Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 65

Upon arriving in Yeongdeungpo, Suho followed the directions from his phone to an old villa.

“Another semi-basement, huh.”

In both the past and present, semi-basement apartments symbolized poverty.

Shaking his head, Suho stood before the single semi-basement unit in the building and pressed the doorbell.

No sound.

“Broken?”

He knocked instead.

Thud, thud, thud—

Still no response.

Knocking again, he called out:

“Nam Hae-won, are you home?”

Silence.

“No one’s home?”

No, that wasn’t right.

According to Nam Hae-won’s schedule, he should have left the rehab center and returned home by now.

Despite being a drug addict, Nam Hae-won was surprisingly punctual. He was genuinely trying to quit and attended the rehabilitation center regularly.

Realizing something was off, Suho activated a skill.

[ Magic Detection activated. ]

As the skill took effect, Suho sensed the surrounding mana.

Then, with a faint smirk, he noticed something.

A dense concentration of mana lay beyond the door.

“I knew it.”

Nam Hae-won wasn’t absent; he was deliberately keeping quiet, hiding inside.

Focusing further, Suho discerned the presence of multiple signatures.

“One, two, three... Four people total.”

Three uninvited guests.

Suho gripped the doorknob—an old, lock-and-key mechanism rather than an electronic one.

With a sharp tug:

Crack!

The knob broke off in his hand.

With Suho’s strength nearing the orange rank, a standard lock posed no challenge.

The door creaked open, revealing a disheveled Nam Hae-won pinned beneath a burly man, while two others stood nearby.

“Sigh...”

Suho exhaled heavily at the sight.

Before he could speak, one of the standing men barked at him:

“Who the hell are you?”

“What’s it to you?”

“What did you say, punk?”

“Shut up.”

Calmly stepping forward, Suho closed the distance.

One of the men moved to block his path—only to be met with a slap.

Smack! ...Thud!

The man dropped instantly, sprawling across the floor.

His companions’ faces froze in shock.

Ignoring their reactions, Suho turned to the next man.

“Your turn.”

“Y-you bastard!”

Another slap rang out.

Smack! Crash!

Suho didn’t bother with weapons or fists. Slaps sufficed.

Most thugs couldn’t stay conscious after just one.

With the second man down, Suho shifted his attention to the leader, still sitting on Nam Hae-won.

The leader sneered, seemingly unphased.

Dusting himself off, he rose slowly, adjusting his jacket.

“Where the hell are you from?”

Smack! Crash!

This time, Suho hit harder. The leader flew back, crashing into the wall.

“Oops, maybe that was too much.”

Checking for a pulse, Suho confirmed the man was still breathing.

Satisfied, he turned to Nam Hae-won, who remained crouched on the floor.

The room was a mess.

Scattered trash, pill bottles, and several used syringes lay amidst the chaos.

Suho picked up one of the syringes, noting it was still damp—as if it had been used moments ago.

“This is...”

A drug needle, no doubt about it.

Inspecting Nam Hae-won’s arm and legs, Suho spotted fresh injection marks.

His expression darkened.

“Bastards.”

[ Recovery activated. ]

“Information is still information.”

“Ugh...”

“Nam Hae-won, can you hear me?”

“W-where... am I?”

“You’re at home, in your apartment.”

“T-those people... Where are they?!”

“Wh-what happened to them?!”

“They weren’t cooperative, so I handled it. But about those syringes... Looks like someone injected you with drugs.”

“No! It wasn’t me! I didn’t want this! They forced it on me—I swear! Please believe me!”

In a famous interview years later, after gaining renown as a blacksmith, Nam Hae-won had revealed how the Changshik Gang had forcibly addicted him to drugs.

To calm him, Suho used the Ring of Emotions.

[ The Ring of Emotions reacts to the target’s strongest emotion: Black. ]

[ Absorbing the target’s emotion. ]

“Feeling better now?”

“Good. I believe you. Those guys were with the Changshik Gang, right? I know them well—they force drugs on people to extort money and abilities.”

“T-the Changshik Gang?”

“Yeah, that’s their name. Scum like them always get what’s coming.”