Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 478
Everything moved forward at a fast pace.
Things like the designation of no-man’s-lands as jointly managed regions, and the Hyper Camp—things Su-ho had mentioned at the end of the special broadcast.
Su-ho returned to Madagascar.
Because even if he stayed in Korea now, there wasn’t really anything to do.
'If there’s anything I have to do, it’s just leveling up.'
The Madagascar conquest was going smoothly.
With Great General Il-yong at the head, Du-yong and Sam-yong took charge of the left wing and right wing respectively and crushed the field monsters at a rapid pace, and each time an area was cleared, the army swelled more and more—until they had succeeded in swallowing up over half the island.
'It doesn’t look like there’s anywhere I need to step in.'
There really wasn’t.
The highest-grade Gate in Madagascar was the Plague Fairy Gate, and once he killed it and removed the contamination attribute from every monster on the island, the monsters there could no longer stand as opponents to the lizardmen legion.
So instead of staying on Madagascar, Su-ho headed to the islands next to it—Reunion Island and Mauritius—and then to Rodrigues Island even farther over.
Among them, his first destination was Rodrigues Island, the easternmost one.
There was nothing special about choosing this place as the starting point.
It was because he planned to move inward from the very outer edge.
After arriving at Rodrigues Island, Su-ho sent the Cheolma back, then looked around.
There was no aura of plague.
He had checked on the way over as well, and it seemed the plague fairies had only been in Madagascar.
But that didn’t mean there were people here, either.
"Kirrik?"
At Su-ho’s appearance, the native residents of Rodrigues Island and its main monsters—the Rodrigues tortoises—revealed themselves.
More precisely, things that had once been “Rodrigues tortoises.”
Like those Ninja Turtle characters that had once been popular long ago, they were standing upright on two legs, but unlike ordinary tortoises, they had thick, long tails like dinosaurs, and both their hands and feet were fairly developed, like kangaroos.
Their necks were the same.
'That’s a mini dinosaur—how is that a tortoise in any universe?'
But they really were tortoises.
Rodrigues’s Valiant Turtle Warrior Lv.254
Rodrigues’s Valiant Turtle Warrior Lv.257
Rodrigues’s Valiant Turtle Warrior Lv.251
Rodrigues’s Valiant Turtle Warrior Lv.253
...
Because “Turtle Warrior” was clearly written right there on their name cards, a solid identity.
And their levels were low.
But he couldn’t complain.
Right now, not long after the second Great Catastrophe, it was Su-ho’s leveling speed that was abnormally fast.
"Honestly, that’s better."
Su-ho smashed his two fists together and let out his fighting spirit.
Sensing Su-ho’s fighting spirit, the Valiant Turtle Warriors of Rodrigues all charged at Su-ho without exception.
"Gyaaaaaaak!!"
"Yeah, come on!"
Su-ho also charged at the Turtle Warriors.
But unlike usual, he charged in barehanded.
He didn’t even use buff skills.
There was only one reason.
'It’s about time I upgrade Destruction Fist.'
Su-ho recalled the information of Destruction Fist he had obtained from Shiva’s avatar in India.
[ Destruction Fist ]
Grade : S
# The unique fist art of Samar Rishi, India’s greatest martial-arts player and contractor of the god Shiva.
# Only one who possesses the Apostle of Shiva trait can use it.
# It specializes in destruction and flexibility, and in particular, its focus is set on softness.
Destruction Fist, which only someone who possesses the Apostle of Shiva trait can obtain.
But that had also been the case with the Tyrant Spear Art.
That was why he had needed to secure the Rune of Inheritance through a deal with the archdemon.
Su-ho had wanted to obtain these two things for one reason only.
'To raise my swordsmanship skill.'
It wasn’t about strengthening Void Style.
It was something he needed in order to raise his own ability to wield the sword—purely his own.
These two things were absolutely different.
Void Style was a skill, but the ability to handle the sword itself was his embodied original.
In that sense, Su-ho had been determined to obtain these two things no matter what.
And that was because Su-ho in his previous life hadn’t been a regressor and had reached the pinnacle through effort alone—so he knew better than anyone what he lacked and what left him wanting.
So now, living his second life as a regressor, he had found the optimal route to raise his swordsmanship level by fully utilizing the knowledge he possessed.
'To do that, a spear art and a fist art that have reached the peak are, for me, an indispensable choice.'
He had chosen spearmanship to make up for his lack of thrusting, and fist arts to raise flexibility and destructive power itself.
So at the current timing, what Su-ho needed to do wasn’t training the spearmanship he had already elevated into Strong-Strike Style, but training Destruction Fist, which still hadn’t achieved an ascension of realm.
'More precisely, getting picked by Shiva.'
In that sense, all the islands connected from Rodrigues Island to Madagascar would become nourishment for Destruction Fist’s growth.
Because now, the only thing Su-ho had left was truly time.
"Gyaaaak!!"
A Turtle Warrior like a mini dinosaur threw its whole body forward and charged at Su-ho.
Toward that Turtle Warrior, Su-ho threw a punch without a single moment of hesitation.
Kwooooom!!
It was a bare fist—without a single buff skill, without a single piece of blood weaponry.
Even so, Su-ho’s fist stood its ground proudly, showing durability equal to—no, greater than—a Turtle Warrior beyond the mid-200s in level.
And even...
"Who do you think you’re trying to hit?!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Turtle Warriors charged in all at once and put him in what you’d call a classic dogpile, but not a single attack reached Su-ho.
Because Su-ho’s outstanding combat sense combined with his high-level stats made him evade every last one of those attacks.
'Are you watching, Shiva?! I’m working this hard because I want you to pick me!'
A grin that gleamed with madness.
Su-ho, who had become a crazed berserker, kept smashing Turtle Warriors down with his bare fists as he advanced toward the center of the island.
*
How many days had passed like that?
[ You have defeated Rodrigues’s Monstrous Turtle King. ]
[ The Gate has been cleared. ]
[ The MVP of the Gate clear is ‘An Su-ho’ . ]
[ Additional experience is provided for MVP selection. ]
[ 1 bonus stat is provided for MVP selection. ]
[ You have leveled up. ]
[ All stats have increased by 1. ]
[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]
"I got them aaaaall!!"
Su-ho finally defeated the Monstrous Turtle King—the only Gate on Rodrigues, the final boss, the last monster—and succeeded in clearing every monster that existed across Rodrigues Island.
"Check status window!"
[ An Su-ho ]
Lv : 288
Class : Rage Crusader
Rank : Middle Player
Traits : <Newblood><Hercules><King of a Fallen Nation><Grid’s Partner><Sun-Moon Body>
Strength(P) : 19
True Mana(S) : 69
Senses(P) : 4
Command(N) : 107
Bonus Stats : 2
"Ugh, seriously."
Su-ho let out a sigh after seeing his status window.
He had just killed the final boss monster.
He had even killed every monster that existed on Rodrigues for days on end.
And yet the level he gained was only one at most.
This was probably all due to the level gap of dozens between them.
'No, leveling up was always hard. It’s just that I’ve been leveling easily up until now.'
Thinking about it, in his previous life he had barely managed to make even one purple-colored stat, but in this life, how many purple-colored stats did he already have?
'Yeah. This can happen. But what’s really frustrating is...’
It was that damned Shiva’s reaction.
'Why the hell are you not showing any reaction at all?'
No joke—over the past few days, he had hunted Turtle Warriors without getting hit even once.
Not only had he swung his fists until his hands blistered, but since what he had learned was a fist art, he hadn’t even kicked, just in case.
He only used his feet to evade.
And yet not even a single system line appeared, let alone a reaction from Shiva.
'It wasn’t even this bad with Void Style and Strong-Strike Style.'
Was it really such a huge greed to want just one more evolved martial arts skill?
But it was too early to give up already.
When he obtained Destruction Fist, Su-ho had clearly seen that Shiva had interest in him.
Su-ho recalled the notifications Shiva had shown him.
[ ■■ feels interest in you. ]
[ ■■ laughs as if your words are amusing. ]
[ ■■ says there is no business. They simply felt interest in you. ]
[ ■■ laughs at your words. ]
Four whole lines of notifications.
If this wasn’t flirting, then what was?
Fine. Indians don’t fall that easily, is that it?
But in the end, you won’t have a choice but to come back to me.
Because now that your only apostle is gone, among the player stock that exists in this world, there won’t be anyone more outstanding than me, and there won’t be anyone more tempting than me.
'Even if I’m currently juggling multiple Transcendents at the same time.'
After finishing his thoughts, Su-ho snorted and climbed onto the Cheolma.
Then he headed to the next destination: Mauritius Island.
*
[ You have defeated Mauritius’s Giant Wing King. ]
[ The Gate has been cleared. ]
[ The MVP of the Gate clear is ‘An Su-ho’ . ]
[ Additional experience is provided for MVP selection. ]
[ 1 bonus stat is provided for MVP selection. ]
[ You have leveled up. ]
[ All stats have increased by 1. ]
[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]
...
[ You have defeated Reunion’s Fierce Raptor Castle. ]
[ The Gate has been cleared. ]
[ The MVP of the Gate clear is ‘An Su-ho’ . ]
[ Additional experience is provided for MVP selection. ]
[ 1 bonus stat is provided for MVP selection. ]
[ You have leveled up. ]
[ All stats have increased by 1. ]
[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]
[ You have reached level 290. ]
[ The system wants you to become even stronger. ]
[ The system gifts you higher power. ]
...
Countless system notifications.
These were the results he obtained after ultimately clearing the remaining two islands among the three islands he had targeted.
Among them, the most meaningful result was, without question, achieving level 290.
Thanks to that, he obtained a new Rage Crusader skill.
But Su-ho wasn’t happy at all.
"Why do you have absolutely no interest in me?!"
How many days had he spent circling the three islands?
Yet even while spending all that time, Su-ho didn’t receive Shiva’s interest messages even once.
He was going insane.
To be honest, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) at this point, he had expected to be lightly chosen.
But Shiva, a mad genius at push-and-pull, absolutely refused to let him close, and right after clearing the last island, Su-ho finally exploded.
[ ■■ shakes their head. ]
[ ■■■■ chuckles. ]
[ ■■ clicks their tongue, tsk tsk. ]
Instead, notifications from other Transcendents appeared.
But they were notifications closer to mockery than comfort.
It made him angry.
At that time, Grid, who had been watching Su-ho, spoke.
- Partner.
"What?"
- I don’t want to say this, but how about you give up now?
"Give up?"
- The power you seek is, in the first place, a power you can obtain only when you are thrown into a trial. And in your current state, who could possibly throw you into a trial? That’s why I’m telling you to give up.
"What are you...?"
In that moment.
"Ah? So you’re saying it’s because I only picked easy opponents to fight, that’s why?"
- Right. That’s why I’m telling you to stop. In the first place, at this point in time, someone stronger than you...
"No, you’re a genius. I’m going to test it right now. Just wait."
- ...?
With his eyes sparkling, Su-ho immediately mounted the Cheolma and headed somewhere.
