Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 227

“Let’s wrap it up here for today!”

That was what I exclaimed right after successfully taking down Shadow Yeo.

After a long trial, time was flying by, and it was getting close to midnight.

We could no longer continue the game like this, so it was decided that the raid would come to a stop here.

“Thanks for your hard work!”

The party members nodded in agreement without any complaints.

We had crossed the first named monster on the first day of attempts.

Compared to the usual progress of typical parties, we were moving at an incredibly fast pace, and the faces of our party members were beaming with relaxed smiles.

On the other hand, Dogrik and the other sub-tankers had gloomy expressions.

I knew exactly why they were looking like that.

They must have thought that at this rate, I would take their tanking position.

But they didn’t need to worry.

Next month, when the specs of the party members increased, I planned to switch back to being a dealer.

But there was no need to tell them that just yet.

People grow during moments of crisis.

I hoped our party’s tankers would grow a bit more.

After defeating the named monster that appeared in the raid, what was next on the agenda?

Naturally, it was time to check the dropped items and auction them off.

The items dropped by Shadow Yeo, or the approaching Shadow of Moonlight, were as follows:

[Back of the Moon]

Currently, this item cannot be equipped.

Can be equipped after Ether Grade Inheritance from the same type of equipment.

Upon Ether Grade Inheritance, all stats +20%

Binds on Unique acquisition.

Bracelet

Level requirement: 85

Increases movement speed by 10%

Increases casting speed by 15%

Increases attack speed by 15%

Enables the use of [Shadow] skill.

[Shadow]

Designate a specific target and create a clone of that target for 1 minute.

The generated clone follows all of the designated target’s skills and retains 60% of their stats.

Cooldown: 30 minutes.

*Boss monsters cannot be designated as targets.

[Shadow Sword]

Currently, this item cannot be equipped.

Can be equipped after Ether Grade Inheritance from the same type of equipment.

Upon Ether Grade Inheritance, all stats +20%

Binds on Unique acquisition.

Two-handed sword.

Level requirement: 85.

Increases attack speed by 30%.

Deals an additional 30% damage to light attribute monsters.

Deals an additional 15% damage to dark attribute monsters.

Absorbs 10% of the damage dealt as health.

Enables the use of the [Cursed Moon’s Blessing] skill.

[Cursed Moon’s Blessing]

When used, creates a buff effect that strengthens the caster and party members for 30 seconds.

All stats +10% increase.

Cooldown: 30 seconds.

[Master Rank Transcendence Stone]

When used, increases the desired job’s Master Rank by 1.

Binds upon acquisition.

*Cannot be canceled after the item’s effect is applied.

I wondered what would happen to the current Ether Grade when obtaining a new item, and it looked like I could transfer the enhancement levels through a system called inheritance.

Nodding in agreement as I checked the item descriptions.

Among the dropped items, the Shadow Sword didn’t seem to have particularly appealing stats, but the Back of the Moon had an intriguing skill.

An item that summoned clones of specific targets, huh?

That surely indicated a huge demand.

As I glanced over at my party members, they all seemed focused on the Back of the Moon, their eyes shining with interest.

The next item put up for auction was the Master Rank Transcendence Stone.

During the brief period of the auction, I searched various communities for information, but no details were revealed yet.

That just implied how abysmal the drop rates might be.

The party members showed interest.

However, there weren’t many willing to invest big money, as the effects of this item were unknown.

The description stated it would raise a specific job’s Master Rank by 1.

What exactly would change if that Master Rank increased?

I couldn’t figure it out from the item description either.

Of course, there were some who would invest gold in uncertain performance items.

Those who were relatively greedy about specs.

Snow Mage, Iyap, and Yerin.

In other words, the aces of our party.

They were throwing thousands of gold into bidding for this little stone.

Naturally, Hwarang and I also participated.

The bidding amount for the tiny stone surpassed 6,000 gold.

At this point, I had no choice but to give up.

Even combining all the gold I had prepared and the gold I borrowed from Helena, I couldn’t go any higher.

Was Helena uninterested in this item?

She looked like she was grinning at the bracelet she had won.

As if she didn’t feel the eyes around her.

In the end, Iyap claimed the Transcendence Stone for 7,600 gold.

The auctioned amount for the first named monster was 18,100 gold.

Divided by 40 people, that would mean 452.5 gold per member.

For having taken down just one named monster, it was an incredible gold income.

“Let’s disperse, everyone!”

Having divided the auction gold among us, it was time to leave.

I felt a sense of pride watching the party members scatter.

If I hadn’t used the rank reset ticket, I wouldn’t have been able to part ways in such a good mood today.

“Hmm…”

A bit regretful.

I wished the party members would praise my self-sacrifice a bit more…

At that moment, the Snow Mage, who had been keeping an eye on things from a corner, dashed over.

She headed straight to the middle of the room where the named monster had fallen.

“Gasp… Transformation…!”

The Snow Mage collapsed on the floor, gazing at the corpse of the named monster.

It seemed like she had huge expectations that had just crashed to the ground.

“What’s wrong?”

“The transformation wore off…”

The Snow Mage responded in a weak voice.

With a heavy sigh, she slowly began to walk toward the dungeon exit as if she’d forgotten about using the Return Stone.

What on earth had she been expecting, anyway?

I crossed my arms and silently stared at her back.

“Yeo-na.”

“Oh, Helena.”

Helena approached, wearing a bright smile.

Was the item she won so great?

Seeing her smile made me happy too.

“Can you help me for a second?”

“What do you need?”

“I want to test the item’s performance.”

She wanted to test the item’s performance.

Did she mean to use me as her clone?

I nodded my head.

So, Helena and I returned to the village and headed for the blacksmith.

The Ether Grade inheritance procedures were carried out at the blacksmith as well.

“Wait a moment.”

Helena took out the bracelet she was wearing and began the inheritance process of transferring the Ether Grade to the newly acquired Back of the Moon.

The inheritance process took about 10 seconds.

I expected some flashy effects, but there were no visible enhancement effects.

Instead, on Helena’s wrist was a bracelet with a black shadow swirling that I had never seen before.

It seemed the inheritance process was complete.

Helena and I moved to a quiet place where there were few people.

In front of a small flowerbed behind Solaris Castle.

Once we arrived at that spot, Helena reached out her hand toward me.

There were no special incantations needed to use the skill.

The black shadow swirling from her hand was the activation effect of the skill.

The shadow, hesitating for a moment, soon transformed into my exact replica.

Like that boss who had mimicked my appearance in the raid dungeon.

“Oh…”

Helena started issuing a variety of commands to the replicated clone.

From light steps to jumping.

And doing spins and sitting on Helena’s knees.

The shadow executed a remarkably diverse range of commands until, right after a minute passed, it faded away into a blurry form.

Helena looked at it with a hint of disappointment, as if she wished it could last longer.

I wondered why it was necessary for me to be involved in testing the clone’s performance.

It could have been feasible to do the test by making her own clone.

I regarded Helena with a doubtful expression.

“Do you like the item’s performance?”

“Yeah… I really like it…”

“That’s a relief.”

I chuckled lightly and nodded in response to Helena’s answer.

“Well then, I guess I should get going?”

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yep. Mom has been worried that I’m staying out too late lately.”

“Oh…”

Helena nodded at my reply.

I waved at Helena and logged off.

*

Left alone, Helena caressed her bracelet.

The information of the designated target remained with the bracelet indefinitely.

In other words, unless she designated a new target, the clone summoned from this bracelet would be none other than her friend Yeo.

The duration was 1 minute.

The cooldown was 30 minutes.

Helena gazed at the spot where Yeo had vanished and waited for the cooldown to end.

To summon a new clone.

After thirty minutes passed like that, Helena utilized the bracelet’s skill to create a new clone.

“Gasp…”

With trembling eyes, she stared at the clone that appeared before her.

She knew it was a fake, but it perfectly replicated her friend’s appearance.

Helena began to glance around and surveyed her surroundings carefully before taking cautious actions.

She intended to do what she couldn’t with her friend.

The first action was to touch the cheek.

Helena placed both hands on the soft, sticky cheeks and began to rub the clone’s face enthusiastically.

Next was to intertwine their hands.

Helena lowered her hands and clasped her fingers with the clone’s hands while locking eyes.

And so, 1 minute passed.

Until the clone completely disappeared.

More satisfying than any other item.

Helena smiled faintly as she gazed at the bracelet that allowed her to summon clones.