Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 48

After disbanding the raid party, the first place I headed to was the Sun God Temple.

However, contrary to my expectations, I couldn’t find any hints there.

The NPCs merely repeated their fixed lines.

It was during that state that I was wandering around the Capital City.

The orb in my hand began to shine suddenly, emitting a faint black aura that flowed in a specific direction.

It seemed that a hidden quest had started.

I followed the black aura as if it were guiding me.

At the end of the trail, I found an NPC who was a master trainer for the Warlock class sitting there.

Clad in a dark robe, the figure emanated a gloomy aura. Upon seeing me, the Warlock removed the hood covering his face.

His skin was pale like a corpse, and his dark, glossy eyes left a rather unpleasant impression.

“I felt a familiar energy… and you’ve got something interesting there.”

[Nerim]

Hell Witch Master Trainer

“Are you perhaps looking for a way to use that item?”

Nerim’s gaze was fixed precisely on the Orb of Corruption I was holding.

I nodded.

Then Nerim reached out and said,

“Could you show it to me for a moment?”

As I handed over the orb, Nerim carefully lifted it as if it were a precious treasure.

The orb placed on his hand began to absorb the dark energy flowing from Nerim’s body.

“Oh, oh… as expected…”

A low chuckle escaped from his lips, which had turned a wicked shade of blue like a corpse.

It seemed that Nerim had finished appreciating the orb and returned it to me.

“I propose a deal. You won’t suffer any losses either.”

“What are the terms of the deal?”

“I’ll tell you how to use that orb, in exchange for you giving me the remaining orb after use.”

It was the beginning of a hidden quest. I couldn’t possibly refuse.

I accepted Nerim’s suggestion.

Then, a new quest notification updated on the top right corner of my screen.

[Bring back the Heart and Blood of the Demon Clan.]

Demon Clan Heart 0/100

Demon Clan Blood 0/100

“I need a sacrifice to enhance the power of the corruption. You should be able to easily fetch it. In the meantime, I’ll prepare the altar. Bring all the materials to me when you’re done.”

Nerim said this and then turned back into her workshop.

I used a warp portal to head to the hunting ground to complete her quest.

I arrived at the Level 42 hunting ground called the Contaminated Forest.

It was a map established by the Demon Clan that came over from hell.

The Contaminated Forest was the closest place to hell, and everything here seemed dark.

The sky was covered with blood-red clouds, and the ground was decaying.

The trees and grass in the forest had taken on a horrific appearance, contaminated by mana leaking from hell.

A rancid mixture of blood and sulfur permeated the air.

The sticky liquid, reminiscent of blood, seeped into the ground beneath my feet.

The Contaminated Forest was such an unpleasant place for users that it was not a popular hunting ground.

I equipped the Dragon Claymore and the Orc Warrior’s Ring that I had set aside in my inventory.

A powerful strength began returning to my weakly limping body, and a hefty greatsword appeared in my hands.

As I stepped deeper into the forest, arrows of green and blood-red spells flew at me from all directions.

I swung my greatsword to deflect all those attacks, but the Demon Clan’s onslaught didn’t cease.

“Yihihihumans!!!”

A small Imp leaped out from the blackened thickets and swiped at me with its claws.

The monsters that inhabited this place were not elite monsters, just ordinary monsters. I could easily take hits like these, but my body moved instinctively.

I dashed forward, swinging my sword horizontally.

Slashing!

Crimson blood spilled as the Imp’s upper and lower body separated and fell to the ground.

I checked the drop items between the severed limbs but found no Demon Clan Hearts or Blood.

It seemed that the drop rate for quest items was quite low.

After hunting for quite a while, right up until the shutdown time, I collected quest items, but I couldn’t gather them all.

[Bring back the Heart and Blood of the Demon Clan.]

Demon Clan Heart 8/100

Demon Clan Blood 12/100

Considering the time I spent hunting, it was about 30 minutes, and this was the limit of what I could gather.

The drop rate was much lower than I expected. It looked like I’d be stuck in this forest all day tomorrow.

*

At 9 PM, players in Deron were notified that Yeo’s raid party had achieved the perfect clear achievement.

– The all-girls raid party achieved the perfect clear.

This was the perfect clear of a raid that had rumors of a bug. It was right after it was revealed that Sunforce’s entrance breath pattern was not a bug, yet slow-on-the-uptake players still thought there were bugs in the raid.

[Deron Online Gallery]

[Not a bug, just the Divine Blessing can’t be used, lol] [5]

[Isn’t there a bug in the raid, can’t break it????] [2]

[Lol perfect clear, day two cut, kekeke] [6]

[Please restrain yourselves] [1]

[All-girls raid, incredible! This season’s ending is epic, lol]

[Gallery owner’s panty shot.jpg] [11]

[They say there’s a bug in the raid, didn’t they clear it with a bug?] [6]

[Perfect Clear < It's meaningless lol, just for the achievement, it'll fade away later] [7]



[Where are those who said to stop the Divine Blessing from being cast?] [11]



For the regular players, the perfect clear achievement was merely an interesting title, but for the raid parties seriously aiming for it, it meant something special.



But they had been robbed. Both their first and second raids were taken away from them. Their motivation was bound to dwindle.



Members of the top raid parties began to gradually drop out, and the party leader’s loss of enthusiasm led many raid parties to break apart.



Users were left wondering how exactly the all-girls raid party had cleared the raid.



But there was nothing to find out. The all-girls raid party didn’t stream it nor were they active on external sites.



With no information for users to sift through, the gallery topic began to slowly change.



Then, that early morning, a user named Izeus began recruiting for a final raid once again.



The raid party that set out successfully took down the fourth Named Monster, Sunforce.



But that was where the trouble began.



The issue arose from the fact that they had picked too many ranged dealers for stability and firepower.



Izeus’s raid party, having crossed Sunforce’s wall, was halted by the final boss, the Corrupted Sola.



But he didn’t give up. The other users who participated that early morning also didn’t give up.



They kept pushing forward, slowly but surely.



Just when Sola’s health was finally reduced to 20%, following the second black sun pattern, newly summoned Paladins mixed in among the Named Monsters appeared.



[Knight Commander Executioner Crow]



Izeus’s final raid crew comprised two Barbarians wearing Orc Warrior Rings and a tank set. Plus, ten healers, all filled to the brim with Wizards and Warlocks.



The members of this raid party utilized their skills to deal with the Paladins summoned like the earlier ones.



However, Crow had a hidden pattern that reacted to ranged attacks.



Oblivious, the mages unleashed their skills, unable to stop the charging Crow.



Having built up stacks of Execution, Crow became stronger than the boss monster, Sola, sweeping away all the members.



But Izeus didn’t give up.



Encouraging the party members, he continued trying to find a solution.



As the raid time extended, the focus of the players began to wane. Still, they persisted.



They repeatedly wiped before even reaching Crow's summoning pattern, but eventually managed to analyze all of Crow’s patterns.



They needed melee dealers.



Izeus felt the necessity to adjust the raid party’s composition.



They had to swap out some of the ranged dealers for more melee fighters.



There were plenty of Thieves. Overflowed with them.



Izeus recruited ten Thieves to replace the Wizards and Barbarians and filled the raid party with them.



This raid began differently, but perhaps it was because the members changed. The Thieves tended to drop like flies.



Ultimately, Izeus’s raid party fell apart that day.



Just before going to sleep, Izeus posted something in the gallery.



Hoping someone might clear that raid.



[Be cautious of Crow that Sola summons in this raid.] [26]



(Image of Crow’s appearance)



This bastard caused the raid to break down earlier.



We need more melee dealers to clear this.



There’s a hidden pattern that reacts to ranged attacks, and if a ranged dealer gets hit, he’ll charge right at them and stab them with his sword.



He grows stronger with each user he kills, and if he kills you, you can't be resurrected.



This is crucial; don't have the healers waste 10 seconds casting resurrect unnecessarily.



Low health doesn't matter either; all party members need to manage their health because below 20%, this bastard will go berserk and stab to kill.



If there are Berserkers and Barbarians wearing their rings here, they must unequip them right away upon summoning, or they’ll just get stabbed and dropped.



[Comments]



[Can Thieves also join the raid then?]



ㄴ[Yeah, they need to catch this monster]



ㄴ[I'm a Thief, let me in]



[Seriously, if you go with those Thieves, they’ll just empower Crow, so manage your HP well]



[See those Thief bastards popping out right away, lol]



ㄴ[Call me Thief Master]



ㄴ[Not just you, but a ton of thieves out there]



[Is it really necessary to kill Crow? Can’t the tank just kite him around?]



ㄴ[If we don’t kill this guy, he’ll rush to buff the boss with healing and shields, lol]



ㄴ[Crazy bitch, lol]



[How did the all-girls raid manage to deal with this? They have a Berserker, right?]



ㄴ[They probably took off their rings]



ㄴ[Surely, if you remove the warrior's ring, you’re totally useless, right?]



ㄴ[I saw them using shields during the raid earlier. Looks like the Crow tanked it himself.]



[It definitely gets easier once high-tier classes show up; they managed to reach the boss in the first week of their final raid.]



ㄴ[For real, it did get easier! That’s probably because they had so many skills to use now.]



[You think Berserkers and Barbarians are weak?]



ㄴ[Doesn’t seem like it; it’s totally Crow’s fault.]



ㄴ[Just need to drop Sola’s HP before Crow comes out and we’ll be fine, lol.]



*

“Hayun.”

“Huh?!”

School had just finished.

In a rush to get home, I turned my head at the voice coming from behind me.

There stood Sohee, beaming at me.

“Do you have time for a moment today?”

“No!”

I didn’t have any spare time. Even while I was here, the time I could have been playing the game was slipping away.

The shutdown system robbed me of any free time.

“Uh, none…?”

“Yep! See you later!”

Waving my hand at Sohee, I quickly left the classroom.

I needed to hurry back home and complete the hidden quest.