Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 226
Su-ho stood for a moment inside the gate line where no one could enter, deep in thought.
A crowd of people was rushing in.
Journalists and YouTubers shoved their microphones forward, trying to catch Su-ho’s words.
Su-ho spoke.
“The gate raid was a success. However, the details will be announced officially through the Association.”
Finishing his statement, Su-ho gave a polite nod and immediately activated Achromatic Solitude.
Because of the unique distortion effect of Achromatic Solitude, even though Su-ho was right in front of them, the crowd couldn’t see him.
“Come on, just say a little bit more about the gate—huh? What the hell?”
“Where’d he go?”
“He was right here just a second ago!”
“Hey, find him! We have to get that interview no matter what!”
“Sword Saint!!”
People scattered, looking for the vanished Su-ho.
Su-ho let out a quiet sigh as he watched the zombie-like crowd.
‘If it’s like this, they’re probably camped out around the airport, too......’
What now?
That’s when a good idea popped into Su-ho’s head.
‘Ah, that’ll work.’
Su-ho headed straight for Jeju Airport.
***
Several hours later, Gimpo Airport.
Luggage dropped onto the conveyor belt.
They were sorted into various categories—passenger belongings, freight delivery, and so on. The freight items were separated by zone and loaded into delivery trucks immediately.
Among them, a long package labeled “Express” was handed to a quick delivery rider. The rider picked it up per the order and took it somewhere.
The rider arrived at a secure safe house in Cheongdam-dong... Su-ho’s home.
Staff received the delivery as instructed and brought it inside.
They took a photo of the cargo and sent it to Su-ho.
Just after Su-ho received the photo—
Shhhk!
Something astonishing happened.
Su-ho suddenly appeared right where the cargo had been.
Looking around, Su-ho marveled.
“Damn, this actually worked.”
As he said that, he looked at the system alert in front of him.
[ Shadow Step has been activated. ]
That’s right.
Su-ho had been in Jeju Island just moments ago.
But to shake off the persistent pursuers, he sent only the Guiyeong Spear home via freight delivery and used Shadow Step.
Sure, it consumed a huge amount of mana, but Su-ho had enough mana to travel from Jeju to Seoul, so the move went off without a hitch.
‘I can probably sneak out of the country quietly now, too.’
The world was full of useful skills and items.
In his previous life, the problem wasn’t that they didn’t exist—it was that they were scattered among various people and often abused.
Upon arriving in Seoul, Su-ho immediately called Jeong Cheol-min.
— “Oh, Su-ho.”
“I’m in Seoul right now. Can we meet for a moment?”
— “What? You’re in Seoul? How?!”
“I handled things well and made it here. So, where are you?”
— “I was just about to leave work, actually.”
“I’ll be there soon. Let’s meet at the office.”
— “What? Hey, I was about to go home!”
“Come on, this is urgent. I’ll be right there.”
— “Ugh, you relentless bastard...!”
It was already quite late.
But Jeong Cheol-min still hadn’t left work—all because of Su-ho.
Since Su-ho said the official announcement about the Jeju Gate would come through the Association, about 70% of the attention had shifted to them.
And because of that, his direct superior, Jeong Cheol-min, was the one taking all the heat.
As Su-ho drove to the Association, he saw the persistent press camped outside, just as expected.
He shook his head at them and headed toward the underground parking lot accessible only to staff.
There, he met with Jeong Cheol-min.
As soon as he saw Su-ho, Jeong Cheol-min shot up from his seat and shouted.
“You crazy bastard!”
“Yes, your crazy bastard has arrived.”
“Goddamn it... Can I please just go home like a human being for once?”
“Come on, given the situation, how could you think about going home? You’ve got cleanup duty.”
“This is all your fault! And weren’t you supposed to be handling the Marado Gate? So why were you spotted at Hallasan? And how the hell did you escape Jeju?”
“I flew. Anyway, here’s what happened...”
Su-ho began explaining to Jeong Cheol-min.
Of course, he didn’t explain everything with full honesty.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
He said he went to clear the Marado Gate and received a reward called the “Volcanic Memory Fragment.” Upon investigating it, he discovered it was connected to the Tamra Guild’s “Eleventh Island.”
So he asked Tamra for cooperation, but while talking with them, too many suspicious things came up. That led him to investigate Tamra, during which he uncovered their collusion with the Jeju Branch Chief and gathered evidence to hand over to the Investigation Department... something like that.
Once Su-ho finished explaining, Jeong Cheol-min’s mouth turned into a crescent moon.
“So you’re saying the arrests of Tamra’s representative, deputy, and the Jeju Branch Chief... were all your doing?”
“Unofficially, yes.”
“...”
He had heard something major had gone down in Jeju, but to think it was all the work of his own subordinate.
Jeong Cheol-min rubbed his forehead and spoke.
“...So, what now? I mean, you do realize it’s not just reporters and YouTubers watching this—this whole incident has the world’s attention, right?” ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
It was true.
No wonder—an End Gate was extremely rare, with only a # Nоvеlight # few discovered worldwide so far.
But Su-ho replied nonchalantly.
“Yeah, I figured. End Gates are rare and still under heavy research. But what can you do? I didn’t plan it, but I found and cleared an End Gate. Since it happened, we should use it to our advantage.”
“And how exactly do you plan to use it?”
“I plan to act like this was a secret project all along. That this Hallasan Gate operation was part of a confidential mission led by you and me.”
“...What?”
“I think this is actually great. Thanks to this incident, both of us should be able to move smoothly into the Special Division. Oh, and also...”
Su-ho began sharing the rest of the plans he’d already devised.
As he spoke, Jeong Cheol-min’s eyes grew wide like full moons.
“...Are you serious?”
“I am. And one more thing.”
Su-ho tapped his phone a few times and then sent some files to Jeong Cheol-min.
“...What’s this now?”
“Corruption files on the Association President and Vice President candidates. I dug a bit into their personal records, and sure enough, not a single one of them is clean. So I figured instead of searching endlessly for someone better, maybe we should just pick the least terrible option. I’m sharing the data so we can review and discuss it together.”
“...”
Jeong Cheol-min fell silent as he looked through the files.
They were overflowing with dirt on the candidates.
He decided not to waste time asking where Su-ho got them.
Even if he asked, Su-ho wouldn’t say. And even if he did, it wouldn’t change anything.
Besides, wasn’t this kind of craziness already par for the course with him?
With a sigh, Jeong Cheol-min sat down and pulled the files up on his computer.
“...Fine. Since it’s come to this, let’s just finish everything tonight. We’ll hold the press conference tomorrow morning. Are you going to give the briefing yourself?”
“You should do it, sir. It needs to look like you’re the project lead.”
“Alright, got it. Then let’s start narrowing down the candidates.”
“Yessir.”
As expected of Jeong Cheol-min.
Su-ho smiled brightly at his cool, efficient handling and sat beside him.
The wrap-up didn’t take long.
All the candidates were dirty anyway, so they just picked the one who had stolen the least.
Once they even finished drafting the press conference script, Jeong Cheol-min stretched.
“Ugh... Good work.”
“You too, sir.”
“But I’m really doing the announcement? Now that I’m looking at the script, this is way too big in scale.”
“That’s how you get promoted, sir. No matter how impressive I am, I still don’t have the seniority.”
“Well, that’s true...”
If this were a private company, Su-ho’s rank would have skyrocketed already.
But this was a government agency. Even a flying genius had to go through the process.
“So, nothing else to discuss?”
“Nope, that’s all.”
“Great work. Want me to drive you home?”
“No thanks, I brought my own car. Get some rest.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Hey, Su-ho.”
“Yes, sir?”
“...Never mind. It’s nothing.”
“What is it?”
“No, really. Nothing. I just wanted to call your name.”
“Haha, got it. Shall we head out then?”
“You go ahead. I’ll hang back a bit longer.”
“Didn’t you just say you wanted to go home earlier...? Alright. I’ll head out first.”
Su-ho gave a brief bow and left the office.
Once he was gone, Jeong Cheol-min stared at the spot he had just been in and murmured,
“...Terrifying bastard.”
Jeong Cheol-min looked up at the dark sky.
A bright moon was shining down on the world.
***
Su-ho, who had left first, soon sent the compiled files to Jo Jin-hwi.
A short while later, his phone rang. It was Jo Jin-hwi.
“Hello?”
— “Pro-nim, what is all this? Aren’t these the people currently being considered for President and Vice President of the Grand Hunter Association?”
“Yes, that’s right. I compiled their corruption files. Once I give you the signal, release the articles with proper timing.”
— “Wow... Pro-nim, you’re seriously terrifying.”
“I wasn’t planning on going this far, but come on, we should at least know whether the leadership of the place I belong to is clean or not.”
— “Well, yeah. This whole incident really blew up. I get it. But the files you sent contain dirt on all of the candidates... Are you planning to take them all down?”
“Not all of them. I’ll leave the least terrible one. Honestly, even if we wipe them all and bring in someone new, there’s no guarantee that person will be clean. And if we leave the President and VP positions vacant for too long, it’ll disrupt the Association’s operations.”
— “As expected of you, Pro-nim. Got it. I’ll wait for your go-ahead. By the way... I’ve been holding off on asking, but when’s the press release for the Hallasan Gate?”
Jo Jin-hwi was more curious than anyone.
If he had no connection, he could’ve brushed it off—but unlike others, he had the rare opportunity to actually ask someone who knew the truth.
Su-ho chuckled at the question.
“I’ve already written the script. Chief Jeong will be giving the announcement. I’ll send it to you in advance, so tweak your article based on that.”
— “Perfect. I love transcribing pre-written statements. I’ll be waiting.”
“I’ll also send the press conference time and location, so get there early and secure a good spot.”
— “Yes, thank you as always! Loyalty, loyalty!”
With that, the basic preparations were complete.
All that remained was to reveal everything at the press conference the next day.
‘Time to really start pushing forward.’
They say crisis breeds opportunity.
Thanks to the End Gate, Su-ho’s plans had suddenly accelerated, and since it’s best to row while the tide’s coming in, he had no intention of wasting this chance.
And the next day.
At last, the press conference about the Hallasan Gate began.
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