Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 9

Suho smiled as he spoke.

“You’ve made a wise choice. While you’re preparing the contract, would it be alright if I explored the academy a bit? I’d like to take a personal look around, though I know you’ll give me an official tour later.”

“Of course. And could you leave your contact information? I’ll reach out as soon as the contract is ready. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Yes, my number is...”

The contract was a safeguard against any potential issues, including duplicate agreements.

‘Contracts are essential in the professional world,’ Suho mused. Especially when it involved a sum as substantial as 300 million won.

After exchanging contact information, Suho stood up and began his exploration of Nexus Academy.

‘It certainly lives up to its title as the largest in the country.’

Nexus Academy was vast, featuring a fitness training center, dormitories, mock training grounds, a study hall, a library for written exam preparation, a cafeteria, and numerous other facilities. The academy’s layout, built on extensive grounds in Paju, earned it the nickname “Nexus Village” for its resemblance to a small town.

‘Seeing this academy reminds me of my days as an exam candidate.’

Though Suho wasn’t from a prestigious academy, these dormitory-based academies had always been out of reach, their monthly fees exorbitant. But he had studied hard independently and passed the exam on his first try, even scoring impressively on the aptitude test.

During that time, he’d chosen the Warrior class instead of Healer.

While walking through the facilities, Suho found himself in the private training grounds.

The place wasn’t too crowded since it wasn’t class time, and several candidates were training individually according to their classes.

Then, a group of students caught Suho’s attention.

‘Looks like those guys are on the swordsmanship track.’

The students wielded a variety of swords, from daggers to longswords, practicing their swordsmanship techniques.

But no matter how he looked at it, their stances seemed clumsy.

It was only natural—they were new to the field, lucky enough to awaken as players but still inexperienced.

Suddenly, someone familiar came into view.

‘Kang Dae-han?’

He wasn’t mistaken.

The Library of Memories had refined Suho’s recall to pinpoint accuracy.

Besides, how could he forget a towering figure, roughly 190cm tall and weighing about 120kg, with a shaved head?

‘So, Kang Dae-han is a Nexus alumnus.’

Kang Dae-han, the Defender. In the future, he would be one of the top-ranked Hunters in Korea, renowned as one of the country’s best tankers.

Suho had teamed up with Kang Dae-han on several raids.

He was sure of it: the bald head and massive build were Dae-han’s trademarks.

But something seemed off.

Kang Dae-han was swinging an enormous axe, even though Suho remembered him as a shield-wielder.

‘Ah, he hasn’t found his aptitude yet.’

A thought occurred to Suho.

‘This is perfect. I should get a head start in winning him over.’

In the future, Kang Dae-han would stay with Nexus. But if Suho established a connection now, there was a chance he could bring him over to the Association instead.

‘A defender like Kang Dae-han would be invaluable in the Association.’

No matter how strong an individual was, they couldn’t handle everything alone. Problems emerged in various forms across different locations.

Suho intended to secure skilled allies early, people who would work alongside him.

‘Well, I did say I’d tour the academy, so this should be fine.’

With that, Suho headed down to the training ground.

Fortunately, the training area didn’t require a special access card, and though he was dressed casually rather than in academy attire, no one seemed overly interested.

Approaching Kang Dae-han, he greeted him.

“Hello.”

“Huh? Oh, hello!” Dae-han replied, putting down his axe.

Standing close, Suho confirmed that this was indeed Kang Dae-han—the kind face, the polite voice. He noticed the name embroidered on his academy uniform: “Kang Dae-han.”

No need to ask his name, then.

Suho asked, “Are you a Warrior?”

“Yes, that’s right... but who are you?”

“I’m just someone passing through, but after watching you, I thought there was something I should tell you.”

Suho was, technically, associated with the academy, so calling himself a “relation” wasn’t a lie.

Pointing to himself, Dae-han asked, “Me?”

“Yes. If you don’t mind, how long have you been preparing for the exam?”

Blushing slightly, Dae-han replied, “This is my third year.”

“So you’re taking tomorrow’s exam as well?”

“Yes, I registered again this time.”

“Are you planning to use that battle axe for the practical test?”

“Yes, that’s the plan.”

“Can I ask why you chose the battle axe?”

“Oh... I’m aiming to be a melee damage dealer, and after discussing it with the academy, they recommended this. They said a weapon like this has great destructive power, and not everyone can wield it.”

Suho felt a twinge of frustration.

No matter how big someone was, recommending a battle axe to a player dependent on stats solely because of their size was absurd.

‘And this is supposed to be the country’s largest academy...’

It reminded Suho how outdated this era was.