Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 142

"The gate line is collapsing."

Outside the gate.

Upon hearing the monitoring agent's words, everyone waiting for Su-ho outside instantly had their eyes widen.

"He cleared it?"

"Seriously?"

"With S-rank magic, that’s practically an S-rank gate!"

"Wow... Su-ho really is in a class of his own..."

"Actually, I’m a Su-ho fan."

"You too? Me too."

Until just moments before, the atmosphere outside had been mixed.

While Su-ho had quickly opened the gate using his Fast Opening technique, opening the gate and clearing it were entirely different matters.

Still, about half of the people were confident in Su-ho’s ability.

He had already cleared several sealed gates, so it was only natural that people had high expectations.

And now.

Su-ho had once again made history, boldly proving his strength to everyone.

As Su-ho walked out of the gate, Jeong Cheol-min, Son Do-won, and the exploration team members, who had arrived late and were waiting nearby, rushed to greet him.

"Good job, Su-ho!"

"Wow, Su-ho, you really did an amazing job!"

Jeong Cheol-min and Son Do-won had bright expressions.

It was no wonder.

As important as detecting and stabilizing new gates was, clearing the new gate was just as crucial.

And now, Su-ho had taken on the most difficult gate and successfully cleared it, so it was only natural that the gate team leaders were both grateful and proud.

Su-ho smiled and spoke.

"No injuries, and no major loot from inside either."

"Ah, you brat, listen to yourself. What’s that? Is that important right now? Your condition is the most important thing!"

"Yeah, that’s right. Who cares about that? The fact that you’re not injured is a real relief. Is it because you’re a healer?"

"Yes, I healed the small wounds myself. The report will be submitted on time."

"Haha, already talking like a civil servant now that you’ve got the probation badge? You attending some academy or something?"

Jeong Cheol-min’s words made Su-ho laugh.

Then Jeong Cheol-min spoke to Son Do-won.

"Now that the gate’s cleared, is the situation done? We’ll submit the report later, but should we head out first?"

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead. You’ve all worked hard. I’ll handle the cleanup."

Son Do-won waved them off and cleared the way.

There was a lot to do, and most importantly, people had been waiting for Su-ho and Jeong Cheol-min for a while.

The people waiting were none other than the exploration team members.

Once Son Do-won left, Jeong Cheol-min finally introduced the exploration team to Su-ho.

"Both sides have been busy, so I’m introducing you now. Everyone, this is our new deputy team leader, An Su-ho. And this is Lee Won-an, the team leader of the exploration team."

Su-ho nodded respectfully and introduced himself.

"I’m An Su-ho."

"I’m Lee Won-an."

Then, Jeong Cheol-min introduced the remaining four members of the exploration team.

After the introductions, Lee Won-an grinned and said.

"It’s an honor to finally meet the deputy team leader. I’ve heard so much about you, and I’ve been so eager to meet you. But who would’ve thought our first meeting would be so intense..."

Lee Won-an was sincere.

It was only natural.

Who wouldn’t be excited and curious when the Sword Saint, An Su-ho, was coming to be the team leader? Especially when he was known for not fearing any gate, and being an incredible player?

Su-ho humbly smiled.

"Haha, it’s nothing. I’ve also heard a lot about you, team leader. They say you even manage both the exploration team and the raid team when needed."

"Ah, well, it’s because I’m the only one here. But..."

Lee Won-an paused and looked at Jeong Cheol-min with a subtle expression.

"Does that mean the deputy team leader will now manage the exploration team or the raid team?"

"That’s..."

Jeong Cheol-min glanced at Su-ho.

He was, more precisely, waiting for the cue.

Since no discussion had been made about this yet.

Before Jeong Cheol-min could speak, Su-ho opened his mouth.

"I was actually planning to mention this, but if you both are okay with it, how about we have a serious discussion about it later? I have something I’m working on right now..."

"What are you working on?"

The Characteristic Quest, he said.

Upon hearing this, the quick-witted Jeong Cheol-min quickly chimed in to support Su-ho’s words.

"Yeah, this is a big issue, so let’s talk about it later. The deputy team leader has something I asked him to do, and he rushed over here when an S-rank gate appeared. Su-ho, you’ve worked hard, and you can take your time with the report. I’ll handle the cleanup here, it’ll take a little longer."

"Got it."

"Seems like the deputy team leader has been super busy since his appointment. Is this the fate of someone with ability? Haha, I’ll be happily waiting for our talk. And..."

Lee Won-an pulled out an energy bar from his bag and handed it to Su-ho.

"It’s all I’ve got for now, but let’s have a proper meal together sometime. Thank you again. Thanks to you, our Special Unit 2, we’ll finally be able to breathe easy."

Su-ho silently accepted the energy bar.

This wasn’t just any ordinary protein bar.

It was a special energy bar made for modern players.

‘Looks like the exploration team’s activities are quite busy.’

Of course, if one managed their meals well, they wouldn’t need this, but it seemed they were genuinely busy.

Su-ho accepted the energy bar and said.

"Thanks, I’ll enjoy it. Let’s save the rest of the talk for later during our meal."

"Haha, yes! I’m looking forward to it!"

Lee Won-an gave a playful salute.

Finally, Su-ho made his way to his car parked outside.

‘Lee Won-an... I hadn’t heard that name before, but he’s much better than I expected.’

There was no malice in his words.

The energy he emitted through the Ring of Emotions was a positive white one.

Su-ho started the engine, leaving Yeongwolru to get away from the people’s gazes.

Once he arrived at a less crowded area, he finally began organizing his status window.

‘First, the stat allocation. Checking status window.’

[ An Su-ho ]

– Level: 110

– Class: Crusader

– Traits: ＜New Blood＞＜Heracles Candidate＞

– Strength (O): 36

– Stamina (O): 12

– Mana (R): 99

– Sensitivity (R): 72

– Bonus Stats: 4

Su-ho had yet to trigger his second trait, but here he was, already at level 110.

First, he allocated the 4 bonus stats: one to Mana and three to Sensitivity.

[ Mana stat has reached 100. ]

[ Mana stat has further grown. ]

[ Congratulations! Mana stat has leveled up to Orange rank! ]

After refreshing his status window, Su-ho checked it again.

[ An Su-ho ]

– Level: 110

– Class: Crusader

– Traits: ＜New Blood＞＜Heracles Candidate＞

– Strength (O): 36

– Stamina (O): 12

– Mana (O): 1

– Sensitivity (R): 75

– Bonus Stats: 0

A smile spread across Su-ho’s face as he rechecked his status window.

"Level 110 with three Orange stats."

Probably, no player in all of humanity had such rapid growth as Su-ho.

But even so, he still thought it wasn’t enough.

He was a regressor.

And this time, he planned to tackle the Five Great Calamity Gates on his own, so in that light, he still had a long way to go.

Su-ho, staring at his status window, thought.

‘I’ve been so focused on growing that I didn’t pay much attention to stat management... But if I want to get the Unified Bonus now, I’ll have to start managing it right away. But...’

Could he even properly earn the Unified Bonus now, considering where he stood?

Su-ho briefly pondered and then came to the conclusion that, at this rate, he would likely not be able to receive the Unified Bonus this time.

‘It’s almost impossible unless I secure a massive amount of bonus stats.’

It was true.

Earning one additional bonus stat through the MVP bonus from clearing a gate was far from enough.

To make up for the gaps in other stats for the Unified Bonus, Su-ho would need to secure a large amount of bonus stats through significant achievements or great feats. The problem was, it was becoming harder and harder to achieve such feats.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible.

‘In the end, if I want efficiency, there’s only one option: stat redistribution.’

Stat redistribution wasn’t exactly a groundbreaking technique.

In fact, various stat-related methods, including stat removal, were discovered in the later stages of the Great Cataclysm.

‘It’d be foolish to throw away the stats I worked hard to acquire just for the Unified Effect... so, the only choice is redistribution.’

And right now, the only way to redistribute stats was by obtaining ‘that item.’

He knew how.

While stat redistribution itself was discovered in the later stages, the crafting recipe for that item was made public, thanks to the Minor Creator Kang Seul-gi.

Su-ho entered that information into his mental schedule, then brought up the Vampire Blood details.

[ Vampire Blood ]

– Rank: S+

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

The pure bloodline of the Royal Vampires, also called the Noble Vampires of the Night.

Level 1 – Royal Blood: Original Vampire (S)

Level 2 – [ ??? ]

: Locked.

└ Unlock Requirements:

① Reach Level 100.

② Achieve S-rank in the Blood Prison skill.

Level 3...

Su-ho checked the details of Vampire Blood before him.

The requirements to awaken the second power of Vampire Blood were: reaching level 100 and achieving S-rank in the Blood Prison skill.

‘Achieving S-rank...’

Currently, his Blood Prison rank was A, so it was just one step away from reaching the required rank.

But it wasn’t a C or B rank—it was S rank.

Achieving an S rank was the highest level, and it was anything but easy.

That’s why Su-ho had tackled Dragon Blood first, rather than focusing on Vampire Blood.

It was much easier to defeat something than to rank up a skill.

‘Grinding for proficiency is one way, but...’

How many repetitions would it take to rank up to S rank? The amount of experience required for an S rank was beyond estimation.

So originally, Su-ho had planned to upgrade his skills through other means.

He knew that items like the stat redistribution item could help him achieve that.

But after acquiring the Legion Tactics skill from the Yeongwolru Gate, his options increased.

‘Hmm.’

What should he do?

After a brief moment of thought, Su-ho made up his mind.

‘Right. I’ll stick to the original plan. I’m not going to make just one of those items this time; I need to establish a system for the future as well.’

Though he’d been putting it off for later, the urgency made him decide to take care of it now.

Just as he thought this, his phone suddenly rang.

Weeeing!

Checking the caller, Su-ho answered.

"Yes, Hyun-hee."

The caller was Yoon Hyun-chul’s sister, Yoon Hyun-hee.