Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 19

As soon as I arrived at school, a major raid restructuring began.

Early in the morning, before heading to school, I sent gold by mail and excluded users who kept smacking tank damage from the raid party list.

Without any particular movement, I just threw in some pole damage. Even with that, I couldn’t catch up to the tank.

This means I’m lacking talent. When I brought it up in the party chat, most people seemed to agree. However, there were some who expressed a desire to stay until the end.

I would never cut any slack. The boundaries must be clear.

With a single stroke, half of the raid members vanished.

“What are you working so hard on?”

“Oh, Sohee.”

When did she come over? I thought she had arrived quite early, but Sohee was already wandering around the classroom.

I smiled slightly and put my phone back in my pocket.

“I’m just dealing with some… issues.”

“Hmm… Do you want me to help?”

It was a moment that showed how kind Sohee’s heart was, offering to help without knowing what the problem was.

I didn’t feel bad at all. In fact, there was a slight tingling in my chest.

“I’m fine.”

I shook my head. Since it was an issue related to the game, there was no way Sohee could help.

She tilted her head at my response and handed me candy.

This time, it was a big green grape candy.

Thanks to my all-night study with Harang, I felt like I could loosely follow along with math class lately.

Seeing the densely filled problem-solving processes written in my notebook made me feel a sense of pride.

*

At 5 PM. After finishing school, when I arrive home, it’s roughly 5 PM.

That meant my Deron playtime starts at 5 PM.

I had returned to the capital city to send gold earlier that morning, so I found myself waking up right in the middle of the capital city again.

I carefully moved while wearing my helmet.

Unintentionally, I ended up on a broadcast. Not every user was watching, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

After the raid ended, I checked the items I obtained.

The [Heart of the Warrior] necklace, which I had bid on for 3,000 gold, would be the final item until the next season.

While the item’s options were decent, the most important aspect was the skill [Berserk] attached to it.

It boosts attack speed by 50% during its duration, and reduces the cooldowns of all skills by 50%.

Although it had the drawback of only lasting 20 seconds, any physical dealer who obtained this accessory would turn into a fearsome powerhouse that could blow away the DPS.

If the item’s options hadn’t changed, then this world’s items would wield the same effect.

But it’s not that necklace that was important.

[Right Fragment of the Sun] [Left Fragment of the Sun]

The Sun Fragment series.

I never expected to see them drop on the first raid.

The moment the remaining piece dropped from the final boss, my heart nearly jumped out.

I struggled to hide my face that was showing excitement and my trembling lips.

I had to fill the raid spots, but there was still plenty of time left.

Today, I had resolutely turned down Harang’s request to focus entirely on the hidden quest.

I quickly equipped the ring item and headed towards the Lunaris Temple.

The quest began with a healer NPC located inside the Lunaris Temple.

“Adventurer…? I sense another divine power from you.”

The healer NPC scrutinized me closely and continued speaking.

“It’s a holy power… But it feels somewhat familiar… Would you like to hear the story?”

As I nodded, the healer NPC continued.

“There’s a snow-covered mountain range very far from the Lunaris capital. That’s where I grew up. The village elders would often say that the mountains used to be filled with warm energy long ago.”

“Does that mean it’s not like that anymore?”

“Yes, that’s right. They say the god who looked after those mountains has disappeared. But surely, traces of that god remain. The divine power felt deep within the shattered shrine in the mountains is proof of that.”

“Are you saying that the divine power is felt from my body?”

“… I can’t be sure, but I feel that the divine power I sensed back then and the one emanating from you are similar.”

As soon as the healer finished speaking, a translucent message window appeared before my eyes.

[The Trace of the Disappeared Sun]

I just heard the story about a now-vanished god.

To gather more detailed information, I must head to the snow-covered mountain range the healer spoke of.

With that, the healer fell silent.

This meant there was no more information to be gained from him.

I hurriedly rushed out of the temple and jumped into the portal heading to the snow-covered mountain range.

The snow-covered mountains. Just as the name suggested, the entire mountain was blanketed in snow.

The monsters appearing here were beast types ranging from level 22 to 25.

It wasn’t a popular hunting ground. That was due to the [Bitter Cold] debuff that this map had.

It slows down movement speed and decreases health every certain amount of time—a real nuisance.

On top of that, the blinding snowflakes were another source of irritation for many.

Upon exiting the portal, the quiet surroundings welcomed me.

I saw a few users carrying out quests near the mountains, but there wasn’t even a shadow of a person up higher.

I hurriedly entered the mountain range.

It was at that moment.

[The Power of the Sun settles in your body, dispelling the cold.]

The two rings I was wearing shone brightly, instantly dispelling the cold that had been rushing in from all directions.

I couldn’t believe they hid this detail.

I crossed the mountain range with a dazed expression.

If I hadn’t possessed prior knowledge, I would have aimed toward the village inside the mountains to gather information.

But I knew everything about this quest.

So I boldly skipped the intermediate steps. While proceeding with the quest normally would’ve meant shuttling endlessly between the Lunaris capital and this mountain range, heading straight for the canyon with the shattered shrine allowed me to skip that tedious phase.

[Grurrrrr!]

True to the snow-covered mountains, monsters with white camouflage jumped out.

A snow leopard with white fur rushed toward me, claws unsheathed, but I narrowly evaded and swung my sword.

Crimson blood dripped onto the pure white snow.

With everything being white around, it was hard to properly notice the monsters approaching.

“Haah-”

A white breath escaped my lips.

The calmly settled snow surveyed the surroundings.

It seemed too optimistic to think I could get to my destination comfortably. The number of approaching monsters around was excessive.

Since it was an area where people didn’t come, the monster population on this map had reached its maximum limit.

After shedding my helmet that limited my visibility, I swung my sword and moved forward, pushing back the wave of monsters.

My speed was slow to pick up. There were just too many monsters.

After investing a full hour to clear a path, I finally arrived at the peak of the mountain range, which was my destination.

At the top, there was a small shrine that was covered in snow; if I hadn’t looked closely, I could’ve easily missed it with how thickly the snow was piled.

As I brushed off the snow accumulating on my body and approached the shrine, the rings I was wearing emitted a brilliant light, causing the surrounding snow to melt away in an instant.

Thus revealed were the traces of the peak. Observing the scattered ruins around, it appeared this was once the site of a grand temple.

[The Light of the Sun shall guide you.]

From the melted shrine, I heard a soft voice.

At that moment, the shrine shot out a strong beam of light that pointed towards the bottom of the mountain.

As if saying I should head that way.

Following the light, I made my way down the mountain range. Eventually, I arrived at the edge of the map.

At the end of the map lay a massive chunk of ice, within which something vaguely could be seen.

The light, which began at the peak of the mountain, was directed towards that ice.

As I approached the massive chunk of ice, the ring I was wearing began to emit light, melting the ice.

A gentle golden glow began to radiate. The warmth provided by that light was completely different from the moonlight of Lunaris.

Once the ice fully melted, a sword that had been sleeping inside the ice slowly floated up and came to a stop before me.

[Holy Sword of the Sun God Solara]

Strength +30, Health +30

Increases max health by 10%.

Increases attack speed by 15%.

Attack power +300, Defense +70

Can activate [Proclamation of the Sun God’s Sanctuary] once a day.

When attacking, there’s a 20% chance to trigger [Cloak of the Sun] that surrounds the wearer.

[Proclamation of the Sun God’s Sanctuary]

It declares a certain wide area as the Sun God’s sanctuary based on the wearer.

During its duration, all stats are increased by 25%, and 1% of health is restored every second.

Duration: 60 seconds.

[Cloak of the Sun]

Powerful sunlight wraps around the body like a cloak.

It summons a cloak of the sun that deals continuous damage within a small area while reducing the damage taken by the wearer by 10%.

Duration: 10 seconds.

I already knew, but it was an unbelievably powerful item.

It was something I’d only seen from afar, never possessed in the past, but now it was in my hands.

Just as I reached out to grasp the sword, my body moved suddenly to slice through the open air vigorously.

Swoosh!

Brilliant sunlight burst forth from the swinging sword.

The light spread in all directions, starting to melt away the snow-covered mountain range.

I numbly watched the spectacle unfold.

I had seen a video of someone completing this hidden quest.

That final moment undoubtedly featured such a scene, but it only happened to cinematic visuals that didn’t affect the map.

In this world of Deron, the hidden quest’s presentation was excessively upgraded.

The melted snow began to evaporate, and even the clouds hanging in the sky disappeared.

And then it happened—the moment the brilliant sun, hidden within the clouds, revealed itself.

[[The Holy Sword of the Sun God Solara has been revealed.]]

A server-wide message, typically displayed only during server maintenance, flashed across the screen.

I hastily used the Return Stone item to teleport back to the capital city.

*

All users playing Deron witnessed that message.

Curiosity got the better of users, who contacted the game company, but they received no special responses.

They only heard back that it wasn’t a bug or a mistake from the staff.

[Deron Online Gallery]

[Who is the Sun God Solara?] [2]

[Isn’t this just the start of an event?] [5]

[The Sun God’s Holy Sword is this, right? They must be giving it out as an item.] [7]

[It seems related to the snow-covered mountain range here?] [21]

[The Sun God must be like a middle school girl ninja, which is why they can’t find it.] [11]

Numerous speculative posts flooded the gallery, yet nothing ordinary users could deduce.

The snow-covered mountains received a brief boost in attention, but as time passed, the area returned to its original snow-covered state.

People’s interest began to fade.