Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 75

The day my Honor Points were updated, I distinctly remember going to bed after ranking up to 4th place.

But when I logged into the game after school the next day, my ranking had dropped to 11th.

“Ugh…”

I felt all my energy drain away.

What’s the point of working hard to climb the ranks if I don’t have enough time?

Becoming an Honor Ranker is something only time billionaires can manage.

The Hwarang had also seen his rank drop from a solid 3rd.

Since the game started, the only one who consistently maintained that position was the Snow Mage.

Time just isn’t fair.

Looking at the rankings for the Human Clan faction, as expected, a Thief User named Melvin was dominating in 1st.

Now his Honor Points had soared over 2000.

I sighed and stepped out of my safe zone.

Though I felt less motivated than yesterday, the only thing I could do was farm for Honor Points now.

The Hell fields felt slightly less crowded than before.

It seemed ordinary users were moving to safer spots due to the vicious killers scattered around the field.

With the field being less packed, there were plenty of gathering opportunities.

I occasionally spotted the corpse of a fallen user nearby, but no one dared to attack me.

In fact, they ran away at the sight of me.

Maybe after stabbing every enemy I saw yesterday, I’ve been branded a killer myself.

But there was no choice if I wanted to stay an Honor Ranker.

I drew my sword again.

Today, like yesterday, I planned to slash through some human users before the shutdown system kicked in.

But before moving, I started typing in the guild chat.

I had something I was curious about.

Snow Mage, where on earth did she find a way to rack up those high Honor Points?

Sure, it was probably due to her long playtime, but I still wanted to know her secrets.

Yeo-[Snow?]

Snow Mage-[Yes!]

Yeo-[Could you share where you’re getting your Honor Points?]

Snow Mage-[Yes!]

Without hesitation, Snow Mage sent me her coordinates.

I immediately summoned my Hellfire Horse.

“Come forth!”

“Neigh!”

The horse appeared from the magical formation, approaching me while shaking its burning mane.

I hopped onto its back without a second thought.

“Let’s go!”

Clop, clop, clop.

We arrived at a tri-junction bustling with activity.

Paths leading to the Demon Fortress, a mining gathering route, and the way back to the village.

Corpses of users lay scattered across those paths.

“Blood Demon King!”

At that moment, the Snow Mage appeared before me using Blink.

As she got closer, a sharp chill made my body instinctively shiver.

“Is this where Snow is?”

“Yes, exactly. It’s a high-traffic area, so you can gain plenty of Honor Points here.”

The blue-robed female mage nodded confidently, her large horns bobbing as she did.

With that assured expression, it seemed she had planted quite a few mana mines around.

“Oh, here come some people.”

As Snow Mage said, users were walking toward us from a distance.

Seeing they were maintaining a steady pace, they looked like a party.

As soon as the three users came into view, Snow Mage began a lengthy casting.

She stretched out her hands and murmured spells in a soft voice, causing her robes to flutter as a fierce wind whipped up.

At the same moment, explosions erupted beneath the Human Clan users’ feet, and a massive ice pillar shot up from the blast area.

Boom! Crash!

A combination of immense explosions and ice pillars.

Only the Paladin clad in a massive full plate mail survived that powerful onslaught.

Seeing him frozen solid, the Snow Mage dashed forward.

“Yah!”

With a delicate battle cry, she swung her staff.

But the end of her staff was shimmering with blue mana.

As her staff swirled wide, that mana expanded like a blade, cleaving the frozen Paladin in two.

“Are you doing this all day?”

“Yes!”

The Snow Mage cheerfully answered my question with a smile.

She was truly an impressive person.

Once that round of hunting finished, she sat down and started chugging potions.

Looks like she was recovering her mana.

“If you’re doing this all day, doesn’t that attract people targeting you, Snow?”

“Yes! It does! There’s this very sneaky thief named Melvin…”

“M-Melvin?”

“Yes!”

Snow Mage’s eyes sparkled as I feigned knowing Melvin.

Since taking out a high Honor Ranker grants you more points than ordinary users, apparently he visited Snow Mage regularly.

“I’ll help you!”

“Really?”

At her surprised response, I nodded.

I still had a score to settle with Melvin.

There was no way I could forgive that thief for living while standing in front of me.

“They should be coming if we wait here, right?”

“Yes, it seems like it should be about time, but I don’t see them yet.”

I nodded at Snow Mage’s words and ran to hide behind a large rock by the passageway.

Melvin would avoid me. If he saw me with Snow Mage, he would definitely bolt.

So it was best to lure him out in disguise.

Yeo-[Don’t see him, do you?]

Snow Mage-[No!]

Time passed as we hid behind that large rock.

Just when Snow Mage made another victim.

Something blurry approached from behind her as she crouched to recover mana, picking at the food on the ground.

Since I was preparing for his appearance, I could use my skills without hesitation.

[Death’s Grasp]

A black hand shot forth from my outstretched arm, tightly grasping what was behind Snow Mage.

But the thing caught in that grip was a large log.

Melvin had used the Ninja skill [Swap].

“Ugh…”

Because of his stealth approach, Melvin could no longer hide.

He quickly stepped back, dual daggers drawn, his brows furrowing in annoyance.

“Ah, come on…”

“You’ve been having fun killing our guild members?”

“Fun? Well, I guess you could say that.”

At that moment, Snow Mage, having completely restored her mana, initiated her attack.

With a staff strike enhanced by Blink.

The tip of her staff glowed blue, forming a blade of mana as she pressed Melvin.

It meant she really trusted me to cover her back.

I immediately activated all my buffs and dashes, charging at Melvin.

“W-Wait a minute…!”

Clang! Clang! Ching!

Swords clashed in mid-air. But Melvin displayed some strange maneuvers, dodging both my and Snow Mage’s attacks.

Swoosh!

My Demon Sword barely grazed his thigh, but I couldn’t inflict any real damage.

“Tch!”

Melvin retreated, scattering dozens of shuriken into the air.

Swish, swish, swish!

It wasn’t a particularly powerful skill, but if hit, it would inflict bleed and poison—really annoying.

As I moved forward, swinging my sword, I deflected the shuriken.

Clang, clang, clang!

At that moment, Snow Mage’s ice arrow flew in and struck Melvin’s shoulder.

Hiss! The sound of freezing rang out, and frost settled upon his body.

A debuff that slows all his movements.

Melvin glared back at Snow Mage, who was launching ranged attacks from behind, and detonated a smoke bomb on the ground.

Boom!

The painful, thick mist obscured our view.

I instantly turned and leaped toward where Snow Mage was.

As I jumped high into the air, I burst through the smoke and landed beside her.

At that moment, just as I expected, attacks aimed at Snow Mage came flying in.

The effect of the stealth skill dissipated, revealing Melvin’s form.

Our eyes locked in mid-air.

But for some reason, I felt something was missing.

In that instant, I turned my sword’s direction without hesitation.

This attack was a Shinobi’s [Clone].

Swoosh!

As my sword barely brushed past Melvin, just as expected, he vanished into a haze.

I didn’t stop the motion of my sword.

I swung down to the ground.

Crash!

With the effect of [Raging Strike], the surroundings flipped upside down.

Dirt erupted from the ground, and Melvin, who had been hiding in the shadows, reappeared hazily.

“Ugh!”

He took the first hit from Raging Strike. There was no way he could escape it.

At least, that’s what I thought.

With the effect of Raging Strike, my body automatically began to move.

As the swirling crimson arc of my blade met Melvin’s form, he faded again.

-Another Clone!

I gritted my teeth and twisted my body violently.

The direction of my slicing arc extended outward according to my will.

Swoosh!

At that moment, a green blade zipped in from right next to the Snow Mage.

This time, that was the real attack from Melvin.

But just then, a flash of light erupted beneath Melvin’s feet, and an explosion occurred.

Boom!

It appeared the Snow Mage had planted mana mines around her.

A massive number of bombs exploded at once.

But Melvin did not die. Just as the explosion engulfed him, his form faded once again, and a log appeared in his place.

Using [Swap] once more, Melvin slipped out of the blast.

The dust from the explosion covered the area.

I noticed something moving through the cloud of dust.

-There he is.

I moved instinctively. I felt it in my bones.

If I didn’t catch him now, I might never get another chance.

As I sprinted out, my powerful legs hit the ground, and the force traveled to the sword in my hands.

Slash!

The black sword energy radiating from my Demon Sword pierced the air.

The sensation at my fingertips was razor sharp.

“Coward…”

“There’s no cowardice in a fight.”

“Ha…”

As Melvin’s throat was pierced, he didn’t move.

Instead, he glared at me with a deep sigh.

His body began to slowly turn gray.

Honor Points +50

The moment Melvin fully died, an enormous amount of Honor Points flooded in.