Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 65

Ahn Suho arrived in Yeongdeungpo and stood in front of an old villa, following the directions on his phone.

‘This one’s a semi-basement too.’

Back then and even now, semi-basements were a symbol of poverty.

Suho shook his head and pressed the doorbell in front of the villa’s only semi-basement unit.

But there was no sound.

Is it broken?

He decided to knock on the door instead.

Thud, thud, thud—

There was no response.

He knocked again.

Thud, thud, thud—

“Nam Haewon, are you there?”

Silence.

Is no one home?

No.

That couldn’t be.

According to Nam Haewon’s schedule, he should be home now after leaving the rehab center.

Although he was a drug addict, Nam Haewon was surprisingly diligent.

He was genuinely trying to quit drugs by attending a rehab center.

So, Suho activated a skill.

[ Mana Detection activated. ]

As the skill activated, he began sensing the nearby magic energies.

As he detected the energies, Suho smirked.

A dense gathering of mana beyond the door.

Of course.

It made sense.

It wasn’t that there was no one inside; they were deliberately hiding and holding their breath.

Suho began carefully distinguishing the energies he sensed.

‘One, two, three, four…….’

Judging by the number, it looked like there were three “guests” inside.

Suho grabbed the door handle, which wasn’t even a digital lock but an old key lock.

And then.

Crack—!

He tore it off.

With Suho’s strength stat nearing the orange grade, a regular key lock was no obstacle, even without any special security features.

As he tore off the door handle, the old front door creaked open.

Inside, three men with fierce looks stared back at him from the entrance.

One of them was sitting on top of someone, none other than Nam Haewon.

“Hah…”

Suho sighed at the sight.

Then, two of the men standing by asked him.

“Who are you?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“What?”

“Shut up.”

Suho slowly started walking forward.

One of the men on the left approached Suho, trying to block his path.

Or so he thought.

As the man leaned forward, Suho slapped his right cheek.

Slap! … Thud!

The man fell forward, collapsing as if it were a lie.

The other two men looked shocked at the sight.

Suho addressed the remaining man.

“You, come here too.”

“You little…!”

Slap! Crash!

He didn’t use any weapons.

He didn’t even clench his fist.

He just slapped them.

That was enough.

With just this, most of them would fall unconscious.

Once the second man had collapsed, Suho shifted his gaze to the man who was sitting on Nam Haewon.

But this guy, still not grasping the situation, sneered and looked at Suho with an arrogant smile.

Then he slowly stood up, straightened his clothes, and spoke.

“Where are you from?”

Slap! Crash!

Suho responded with another slap.

But this time, he must have hit harder, as this man flew back and crashed into the wall.

“… Did I hit him too hard?”

Suho put a finger under his nose just in case, but he was breathing.

That was good enough.

Suho turned his attention to Nam Haewon, who was still crouched down on the floor.

He looked around.

The house was a mess.

Nearby, there were medicine packets and general trash scattered about, and among them, Suho found a few empty syringes.

“This is…”

They were syringes clearly used for drug injections.

And the syringes were wet.

As if they’d just been used.

“What?”

Suho’s eyes widened, and he quickly started shaking Nam Haewon.

“Nam Haewon? Can you hear me?”

“……”

“Nam Haewon?”

“……”

“… Nam Haewon?”

Even after calling his name three times, there was no response.

Suho touched him, hoping for a reaction, but Nam Haewon’s body tilted sideways and fell over.

He collapsed sideways, keeping the exact same posture as he had been crouched in.

As if he’d been petrified.

Startled, Suho brought his fingers to Haewon’s nose.

Fortunately, he was breathing.

But his eyes were rolled back.

He showed signs of severe overdose.

‘These insane people.’

He had suspected it, but it seemed they had injected him with drugs and sat on him to keep him down.

Suho examined his arm and ankle just in case, and sure enough, he found injection marks on his arm.

He immediately laid him down properly and used Recovery.

[ Recovery activated. ]

Whoosh!

As Recovery activated, mana was consumed, and a bright light enveloped him.

Recovery normally only worked on the area the user touched, but Isabella had once taught Suho that he could expand its range by pouring in mana.

‘I might not like her, but information is still information.’

After a considerable amount of mana was poured in, Nam Haewon finally showed a reaction.

His jaw trembled as he spoke.

“Ugh…”

“Nam Haewon, are you coming to your senses?”

“Uh, where… where is this…?”

“This is your home, Nam Haewon.”

“A-ah… oh…?”

At Suho’s words, Nam Haewon’s eyes grew wide, and he quickly sat up.

Then, trembling as if having a seizure, he asked, “Th-those people… where are they?”

Those people.

He must have meant the gangsters who had been pinning him down.

In response, Suho pointed with his chin at the fallen gangsters.

Nam Haewon’s expression grew even more shocked.

“W-what? W-why are they… like that…?”

“They weren’t being cooperative, so I dealt with them. But looking around, it seems like you’ve been using drugs…?”

“No! I didn’t take them willingly! Th-those guys forced it on me! I swear! Please believe me!”

At the mention of drugs, Nam Haewon frantically pleaded, tears and snot flowing as he practically clung to Suho.

‘Right. This guy was captured by the Changsik Gang and forcefully injected with drugs. He suffered withdrawal symptoms for quite a while after that.’

It was true.

This fact was something he confessed in an interview much later, when he became famous as a blacksmith.

Suho, seeing that Haewon still hadn’t fully regained his composure, activated his Ring of Emotions.

[ The Ring of Emotions responds to the target’s most intense emotion. ]

[ The absorbable emotion is ‘Black’. ]

[ Absorbing emotions from the target. ]

Shuaa!

The black emotion was absorbed.

As a result, Haewon, who had been panicking, gradually calmed down, eventually regaining his composure entirely.

Once his breathing steadied, Suho asked, “Are you feeling a bit better now?”

Nod, nod.

In response to Suho’s question, Nam Haewon weakly nodded.

Suho continued.

“Good. I believe you, Mr. Nam Haewon. Those guys who drugged you, they’re from the Changsik Gang, right? I know those scumbags well. They purposely addict people to drugs to exploit them for money and power.”

“… The Changsik Gang? Is that what they’re called?”

“Yes, the Changsik Gang.”

The Changsik Gang.

Their original name was something fancy like Golden Maiden Hand, but the Korean Hunter Association mockingly renamed them as the Changsik Gang.

Police were the ones who usually assigned names to gang groups, so it wasn’t unusual.

They used nicknames to prevent the idolization of gangsters.

Suho continued, “You’re attending a rehab center, right?”

“What? Oh, yes… but how did you know…?”

“I’ve been cracking down on the Changsik Gang recently. That’s how I found out about you… Anyway, you don’t need to worry anymore. If they’re going after someone from a rehab center, that’s a serious crime. I’ll make sure to take care of this.”

“R-really? Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Nam Haewon expressed his gratitude, bowing repeatedly.

“Since this is a serious matter, I’ll be back soon. But… are you feeling dry-mouthed or having any withdrawal symptoms?”

“Huh? Oh… actually, yes… I’m starting to feel a bit chilly too….”

“Could you sit next to me for a moment?”

“L-like this?”

“Yes.”

Suho seated Nam Haewon next to him.

Then, he extended his hands towards Haewon, who looked at him curiously, and activated Recovery.

[ Recovery activated. ]

Whoosh!

A bright light emerged.

This time, Suho poured in more mana.

The effect was strong.

As Recovery enveloped him, Nam Haewon’s face showed increasing amazement.

“This… this is…!”

“It’s Recovery. It’s effective for general illnesses and can relieve withdrawal symptoms and eliminate the drug remnants in your body.”

“Are you… a healer?”

“Yes, I’m a healer. So… let’s wrap it up for now, shall we?”

As Suho ended Recovery, Nam Haewon, still stunned, looked down at his palms.

His withdrawal symptoms had greatly subsided.

Nam Haewon actually knew that Recovery was the best treatment for addiction.

But healers who could use Recovery charged an exorbitant fee.

After all, using Recovery consumed a lot of mana, and it took at least a day to recover after using it once.

So, treatment through healers wasn’t covered by insurance.

‘If it were covered by medical insurance, the national treasury would go bankrupt.’

Healers could charge whatever they wanted for Recovery.

This was also why Isabella was the most influential and popular among the Last Stand members.

Suho said, “Addiction treatment with Recovery requires consistent treatment over a long period, so let’s meet again if possible. I need to head over to see the Changsik Gang soon.”

Suho had just stood up when Nam Haewon, finally in his senses, called out.

“Wa-wait! Could I… know who you are and where you’re from?”

Suho smiled and replied, “My name is Ahn Suho, and I’m a Hunter. Goodbye.”

With that, Suho gave a slight nod and left the house.

Not long after he left, Nam Haewon’s eyes widened.

“Ahn Suho? Could it be… the Hunter Ahn Suho?!”

Nam Haewon’s mouth fell open.

As if he’d seen a ghost.

***

“This is it.”

After several Gate Shocks, half of Yeongdeungpo had become a de facto slum.

Located in the heart of Seoul, Yeongdeungpo had turned into a hotbed of crime, a place where even the police and the Korean Hunter Association hesitated to intervene.

Suho arrived in front of the Changsik Gang’s building in Mullae-dong and checked the address.

“Yep, this is the place.”

Golden Maiden Hand.

That was the Changsik Gang’s company name.

Suho clicked his tongue.

Why would gangsters use such a grandiose name?

They even had a convenience store on the first floor.

In any other neighborhood, people might wonder why there was a convenience store in a gangster’s building, but in the slums, convenience stores were a rare business.

Glass windows were often smashed, goods were stolen, robberies occurred, and disturbances were common.

The fact that a convenience store operated on the first floor likely meant it was run by gangsters.

‘Running a convenience store in the slums requires backing.’

They were probably siphoning off small change from the nearby area.

Convenience stores were among the most essential shops for modern people.

But to the gangsters, it was likely a stand-in for a mini-fridge or a canteen.

As proof, the convenience store on the first floor was a private one with no brand.

The moment Suho climbed the stairs next to the convenience store to the second floor—

“Huh?”

A thug was sitting at the entrance.

Classic.

It seemed they placed a low-level thug at the entrance just because it was the slums.

Suho asked the doorman, “Where’s Changsik?”

“What?”

“I’m asking where your boss Changsik is.”

“Who the hell are you to… wait, are you Ahn Suho, the Hunter?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

Slap! Crash!

The low-level thug collapsed, fainting from the slap.

What difference did it make if he recognized him?

Ignoring him, Suho continued upstairs.