Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 233

Emergency Patch Notes

※ The collision system between clones summoned by the Moon’s Shadow item and users has been removed.

※ Clones that perfectly replicate the user’s appearance can no longer be captured in screenshots from specific angles.

※ The issue where the client crashes upon purchasing certain items from the cash shop has been fixed.

“Oh…”

The first thing I checked after returning to Deron was the announcement.

It looks like someone tried to pull off something shady using an item that can only be obtained through raids.

What kind of unspeakable act did they commit for the game company to issue an emergency patch?

I wanted to see the face of the culprit.

“Ah.”

I also checked the community site, verifying the guild and friend list.

I discovered that Helena was online.

Helena at this time?

Perfect timing. Since my role changed from dealer to tank, I wouldn’t maintain the same farming efficiency as before.

I needed Helena, the dealer.

I hurriedly used a Return Stone toward Helena’s location.

She was inside Solaris Capital City.

Swoosh—!

With a glorious pillar of light, I arrived at the warp point and immediately ran toward Helena’s direction.

Helena was sitting quietly in a small garden behind Solaris Capital City.

Was she in deep thought?

Her expression was blank as she gazed up at the sky.

“Helena?”

“Ah…”

Her reaction was strange.

Normally, she would greet me with a bright smile, but now, she wasn’t smiling at all.

Was something wrong?

I approached and sat by her side.

“What are you doing??”

Helena didn’t respond to my question.

How long had it been?

Maintaining silence, Helena suddenly reached out and grabbed my shoulder.

“It feels real…”

“… What’s going on?”

At this point, I felt a bit scared.

I edged away slightly from Helena, who looked dazed but then shook her head and offered a faint smile.

That smile looked somehow sad.

“You came.”

“Yeah. I was just doing a quick VRS check since it’s maintenance time. What about you, Helena?”

“I dropped by for an important matter…”

“An important matter? Helena? In this Deron?”

Helena’s important matter wasn’t about real-life stuff, was it?

My eyes sparkled as I looked up at her.

“Yeah… it was something very important… but I’m alright now.”

“Is something bad happening? Can I help?”

If it’s about real-life issues, I might not know, but a lot of things that happen in Deron I could probably resolve.

Isn’t that what connections are for?

I had over a thousand online friends. With their help, I could easily solve Helena’s worries.

“No… it’s fine.”

“You definitely don’t look fine.”

“Umm…”

“Just tell me. I’ll help.”

“Then…”

Helena looked at me and finally opened her mouth with difficulty.

Having obtained an item from a raid, she created a clone and spent happy moments with it.

They were mainly walking hand in hand in this garden.

While taking fun screenshots together with the clone, a huge disaster struck Helena.

It was Deron’s emergency patch.

I nodded along as I crossed my arms, listening to Helena.

Some nasty person caused our angelic Helena to suffer.

However, a clone that could perfectly replicate a specific user’s appearance had a high potential for abuse.

Although it didn’t happen to Helena, the Deron team handled the situation well.

But why a clone?

Helena had a real friend in me.

I laughed brightly and said, “Helena, don’t worry. You’ve got the real me, not some fake.”

“But Yeo is always busy… and doesn’t play with me properly.”

Ah.

I nodded at Helena’s words.

It’s true that I hadn’t spent much time with her lately due to raid farming preparations.

So couldn’t Helena just farm with me?

Perfect timing, since my class had now changed to tank.

A self-healing Paladin tank and a powerful Wizard dealer could form an efficient farming duo.

“We’re one now.”

I said that while firmly holding Helena’s hand.

Our small hands intertwined, and I gently stroked her wrist with my fingers.

“Let’s go together.”

“Um, where to?”

“To the dungeon.”

“The dungeon…”

“Yeah. If it’s just us two, we can mine a ton of Transcendence Stones. We’ve got about 10 hours until the next raid. Let’s keep running dungeons until then.”

Helena clamped her mouth shut at my suggestion.

Her gaze was somehow trembling, and her face was turning pale.

Was she feeling unwell?

I pressed my forehead against hers.

I heard that middle school girls do this to check each other’s temperature.

But Helena flinched back as if startled by my action.

I forced an awkward smile at Helena’s reaction.

She had hugged me tightly, but here she was pulling back in surprise, which was quite puzzling.

“I-I… have something to take care of… I’ll come back later…”

“Really…? Does it have to be right now? I need you, Helena…”

With my current state, I couldn’t efficiently farm.

Princess Yeo, my secondary character, also wasn’t properly geared, so I couldn’t venture into high-difficulty areas.

I really needed Helena.

“Ah…”

After a long hesitation, Helena shook her head, her face pale.

It was truly unfortunate. But what could be done? If real-life matters are that pressing.

I weakly nodded at Helena’s response.

“I-I’ll come later…”

Helena said that and logged out of the game.

I shook my head as I looked at Helena’s empty space.

If Helena wasn’t here, I could just look for another dealer.

Who else was a skilled dealer currently online?

Iyap was out of the list.

Paladins and Thieves were both close-combat roles anyway.

I needed ranged, especially in the magic category.

So it came down to one choice.

Snow Mage.

I needed her.

Yeo – [Are you there, Snow?]

Snow Mage – [Yeeees!!!]

The response was always lively.

I nodded at Snow Mage’s reply.

She was my loyal guild member. She would gladly help me without complaints.

Yeo – [Are you considering some gold farming?]

Snow Mage – [Gold farming? Are you planning on just me and the Blood Demon King?]

Yeo – [If we gather more people, we could do the Gold Rush. What do you think?]

Snow Mage – [I have a raid planned, so the Gold Rush seems a bit risky. Let’s just farm together.]

That was a great response.

I nodded at Snow Mage’s words.

Yeo – [Then come to the entrance of the Volcano Cave dungeon.]

Snow Mage – [Yeeees!!!]

The promised location, the Volcano Cave, was quite far from Solaris Capital City.

I moved to the warp zone, then to the nearest volcanic area to the cave.

Of course, I didn’t plan to hop there on foot, even if it was a close location.

“Come out!”

I shouted while spreading my arms wide and flexing my stomach.

The loud shout definitely drew attention from those around.

Swoosh!

A large magical formation appeared in the air.

What jumped out was a glorious Battle Wolf clad in battle armor.

A mount that couldn’t be obtained through ordinary means.

It was a stylish Battle Wolf granted only to commanders.

“Grarrr!”

The massive creature struck a handsome pose, seemingly aware of the gazes around.

Of course, I knew that couldn’t be true.

Mounts didn’t have assigned AIs.

“Let’s go!”

I shouted energetically as I mounted the Battle Wolf.

In response, it began to gallop powerfully, pounding the ground.

Thud-thud-thud—

The volcanic area was exactly as its name suggested; it was a place where hot heat simmered.

Being buried in the Battle Wolf’s fluffy fur felt quite hot.

I squirmed and adjusted my posture, shifting my damp thighs.

How long had I been riding?

When I finally reached the entrance leading to the dungeon, I noticed gorgeous ice shards rising from a distance.

Crrack!

Whooooosh—!

A massive ice spear fell from the sky and struck the ground, freezing the area.

I halted and surveyed the opponent standing in the middle of the magical onslaught.

[Model Citizen]

[Soft & Chewy Cow]

[Snow Mage]

As expected.

It was Snow Mage.

But her nickname was stained bright red like blood.

Killing good users increases one’s notoriety.

When that notoriety reaches a certain point, you become a criminal, and your nickname turns crimson.

In other words, Snow Mage was currently in a state of being a criminal.

“Ah! Blood Demon King!!!”

There were frozen corpses scattered around Snow Mage.

What on earth had she been doing to end up like this?

I cautiously approached Snow Mage.

“Snow? Why is your nickname like that?”

“Oh. I was hunting down the Exorcist remnants.”

“Exorcist remnants…?”

“Didn’t you hear? The Exorcist Guild got busted.”

The Exorcist Guild got busted?

That was the first I’d heard of it.

I tilted my head as I partied up with Snow Mage.

Exorcists.

The whole guild was a group of overly immersed zealots.

For the Exorcists to get taken down, it was hard to believe.

“Didn’t you see the recently posted ban list?”

“The ban list?”

“Those who were using the raid duplication bug.”

“Ah.”

“They were using it like it was a divine blessing.”

“Even Andersen…?”

“Yeah. The main culprits were the guild’s executives. They distributed duplicated Transcendence Stones internally, claiming it would make their guild members stronger.”

I nodded at Snow Mage’s words.

It certainly felt like the Exorcist Guild had become a bit stronger lately.

I thought it was just because all their members were diligently leveling up, but there was this hidden secret.

“So what happened to the remaining members?”

“With all the executives banned, the guild basically collapsed. The remaining Exorcist Guild members also had their duplicated Transcendence Stones confiscated, so their specs dropped dramatically…?”

At that moment.

The entrance to the dungeon flickered slightly, and a party emerged from within.

They seemed like users who had just cleared the dungeon.

“Yap!!!”

Snow Mage stopped her sentence and unleashed her magic at the party.

A glowing blue staff sparkled as she summoned a massive ice spear, causing a party of five to become gray corpses before they could even scream.

“No…”

I gaped, staring at the details of the now-dead users.

I knew why Snow Mage had attacked.

Because one of them was an Exorcist Guild member.

But the other four were all ordinary users from different guilds.

I looked at Snow Mage, hoping for an explanation, and she answered with a cheerful smile.

“They’re in a party with a bad guy. Then they must be bad people too.”

“Seriously? You’ve been killing like that all this time?”

“Yes!!!”

Snow Mage’s response was very emphatic.

I clutched my throbbing head.