Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 109

Pi Seongyeol asked.

“What is it?”

“I’ll handle the task you assigned me without any mistakes. But, could you also let me take the Special Department assessment I originally intended to take?”

“What?”

What kind of ridiculous request was this?

That was exactly the expression on his face.

But Suho was serious.

‘Because I don’t want this to become an issue later.’

Pi Seongyeol was someone he planned to send down to ruin eventually.

And there was nothing more bothersome than dealing with someone who had nothing to lose.

‘I’m not afraid, but it’s a hassle.’

So, he wanted to handle the assessment properly.

Of course, he had other reasons as well.

‘I can get a perfect score without any favors, so I don’t want my record affected by something like this.’

The title of first and youngest perfect scorer.

He didn’t want to tarnish that reputation with Pi Seongyeol’s filth.

Just then.

“Hahaha!”

Pi Seongyeol burst out laughing.

Then, with an amused smile, he looked at Suho and spoke.

“Oh man, this guy’s even crazier than I thought!”

“Haha… I’m sorry. The title of perfect scorer is right in front of me, so I feel a bit reluctant to give it up.”

“Heh, fine. I’ll grant your request. But just take the written test, not the practical one. I intentionally removed it because of the Son Baek-geum issue, and I don’t want to waste time by making you go through it twice.”

“Thank you. If possible, I’d like to take the written test before I leave to handle the Son Baek-geum matter.”

He was sincere.

How hard could the written test be?

But to Pi Seongyeol, it sounded a bit different.

“Look at this guy! Sure, I know you’ve taken your previous written exams like this and aced them all, but do you even realize how much harder our Special Department’s written test is compared to other departments? And you want to take it today, just like that?”

“I’ll give it a shot.”

“Huh, I can’t tell if that’s confidence or foolishness…”

Pi Seongyeol looked at Suho, then suddenly, as if he had an interesting thought, he brought a thick stack of papers from his drawer.

“Alright. I’d love to witness this so-called instant perfect score in real time. I’ll bring the test papers, so read this in the meantime. By the way, this is also a cram study material.”

What kind of senior would let a junior’s challenge slide?

In fact, he thought it was a good opportDepartmenty.

Suho started reading the cram material, and shortly after, Pi Seongyeol appeared with the test papers himself.

“Need more time?”

“No, I’ve read enough.”

“Insane guy. I warned you, didn’t I? Our test is tough. Don’t let your pride get in the way and ruin your perfect score record. Do you want to call it off now?”

“I can do it.”

“Heh, fine. A man should have some guts, after all.”

Suho took the test under Pi Seongyeol’s supervision, immediately starting to solve the questions.

Then, after some time, Suho, having answered confidently, set down his pen.

“I’m done. But you didn’t give me an OMR card…”

“It’s fine. I’ll grade it myself.”

With that, Pi Seongyeol began grading it himself.

Scratch-

Scratch-

The sound of paper being flipped.

After a while, Pi Seongyeol turned back to the first page, letting it fall with a thud on the desk.

Then, he quietly stared at Suho.

Suho, with only a slight smile, waited for Pi Seongyeol to speak.

Finally, Pi Seongyeol burst into laughter and said,

“Damn, you really did it, didn’t you?”

“Thank you. I was able to get a perfect score only because you set easy questions.”

“Sure… I’ll make sure your perfect score on this test is officially recorded, so don’t worry and go handle your business. Is there anything else you need to know?”

“No, sir.”

“Good. Even if you do, don’t ask. Just get to work.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Alright, good job.”

At the mention of his perfect score, Suho quietly smiled.

Then, after giving a respectful bow, he exited the manager’s office.

After Suho left, Pi Seongyeol stared at the closed door for a moment, then pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

“Whew…”

His breath dispersed into the air.

He watched his breath dissipate for a moment before muttering quietly.

“Damn lunatic…”

Lunatic.

That was the only word that came to mind.

A simple exclamation over Suho’s perfect score on the written exam?

That wasn’t the reason at all.

The reason there had been no OMR card for Suho’s test was that the questions he had answered weren’t the official written test questions for the Special Department.

The ones Suho had answered were special questions Pi Seongyeol kept on hand to weed out the “real ones.”

Pi Seongyeol squinted as he reviewed the answer sheet.

‘He actually solved all of these…’

And with a perfect score, no less.

He had designed this test at a bar exam level, and Suho had aced it after a quick read-through.

“A blade that’s too sharp is dangerous…”

Pi Seongyeol furrowed his brow as he took another drag, a smile forming on his lips.

***

Suho had just left the room after finishing the test.

‘In this day and age, smoking indoors… Tsk.’

Cigarettes, in both the past and present, never suited him.

Although Awakeners weren’t much affected by things like nicotine or simple sugars, that didn’t mean the rank odor of cigarettes suddenly became pleasant, did it?

Suho brushed himself off and continued walking.

Once he was far enough from the Special Department, he took out his phone and made a call.

– Oh, hey. Hunter Ahn.

The person he called was Park Gyu-min.

Suho spoke.

“Are you busy?”

– No, just the usual. What’s up?

“I just met with Director Pi Seongyeol.”

At the mention of Pi Seongyeol, Park Gyu-min adjusted his posture.

– And?

“I only have the Special Department training left, but he said he’ll record perfect scores for both the written and practical tests if I do one thing for him.”

– A task?

“He wants me to retrieve the ledgers related to the Vice President from Son Baek-geum. So, how exactly is the relationship between the Vice President and Son Baek-geum these days?”

– Well…

Park Gyu-min hesitated to answer.

Noticing his hesitant response, Suho stopped walking.

“What do you mean by that?”

– …Sorry. I’ve sorted out almost everything else, but the Baekgeum faction is quite large, so I can’t easily handle it on my own.

Upon hearing the groveling response, Suho furrowed his brows.

A vice president of all people couldn’t even handle some low-level thug, and he was groveling like this?

‘Ha…’

Frustration surged.

To think that such a person was a four-term National Assembly member and vice president of the Korean Hunter Association.

No wonder the standards for civil servant hunters in this country were this low.

However, he quickly calmed his anger.

‘Right. I never expected anything from him in the first place. If there were no expectations, there would be no disappointment, and no disappointment means no reason to get angry.’

So he decided not to get angry.

Since when did he ever rely on someone else to clean up his mess?

In the end, he could only count on himself.

Suho asked,

“What about the money?”

– I’ve prepared everything I received.

“Then why haven’t you handled it? Did Son Baek-geum refuse to take it?”

– He said he won’t take it, that he absolutely refuses, even if it kills him, and he won’t go down alone… That’s why it kept falling apart.

“Got it. Where’s the money now?”

– I have it. It’s all converted into cryptocurrency.

“Are you in your office?”

– Yes, in my office.

“I’ll be right over, so wait there.”

Ending the call, Suho immediately made his way to the vice president’s office.

Inside, Park Gyu-min, looking like a frightened child caught stealing, waited for him, and seeing him in that state, Suho sighed.

Suho held out his hand as if he were inconvenienced.

“Give me the wallet.”

“Here, here it is.”

“Everything’s in it, right? Not a single penny missing?”

“Yes, for now.”

“What about everything else aside from Son Baek-geum?”

“I’m almost finished settling everything else. It should all be wrapped up in about a week.”

“So, once Son Baek-geum is dealt with, in a week, Pi Seongyeol will have nothing to use against you, correct?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“I’ll handle Son Baek-geum, so make sure you conduct yourself well until then. If any other hidden dirt comes out later, it’ll be you locked up instead of that friend we saw in the room back then.”

“I-I understand…”

Without a farewell, Suho turned and left the vice president’s office.

“Hoo…”

After Suho left, Park Gyu-min finally took a deep breath, calming his surprised heart and stroking his chest in relief.

***

The Faymond Plaza in Gangnam.

A four-star safe hotel located in Gangnam, which also served as the Baekgeum faction’s primary base.

Arriving at the hotel’s underground parking lot, Suho didn’t exit the car but called Son Baek-geum directly.

– Hello?

“Yes, hello, Mr. Son Baek-geum.”

– Who is this?

“I’m Ahn Suho, a civil servant hunter with the Korean Hunter Association. You know who I am, right? We’ve met before.”

– …What?

“I’m in front of the elevator on the first basement floor of your hotel, so come quickly.”

After conveying his purpose, Suho ended the call.

A moment later, Son Baek-geum, along with men who appeared to be his underlings, rushed out through the emergency exit.

Ha, these thugs.

Why were they swarming out like that?

Did they think I was here to arrest them?

As Suho got out of his car, he spotted Son Baek-geum finally coming down the elevator.

Suho tossed his car keys to one of the nearby thugs and said,

“Park the car. If you need a valet fee, I’ll reimburse you later. And Mr. Son Baek-geum, even though I asked you to hurry, isn’t bringing a whole mob of thugs overdoing it?”

“What’s your business here?”

“Let’s go to a room first. I called you here so you could take me in. I’d rather not make a scene at the front desk.”

“What the hell are you trying to pull?”

“What do you mean? I told you I came to see you. Are you really going to make me repeat myself?”

“Why, you son of a—!”

At that moment, one of the thugs near Son Baek-geum stepped forward with a scowl.

Seeing this, Suho instantly closed the distance and gripped the thug’s entire lower face with his right hand.

“When did I become your son, huh? Can’t you see the situation? Why are you interrupting the conversation between adults? Want to wear a bib for the rest of your life?”

He applied a bit of pressure, and the thug’s face turned bright red, as if about to explode.

These were just ordinary people, after all.

To an ordinary person, Suho’s orange-grade strength stat was a force of devastation they couldn’t handle.

After Suho subdued one thug in an instant, the other thugs around him began pulling out their weapons.

“Ha, look at these guys?”

Were they really waving knives in front of me without knowing what they were doing?

Seems like they need a bit of discipline.

Just as Suho thought this and was about to summon his weapon, Pimongdoong,

“Are you all going to put away those knives or what?”

Son Baek-geum’s icy voice cut through the air.

At his words, all the thugs clenched their lips and soon put their knives away, straightening their posture.

Watching this, Suho couldn’t help but scoff in genuine disbelief.

“Unbelievable.”

Simultaneously, Suho shoved the thug he was holding backward, and he flew like a bowling ball, crashing into his comrades and falling over together.

Watching the absurd scene, Suho turned his gaze to Son Baek-geum and said,

“You must be quite popular, boss. To think they’d still charge at me knowing who I am. Are all these guys awakened? Otherwise, how could they even consider coming at me?”

“…Let’s go up.”

“Not just any room—let’s go to the suite you use as your office. It’ll be no fun if we go somewhere weird.”

“…”

Son Baek-geum remained silent.

But silence was golden, and that was a yes.

Suho and Son Baek-geum headed together to his office suite alone.