Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 161

Song Kang-chul’s hammer swung.

It was massive.

Threatening.

And—

"Fast!"

It was a mistake to assume that a two-handed hammer would be slow.

He wielded it with both hands like it was a mere toy.

But.

"Too slow."

No matter how fast it seemed, that was only in comparison to the usual speed of two-handed weapons.

Su-ho dodged with ease and raised Blood Club.

Then, he struck Kang-chul’s wrist.

"Gaaah!"

Song Kang-chul let out an involuntary groan.

At the same time, he instinctively let go of the hammer with one hand and clenched his fist.

The pain was intense.

But more than the pain, his face twisted in confusion.

"How the hell...?"

That was the only thought running through his mind.

It was understandable.

Song Kang-chul was a warrior player on the verge of reaching 2-star rank.

Not only did he pride himself on his heavy attacks, but he had also never neglected his stamina and defense.

He even called himself a DPS-Tank hybrid.

And yet, for the first time in ages, he had taken a hit that left him in agonizing pain.

His face contorted like a child holding back tears, and Su-ho grinned.

"Looks like that hurt."

"You son of a—!"

Kang-chul moved to counterattack.

But Su-ho smashed him in the head with Blood Club before he could.

WHACK!!

Song Kang-chul’s body lifted off the ground, flung across the room, and crashed pathetically into the wall.

"Grrgh...!"

Pressed against the wall, he groaned.

It hurt.

But he refused to admit it.

"Me? Feeling pain? From that weak-looking bastard?"

Yet, the pain in his body was very real.

Gritting his teeth, he forced his head up.

And there stood Su-ho, already looming over him.

"What are you doing? Not getting up?"

A soft whisper.

Yet it sent shivers down Kang-chul’s spine.

At that moment, he knew.

"I can’t win against this man."

His survival instincts worked fast.

And he reached a conclusion just as quickly.

Slowly, he stood up and raised his hands.

"Alright, I surrender."

Experienced fighters could gauge the gap between themselves and their opponent after just a few exchanges.

And Song Kang-chul considered himself experienced.

So he chose to surrender while preserving some dignity.

But—

"Who said you could?"

"What?"

"I don’t accept surrenders."

"Wa-wait!"

Su-ho had no intention of stopping here.

"What if I hadn't dodged that attack earlier?"

Guys like this needed to be disciplined when given the chance.

Arrogant people who lived thinking they were untouchable always needed a reminder of reality.

So Su-ho proceeded to beat the living hell out of him with Blood Club.

"Aaaagh! Agh! I surrender! I surrender!"

"If you were gonna give up this fast, why did you act tough in the first place?"

"Aaaah! Aaaaaagh!"

Su-ho didn’t hold back.

Even though Song Kang-chul was a warrior nearing 2-star rank, his body was soon covered in deep bruises, and his skin split open, spilling blood.

Who knew how long the beating lasted?

Eventually, Su-ho let out a short breath and spoke.

"Phew. Get up."

"Ghh...."

"Not getting up?"

"You son of a—"

"Son of a what?"

"N-nothing!"

"Nothing?"

"N-no, sir...!"

Oh?

Still had some fight left in him, huh?

Su-ho narrowed his eyes at the battered man.

Despite his reputation, Kang-chul had tears streaming down his face.

That was how much pain he was in.

Su-ho asked.

"So? Need more?"

"N-no! That was more than enough!"

"Then go sit down."

"Y-yes, sir!"

Kang-chul scurried over to the couch.

But then—

Su-ho furrowed his brows.

The idiot had taken the main seat.

He just got his ass handed to him, and he still had the nerve to sit in the highest-ranking position in the room?

Su-ho stared at him.

Only then did Song Kang-chul realize his mistake and quietly shuffled over.

Once Su-ho sat down in the correct seat, he spoke.

"...Anyway, it’s an honor to meet you, Vice President of Raid."

"...?"

"Not gonna respond?"

"Y-yes! Of course!"

Su-ho nodded.

"Good. Now we can finally have a conversation."

Only then did he take the time to look around Kang-chul’s office.

A spacious executive room.

Despite the chaos earlier, there were surprisingly few damages.

It was then that Kang-chul mustered up the courage to speak.

"Uh... So..."

"Hm?"

"Why, exactly, did the Sword Saint come looking for me...?"

Of course.

It was time to get to business.

Su-ho asked,

"You have The Foolish Judge’s Hammer, don’t you?"

"Huh?"

"Are your ears clogged?"

"N-no! I have it!"

"Sword Saint needs it. We’ve been tracking it down, and that led us to you."

"Oh..."

For a moment, Song Kang-chul just stood there with his mouth slightly open.

Then, his brain started working fast.

Su-ho scoffed.

Even after getting his ass handed to him, this guy still had the nerve to scheme.

But Su-ho had no intention of simply taking it by force.

He returned moments later, breathless, and handed the item over.

Su-ho inspected it.

A genuine article.

After confirming its authenticity, Su-ho placed the hammer into his inventory.

Then, he crouched down to meet Kang-chul’s eyes.

"Tsk, tsk. This would’ve been so much easier if you’d just done this from the start."

"I-I’m sorry..."

"Honestly, I should crush Raid into the ground just for fun. But I’ll let it slide this time."

"Y-yes... Thank you..."

"In exchange, give me your business card."

"M-my... business card?"

"What, you need me to spell it out for you?"

"W-wait, hold on!"

Panicked, Kang-chul rushed to grab his business card and handed it over.

Su-ho glanced at it before asking.

"This number here—it's your direct line?"

"Yes, it is!"

"Good. Answer when I call. And when I give you a task, do it immediately."

"Ah..."

"Ah?"

"I-I mean, yes! Understood!"

"Let’s try and act a little more professional, huh?"

Pocketing the business card, Su-ho stood up.

Then, without another word, he stepped into the elevator.

The moment the doors closed, the tension snapped.

Kang-chul collapsed onto the floor, his whole body trembling.

"Holy... fuck..."

This was the worst day of his life.

***

Su-ho stepped out of the Raid building after offering the receptionist a slight nod.

As he gazed up at the towering headquarters, a thought crossed his mind.

"Looks like I just got myself another errand boy."

There were certain things he couldn’t ask Choi Yoon to handle.

But Kang-chul?

Yeah.

That guy was going to be very useful.

Without further delay, Su-ho got into his car and drove home.

And the moment he arrived, he headed straight for the basement.

There, the remaining materials from Choi Yoon had already been delivered.

After verifying their authenticity, he immediately began the crafting process.

[ You have placed A Strange Sociologist’s Bookmark into the Combination Jar. ]

[ You have placed A Scolded Bureaucrat’s Eraser into the Combination Jar. ]

[ You have placed The Foolish Judge’s Hammer into the Combination Jar. ]

As the crafting process began, the jar materialized.

This time, it was a deeper shade than before.

The recipe had ranked up from low-grade to intermediate-grade.

"Not that it makes much of a difference."

Crafting ranks mainly helped reduce failure rates.

But for someone like Su-ho—who already knew the exact formula—it didn’t matter much.

After adding all the ingredients, Su-ho activated the Combination Jar.

[ Combining... ]

[ Combination in progress... ]

[ Oh? The jar’s state is...?! ]

A familiar alert.

And then—

[ Congratulations! A rare treasure has been created from an intermediate-grade combination! ]

[ You have obtained The Talent of Atonement (S). ]

[ You have achieved a great feat! The system grants you 10 bonus stat points. ]

Finally.

Su-ho now had the Stat Redistribution Item.