Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 225

One after another, system messages appeared before Su-ho’s eyes.

[The Volcano has returned to its original form.]

[The Volcano is deeply grateful to you.]

[Thanks to you, the Volcano will continue its peaceful greenery from now on.]

Su-ho stared at the alerts, momentarily confused.

‘The Volcano?’

The only volcanoes he knew were the kind that erupt—active or dormant ones.

So if a volcano had regained its power, shouldn’t it be erupting and spewing lava?

Why suddenly peaceful greenery?

Just then, something shot up from the crack in Baengnokdam.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Launched like cannonballs, the objects rolled and landed at Su-ho’s feet, as if discharged waste. freeweɓnovel~cѳm

He stared at the large, blackened items for a moment, then picked up the one in the middle to inspect its information.

But the moment he touched it, the surface crumbled away with a soft crackle, revealing the true content hidden within.

“This is...”

A fist-sized orb.

Its color was dark red, and inside it, something constantly flowed like molten lava.

Su-ho checked the item’s details.

[Essence of a Powerful Volcano]

– Grade: A

An essence /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ imbued with the might of a powerful volcano.

Contains a vast amount of volcanic energy.

As expected.

He’d thought it looked familiar—it was a volcanic essence.

And volcanic essence was one of the ingredients required to break the seal on the Feather of Sealing.

Su-ho pocketed it without using it right away.

Then he grabbed the item next to it.

Again, the outer layer shattered with a crackle, revealing another item that looked similar to the volcanic essence.

But Su-ho’s eyes widened the moment he saw it.

‘No way...’

He hurried to check its information.

[Soul of Fire]

– Grade: S

A blessing of nature that grants the power of fire.

Bound to the first person who acquires it.

Seeing the item info, Su-ho let out a chuckle without meaning to.

The Soul of Fire?

It was one of the highest-tier items from the "Blessings of Nature" series.

Especially significant during the second singularity that occurs around level 200, making it incredibly rare and valuable.

And yet, it dropped here?

And not just any blessing—but a soul?

‘Soul is the highest tier, followed by heart, and then flesh.’

There were only three variants per element from B-grade to S-grade—and the higher the grade, the exponentially harder it was to acquire.

In his previous life, even among the top Players, very few had ever possessed an S-grade Soul.

‘Most only got the flesh, and at best, the heart if they were lucky.’

But now he had the Soul?

Su-ho couldn’t stop grinning.

Of course he was thrilled—after all, Blessings of Nature were items he’d always intended to collect in due time.

He had already mapped out how and when he’d obtain each one.

But he’d never imagined getting one here.

‘A Hidden Gate is a Hidden Gate for a reason.’

Still smiling, Su-ho pocketed the Soul of Fire and moved on to the last piece of loot.

Crack!

The outer shell crumbled away.

But this last item was even larger than the others, completely dark and shrouded in a heavy aura.

‘What’s this?’

He immediately checked the information.

[??? of ???]

– Grade: ???

??? of ???.

To reveal its true form, powerful fire energy is required.

Su-ho narrowed his eyes.

Judging by the question marks, it was clearly a sealed item. It looked like it would take time to unlock.

‘Still, this one’s obvious. "Powerful fire energy," huh?’

Which likely meant it had a connection to the Soul of Fire that dropped with it.

That made things easier.

Truly difficult sealed items didn’t even come with clear hints.

‘Most of the late-cataclysm items were like that.’

So this one was relatively mild in comparison.

Su-ho tucked it away as well.

And then, finally—a portal appeared before him.

Seeing it, Su-ho scoffed under his breath.

“Tch... figures.”

Three items had dropped as loot.

And once he picked them all up, the portal opened.

Sometimes that happened.

A portal only opens if the Player picks up all the loot.

Usually, that meant the dropped items were harmful to the Gate—so the system forced the Player to remove them.

‘Like being told to take out the trash before you leave.’

And now Su-ho understood why the area was a “volcano” and why it turned green after being cleared.

The volcanic essence, the Soul of Fire, and the unidentified item—

These were the root of the problem.

‘So it wasn’t that kind of volcano after all.’

This “volcano” wasn’t a fire-mountain (火山), but rather a flower-mountain (花山), symbolizing brightness and greenery.

The lush vegetation now covering the land and the nature of the loot confirmed it.

‘Then the Gatekeeper must’ve been like a malignant tumor.’

The Gatekeeper wasn’t a true guardian—it had been a parasitic invader.

Now that he understood the secret of the volcano, Su-ho nodded to himself, satisfied.

He turned his gaze toward the Guiyeong Spear.

It was still absorbing the Gatekeeper’s shadow.

‘It’s taking longer than usual.’

Then he’d wait.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

To pass the time, Su-ho pulled out the Sealed Feather and the volcanic essence.

‘Volcanic essence is just as valuable and rare as the Wind essence, but...’

It didn’t matter anymore.

He now had the Soul of Fire—far rarer than any crafting material.

So, without hesitation, he used the volcanic essence on the Sealed Feather.

[The Sealed Feather, sealed by an unknown force, responds to the powerful volcanic essence.]

[The volcanic seal is lifted.]

[All seals on the feather have been released.]

[Item information has been updated.]

At last, the seals were broken.

The old, frayed feather suddenly transformed into a pristine, glossy, firm one.

Su-ho immediately checked its updated information.

[Unsealed Feather]

– Grade: A

A feather once sealed by an unknown force.

Using the feather transports the user to a designated location.

Requires level 200 to use.

Su-ho furrowed his brows.

Level 200?

He had just fed the feather two essences to lift its seal, only to discover a new restriction.

‘Tch. Typical system nonsense.’

Annoying, but what could he do?

Su-ho decided to store the feather away until he reached level 200.

Just then—

[Guiyeong Spear has completely absorbed the Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island’s shadow.]

The Guiyeong Spear had finished absorbing.

Was that it?

Just shadow absorption again?

But then—

[Magical energy has reached sufficient levels.]

[The consciousness of the Guiyeong Spear is awakening.]

[Congratulations. You have successfully awakened part of Guiyeong Spear’s consciousness.]

[Item information has been updated.]

He had finally succeeded in awakening the spear’s fourth level of consciousness.

Surprised by the unexpected alert, Su-ho quickly opened the spear’s info.

[Guiyeong Spear]

– Grade: S+

The Guiyeong Spear with four awakened consciousness stages.

Empowered by potent magical energy, it has partially regained its former strength, greatly enhancing all its abilities.

The first to awaken its consciousness is recognized as its master, unlocking ‘Guiyeong (S)’—allowing the spear to be summoned from the owner’s shadow at any time.

If broken, it can be repaired and resummoned using the ‘Shadow Regeneration (S)’ effect, provided shadow and mana are present.

Grants access to ‘Shadow Shackles (S),’ biting into the target’s shadow to immobilize them.

While the spear is embedded in the shadow, the target suffers continuous ‘Shadow Bleeding (S)’ damage every second.

Allows for unconditional piercing of any shadow-covered target via ‘Shadow Penetration (S).’

Enables teleportation to the spear’s location with ‘Shadow Step (S).’

“At last!”

Seeing the updated item description, Su-ho’s lips curled into a smile.

He had finally unlocked Shadow Step, the most coveted power of the 4-star Guiyeong Spear.

‘I used to envy that damn Spirit King for having this.’

Player skills were classified into categories: offensive, defensive, evasive, healing...

Naturally, there were movement skills too—but for someone like Su-ho, who had only walked the path of the sword, movement skills were almost nonexistent.

‘At best, all I had was a short dash.’

From that perspective, Shadow Step, which allowed instant teleportation to the spear, was a top-tier movement skill.

With it, he could now introduce far more variables into battle.

‘Now there’s just one final step left to fully awaken the Guiyeong Spear.’

Su-ho smirked and shifted his gaze.

Then, grabbing the Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island’s mana crystal still lying there, he stepped toward the exit portal.

***

“Whoa!”

“It’s opening, it’s opening!”

“It opened!!”

The moment Su-ho stepped out of the exit portal—

He blinked, confused by the sudden commotion outside, then his eyes widened in shock as he took in the crowd gathered just beyond the gate line.

He wasn’t seeing things.

There shouldn’t have been a single soul out here, and yet the area was overflowing with people—journalists and onlookers alike—who had come to witness Su-ho.

“Mr. An Su-ho! Please, give us an interview!”

“Hunter An! How did you discover the Hallasan Gate?”

“What kind of gate was the Hallasan Gate?!”

“An Su-ho, I love you!!”

Questions bombarded him from YouTubers and reporters alike.

And now that he looked closer, he even spotted several members of his fan club, the Su-ho Apostles, scattered among the crowd.

Su-ho immediately checked his phone to understand what was going on.

Dozens of missed calls.

He quickly found Jo Jin-hwi’s number and turned away from the portal as he called.

– “Pro-nim!”

The call connected immediately.

Su-ho lowered his voice and asked,

“Reporter, what the hell is going on? How did all these people know to come here?”

– “Huh? What do you mean? Wait—don’t tell me you started the raid without knowing?”

“Yeah, I came here alone and quietly. I didn’t tell anyone. Please explain.”

– “Ah... well...”

Where had the information leaked from?

It didn’t take long to find out.

“You’re saying an alert went out?”

– “Exactly!”

Here’s what had happened.

The moment Su-ho challenged the Volcano Island Gate, a system notification was broadcast to all Awakened individuals in Jeju Island—informing them that Su-ho was currently attempting to clear the Volcano Island Gate.

And with that, everything clicked for Su-ho.

‘So this wasn’t just a regular Hidden Gate.’

Shockingly, the Sealed Tomb of the Volcano Gate wasn’t a typical Hidden Gate.

It was an End Gate.

An End Gate refers to the highest-level gate within a given region. When someone challenges it, a notification is sent to all Players who are registered within that territory.

It’s the system’s way of saying, “The final boss gate is being challenged—go cheer them on.”

‘Once an End Gate is cleared, no more gates spawn in that area.’

Which made this whole thing absurd.

End Gates were incredibly rare, and their rewards were equally outrageous.

‘In my previous life, only a handful were ever discovered...’

And yet the Volcano Island Gate—this gate—just happened to be an End Gate.

‘Tch. I mean, sure, that’s good news, but...’

Su-ho looked at the sea of people who had gathered.

He had planned to clear this gate quietly and slip away just as quietly.

But no—this one just had to be an End Gate.

His head began to throb at the thought of having to clean up this mess.

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