Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 77

Rattle, rattle, rattle…

Son Baek-geum and Kim Goong-won trembled as they kneeled, their bodies shaking.

Their clothes were torn beyond recognition, stained in places with their own blood.

Yet, despite this, there wasn’t a single visible wound on their bodies.

Why?

Because Suho had healed everything.

Suho pulled up a chair and sat in front of the two kneeling men.

“Wow, the Stat Detector really does work like a charm, doesn’t it?”

Stat Detector.

It was an essential tool used by renewal agents from the Awakening Department, taken from the equipment room of the Korean Hunter Association.

It was a device that displayed stat responses based on input values, developed by the government due to the system’s restriction on viewing others’ status windows.

However, the Stat Detector’s accuracy was only about 70%.

But Suho achieved an unprecedented 100% accuracy.

The method was simple.

He had used the Stat Detector to beat the truth out of Kim Goong-won.

Suho pointed the battered Stat Detector at Kim Goong-won.

“Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, if we check again later and the values don’t match what we measured now, it’ll hurt a lot more. Got it?”

“Yes, yes! I understand!”

“Good. Then you’re done. Next is….”

With Kim Goong-won’s status window updated, Suho had no more business with him.

Suho shifted his gaze to Son Baek-geum, who was also kneeling.

In his late thirties, Son Baek-geum had quickly become a big shot in Gangnam, thanks to Kim Goong-won.

Meeting him here was purely coincidental.

‘The timing was perfect.’

It was, indeed, perfect timing.

He was one of those who would have to be captured eventually.

However, capturing him right now was a bit tricky.

After all, he was here under the guise of a renewal agent performing a field evaluation.

But how could he ignore it when the man was right in front of him?

Suho asked,

“Mr. Son Baek-geum?”

“Y-yes…!”

“I overheard something interesting from you earlier.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“About bribing people in both the prosecution and the Korean Hunter Association.”

“…….”

“I can understand the prosecution, but who in the Korean Hunter Association did you bribe?”

He had “drugged” them.

He had spread money in advance to keep their mouths shut.

Or, he had manipulated official duties to his preference.

Depending on the interpretation, it was clearly a bribe for Kim Goong-won.

All the more reason Suho couldn’t turn a blind eye.

Some people, like him, were reliving their lives for the sake of world peace, but here he was, causing trouble?

At Suho’s question, Son Baek-geum trembled briefly before closing his eyes tightly.

Suho scoffed at the sight.

“Closing your eyes? Are you ignoring me when I’m asking a question?”

“N-no, that’s not it! I didn’t mean it like that! I was just about to answer!”

“Fine. But if you pull another unnecessary stunt like that in response to my questions, it won’t be fun for you. Since you’re a regular person, I don’t need the Stat Detector—I’ll just use my bare hands.”

“…….”

“Answer.”

“Y-yes! I understand…!”

As Son Baek-geum answered, trembling, Gu Yeonhwa, who was watching from afar, clicked her tongue.

“Wow… I knew he wasn’t ordinary, but seeing this up close, he’s really scary. Don’t you think, Hyunmin?”

“Scary, perhaps, but he’s impressive.”

“……?”

Gu Yeonhwa gave a puzzled look at Kim Hyunmin’s comment.

But Kim Hyunmin meant it sincerely.

He had personally experienced Suho’s exceptional capabilities.

The reason Suho had brought Gu Yeonhwa and Kim Hyunmin was to infiltrate Acro Tower quietly.

No matter how skilled Suho was, it was impossible for him to enter the heavily guarded Acro Tower alone without causing a scene.

So, he brought EMP-user Gu Yeonhwa, who could neutralize nearby electronics, and teleport-user Kim Hyunmin.

In other words, the blackout just moments ago was Gu Yeonhwa’s doing.

Suho asked Son Baek-geum,

“So, who did you bribe?”

“That… it was Vice President Park Gyu-min.”

“What?”

Really?

Park Gyu-min was involved in this?

Suho nodded, surprised by this unexpected information.

“And?”

“That’s it.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, he’s the only one.”

“Are you sure?”

“Y-yes! It’s true! Please believe me!”

Son Baek-geum frantically waved his hands, trying to prove his innocence.

Judging by his reaction, it seemed to be the truth.

But still, Park Gyu-min?

‘So, does Vice President Park Gyu-min have no knowledge of the upcoming Awakening and field evaluations?’

It seemed likely.

If he had known, he wouldn’t have allowed an evaluation that could endanger himself.

But that raised another question.

‘Then whose decision was it to include the evaluations for the Awakening this time? Knowing Park Gyu-min’s personality, he would have ensured that he was well compensated in return. But if someone deliberately included evaluations that would harm him, that means they’re openly targeting him.’

At that moment, a name popped into Suho’s mind.

‘Could it be Pi Seongyeol?’

It was unlikely that Department Head Lee Mun-ho would include Kim Goong-won in the evaluation purely to handle troublesome tasks related to the Awakening.

Park Gyu-min would have likely hinted to Department Head Lee Mun-ho, either directly or indirectly.

But if Lee Mun-ho still included such an evaluation task, it might mean someone higher up had pressured him.

‘If there’s someone who could exert pressure on Lee Mun-ho, they would have to be at least equal to or higher in authority than Park Gyu-min.’

This left only two possible candidates: Association President Jang Kyunghwan and Special Department Director Pi Seongyeol.

Of course, while Pi Seongyeol didn’t outrank Park Gyu-min, he was widely considered to have more internal power.

‘Moreover, to President Jang Kyunghwan, Park Gyu-min is like candy. There’s no reason for him to harm Park Gyu-min.’

This left Pi Seongyeol as the only likely candidate.

But that only made it harder to understand.

‘Were they on bad terms?’

No such memories came to mind.

Then why?

After some thought, Suho reached a conclusion.

‘I’ll just wait and see for now.’

Once news spread of Kim Goong-won’s capture, both Pi Seongyeol and Park Gyu-min would respond one way or another.

There was no need to unnecessarily shake things up with the Baekgeum gang in the meantime.

‘Whatever the case, I should get a bite soon.’

Suho stood up, gathering Kim Goong-won, and spoke to Son Baek-geum.

“See you if we meet again.”

“…Pardon?”

“Take care, then.”

With Kim Goong-won in tow, Suho exited Acro Tower with his banshees.

Left alone, Son Baek-geum tilted his head in bewilderment.

“…He just left like that?”

***

“Senior.”

“Ah, Suho, you’re here?”

At the Korean Hunter Association building.

Suho went to find Han Hosung, who was taking a break after work.

Han Hosung was lounging in the break room, looking relaxed.

He sat up and said,

“Yawn… So, did you find Kim Goong-won?”

“Yes, I did.”

“See? I told you, this task looks simple but is surprisingly difficult… Huh? What did you say?”

“I found him, updated his status information, and put him in the interrogation room just in case.”

“…?”

Han Hosung frowned, tilting his head, as if wondering if he had heard correctly.

But his hearing was fine, and Suho wasn’t lying.

Suho spoke up.

“Shall we go?”

“Oh, uh, yes, of course. We have to go.”

Realizing the reality of the situation, Han Hosung quickly followed Suho to the interrogation room.

***

“Unbelievable….”

Han Hosung let out a scoff as he looked at Kim Goong-won, seated in the interrogation room.

How was this even possible?

Kim Goong-won was classified as an uncooperative, high-risk, non-updater registrant of S-rank.

And this guy, who hadn’t even been glimpsed in years, had been caught in a single day… no, within a few hours?

But that wasn’t all.

As Han Hosung looked at the status information Suho handed him, he couldn’t help but be impressed once more.

‘Even the stat results are almost exact?’

It was unbelievable.

Since the Stat Detector’s accuracy was only around 70%, it required a fierce power struggle to get even a close approximation of stats from non-updater individuals. But how…?

However, Suho had managed it.

With effortless ease.

As if anyone could do it.

And Kim Goong-won was even being very cooperative.

While Han Hosung gaped, Suho casually said,

“Now that the allegations are confirmed, you can hand him over to the Special Department.”

“Ah, yes. Of course… But Suho.”

“Yes?”

“How… did you catch him?”

“Just asked around here and there and got lucky. By the way, would it be alright if I tracked down the remaining non-updaters individuals on my own? This is a field evaluation, after all.”

“Ah… Yes… of course… But, no. Would it be okay if I just accompanied you?”

“No.”

“Sorry?”

“I want to capture all of them on my own to get the best evaluation score. I’ll let you know if I need help. For now, please just handle the Special Division handover.”

“Ah… yes….”

Han Hosung felt he had no right to go against Suho’s words.

No, he felt he didn’t even have the right to resist.

“This is just….”

To him, Suho seemed like a completely different breed.

***

What followed was smooth sailing.

It wasn’t as if they were dealing with heinous criminals—just unregistered non-updater individuals.

How troublesome could they be?

Over two days, Suho tracked down everyone on the list, leaving Han Hosung in awe each time.

And naturally, Suho became the hottest topic within the association, once again drawing public attention.

“Did you hear? About Hunter Ahn… no, Trainee Ahn.”

“He supposedly caught all the troublesome non-updater people, right?”

“How did he manage to finish what even professional renewal agents couldn’t handle, and in just two days?”

“He really must be the Sword God. His work style is on a whole different level.”

“But doesn’t this make the renewal agents look bad?”

“Does it?”

It was certainly possible.

In a way, by accomplishing what professional renewal agents couldn’t, an ordinary trainee had inadvertently put them in an unfavorable comparison.

However, reality proved otherwise.

“Trainee Ahn! Trainee Ahn! Trainee Ahn!”

“Ahn Suho! Ahn Suho! Ahn Suho!”

“Sword God! Sword God! Sword God!”

“We love you! We love you! We love you!”

The cheers were fervent and loud.

Endless adoration poured out.

Envy? Jealousy?

There was none of that.

Suho had become nothing less than the greatest idol of the Awakening Department.

“Suho, can you just stay here and work with us forever?”

“I rarely say this, but I’ve never seen a talent like you.”

“I even joined your fan club, Suho. Call me your Apostle now.”

“Ahn-men.”

“Sword-men.”

Why were the people in the Awakening Department so enthusiastic?

It was obvious.

They had endured constant scolding due to the troublesome S-rank non-updater individuals, but Suho had resolved everything in one go.

‘If we’re going to suffer comparisons anyway, it’s a thousand times better to be hurt just once.’

Thanks to this, Suho received perfect scores on both the Awakening and field evaluations and smoothly transitioned to the Non-Awakening Training program.

As Suho wrapped up his work in the Awakening Department, his phone began to vibrate.

Brrring-.

Suho glanced at the caller and chuckled.

‘That was quick.’

Answering the phone, Suho said,

“Yes, senior?”

– Ahn, are you busy? If not, can you come see me?

The caller was none other than Pi Seongyeol.

TL Note(Name change):

Vice President Park Kyuman ==> Vice President Park Gyu-min