Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 109

The sounds around were unsettlingly quiet.

Not even the common chirping of insects could be heard. There was no sound of the wind either.

Crack- crack-

Only the sound of my footsteps echoed clearly.

Retrieving the stakes was going smoothly.

Pulling the stakes out of the ground wasn’t difficult, and there were no monsters interrupting me.

Just as I was about to lift the fifteenth stake—

“Stop right there.”

A group appeared not far from the stakes.

They all wore familiar yet strange attire.

A warrior wielding a sword and a shaman holding a wooden staff.

And a special Named Monster who seemed to be leading them, too.

[Elder of Taeyoungmun, Jinyang.]

“Do you even know what you’re doing?”

I didn’t know where this Taeyoungmun was, but it was clear from the story that the ones who had set up these stakes belonged to that organization.

I nodded and pulled the stake stuck in the ground out.

“I’m just pulling out the stakes.”

Puff!

The stake popped out with a burst of blue energy.

As I dusted off the dirt, that energy scattered along with it.

“You! Didn’t I tell you to stop?!”

Jinyang’s face turned red in apparent humiliation at my actions, as he raised his voice.

He was a man with a lot of anger. I tilted my head and asked him in return.

“Why should I stop?”

“Obviously…”

“Obviously?”

“… You’re not from around here, are you?”

Jinyang seemed to notice my outfit for the first time, letting out a small groan as he trailed off.

I threw the stake into my inventory and drew my sword.

Swipe—

The clear sound of the sword startled the enemies, and each pulled out their weapons.

Jinyang twitched his eyebrows as if displeased with my actions.

“Drawing weapons in front of our Taeyoungmun. Are you out of your mind? I’ll give you a chance to apologize since you seem to be an outsider who doesn’t understand.”

“Weren’t you the ones who came to fight? You’re quite talkative.”

This situation was also part of a quest.

I exhaled softly and glared at the enemies.

Jinyang’s face reddened even further. It looked like seeing a bright red apple.

It was a forest where not even the wind blew.

But at this moment, a faint breeze came back.

Swish—

It was a moment when a chill breeze swept by.

At Jinyang’s gesture, the enemies began to move.

Warriors spread out in all directions, and shamans took their positions behind them.

Jinyang too drew his weapon.

His weapon was a fan known as a juil fan.

The first attack came from the warriors’ fierce strikes.

I dodged the strikes slicing through the air, deflecting them with my movements.

As a blade swooshed past my cheek, I retaliated.

I slash, evade, and slash again.

Just as I dealt with two warriors that got too close.

At that moment, Jinyang swung his fan, and a white wind poured forth.

It was fast and sharp. That widespread attack was quite threatening.

I immediately lowered my body and leaped into the air.

The sharp winds that spread out cut through the spot where I had been standing.

This whole situation began to feel exhilarating.

Indeed, it was more about martial arts than mere fantasy.

If I used my skills, I could wrap this up faster, but right now, I wanted to fully enjoy the moment.

As I lightly landed on the ground, the next attack came flying my way.

A blade aimed at my neck, and a barrage from the shaman coming from the opposite side.

My body moved fluidly, reacting to all of the attacks.

As my body slightly twisted, I narrowly avoided the sword while simultaneously slashing through the shaman’s barrage.

But the movements didn’t stop there. Like a black serpent soaring into the sky, I began to hunt for my next target.

Whoosh-!

Fired swiftly. Like a snake preying on its target.

Crack!

The body of a warrior fell as my strike descended from above.

I felt a twinge of pain inside my head.

My field of vision expanded, and I began to see the battle unfolding broadly.

It was time to display movements different from the reliance on just my skills.

The moment I recalled memories of the arena tournament, my sword moved.

I thrust it forward, deflecting the warrior’s attack outwards, breaking his stance.

Then my left leg shot out, piercing into the warrior’s body.

My shoulder made strong contact with his solar plexus.

The warrior couldn’t wield his sword; he didn’t even have time to recover.

Due to the outward motion of my sword, his upper body opened wide.

With strength in the hand holding my sword, I lifted it as it pierced through the warrior’s chest.

Utilizing the swordsmanship I had woven together, I felt.

It wasn’t perfect yet. The more I used it, the more I acutely noticed the gaps in my movements.

The swordsmanship was a blend of what I had seen and emulated.

I learned as I moved alone. This very moment was a place of learning.

“Ha!”

I even felt a rush of pleasure. The white-hot pain stimulating my head began to sharpen my movements, making them more natural.

Swish-!

The still air began to move again.

In this place, there was only one person who could control the wind.

Jinyang. He twirled his fan.

Whoosh—

Transparent blades of wind began to shoot at me, almost like the floor was being scraped away.

This was the same attack as before. The moment I recognized that fact, my short legs had already launched from the ground.

Bam-! Leaping into the air, I spun gently and landed on a far-off tree.

The branches swayed dangerously, almost as if they would snap.

The enemies’ attacks didn’t cease. Because I had focused on the warriors, I hadn’t diminished the number of shamans behind them.

Talismans hurtling towards me contained faint sparks of lightning.

I sprang up once more. Just as I kicked off from the branch, a talisman attached there exploded into a dazzling lightning bolt.

Crackle-!

It felt light, almost like I was flying through the sky.

And indeed, I was soaring swiftly towards Jinyang.

The instant I landed back on the ground, the warriors charged toward me, along with the shamans wielding their wooden staffs.

So did Jinyang with his fan.

Their movements were slow and awkward. The realization of that made my eyebrows twitch.

The mental state I had plunged into suddenly snapped awake. I re-recognized this world as a game.

In that moment, my body seamlessly executed skills without hesitation.

As weak sparks flickered from my extended arm, black lightning began to rain down around me.

Crash!

The shamans encircling me collapsed in an instant, and Jinyang, holding onto his fan, began to stagger back.

“Wait, wait a moment…”

Jinyang started spitting out black blood.

But I didn’t stop my assault. With my left foot stepping forward, I slammed my sword into the ground.

Boom!

I unleashed every skill I hadn’t used before.

A long surge of magic erupted from my sword, and the follow-up attack from the [Raging Attack] skill cleaved through the air.

Slash!

The warrior charging forward alongside Jinyang fell to the ground.

I exhaled a sigh.

These were just characters that popped up briefly for the main quest. It also meant that they hadn’t set up high-performance AI for them.

My immersion broke. The fun had vanished.

I felt a strong sense of regret.

Of course, I had enjoyed myself till the very last moment. This awakening from immersion was probably because I wasn’t focused enough.

I stopped moving and let out a breath.

As my breath lightly flowed out, my mind sank heavily.

I began to immerse myself again.

My breath became short. The still wind began to stir again.

In that wind, there was a vibrance I hadn’t felt before.

Thanks to pulling out the stakes, the energy in the area began to return.

I instinctively felt I needed more information about Taeyoungmun.

“Growl!”

At that moment, the wolf burst forth, making its presence known.

It hadn’t been resummoned, which meant it had been roaming around in the vicinity.

Together with the wolf, I rounded back around the village to gather the stakes I hadn’t yet retrieved.

I had fulfilled the conditions laid out by Elder He. I quickly returned to the village.

Elder He stood at the spot where we’d talked earlier.

As always, he probably wouldn’t move from this spot.

I approached Elder He and extended the stakes towards him.

“I got them all.”

“… All of these?”

“Yep.”

“Did, did you meet anyone while pulling them out?”

“I did.”

“And, what happened then?”

“And they all died.”

Elder He’s gaze wavered greatly.

It seemed he couldn’t believe my words.

Thunk- thud-!

I dropped the stakes at Elder He’s feet.

Whether he believed me or not, I had completed all the conditions.

“I want to know about Taeyoungmun.”

“Th, this…”

After a brief hesitation, Elder He began to spill all the information he had.

A scholar who had once worked in the royal court, he knew a lot.

A massive famine had come unexpectedly. Rain didn’t fall, crops began to wither, and the vast rivers and endless wells started to dry up. It was only natural for the people to starve to death.

The country suffered a huge calamity.

Everyone thought that way.

The emperor ruling the land felt that the responsibility lay with him.

The emperor was a benevolent ruler who cared for his people. But he made a grave mistake.

He allowed the Ming Religion to enter the royal court.

“Those Ming practitioners clouded the emperor’s judgment?”

“Yes, they claimed they could bring rain, and at first, they had no religious connotations.”

“So they really did bring rain?”

“I wouldn’t have believed it if they hadn’t. It truly rained, and a lot of it.”

Once they showed the miracle of bringing rain, how could anyone doubt it?

The emperor began to cling to them. He brought offerings he deemed necessary and secured them a place within the royal court.

Time passed, and the catastrophe that befell the country seemed to have fully receded.

But that wasn’t the case. They merely covered up the great calamity that had fallen upon the country.

As the energy dispersed across the world concentrated in the royal court, the drought never ceased.

“The emperor closed his ears and blinded his eyes. He only saw what he wanted to see. That way, the Ming practitioners seized control of the royal court, and by that time, there was no one left to stop them.”

“And you? Did you do nothing?”

“Me? What could I do? I’m just a powerless old man who used to write.”

As Elder He finished his words, the quest was updated.

[Investigate Taeyoungmun.]

Go to Taeyoungmun, closely associated with the Ming Religion. 0/1

The situation was serious. If this continued, this world itself might vanish.

Just as I was about to leave the village and hurry towards Taeyoungmun—

“Hey! Mom’s calling for dinner!”

“Di, dinner…!”

[Today it’s fried chicken!]

The voice heard from outside the capsule was Harang’s.

If I skipped dinner, I’d get scolded by mom. Then I wouldn’t be able to play the game.

I hurriedly shut down the game.