Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 351

At the same time, he opened his skill window.

An overwhelming number of skills filled his view.

Then, two things caught Su-ho’s attention—skills ranked S and S+.

His eyes narrowed.

'I see. If I’m going to test something, I should test two things.'

Some skills might have S rank as their absolute limit.

But a skill with a plus rank might still have room to grow.

In other words, even after leveling up, there’s a higher probability that an S+ skill could advance by one more stage.

[ Intermediate Synthesis is now active. ]

[ Combining Gi Seung-hwan items. ]

[ Synthesis successful. ]

[ Acquired Gi Seung-ok (S+). ]

Once he had his thoughts sorted out, Su-ho immediately combined eleven more Gi Seung-hwan to create a second Gi Seung-ok.

The first one was always the hardest; the second came easily.

Unless something unusual happened, the recipe wouldn’t change.

Prepared, Su-ho swallowed the first Gi Seung-ok with a slight tremor of anticipation.

[ You have consumed Gi Seung-ok. ]

[ You fully absorb the skill experience contained within Gi Seung-ok. ]

[ Please select a skill you wish to enhance. ]

First, he chose an S-rank skill.

After scanning the list for a while, he settled on a recently acquired skill—Mini Breath.

[ Absorption complete. ]

[ The skill experience from Gi Seung-ok has been absorbed into Mini Breath. ]

[ Your understanding of Mini Breath is exceptionally high. ]

[ The system is reassessing your talent. ]

[ Congratulations! The rank of Mini Breath has been adjusted to S+. ]

[ Mini Breath’s details have changed, and an additional effect has been added. ]

[ For achieving a great feat, the system has awarded you 10 bonus stat points. ]

“...Huh?”

A flood of notifications filled his vision.

Su-ho’s eyes widened.

He had only half-expected it, but it had actually worked.

He quickly opened the updated skill information for Mini Breath.

Mini Breath

– Rank: S+

– One of the powers possessed by the Molten Dragon.

– Having successfully absorbed a portion of ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the Molten Dragon’s power, you can now mimic Dragon Breath, albeit imperfectly.

– By paying mana, you can exhale Mini Breath while breathing out; its destructive power increases in proportion to the mana spent.

– Due to your deep understanding of Mini Breath, its power has grown significantly, and it can now be used with even a small breath.

– The nature of Mini Breath can also be altered depending on the energy you release.

“...!!”

His eyes widened again.

It wasn’t just that the rank had gone up—its utility options had expanded dramatically.

'Crazy.'

Was this really possible?

No, more than that... what a change.

Suddenly, every S-rank skill he owned came to mind.

'If I could raise all of these to S+...!'

His current combat power might double—at the very least.

The sudden opportunity for a massive power-up sent an electrifying thrill through his body.

'Calm down. There’s still something else I need to check.'

He had two things to verify.

He had confirmed that S rank could become S+. Now he needed to see what would happen if he applied Gi Seung-ok to an S+ skill.

After some thought, he chose Mini Breath again.

'If there’s already been a change, the odds of further change might be higher.'

He swallowed another Gi Seung-ok.

[ You have consumed Gi Seung-ok. ]

[ You fully absorb the skill experience contained within Gi Seung-ok. ]

[ Please select a skill you wish to enhance. ]

Naturally, he chose Mini Breath.

[ The skill experience from Gi Seung-ok has been absorbed into Mini Breath. ]

[ Absorption complete. ]

“....”

That was it for the notifications.

The result left him a little deflated.

'As expected, no going beyond this point.'

He had hoped, but it seemed that was the limit.

Still, it wasn’t bad—one success out of two wasn’t a loss.

But it was too early to give up completely.

'It might just be Mini Breath that’s like this.'

To be sure, he would have to test it on at least three different skills.

Checking his remaining Gi Seung-hwan, it looked like he could make two more Gi Seung-ok.

No reason to hesitate.

He immediately began production.

[ Intermediate Synthesis is now active. ]

[ Combining Fully Grown Absorption Mushrooms, Pharmacist’s Vessel Shards, and Artisan’s Fragments. ]

[ Synthesis successful. ]

[ Acquired Gi Seung-hwan (S). ]

[ Intermediate Synthesis is now active. ]

[ Combining Fully Grown Absorption Mushrooms, Pharmacist’s Vessel Shards, and Artisan’s Fragments. ]

[ Synthesis successful. ]

[ Acquired Gi Seung-hwan (S). ]

...

Twenty-two Gi Seung-hwan synthesized, then—

[ Combining Gi Seung-hwan. ]

[ Synthesis successful. ]

[ Acquired Gi Seung-ok (S+). ]

[ Combining Gi Seung-hwan. ]

[ Synthesis successful. ]

[ Acquired Gi Seung-ok (S+). ]

Two Gi Seung-ok from twenty-two Gi Seung-hwan.

'Out of Gi Seung-hwan now.'

He only had a few left.

All he needed was time.

That was fine—he could keep busy with other matters in the meantime.

Just as he was cleaning up, his phone rang.

It was Ion, the Union representative.

“Yes, Representative.”

— Manager, are you available to talk right now?

“Yes, I am.”

— It’s nothing major, but Sumiyoshi’s side reached out. They’ve set up a late-night meeting with a Japanese Ability Bureau staff member regarding our Union Japan branch’s raid business.

“A late-night meeting? Did they schedule it at night on purpose?”

— Well... honestly, it doesn’t seem like an ordinary meeting. Considering it’s the Ability Bureau—a government agency—setting it at night suggests it’s probably a hospitality-type meeting.

“A hospitality meeting, huh...”

This was coming from Ion, who ran the country’s number one underground guild.

Given his experience in business, his guess was almost certainly correct.

And Su-ho’s instincts agreed.

'Everyone knows the Japanese Ability Bureau is rotten to the core.'

If they acted high-handed even toward their own citizens, there was no need to wonder how they’d treat a foreign-affiliated company—especially one from neighboring Korea.

Su-ho spoke.

“Would it be alright if I attended that meeting?”

— Actually, that’s why I was calling. I have a feeling that if we don’t set the tone early, they’ll keep throwing obstacles into our business.

“That’s good. Hm? But why ask me? You’re good at this sort of thing yourself, Representative.”

— Haha, after seeing you last time, I think you’d handle this better than me. Of course, I mean you as Kim Su-ho, not An Su-ho.

Kim Su-ho?

Ah, right.

Last time in Japan, he had gone as the Union vice-president, under the alias Kim Su-ho, with altered facial features.

Typical Ion—never hesitating to use him if it meant getting results.

It made Su-ho smile.

“You’re certainly true to form, Representative. This is why I like you—you don’t treat me like I’m unapproachable.”

— Haha, why would I? We’re on the same side, and I’m not asking you to do anything unjust.

“That’s true. So when is the meeting with the Ability Bureau?”

— Considering your travel situation, I set it for three days from now. They said they could do it today, but officially, you’re still in North Korea right now, so I figured three days was reasonable.

As expected, Ion was thorough. But there was one thing he didn’t know.

“That’s fine. I can travel right away. We can make it tomorrow—or tonight.”

— Huh? How?

“I have a new means of transportation. So, where do I need to go?”

— You’ll need to meet Chairman Sumiyoshi in Akasaka. I’m in Korea right now, so it’ll take me some time to prepare for travel.

“I’ll go on ahead. You can take your time preparing. Actually, if you don’t really need to come, you could just stay in Korea.”

— You think so? Alright. Call me when you arrive. I’ll inform Sumiyoshi’s side.

“Understood. Oh—by the way, is the Woon-cheol and gold matter still pending?”

— Sorry. We’re buying up as much as we can from the market, but it’ll take a bit longer.

“No problem. Just checking. Then I’ll head out now.”

Ending the call, Su-ho stepped out onto the terrace and summoned the Iron Horse.

“Iron Horse.”

“Hiiiiing!”

“We’re going far. Can you handle it?”

“Hiiiiing!”

Once Su-ho mounted, the Iron Horse launched itself powerfully into the sky.