Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 298

Suddenly, an additional system notification popped up.

Su-ho stared at the alert with wide eyes.

‘■■ is filing a complaint against ????’

The black box symbolized a Transcendent.

But who exactly was the Transcendent filing a complaint against?

‘If a Transcendent is objecting... it has to be the system, right?’

Logically, it could only be the system.

After all, even Transcendents operated within the environment created by the system.

But this was the first time Su-ho had seen anything like this. All he could do was shift his gaze around in confusion.

While he was trying to process it, the complaint continued.

[■■ argues that the difficulty of the second labor was significantly reduced compared to previous ones.]

[??? is verifying the claim.]

[The claim has been verified.]

[The system accepts the complaint from ■■.]

[??? agrees with ■■ and decides to acknowledge only half the completion of the second labor.]

“...What?”

The words slipped out aloud in disbelief.

What the actual fuck are they talking about?

They were the ones who gave him the quest!

So why the hell was he taking the hit now?

Just as Su-ho was about to start cursing in protest—

[However, it is also a fact that the player has cleared the second labor.]

[As a compromise, the system will grant partial benefits from the accomplishment.]

[In addition, due to the reward miscalculation, the system is awarding you 30 bonus stat points.]

More alerts followed.

Su-ho read through them calmly.

Partial labor benefits, plus 30 bonus stats as compensation.

“...Hmm.”

Honestly? Not bad.

Above all, he was satisfied with those 30 bonus stat points.

“I was planning to take my time with the second labor anyway. And, yeah... compared to what I expected, this one was easier.”

The bonus alone was a massive reward.

Su-ho decided to accept it.

Even if he were pissed, there was no way to actually complain to the system.

This had never happened before—but he knew better than anyone that players were powerless in the face of the system.

So he chose to save his emotional energy.

“Screw it. Better this than nothing.”

Apparently, the Transcendent agreed as well.

[■■ accepts ???’s ruling.]

[Trait information is being updated.]

Another change to his trait.

That was the last of the alerts.

As the sky cleared of text, Su-ho chuckled under his breath.

“...I’ve lived to see some weird shit, huh.”

A Transcendent arguing with the system?

Usually, you couldn’t tell who the Transcendent was—but this time, the context gave it away.

“The Twelve Labors were assigned to Hercules by the goddess Hera. So ■■ is probably Hera.”

Even the black box had two blocks.

Maybe the number of boxes matched the number of syllables in the Transcendent’s name?

“Looks like it.”

Su-ho shook his head and pulled up the updated Hercules Candidate trait.

[Hercules Candidate]

①×××× × ××××× ×

One who possesses the minimum qualifications to inherit the power of the hero Hercules.

Only the first among the candidates to complete all Twelve Labors shall become the true Hercules.

① While possessing this trait, the candidate’s attack power with unarmed strikes, swords, blunt weapons, and bows increases by 100%.

② While possessing this trait, the candidate’s affinity with fire-based attributes increases by 100%. And... ＜Sealed＞.

Trait updated.

The new addition was an increased affinity with fire attributes—clearly a nod to how Hercules had burned the Hydra’s necks to stop regeneration.

“The rest probably relates to poison.”

The mythic Hydra possessed poison potent enough to kill gods.

So in the original version of the labor, the reward related to poison resistance.

But the stand-in Hydra Su-ho had fought didn’t have any poison.

Hence Hera’s complaint.

“Guess I’ll face the poison Hydra later.”

He already knew which Gate that would be.

Su-ho nodded and checked his status window.

“Status window.”

[An Su-ho]

Lv: 198

Class: Crusader

Traits: <New Blood>, <Hercules Candidate>, <King of Fallen Nations>, <Sealed Moon’s Magic>

Strength (G): 46

Mana (G): 60

Perception (G): 18

Command (N): 17

Bonus Stats: 44

A wicked smile spread across Su-ho’s face.

Forty-four bonus stat points.

Just from clearing one Gate.

And that wasn’t all.

He’d also gained three levels.

“Guess having nine heads really does bump the EXP.”

This Gate was clearly different.

But then again, three levels wasn’t that generous, considering it had essentially been nine bosses in one.

Mathematically speaking, nine fused into one should have been the equivalent of ten monsters.

So in that sense, just three levels wasn’t a massive payout.

Still, thanks to the surprise completion of Hercules’ second labor, and the unexpected bonus stats, the rewards were more than enough.

After a brief moment of thought, Su-ho invested 4 points into Strength and the remaining 40 into Mana.

And the moment he did—

[Your Mana stat has reached 100.]

[Your Mana stat is evolving.]

[Congratulations! Your Mana stat has advanced to Blue grade!]

His Mana had reached Blue grade.

But that wasn’t all. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

[You are the first player to acquire a Blue stat.]

[For this great achievement, the system grants you 10 bonus stat points.]

“There it is!”

Su-ho grinned in delight at the system messages.

Before, he’d aimed for ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ balanced stats due to the Unified Trait benefit.

But now that that trait was no longer usable, it was smarter to focus on unlocking exclusive bonuses for being the first to reach new stat colors.

He immediately dumped the 10 bonus stats into Strength and refreshed the window.

[An Su-ho]

Lv: 198

Class: Crusader

Traits: <New Blood>, <Hercules Candidate>, <King of Fallen Nations>, <Sealed Moon’s Magic>

Strength (G): 60

Mana (B): 1

Perception (G): 18

Command (N): 17

Bonus Stats: 0

“Clean.”

He felt solid.

Only two levels remained until he hit 200.

Unless something unexpected happened, he’d probably reach it at the next Geumgangsan Gate.

Su-ho then checked the info on Imoogi’s Dream.

[Imoogi’s Dream]

Grade: A

The dream of an Imoogi that wishes to become a dragon.

If the desire is strong enough, the dream will come true—and that realized dream holds great power.

Same as before.

Just as he remembered from his past life.

Good.

He’d been worried another variable might show up—but the only change had been the Hercules labor.

And he’d only received one, despite the Hydra having multiple heads.

No problem.

That was expected.

After confirming and updating everything, Su-ho prepared to finish the last task.

First, he inspected the Avatar of Jealousy with [Eye of the Blacksmith].

But maybe because of the Hydra effect—there were no visible harvest slots.

“Damn.”

Instead, he embedded the Guiyeong Spear to capture its shadow at least.

[The Guiyeong Spear reacts to the Avatar of Jealousy with Nine Heads’ shadow.]

[The Guiyeong Spear has completely absorbed the shadow.]

[The Guiyeong Spear has been enhanced.]

Absorption complete.

As before, there was only a message confirming enhancement. No visible change in the weapon itself.

Didn’t matter.

He hadn’t expected anything anyway.

With everything done, Su-ho finally moved to the exit portal.

*

“Only one left.”

After exiting the portal, Su-ho checked the time.

Not much had passed.

With this pace, he could clear the remaining Geumgangsan Gate and still return to Seoul on schedule.

He confirmed the target location on his map and summoned Bulgasari.

“Bulgasari.”

“Bul-bul!”

“Let’s go.”

“Bul-bul!”

Riding Bulgasari, Su-ho headed toward his next destination.

After some time traveling—

“This should be the area...”

Due to North Korea’s lack of satellite coverage, precise location tracking was impossible—he had to rely entirely on the map.

He scouted the area thoroughly, but the targeted Gate still hadn’t appeared.

“I heard it was hard to find because of the terrain, but this is ridiculous.”

Still, he wasn’t giving up.

As far as he knew, this was the highlight of Geumgangsan.

He continued circling along the edge of the region.

Eventually, he came across a portal.

“...What the hell is this?”

He checked the map.

But this portal wasn’t marked on any Geumgangsan points he knew of.

“A new spawn?”

Couldn’t be.

He’d already received reports of every portal in the area.

Granted, he couldn’t claim to know every Gate in North Korea.

But in his past life’s Northern Conquest campaign, a ton of guilds had participated—and the reporting system was so comprehensive that over 99% of Gates were documented.

“Basically 100%.”

Whatever the case, it was worth checking.

He was a representative of the Association, after all.

Su-ho approached the portal and triggered interaction.

[Retrieving Gate Information.]

[Villa of Misery]

– Entry Requirement: Level 150 or higher, 2 or more Orange-grade stats.

– Max Entry: 1 person.

Su-ho’s eyes widened.

He immediately recognized where this was.

“...The Villa of Misery, huh.”

The Villa of Misery was a Gate Su-ho was familiar with.

It was a special-type Gate, just like the Iron Horse Gate or the Imoogi Gate.

But unlike those, it wasn’t known for giving particularly valuable rewards.

What made it a special-type Gate was that there were just so many of them in North Korea.

Because this Gate’s theme... was the personal villas once used by Kim family elites and their private pleasure squads.

“Reportedly, when the Cataclysm began, these villas were all abandoned at once.”

Gates and monsters had appeared everywhere—no one had time to secure vacation homes.

The villas were left behind, along with the “Joy Division” women inside them.

The aftermath was pure tragedy.

If they were lucky, they were killed by monsters.

If not, they were assaulted and brutalized by awakened individuals or enraged civilians seeking revenge on the Kim regime.

That’s why the Gate was named Villa of Misery—and the monsters inside were all vengeful ghost-types.

“Mostly Banshees.”

Which is exactly why Su-ho couldn’t ignore it.

Even if the Gates were instances created by the system, leaving a Gate that replays such suffering felt like killing them all over again.

For Su-ho, clearing this Gate was a ritual of remembrance.

He shook his head once—and entered.

[You are entering the Villa of Misery.]