Ch.45[Chapter 45] Patch Notes 2.13.0104.1

“This is absurd.”

The middle-aged pot-bellied man slammed his fist on the mahogany desk.

The gold badge with crossed swords on his lapel trembled.

“I understand providing conveniences for tankers’ supplies, but this crosses the line.”

The pot-bellied man spat out his opinion, literally spraying saliva.

In the video he was watching, Sir Dominic was facing off against more than 50 people in the early battlefield, killing 32 of them while defending a strategic position.

“Does this make any sense? I can accept the difference between tier 1 and tier 2. But among those 50 people, many had tier 2 status with excellent equipment!”

“They’re all dealers. And from what I can see, they’re either ranged types or area damage types.”

A woman who couldn’t stand listening to the pot-bellied man any longer spoke up.

On her lapel was a gold badge shaped like hands clasped in prayer.

“Ranged dealers should die when caught by a tanker. Isn’t that the balance strategy you mentioned, Senator?”

“That’s exactly my point.”

A man with neatly slicked-back hair said.

On his lapel was a gold badge with crossed bow and gun.

“First ranged dealers, now tankers? No matter how much the Melee Dealer Alliance is the ruling party, this is nothing short of dictatorship.”

“Please don’t use abbreviations. It’s the Melee Dealer Alliance. Shortening it sounds like a curse.”

“I want to curse but I’m holding back, so that’s why I shortened it, Senator from the Melee Dealer Alliance.”

“Just call us the Melee Dealer Party instead. I’ll consider any attack on the party as an attack on me personally.”

When the pot-bellied man and the slick-haired man locked eyes, sparks seemed to fly between them.

“Party? Is that how you express your desire to just suck on sweets?”

The woman who had been quietly observing from behind remarked mockingly.

“Eek…!”

The pot-bellied man’s face turned bright red as his blood pressure rose from these uncooperative people’s behavior.

But what could he do? This was all the karma of the Melee Dealer Alliance.

Melee dealers had grown with all kinds of benefits until now.

Look at all the games, novels, and comics.

Most protagonists either carried swords, were wizards, or both.

If neither, they walked the path of clergy, but look—they still carried maces or swords.

In fact, all of this was the result of continuous lobbying by the Melee Dealer Alliance.

Melee dealers are cool.

Guns don’t deal damage to monsters.

Melee dealers are most suitable as protagonists.

Even magic-using protagonists were given daggers or swords.

Or they were made into battle mages and given spears.

Having grown through lobbying and public opinion manipulation, the Melee Dealer Alliance was naturally disliked by other parties.

Until now, others had been unable to speak up due to the party’s influence, but with recent patch notes revealing efforts to bring down melee dealers, it was a time when they needed to show some restraint for the upcoming general election.

Other parties knew this fact, which is why they were deliberately trying to upset the Melee Dealer Alliance members.

“You guys think you’ll get away with this? The Melee Dealer Alliance will formally protest—”

“Excuse me.”

With a thud, someone entered the conference room.

People in Gacharland were generally tall because they ate and lived well, but the man who entered now was so large and muscular that it would take three such people together to match his size.

His suit was bulging as if about to burst, and on his chest was a gold badge shaped like a shield.

“Well, well, plotting something, are we?”

The newcomer’s biceps and triceps rippled.

The muscular man pushed up his sliding glasses and looked at each person in the room.

Everyone trembled whenever his gaze fell on them.

“May I know what you were plotting about?”

The muscular man smiled brightly while striking poses that a bodybuilder might take. Triceps. Abdominal and thigh. Side chest.

His muscles rippled with each change in pose.

And with each ripple of his muscles, the eyes of the Melee Dealer Alliance member twitched with displeasure.

“Nothing much.”

Finally, the Melee Dealer Alliance member replied curtly.

“We were discussing whether to reduce some of the excessive benefits going to tankers.”

The pot-bellied senator decided to confront the issue head-on.

The muscular senator smiled at the pot-bellied senator and said:

“How strange.”

Double biceps. He raised both arms.

“A discussion about tankers without tankers present. How very strange indeed.”

Lat spread. He placed his hands on his waist, bent his upper body, and looked down at the pot-bellied senator.

“Discussing tanker patches without tankers seems a bit inappropriate, don’t you think, Senator?”

Perfect side chest and perfect smile.

The muscular senator’s spotlessly clean teeth gleamed.

The pot-bellied senator caught the hidden meaning in the muscular senator’s seemingly pleasant words.

After all, he had developed a sense for such things through years of political maneuvering.

This would nullify everything he had planned.

But greedily, the pot-bellied senator tried to salvage at least part of his plan.

“Fine. Our Melee Dealer Alliance will not touch tankers this time.”

“As expected. I knew you were a reasonable person, Senator.”

“But please allow us to nerf that tier 2 tanker who’s become an issue recently.”

The muscular senator’s pose froze.

His bright smile disappeared, replaced only by a contemptuous gaze.

“As I thought, you haven’t given up on regulating tankers.”

“It can’t be helped. I don’t want to touch tankers, but that man has crossed the line.”

The pot-bellied senator said shamelessly.

“Actually, we think the current benefits for tankers are just right. But look. People are saying tankers are receiving too many benefits. Meanwhile, an irregular tanker like him appears. If we don’t nerf even such an irregular person, what will people think? They’ll think, ‘It’s just because he’s a tanker. Other tankers must be the same.’ Haven’t you considered that?”

The muscular senator stroked his cleft chin while listening carefully to the pot-bellied senator’s words.

Perhaps the pot-bellied senator was right—in the current situation, implementing a nerf might actually reduce criticism against tankers.

Finally convinced by the pot-bellied senator’s argument, the muscular senator nodded.

“Very well. I’ll concede on this point. But don’t touch any other benefits. Before it gets boring.”

“Hmph. Fine. How nice it is when we compromise like this.”

They extended their right hands to shake, signifying that the negotiation had been settled.

Their hands, gripped tightly with invisible force, were turning pale from lack of blood circulation, but both men’s expressions pretended to be smiling more brightly than ever.

…

“You don’t have a home.”

v.a.l.l.o.c. muttered, looking at Sir Dominic.

“You’re saying you don’t even have a room that would cost 2,580 Gacha Stones or 350,000 Credits at the store… or even the cheapest studio apartment at 20 Gacha Stones or 4,200 Credits per month?”

That’s surprisingly cheap, Sir Dominic thought.

“They even sell residential support packages at the Dimension Store. Haven’t you visited the Dimension Store?”

“Dimension Store?”

v.a.l.l.o.c. was certain. Sir Dominic’s puzzled response was genuine confusion.

“Good heavens. How have you been living until now?”

“I haven’t slept.”

It was true. Until now, Sir Dominic had been walking the streets or running stages, but he had never mentioned sleeping.

Normal people would have gone mad from sleep deprivation, but Sir Dominic counted passing out during fights as sleep, and since dying and reviving restored all his conditions, whenever he felt extremely tired, he secretly died and revived. This started after he realized during the bug report that death wasn’t such a big deal.

It was an idea normal people couldn’t conceive of. But Sir Dominic tilted his head, wondering what was wrong with such a simple solution.

“I thought you might not be normal, but…”

v.a.l.l.o.c. had suspected something was off when Sir Dominic would always chuckle or find happiness in strange places, but Sir Dominic was even more unhinged than he had anticipated.

“When we get back today, buy a house first. If you’re short on money, just say so. I can lend you some. Good grief. To think my junior was a homeless person.”

Housing System. That’s what buying and decorating a home in Gacharland was called.

And this Housing System was something anyone who had lived in Gacharland for some time would know about, but Sir Dominic before him was not included in that “anyone.”

“Is there a reason why I need a house?”

Sir Dominic asked.

v.a.l.l.o.c. intended to bring up elements that might interest Sir Dominic to ensure he would definitely buy a house.

“When you furnish your home, your comfort level increases. When comfort reaches a certain level, your energy production increases.”

Sir Dominic nodded. He had been feeling frustrated with the slow energy recharge.

“And your basic stats increase… Wait. Have you been surviving on pure stats without any additional elements?”

v.a.l.l.o.c. urgently asked Sir Dominic as the thought suddenly occurred to him.

Though he didn’t know what “pure stats” meant, Sir Dominic inferred from context that it referred to his inherent abilities and nodded.

Good grief. v.a.l.l.o.c. held his forehead as if he had a headache.

Sir Dominic truly had a long way to go.