to you too, Bora, and to your mom and dad… I’ll enjoy the rice cake soup….” After that light exchange, Bora asked if I wanted to go out and play with her, but I turned her down. I wasn’t about to start the year by collapsing from exhaustion.
After replying to Tyuni’s New Year greeting, I sat eating the rice cake soup Bora’s mother had made and found myself lost in thought.
“Hmm….”
How would I spend this year? Could I really keep making a living from streaming? If something happened and my stream fell apart, what would I do? Would Bora still like me this year? Would Tyuni and I keep getting along? What if everyone got tired of someone as awkward and quiet as me and left…? I was used to being alone, but that didn’t mean I liked it.
“Haa….”
I knew these negative thoughts weren’t good, but they’d become such a habit that I couldn’t shake them easily. At times like this, petting Bay’s fur was the best remedy… He was always the one tormenting me, yet whenever I sank into negative thoughts, he was right there comforting me.
“Hup.”
After finishing the last bite of rice cake soup and doing the dishes, I sat down at my computer, booted it up, and logged into Lema Gallery. As usual, I wrote a carefully worded post explaining why being a heretic was wrong, then clicked over to the concept posts tab.
【Lene Galleryⓜ】
【Title: Maybe It’s Time to Get a Stream Manager】 (21)
【Title: Drew Some Fanart】 (19)
【Title: Lene’s Dumb Moves Compilation from Yesterday.mp4】 (17)
【Title: ‘VTuber’ Lene Nator Link】 (8)
【Title: Summarized How to Use Nator】 (5)
【Title: Since We’re at It, How About Lene Fully Switches to Being a VTuber? ㅎㅎ;】 (26)
【Title: New Dimension PK Patch Just Dropped】 (18)
“…Huh?”
There were all kinds of concept posts, but the one that caught my eye the most was the PK patch discussion. …Maybe they eased the PK penalties? Honestly, the penalties had been way too harsh. For the sake of people like me who work hard to make heretics repent, they should at least increase the mark stack from three to five… Or maybe the patch made it so that killing a heretic doesn’t build any mark stacks at all.
(patch_notes.jpg)
3-Line Summary
1. PK stacks reduced to 2 + stack duration massively increased from 3 hours to 12 hours
2. When killed with a mark, equipped items are destroyed > equipped items destroyed + 30% gold deducted
3. Added notification effect when a PK player stays in a town for a certain period
They’re also talking about making stacks accumulate even without witnesses (thumbs-up frog emote)
Gallery owner is screwed lololololololololololololol
“…No way.”
This couldn’t be real. Why would something like this happen? If the patch notes were true, it meant making heretics repent had just gotten a lot harder. Why? The penalties were already more than enough… No, they were already excessive. It was almost like New Dimension’s developers were siding with the heretics… There had to be some kind of misunderstanding. Maybe something like “The above does not apply to heretics” was missing… Or, or…
“That can’t be it…”
Sending false faith to a false god to receive false power was such a terrifying and wrong thing to do. It was truly unfortunate. Of course, they probably knew that fact themselves. If the developers truly didn’t know, they could have just removed PK entirely. In other words, this PK patch must have been implemented for some unavoidable reason.
“Well… does it even matter…?”
Sure, seeing the notes had made me furious for a moment, but once I calmed down and thought about it, it didn’t really matter. The penalties had increased, but compared to the other world, far worse things had happened. There was a time my name was put on the empire’s wanted list. I’d been trapped in a maze that would make you wander forever if you made a mistake involving a child. I’d fought three dragons at once. I’d had to subdue brainwashed paladins without killing them. Thinking about all that, this level of change was… something I could handle somehow.
With that conclusion, I stretched, stood up, and logged into New Dimension.
★ Sometimes during streams, people ask me that question. In the end, isn’t New Dimension just an RPG? Once you’re done raiding and farming gear, there’s no reason to keep logging in, right? Wouldn’t it be more fun to play AOS or PVP mode after finishing your so-called homework?
…Well, I don’t think that’s entirely wrong. Everyone finds enjoyment in different parts of a game. But the reason I like New Dimension is because I can directly explore this fantasy world. If I had thought of New Dimension as just a simple RPG, would I ever have been able to defeat Albion? It would’ve been impossible. Of course, I wasn’t wandering around specifically looking for that kind of thing… Anyway, that’s what I like about New Dimension.
“I’ll be counting on you.”
At the old merchant’s words, I quietly nodded. The quest I’d received from the guild this time was an E-rank herb collection. All I had to do was enter the Rippling Forest north of the village and gather twenty “Heavenly Sea Herbs.” It was an easy, simple quest.
“Haa…”
The Rippling Forest got its name because the thick fog made the scenery look like it was rippling. True to its name, as soon as I entered, the massive trees began swaying left and right as if dancing. In a situation where visibility was this poor, monsters could be dangerous, but that only applied if the monsters were strong. The monsters that appeared here were at most kobolds, lizardmen, or goblins. Even if over a hundred of them attacked me at once, I wouldn’t lose.
Plus, the rewards weren’t great either. Honestly, there was nothing for me to gain from this quest. Even so, the reason I accepted it and came to the Rippling Forest was because I liked this fantastical aspect of New Dimension. At times like this, it really felt like I was an adventurer in a fantasy world. Back in the other world, being an adventurer had been my dream…
Huh. Why was this heretic here? Considering this heretic’s level, there shouldn’t be anything worth getting here.
“…Doing a quest. They told me to collect thirty kobold bones and fifteen lizardman clubs.”
When I checked the quests at the guild earlier, the receptionist had said one of the E-rank quests was already taken by someone else. From what I’d just heard, it was obvious this person was doing that exact quest.
“That’s true, but… well. It’s fun, this kind of thing. Entering an unknown forest and seeing what’s there… How should I put it? It feels like becoming the adventurer you read about in fantasy novels? Taking requests from the guild… solving them and getting paid…”
…Unbelievable. I never thought there’d be someone who thought exactly like me. It was a strange feeling. Like our affinity or favorability was rising.
“Well, some people might think it’s childish, but that’s why I’m here. If we’re being that picky, you don’t have the specs to be here either.”
“Ah… I was originally going to do that one, but gathering herbs didn’t suit my personality, so I switched to this.”
“Really…?”
“…Then, would it be okay if I asked you one thing?”
“There’s no option where we just go our separate ways nicely, is there?”
“I watch your stream regularly… Could you let me off just this once?”
“That means no, right?”
“You saw the patch notes about increased PK penalties?”
“…Damn it.”
“Shit…”
Clang!
…Ah, right. I forgot to ask for their Liming username.