Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 268

Su-ho silently locked eyes with Park Yong.

Then, Park Yong was the one to look away first.

‘What an anticlimactic bastard.’

His eyes were still just as fierce as ever.

That’s the kind of gaze they call a killer’s stare.

Not that it matters much these days—murder has become far too common in this era.

Su-ho turned his head and spoke.

"This concludes the first test. Everyone, please gather in front of the platform."

The applicants assembled before the platform.

Su-ho scanned them briefly, then began calling names one by one.

"Kim Pil-sang, Lee Seong-won, Park Sang-hee, Jeong Myeong-seop..."

He called quite a few names.

After listing about fifty people, Su-ho spoke again.

"Everyone whose name I just called may return home."

"...Excuse me?"

"What did you say?"

"Why?!"

"What the hell!!"

Naturally, protests erupted as soon as he told them to go home.

Understandably so—most of those named had been eliminated early on during the running test.

But not all of them.

As around fifty protestors surged toward the platform, Su-ho quietly stared at them.

The eliminated contestants shouted one after another.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Why were we cut?!"

"Say something, for God’s sake!!"

The protests continued.

But Su-ho remained silent.

As the silence stretched on and he kept staring at them, the protestors began to falter, overwhelmed by Su-ho’s unblinking gaze.

"......"

Eventually, every last one of them fell silent.

Only then did Su-ho speak.

"Now, I’ll explain the reasons for your elimination. First of all, in scoring, we naturally set minimum thresholds based on level and class. In that sense—Kim Seong-hwan, Na Do-yoon, Bu Seong-mok, Lee I-sang..."

He named a few people.

"You were eliminated due to not meeting the minimum stamina requirement. During the document screening, we applied several filters to weed people out early, but many of you are under a serious misconception. Having a high level and good stats doesn’t automatically make you competent. Just look at the running test. Even with the same stats, those who understand their body and abilities can push further. But you didn’t. That’s why you were cut. Now, Park Doo-il, Kim Gu-hwan, Gu Do-gwan, Jang Baek-gu..."

He moved on to the next list of names.

"You passed the minimum stamina threshold. However, you were eliminated because your mindset and values don’t align with what we expect from members of the Special Division. For example, after dropping out, you complained about certain aspects of the test and tried to sway others, ultimately disrupting the overall atmosphere."

At that, someone raised their voice.

"How is that even a problem?! We were denied what we rightfully deserved—"

"And who said it was rightfully deserved? I never did. No one in the Grand Hunter Association did. We simply present the test and evaluate based on it."

Su-ho’s gaze sharpened as he continued.

"And this isn’t just any recruitment. This is recruitment for the Special Division. The Special Division handles the most abnormal, dirty, and thankless jobs in the Grand Hunter Association. Are you going to talk about rights and entitlements even then?"

The protestors fell utterly silent.

Su-ho continued speaking.

"Of course, broadly speaking, the Special Division is still a workplace. But even if it wasn’t called the Special Division, it’s still part of the Grand Hunter Association, a state institution that exists to serve the nation and its people. Have you forgotten why the Association was founded?"

He narrowed his eyes and looked around at the crowd.

"That’s why we’re not looking for people who view this merely as a job. We’re looking for those who are ready to work with a sense of duty and patriotism. Because that’s what being a civil servant means. That’s why you were eliminated. Does anyone have anything more to say?"

"......"

"......"

"......"

No one spoke.

Of course not.

They were the same people who’d just been told off for political whining by another dropout.

Su-ho added a final comment.

"If you still wish to contest the results of the test, you’re free to do so once you leave. I’m also willing to publicly release any necessary materials. However, as I said earlier, to prove that the procedures were fair, we will include footage from the recordings currently underway across the site."

Put simply, if they tried to raise a fuss, they'd be publicly humiliated.

So unless they were prepared to face that, they’d better shut up.

Muttering curses like “damn it,” the group dispersed and shuffled out.

As they were leaving, one of them looked back and asked bitterly,

"Fine, I’ll accept everything else. But what about those people who purposely slowed down to jog in the rear? Why didn’t they get disqualified?"

He meant the so-called rear group.

Clearly, they’d really gotten under his skin.

Su-ho responded casually.

"Like I said before, I only told you to run following the assistant. And those people didn’t walk—they just jogged at a pace that allowed them to conserve their stamina. That’s a strategy, nothing more. When did I ever say you had to match the assistant’s speed?"

"...!"

The questioner’s eyes widened at Su-ho’s reply.

Then he clenched his teeth and stormed off.

Watching them leave, Su-ho thought to himself.

‘Don’t be too bitter. Strategy is one thing, but if you lack basic capability, you’ll fail anyway.’

With that, all the eliminated contestants were gone, and less than seventy people remained.

Su-ho looked around at the ones left and asked,

"Does anyone else have any questions?"

"......"

Silence.

Su-ho asked again,

"If you’re dissatisfied with the testing method, feel free to withdraw now."

"......"

"The second test is a mental fortitude assessment. I’ll be casting a mental debuff on the examinee. Under its influence, you will untie this knot and reach the finish line within the time limit." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

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