Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 424

U.N. Secretary-General Mac doubted his ears the moment he heard this story.

“What did you say?”

“It’s all true.”

“And...... as someone who prioritizes world peace above all and as Director of the Player Bureau, it was also a sweet offer I absolutely couldn’t refuse.”

“What is that supposed to.......”

Mac closed his mouth.

Then he furrowed his brow and fell into long deliberation.

“......Director.”

“Yes, Secretary-General.”

“From another perspective, this could result in a private individual coming to possess the strongest army in history.”

“You could see it that way, but.......”

Charlie hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“Mr. An told me that if you said that, I should answer like this.”

“What?”

“That’s a pointless worry. Because I can already take on the United States by myself.”

“What?”

“It’s a fact.”

“What is...... Do you think that makes sense? Isn’t that far too arrogant a statement?”

“But on the other hand, doesn’t part of you think it could be true?”

“.......”

Charlie was right.

Mac couldn’t deny it.

“Isn’t the very existence of Gates something even the entirety of the U.S. military can’t resolve? Some monsters aren’t affected by our thermal weapons at all. And Mr. An has taken down dozens—no, numbers in the triple digits—of such Gates, so it isn’t a statement completely without possibility.”

“.......”

“In truth, we have no options. If we consider the worst case and assume he harbors ill intent and becomes an unprecedented tyrant, at the rate we’re going the world will be destroyed by the Gates anyway. And if that happens, Mr. An will die in the end as well.”

“......Understood. Then what should I—no, what should we do for him?”

“For now, he said if he has the U.N.’s support, he’ll take care of the rest himself.”

“Good grief...... Understood. Director, you act as his agent and support him. I’ll prepare the rest.”

“Yes, sir.”

It was the moment the entire U.N. boarded the same boat as Su-ho.

*

“Haha, madman.”

Jeong Cheol-min let out a hollow laugh as he watched Su-ho’s recorded footage on the news rebroadcast.

In fact, this wasn’t the first time Jeong Cheol-min had seen the footage.

He first learned of it when Jo Jin-hwi of PBS sent it to him.

At Jeong Cheol-min’s hollow laugh, Jo Jin-hwi, sitting beside him and sipping coffee, spoke.

“I knew you were more amazing than I thought, Chief, but because of this incident I learned you’re far, far, far, far more...... no, more and more and more and more amazing than I’d imagined.”

“Tell me about it. It’s like an onion—peel and peel and there’s always something new...... By the way, I knew the reporter was trusted by Assistant Manager An, but I didn’t expect it to be to this degree.”

“Haha, same here. Which is why we’ve been tied together as one team this time, haven’t we?”

One team.

Quite literally.

Su-ho asked Jeong Cheol-min to prepare the paperwork for establishing the Save the World organization.

At a glance, it looked like a simple task of handling papers, but Su-ho knew that by the time Jeong Cheol-min moved the documents forward, his Australia footage would be airing on every frequency in the world.

In that situation, what would the higher-ups say if Su-ho suddenly reported that he intended to create Save the World?

“What? What organization?”

“Save the World? A nonprofit?”

“Are you crazy?”

“I mean, our domestic situation is already tough because of the Second Great Upheaval, and now what?”

“Do we look easy to you or what!”

“Absolutely not!!”

This kind of outburst would be the cute version.

“Why insist on establishing a whole organization to do that?”

“Just run it internally within the Grand Hunter Association!”

“Open a new department in the Special Division! I’ll pull strings for you!”

“But let me appoint the department head there.”

“You don’t know civil servants can’t hold dual posts? It’s okay because it’s an NGO? Nothing ‘okay’ about it! Are you kidding me—absolutely not!”

“I mean, if you’re trying to do something big for the world, what kind of nonprofit is that? How is that nonprofit?”

“Chief Jeong, talk it over well so we can push this as a joint project with our government somehow. Ah, he’s your subordinate, isn’t he! A civil servant who eats the country’s grain should shut up and do as he’s told when the top says so, why so many words?”

“But the Minister said he wants to have a meal with Assistant Manager An.......”

Most of them would just try to stick their spoon in.

That was why, along with a global media play, the U.N.’s support was needed.

Of course, Su-ho had not the slightest intention of fighting this dirty fight alone.

Jo Jin-hwi’s joining was all for this reason.

“Let them try to stick their spoons in random places. PBS as a whole will immediately start firing off articles like machine guns. You have no idea how much background material we have. We’ll show them properly this time what it means for the pen to be mightier than the sword.”

“Goodness, just hearing that is scary. You’d think it wouldn’t come to that, but even in wartime, politicians worry about sticking their own spoon in. Then I’m counting on you.”

“Don’t worry. That’s exactly why I’m here.”

“By the way, where is Assistant Manager An doing the follow-up interview? Right now, the only one who actually knows about the Big Gate is Assistant Manager An, so every news outlet in the world must be drooling.”

“Well...... given the scale, even so, wouldn’t it be with the BBC or CNN?”

Just then.

Bzzzz!

Jo Jin-hwi’s phone rang.

After checking the caller, Jo Jin-hwi picked up immediately.

“Oh dear, Assistant Manager. I’ve got you. I just watched the news...... Yes?”

The easy smile froze on Jo Jin-hwi’s face. At the same time, his eyes went wide.

“Understood. I’ll prepare right away. And he’s right here with me, so I’ll ask him once...... Ah, it’s fine? Understood.”

The call ended.

Yet even after the call ended, Jo Jin-hwi’s dumbfounded expression did not subside.

Jeong Cheol-min asked,

“Assistant Manager An? What did he say? And why that face? What did he say?”

“It’s us.......”

“Eh?”

“The follow-up interview...... not the BBC or CNN—our PBS is going to do it.”

“Whaaat?!”

Jeong Cheol-min was startled.

Then he soon broke into a broad grin and said,

“Wow, as expected, Assistant Manager An really takes care of his own people. Congratulations. I’m sure BBC and CNN sent no small number of love calls, but he brushed them all aside and gave PBS the exclusive.”

“Yeah, well. I wasn’t expecting it at all either, so I’m pretty flustered...... But Assistant Manager An said you should prepare for the interview together, Chief.”

“Me? Why?”

“He said, if possible, to bring the Association President too. Said we should be working on Save the World.”

“What?!”

Jeong Cheol-min’s eyes bulged as if they would pop out.

*

PBS was in an uproar.

The fact that Jo Jin-hwi was close to An Su-ho had become common knowledge within PBS, but no one had imagined they’d land the follow-up interview on the Australian Big Gate incident as well.

“Wow...... Deputy Chief Jo’s class really shows.”

“I was already shocked by the news of Hunter An’s return from North Korea, and now a Big Gate follow-up interview.”

“The youngest-ever Deputy Chief title isn’t for just anyone.”

“I heard he was offered a Bureau Chief post originally and turned it down on purpose? Said it was too burdensome.”

“Insane, just insane. Some people couldn’t take it even if they wanted to.”

At PBS, Jo Jin-hwi was working as a Deputy Chief reporter, and unlike in his previous life where he was buried in political warfare and quietly disappeared, he had now become a power among powers whom no one dared touch.

Of course, he himself didn’t care in the slightest about factions or lines.

And all of this was thanks, naturally, to exclusives about Su-ho.

Because of that, he had earned the Deputy Section Chief or Section Chief titles in the shortest time and youngest age in PBS history, and inside the company they practically regarded him as the president without the title.

Yet even so, Jo Jin-hwi was in the middle of turning all of that down as burdensome.

‘Because I still want to run more in the field.’

In truth, even Deputy Chief-level reporters only barely operate in the field.

Usually, once you become a Deputy Chief, you sit at the desk and focus on managing your subordinates.

But Jo Jin-hwi didn’t do that, and this time too, he appeared with a huge scoop no one expected.

Thanks to that, he became extremely busy.

To be honest, speaking with a conscience, the follow-up interview on Australia’s Big Gate was far too large in scale for PBS—just a regional broadcaster in Asia—to handle.

And yet a scoop he hadn’t even hoped for had come together °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° like this.

Additionally, Chief Jeong Cheol-min and Association President Im Cheol became very busy.

With a baffled expression, Im Cheol asked,

“Wait, what is all this? Save the World?”

“Mr. President, so, this is.......”

As soon as he received Su-ho’s request, Jeong Cheol-min ran straight to the President and explained the whole story.

It had to be that way, because domestically, only Jeong Cheol-min and Jo Jin-hwi knew about the founding of Save the World.

And now that they had suddenly dragged in the Association President as well, for Im Cheol it was, quite literally, a bolt from the blue.

“Good grief...... Assistant Manager An has really sharpened his blade. By the way, is it okay for a civil servant to just set up an organization like that?”

“If it’s a nonprofit, apparently it’s fine. But I’m doubtful the higher-ups will accept it.......”

“Heh heh, there’s a reason you dragged me in, huh?”

“I’m sorry. This wasn’t discussed with me either, and I hadn’t heard about it beforehand.......”

“No, no. Why would Chief Jeong need to apologize for this? I’m not offended at all. Can’t you see? This means Assistant Manager An intends to keep me close. Heh heh, our Assistant Manager An. As expected, the size of his heart is different. Is it because he’s world-class? He’s like the ocean.”

From a general perspective, this was a matter that hadn’t been agreed upon in advance, so from the standpoint of a superior—no, the top superior among superiors, the Association President—it could have been sufficiently irritating.

A subordinate was using him like a tool.

But in his decades-long political life, Im Cheol was not the least bit displeased with this situation.

He was grateful instead.

Smiling, Im Cheol said,

“Chief Jeong, this is a tide, a tide.”

“A tide?”

“Yes, the tide of the times. A tide that even ministers, vice ministers...... no, even the president can’t do anything about. And we’ve been lucky enough to ride the great tide called An Su-ho. Therefore, I can gladly give everything and cooperate even if Assistant Manager An suddenly asks for something bigger than this—that’s what I’m saying.”

“Ah, yes.”

“All right, then I have a rough idea of what I need to do. Shall I go sync up with Assistant Manager An?”

Soon, the car carrying the two arrived at PBS, and Im Cheol strode into the station with a spring in his step.

Su-ho had arrived first and was waiting.

When the two met in the waiting room, the very moment he saw Su-ho, Im Cheol practically ran to him and clasped both his hands.

“Oh dear, the treasure of the world, the treasure of the Republic of Korea, the treasure of the Association, my treasure, Assistant Manager An~!”

Im Cheol’s welcome was affectionate to the extreme.

And the foreigner standing beside him...... Director Charlie tilted his head as he looked at Im Cheol.

“Mr. An. Who’s this?”

“Well.......”

At Charlie’s question, Su-ho gave an awkward smile.