Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 540

In the end, everything went exactly the way Su-ho wanted.

Who could oppose it in the first place?

It was a request from both the President and Su-ho.

Once the call ended, Im Cheol said with a broad grin,

“Haha! Manager Ahn—no, Director Ahn! If you had something like this lined up, you should’ve shared it ahead of time!”

Im Cheol was thoroughly satisfied.

Because just as the President had said earlier, Korea had now become a superpower greater than the United States thanks to Su-ho, and among all of that, the GHA had become the second most powerful institution in the government after the Blue House, since it was the organization Su-ho belonged to.

So under normal circumstances, Im Cheol should have been recognized for his merits over the years and promoted to an even higher position, but the GHA had become the best place there was, so he ended up staying on as Association President.

In truth, this had been the part Im Cheol was most worried about too.

No matter how he thought about it, by current standards there didn’t seem to be any position better than President of the GHA.

'At the same time, it’s also the cushiest seat there is.'

It was the place with the most power, but being the GHA’s president didn’t actually mean there was much to do.

Su-ho had already rooted out all the corruption, and Su-ho had already dealt with all the dangerous Gates too.

On top of that, Jeju Island’s End Gate had been cleared, so now neither Gates nor monsters appeared there anymore.

'When the work is this easy, the prestige this high, and the power this strong, where else is there a plum post like this?'

But keeping the vice president position unchanged too felt a little off, so the vice president had been transferred to a better post elsewhere.

That had been something the President asked him to yield on, so Su-ho had agreed.

Instead, Jeong Cheol-min, who had been the Head of the Special Division, was promoted to Vice President.

'If he was Head of the Special Division, then he was basically number three in the GHA. He deserved something better than that.'

In that sense, Manager of the Special Division was around fourth in rank.

But since it was personnel transfer season, Su-ho had to be promoted, and taking everything into account, the position Su-ho chose was Head of the Special Division.

It even matched what he was doing perfectly.

The GHA’s Special Division broadly handled special duties ordinary departments couldn’t, and there was no Hunter Player handling work more special than Su-ho’s current work.

“That’s why I recommended you for the vice president position.”

“Ha.......”

The reasoning behind the recommendation was solid.

But even after hearing all of it, Jeong Cheol-min still had a hard time accepting it easily.

Emotionally, that was.

Su-ho said with a smile,

“It’s okay, right?”

“No, of course it’s not that it isn’t okay, but...... even so, still, this is just.......”

“Okay, then that settles the promotion matter. And well, even if I didn’t say it, I know you’d take care of it on your own, but my people worked hard, so please make sure they’re looked after properly. Especially now that the Special Division manager position is open, I personally recommend Kim Geon.”

“I was already thinking Geon was the only one who could take over that manager position anyway. But...... what are you going to do now? You carried out the conquest of Africa by yourself without telling anyone. Is there still more left to do?”

“A lot. But there’s nothing right now that I need to do together with Save the World or the UN.”

“If it’s not something like that, then what else is there?”

“That’s...... a secret.”

Su-ho smiled.

But Jeong Cheol-min instantly noticed that the smile didn’t look purely cheerful or light.

“Su-ho.”

“Yes, Vice President.”

“I’m not vice president yet.”

“You’re scheduled for promotion to vice president.”

“Anyway...... I don’t know what you’ve been doing all by yourself, but don’t try to carry everything alone.”

“What?”

“No matter how much weaker we are than you, and no matter how useless we may be by your standards, still, don’t try to shoulder everything alone. If it’s hard, say so. We may not be able to solve the problem for you, but we can still grieve together with you and help carry part of the burden.”

At Jeong Cheol-min’s words, Su-ho quietly smiled.

“Thank you very much, even just for saying that. As expected, the only people who really think about me are the people at work.”

“I’m not joking, you punk.”

“I know. I never thought you were joking. I’m saying it because I’m really grateful.”

It was true.

He really was grateful.

Because now, all that remained were people who trusted him and sincerely worried about him.

That was why Su-ho decided he absolutely would not lose.

He was going to keep winning and winning again, then grow stronger than anyone else, win the independent game, and restore the peaceful world of the past.

Smiling, Su-ho stood up from his seat.

“Well then, I think we’ve roughly settled everything, so since I’m here, I should at least look over some of my overdue work before I go.”

“What nonsense are you talking? What overdue work do you even have? You’re protecting the world itself. I’m taking care of all the little stuff on my end, so don’t worry about that and go take care of your own business.”

“As expected of the vice president.”

“Yeah, just like Director Jeong said, go handle your business. You’ve got enough on your plate already. Ah, right, but Manager Ahn.”

“Yes?”

“Well...... I wasn’t going to make this kind of request unless I had to, but...... do you think you could introduce me to that friend of yours?”

“That friend?”

“You know, that one. Your shadow friend.”

“Ah?”

At the phrase shadow friend, Su-ho let out a quiet chuckle.

Then Jack rose up from Su-ho’s shadow and said,

- Are you speaking of this body!!

“Uwaaaah!”

At the sudden appearance of the gigantic Jack, Im Cheol—who had been the one asking for the introduction—nearly toppled backward.

- Krahahaha! As expected, people faint away in shock the moment they behold this body.

“Don’t be rude. Behave yourself. They’re all way above me.”

- From the conversation, I already know that. But they’re above you, not above me, aren’t they? Of course, that doesn’t mean I intend to be rude.

Then he immediately shrank his body and asked Im Cheol,

- So then, why was it that you wanted to be introduced to me?

“Th-that’s.......”

Seeing Im Cheol trembling, Su-ho pulled Jack back and apologized.

“I’m sorry, President. He’s a being from another world, so his personality is a little headstrong.”

“No! No! No! It’s not that! I was just wondering if I could maybe get a photo with him. My son and nephew really like him, and I think they want to brag about it to people around them. So I thought maybe.......”

His voice trailed off.

He was embarrassed even while saying it himself.

But Su-ho didn’t think badly of it at all.

Compared to those upper-management bastards from before who had told Jeong Cheol-min to drag Su-ho in, how gentle was this attitude?

“Of course. Would taking a photo be enough?”

“Y-yeah! That would be more than enough!”

“Understood. Then I’ll take it for you, so your phone......”

“What do you mean, you’ll take it? You stand with the president too. Then his son and nephew will like it even more.”

“That’s true.”

At Jeong Cheol-min’s suggestion, Su-ho had several pictures taken, with Im Cheol standing between him and Jack.

“Thank you. It was kind of an awkward thing to ask, but you agreed so readily.”

“It’s nothing. I should naturally do at least this much for you. Vice President, do you want one too?”

“As if?”

After finishing the photos, Su-ho gave a light bow of his head and only then left the Association.

Right after he stepped out of the Association, Jack spoke.

- You look quite happy.

“Of course I do. I got to meet people I like for the first time in a while and had a good time.”

- Then that’s good. So what do you plan to do now?

“Do a full reorganization, then head straight into the special quest.”

- Good, proceed immediately!

“That’s an order, and somehow you act more and more like the master the longer this goes on.”

- That is your imagination!

Su-ho rode Cheolma and headed home.

***

After returning home, Su-ho began the basic reorganization that could only be done in Korea.

Things like checking up on Gi Seung-hwan and Gi Seung-ok’s preparations, or checking on Pi Seong-yeol’s Mega Crusher.

“Gi Seung-hwan should be fine at this point.......”

Now it was time to check on Pi Seong-yeol.

He went straight into the Subspace House.

[ Entering the Subspace House. ]

Once inside the House, he saw Pi Seong-yeol off by himself in one corner of the subspace, hard at work with Mega Crusher.

Just as Su-ho had arranged it, the surrounding area had been made into a forest, and at its center, out of nowhere, the interior of an ordinary officetel stood there like a showroom.

“Hey.”

“Ah, yes! You’re here!”

Pi Seong-yeol answered immediately.

His complexion looked good.

Naturally so.

Now that Mega Crusher had reached S-rank, simply dismantling items supplied enough nutrients even if the host didn’t eat or drink.

And that wasn’t all.

Su-ho had come by earlier and given him a backscratcher, plus proper sleeping arrangements and facilities where he could wash up, so of course he looked better.

But strangely, the area beneath his eyes looked hollow.

“Your complexion looks fine, so what’s wrong with your eyes?”

“Ah, well, that...... it’s nothing.”

“It’s nothing? Did I tell you to answer like that?”

“Ah, no! Ah, no, s-sorry!”

“Looks like life’s gotten comfortable for you lately. Want me to tighten the screws again like before?”

“No, I’m truly sorry. I must have lost my mind for a moment.”

At Su-ho’s cold expression, Pi Seong-yeol visibly trembled and rubbed his hands together in desperate apology.

From within the shadow, Jack asked through thought,

- What is this one doing here?

- He committed a great sin. So I’m managing him separately myself.

- Must be quite a bastard, then.

- A very bad bastard. He sacrificed a lot of people for his own personal greed.

- Oh dear, he sounds just like the rotten nobles from our world.

- Ah, right. Your world was that kind of society, wasn’t it? So what did you do with people like that?

- What else? We ground every last one of them up and used them as shadow feed.

- That’s definitely practical.

- Very practical.

Nodding, Su-ho said,

“So, why do your eyes look like that?”

“That’s...... the taste of the beer and chicken you gave me last time keeps lingering, so I’ve been suffering occasional mental fits because of it, and that’s how.......”

“Huh?”

What, that was the reason?

Since it was such a trivial reason, Su-ho immediately lost interest and changed the subject.

“So it wasn’t anything important. Fine. Forget that—show me what you’ve gathered so far.”

“Yes, I sorted them separately over here.”

When Su-ho looked where he pointed, there was a huge pile of stat fragments sorted by option.

The little bastard had worked hard.

After checking through them for a while, Su-ho asked next,

“How’s Mega Crusher’s condition? If I remember right, the last time I checked, I heard the related quest would unlock after dismantling 781 more items.”

“There are fewer than 200 left now.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I really am.”

“No, I don’t trust you.”

“Pardon?”

[ Dispel is activated. ]

“Kyaaaaaaagh!!”

The moment he used Dispel, the upgraded skill of Recovery, just as expected, Mega Crusher was pulled out of Pi Seong-yeol’s body even more smoothly than before.

But the pain remained the same.

Unable to endure the horrific agony, Pi Seong-yeol fainted on the spot, and Su-ho checked the information on the Mega Crusher that had fallen away with an indifferent expression.

[ Mega Crusher ]

Rank: S

# Outstanding technology from another world.

# It can grind down any item, and through a more refined dismantling technique, it can now additionally extract the materials and options the item originally possessed.

# Each time the host of Mega Crusher dismantles an item, dismantling experience accumulates, and the accumulated dismantling experience makes the host stronger.

# If 187 more items are dismantled, a related quest will be unlocked.

“It really is true. Maybe I should’ve just trusted him.”

In truth, he hadn’t doubted him.

How could the bastard dare lie when he was safe and comfortable like this?

Even so, he had checked it personally because it had been a while, and he’d wanted to inflict some physical pain for once.

Su-ho attached Mega Crusher back onto the man’s stomach.

Then he swept up the stat fragments.

“So you’ve been suffering because of chicken and beer?”

Well, what was he supposed to do about that? He’d brought some again this time too.

Actually, he’d only brought it to lift the mood for once after so long, but he hadn’t expected it to become a punishment.

But what did that have to do with him?

Compared to Hyper Camp, this place was heaven.

Thinking that, Su-ho set down one small old-style whole fried chicken and two small cans of beer, then left the Subspace House.