Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 391

Su-ho deliberately routed through North Korea and headed for Seoul.

Then, when he reached a certain point, he spotted a familiar cluster of mana.

It was the Association’s Special Division personnel.

“Iron Horse, let’s head over there.”

“Neigh!”

The Special Division members were found in Kaesong.

Good grief, after I roamed around that much and they’re still in Kaesong.

But this was normal speed.

No matter how much they swept through field monsters with special stick bombs, the entirety of North Korea was still teeming with an enormous {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} number of monsters.

The bus was parked in an empty building for cover, and Su-ho descended onto the rooftop, hid the Iron Horse, then knocked on the bus door.

“It’s me. Open up.”

“......Chief?”

He identified himself on purpose so they wouldn’t panic, then knocked.

At that, the Special Division members burst out from inside and welcomed Su-ho.

“Chief!!”

“Boss!!”

They poured out in a rush.

Su-ho swept his gaze over them.

Thankfully, it seemed no one was injured.

Still, just in case, he asked Kim Geon.

“Everyone all right?”

“Yes, no casualties, no injuries.”

“Right. The Second Cataclysm kicking off all of a sudden must’ve scared you, huh? With comms dead and everything.”

“Yes. So we first found a safe zone, hid the bus, and have been on standby. Once comms come back, we were going to contact the Association.”

That’s Kim Geon for you.

This kind of situation was a first for him too—he must’ve been rattled in many ways, but he kept his composure like a team leader and took care of his team.

“Good work. I came because I was worried about you.”

“As expected of you, Chief. But how did you get here? We didn’t hear your bike.”

“I rode a horse.”

“Sir?”

“I mean it. Anyway, I don’t see the reporter?”

By reporter, he meant Jo Jin-hwi.

In fact, Su-ho knew Jo Jin-hwi was in Seoul right now.

Though he’d come here as the Special Division bus driver under the additional role of embedded war correspondent, he was still a civilian and had articles to write, so he’d been going back and forth to Seoul at intervals.

Which was why Su-ho had asked him to distribute the footage.

But he feigned ignorance.

Otherwise it would look odd.

“The reporter is in the rotation window, so he’s popped into Seoul for a bit.”

“Ah, already time for that? Well, good timing then. For a civilian like him, being in Seoul is better than being here.”

“I think so too.”

“More importantly, once the cataclysmic effect dies down, stop what you’re doing and head back to the Association for now.”

“Sir? Back to the Association?”

“Yeah, the Second Cataclysm has started. Because of this, the Purification-Unification Operation will probably be put on hold.”

“Understood. Then what about you, Chief?”

“I’ll go on ahead to Seoul and prep a few things.”

“Will you be all right on your own?”

“Who’d be all right? Kid, who are you worrying about? I’m fine.”

“Ha-ha, understood.”

“Okay, anyone else have questions?”

At Su-ho’s question, Seo Gyo-won shot his hand up.

“Yeah, Gyo-won? What is it?”

“Could you stay with us for a bit before you go?”

“Why?”

“I’m scared.”

“What? Oh, come on.......”

At Seo Gyo-won’s words, Su-ho couldn’t help a snort of laughter.

Fair enough.

It’s his first Second Effect—being scared is natural.

But from experience, nothing happens during the Second Effect that warrants major worry.

‘And even if it does, it’s all stuff I can cover.’

They wouldn’t show it, but most of them were surely anxious.

After a brief thought, Su-ho summoned Guiyeong.

“Guiyeong.”

Shrrrk.

Summoned, Guiyeong sat quietly beside Su-ho.

Pointing at Guiyeong, Su-ho said,

“Say hello. This is one of my new summons, Guiyeong. I’ll leave him here, so don’t worry too much. If anything happens, I’ll swap positions and show up immediately. Oh, and he hardly talks, so don’t expect replies.”

“Uh, you can do that too?”

“Yeah. What can’t I do?”

The Second Cataclysm had begun.

He’d just assassinated Russia’s KGB 13th Directorate chief, and China’s chairman and top Standing Committee members—there was no reason or need to keep hiding his strength anymore.

So if asked, he planned to answer coolly and move on.

There was no one left in this world who could stop Su-ho except the system itself.

‘To be blunt, even if several countries piled on like Xiang Yu did in the past, I’m at the level where I can take them alone.’

It was a bit of a shame he hadn’t reached purple-color stats before the mid-Cataclysm arrived, but compared to his past life, his growth rate was absurd.

Su-ho continued.

“Oh, and once you get back to the Association, I was going to tell the Director in advance anyway, but...... as far as you’re concerned, you didn’t see me today, okay?”

“Sir? What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. You’re my subordinates, so I made time to show my face—but because the Second Cataclysm just started, for a while... no, maybe for quite a long while, the whole world will be in chaos. Power, comms, and transport are down, and odds are high the criminals who’ve been waiting for this will be running wild.”

“Then.......”

“Cleaning that up will take a good while. That’s why I told you to return. For similar reasons, it’ll take quite some time for the Purification-Unification Operation to resume. In the meantime, I’ll attend to other business. But I’ll be moving alone, so it’ll all be unofficial. If I suddenly vanish, won’t you worry?”

“Chief.......”

“Don’t make those faces. Partly I showed up to put you at ease, but I’m also telling you in case something comes up—help me on the sly. Once the comms network is restored, do your best to take my calls. Don’t call me first. For reference, I’ll have it processed as if I stayed in the North and went missing.”

“Yes, understood!”

“Good. No more questions, right?”

“None!”

“The system meddled. Same as during the First Effect. Back then, sure, the land, sea, and sky all flipped.”

“And now? Are you the only one who’s seen it? The sky’s black and the ground keeps rumbling. It wouldn’t be strange if anything happened!”

“True. But nothing will happen. Even if the ground rumbles intermittently, at most there’ll be a few small landslides in weak zones like in Gangwon-do, and that’ll be it.”

“What? How can you be so sure?”

“There’s a way I know. Have I ever given you bad intel?”

“That’s true, but... hey, even so, this is a cataclysm. Are you really that confident?”

“I drew conclusions based on information I gathered while moving around alone. You can trust it.”

“Moving around alone?”

At that, Jeong Cheol-min frowned briefly, then raised a finger.

“Hey, Ahn Su-ho.”

“Yes, Director.”

“Be honest. You didn’t just come from the North, did you?”

“Sir?”

“My gut says you’re the guy who went to Russia and took Alexei’s head. No—frankly, in terms of pure force, you’re the guy who could take the U.S. President’s head if you wanted. And you pop to far-off places like you’re riding a delivery jet. And you’re telling me you only came from the North?”

“I did come from the North. I checked on the guys. But, as you suspect, I didn’t only come from the North.”

“Then where else did you come from?”

“I was going to tell you everything anyway. Maybe not anyone else, but I have to tell you, Director, or I won’t feel right.”

There’s no such thing as absolute, and no secret lasts forever—but to Su-ho, who came from the future, Jeong Cheol-min was someone thoroughly vetted.

So he could bare everything to him.

Even the fact that he’d come from the future.

But there was no need to go that far—he’d share only to a reasonable line.

Too much information can isolate and torment a person.

‘Besides, someone needs to stay at the desk and provide support.’

Jeong Cheol-min pulled out a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth.

“What is it?”

“Huh—no smoking indoors?”

“Who’s going to care about that right now? Forget it and talk.”

“Okay, short version then.......”

Starting with capturing the Lizardmen of the Yalu, Su-ho laid out everything: how he’d tied up with Japan’s Sumiyoshi Guild and taken Chairman Yasuda as a direct disciple, used him to target Japan’s top Gate—the Imperial Palace Gate—then, the moment the Second Cataclysm broke out, assassinated China’s chairman and the top Standing Committee members.

“......What?”

“You heard me right. As for killing the Chinese chairman, I happened upon intel and discovered something called the Necromancer Project, and......”

He appended reasons for the assassinations of China’s high officials grounded in facts—just enough.

He was confident he could make it convincing.

It was all stuff anyone would find convincing.

Besides, Jeong Cheol-min already knew about the assassination of Russia’s KGB 13th Directorate chief.

He wasn’t the type to look at this through tinted glasses.

“......So you did that just now, checked on the guys in Kaesong, and then came here?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ha.......”

A breath of hollow laughter.

He was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even speak.

After a moment of silence, Jeong Cheol-min wordlessly took out another cigarette and put it in his mouth.

“You crazy bastard.......”