Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 383

“Congratulations, Master! Truly!”

Hiro’s private residence.

Having learned of the successful clear of the Imperial Palace Gate, Hiro offered Su-ho heartfelt congratulations.

“Thanks. So, about that—someone came to see me afterward......”

After that, Su-ho told Hiro about what had happened in the Imperial Palace—specifically, the conversation he’d had with Vice Minister Miyamoto.

At first Hiro listened with a “sure, sure” attitude, but the more the story went on, the wider his mouth fell open without him realizing it.

“...What?”

“They’ve basically made you the greatest Player in Japan, surpassing Kenji, and the country’s new poster-boy Player. The Paranormal Ability Agency and the rest of the government... heck, the whole of Japan, the public included, are going to push you, cheer you on, and support you.”

“......”

Jaw dropped, Hiro couldn’t get a word out.

He’d certainly had the goal of becoming Japan’s number one Player someday, but he hadn’t imagined it would happen overnight like this.

“In that sense... here.”

Before Hiro could get another word in, Su-ho first pulled a gift from his inventory and held it out.

What he handed Hiro was Dojigiri Yasutsuna, one of the Five Swords Under Heaven of Japan, obtained by slaying Shuten-dōji.

“Master... what is this?”

“Have you ever heard of a blade called Dojigiri Yasutsuna?”

“If it’s Dojigiri Yasutsuna, do you mean the Dojigiri Yasutsuna I know? The one that cut down the drunkard ogre, Shuten-dōji?!”

“Yeah, that one. The sword said to have beheaded Shuten-dōji, one of Japan’s Three Great Evil Spirits.”

“W-why would you give something this precious to me?”

“Does a master need a reason to give his disciple a gift? But if I have to put a reason on it, call it an apology for dumping a huge burden on you in a single day.”

“Master...”

As if receiving a sacred relic, Hiro accepted Dojigiri Yasutsuna with trembling hands.

Then, after checking the item’s details, he suddenly burst into tears.

“W-why are you crying?”

“I-I’m so happy I can’t help it. I don’t know if I deserve to receive a treasure like this...”

“If not you, then who? I’m a swordsman, so it’s not like I don’t covet blades, but I already have a sword I use.”

In that sense, it was a bit of a shame that Kusanagi no Tsurugi had now become a stone fragment of Takamagahara.

Kusanagi, which had become a sword that cut fire, was one of the finest of fine blades—he’d used it even by wrapping it with Blood Skin.

‘Still, what can you do.’

He could always find another sword with similar options.

Or, strictly speaking, he could just upgrade the stats of the Blood Sword and be done with it.

As long as Su-ho had the Blood Sword, he decided not to get greedy for other blades.

Su-ho continued.

“Which brings me to this.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry for suddenly making you a hero, but the fame is piled on your name either way, right?”

“Right?”

“I don’t want you to be a hollow, fake hero—I want you to be a real one. So for that, you’ll have to train diligently, yeah? We don’t know what variables might crop up.”

“Ah... yes, of course! I’ll never neglect my training. I’ll devote myself again and again.”

“Good attitude. Then from now on, let’s get our stories straight about what happened inside the Imperial Palace Gate. I gave Vice Minister Miyamoto the abridged version.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll obviously write the report for you, but whatever happens, you need to memorize our coordinated story properly. From the look in his eyes, he plans to make you Japan’s top Player and use you as the face, the poster boy. You’ll get dragged onto every broadcast under the sun, right? We can’t have the story changing each time, so get it down cold.”

“Yep! Understood!”

If it were up to his heart, he’d have liked to play the mystery man like he himself had in the past, but to fully leverage the Paranormal Agency and the government, he had to give them some of what they wanted.

That’s how the world works.

‘Of course, if I were the one in the hot seat instead of Hiro, I’d be playing it with brass-ball swagger...’

But he wasn’t actually Hiro.

Hiro was, in a sense, a figurehead—a puppet.

So it was best to use him to the fullest while keeping the conditions in place.

“Let’s start right away. While we’re at it, I’ll give you some sword guidance.”

“Yep, thank you!!”

And so Su-ho’s lecture began.

 A few hours later, when the session had more or less wrapped up, Hiro was completely wiped out.

“Rest up a bit and make sure you properly memorize what I taught you today.”

“Huff... huff... yes, understood.”

At this point, all urgent matters were handled.

Before checking his phone, Su-ho first pulled up his Status Window.

[ An Su-ho ]

Lv: 244

Class: Rage Crusader

Traits: <New Blood><Heracles Candidate><King Who Annihilates Nations><Power of the Sun><Power of the Moon><Guest of Greed>

Strength (N): 37

Mana (N): 37

Sense (B): 8

Leadership (N): 63

Bonus Stats: 33

Looking over the Status Window, Su-ho let out a faint chuckle.

Numbers that were reassuring no matter when he saw them.

After reviewing the Status Window, Su-ho invested all of his bonus stats into Mana and refreshed the window.

‘Whatever happens, Mana has to be prioritized. Anyway...’

At this pace, maybe he really could secure a Purple stat even before the mid-phase of the Great Upheaval hit?

At the plausible prospect, Su-ho gave a «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» faint smile.

If that happened, he felt like he could mow down the Five Calamities or whatever all by himself.

Once he finished the update, Su-ho turned on his phone.

Due to the season lockout, further activity was blocked—he wouldn’t have business in Japan for a while.

There were fewer messages piled up than he’d thought.

Most were simple reports.

Nothing urgent.

Naturally so.

He’d slipped into Japan in secret; by now, everyone would assume he was working on the very front line against North Korea.

‘I don’t have anything urgent with Representative Ion either... it looks like there’s still a bit of time before the Great Upheaval’s mid-phase, so I should swing by China in the meantime.’

There were a few reasons to set his next destination as China.

First, to settle the hierarchy war among the Lizardmen of the Yalu River, and second, to use the Rune of Legacy.

One of the two Runes of Legacy he wanted to use belonged to an owner in China.

‘Before that, I should drop by Korea once for a refresh...’

Just then—

[ Su-ho Land is under attack by ‘Enemy Nation – China’. ]

[ Would you like to check the information? ]

A system alert popped up before his eyes.

What was this supposed to mean?

Under attack by China?

When Su-ho immediately checked the damage report, a video showing the current situation floated up.

It was real.

In the footage, three men were attacking the Lizardmen—and at the sight, Su-ho could only click his tongue in exasperation.

“Who the hell are these guys?”

He narrowed his eyes and studied them.

It didn’t take long for him to realize who they were. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Those guys.

Players who had once symbolized China.

They were a trio called the “Trident.” Silly team name aside, they possessed ridiculous skill.

“Wow... the Trident pops up out of nowhere?”

Unbelievable. Seriously.

Suppressing a hollow laugh, Su-ho tried to use Shadow Movement on the spot.

[ You cannot use this. ]

But it didn’t fire.

What the—? He was sure he’d left a Guiyeong Spear staked at the Yalu River!

He learned, belatedly, that when the Guiyeong Spear reached Stage 5, all prior Guiyeong Spears had vanished.

‘Son of a—!’

In a rush, Su-ho summoned the Cheolma (Iron Horse) and headed for the Yalu.

‘Of all times...!’

The timing wasn’t great.

No matter how fast the Iron Horse was, it couldn’t beat Shadow Movement.

For now, all he could do was trust in the leadership of the Lizardmen who, by now, would have finished the hierarchy war and been appointed as battalion commanders.

‘I knew those Trident punks ran hot blood, but I never expected to get tangled up with them like this.’

The Trident were famous not only for their strength but for their fiery temperaments.

They called themselves heroes—“men of valor”—and whenever something threatened people on Chinese social media... not just Gate incidents but criminals or gangsters causing public harm, they would appear and mete out private justice.

‘Their most famous case was the war they waged against the Triads.’

So, strictly speaking, they weren’t all bad.

At least, that’s how Su-ho remembered it.

But right now, Su-ho’s country, Su-ho Land, had declared war on China.

And in the midst of that, Chinese Players—the Trident—had invaded, so he couldn’t just sit back and watch.

“Pick up the pace, Cheolma.”

“Neigh!!”

Imbued with Su-ho’s mana, the Iron Horse pounded across the air like a mad thing.

 BOOM!!

A tremendous detonation.

In the meantime, three men were slaughtering the Lizardmen.

“Stupid lizard bastards!”

“Die!”

Thugs who appeared on the Yalu River.

They were the Trident family Su-ho had mentioned.

They weren’t called the Trident just because there were three of them; each wielded his own distinctive spear, and that was how they got the team name.

In that sense, their names were Lü Tian, Guan Long, and Zhang Hui—all top-tier Chinese Players who had long since surpassed level 200.

Then Lü Tian, who stood at the very front, bellowed at the top of his lungs.

“Hurry up and call out your boss, the Red Dragon King!”

The “Red Dragon King” was the Red King, the newly risen lord of the Yalu—that is, Su-ho in his Lizardman disguise.

The Trident’s coming to the Yalu to find the Red Dragon King was, in a way, only natural.

After the Lizardman legion of Su-ho Land, which had grown only on the Yalu, completed its generational shift, they immediately attacked Dandong and Yuanbaogu.

There had been almost no loss of life.

But the two places the Lizardman legion swept through had been paralyzed beyond the point of functioning as cities and had become lawless zones the government gave up on.

Naturally, the news spread across China via social media, and the Trident—parched for justice and attention—drew up a plan and launched the Yalu assault.

Of course, the CMC or the Paranormal Elite Forces had no idea the Trident had moved.

They’d always acted very covertly without caring for the government’s eyes on them.

“Retreat! Tsrat!”

Under the Trident’s fierce onslaught, the Lizardman commanders ordered a withdrawal.

The ones giving the retreat order were the three battalion-commander-grade leaders who had proudly seized their posts in the hierarchy war Su-ho had organized.

Naturally, they weren’t just barking orders from the rear.

All three stood at the very front, fighting the Trident and taking the lead more than anyone in evacuating their subordinates.

“Tsrat!”

“Battalion commanders! You have to fall back!”

“We’re fine—company commanders, look after the youngsters first!”

“But—!”

KWA-ANG!!

As they tried to reassure their own, Lü Tian’s attack slammed into the Lizardmen.

But one of the three battalion-commander Lizardmen blocked Lü Tian’s strike and shouted.

“Go! Now!!”

“Tsrat!!”

The blocking battalion commander’s arm trembled.

Even if he was a battalion-commander-grade Lizardman chosen through the hierarchy war, he couldn’t possibly take lightly the strike of a Trident Player well over level 200.

Lü Tian, who’d struck the battalion commander, laughed.

“A base little lizard dares to mimic a human...!”

“Tsrat! Never tried to mimic that...!”

“Nonsense!”

BOOM!!

A spear swung in a great arc.

With that single attack, the battalion-commander Lizardman was blasted far back and an arm flew off at the shoulder.

Seeing that, Lü Tian raised his weapon and again targeted the battalion commander.

“Forget gnats like you—call out the Red Dragon King!!”

Power surged down the weapon.

The battalion commander closed his eyes.

He judged there was no way left to dodge—and no strength left either.

But he did not regret it.

As a battalion commander, he had protected his subordinates more than anyone.

At the very moment he accepted death—

KANG!!

Lü Tian’s weapon was knocked aside.

And a miracle occurred simultaneously.

“Were you calling for me?”

A voice more familiar than any other.

And the voice they most wanted, most longed to hear.

It was the entrance of the Red King—Su-ho.