Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 288

After the conclusion of the VRS school tournament’s Round of 64, a post appeared in the VRS gallery.

Accompanied by an unusual attached photo.

Virtual Reality Swordsman Gallery ⓜ

[I found this business card while walking, could it belong to the pro team scouts?]

(A crumpled business card with footprints on it)

Picked it up from the hotel parking lot near the tournament venue.

Is the player pool not doing too well these days? LOL. These guys are throwing business cards like they’re passing around Knight rumors?

[Comments]

[Is this for real?]

ㄴ[Yeah, it seems so. I just called, and they said it’s from N.R.]

ㄴ[Isn’t that a phishing scam?]

ㄴ[For real, it could be. Since it’s close to the tournament venue, they might be targeting naive phone callers.]

[It really does seem accurate. I searched the phone number, and it led to the pro team’s website;]

[Is this how pros get recruited nowadays?]

[LOL]

[No wonder the players seem to be lacking these days… I guess Wild is still in the game.]

ㄴ[What era are you talking about, Wild LOL.]

ㄴ[Didn’t Wild run away to find a girlfriend? They haven’t shown up at tournaments lately LOL.]

ㄴ[Not that kind of person!]

[This wasn’t handed out like gossip; it was probably given to the players with good tournament results?]

ㄴ[You think they threw this away?]

ㄴ[That could happen.]

ㄴ[Don’t be ridiculous LOL. Why toss away an opportunity? If they made it to the tournament, it means they’re serious about VRS.]

ㄴ[For real LOL.]

ㄴ[There could be family circumstances we don’t know about…]

ㄴ[Whoah…]

[I think I saw scouts earlier this morning.]

ㄴ[Were you at the tournament venue?]

ㄴ[Yeah.]

ㄴ[Are you sure you saw them?]

ㄴ[Not completely sure. But I did see some sketchy guys swarm over and hand out business cards to the girls. I thought they were from an entertainment agency casting on the street.]

ㄴ[?]

ㄴ[The girls were pretty.]

*

“Wooow!”

Early in the morning.

As usual, the moment I woke up and checked my phone, a scream escaped me.

Of course, it was because a new announcement had been posted on Deron’s website.

The only kind of announcement that could appear at this time.

The addition of large-scale content that can be enjoyed until the next expansion pack drops.

It was clear that new equipment for users who couldn’t do raids and a high-difficulty world boss patch were being added.

“W-what? What’s happening?”

I heard Sohee’s voice from behind me.

It seemed that Sohee, who was sound asleep, had been startled awake by my scream.

With a surge of excitement, I shoved my phone into Sohee’s face.

“Look at this, Sohee!”

“Ah…”

“What do you think?”

“It’s from Deron…?”

“It’s the pre-announcement for the new update!”

“I see…”

I squinted at Sohee’s lackluster response.

Here I was, excited about Deron’s new update announcement, and that was all she could muster?

As an adventurer living in the world of Deron, wouldn’t a more special response be expected?

“Is that all you can say?”

“… Woooow…”

Sohee gave a faint smile and clapped her hands.

The sound of her clapping felt so weak that it drained my energy too.

With my arms crossed, I turned my head away.

If Sohee wasn’t happy about it, then I’d just go find Ellie.

Ellie, who truly enjoys Deron, would surely react like I did.

With that in mind, I jumped off the bed and headed straight for the next room.

Even as Sohee’s faint voice came from behind, I didn’t stop.

Knock, knock—

I stood on my tiptoes and knocked twice.

The closed door swung open, revealing Ellie with her bright white hair.

“Hayun…?”

She rubbed her eyes sleepily.

With the drool stains still at the corner of her mouth, it seemed she had just woken up.

With a bright smile, I showed Ellie my phone screen.

“Look at this!”

“T-this is…!”

Finally, someone who understood my excitement.

I nodded as I watched Ellie’s reaction.

Her eyes widened.

Her mouth dropped open in shock.

Her shoulders slowly rose, and her lips curled up in amazement.

Ellie’s gaze quickly darted as she read the announcement written on the phone.

“I-is this for real? This isn’t some bait post from the Deron gallery, right?”

“Of course not. Take a good look.”

“Haha…”

Just then, while Ellie and I were giddily glancing at the phone screen, the closed door opened again, and Sohee appeared.

With deep dark circles under her eyes and an exhausted look, she still had a lively gaze fixed on me.

Letting out a sigh of relief upon spotting me, Sohee made me tilt my head in confusion.

“Were you going to meet Ellie?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“You should have told me… I was worried.”

“Is it really necessary to mention a trivial walk to the next room…?”

It’s just a trip to the next room to see Ellie. There’s no obligation for me to report small matters like this to Sohee.

Nodding my head, I said to Sohee, “You look tired, so go back to sleep. I’ll chat with Ellie for a bit and then leave.”

“No. I want to listen too.”

“Really? So, Sohee, are you really going to join us in discussing Deron?”

In that moment, ahead of me, Ellie leaped up and exclaimed.

“Yep!”

Suddenly, had she changed her mind?

I faintly smiled while looking at Sohee’s figure.

Well, if she’s playing Deron, it’s only natural for her to show interest in this announcement.

“They say the new addition is aerial combat, right?”

Aerial combat.

I nodded at Sohee’s words.

Although detailed information wasn’t revealed, the announcement mentioned a new content called aerial combat.

It also mentioned a world boss suitably designed for aerial combat, so how could I not be excited?

“While it’s true there weren’t any aerial bosses before, now that they are officially mentioning aerial combat, something special must be…”

“Are you talking about the Black Dragon? It definitely took to the skies using flying mounts back then…”

Ellie and I began exchanging thoughts, each sharing our ideas.

Of course, Sohee wasn’t just sitting there silently.

“Hey, guys.”

“Yeah?”

“What’s the plan?”

“Shouldn’t we talk inside? It’s not right to do this in the hallway…”

Ah…

I nodded at Sohee’s words.

Right now, we were in the middle of the hotel corridor.

Although no one was wandering about at this early hour, it wasn’t a good spot for conversation.

I naturally took Ellie’s hand and led her into the room.

Once inside, I noticed that unlike our clean room, the one Ellie and Seongsin were staying in was a mess.

Clothes and underwear were scattered everywhere.

The small panties definitely belonged to Ellie.

“Hmm…”

As I stared at the panties, Ellie cleared her throat and kicked the underwear to the corner.

It wouldn’t completely hide it, but I pretended not to notice and turned my gaze away.

It’s white.

Seongsin was still fast asleep.

She had her blanket pulled tightly over herself, looking comfortable.

Sohee, Ellie, and I dragged chairs from a nearby table and sat down.

I placed my phone in the center of the table and said, “The information we can gather from the announcement is extremely limited.”

“That’s true.”

“We have to deduce from this.”

The announcement that had just come up only mentioned a forthcoming large-scale patch.

Not even a single screenshot was provided.

Therefore, what we needed to do was combine several keywords mentioned in the announcement to deduce what the upcoming content would be.

Some might think it’s a waste of time, but I didn’t.

In an RPG, information is key. To get ahead of others, it’s always better to know even trivial details.

“The mention of aerial combat suggests that updates for mounts are beginning in earnest, right?”

“It could be, but I think something like airships might come out…”

“Oh… like a maritime battle?”

“Exactly. If we slightly modify the existing maritime battle system, creating content for aerial combat shouldn’t be that difficult, right?”

Definitely, collaborating with Ellie was much better than just thinking on my own.

As we talked back and forth about various aspects, I noticed a strong gaze from the side.

I subtly turned my head to see what was up.

A tightly pursed lip.

Slightly furrowed brows.

The exhausted look still hadn’t faded.

The owner of that intense gaze was Sohee.

Could it be that she was sulking for being left out of the fun?

Carefully, I opened my mouth.

“So, what do you think, Sohee?”

“Um…”

Sohee hesitated to speak.

Ellie and I kept quiet, gauging Sohee’s mood.

As time ticked by, and the chairs began to warm up from sitting, Sohee finally spoke.

“The Rift of Dimensions…”

“The Rift of Dimensions?”

“Maybe the background for aerial combat will be the Rift of Dimensions?”

The Rift of Dimensions.

Thinking about it, it made sense. The Rift of Dimensions was often mentioned in past expansion packs of Deron.

It’s where various dimensions converge, the boundary between Season 1 Deron and the new expansion pack Deron.

Even I, who wasn’t particularly interested in the story, knew of it due to how often it was referenced in quests.

“Oh…”

“Oh…!”

I got goosebumps.

I had no idea Sohee was thinking along those lines.

I looked up at Sohee with sparkling eyes.

What kind of thoughts does she have to come up with such a genius idea?

The background for the upcoming content was definitely the Rift of Dimensions.

“Uh, hey… what are you all doing here…?”

“Oh, you’re awake?”

As I was immersed in admiration for Sohee’s bright idea, I heard Seongsin’s voice from the bed.

Covered in blankets, she looked surprised as she stared at us.

It seemed our chatter had woken her.

I waved my hand at Seongsin.

“We were talking about something important.”

“I-impressive discussion? Is it about the tournament…?”

“No? It’s about Deron.”

“Ah…?”

Is her curiosity finally piqued?

I faintly smiled at Seongsin, who looked as if her thoughts were in a jumble, and turned my head away.

“If we’re talking about the Rift of Dimensions, it must involve space, right? If that’s the case, then we’ll definitely be producing something like ships.”

“It would cost a lot of gold… I remember it cost a considerable amount of gold even to build a ship…”

Space, the Rift of Dimensions, aerial combat.

Those three words began to gleam and spin in my mind.

Evil space pirate crew.

Soft & Chewy Cow.

Gasp…

My heart began to race.