Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 279

Seongsin’s match was quite impressive.

It seemed like all that time practicing wasn’t just for show, as she landed sharp blows repeatedly, leaving the opposing player in a state of shock, offering up their neck.

Usually, Seongsin only played FPS games, but it looked like she had some decent skills among the average folks.

After winning the match, Seongsin stepped out of the capsule, beaming with a smile.

“I-I won…!”

“Well done! Your skills have really improved, huh?”

“Yeah… I practiced all day, so…”

Now that the second match was over, it was time for me to step up next. As I was about to get up, Sohee spoke up.

“I’ll go this time.”

“Uh…? Wouldn’t it be better if I went?”

“Hayun is the best among us. The ace usually enters last.”

“B-but… if you win, I won’t get to compete at all…?”

“Wouldn’t that actually be better? We wouldn’t have to show our full strength to the other team watching this match.”

“Oh…”

I nodded at Sohee’s calm explanation.

Thinking about the future, it really made more sense strategically for Sohee to go instead of me.

“You can wait here, right?”

“Yeah.”

As I nodded, Sohee finally stood up. After hesitating a bit, she awkwardly smiled and sat me down in her chair.

The seat, warmed by her plump rear, felt incredibly cozy.

This was the warmth of Sohee…

“I’ll be back.”

“Win and come back!”

“Okay.”

Just after Sohee stepped into the capsule, her image appeared on the screen.

Holding a long katana, Sohee had chosen the samurai class.

Naturally, the opposing team had a knight with a well-balanced offense and defense.

There was a little waiting time until the match started, and that’s when Ellie, who was sneaking around, walked over and spoke quietly.

“Hayun… are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Sohee… didn’t she mess with your body too much?”

“Ah…”

I guess the physical closeness between friends seemed strange to her?

I laughed lightly and shook my head.

“Not at all weird.”

Ellie doesn’t have friends. Having lived in her house all her life, she probably doesn’t know how close friends can be.

“It’s… not weird…?”

“Right? Isn’t that right, Seongsin?”

Seongsin, too, didn’t have friends, but who knows about her past?

Maybe she had a lot of friends in middle school and elementary school.

“Y-yeah…”

Seongsin nodded awkwardly, smiling.

See? It’s not weird at all.

I nodded and flashed a victory smile at Ellie.

At that moment, I noticed the match had started through the screen.

Taking a deep breath, Sohee slowly moved forward.

She was wearing all her basic armor except for the helm.

As Sohee made her way to the center of the stadium, she finally faced her opponent.

Shiny silver armor.

A round shield that provided some coverage for her body and a long sword of a suitable length.

The knight was more focused on defense than attack.

The opponent looked bigger than Sohee. That meant they could allocate more points to strength.

How would Sohee penetrate that solid body?

Of course, if she utilized the characteristics and skills of a samurai, winning wasn’t impossible.

As the silence continued, Sohee began to move.

She took a big step forward.

Her hand followed suit.

A blue flash shot out from her waist, heading toward the opponent’s neck.

Her stance was perfect. The bluish effect on the katana confirmed that skill activation was working.

Swoosh-!

The sharp blade pierced through flesh.

The katana’s edge cut through the opponent knight’s armor.

The chest plate, grazed by the sharp edge, was left long and torn.

The opponent, holding the shield, seemed to realize only after the fact that they had been attacked, stumbling backward in panic.

The flow of the match fully shifted to Sohee now. She needed to press forward and keep the pressure on her opponent.

The moment she clenched her fist, it felt like Sohee understood my thoughts and began to advance.

With a slight rotation at the end of the upward swing, her katana changed direction.

From top to bottom, she executed a series of powerful downward slashes.

Whoosh-!

Clang-!

The long flash cut through the opponent’s arm as they frantically raised their shield.

Even though the opponent hurried to lift their shield, Sohee read their movement and twisted her katana’s trajectory.

Sohee calmly stepped back after confirming her opponent’s stance.

Good judgement.

No matter how advantageous things were for Sohee, if she swung her katana recklessly, it would get caught up in the knight’s solid armor. So, retreating for a moment to reclaim her katana was necessary.

To use the samurai skill [Drawing Sword], this was unavoidable.

Swish-!

Sohee retrieved her katana.

Her lowered stance suggested she could attack at any moment, with the katana rising behind her looking quite intimidating.

[Ugh, no way!]

Was it disbelief over being pushed back that drove the opponent to charge?

Or were they blinded by jealousy over the talent gap?

I couldn’t say for sure, but the opposing knight charged in without examining their condition first.

With a shield leading the way, they rushed towards Sohee.

The long sword in their hand swung towards her threateningly.

But Sohee remained calm.

Her composure was evident in her steady eyes.

A blue flash soared through her long black hair.

Swish-!

One step.

That was the number of steps Sohee took toward her rushing opponent.

That one step determined the match’s outcome.

Clang-!

The long sword and round shield fell to the ground, losing their strength.

The knight stumbled, finally dropping to their knees.

Thud-!

With a long slice across their neck, red blood surged upward.

The situation clearly displayed the knight’s defeat.

Holding her katana in the attacking position, Sohee lightly flicked the blade clean of blood.

She also didn’t forget to show respect to her fallen opponent.

A silent bow to the defeated knight.

A nice tidy finish.

This was a truly perfect victory.

As I watched, I nodded.

It seemed my lessons had truly helped her.

The overall result of the match was a flawless victory for us.

Since it was a best-of-seven match, that meant there were no more rounds to play.

“Phew…”

Stepping out of the capsule, Sohee brushed her forehead and smiled faintly.

She must have really liked how she performed just now.

Sohee usually looks quite mature, but seeing her show some childish traits was rather adorable.

“How did I do?”

The first person Sohee turned to was me.

Naturally, the question was aimed at me.

I answered with a bright smile.

“You were awesome.”

“How awesome?”

“Very awesome.”

“In Deron terms?”

“Like a world item?”

Was my answer to her liking?

Finally smiling brightly, Sohee came closer to me.

Maybe because she had been focused on the game, her forehead had small beads of sweat on it.

“Sohee… why not level up a warrior instead of just playing a wizard?”

“Nope, I don’t want to.”

“You’re so firm… but… hmm…”

Ellie next to me looked quite surprised at Sohee too.

It makes sense considering Sohee usually only played a wizard.

Even Seongsin looked shocked, her eyes sparkling, but she didn’t speak to Sohee.

For some reason, Seongsin seemed to find Sohee burdensome.

“Congratulations on passing the preliminaries.”

While chatting with my teammates, a staff member entered, lifting the tent.

Then, they walked straight to Sohee and handed her a document.

“After all the preliminaries today, you can check the finals bracket by logging into the address here by 8 PM this evening. Please remember the match date and don’t be late.”

That seemed to be all they had to say.

The staff glanced over our team once and then turned to leave the tent.

Seemed their job here was done.

I approached Sohee, holding the bracket, and took her hand.

Her fingers naturally intertwined with mine.

The gentle grip brought an involuntary smile to my face.

“Is everything we need to do done for today?”

“Yeah. We’ve done everything for today.”

So that means we could roam freely now?

I smiled and led Sohee out of the tent.

Just at that moment, I felt a strong gaze from across the way.

A faint hostility emanated from that stare.

But that hostility quickly faded.

Wondering what was going on, I turned my head to see a group of boys emerging from a tent across the way, staring blankly at us.

They were the opposing team we had fought against.

With a light smile, I waved at them.

Had things gone differently, maybe they could’ve advanced to the finals.

But too bad for them, they encountered us.

My team, led by the cute Hayun, was their destined defeat.

“Do you know them?”

Sohee’s sudden question made me tilt my head in confusion.

“No?”

“Then why wave at them?”

“They were on the opposing team.”

“Hayun, it’s not good to act like that after a match. Even if you didn’t mean to, it might come off as provocation to them.”

“Ah, really?”

I nodded stupidly.

That made sense.

If they were angry about losing, they might think I was teasing them by smiling and waving.

“My bad.”

“Yeah, so be careful.”

Sohee said that while blocking me from the boys’ gaze.

As if protecting me from their looks.

Sohee’s heart truly corresponds to her size!

I hugged Sohee at the waist.

The finals would take place tomorrow.

We made our way to a large hotel nearby.

Since our teacher arrived early, we could get our room keys at the hotel lobby.

“They have two rooms…?”

The two keycards we received were in my hands as I stared at them.

“Uh, Hayun!”

Just then, Ellie approached as if she had something to say.

But before she could, Sohee swiftly reached out and snatched the cards away.

Looking up at Sohee with a dazed expression, she spoke.

“We can just share with Hayun.”

“Uh…?”

“Right?”

Was there really a need to split rooms?

Even if it’s a bit cramped, wouldn’t it be more fun to share one room together?

But it appeared I was the only one thinking that way.

Ellie and Seongsin nodded eagerly at Sohee’s suggestion.

“Okay. Hayun, come here.”

“Uh, I…”

Sohee reached out her hand toward me.

Grabbing my arm, she handed the remaining keycard to Seongsin, saying,

“You must be tired from the match, right? Let’s get to bed early tonight.”