Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 410

A sea of people.

Among the phrases that could describe the front of Hiro’s mansion right now, could anything fit better than this?

In front of Hiro’s mansion, people literally formed mountains and seas.

There were so many that not only Sumiyoshi’s employees but even police fearing safety accidents had been mobilized en masse to control the crowd.

“When is he coming out?”

“Chairman Yasuda, please show your face!”

“Ahh, Lord Hiro!!”

The cries of the people beyond the thick concrete wall were so clear that even someone hard of hearing could make them out.

Yet Su-ho didn’t feel fed up; rather, he let out a faint laugh.

‘This brings back ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) memories.’

By “the old days,” Su-ho meant both his previous life and the relatively recent past.

No wonder—both in his past life and this one, after reaching the realm of Sword Saint, Su-ho had always lived the life of a superstar under constant attention.

So he didn’t particularly feel bothered or anything like that.

If Su-ho were an ordinary human, he would have been tormented by stalking and paparazzi like other celebrities, but he had long since stepped into the domain of the superhuman.

Ordinary people could never really bother Su-ho.

So he didn’t find them troublesome and instead always felt grateful.

Not because they loved him.

Because they believed in him like a religion, and depending on how he used that, they could become a powerful weapon that no chaebol or celebrity could even dare imitate.

Of course, going out to the press conference in place of his disciple wasn’t only for that reason.

Anyway, since it was something that had happened because of him, it was only right not to push it onto someone else but to finish it with his own hands.

“Yasuda Hiro!!”

“Sumiyoshi!!”

“Come out! Come out!!”

The people’s cries rose higher.

After getting off the elevator, Su-ho deliberately didn’t head straight to the press room but stood at the door and let the moment simmer long enough.

And when their anticipation reached its peak, only then did he open the door and reveal himself.

“Wow!!”

“It’s Yasuda!!”

“It’s Hiro!!”

“Chairman!!”

“Yasuda! Yasuda! Yasuda!”

Thunderous cheers poured out, and Su-ho... no, Su-ho transformed into Hiro deliberately showed a slightly tired look as he entered the press room.

Thankfully, no one charged him like a mob.

Thanks to the control by Sumiyoshi employees and the police.

Instead, they cheered endlessly.

To the point that, without help, the interview looked impossible to conduct.

But because the interview spot had been set up in a rush, there was no host or anyone to assist with the proceedings.

However, Su-ho didn’t care.

No, it was fine.

He figured they wouldn’t be much help even if they were there anyway.

At least, that was what Su-ho thought.

At length, standing at the press room, Su-ho looked out over the audience for a while.

“Yasuda! Yasuda! Yasuda!”

“Hiro! Hiro! Hiro!”

“Sumiyoshi! Sumiyoshi! Sumiyoshi!”

The people’s cheers.

They were like fanatics.

Su-ho looked at them without a word.

As he watched them in silence for quite some time, the cheering people must have sensed something; their voices gradually dwindled, and soon they fell completely silent.

Gulp—

Someone swallowed dryly.

Someone even got nervous.

No wonder.

What people felt from Su-ho’s silent eyes wasn’t simple social cue-reading.

Though his eyes looked tired, there was a strange overwhelming force in the gaze of Su-ho, who stood at the peak of humanity.

Of course, he didn’t use a skill.

But Su-ho’s unsmiling eyes were so keen that they created a peculiar pressure even for ordinary people.

When the audience fell silent, only then did Su-ho pick up the mic.

Biiii—

As he gripped the mic, that characteristic electronic sound rang out.

The sound soon subsided, and Su-ho brought his mouth to the mic.

“Nice to meet you. I am Yasuda Hiro of Sumiyoshi.”

“Wow!!”

“Yasuda! Yasuda! Yasuda!”

“Hiro! Hiro! Hiro!”

“Sumiyoshi! Sumiyoshi! Sumiyoshi!”

Pressed for a moment by the sense of pressure.

When Su-ho opened his mouth, the crowd cheered again.

Then Su-ho looked at them again without a word.

And curiously, the crowd fell silent again.

“Huh.......”

A strange and alien sight.

A reporter watching that scene belatedly realized the odd mood and pressed the shutter.

When only the shutter clicks echoed through the quiet press room, Su-ho finally spoke again.

“Thank you. Since this press conference was put together in a hurry, I was worried because there was no host, but thanks to your consideration, it seems I’ll be able to speak comfortably.”

A light smile.

And a word of thanks added on top.

Perhaps that’s why?

Instead of cheering hotly as Su-ho wished, they held their breath.

And they listened attentively to Su-ho’s words.

Su-ho continued.

“First, we probably won’t be able to do today’s interview as long as you might think. I just cleared a Gate and came out, so I don’t have much left mentally or physically. So I’ll prioritize and tell you the core parts quickly first...... First, I’ll explain in detail later, but the Takamagahara you saw in the notifications is indeed the Takamagahara you’re familiar with.”

“......!”

“......!”

“......!”

Su-ho’s attestation.

At those words, people’s eyes widened, and a few who couldn’t help themselves exclaimed in surprise.

But due to the restraint of those beside them, they had no choice but to hold their breath again.

When the slight commotion calmed, Su-ho continued.

“However, regarding the phrase in the notifications that the story of Takamagahara has begun, the several conditions thereby fulfilled, and the fact that several beings were released and the options of unknown some were strengthened—I don’t really know about that either.”

“You don’t know?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“If the person involved doesn’t know, who does?”

“Isn’t he lying?”

People murmured again.

They couldn’t help it.

He’d said he didn’t know—about almost everything, not just one thing.

This would probably lead to all sorts of wild speculation.

Even now you could hear people saying, “Isn’t he pretending not to know on purpose?”

‘That will probably get worse as time passes.’

But Su-ho didn’t care in the slightest.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care because he was wearing the mask of Hiro.

He didn’t care because no matter how much unrelated people babbled for a hundred days, it was a meaningless act.

Therefore, Su-ho prepared the final words that would quell all this aggro.

In the end, what people remember are the one or two strongest sentences.

Su-ho spoke again.

“I speak only the truth. Inside the Gate, I met gods of the Three Noble Children class and fought fiercely, but the result was no different from an ordinary Gate clear. That is why I do not know much about the notifications you saw. However, I think I know what the last line of the system notifications you saw was.”

At the words “last line,” people recalled one sentence they had seen.

[ ???’s anger has begun. ]

As many people’s thoughts aligned into one, Su-ho opened his mouth again.

“The anger of an unknown being. I think I can say clearly who this is. This being is none other than the god of storm and sea, Susanoo.”

Su-ho’s confession.

“......?”

“......?”

“......?”

Silence in the hall.

And then—

“Eeh?!”

“What the—?!”

“Susanoo?!”

People began to be shocked belatedly.

“Susanoo, you say?”

“Whoa?”

“Ah, no, wait a second. Before that, did he say he met gods of the Three Noble Children class?”

“He said he fought fiercely?”

“Then what, Yasuda beat all the Three Noble Children–class gods and cleared the Gate?”

“Insane!”

A tremendous repercussion.

It was the scheduled course.

Is there any Japanese person who doesn’t know Susanoo?

No, not just Susanoo—what about the other Two among the Three Noble Children, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi?

They are among the most famous gods in Japan.

So they couldn’t help but be aghast.

They simply couldn’t believe that the three gods, who are treated almost like principal deities, were all defeated by one person.

However, the excitement of the crowd was brief.

They slowly began to realize.

“W-wait. Leaving aside that he beat the Three Noble Children gods, why is only Susanoo angry?”

“Uh, right? Come to think of it, yeah? If he’s angry, shouldn’t Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi be angry too?”

“Susanoo’s personality is the foulest. Maybe that’s why he alone bears a grudge against Yasuda?”

“Oh, that’s kind of plausible?”

People each began putting out different guesses for their own reasons.

Su-ho fell silent again.

Then the trained crowd shut their mouths once more.

When the surroundings grew quiet, Su-ho spoke again.

“Before I tell you about what I experienced inside, I will first speak about ‘the Apostle of a god.’”

The Apostle of a god.

In his previous life, the beings revealed by the system had been called Transcendents.

As mentioned before, calling them gods had stirred too fierce a backlash from the existing religious world on Earth.

So, as a compromise, people started using the term Transcendent.

But in principle, these were indeed divine beings.

Because there were two claims as to why those called gods were called Transcendents.

The first was the claim that the beings called Transcendents were artificial gods the system created based on Earth’s stories and culture to decorate its playground.

The second was the claim that the Transcendents who appeared by the system were not gods made by the system, but gods existing in some other world whom the system brought to Earth.

‘But either way, they are indeed divine beings and indeed transcended beings.’

However, this was a concept only Su-ho, who had lived through his previous life, knew.

Therefore, to achieve what he was aiming for, Su-ho first needed to explain to the public the concepts of gods and Transcendents, and Apostles and Successors.

Based on what he knew, Su-ho began to briefly explain to the public the concepts of gods and Transcendents, and Apostles and Successors.

And sure enough, after hearing Su-ho’s explanation, the public began to clash with their respective opinions.

“You’re calling that a god?”

“Isn’t it an artificial god made by the system?”

“Artificial god or whatever—anyway it’s a divine being and regulated as a god, so it is a god, right?”

“What kind of crap is that? How is that a god?”

“Then is faux leather not leather? We still call a jacket made of faux leather a leather jacket.”

“Hey, are a god and a leather jacket the same?”

“Are you dumb? I’m talking about the concept.”

“There is only one God!”

Chaos arrived.

Looking at the audience, Su-ho wore an expression that said he’d expected as much.

This time, merely waiting wouldn’t quiet them easily.

So he infused his voice with mana.

“Everyone, quiet!”

Very lightly—so lightly that [Mini Fear] would not trigger—he imbued mana into his voice.

A modulation impossible for a typical Player.

But Su-ho did it.

Su-ho was a Player who had reached the apex of humanity and was a former strongest Player.

For someone like him, this level of mana control was nothing.

At Su-ho’s sharp command, the public once more closed their mouths, and with a smiling face, Su-ho continued.

“Save the sincerity debate about gods for later...... That’s not what’s important right now.”

At those words, everyone made faces like, “Then what is important?”

Su-ho answered those questions.

“The reason Susanoo is angry is because I did not accept Susanoo’s offer to become his Apostle.”

Su-ho’s bombshell.

And the public’s eyes, already widened in surprise, widened yet again.

But paying no heed to their reaction, Su-ho spoke the most important reason he had held this press conference.

“Therefore, I declare to you all. If you have watched my interview, please do not accept any offer to become Susanoo’s Apostle.”