Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 297

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

The words slipped out before he even realized it.

And who could blame him? This wasn't just some random spot—he had sliced the body.

Yet it regenerated.

“How the hell is that possible?”

Sure, technically it could make sense.

Plenty of monsters with absurd regeneration showed up in the mid-phase of the Cataclysm.

But this wasn’t the mid-phase.

People might think a lot of time had passed since the Cataclysm, but as far as Su-ho was concerned, this was still definitely early-phase territory. Fewer than a few dozen players had even reached level 200.

“At best, we’re in early-mid. And something with this kind of regeneration?”

What the hell?

Were the bosses in the Imoogi Gate just way more powerful than he remembered?

Power that wasn’t even documented in any of the records left behind by the players who cleared this place before?

Su-ho narrowed his eyes.

That couldn’t be it.

The system only presents trials that are within a player’s ability to handle.

And those trials—even for the same gate—vary greatly depending on the individual player.

“Usually it’s a subtle difference, but sometimes, depending on the conditions, the disparity can be massive.”

And Su-ho believed that was the case now.

Because he wasn’t an ordinary player—he was a regressor.

“But why suddenly now?”

A rational suspicion formed in Su-ho’s mind.

The system hadn’t treated him any differently than other players up until now. It wasn’t like the system was suddenly acting on a whim.

So what separated him from the other players—the ones who’d cleared this gate in his past life?

The answer came quickly.

If he set aside the “regressor” status, there was only one thing that came to mind.

“It must be because of the ‘Hercules Candidate’ trait.”

The Hercules Candidate trait.

It was currently recorded as a system trait, but it was incomplete—a conditional and temporary ability.

In other words, the trait would disappear once the real Hercules was born.

And suddenly, everything made sense.

Of the Twelve Labors of Hercules, the second labor had been slaying the Hydra.

“And I already completed the first one—killing the Nemean Lion.”

The timing matched up.

But wait—didn’t Bless, the Hercules of his past life, say the Hydra-related gate was somewhere else entirely?

Didn’t matter.

This was the first time something like this had happened. For now, he needed to test it.

Right now, the most plausible explanation was that this was tied to the Twelve Labors of Hercules.

“And Hercules defeated the Hydra by... fire.”

In the myth, the Hydra’s heads kept regenerating, so Hercules told his partner to burn the stumps after cutting them.

“But I don’t have any fire...”

What now?

Sure, he had a few emergency fire sources—oil bottles, matches, lighters, torches. The basics.

Any veteran Hunter would have those.

But they weren’t enough to fight something that massive.

And it’s not like he could leave the Gate to go get something better.

Su-ho mentally combed through his inventory.

“Pain Seal?”

The Pain Seal was certainly a viable option.

He had upgraded it to Grade A, and it was great against monsters like this.

But there ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) was a problem.

“Its regeneration is fucking insane.”

It had just regenerated its entire body.

And it had nine heads.

The amount of healing it could do was on a completely different level than anything he’d faced before.

Even if he used the auxiliary battery strategy, he probably wouldn’t last long.

“If I burn through everything and still can’t stop its healing... it’s game over.”

That’s what pissed him off.

He had wanted to prepare for the Hydra trial slowly—after reaching level 200.

But life never goes according to plan.

As he dodged another incoming strike, a thought suddenly clicked.

“Wait—didn’t I have that?”

He opened his inventory and quickly found what he was looking for.

“Inspect item.”

[Dragon’s Fang]

– Grade: S

Fang of a Great Dragon.

Anyone pierced by this fang is afflicted with the curse [Irreversible Healing (S)].

The Dragon’s Fang.

A trophy he’d earned from the Tower Dragon—an item he had been saving to use in a proper weapon someday.

The curse “Irreversible Healing” attached to it was immensely valuable.

“I’ve been saving it since I only have one, but...”

This wasn’t the time to be stingy.

Su-ho immediately enveloped the Dragon’s Fang in his Blood Weapon.

Since Blood Weapons could shift their form, he shaped it into a dagger that wrapped tightly around the fang.

“Let’s try this.”

It was all or nothing.

He only needed one clean hit.

The difficulty itself wasn’t too high—but he still called it all or nothing because the fang wasn’t a weapon. It was a crafting material.

“Using a non-weapon like this recklessly could damage the item itself.”

Hence, all or nothing.

At that moment, the creature charged again.

BANG!

Another gaping maw lunged.

Su-ho dodged it.

And then swung his blade again.

[Steel Severance has been activated.]

[Enhancement has been applied.]

[Steel Severance’s power has increased.]

SLASH!

He cut down the incoming head.

It split like tofu.

The severed neck fell back, and another maw came rushing forward.

[The Avatar of Jealousy with Nine Heads uses the power of the Soul Orb.]

Ziiiing!

A flash of light.

A new head sprouted from the fallen neck.

“It’s not even trying to hide it anymore.”

This was late-game troll-tier regeneration.

In the late phase, trolls could instantly regrow severed limbs—they were basically super zombies.

These lizards were just like that.

Which meant he needed to stop it fast.

Given how it was cycling its heads, the longer this dragged on, the worse it would get for Su-ho.

He hurled the Guiyeong Spear into the sky.

Then summoned a clone soldier and used [Shadow Shift].

[Shadow Shift has been activated.]

CRACK!

Su-ho had assumed the Soul Orb was inside the body, so he had sliced it from top to bottom.

And still, it wasn’t dead.

But the regeneration had stopped.

The curse from the Dragon’s Fang was worth every bit of its S-rank.

“If even this doesn’t kill it... maybe it really is the Hydra.”

In mythology, Hercules never managed to kill the last Hydra head.

It had immortality—so he settled for trapping it under a massive boulder.

But here, both the heads and body had been severed.

So there was no need for boulders.

“Not like there’s anyone here to settle with anyway.”

Instead, he decided to try a different method.

The same one he used on the monster lion.

Su-ho began digging through the split torso in search of the heart.

Not a pleasant task—rummaging through a living monster’s insides—but he kept at it and found it.

It was easy.

He just followed the densest cluster of mana.

Without hesitation, Su-ho sliced it.

The heart burst, blood spraying everywhere—and shortly after, it stopped beating.

And then:

[You have defeated the Avatar of Jealousy with Nine Heads.]

[The Gate has been cleared.]

[Gate MVP: An Su-ho.]

[Bonus EXP granted for MVP.]

[Bonus stat +1 for MVP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All stats increased by 1.]

[Bonus stat +1 gained.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All stats increased by 1.]

[Bonus stat +1 gained.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All stats increased by 1.]

[Bonus stat +1 gained.]

By bursting the heart, he had finally finished it off completely.

Proof came in the form of the twitching body going utterly still.

And then—

[You have successfully slain the lizards.]

[Quest complete.]

[The Imoogis express their gratitude.]

[Congratulations! You have obtained: Imoogi’s Dream (A).]

Su-ho had flawlessly completed the quest that had been his top priority.

But he wasn’t focused on the rewards or experience.

[You have completed the second of the Twelve Heroic Labors.]

[The system grants you qualification to inherit Hercules’ power.]

[Trait information has been updated.]

[For your great achievement, the system rewards you with +10 bonus stat points.]

A string of messages appeared.

Su-ho’s eyes sparkled with ecstasy.

He’d been right.

That was enough.

He hadn’t planned it this way, but the result exceeded even his expectations.

He was about to check the newly updated Hercules Candidate trait when—

[■■ files a complaint against ???.]