Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 148

Psssshh!

Blood splattered.

The blood spurted from the gaping chest and splattered everywhere, soaking Suho thoroughly.

It was Im Changshik’s blood.

Im Changshik trembled uncontrollably.

But he could neither groan nor shudder.

Because his blood flow had been sealed.

[ Heal is activated. ]

Four days had passed since Suho first began cutting Im Changshik.

Today marked the fifth day.

Tomorrow, Yoon Hyunchul would return.

So, until today, Suho had done his utmost to cut Im Changshik.

The reason Suho had been cutting Im Changshik for five days was to obtain a specific skill.

This skill’s experience points were only acknowledged when used against a living opponent.

But it seemed that five days of effort still wasn’t nearly enough.

‘Well, I only figured that out after reaching over level 200 myself.’

Beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep beep!

Right on time, Suho’s phone alarm went off.

It was time to return.

Regrettably, he had to wrap things up here.

Suho unsummoned his Blood Sword and released Im Changshik’s blood flow.

“Gaaaaahhh!!”

Im Changshik collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

It was only natural.

Even though he hadn’t been able to move with his blood flow sealed, the pain from his chest being sliced open had accumulated continuously.

Im Changshik’s body trembled violently, his eyes rolled back as he struggled to withstand the accumulated damage all at once.

However, Suho showed no sympathy for Im Changshik; he healed him with practiced familiarity and then began using items to clean up the surrounding blood.

Afterward, he left some drugs, water, and a bit of food he had prepared earlier near him.

“See you again sometime.”

From the start, Suho had never intended to keep his promise of freedom.

Im Changshik, after all, hadn’t kept his promises to countless debtors.

***

Leaving the Subspace House through his Clone Transfer, Suho found Yoon Hyunchul’s room bustling with breakfast preparations.

His clone soldier was leaning against the wall, and as Suho replaced the clone soldier with his true self, he stretched his neck muscles to signal his return.

At that, Kim Goong-won, who had been waiting nearby, quickly approached and sat next to Suho.

“You’re back, hyungnim.”

“Yeah, right. Have you eaten?”

“I was waiting for you, hyungnim.”

At those words, Suho naturally restored Kim Goong-won’s sense of taste.

“Thank you, hyungnim!”

As soon as his sense of taste was restored, Kim Goong-won bowed his head gratefully, then hurried to the table and began eating.

But something seemed odd at the dining table today.

Suho shifted his gaze and looked at Bae Seong-hwan.

Bae Seong-hwan was barely picking at his food at the table, looking significantly more haggard.

The others in the room seemed similar.

With a smirk, Suho spoke.

“Seong-hwan.”

“…Yes, hyungnim.”

In response to Suho’s call, Bae Seong-hwan approached, his voice lifeless.

It wasn’t Suho’s imagination—he truly looked worn out.

His cheeks had hollowed out since Suho last saw him, and his complexion didn’t look good either.

It was because of the Siphon Star Parasite Pill.

Suho asked.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“Yes… it doesn’t seem like a cold or a fever, but I have no energy, no appetite….”

Hearing Bae Seong-hwan’s reply, Suho furrowed his brow and activated his Mana Detection skill.

As a wave of mana pulsed, Bae Seong-hwan’s energy patterns began to reveal themselves.

After examining him, Suho chuckled at the distinct presence in Seong-hwan’s abdomen.

The Siphon Star Parasite Pill had grown much larger than it had five days ago.

‘Ripened nicely.’

Four days were indeed enough, just as he’d heard.

Suho spoke.

“Want some help?”

“What?”

“You said you’re in pain. Want me to help?”

“H-How?”

“Close your eyes.”

“…Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

“N-No! I did!”

Bae Seong-hwan did as Suho instructed.

Seeing this, Kim Goong-won and the others in the room began to watch with intrigued eyes.

Suho activated a skill on Bae Seong-hwan, who had his eyes closed.

[ Recovery is activated. ]

As the Recovery skill activated, a cool light began to envelop Bae Seong-hwan.

“Don’t open your eyes.”

Startled by the sudden sensation, Bae Seong-hwan tried to open his eyes, but Suho’s warning forced him to squeeze them shut again.

Then, it happened.

“Ugh!”

A sudden wave of nausea hit him.

It was the kind of nausea you’d feel after downing dozens of yogurt cups.

Unable to fight it off, Bae Seong-hwan had no choice but to vomit.

“Bleeerrggh!”

With nothing much in his stomach, only a bit of fluid came out.

But along with the prolonged retching emerged none other than a parasite.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

A parasite.

It was the Siphon Star Parasite Pill.

White and thick, resembling a grub, the Siphon Star Parasite Pill, coated in digestive fluids, wriggled on the floor, proving it was alive.

“Ugh!”

“Ugh, damn!”

The sight made everyone else in the room feel nauseated as well.

Hearing their sounds of disgust, Bae Seong-hwan, startled, opened his eyes.

And when he saw the wriggling Siphon Star Parasite Pill in front of him, he recoiled in horror.

“W-What is this?!”

“Quiet.”

“Huh?”

“Now, go eat. This thing was the reason you’ve been feeling terrible.”

“T-This bug was?”

At Suho’s words, rage flashed momentarily in Bae Seong-hwan’s eyes.

But Suho issued a warning.

“Don’t touch the bug. Go eat.”

“But… shouldn’t we dispose of it…?”

“Don’t bother with unnecessary things. Go.”

“Y-Yes… understood.”

“Again.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing else to say?”

“…?”

At Suho’s question, Bae Seong-hwan looked confused for a moment, then quickly widened his eyes and lowered his head again.

“T-Thank you! Thank you so much for removing the bug!”

“Make sure to always show gratitude.”

“Yes, I understand!”

Afraid of incurring Suho’s wrath further, Bae Seong-hwan quickly hurried to the table.

Only two people remained.

Suho smiled as he spoke.

“You two, come here as well.”

“U-Us too?”

“You both have the same symptoms, don’t you? Hurry over.”

With symptoms identical to Bae Seong-hwan’s, they couldn’t deny it.

Both the timing and the symptoms matched.

But having just witnessed the Siphon Star Parasite Pill being vomited out, they hesitated to approach.

Then it happened.

As the two hesitated, Kim Goong-won nudged them forward.

“Are you idiots? Get over there, now!”

“S-Sorry!”

The two almost stumbled as they approached Suho, who used Recovery on them as well, successfully extracting their Siphon Star Parasite Pills.

And only after receiving words of thanks from the two did Suho gather up the three Siphon Star Parasite Pills.

‘Today’s going to be insanely busy.’

It was truly harvest time.

***

As expected, he was extremely busy all day long.

After all, he had to harvest Siphon Star Parasite Pills from nearly all the inmates within just one day.

But with Kim Goong-won’s help, Suho managed to recover almost all the Siphon Star Parasite Pills successfully.

‘Only the infirmary remains.’

Suho headed toward the infirmary, his final harvest site.

When he arrived at the infirmary, the doctor and healer greeted him indifferently, as usual.

Suho spoke to the two of them.

“Could you both please step aside for a moment?”

When Suho politely asked, the doctor and healer exchanged glances briefly before nodding and stepping aside.

As the two exited the infirmary, the inmates there began to grow visibly tense.

After all, the doctor and healer were their minimal safety buffer, and they had left simultaneously.

Suho spoke.

“All of you, line up in order before me.”

At his words, the inmates exchanged glances briefly before hastily lining up.

What followed was the same as before.

Suho used Recovery, extracting each Siphon Star Parasite Pill.

When the first patient vomited up an Siphon Star Parasite Pill, the ones standing behind him jumped in shock, but they didn’t have any other choice.

Like lambs led to the slaughter, they simply waited in line for their turn.

Finally, Jo Gwangho appeared at the very end.

Jo Gwangho looked even more gaunt than he had five days ago.

It was only natural.

He had fled here to the infirmary to escape the harassment from other inmates, only to suffer from the Siphon Star Parasite Pill here, so his face was bound to look terrible.

Jo Gwangho stared at Suho for a moment before quietly standing next to him, waiting for Recovery.

Suho extracted the last Siphon Star Parasite Pill from Jo Gwangho.

“Ugh!”

Jo Gwangho let out a relieved retch.

Looking at the size of Jo Gwangho’s Siphon Star Parasite Pill, Suho was satisfied.

Perhaps due to Jo Gwangho’s size, the Siphon Star Parasite Pill he expelled was much larger than those of the other inmates.

Just as Suho stored the Siphon Star Parasite Pill, something happened.

“You…”

At that moment, Jo Gwangho, who was wiping his mouth, suddenly spoke to Suho.

When Suho looked at him silently, Jo Gwangho locked eyes with him and spoke again.

“You… who are you?”

At his question, the corners of Suho’s mouth lifted.

Well, well.

Seems that, despite his current state, he still had the dignity of a former ruler of Cheong-ok.

With the same smile, Suho responded.

“And if you knew?”

“What?”

“If you knew, what difference would it make?”

“What are you…?”

Jo Gwangho’s eyes gradually widened.

Seeing this, Suho briefly deactivated his voice modulation item.

“Have you accumulated enough rage over time?”

“…!”

Suho’s real voice emerged in place of the altered one.

The moment Jo Gwangho heard Suho’s true voice, his eyes widened as if struck by lightning.

He looked as though he had seen a ghost.

How could he possibly forget that voice?

That voice marked the beginning of his tragic downfall!

Suho grinned at Jo Gwangho’s reaction.

Then he lowered his voice so only Jo Gwangho could hear.

“What a pity. The mighty tiger of the past has now fled to the infirmary, fearing rabbits and foxes.”

“You…!”

“But when I saw you in the infirmary, a thought occurred to me. Perhaps this infirmary isn’t just a place for treatment, but rather a poison jar meant for fermenting rage. So, tell me, have you built up enough anger?”

“You… bastard! Why are you doing this to me?”

“Why, you ask?”

“What?”

“Did you have a reason for killing all those people?”

Jo Gwangho’s eyes turned red as though they were about to burst with rage.

He was barely suppressing his anger.

He knew better than anyone that the moment he acted on that anger, it would be the end for him.

“You reap what you sow. And that got me thinking—watching you made me come up with an amusing idea.”

“How much further do you intend to humiliate me…?!”

“Don’t make me laugh. Stop pretending to be a tragic figure. Do you think you deserve any sympathy or honor in the first place? You’re nothing but a parasite feeding off society. The only reason you haven’t faced your punishment is because you were born with far too much good fortune.”

Suho reactivated his voice modulation item as he continued speaking.

“People say you’re nothing more than a punching bag here, don’t they? But, you know… hearing that made me wonder—everyone here is trash, so why do they all feel such righteous zeal in harassing you? So I thought about it. Maybe I should remind them of their place.”

Suho used a skill on Jo Gwangho.

[ Acupoint Strike is activated. ]

Suho released the seals on Jo Gwangho’s pressure points one by one.

Then, he took Jo Gwangho’s hand, which had been unable to clench tightly, and carefully curled it into a fist.

In that moment, Jo Gwangho’s eyes widened to the size of plates once again.

“They say when you drive out a beast, you should leave it a way to escape. Consider this your small breathing space. Go and release your anger. Go show the real idiots what this place truly is. Don’t even think about challenging the throne. Remember, if you forget your place, you’ll live a life where you can’t even chew food properly next time.”

Hearing Suho’s whispered words, Jo Gwangho trembled.

But soon, he understood the full meaning behind Suho’s words and bowed his head low, showing his crown.

“…I will do as instructed. Thank you, hyungnim.”

“Good. Now, I’m finally pleased with your attitude.”

After patting Jo Gwangho’s shoulder, Suho stood up first.