Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 124

It’s been quite a while since I certified my Deron account.

The first few days were tough because there were a lot of people chasing after me, but that didn’t last long.

Everyone must have had high expectations.

Surely they thought that a current middle school girl would have a unique way of playing Deron.

But…

I’m not some rare celebrity, you know. I was just a regular user playing the game like anyone else.

Of course, I was good at the game, and I looked perfect in real life, but that didn’t make the content of my gameplay any special.

Once users realized that, they stopped following me around.

Instead, I found more users casually approaching me in the village or hunting grounds.

“Wow! Blood Demon King!!!”

I waved at the user who was acting all chummy like a celebrity giving fan service.

What a perfect and cool posture that must have projected sharp charisma.

“Awesome!”

“Uh-huh…”

“Strike a cool pose for my screenshot!”

It was a fan’s request. Since I had nothing to do anyway, I got off my wolf and drew my sword.

Then I quietly told the fan, who was sparkling with excitement, “Don’t tell anyone.”

“Yes!”

I laughed lightly and swung my sword.

The trace of the sword drawn in the air scattered the phantom of the white dragon.

Maybe a minute or two passed. The user who had been snapping away at screenshots bowed deeply, clearly satisfied.

“Thank you!”

I nodded and headed toward the warehouse on my wolf.

As it was a busy place, everyone recognized me and greeted me lightly.

My recognition had sky-rocketed, and in a very good way.

I was quite satisfied with the outcome.

After unloading all the herbs I gathered with my wolf, I began sorting through my mailbox.

After posting my legit photos, there were more and more people sending me useless gifts.

I’m sure they were sent out of pure fan affection, but I never accepted a single item or gold from my mailbox.

I just sent back all the mails without responding.

The moment I accepted those items, rumors would spread.

That I received items and gold. And that rumor would surely turn sour in no time.

I didn’t want to play the queen bee.

I didn’t want to raise buffaloes either.

I just wanted to play Deron purely.

If there were people who liked me, there would surely be those who disliked me.

There were people gossiping that my guild, the Soft & Chewy Cow Guild, was a bunch of buffaloes.

But it didn’t draw much attention. The path I had walked until now, my attitude, and my words formed a wall.

The public opinion in the Deron gallery served as bricks making my wall more solid.

The slander from those who disliked me never managed to cross that wall.

I admired my own thoughts. Truly, I’m amazing.

Is there anyone else as fantastic as me, being a guild leader and party leader?

Deron’s users should be showing me more respect than discussing my character’s underwear.

*

Time flows indifferently. Just as the interest of users playing Deron was gradually fading, I was approached by someone claiming to be the marketing manager of Lion Confectionery.

“An advertising offer?”

“Yes.”

I looked carefully at the user in front of me.

[Lion Hyungseok]

That was his nickname.

He looked like a newbie, having just created his character recently, and his level wasn’t high, nor was his equipment anything special.

In short, he seemed quite suspicious.

“Are you a scammer?”

I bluntly asked.

He looked quite startled and shook his head vigorously.

“Th-That’s not it! I’m officially making an advertising proposal. Our Lion Confectionery wants you to be the model for the Soft & Chewy Cow advertisement…”

“How can I believe that?”

“Don’t worry! Lion Confectionery is collaborating with Deron Online. If you check the notice coming in a few days, you’ll believe me.”

“Oh really? Well, that’s something…”

“Yes!”

“But why approach me in the game instead of reality?”

“Well, it’s because I don’t have any information from the real world…”

“Oh…”

I nodded with my arms crossed.

That was somewhat understandable.

But why me? Was there a reason I was needed as an advertising model?

“Well, alright. I’ll believe you to some extent once the collaboration event notice comes out. Let’s talk later.”

“Yes, yes! Thank you!”

*

Several days passed after meeting the user who claimed to be the marketing manager of Lion Confectionery.

His words turned out to be true.

Deron really did collaborate with Lion Confectionery’s snacks.

With the event titled [Sweet Pieces that Fell into Deron], users could participate in mini-games on a special event map to obtain unique snack potions and costumes.

Of course, the event didn’t end there. By purchasing products registered as collaboration items from Lion, users could receive event coupon numbers, which could yield unique costumes at low probabilities.

The reaction was quite good. Event-exclusive potions that didn’t share cooldowns with the usual potions were always welcome.

I browsed through the few costumes available from the event.

There were a long stick candy weapon costume, the Soft & Chewy Cow cow suit costume, and many cute, adorable designs.

Lion Hyungseok.

He knew things that only event staff should know beforehand.

It was enough to have a serious conversation with him.

I sent a message to Lion Hyungseok.

A reply came quickly as if he had also been waiting for my response.

Lion Hyungseok and I met again at the same place we talked before.

Unlike last time, he was wearing a special title and guild, along with a costume.

[Event Manager]

[Lion Confectionery]

[Lion Hyungseok]

I could check the character information, but I couldn’t see the title and guild information he was wearing.

Lion Hyungseok sent two contracts to my account mailbox.

One could be executed in reality, and the other within the game.

The contract for execution within the game was very thin.

And simple.

“Are we shooting the advertisement in-game?”

“They say this is actually more convenient these days. It’s not much different from reality, and everyone looks awesome and pretty, don’t they?”

“Uh-huh…”

“Even VRS players tend to shoot more ads in their game character form rather than in real life.”

I nodded at his words. It was true, after all. If you looked at ads coming out nowadays, game characters seemed to predominately replace real-life actors.

I skimmed through the clauses of the contract.

Advertising duration

Copyright ownership

Non-compete clause

Confidentiality obligation

Safety obligation

…

…

My gaze swiftly moved to check all the clauses.

Unlike contracts in reality, the one for inside the game had Deron as an intermediary.

The contract duration was three months.

The shooting time was ten seconds long.

Not bad conditions.

“The appearance fee is set quite high, isn’t it?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Lion Hyungseok honestly told me everything.

It turned out that my story in Deron had spread widely through cyber-rekkas and thanks to my guild name, the product “Soft & Chewy Cow” by Lion had accumulated tremendous recognition.

“It was more effective than most ads. We thought of this as an opportunity.”

“So the collaboration with Deron was timed well with that?”

“To some extent, yes.”

“Do I need guardian consent for this?”

“Yes, of course.”

*

A week passed since the surprising collaboration event between Deron and Lion Confectionery commenced.

The conditions for achieving the event weren’t too difficult, and the items obtained from the coupons were quite valuable, leading to a good response from users.

Amidst this, an advertisement featuring the new Soft & Chewy Cow product by Lion Association of products appeared on YouTube.

It was a short ten-second video, but its impact was significant.

As the video started, a cute BGM played, and a girl dressed in a spotted cow suit jumped around, showcasing her presence.

[Soft! Chewy! Cow!]

It didn’t end there.

The girl in the cow suit began dancing, shaking the Soft & Chewy Cow products in her hands.

Her arms shot up, and her butt wiggled in a very cute manner.

[Soft! Chewy! Cow!]

It was a short ten-second clip. The dancing cow-suited girl faded, and her face was then zoomed in.

Just before the video ended, the girl opened her mouth wide, taking a big bite of the Soft & Chewy Cow.

It was a video that streamed as a YouTube advertisement.

Naturally, users playing Deron also watched this advertisement.

[Deron Online Gallery]

[The guild leader did an ad lolololol] [66]

(Soft & Chewy Cow’s advertisement video)

Lolololololololololol

Lolololololololol

Lololololololololol

[Comments]

[What is this?]

ㄴ[Lololololol]

[Isn’t the guild leader gold-spooned? Why did she do an ad?]

ㄴ[Isn’t it just a hobby?]

ㄴ[Lololololololol]

[Did she film this in real life? Can I say anything bad?]

ㄴ[I saw some ad info that indicates it was shot in VR and Deron, so it seems fine.]

ㄴ[For real, she has demon horns, huh]

ㄴ[The cow suit is also a Deron costume]

[So cute aaaah Soft & Chewy Middle School Girl]

ㄴ[That last part when she chomps is adorable lol]

ㄴ[I want to be chomped too]

ㄴ[If the guild leader goes “chomp,” I’ll go “chomp” too]

[Tag:cowgirl]

ㄴ[Whoa…]

[What a cute cow ^^]

ㄴ[I don’t think it’ll produce much milk]

ㄴ[Lolololololol]

[A middle school cow in action, whooooa!]

ㄴ[Crazy girl lolololololol]

[Waaah, baby Debung wants momma feed her.]

ㄴ[Give me your milk]

ㄴ[Yeo is mom~]

ㄴ[These bastards will probably get sued for real]

ㄴ[Instead of suing, please give me some delicious milk.]

[Not the Blood Demon King but the Cow Demon King lolololol]

ㄴ[Lololololololololol]

[I wanna pull that swaying tail lololol]