Chapter 67
Chapter 67
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Appointing the Ten-Man Commander
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[It's nothing major, but it feels like you're accepting it anyway.]
Chaos said.
It must have picked up on Hae-jin's reaction from moments ago.
Hae-jin then replied,
"My role as your lord—shouldn't that warrant at least this much of a response when receiving something from a subordinate?"
Chaos itself had called Hae-jin its lord.
So, as lord, wasn't this reaction only natural?
Chaos looked utterly flabbergasted at Hae-jin's words before suddenly bursting into wild laughter.
[What? Krhahat! Good, good. To be my lord, you need that kind of magnanimity. Very well, I'll proceed with the rewards. By the way, your lord's Chaos accumulation is higher than expected. With some luck, I might even promote one to Ten-Man Commander instead of just an Elite Soldier.]
But right then.
As Chaos checked Hae-jin's status, it suddenly mentioned "Chaos" and changed its tune—saying it could upgrade one of the three Elite Soldiers to a Ten-Man Commander.
Hae-jin tilted his head at the abrupt reward adjustment.
"Ten-Man Commander?"
[Regular Soldiers get no buffs among themselves, but a Ten-Man Commander can boost the 'Command' for a unit consisting of ten Regular Soldiers and ten Elite Soldiers.]
"Command?"
Hae-jin had only heard from Joo-hyuk about how to navigate the Trials' Arena. His knowledge of the Lord of Chaos class was entirely from hands-on experience alongside Joo-hyuk.
So, this job-related detail—"Command"—was brand new to him.
[Think of Command as an ability that makes the Chaos Soldiers under you even stronger.]
But just as Chaos finished explaining Ten-Man Commanders and Command.
Terry Prisoner suddenly jumped in.
[I'll do it, Master!]
Terry Prisoner, volunteering to become the Ten-Man Commander.
Hae-jin eyed him.
"Hmm, you?"
[Yes!]
"Won't Q or Kiyo be better?"
[Ehey, Master! Those two can't even talk!]
"Talk, huh..."
It was true—being in a leadership role as a newcomer might require communication.
That was when it happened.
[Do it, Q?]
[Me too, Kyo?]
"Uh?"
[What... what the hell?!]
The sudden voices made Hae-jin and Terry Prisoner freeze.
They had no choice.
The ones who always just went "Qwoong" and "Kiyo" were suddenly speaking.
Terry Prisoner was the most shocked.
[No way, why can you guys talk?]
He asked incredulously.
He had just argued that he deserved to be Ten-Man Commander because he could communicate.
But now Q and Kiyo were both talking, leaving him speechless.
In response to Terry Prisoner, Q said,
[We could after leveling up, Q?]
[Then why stay quiet all this time?]
[No need to talk, Q?]
[Ah...]
Fair enough.
Up until now, Q and Kiyo had simply followed Hae-jin's orders without any reason to speak.
On top of that, Kiyo added,
[Plus, we hit level 98 or so and grew enough to talk, right, Kyo?]
Kiyo explaining to Q when they had gained speech.
Q agreed.
[Right, Q.]
[So, you two want to be Ten-Man Commander?]
Terry Prisoner seemed desperate to negotiate with Q and Kiyo to secure the role for himself.
But the talks fell apart.
[Since I was Master's first limb, shouldn't I be the Ten-Man Commander, Q?]
[What the—?!]
Q claiming the spot because it had become Hae-jin's limb first.
Terry Prisoner exploded, and Kiyo sided with Q.
[I think Q's right, Kyo.]
[What?!]
[Q was with Master first out of us, so he should be Ten-Man Commander, Kyo.]
[You bastards—are you beasts ganging up on me?!]
Terry Prisoner, framing it like the beasts were excluding him, the undead.
Kiyo replied,
[Yep, Kyo.]
[...]
An insurmountable species gap!
With the two beasts openly siding against him, Terry Prisoner was left stunned and speechless.
Hae-jin stepped in.
"Then it's settled."
[Ma... Master?!]
From the conversation so far, Hae-jin declared who the Chaos legion's Ten-Man Commander would be.
It was clearly going to be Q by majority vote. Even with no facial expressions as a skull, Terry Prisoner looked on the verge of tears as he called out to Hae-jin.
But Hae-jin told him,
"Well, you've become an Elite Soldier now—shouldn't you be satisfied just changing from 'Shit' back to your real name?"
[Well...]
Truth be told, that was the real priority.
The name "Shit."
Hae-jin had said promotions from Regular Soldier let you rename. Becoming an Elite Soldier via Chaos's reward meant ditching that awful name.
But Terry Prisoner was greedy.
[No, but they fight up front while I fight from the rear, right? So wouldn't it make sense for me—the one who can command and support from behind—to be Ten-Man Commander?]
"You really want it bad, huh?"
[Yes!]
Seeing how badly Terry Prisoner wanted it, Hae-jin glanced at Q and Kiyo.
"He's begging for it—still want Q as Ten-Man Commander?"
Q replied to Hae-jin's question.
[Terry's shady—if he becomes Ten-Man Commander and puts me and Kiyo under him, won't he hassle us, Q?]
[I agree, Kyo.]
Q and Kiyo figured a sleazy guy like Terry Prisoner atop them as Ten-Man Commander would be a pain.
"Hmm, that's a fair point."
Terry Prisoner quickly interjected.
[No! I'll be good!]
[Sure, but once you're Ten-Man Commander, you'll hassle us anyway, Q?]
[...]
Terry Prisoner fell silent at Q's words.
Hae-jin smirked.
"Kid, hit right where it hurts."
[Ah... no, Master.]
"No buts. How do we know you won't boss them around once you're Ten-Man Commander?"
[Well...]
Terry Prisoner pondered what to say.
Chaos cut in.
[Then just swap the Ten-Man Commander later.]
"Hm?"
Hae-jin shot Chaos a look, as if asking what that meant.
Chaos explained its remark.
[You can swap Ten-Man Commanders anytime as lord. But there are conditions.]
"What conditions?"
[Promoting one to Ten-Man Commander just raises a Chaos Soldier's rank—no issue there. But if a former Ten-Man Commander loses the role, they drop two ranks to Regular Soldier.]
"Regular Soldier... Wait, what about the name?"
[Name?]
"Yeah, his is registered as 'Shit' right now. Elites or Ten-Man Commanders can rename, right? What happens if they drop back to Regular?"
[Back to Shit, obviously.]
"Yeah?"
[Yeah.]
Hae-jin turned back to Terry Prisoner after the exchange with Chaos.
"That's the deal. You could end up as Shit again—still want Ten-Man Commander?"
[Back to Shit...]
Terry Prisoner groaned at the news of reverting to Shit if demoted.
Hae-jin proposed to Q and Kiyo.
"Q, Kiyo."
[Qwoo?]
[Kiyo?]
"He's desperate—how about letting him? If he messes up, I'll boot him from Ten-Man Commander."
[If Master says so, Q...]
[We'll follow Master's will, Kyo.]
No matter their distrust of Terry Prisoner, with Hae-jin—their master—saying that, Q and Kiyo agreed.
With their okay, Hae-jin looked at Terry Prisoner again.
"Alright, then. What about you, Terry?"
[Like Q and Kiyo worry—if I just don't hassle those two, that's fine, right?]
"Hm?"
Hae-jin wondered at the nuance—like Terry would hassle everyone except Q and Kiyo.
Terry Prisoner clarified what he wanted.
[Later ones who join under me after—can I treat them like underlings?]
Q and Kiyo were like seniors, having become Hae-jin's limbs first.
They resented a latecomer like Terry Prisoner ranking above them.
To become Ten-Man Commander, he couldn't touch Q and Kiyo.
Irking them might get him demoted to Regular Soldier, reverting his hard-won name to "Shit."
So he was asking if he could do as he pleased with future Chaos Soldiers who joined late.
Hae-jin thought it made sense to grant Terry some authority there.
"Well, they're juniors to you—should be fine."
[Then I'll do it!]
"Yeah?"
[Yes!]
Having dramatically sealed the deal, Hae-jin turned to Chaos.
"Alright, let's go with this. You heard, Chaos? Make Terry the Ten-Man Commander, and Q and Kiyo Elite Soldiers."
[As my lord wills.]
Chaos closed its eyes.
It transformed fully into a black sphere.
Then Chaos glowed.
Though a black sphere, white energy mixed in, turning it ashen.
Ashen energy then flowed from Chaos, enveloping Q, Kiyo, and Terry Prisoner.
Hae-jin saw:
[‘Q’ joins as an ‘Elite Soldier’.]
[‘Kiyo’ joins as an ‘Elite Soldier’.]
[Regular Soldier ‘Shit’ has become a ‘Ten-Man Commander’.]
[Set a name for ‘Q’.]
[Set a name for ‘Kiyo’.]
[Set a name for ‘Shit’.]
With Q and Kiyo newly joining the Chaos Legion and Shit becoming Ten-Man Commander, the system prompted to name all three.
Hae-jin asked Q and Kiyo first.
"Q, Kiyo—want me to change your names too?"
[No, Q! I like the name Master gave me, Q!]
[Me too, Kyo!]
"Yeah?"
[Q!]
[Kiyo!]
"Okay, you two stay the same. Just rename Terry."
With that, Hae-jin set Q and Kiyo's names as is, then restored Terry Prisoner's from "Shit."
[‘Q’’s name set to ‘Q’.]
[‘Q’’s loyalty increases by 10%.]
[‘Kiyo’’s name set to ‘Kiyo’.]
[‘Kiyo’’s loyalty increases by 10%.]
[‘Shit’’s name set to ‘Terry Prisoner’.]
[‘Terry Prisoner’’s loyalty increases by 30%.]
"Hm?"
Hae-jin tilted his head at the latest system window.
Terry Prisoner asked,
[What's wrong, Master?]
Seeing him ask, Hae-jin smirked.
"You really hated that name, huh?"
Who wouldn't hate being called "Shit"?