Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 79

December 25th. Christmas Day.

We were gathered in the living room, munching on chicken together.

In the middle of the drama playing on the TV, the commercials started rolling.

Neither Hwarang nor I were paying attention to the television, so we were burying our heads in the chicken, chomping away.

Then, out of nowhere, a familiar sound started ringing in my ears.

“Uh…”

The first to react was Harang. He lifted his head and locked his gaze onto the TV where Mom was watching.

I was a beat behind, as I had to chew and swallow the chicken stuffed in my mouth.

“Oh.”

A short exclamation. Looks like Deron spent some money. Slipping an advertisement for Deron into a coveted commercial slot during a popular Christmas drama? This guy must’ve poured a ton of cash into it.

The moment I realized this, a brief sigh escaped me.

I recognized the video. I had watched it so many times that I knew exactly what would appear at the end of that ad.

Harang, sitting beside me, seemed to realize it too, as he started to twitch his lips.

My gaze quickly darted over to the TV remote in Mom’s hand.

I had to act faster than I could think. I needed to change the channel before the commercial reached its final scene.

My hand shot out toward the remote in Mom’s grip.

Clatter-!

But my arm was too short. As I stretched toward it, my hand collided with the table, making a loud noise.

This caused Mom to blink, startled, and glance back at me.

“H-Hayun?”

“Give me the remote!”

It hurt quite a bit where my chest hit the edge of the table, but more than that, I was focused on changing the channel.

Mom glanced at the remote in her hand, then looked at the advertisement blaring from the TV, before shifting her gaze to Harang, who was struggling to hold back laughter.

“Oh-”

Mom was quick on the uptake.

A mischievous smile crept onto her face, and her soft, slightly twisted gaze turned toward me.

This was bad. There was no way I could snatch the remote from her.

She raised the remote high above me, out of reach.

She was anticipating that I would try to jump for it.

I immediately got up from my seat.

“Yikes!”

Time was ticking. The commercial was nearing its final frame.

Just as Jupiter and I transformed for battle, the scene began to play out.

-I had to stop it before it was too late!

“Hiyaah!”

I leaped up and desperately shielded the enormous TV with my body.

My outstretched arms and legs were doing their best to cover the screen, but I couldn’t block it entirely.

“Hayun? I can’t see the screen!”

It’s better that way. There was absolutely no way I could let them see it. No way at all.

But the video was reaching its end.

As the screen shifted to reveal a salt desert, Mom moved closer and scooped me up in her arms.

“Waaah!”

I flailed my arms and legs, yelling loudly, but I couldn’t escape her grip.

To make matters worse, Mom hadn’t brought the remote with her.

She’d left it on the table, expecting me to snatch it.

“No! Harang! Change the channel quickly!!!”

I turned my head and shouted at the top of my lungs.

With Mom holding me, Harang was the only one who could help.

Harang caught my eye and cautiously reached for the remote.

But then, he caught Mom’s fierce glare and plopped back down in his seat.

“Nooo!!!”

And just like that, the scene began to play.

With the gleaming white salt desert, my face appeared on screen.

“Oh my… Hayun.”

“U-waaah…”

I was so embarrassed. The thought of showing this to Mom was incredibly mortifying.

“You got to film a commercial…”

Before Mom could finish her sentence, I declared the Blood Demon right on screen with a nonchalant expression.

Thanks to the game’s editing, as my face zoomed in, the scene quickly shifted.

I drew the Holy Sword from its sheath at my waist, catching the sunlight.

“Awaken. My sword craves blood.”

Hiiiii-

I felt like I was suffocating. My vision was turning white. My face was burning hot.

I quickly covered my face with both hands. I simply couldn’t face Mom.

Swaaaash! Clank! Crash!

Even though I was shielding my eyes, the sounds from the advertisement came through crystal clear.

Mom didn’t say anything afterward.

It was as if she had lost her words.

When the commercial finally ended, Harang’s suppressed laugh filled the living room.

Mom remained silent for quite some time, all the way until the drama’s advertising break concluded.

As the drama resumed on the screen, Mom finally spoke to me in a voice full of suppressed laughter.

“Hayun… no, it was our Blood Demon Lord…”

“St-stop…”

“Our Hayun is the Blood Demon Lord.”

“Please stop…”

“Hayun. Do it again. Okay? I am the Blood Demon Lord.”

Mom mimicked my voice.

I felt all strength drain from my body.

As I started to sag, Harang finally burst out laughing.

“Uh-hehe-huh!”

Laughing hysterically like a madman, Harang fell off his chair and onto the floor.

But he still laughed joyfully.

“Our Blood Demon Lord was practicing for a commercial, not a school play?”

“N-no…”

“Oh yeah?”

I took a deep breath and shook my body.

I was slowly sending the signal that I wanted to be let down.

Thankfully, Mom finally set me down.

I scrambled back to my original spot with my short legs.

I planned to act like nothing had happened and just return to my chicken.

But Mom had other ideas.

She turned from the drama on-screen and opened YouTube.

I looked at her in disbelief.

Mom met my gaze and grinned broadly.

It was the kind of smile that said she was too delighted to contain herself.

“Blood Demon Lord, what was the title of that game ad from earlier?”

“Ah, please don’t…”

“Blood Demon Lord, I want to see your face one more time.”

I sealed my lips and turned away. I would absolutely not speak again.

Except when it came to eating chicken, of course.

I moved my chopsticks and picked up another piece of chicken.

Eventually, Mom gave up on getting an answer from me.

Instead, she asked Harang.

“Harang.”

“It’s Deron.”

“YEAH!!!”

Harang never could resist Mom’s requests.

He answered right away and shot up to flee to his room.

I called out to him as he swayed in the chair, but he pretended not to hear me.

Mom dragged the chair I was sitting in over next to hers.

She seemed intent on watching that ad again together with me.

As she searched YouTube for Deron, the same ad video appeared again.

And so, the ad started to play once more on the television.

Mom clasped my hand tightly and asked,

“Blood Demon Lord. How did you film this ad?”

“I-I told you to stop…”

It looked like I would have to be called the Blood Demon at home for a while.

I started explaining to Mom everything that had happened.

The story of the game I was playing and the event I participated in.

In the end, when I told her about how I received a magnificent pair of Angel Wings for my uploaded video getting nominated, Mom nodded.

“So you didn’t make any weird deals with bad guys, then?”

“Absolutely not.”

While chatting with Mom, the ad for Deron ended, and related videos started playing next.

The screen was filled with footage from a recent Arena tournament.

It looked like parts of the broadcast had been recorded.

“Looks like they’re having a tournament or something?”

“Um, it’s the Arena tournament. They select the best fighters in the game.”

“Our Blood Demon Lord participated in that?”

“Ah… y-yeah…”

I sighed and nodded.

In the end, Mom began to watch the recorded footage of the Arena tournament.

It seemed she wasn’t really interested in the game itself; she just wanted to see me in action.

“Our Blood Demon Lord won, huh?”

“Uh, uh-huh…”

“Then is the Blood Demon Lord the strongest player in Deron?”

I folded my arms and went into thought.

Objectively, I could say that I was one of the top players in Deron.

It felt kind of weird to say it myself, but I did win the Arena tournament.

With this kind of achievement, it would be reasonable to say I’m among the strongest in Deron, right?

Not just in the Arena. I also had two Raid achievements under my belt.

“Hmm, I guess that’s about right.”

Looking back on it, I was indeed impressive.

Feeling a sense of pride, I nodded, and Mom asked with a voice mixed with laughter.

“Then, can I brag to others that I’m the mom of the Blood Demon Lord?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Isn’t it something worth bragging about? You won first place in a tournament and got featured in an ad.”

“Uh, that’s a bit too much…”

“Blood Demon Lord, where’s your confident self gone?”

“Ugh…”

I turned my head and stood up.

Having satisfied my lunch, I thought about logging into Deron.

Just as I was about to leave the living room, Mom called out to me.

“Hayun?”

“Yes?”

“Is there anything you want for dinner?”

“Um…”

What I wanted for dinner.

After having greasy chicken for lunch, I craved something lighter but a bit spicy for dinner.

Something with a hot broth. Yes, eel soup would hit the spot.

“Eel soup.”

“E-eel soup…?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded. Eel soup sounded good.

Leaving behind Mom’s astonished expression, I exited the living room.

That traitor Harang was probably holed up in his room playing Deron.

I also returned to my room to log into the game.

The familiar login screen faded away as I fell into the game world.

The last place I had logged out from was the Demon Clan Village.

“Ah! It’s the Blood Demon!”

“It’s the Blood Demon King!!!”

“Blood Demon Lord!!! Let me ride your Wolf!!!”

As I logged in and checked the Guild Chat and Mailbox, players passing by started shouting my name.

Their booming voices began to attract other players.

After that global ad aired, a lot more people had started to tease me.

I cleared my throat and summoned my Wolf.

“Wow! A Wolf!”

“Wow! A puppy!”

The users’ nonsensical chatter was getting too loud.

With my head down, I fled on my Hell Wolf out of the village.

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