Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 420

“Big Gate?”

“The first Big Gate?”

“What the hell does that mean?”

WMD was in chaos.

No—so was the UN, their higher organization.

“Big Gate?”

There are many kinds of Gates.

Of those, the only names ever officially mentioned by the System were normal Gates and Hidden Gates; things like End Gates were simply human-made classifications for convenience.

And now, in the midst of that, the System had just mentioned a brand-new term: Big Gate.

Naturally, everyone tensed up.

And it wasn’t a casual mention, either—it came with the phrase “As the Second Great Upheaval begins” and the weighty modifier “First Big Gate.”

“If it’s the first, that means there’ll be more Big Gates coming?”

“How many of them?”

“God almighty...”

Their shock lasted only a moment.

The UN moved quickly.

As the world’s largest peace organization, they couldn’t just sit on their hands after seeing a System notice like that.

“First, dispatch all Peace Corps units to Australia.”

“Issue evacuation orders to the Australian people, and mobilize ships and planes to request refugee cooperation from the nearest allied nations.”

“Check with New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia too! We don’t know how massive the Big Gate’s impact will be!”

Still, professionals were professionals.

Within moments of the incident breaking out, immediate response measures were in motion.

At that moment, Charlie Paul, the director of the UN’s World Player Organization Secretariat, approached Secretary-General Mac Anderson after issuing orders.

“Mr. Secretary-General, given the gravity of the situation, shouldn’t we pre-emptively request allied nations to dispatch Players under the UN’s name?”

“That would be the sensible move, but after the Second Effect, everyone’s still reeling. I’m not sure they’ll respond.”

“But this isn’t just anywhere—it’s Australia. It’s already managed as a danger zone. I think we should ask for cooperation before something worse happens.”

“Understood. Send the requests. But the other countries must have seen the Big Gate notice too—I doubt they’ll easily send their top personnel.”

“I’ll still do my best.”

Resolve hardened on Charlie’s face.

*

“What a mess.”

Jeong Cheol-min lit a cigarette quietly as he read the System notice.

A Big Gate to commemorate the Second Great Upheaval?

What the hell even is a Big Gate?

Whatever it was, it clearly wasn’t ordinary.

If even a lowly civil-servant Player like him got the alert, it meant another enormous upheaval was coming.

‘Did that bastard Su-ho see this coming too?’

He wasn’t sure—but somehow, he figured Su-ho probably had.

No—he might not just have anticipated it, but already prepared and started moving.

That guy was absurdly omniscient sometimes.

So now he was thinking.

Having decided to stay in Korea to fully support Su-ho, what should he do next?

Most of the communication disruptions and other issues caused by the Second Effect had already been repaired.

But even with the network restored, that didn’t mean he could contact Su-ho.

He didn’t know where Su-ho was or what he was doing.

Hence the dilemma—what was the best way to help him?

It was then—

Bzzzt!

A phone call.

An international number.

What?

Spam or a voice-phishing scam, in this situation?

If it was spam or phishing right now, those bastards deserved a medal—for having the nerve to pull that crap while the world was collapsing.

Frowning, Jeong Cheol-min answered the call.

“Hello.”

“Is this Jeong Cheol-min, Director of the Special Division at the Grand Hunter Association?”

What the...?

He just called and immediately read out my full credentials?

Whoever he was, he had guts reciting the Special Division Director’s info like that.

Jeong smirked faintly and asked,

“Yeah, that’s me. Who’s speaking?”

“My apologies for the late introduction. Hello, sir—I’m Charlie Paul, Director of the UN’s World Player Organization Secretariat.”

“......!”

Hearing the caller’s identity, Jeong’s eyes widened, and he pulled the cigarette from his mouth at once.

“The UN?”

“Yes, the UN. I’ll get straight to the point. I assume you also saw the notice about the Big Gate just now, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. Does the UN know anything about it?”

“We don’t. That’s why we’re beginning preparations. According to readings from WMD, the most likely candidate location for the System’s so-called Big Gate is Australia.”

“Australia...!”

At that word, Jeong involuntarily nodded.

Understandable—Australia had survived so ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ far, but it was a miracle it hadn’t already collapsed.

‘Honestly, it’s a country that’s been living on borrowed time.’

Australia was a peculiar place.

Geographically a continent, but even before the Upheaval, its population was under thirty million across that vast land.

Most of it was desert, and its ancient, isolated terrain had given rise to countless unique species—that very biodiversity was what had turned post-Upheaval Australia into hell itself.

‘These are the people who once lost wars to rabbits and emus—so what do you think happened when those turned into monsters?’

Add to that the infamous “wars” against feral cats, toads, and camels that had gone poorly—when the opponents became monsters, the results were predictable.

Still, major cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, where most of the population lived, had fortified themselves and formed regional joint guilds. Thanks to the quick cooperation of local Players, they’d lasted far longer than most nations and managed to maintain infrastructure.

But if WMD had named Australia the Big Gate candidate and it was true, its future was as clear as day.

Of course it was.

Gates, the longer they’re left alone, the thicker their Mana grows and the more monsters they spew out—and because of Australia’s geography, full of deserts and mountains people couldn’t monitor, countless Gates had inevitably been left neglected for years.

‘Even if I don’t know exactly what a Big Gate is, WMD calling Australia the candidate means Mana is abnormally converging there.’

Then the existing neglected Gates would also be affected by that convergence.

‘Either the existing Gates will merge into a Big Gate—or a new Big Gate will form.’

Neither option boded well.

Then why would the UN’s Player Secretary-General himself be calling me?

‘No way...?’

Jeong narrowed his eyes.

“I see. If Australia’s the Big Gate candidate, its future does look uncertain.”

“Yes. We’re dispatching Peace Corps and preparing in every way, but...”

Charlie’s voice trailed.

Still, as a director, he had to speak plainly.

“That’s why—we’d like Korea’s help to prevent an even greater catastrophe.”

“What kind of help?”

“We’d like to request a Player dispatch.”

So that’s what this was.

But our own situation’s dire too.

Jeong was about to refuse when Charlie hurriedly added, half a beat ahead—

“We’re not asking for much. And I understand perfectly that society hasn’t stabilized yet after the Second Upheaval. I also know you can’t just draft Players by force. But this is a matter of enormous importance for all humanity—if every nation only guards its own interests, it’ll explode into something far worse later. You know that.”

“...I do. But not everyone thinks like the UN. And no matter how high-level a Player is, how many will willingly risk their lives for humanity—overcoming fear of the unknown, or rather, fear of death itself? Besides...”

Jeong hesitated, then spoke.

“Frankly, the person your side will have been most hoping for—Section Chief An Su-ho—is currently missing after entering the North Korean Purification and Unification Operation.”

“What? What did you say?”

“It’s true. After the operation began, he infiltrated deep into North Korea alone on a special mission. But then the Second Upheaval hit, and since communications were only just restored, we still don’t know whether Chief An Su-ho is alive.”

“That’s... impossible...”

To Charlie, it felt like the sky was collapsing.

Korea wasn’t even a permanent or non-permanent member of the Security Council—so technically it owed the UN nothing.

But the real reason Charlie, as the Player Organization Director, had personally called was, of course, Su-ho.

Su-ho’s strength had already been fully reported to the higher-ups after their previous encounters.

Su-ho himself had even hinted beforehand—

Even if Korea wasn’t on the Security Council, they could request help from him “voluntarily” at any time.

And now, in the moment he was most needed, they couldn’t reach him.

Jeong said,

“It’s the truth. Why would we lie to the UN? But we understand your request. I’ll report it up the chain, and as soon as Chief An Su-ho can be contacted, we’ll respond immediately. I’ll also check with other domestic guilds to see if anyone’s willing to join the Peace Corps.”

“...Understood. Thank you.”

“Of course.”

The call ended.

Charlie lowered his arm, eyes shut, head tilted back.

“F**king hell...”

So An Su-ho couldn’t join.

He’d thought that since Su-ho was a state civil-servant Player, it’d be easier than recruiting from private guilds.

He had no way of knowing whether Jeong’s story was true or not.

But he couldn’t press the man as if interrogating him, either.

After a brief moment of despair, Charlie quickly began seeking other options.

He was, after all, the top official of the UN Player Organization.

“......”

After hanging up, Jeong Cheol-min stared at the blank phone screen for a long time.

Then he put the cigarette back between his lips.

“......”

He gazed at the dark screen for a few moments more, then, having made up his mind, opened his contacts and found Su-ho’s number.

‘Just in case.’

It wasn’t like Jeong didn’t understand Charlie’s intentions.

He was cut from the same cloth as Charlie and Su-ho—

A man who believed that personal interests should yield to the peace of humanity.

He had promised to support Su-ho, yes, but if you looked closely, humanity’s peace came first; Su-ho’s management and support came second.

So while he’d decided not to interfere with Su-ho as much as possible, he also figured he should at least try calling once.

He was just about to press the call button—

Bzzzt!

“......!”

A call came in.

Jeong’s eyes widened at the caller ID.

The caller was none other than Su-ho.

Startled, Jeong answered at once.

“Su-ho?”

“Yes, sir. It’s me, Su-ho.”

“Where are you? I was just debating whether to call you.”

“Why? Because of the Big Gate notice?”

“Yeah. The UN called—asking if I could send you.”

“And?”

“I told them I’d check and get back to them. But I also said you’re currently missing in North Korea.”

“Good call. Actually, I was just about to contact you about that.”

“Contact me?”

“Yes. I’m in Australia right now.”

“Australia?”

“Yes, Australia.”

The cigarette fell from Jeong Cheol-min’s mouth.