Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 40

Right after I arrived at the Capital City, I immediately ranked up my Berserker class.

[Rampage] [Enhanced]

The lower my health, the more damage and movement speed, and attack speed increase.

When in a low health state, the maximum effect of the skill activates.

Max damage increase rate 50% → 75%

Max movement speed increase rate 30% → 40%

Max attack speed increase rate 30% → 40%

[Step Towards Death] [Enhanced]

All damage taken increases by 10% → 5%.

In a low health state, 20% → 30% of the damage converts to ignore defense damage.

[Combat Continuation] [Enhanced]

When receiving a lethal blow, become [Immortal] for up to 2 → 3 seconds and health is fixed at 1.

When the [Immortal] status disappears, the character dies instantly.

[Frenzy] [Enhanced]

When attacking, there’s a 50% → 80% chance to inflict a [Bleed] debuff on the target.

Damage increases by 10% → 20% when attacking an enemy in a bleeding state.

The most important Rampage and other passives have been significantly enhanced, and all skill names now have [Enhanced] attached.

Active skills have also seen significant boosts.

Damage output has increased, and activation speed and cooldown have been slightly improved.

It felt as though my character had grown stronger in real-time since every skill was activated.

The red aura emanating from my body was intensifying.

I had reached the maximum level, but I couldn’t go dungeon farming just yet.

At this point, I was the only one who had achieved level 45.

I opened the guild panel to check the active members.

The ones I paid close attention to were the members of my raid party.

They were all steadily leveling up.

Most were in their late 30s, but a few had just surpassed level 40.

“What the hell, this guy…”

Seeing such an absurd sight, a voice slipped out of me without thinking.

It couldn’t be helped. Among the party members, the one with the lowest level was Hwarang at level 37.

What on earth has he been doing without leveling up?

Yeo – [Hey]

Hwarang’s reply arrived after quite some time.

Hwarang – [What?]

Yeo – [What are you doing?]

Yeo – [Aren’t you leveling up?]

Hwarang – [Leveling up is hard;]

I frowned at Hwarang’s words.

In this world, finding a ranged dealer as good as Hwarang is not easy.

Of course, the same goes for tanks and melee dealers.

Yeo – [You, come here at the coordinates I give you right now. At 37, you’ve cleared the main quest, right?]

Hwarang – [There’s still a bit left. Should I finish it off?]

Yeo – [Yeah, you need to clear the last part of the main quest to unlock the map.]

I sighed and began gathering the items necessary for hunting.

Hwarang’s leveling speed was way too slow. If this continued, he wouldn’t be able to match levels by the raid appointment.

After preparing everything, I headed to the meeting place.

The elite Drake area for level 45.

It was an empty area since I had just finished hunting there.

Maybe about 10 minutes passed?

From a distance, Hwarang, dressed in black leather armor, ran towards me quickly.

Instead of a large bow on his back, a long musket was positioned there.

Looks like he chose the Musketeer class.

“Does that have many skills compatible with Ranger?”

“Uh? I can’t use one area skill now, but the single-target damage has gotten stronger, so it’s fine.”

The area skill he mentioned must be the arrow rain skill that shoots arrows high into the air.

I sighed and suggested that Hwarang join my party.

“Oh, are you going to help me out?”

“Weren’t you expecting that already?”

Why did I call him to an elite area that doesn’t match his level?

Because I intended to help him grind, of course.

After forming a party with Hwarang, I raised my sword.

“Hostile alliances come here often, so make sure to be careful.”

“Should I help with the hunting?”

“As long as you don’t get in the way.”

I said this while glancing at the time.

There were 2 hours left until the shutdown.

With this much time, Hwarang should be able to reach level 40.

“Are all archers this slow?”

“I’m doing pretty well compared to others on the archer rankings.”

I frowned at Hwarang’s words and entered the level rankings to check the levels of archers.

In that, I was able to see the level of the top user.

Level 39.

The number one in the archer category hadn’t even crossed 40 yet.

Hwarang’s nickname was even found on the first page.

“This is a mess.”

“It can’t be helped… you know, right?”

I slowly nodded at Hwarang’s words.

I witnessed how terrible the archers in this world were during battles.

As a character that heavily relies on pilot ability, it’s no wonder he couldn’t find a party.

The optimal party composition for maximum efficiency is a tank, dealer, and healer trio.

Generally, a wizard with many area skills takes the dealer spot.

“Can’t you go to the guild party?”

Hwarang was the top dealer in my raid party.

Under normal circumstances, he shouldn’t be left out of a party.

But Hwarang shook his head.

“I hate coordinating times with others. It’s better to solo grind in an elite zone, even if it’s slower.”

I stared blankly, nodding slowly at Hwarang’s words.

I understood what he meant.

I just felt a little flustered because he was so different from the old me.

“How many levels do you think you can get today?”

“Around 40.”

“That, that fast?”

Without responding to Hwarang’s words, I swung my sword and dashed out.

With the enhanced skills, my speed was faster than before.

It was close to the speed of general horseback riding.

“Don’t come near until we’ve gathered all the monsters!”

If I got too far away, the aggro that was on me would turn towards Hwarang.

He nodded and climbed onto a high rock to hide.

He began to adapt to the faster movements gradually.

As I circled around the hunting ground and turned back, over 20 Drakes came thundering towards me.

I soared up into the air immediately.

[Jump Strike]

Bam!

I fell from the air faster than before.

Right after that, I activated the next skill.

A crimson vortex blooming from my body spread wide and started to shred the Drakes.

Hwarang’s bullets were fired above, but it didn’t help much.

Because when there’s a significant level difference, the damage wouldn’t register properly.

Repeating mob hunting, right before the shutdown, Hwarang managed to reach level 40.

Hwarang’s nickname shot up to the number one in the archer level rankings.

Just before logging out, I said to Hwarang.

“I’m going to study alone today, so make sure to level up properly.”

“Eh, uh…”

Hwarang, seemingly stunned by the rapid leveling speed, could only nod slowly with a blank face.

Aside from Hwarang, there wasn’t anyone else I needed to look after.

Helena, being a wizard with abundant resources, wouldn’t be slow at leveling either.

In fact, her level was 43 right now.

Other members were also forming parties to level up steadily.

*

The next morning, once again, I headed to school wearing my uniform.

The sensation of stockings wrapping around my legs had become so familiar by now.

Actually, it felt awkward if I wasn’t wearing them.

I pat my thigh in surprise at my adaptability.

The soft skin was hidden under the black stockings.

Upon arriving at the school and heading to the classroom, as always, Sohee was the first to arrive.

I stealthily approached her while she was sitting and using her phone, reaching out my hand.

At that moment, Sohee’s body spun slightly, and she reached out her hand towards me.

Our transparent gazes intertwined in the air.

“Uh…”

Contrary to my intention to surprise her, we ended up holding hands.

I realized while gaming that Sohee’s reaction time was also on a different level than a normal person.

“Hi.”

“Ah, hi.”

I wiggled our joined hands, but Sohee didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go.

In fact, she was clutching tighter.

“I want to join too.”

“Join…? What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Yesterday Hwarang said he was hunting with you.”

“Ah, that… I was just helping since leveling up was too slow.”

“I want to join too.”

I tilted my head at Sohee’s words.

Was there really a need for that?

And what happened yesterday was more like a one-sided grind than party hunting.

“Sohee, you level up fast anyway.”

The moment my words ended, the smile on Sohee’s face slowly began to fade.

I shook my head. If Sohee joined the party, the experience would be too divided.

That meant our leveling would slow down.

“It would be better to reach max level first and then run dungeons together.”

That would be more efficient.

But Sohee didn’t seem pleased.

She lightly pulled on my hand, seating me on her lap.

“I want to party.”

“No way. That wouldn’t be efficient.”

“Are you focusing too much on efficiency?”

“That’s just my play style.”

The sensation of the black stockings rubbing beneath my thighs felt peculiar.

I quickly stood up and said.

“Reach max level first. Let’s run dungeons together.”

“That’s lame.”

Sohee chuckled at my words and nodded.

Looks like she finally gave up.

Just as I was about to return to my seat, Sohee handed me a Soft & Chewy Cow.

I squeezed it, and today there were two of them.

*

After school ended, I immediately took Hwarang hunting.

Now that he was over level 40, his shots were puncturing the heads of the Drakes, causing them to drop like flies.

During party hunting, it’s more beneficial for the party member to kill the monster themselves than for me to take them down.

This meant Hwarang’s leveling speed had increased.

Today, Hwarang was reaching max level.

I opened the guild panel to check the other members, and the number of users between levels 44 and 45 had significantly increased.

With plenty of time left, it seemed we could enter the new dungeon today and farm for equipment.

The moment I swung my sword and decapitated the last Drake, I caught sight of Hwarang, lost in thought.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, a friend messaged me.”

“What did they say?”

“They’re upset that gold prices dropped.”

“Ah…”

I recalled the friends Hwarang had mentioned.

I think it was the friend who sold herbs picked from the mountains to buy chicken with that gold.

“Of course, it had to drop. The loot prices from the expansion are high, and there’s more money dropping.”

“I told him to level up, but he said that was hard, so he didn’t want to.”

“What level is he?”

“15.”

“So, he was picking herbs at level 15?”

“I guess so. But now that high-level herbs have appeared, he’s complaining that the low-level ones aren’t selling.”

Remembering, I decided to check the gold price.

At the start of the game, gold traded for 15,000 won per 10 gold, but it had plummeted.

The recent trading price had settled at around 10,000 won for 10 gold.

It still felt expensive.

There were now many more ways to earn gold.

Gold prices would likely continue to drop steadily for about a month.