Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 164

The place Sohee and I arrived at was the outside of the event hall for Deron Online.

There were foreigners too; even though it was an unexpected event announcement, there were people from outside who had come.

“It looks like it already started.”

“Yeah.”

As Sohee said, the event was indeed underway.

What on earth was so special that everything had to be kept a secret?

It was finally the moment the hidden secret would be revealed.

I walked with Sohee to the entrance of the hall.

Suddenly, the staff standing there approached us.

They were checking Deron accounts at the entrance of the event hall.

I pushed my small chest forward and put on a confident expression.

They would definitely recognize me. There was no way they wouldn’t.

I was the most famous user on the Korean server. Thus, Deron’s staff had to recognize me too.

“Are both of you looking to enter the hall?”

At that moment, a staff member who had been looking down at a large pad lifted their head.

Our eyes met. I looked up at him with a gaze filled with half-expectation and half-nervousness.

“Um… for account verification, can I take your fingerprint and iris scan?”

I blinked at the absurd words of the staff member.

Is this it? Is he not going to show any shocked expression upon seeing me? Isn’t he going to ask for my autograph?

What about the signature I practiced so hard at home?

No way, does this guy not know me? Really?

He doesn’t know this Blood Demon King?

And he still claims to be Deron’s staff?

A flurry of thoughts raced through my mind in an instant.

“Could you please extend your hand for a moment?”

My mind went blank. I felt drained by his completely unexpected reaction.

I extended my hand, along with Sohee’s, and they scanned all ten of our fingerprints.

Next was the iris scan.

“Please don’t blink~”

The staff member, wearing a small name tag around his neck, was diligently carrying out his job.

Holding a small scanner in his hand, he slowly waved it in front of Sohee’s and my face.

“Scanning complete. Both of you are verified, and please make sure to wear this necklace once you go inside~”

He said this while handing us small necklaces stamped with the Deron game logo.

Looking around, I noticed everyone entering the event hall had this necklace hanging outside their clothes.

I followed suit and put the necklace around my neck.

“Have a great time~”

The staff member swiftly moved on to the next person.

I stared blankly at his retreating figure, my mouth hanging open.

“Looks like you’re disappointed?”

“Disappointed…? Yeah… I’m disappointed.”

“What are you disappointed about?”

“I thought… if they were from Deron, they’d recognize me.”

“Deron’s staff?”

“Yeah…”

I nodded in response to Sohee’s question.

I was the user who achieved the first kill in Deron’s first raid and the one who won the tournament in the arena first.

If I started listing my other achievements, I could go on for hours.

“That guy isn’t from Deron.”

“Ah, really?”

“Yeah. Just a part-timer.”

“Whoa…”

Suddenly, I felt lighter at Sohee’s words.

That’s right, if he were a Deron employee, he wouldn’t not know me.

The reason he didn’t recognize me was simply because he was just a part-timer.

I nodded, reassured. It would be normal for someone who doesn’t play Deron to not know me.

“Were you disappointed because that guy didn’t recognize you?”

I neither confirmed nor denied.

I held onto the hem of my coat and pulled Sohee’s hand.

Her laughter trailed behind me.

Inside the event hall was decorated in a colorful Christmas theme.

I saw people cosplaying as characters from Deron, and there was also a merchandise shop prepared by the Deron team.

Even though the conditions to participate were strict, the turnout was larger than expected.

Where is it? Where could it be?

I squinted my eyes, eagerly scanning the area.

The merchandise shop and the cosplayers were not my focus.

“What are you searching for?”

I must have looked strangely around.

As I stepped forward, I replied, “I’m looking for the place that’s giving out costume coupons. It said so in the announcement. It’s supposed to be given to all participants.”

“Oh, about that…”

At that moment, Sohee, hearing my response, halted in her tracks.

Curious about why she stopped, I turned to see her rummaging through her coat pockets, pulling out a small card.

“Is this what you mean?”

“Whoa…!”

What Sohee handed me was an event card from Deron.

The front had a cool illustration, and the back had a coupon number for obtaining a costume.

Where in the world did she get this?

Could it have been lying around where we passed by?

I quickly turned to look behind Sohee.

“W-Where did you get this? I didn’t see it!”

“I asked Dad for a few, just in case.”

“Can you do that?”

“Yeah. This center belongs to my dad, you know? So if I ask nicely, I can get a few coupons. The same goes for event coupons from other games.”

“Y-You saved this for me?”

“Yep.”

I was truly… deeply touched.

What might have been a small request for her was anything but for me.

After all, the reason I came to this event hall was for this coupon, wasn’t it?

I carefully tucked the card she gave me into my pocket and hugged her.

Being small, my face fit perfectly between Sohee’s large chest.

“Are you really that happy?”

“Yeah.”

After that, I walked around the hall with Sohee.

We had some time to spare before the important announcement started, so I thought to wander around a bit.

How long had we walked? We finally arrived in front of the merchandise shop.

Inside the booth, a man looking bored yawned, and the moment our eyes met, he froze, mouth agape.

His half-closed eyes began to widen.

“B-Blood Demon King…!”

That’s right.

Finally, someone recognized me. A smile naturally spread across my face.

I lightly waved my hand and smiled at him.

“It’s… really you…”

The merchandise shop employee muttered blankly, then waved his hand toward the air.

That was a motion often made when manipulating the system in Deron.

But nothing would appear. This was reality, after all.

I understood his actions. Guild members did similar things at guild gatherings.

Sohee, who had been watching me closely, cautiously asked, “Hayun, do you know him?”

“No, he’s probably a fan of mine.”

“Fan…?”

Was my answer strange to her?

Sohee’s expression twisted oddly.

Why did she look at me like that? Is it strange that I have a fan?

“Hayun… You don’t think that guy is your fan, do you…?”

Just then, the merchandise shop employee stood up abruptly, running over to me with a small notebook and pen in hand.

“C-Can I please get your autograph? You’re the Blood Demon King, right?”

As I expected, my thoughts weren’t wrong.

I looked up at Sohee with a proud expression.

She was looking at me and the autograph-requesting man with a complicated look.

“Um, sure… I’ll do it.”

“Thank you!”

It was time to showcase the signature skills I had practiced so hard at home.

I twirled the pen in my hand and artistically scribbled my signature on the notebook.

HY

Below the large lettering, I drew a small cow’s head.

That was it, the perfect signature.

The merchandise shop employee left with a satisfied look on his face.

I puffed my chest out at Sohee.

My immense popularity transcended both game and reality.

This was the normal reaction.

“Ugh…”

For some reason, Sohee didn’t look pleased.

It seemed like she disliked this whole situation, with frowns forming on her lovely forehead.

I understood completely. That was a feeling any girl of her age would naturally have.

I carefully approached and held her hand.

She must have been feeling envious.

“Hayun…”

“Yeah?”

“I think we should wear masks.”

“Masks? Why’s that?”

“Y-You know how celebrities often wear masks and sunglasses to hide their identity, right?”

“Uh, hmm… I see…”

Indeed…

I understood what Sohee meant. It was undoubtedly worry in preparation for what was to come.

I nodded in agreement.

Sohee bought me a black cat mask and star-shaped sunglasses hanging in front of the merchandise shop and placed them on my face.

She was such a thorough planner.

But could these things really hide my identity?

Wearing a mask and sunglasses only made more people stare at me than before.

Even with my face covered, there seemed to be something about me that couldn’t be hidden.

I followed Sohee, hands behind my back.

Then, as we passed by the entrance of the event hall, I witnessed a bizarre sight.

Men in black suits were walking, seemingly guarding a girl, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.

The girl in the center seemed accustomed to this kind of escort, casually looking around.

The first thing that caught my eye was the color of the girl’s hair.

It was neither the common blond nor black.

White. Long, slightly dull white hair flowed weakly behind her.

Her skin was also white, looking as if she hadn’t gotten any sunlight, appearing frail.

In that moment, our eyes met.

Despite her sickly-looking face, her eyes sparkled a light blue.

We froze at each other’s glance.

A strangely familiar feeling washed over me.

Where had I seen that gaze before?

However, no matter how hard I racked my memory, I couldn’t recall anything about this small girl.

It seemed like she too recognized me, and she halted while stepping back slightly.

In that moment of unspoken exchange, Sohee tugged my hand gently.

“Hayun?”

“Uh, what?”

“It looks like something’s about to start. Let’s hurry.”

Turning my head at Sohee’s words, I saw staff moving large items enthusiastically onto the podium in the center of the hall.

Nodding, I followed her.

Somehow, I felt a familiar gaze following me from behind.