Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 260

[The Gate has been cleared.]

[The MVP of the Gate Raid is ‘An Su-ho’.]

[Bonus experience granted for MVP selection.]

[1 bonus stat awarded for MVP selection.]

[A Hidden Gate has been cleared.]

[You have successfully cleared the Hidden Gate alone.]

[You have accomplished a remarkable feat. The system grants you 5 bonus stats.]

[Level up.]

[All stats have increased by 1.]

[You have obtained 1 bonus stat.]

A flurry of system notifications rained down.

Su-ho grinned crookedly as he read through them.

‘As expected, it was a Hidden Gate.’

Of course it was.

A place only accessible to the successor of the Blacksmith's Lineage — how could it be anything else?

Thanks to that, he earned five additional bonus stats.

KUUUUUUNG!

At that moment, the Molten Dragon — split cleanly in half — crashed down in both directions, shaking the ground with a thunderous rumble.

He had finally slain the Molten Dragon.

Considering the creature had been engulfed in blazing flames, Su-ho had assumed it wouldn’t even bleed. But surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.

Just then, more system messages popped up.

[Quest conditions have been met.]

[The Nameless Blacksmiths marvel at the result you have achieved.]

[A Nameless Blacksmith mutters in disbelief.]

[A Nameless Blacksmith rubs his eyes and looks again.]

[A Nameless Blacksmith...]

The new notifications were related to a quest.

It was the one that had triggered the moment the first seal of the Hammer was partially released — a quest not about the hammer itself, but a special quest generated from within the Furnace Gate.

That’s why Su-ho couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.

At the start of the quest, those same blacksmiths had called him all sorts of names — airhead, clueless, etc.

But now? Without exception, every single one of them was full of admiration.

The notifications continued to appear.

[The Nameless Blacksmiths have convened to discuss your achievement.]

[They express their opinions.]

[Everyone praises your result.]

[A unanimous decision has been made.]

[According to an unbreakable oath, the Nameless Blacksmiths bestow upon you the highest level of reward.]

[You have obtained the Fragment of the Great Flame (S).]

[■■■■ smiles with satisfaction at your accomplishment.]

[You have achieved a great feat. The system grants you 10 bonus stats.]

An avalanche of notifications.

Su-ho skimmed through them with a satisfied grin.

And why wouldn’t he? They were all praise.

On top of that, the system had rewarded him with 10 bonus stats for achieving a great feat.

Still, more than the blacksmiths’ admiration or even the generous bonus stats, his attention naturally turned to the quest reward.

Su-ho immediately checked the details of the reward.

[Fragment of the Great Flame]

Grade: S

A blacksmith has many friends, but none closer than the flame.

A fragment of the flame known as the greatest among those bestowed upon blacksmiths.

Only one who has proven their worth may use this.

Su-ho narrowed his eyes.

For an S-rank item, the description felt abstract, even sentimental.

‘So... what exactly does this thing do?’

When he had obtained the Soul of Fire recently, at least that item had a straightforward description — it granted the power of flame.

But this?

This had no clear indication of how it could be used.

Then, one line in the item’s description caught Su-ho’s attention:

A blacksmith has many friends, but none closer than the flame.

The very first line of the description.

“Their closest friend?”

As he stared at that sentence, Su-ho instantly pulled out the Blacksmith’s Sealed Necklace from his inventory and checked its details.

[Sealed Necklace of the Great Blacksmith]

Grade: S

A radiant legacy granted only to the blacksmith’s most cherished successor.

To release the first seal of the necklace, you need the flame it holds most dear.

‘I knew it.’

The moment he confirmed the item description, Su-ho instinctively realized that the Fragment of the Great Flame was directly related to the blacksmith’s necklace.

He held the necklace in one hand and the flame fragment in the other.

The fragment was a flattened, ruby-like gem about the size of a thumbnail, and on the necklace was a slot that looked like it would fit the fragment perfectly.

‘They’re clearly meant to be a set.’

Seeing is believing.

Su-ho immediately slotted the fragment into the necklace.

Click.

Like magic, the fragment fit the groove perfectly.

[The Sealed Necklace of the Great Blacksmith reacts to the dearest flame.]

[Item information has been updated.]

[The first seal is partially released.]

[Mana is required.]

Mana?

Then—

SHWAAAAAA!

“......!”

As soon as the alert popped up, an enormous amount of mana began pouring out of Su-ho’s body.

‘What the hell?!’

A wave of dizziness hit him like a truck.

Startled, Su-ho quickly dropped the items to the floor. The necklace, still absorbing his mana, shimmered with a soft blue light for a moment, then returned to its original state.

“Whoa.”

The sound escaped his lips without thought.

Of course it did — it wasn’t every day mana was drained like that.

As a result, Su-ho’s mana was nearly depleted.

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