Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 35

On the first day of the update, there’s always something I feel when I log into the game.

Even if the world has changed, or how the game is played has changed, that heartbeat never goes away.

Knowing what’s changed doesn’t dull that feeling.

The excitement from the users zooming by me seemed to affect me too.

Today, a new world has unfolded in Deron. I stepped into unfamiliar lands that were once blocked by transparent barriers.

Countless players are flocking there, each pursuing their own goals.

Max level has been extended, and new classes have been unlocked. This means I can get even stronger here.

Time was of the essence. To be among the vanguard, I needed to complete quests and level up quickly.

Obtaining a higher class would increase my hunting speed significantly.

It means there’d be a wider gap between me and lower-tier players.

Of course, this gap is minor. It’s just a few days’ difference that can be caught up quite easily.

But that distance could be a stepping stone that creates an irretrievable gap later on.

This raid aims for the perks as well.

The more I play the game, the clearer those hazy memories become.

Just like how looking into a faded album brings back different memories, a chain reaction happens.

The new expansion [Sun God Solar] update reveals the traces of Solar perfectly in the world of Deron.

Adventurers gather information about that god through the main quest and continue their adventure.

By cutting off any side information and following only the straight path, I could quickly understand the storyline of this main quest.

The Sun God Solar wasn’t hiding.

Deceived by the now unknown Fallen God, he was sealed away in cold ice, having his powers stripped from him.

The Fallen God scatters the power and soul of the Sun God, which he couldn’t absorb, all over the continent.

The sun fragments that dropped from the Red Orc Empire were part of that power.

Adventurers are tasked with collecting the fragments of Solar’s power and soul scattered across the continent and bringing them together.

However, as adventurers gather those fragments, the Fallen God quietly begins to progress with his plan.

He incorporates Solar’s body into his own and steals its powerful sunlight.

If players stick solely to the main quests, they will ultimately confront the Fallen Sun God together with NPCs.

After that, they’ll reclaim the body of the Fallen Sun God and combine it with the soul and power of the Sun God they retrieved.

Thus, the Sun God regains his strength. A perfect resurrection of the forgotten god.

The Sun God begins to scatter his influence across the entire continent.

Snow-covered mountain ranges regain their original form, and blessings spread throughout the continent.

That was the content of the newly added main quest.

However, there is an IF story contained within the main quest.

It was a scenario prepared for the raid.

[Fallen Sun God]

The adventurer who fails to purify the Sun God loses the power they had collected.

The Fallen God, now in possession of the Sun God’s body, was able to wield its powerful solar energy.

In this way, the Fallen God, having gained everything, darkens the sun floating high above.

The black sun that rises in the sky begins to drain the life force of all living beings.

The entire continent of Deron is thrown into crisis.

Knowing all of this, I minimized the quest lines and continued to level up.

It might seem a little boring at first, but the occasional encounters with Shing Shing guild members chased the monotony away.

“Yeo, it’s Yeo!”

I was just about to cleave the bodies of the new area’s monsters.

Turning my head at the familiar voice tickling my ears, I saw three Shing Shing guild members with pale faces standing there.

They must have spotted me while doing the main quest.

They didn’t hold back on any potions. They had just achieved level 35 as part of the vanguard. It looked like they, too, had been leveling up quite rapidly.

I drew my Holy Sword infused with sunlight. Perfect timing, as I had something I wanted to try.

The Shing Shing guild members turned to flee.

They had agile classes, so the distance between us started to grow quickly.

But I had a way to catch up to them.

“Come forth!”

The moment I shouted into the air, a giant magical formation appeared, and out came a Hellfire Horse wrapped in flames.

It was a tiny creature, to say the least.

The one others often called a pony.

I immediately hopped onto the pony. Though small, it didn’t slow down.

I quickly began to chase after the fleeing Shing Shing guild members.

It was a flat, open map. I could run freely. The pony galloped at a fast speed.

As I cut through the wind, the gap between me and the Shing Shing guild members closed in an instant.

At that moment, turning around in panic, they saw me and screamed.

“He’s chasing us on a donkey!”

Such persistent little jokers.

This isn’t some donkey. This is a Hellfire Horse, mind you.

And sure, I may have called it a pony, but it’s a different breed altogether.

As I kicked off the saddle and leaped, the Hellfire Horse vanished beneath me in an instant.

My body, now airborne, maintained its speed. I flew towards the enemy and swung my sword.

The arc drawn by my sword danced through the air, coiling like a snake.

Skaak-!

The silently sliced path of sunlight lingered behind like a trailing shadow.

In that instant, I spun my body and swung my sword sideways.

The first strike mirrored that technique. But the following movements were the real challenge.

As always, the next attacks relied solely on my instincts.

Chwaak!

In an instant, their head was severed.

The moment I felt the sword gleam past, my feet hit the ground.

Thump!

As powerful shockwaves coursed through me, I didn’t hesitate to follow up with my next move.

The fleeing opponent halted instantly, drawing their sword.

A prickling sensation flared on my head. This guy has potential too.

In that fleeting moment, the last trick I learned from that guy pretending to be Chinese flashed back.

An attack targeting two spots at once, something that works on those who can read their opponent’s moves like myself.

This opponent standing before me was no exception.

His sharp gaze wavered but remained focused on my sword tip.

As he lifted his blade, turning it towards my neck, his weapon moved first.

He was trying to block my attack.

In that instant, I subtly kicked back, initiating a movement that began from my ankles, flowed up through my calves and thighs, ultimately altering the path of my sword.

Without moving my upper body, I recalibrated the trajectory of my blade.

Crack!

The thrust aimed downward pierced through his thigh.

As his face registered confusion, realizing I was about to sever his throat, my own face must have mirrored the same surprise when I was on the receiving end of this technique.

The pain I felt from the white-hot wound screamed out my skill. There was definitely going to be a next move.

But I didn’t see it coming. I couldn’t learn it, so I couldn’t execute it.

In the end, I wrench the sword violently out and swing it without mercy.

An upward slashing attack broke through his guard.

His exposed torso was prime prey.

Turning the upward-slashing blade to grip it from the side, I sliced downward.

Crack!

His armor shattered as a significant portion of his shoulder caved in.

The opponent fell to his knees, dispersing into gray mist.

The outlaws didn’t gain anymore stats. Since I had placed a tag of combat between Shing Shing and them in the entire new area, there was no penalty to suffer.

Recalling the sensations I felt from the previous swordplay, I aimed my blade at the air.

At a glance, it seemed like a flailing move but, in reality, I was targeting two different pathways at once.

How did I even think of such a motion?

It was a movement that could never be executed in reality. My muscles wouldn’t be able to keep up with it.

Only because it’s a game, holding a strengthened physique from additional stats, could I manage such feats.

“Phew…”

Without any opponents left, the pain began to ease.

A subtle tension lingered in the breath that escaped my lips.

I checked the video I had just recorded.

It captured the moment I summoned my horse and gallantly charged at the enemy to slaughter them.

Absolutely cool. I could totally upload this video to the ongoing event page.

With the global server’s launch approaching, the event was set to commence.

The end date for submissions was still undecided, but by uploading videos of players in action, they would go through an internal review and reach the finals.

Then, once in the finals, user votes would determine which videos made it to the top, turning them into new promotional content.

The conditions for participating were limited to anyone playing Deron.

Users needed to have a Deron account as the first requirement, and the added condition was that the video couldn’t be edited.

There were no limits on how many videos could be uploaded.

In other words, they wanted players to upload their gameplay videos as much as they liked.

Editing skills weren’t necessary to participate. Just upload the footage of your play.

Deron’s game company wanted raw, unpolished footage.

I had a total of 5 videos uploaded, counting this one.

I had no idea what the internal review criteria were, but I was crossing my fingers to get selected.

The prizes were incredibly tempting.

If my uploaded video made the rankings, the creators of that video would all receive the same prize.

Cash worth 2 million won and an interview opportunity during the global launch stream. Plus a specially-produced wing costume.

The image of the costume was fuzzy, revealing only its silhouette.

But even at a glance, those wings looked like stunning angel wings.

Wings? That’s a costume that had never appeared in Deron.

Playing other games, I had thought how wonderful it would be if Deron had wing costumes.

Many other users shared the same sentiment, requesting the addition of wing costumes in Deron.

It didn’t seem like a tough demand, but we never got to see wing costumes.

That’s why I wanted those huge angel wings so badly.

To obtain the wing costume, I needed to film many videos.

Only then would my chances of making it to the finals go up.

I hurriedly began moving.

I had just reached level 35. I planned to transition into a new class and record hunting in a new hunting ground in style.

I had already decided on the class I would switch to.

[Berserker]

This season, I wouldn’t take on a tank role.

I intended to become a dealer.