Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 22

A week passed, and the raid reset.

Which means I was going to raid with a completely new set of party members.

Before every raid, there’s always a lot to prepare. I head to the temple to get long-lasting buffs and check my potions and doping items.

Once everything is set, I make my way to the meeting point.

It’s currently Friday, 4:50 PM.

Since we’d been raiding, my armor had changed too.

I discarded the full plate that had been weighing me down. The lack of defense was covered by the [Holy Sword of the Sun God Solara], so it was an obvious choice.

My slim figure hidden beneath that massive armor was now visible.

Overall, my appearance looked similar to the armor worn by Roman soldiers—just a slightly modernized design.

The colors blended white and gold quite nicely.

This armor consistently ranked among the best-designed pieces across all seasons in Deron Online.

The golden plates added over a pure white dress seemed more focused on mobility than purely on defense.

I also tossed aside my gauntlets, as they dulled the sensitivity of my fingers while swinging my sword.

I changed my shoes too.

They were designed for mobility, looking just like gladiator shoes.

Was this a bit of a bold change? As I approached the meeting point, the eyes of my party members turned towards me.

“Party Leader?”

“What?”

“Uh, what about your defense…?”

“It’s fine. I can manage just fine.”

I felt it after raiding once. What I needed was not defense but mobility to move faster.

My body didn’t follow my thoughts. I received more healing than I expected.

With this gear, I would surely perform better.

Anxiety flickered in the eyes of my party members.

It was only natural. The main tank was suddenly wearing armor that couldn’t be expected to provide heavy defense.

But this was an item I could buy with raid coins. It had better performance than the armor I had been wearing before.

Maybe it was the appearance that was the issue.

“Did everyone introduce themselves? There are quite a few new faces.”

Checking the faces of my party members, I didn’t see anyone looking particularly uncomfortable.

I had worried about past troubles causing issues, but thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case.

As the party was restructured, the job distribution changed too.

The number of wizards dropped from 30 to 20, and the empty slots were filled by thieves and warlocks.

The thief leader was a male by the name [Iyap].

Four other thieves joined under him, excluding himself.

The warlock leader was a female named [Priscilla].

She had four other warlocks join her, excluding herself.

The wizard leaders became two.

The first was a short female wizard named [YamYam].

Nine other wizards joined her, excluding herself.

The second was [Helena], a busty female wizard.

She had always topped the DPS rankings since the first raid.

Eight other wizards and one archer joined her, excluding herself.

As for the healers, there was no change, so the healer leader from the first raid remained.

Her nickname was [Chloe]. Six priests joined her, excluding herself.

So, before entering the raid dungeon, I explained the basic tactics.

“We’ll stick to the same basic tactics. I’ll maintain main tanking, and we’ll swap spots with Dogrik only at the end.”

I scanned the party members, meeting each of their eyes one by one. Once I confirmed they were all nodding, I turned my body around.

It was time to enter the raid dungeon.

“Let’s go.”

The moment I passed through the dungeon’s entrance, a big noise erupted behind me.

It sounded like a lot of people had jumped up in place.

Startled by the noise, I turned around.

“What are you all doing…?”

“Party Leader, aren’t you going to jump?”

“You jumped when you entered earlier, right?”

“I was waiting for this…”

Wait, are you telling me you all saw me jump into the dungeon and decided to follow suit?

After waiting a week? All together?

It seemed like the party had coordinated this.

I blushed as I fiddled with my reddened cheeks and turned my head.

“Party Leader, please jump.”

“Jump, jump.”

As the party leader, I had to care for my party members’ stress too.

So… this can’t be too weird.

Unable to resist their pleas, I jumped on the spot.

Thud!

“Wow~ Party Leader jumped!”

“Wow… you really jump high, feeling light on your feet.”

“Awesome!”

I felt a bit, no, very embarrassed.

But the overall mood of the party brightened up. It turned out to be a not-so-bad choice.

I turned my head around, smiling widely while glaring at the Hwarang, who was clapping his hands.

Everyone in the party knew he was the one I brought in.

After all, I had invited him to the party chat even before the recruitment post went up.

So I need to do well. Even if he can’t be top, he should secure a spot among the top dealers.

With that little anxiety in mind, the raid commenced.

The battle with the first named monster, which had no special patterns, ended quickly.

The moment the massive orc fell to the ground, I checked the DPS rankings.

Helena took first place, Hwarang second, and Iyap came in third.

As I sighed in relief, everyone’s eyes were on my sword.

“Party Leader…?”

“What?”

“That sword…”

“Oh…”

It was then that I remembered my sword was something special.

In my eagerness to swing it wildly before entering the raid, I had forgotten all about it.

There was nothing to hide.

I proudly presented my sword.

“I got it.”

“Can you link it, please?”

[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 [Sun God’s Grace] once per day.

20% chance to trigger [Cloak of the Sun] when attacking.

As I linked the item, gasps of admiration erupted from all around.

This is it, this is the thrill of item farming.

I swung the sword over my shoulder with a smug expression.

“That whole message was because of this…”

“Where did you get it? Can you share the info?”

I closed my eyes and let out a small moan.

There were no secrets in my world of Deron.

The client had fully revealed all hidden elements.

But this place was different.

“I’ll share it.”

It was a conclusion I reached after some deliberation.

My party members looked surprised at my answer.

But you know, a weapon that’s unknown in origin is far more desperate than one with a known acquisition method but is unattainable.

This weapon was precisely that. Though the acquisition method was revealed long ago in my world of Deron, fewer than four [Holy Sword of the Sun God Solara] had been completed by the end of the season.

I informed the party members about the pieces of the Sun.

After wearing those two items and heading to the temple, a hidden quest appeared.

“Um, Party Leader?”

“Yes?”

“Is it okay to leak this information externally?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

I had no intention of hiding anything. In fact, I hoped everyone would know.

That’s what a seasonal representative weapon is for.

I raised the sword high above my head.

Though broadcasting was prohibited, taking screenshots within the party wasn’t restricted.

So I showed off the most magnificent pose possible.

“Then, can I schedule an interview after the raid?”

“An, interview?”

The one who brought it up was Iyap, the male thief who had just joined the party.

He spoke with a cautious expression.

“I’m working as an internet journalist. I thought I’d ask if that’s possible.”

*

Just another day like any other.

With the Deron raid reset, it was also a time when the prices of doping items temporarily rose.

That day, an article appeared on a web magazine.

[The First World Item (Holy Sword of the Sun God Solara) and the Middle School Girl Party Leader.]

Interviewing a celebrity always comes with a thrill.

Today, the journalist was excited to undertake a raid with a fresh new party as they had just joined.

The party the journalist joined had garnered immense popularity recently, known as the ‘Middle School Girl Attack Squad,’ though its actual name is still undecided.

The squad, formed as a clear raid team, had been reorganized after a reset.

They swapped out a dealer line that underperformed.

[Image containing the specs of the Holy Sword of the Sun God Solara]

That item was discovered there.

In the hands of the small party leader.

(The character of Yeo triumphantly holding the Holy Sword of the Sun God Solara)

That day, users playing Deron must have seen that message.

The one which stated,

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

The journalist felt it too.

When the journalist uncovers something new in Deron, it feels rewarding.

But no matter how hard they tried, there was always something they couldn’t find.

That was indeed the Holy Sword of the Sun God Solara.

In that way, the sword seemed to slip from the journalist’s mind.

Luck was on their side.

Truly, luck was on their side. The newly joined party leader was the owner of the world item.

The small party leader was the goddess of luck.

They invited everyone to join them in a parable of fortune.

The journalist’s first question was whether it was okay to disclose information about the item.

To which the party leader, known as Yeo, readily agreed.

“To obtain the Holy Sword of the Sun God, certain items are necessary. Those are the pieces of the Sun series.”

(The image of the pieces of the Sun series for better understanding)

The Sun series could be obtained from the [Red Orc Empire] raid.

Had Yeo recognized the true value of those items?

“No, it was purely coincidence. I only got lucky because no one else bid for those items. I happened to get two items by chance and, wearing them, headed to the temple of the Lunaris goddess, triggering a hidden quest.”

Giggle—

Why did you go to the Lunaris Temple?

“My class is Paladin. I went to improve my favorability with the temple.”

Many are curious. Is the next update going to be related to the Sun God? They ask.

“You can learn a lot from the quests to obtain a world item. However, I won’t disclose. Feel free to call me rude. But it’s a choice for those who undertake the quest after me. I hope you understand.”

(The character of Yeo driving the sword into the ground)

(A grand golden glow radiates from it)

Don’t you think the specs of the holy sword are an insane over-balance?

“What if it is? It’s not an item that just anyone can obtain. I think an item representing this season can afford to have such performance. I consider this item the romance of Deron.”

Giggle— The romance of Deron. That prompted a sudden question.

Is it okay to ask the last question?

“I’ll answer any question that I can.”

Are you truly a middle school girl?

“I really am a middle school girl. I’m still attending school and studying hard. It’s to make my mom proud.”

Yeo was a dutiful daughter.

With that, the interview concludes.

(The cloak of sunlight billowing behind Yeo)

[Comments]

[Wow… the middle school girl got the Holy Sword of the Sun God…]


[Wow… those poop items were prerequisites for the hidden quest?]


[A middle school girl considering the romance of Deron…]


[Wait, did those items actually exist? Our party has never seen them.]


[The options are crazy ㅋㅋㅋ I want it…]