Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 90

“Stretcher! Bring a stretcher!”

“Hey! Over here!”

“Jihoon! Get a grip!”

A falling object accident.

It was a fairly common occurrence in the resource warehouse.

Fortunately, the accident victim had been wearing a helmet equipped with an impact absorption device.

So he probably wasn’t seriously hurt.

Upon witnessing the scene, Kim Seokhoon spoke.

“…That’s the kind of variable I was talking about. Sometimes, due to magical reactions, items move on their own and fall. Even when secured, they somehow keep loosening. So we have to be extra careful. Here, this is your helmet, Suho.”

Kim Seokhoon handed over the helmet with a smile.

It was just in time for an accident to happen, making him think he might be able to give Suho a lesson without much effort.

However.

“Thank you.”

Suho accepted the helmet cheerfully, not losing his smile.

“Shall I head out right away?”

“Yes? Oh, well, yes… Are you okay?”

“With what?”

“No, just that accident just now…”

“I consider that a danger, not exactly a variable. So, I’ll be off for now.”

“…”

Despite witnessing the falling accident right before him, Suho’s confidence was unwavering.

And without hesitation, he headed into the warehouse.

Kim Seokhoon watched him in astonishment, clicking his tongue in disbelief.

***

“A falling object accident in the resource warehouse… it’s not like it’s a once-or-twice-a-day thing.”

Once inside the warehouse, Suho began earnestly searching for the items.

“First, the things on the assessment sheet.”

The first test, called the item retrieval test.

This was a breeze.

Back when he rotated through the resource management department, he had done this to the point of exhaustion.

So, Suho first located and stored as many of the listed items as his inventory could hold.

Simultaneously, he began searching for items beyond those on the assessment list.

“Around this time, it should be in this warehouse…”

Suho personally preferred the Resource Department and Gate Department over the Awakening Department and Management Department.

Of course, this was based on his standards after his regression.

After all, in the Awakening and Management Departments, all one could gain was people, but here, not only people but also life-giving items and skills could be obtained.

“Of course, everything here is registered in the Resource Department database, so you can’t just take things as you please.”

Suho aimed to find things that were not registered in the database.

For instance, hidden items concealed within ordinary items.

After a while of searching the warehouse, he found it.

“There it is.”

Suho’s eyes widened.

It was lying alone in a section known as the junk items storage.

Suho checked its information.

[ Stone Apple ]

# An apple made of stone.

# It looks rather roughly crafted, with no clue who made it.

A stone apple.

The name and description were simple.

Which was why it was categorized as a junk item.

Because it had no special abilities.

Suho picked it up and examined it briefly.

Then, he pretended to glance over the assessment sheet he didn’t really need.

Under no circumstances could he glance around his surroundings.

Especially, he had to avoid looking at the CCTV positioned diagonally above.

It would look too suspicious.

“If I infuse it with magic…”

Suho began channeling magic into the apple.

Then, a brilliant light began to emanate from the stone apple.

“There we go, it’s responding.”

Just by infusing it with magic, such a transformation occurred.

A very simple attempt.

However, the reason people in the Resource Department hadn’t yet uncovered this secret was simply that their magic levels were too low.

“To discover the hidden option in the stone apple, you need to infuse at least Red-grade magic.”

There was no way a high-caliber talent like that would be in the Resource Department.

“Which is why it ended up waiting for someone like me.”

So Suho consciously put on an act in front of the CCTV.

As if the item suddenly went berserk.

As if he was taken aback.

However, he didn’t make a pretense of asking for help.

He deliberately avoided that.

So he could later use it as a convenient excuse.

Soon, the shimmering stone apple started to emit an eerie vibration, and something long and thin slid out from behind the apple.

A snake.

It was a snake.

Suho’s eyes gleamed as he saw it.

“There it is, the Poison-Eating Snake!”

Half-transparent and about the size of a young snake, it was, surprisingly, a real snake.

Specifically, one of the spiritual beasts known as a ‘phantom spirit.’

Seeing the Poison-Eating Snake, Suho feigned surprise, pretending to let go of the apple.

However, he mimed as if the apple wasn’t budging, and the snake that emerged from the apple quickly slithered up his hand and bit firmly into the nape of his neck.

[ You have been bitten by the Poison-Eating Snake. ]

[ The Poison-Eating Snake is merging with you. ]

[ A quest has been triggered. ]

[ Do you accept the quest ‘Trial of the Snake’? ]

Alerts filled his vision.

Seeing them, Suho nearly burst into laughter.

“To think I would obtain the foundation of the Poison Dragon like this.”

In Suho’s previous life, there had been monsters who wielded poison as their primary weapon, and the three most exceptional ones were collectively called the ‘Three Poisons.’

They were known respectively as the Poison Dragon, the Poison Demon, and the Poison King.

Their common traits, aside from their powerful venom, were their high resistance to poison.

“Of course, I also gained a resistance to all poisons later…”

By consuming the heart of Venom, the Lord of Deadly Poison, he acquired a top-tier poison resistance skill called Impenetrable All-Poison Resistance.

However, that was only obtainable in the latter part of the Gate, and Suho needed a poison resistance skill he could use right away.

“It’s time to lay the groundwork. Only then can I finally settle the score with that damned witch.”

The witch he referred to.

Her name was Suzuki Endo.

She was a hunter representing Japan, a great mage also representing Japan, and a member of humanity’s last raid team—a woman he once believed was an ally.

But now, she was nothing.

That was why he was preparing.

That damned woman was called a witch because, among her countless spells, she primarily dealt in poison magic.

“If no one else, I’ll make sure I respond to you with poison.”

There was nothing more humiliating than being overpowered in one’s field of expertise.

Which was why Suho absolutely needed the Poison-Eating Snake.

One of the Three Poisons, the foundation of the Poison Dragon, lay within the ‘Trial of the Snake’ quest bestowed by the Poison-Eating Snake.

Thus, Suho accepted the quest without hesitation.

[ Quest accepted. ]

Upon accepting the quest, the quest information window appeared before him.

After confirming the details, Suho closed the quest window with a nod and looked back at the apple, pretending to be astonished.

“This much acting should be enough.”

Satisfied with what he’d obtained, Suho carefully returned the stone apple to its original place.

This much acting should suffice.

Now all that was left was to play innocent.

If anyone reviewing the CCTV asked why he didn’t call for help, he’d just say he pretended not to notice to avoid losing points on his evaluation.

Having achieved his goal in the resource warehouse, Suho resumed his assessment.

***

Not long after Suho disappeared, Kim Seokhoon still expected Suho to give up quickly.

After all, no matter how well-trained, this resource warehouse was designed so that a newcomer wouldn’t be able to do anything on their first visit.

“They don’t call it a maze for nothing.”

Items often responded to magic, randomly falling or clustering together, and if you were unlucky, some would even go berserk.

Even if analyzed and deemed curse-free, it still happened.

Of course, items that went berserk were typically deemed useless junk, which was why the warehouse was considered such a hazardous place.

But shortly after, Kim Seokhoon had no choice but to acknowledge his prediction was completely wrong.

“I’ll leave these here first!”

Suho reappeared with a smile, laying out items before him.

All were on the assessment list.

And that wasn’t all.

After dropping off the first load, Suho made several more trips back and forth, ultimately bringing every single item listed on the assessment sheet.

After dumping out the final load, Suho calmly checked each item against the list and then handed over the evaluation sheet with a grin.

“I brought everything on the list. Would you like to verify?”

“Oh… yes.”

Suppressing his surprise, Kim Seokhoon took the sheet and compared the listed items.

But the more he checked, the more his jaw dropped.

“Damn…”

A curse slipped out.

There were nearly a hundred items, yet Suho had brought back every single one without missing anything.

“He even included the tricky items with ambiguous names, codes, and colors…”

Those were intended as killer questions.

While the higher-ups had suggested he go easy on Suho since he was a royal recruit for the Special Forces, Kim Seokhoon couldn’t care less.

After all, as a fifth-grade special recruit on the fast track to team leader, he believed someone like Suho needed to properly learn such tasks.

But Suho didn’t even flinch at the killer questions, executing the assessment flawlessly.

“A person like this actually exists…”

He’d thought the rumors were exaggerated.

Of course, he acknowledged that Suho’s achievements were remarkable.

They were truly incredible accomplishments.

But that was simply because he excelled at combat, whereas this type of “work” was a completely different field.

However, through this assessment, Kim Seokhoon began to suspect that Suho might not just be a genius, but a well-rounded genius.

“You’re incredible.”

“Haha, not at all.”

“No, really, you are. Now, for the next task, we’ll be moving on to the sorting evaluation…”

Sorting was the same.

Even though hundreds of items poured into the sorting warehouse each day, Suho flawlessly performed the sorting process from the first to the third stage, without a single error.

Finally, when the first test was over, Kim Seokhoon had no choice but to fully acknowledge Suho.

“You… you’re truly incredible.”

“Haha, it’s nothing.”

“No, seriously, you are. It’s not just because I’m in this department, but I think our Resource Department has the toughest job compared to others. It’s actually the department where trainees receive the lowest on-site scores. But you, Suho, are…”

The most difficult.

Suho agreed.

He’d once found it unbearable, too.

But now it was his second life.

Moreover, to Suho, who had already reshaped everything within the association and experienced this place, Resource Department tasks seemed relatively easy.

“If you move from the pyramid to a construction site, it feels easier.”

On top of that.

“There’s no mention of the stone apple, so I guess no one saw it.”

Honestly, he’d figured they wouldn’t.

After all, with so many CCTVs in the warehouse, who could check all of them?

While there was always the slim chance, as they say, no news is good news.

Suho laughed and spoke.

“So, do I go straight to the second test with Special Team 2 now?”

“Yes, but… there’s one problem.”

“A problem?”

“Yes.”

At Suho’s question, Kim Seokhoon scratched his cheek in embarrassment.