Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 168

5 AM.

It’s a bit early to start the day, but the small girl naturally opened her eyes and got out of bed.

Despite her fragile appearance, her white hair shone beautifully.

[Ellie. 3 missed calls and unread messages…]

Ellie. Yes, that’s her name.

As the AI’s voice echoed in the room, the small girl nodded.

This wasn’t a game or a dream. Here, she was just a small girl with a frail body who couldn’t run for long.

Ellie jumped off the bed and said,

“You told me to call you Jupiter.”

[But…]

“All the messages are from Dad, right?”

[Yes. Your father…]

“I got it, so be quiet.”

[Are you thinking of logging into the game again?]

“Yep.”

[Don’t forget, the medicine…]

“I’ll mute it.”

As Ellie’s words finished, the loud buzzing sound was completely cut off.

Silence descended in the excessively spacious room meant for just one person.

Ellie moved on her own and started preparing breakfast.

Since she didn’t move around much, the amount of food she prepared was very little.

From the fridge, she prepared peanut butter, a cup of milk, and a slice of bread, heading towards the table.

Eating breakfast alone was something she was used to.

Ellie wiggled her short legs and took a bite of the bread.

After finishing her meal, she spent some quiet time, just letting the minutes go by.

She really liked this brief moment.

“I’m going to play the game, so block all the incoming messages.”

There was no response.

That’s because she had switched the AI’s voice to mute.

But it would have understood. It always did.

It was just another normal day.

Ellie, or rather Jupiter, crawled into the large capsule, her blue pajamas fluttering.

It was time to become the shining knight she envisioned, not the small, fragile girl.

Jupiter nodded and comfortably settled into the soft sheets.

It would be soon.

She would soon meet the other body waiting for her, bathed in bright light.

That’s what she thought.

“Ah…?”

What came out of her mouth was a very foolish-sounding voice.

Jupiter looked at the character floating in front of her.

Nickname: Jupiter.

It was undoubtedly her character.

The full plate mail that enveloped her body was just as before.

What about the white cloak trailing behind her?

The holy sword strapped to her waist was also unchanged.

But why? Why had Jupiter’s large and gallant figure turned into a small, delicate girl?

Currently, there was no feature in Deron that allowed changing a character’s appearance, except for species reincarnation.

Though rumors circulated about the addition of customization items, none had been added so far.

So then, what was the reason?

Jupiter glared at the girl knight standing in front of her.

Inside her head, her brain throbbed. It was a signal that the medicine was wearing off.

But Jupiter ignored the signal. The alarm would ring when it was time to take the medicine.

Now was the time to focus on the game.

For now.

Log in.

Jupiter nodded and logged into the game.

It might just be a simple glitch.

Once she logged in, she would surely return to being the original Jupiter.

Like usual, she logged in. A bright light enveloped her, and she felt as if she was flying somewhere.

As Jupiter waited for her vision to recover, she tried moving her arms and legs.

“Eh…”

She didn’t feel the usual dissonance one always encounters when logging into the game.

The length of her arms and legs felt just like in reality.

“This, this is…!”

Her voice sounded just like it did in real life. The voice changer feature she had set for her character seemed to have disappeared.

Creak— creak.

Every time she moved her body, the full plate mail clanked loudly.

What an absurd situation it was.

The character’s performance and items remained the same, but only the appearance had changed.

What could possibly be the problem?

Jupiter groaned to herself, pondering various possibilities.

In that moment, she recalled what happened at the offline event in Deron.

“Could it be!”

It was when the staff who put on the bracelet mentioned it needed to be linked with the Deron account.

That was it. There was no other explanation.

“Damn those guys!”

Jupiter was enraged. The customization she had lovingly created for her character had all vanished.

Thud! Thud!

She stamped her feet hard, stomping on the stone pavement of the city, but her anger didn’t dissipate.

“Ugh…”

Calm down—

Taking a deep breath, Jupiter used the GM call function in Deron.

“Ugh…”

But the waiting time was the problem.

Even using the real-time chat with GM would take a hefty two-hour wait.

After the server merge, she had heard rumors of many issues cropping up, but this was just too much.

That’s what Jupiter thought.

In that moment, a small girl came rushing in front of Jupiter before tripping and falling.

It was the typical behavior of an ordinary NPC, something no one paid any attention to.

But the knight of light was different. He always had to extend a helping hand to everyone.

For that was what Jupiter had set up as a shining knight.

Though her body had changed like this, she was still Jupiter.

“Uweee!”

Jupiter slowly approached the small girl.

Then she reached out her hand.

“Child. Don’t cry, get up.”

“Huh…?”

“Where are your parents? I’ll help you find them.”

Jupiter took the girl’s hand and helped her up.

If this were reality and not Deron, Jupiter would have ended up tripping alongside the girl without helping her up.

“My, my mom is…”

“Hmm…”

Jupiter, looking serious, rubbed her chin as she observed the girl, as they were at eye level.

“I lost my mom…”

“Alright. Let’s go find her together.”

It was a surprise quest that sometimes appeared in the village.

As Jupiter waited for the GM call’s waiting time, she resolved to help the small girl.

“Do you live in this city?”

[Lost Girl]

Jupiter couldn’t glean anything from the name floating above the girl’s head.

As always, she was engrossed in her own setup, speaking to the small girl.

“Uh-huh. My mom said she had something to do at the temple and came here.”

“The temple, huh…”

She had found a clue.

Jupiter led the girl by the hand toward the temple.

However, unlike before, she felt the stares of those around her.

Frowning, Jupiter glanced around.

There were far too many users gawking at her and the girl as they walked down the street.

It was just a slight change in appearance…

Jupiter felt her neck and face heat up.

“Hmm…”

“Sister…”

“Sister…? Ah.”

NPCs that give out quests always have been equipped with light AI.

Therefore, the title used to address the helping user gets changed based on their appearance.

Right now, Jupiter’s appearance was no longer that of a tall man.

But of a small and delicate girl.

“Hmm… Call me knight.”

Being called sister felt awkward and burdensome.

Jupiter spread her white cloak to cover her face.

Though her awkward gait changed due to the limited view, it felt better than exposing her face to others.

Just as they arrived at the temple.

“Huh?”

A healer receiving various buffs in front of the temple suddenly had a shocked expression upon seeing Jupiter.

Jupiter quickly turned her body and pulled the cloak over her like a hood.

Around the healer were users who appeared to be her party members.

“Hey, over there…!”

“What?”

“That person… Isn’t it Jupiter?”

“Canary? Tweet tweet?”

“Looking at the nickname, it seems like it.”

“No way, wasn’t that person a beefy male character? This person looks too small…”

“No, I’m saying look at that…”

Jupiter felt her body tremble at the whispers coming from behind.

She was wiping her flushed cheeks while hastily rushing into the temple with the small girl.

“No, I’m telling you. Wait, hey!”

The voices trailing behind gradually faded away.

Hiding behind a large pillar, Jupiter slightly peeked outside.

Fortunately, the healer who had recognized her was being dragged away to a hunting ground by her party members.

“Phew…”

“Sister, are we playing hide and seek?”

Jupiter smiled softly and shook her head.

Now that they had arrived at the temple, it was time to find this small girl’s mother.

But—

No matter how much she roamed the large temple, she couldn’t find anyone who looked like the girl’s mother.

“Uwe…”

After about ten minutes of searching, she discovered that the girl’s mother had already left the temple.

They had crossed paths.

Jupiter took the hand of the sobbing girl and left the temple.

The next place to head was the city guard.

If you don’t know the location of the NPC, go ask the guards or the guard station.

Then they’ll inform you of the location.

Recalling the stories she heard during her beginner days, Jupiter made her way to the guard station.

Of course, it wasn’t only for that reason.

Having experienced various odd quests in Deron, she knew what parents of lost children NPCs would typically do.

“Mom!”

“Vivi!”

Just as Jupiter had predicted, the parents of the lost child were waiting in front of the guard station.

Jupiter stood with her arms crossed, silently observing the reunion of the two.

“Really… Thank you so much, knight…”

“Thank you, sister!”

The pair who kept thanking Jupiter suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled out a small map from their possession.

It was the occurrence of a linked quest.

“Um, this… It’s not much of a reward, but… my husband was an adventurer. This was the map he held onto until the very end.”

“This is…”

“He always carried that map with him… until the last moment…”

[Suspicious Map]

This is a map that an adventurer held onto until his last moment.

It feels faintly of the Moon Goddess’s blessing.

Bind item