Ch.52[Episode 52] Reviving Hearing

“So, what are we going to do now?”

Sir Dominic asked the gathered people.

“With everything in such chaos, isn’t this going wrong?”

“Fortunately, everything is proceeding according to plan.”

The chairman said while deflecting an incoming air slash.

“Time. We need to buy time. That’s why we turned the council into chaos first.”

Looking at the current state of the hearing room, it appeared very chaotic, but someone with a keen eye would notice that council members from the Tanker Union were orchestrating this confusion.

The priority was to keep Trom tied up inside the council, giving him no time to respond.

“Then there’s nothing for me to do.”

Sir Dominic thought that if all they needed was to keep this Trom person tied up, there was nothing for him to do.

Sir Dominic deflected a flying priest with his shield after being hit by a greatsword and expressed his doubt.

“We need Sir Dominic’s special ability.”

Senator Muscleman said.

He had three arrows stuck in his shoulder.

“We can stall for time on our own, but completely blocking him is impossible. With you, however, it becomes possible.”

Roots grew from beneath Muscleman’s feet, binding his ankles.

Muscleman broke the roots with his strength as he explained why they needed Sir Dominic.

Unfortunately, his words were drowned out by the screams from the brawl in the council.

…

“-Therefore, the current 2-tier Tanker known as Sir Dominic possesses power that is excessively strong compared to his tier and cost. Compared to existing Tankers, he’s equivalent to a 3-tier, and when compared to dealers, he’s comparable to the lowest rank of 4-tier. I request disclosure of his stats. Additionally, Sir Dominic’s traits are excessively effective in multiple battles-“

Trom steadfastly continued shouting about why Sir Dominic needed to be nerfed despite the chaos.

This wasn’t his first day in politics. Trom had long noticed that this unnatural brawl was orchestrated under the direction of the Tanker Union.

Due to the nature of hearings, each council member’s speaking time was limited.

Once a speaking time ended, the opportunity to speak again would only come after almost all council members had their turn. At least, that’s how it worked in Gachaland.

This meant that if one couldn’t finish making their point during their speaking time, their argument wouldn’t be addressed throughout the hearing.

Knowing this, Trom steadfastly continued his statement even amidst the chaos.

“Therefore, I argue for the nerfing of Sir Dominic.”

Having finally completed his statement, Trom smiled with satisfaction.

Although the chairman was absent, in Gachaland-style hearings, the chairman was merely a mediator without speaking rights.

From the beginning, the scribe had been recording the current opinions and arguments, so now that he had successfully completed his statement, he had a card to pressure the chairman and other council members.

When these minutes were made public, people would view Trom favorably just for the fact that he had steadfastly done his job.

“Damn it.”

One of the Tanker Union council members approached behind the chairman’s seat.

“Muscleman, he’s completely finished his statement.”

“Nothing we can do now. We’re pulling out.”

Muscleman signaled in response to the council member’s words.

In this chaos, the Tanker Union council members stopped fueling the confusion and took their seats.

Gradually, people calmed down and sat in their places.

Watching the hearing room settle down, Trom smiled even more viciously as he checked his watch.

There was still plenty of speaking time left.

“Mr. Chairman? I don’t know if you’re listening, but I, Trom, think it would be good to call ‘Sir Dominic’ to this place to hear his opinion.”

“Indeed, that’s right. Then, Sir Dominic, please come to the center.”

As soon as the room was in order, the chairman ascended to his seat.

Pretending as if nothing had happened, the chairman checked his watch briefly and then summoned Sir Dominic to the center.

Now it all depended on how much time Sir Dominic could buy, and whether their plan would succeed within that time.

…

The ninja in a suit ran as fast as possible to reach the target location.

Or rather, he tried to run.

Unfortunately, it coincided with the evening rush hour, and the roads were completely jammed, leaving him unable to move forward or backward.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have just taken the subway…”

Feeling frustrated, the ninja honked his horn once.

Angry people responded with their own honks.

…

Sir Dominic stepped onto the platform placed in the center.

He hadn’t noticed while fighting, but enduring the gaze of hundreds of people sitting beyond the round table looking down at him was quite nerve-wracking.

“Mr. Chairman? May I ask a few questions about ‘Sir Dominic’?”

“Permission granted.”

Trom began to speak about Sir Dominic’s specs that he had prepared.

“Sir Dominic. 2-tier, 3-cost. Confirmed traits and special abilities are [Tanker] and [Rider]. Is that correct?”

Sir Dominic nodded.

“Answer verbally! Now, even combining your confirmed traits and special abilities, there are only two. What are your remaining traits and special abilities?”

Trom naturally assumed there were hidden traits, but Sir Dominic’s expression showed he had no idea what Trom was talking about.

“Can’t one only receive one trait and one special ability?”

At those words, silence briefly fell over the hearing room.

“…Are you saying you still only have one of each? Mr. Chairman! Clearly this person is hiding his abilities!”

Trom was dumbfounded.

People invited to Gachaland received special benefits.

These benefits usually manifested as traits or special abilities, and sometimes more than one benefit was received.

According to Sir Dominic’s words, he hadn’t received any benefits. From Trom’s perspective, such a person couldn’t exist.

But who was Sir Dominic?

This ignorant knight from Feralant was truly a peculiar oddball who had chosen not to receive any benefits.

“Mr. Chairman! I demand that his status window be revealed right now to check his stats and skills!”

“Sir Dominic. Would that be possible?”

“Of course. By the way, where can I see it?”

Sir Dominic thought showing traits and special abilities was enough by taking out a character card, but the concept of stats was new to him.

“Claiming not to know about stats, what a shameless fellow.”

Trom believed Sir Dominic was lying.

But Sir Dominic truly didn’t know how to view his stats.

With no other choice, the chairman was able to view his stat window with the help of Johnson Lee, the operations team leader of System Industries.

[★★☆☆☆ Sir Dominic (3-cost)]

LV.7(177/380)

[Strength 16(2) Dexterity 12(0) Constitution 18(3) Intelligence 9(-1) Wisdom 16(2) Charisma 15(1)]

[Reserve Points 2]

[Skills: [Tanker], [Rider]]

[Skins: Basic / Pirate(Limited) / Royal Guard]

Those who saw his status window fell silent once again.

It wasn’t the status window they were familiar with, but also because of the system window that appeared after the status window was displayed.

[You have opened the status window for the first time. Would you like to proceed with the tutorial for the status window?]

The system never lies.

Even if System Industries coded it full of lies, the system automatically works “properly.”

This was due to the characteristic of the system, which was created in the distant future and moved toward the past.

Since such a system declared that the window was opened for the first time, it meant that Sir Dominic had truly been active in Gachaland without knowing anything.

“By the way, this is the first time I’ve seen a system like this.”

A council member from the Magic Tower Academic Association raised his hand and asked.

“Isn’t it very different from the status window we use now?”

At those words, a thought flashed through Trom’s mind.

“This person is either using hacks or cheats.”

At those words, people’s gazes turned to Trom.

“If not that, he must have obtained a special benefit to hack the system and is trying to play as an overpowered character!”

Trom’s words were nonsense to anyone who had deeply delved into the system.

The security of Gachaland’s system was beyond perfect, to the point of being incomprehensible.

Neither the power of the Stars, nor the trolling of veterans, nor the attacks of the world’s best hackers could penetrate the perfect data.

The operations team leader of System Industries knew this well and snickered, but most people were ignorant about the depths of the system and believed Trom’s words were correct.

“It seems that Operations Team Leader Johnson Lee has something to say. Would you like to speak?”

Just then, the chairman noticed the operations team leader’s expression and gave him the right to speak.

Trom folded his arms and glared at the operations team leader as if daring him to speak.

“First, thank you for giving me the right to speak. I am Johnson Lee, operations team leader of System Industries.”

Starting with greetings first. Having never stood before so many people, Johnson Lee felt like his heart would burst, but he soon hypnotized himself to act as if he were giving a regular presentation.

“First, I’d like to inform you that this status window is indeed a stat representation method registered in the system.”

The murmuring stopped at the operations team leader’s words.

Since no one could match System Industries in expertise about the system, the controversy disappeared.

“This status window is a relic from the ancient TRPG era. In other words, it’s a 1st generation status window. To be precise, it’s about a 1.5 or 1.7 generation status window. Do you see the numbers and symbols in parentheses? This (2) is the modifier, which is a characteristic of TRPG-style status windows.”

The council members had expressions that seemed to ask, “Was there such a thing?”

That’s how outdated this status window template was, no longer used by people.

“Now I understand. Sir Dominic isn’t using cheats or hacks. He’s been misunderstood because of the characteristics of the status window.”

The operations team leader’s glasses flashed with light.

In his domain of knowledge, he was a god, a too-much-talker.

“Ah! Come on! Ha… Maybe I should just run…”

Meanwhile, the ninja was still stuck in traffic at an intersection, unable to move forward.