Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 124

Lee Dal-won fainted on the spot.

He didn’t die.

There was no way he could have died.

Ahn Suho had purposely controlled his strength when he struck him.

However, the reaction from those around them was even more absurd.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

The silence around them was absolute.

It wasn’t because they were paralyzed with fear of Suho.

The people around them glanced at Lee Dal-won once, then quickly returned their attention to their own cards.

Yes.

This was what a gambling den was supposed to be like.

But there was one person who did pay attention.

Only one.

The heavily tattooed man who had earlier taken Suho’s tip.

“Hey!”

The tattooed man strode toward them.

With his brows furrowed, he glanced briefly at the unconscious Lee Dal-won before addressing Suho.

“If you’re going to do your rituals, take it outside. Don’t disrupt the atmosphere here.”

That was all he said.

Thanks to him, Suho picked up Lee Dal-won, left the gambling den quietly, and headed to the rooftop of the building.

There was no one on the rooftop.

Suho threw Lee Dal-won roughly onto the ground as a signal for him to wake up.

“…….”

But there was no response.

Did he hit him too hard earlier?

Suho used Recovery to revive him.

“Uh….”

Groaning, Lee Dal-won slowly came to.

As soon as he fully regained his senses and saw Suho, he was horrified.

“Wh-why are you doing this to me?”

Instead of answering, Suho pressed one of the pressure points on Lee Dal-won.

He then applied pressure to a few more key points in his lower body, making sure he couldn’t get up, before finally speaking.

“People like you usually have a talent for charming others. You’re not even that handsome, so how exactly did you manage to manipulate Yoon Hyun-hee?”

“Uh…!”

“See this?”

Suho pulled out the debt certificate he had obtained from On-gang Cash and showed it to him.

“I’ll keep it short. Divorce Yoon Hyun-hee. And don’t ever show your face to her again. If you do that, I’ll have this debt erased.”

“……!”

Lee Dal-won’s eyes grew wider than they ever had at the mention of the debt cancellation.

He wasn’t just shocked; his eyes were filled with joy, as though he’d witnessed a miracle.

‘Tsk, tsk, even winning the lottery wouldn’t make him this happy.’

Suho asked.

“If you agree, nod your head.”

Nod, nod!

Lee Dal-won nodded his head vigorously.

It was fortunate for Yoon Hyun-hee that she didn’t have to see this pathetic sight.

If she had seen him like this, it would have hurt her twice as much.

Suho clicked his tongue and pulled out another document.

It was the divorce agreement.

“This is the mutual consent divorce form. Press your seal on it.”

Suho took Lee Dal-won’s hand, smeared his bleeding thumb with the blood from his forehead, and created a natural ink pad for him.

He then made him stamp the other prepared documents as well before finally handing over the debt certificate.

Lee Dal-won’s hands trembled as he received the debt certificate.

Suho, after releasing the pressure points in his lower body, asked him.

“Are you left-handed? Or right-handed?”

At Suho’s question, Lee Dal-won raised his right hand.

As soon as he raised his right hand, Suho applied pressure to various points on his wrist and hand.

He then pressed a few more points in his lower body, effectively rendering him incapable.

“Ugh?!”

“I’d like to make you half-paralyzed, but I’ll restrain myself. Since you used abusive language, you’ll lose the ability to speak properly for life. And since you hit your wife with that hand, you won’t be able to use your right hand properly either. And…”

Suho’s gaze moved downward to Lee Dal-won’s groin.

“As a man, you failed to fulfill your responsibilities, so I’m also giving you a fitting punishment for that. Be grateful that I’m ending it here. I’m sparing you because the times have made you what you are.”

“…….”

Having finished what he came to do, Suho left the rooftop.

***

After dealing with Lee Dal-won, Suho headed to the cold noodle restaurant where Yoon Hyun-hee worked.

There was still some time left until the end of her shift, so he planned to have a meal there first.

“I’ll have cold noodles with raw fish, pan-fried beef, and dumplings, please.”

Yoon Hyun-hee took his order.

She gave him a somewhat bewildered look, but as he was a customer, she took his order regardless.

After bringing him his food, Suho ate with great enjoyment.

As his meal was about to end, Yoon Hyun-hee soon finished her shift and came to stand in front of him.

Seeing her, Suho asked.

“You’re done already?”

“The boss let me leave early.”

“Is that so?”

Nice of him to do that.

Suho gave a slight nod to the restaurant owner and stepped outside with Yoon Hyun-hee.

After they had walked a certain distance from the restaurant, he handed her the divorce documents he had received from Lee Dal-won.

“This is…”

“When I mentioned the debt, he stamped it without a second’s hesitation. I’ve obtained all the necessary documents for a mutual consent divorce, so you just need to sign and submit them. The laws have recently changed, so the mutual consent divorce process is simpler now.”

“…….”

Hearing Suho’s straightforward tone, Yoon Hyun-hee found herself at a loss for words.

Looking down at the divorce papers in her hand, her thoughts grew numerous.

But she didn’t cry.

In fact, she was rather grateful.

Thanks to him, she was able to settle her feelings more quickly.

She didn’t bring up the topic of her husband’s introduction, either.

There was no need to mention it and hurt herself all over again.

After folding the papers and putting them into her bag, she spoke to Suho.

“It seems like you anticipated this outcome and prepared everything in advance.”

“It’s more that I dislike hassle, so I prepared for every possible scenario.”

“……There are a few things I’m curious about. May I ask you?”

“Feel free to ask.”

“If I go to Cheongok, can I see my brother?”

“Inmates can only have visitors if they consent. But if you’d like, I can let him know. Hyun-cheol mentioned that he doesn’t have the courage to face you.”

“Then please do that for me. And there’s something else I wanted to ask…”

She hesitated for a moment before asking her question.

“My brother’s girlfriend… how is she doing now?”

“She passed away.”

“What?”

“After that incident, and after Yoon Hyunchul was imprisoned, she was deeply distressed and ultimately took her own life.”

“Ah…”

This was a story he hadn’t even shared in front of Yoon Hyunchul.

Suho already knew, so he hadn’t mentioned it, and Yoon Hyunchul had avoided bringing it up on purpose.

But Yoon Hyun-hee needed to know.

Or rather, she had to know.

“…So, did my brother kill all those guys?”

“Well, if you look at the end result, yes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Originally, one of them survived. Given the situation, it was one against many, and while Yoon Hyunchul managed to take down most of them because he was determined to kill them all, one of them managed to escape by a hair’s breadth.

But even that one ended up in prison because of his crimes… and because of the nature of his crime, he was incarcerated in Cheong-ok, where your brother, who had been imprisoned around the same time, killed him inside.”

“Ah…”

It was a foregone conclusion.

If he were an ordinary criminal, he would have been sent to a different facility to avoid being killed, but for awakened criminals with serious charges, most of them end up in Cheong-ok.

Because of this, such incidents occur.

Suho asked.

“So, Ms. Yoon Hyun-hee, what do you plan to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re living in Daejeon because of your husband, right? Now that you’re divorced, isn’t there no reason to stay in Daejeon?”

“That’s…”

He wasn’t wrong.

After all, she had come to Daejeon because it was her husband’s hometown.

But it wasn’t as if she had a hometown to return to herself.

Seeing her hesitate, Suho spoke up.

“Move to Seoul.”

“…Seoul?”

“Yes, you were born and raised in Seoul, weren’t you? So why not make a fresh start in Seoul? Seoul is also safer than Daejeon, and with the money your brother left you, you’ll be fine staying in a secured area.”

Suho operated his phone and sent her a text message with his contact information.

“This is my contact. I know today must have been confusing with everything going on, so think it over and reach out. And Mr. Lee Dal-won won’t be showing up in front of you again. I made it a condition that he wouldn’t appear in your life ever again. So you can keep the deposit for the house you’re staying in.”

“Oh… yes, thank you.”

“We’ll also need to transfer your brother’s assets, so contact me anytime. Oh, and could I ask one more favor?”

“A favor?”

“Yes, I need to prove to Mr. Yoon Hyunchul that I met with you, so… could we take a photo together?”

“…What?”

“Haha, please, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, sure…”

After politely asking, Suho took a selfie with her.

“Thank you. And lastly…”

After taking the photo, Suho extended his hand toward her.

[ Heal is activated. ]

[ Recovery is activated. ]

Whoosh!

Suho used two skills on her.

This was to erase any remaining bruises from Lee Dal-won’s assault and to eliminate any potential lingering health issues.

Finally, having completed his task, Suho respectfully took his leave and headed to Daejeon Station.

It was around the time he arrived at Seoul Station.

Buzz—

His phone rang.

The caller was Jo Jin-hwi.

Suho answered the call.

“Yes, reporter?”

– Mr. Ahn, where are you right now?

“I’m at Seoul Station.”

– Seoul Station? Not Daejeon?

The reason Jo Jin-hwi was asking this…

In fact, the reason he called Suho was because of a Stargram post that Suho had made on the train.

– Yuseong Cold Noodles in Daejeon, delicious.

This was Suho’s second post.

But, just like the first post about Park Goong’s snack shop, it only contained a photo of the food and a brief caption.

This time, the only hashtag was ‘#delicious.’

But the reaction was intense.

– The Sword God says Yuseong Cold Noodles is a must-visit!

– Off to Yuseong Cold Noodles!

– Aw, this was my secret little gem, damn it. Now I won’t be able to eat there in peace.

– Wow, look at all the Daejeon train tickets sold out already.

– That snack shop he posted last time was really good, so this must be the real deal too.

Barely any time had passed since he posted, and already the likes and comments were flooding in.

Which was why Jo Jin-hwi reached out.

Wondering why someone who was supposed to be in Seoul was suddenly in Daejeon.

Suho explained.

“I just had a bit of work to take care of.”

– Ah, I see. By the way, have you officially been assigned to the Gate Department?

“I was just about to tell you, yes. I’ve been officially assigned to the Gate Department. Director Pi Seong-yeol personally informed me.”

– So things worked out as you wanted. Congratulations.

“Yes, the article should come out tomorrow, mentioning that it was a fair decision with no favoritism involved.”

It was an amusing situation.

Strictly speaking, Suho had every right to join the Special Department, but just because of a bit of public controversy, the Association assigned their youngest-ever perfect scorer to the Gate Department.

‘But it’s thanks to their lack of backbone that I get to do things my way.’

Jo Jin-hwi chuckled and said.

– So, shall we have a photo op tomorrow morning on your way to work?

“Do I really need a photo op like an idol heading to a music show?”

– Just think of it as fan service. It’ll also help quell any rumors. I’ve done you a favor, so could you do me this favor in return? There are so many people on the fan site wanting a picture of you.

“Alright. You’ve always helped me out, so I’ll meet you at the entrance for my regular check-in tomorrow.”

– Haha, thanks. But now that your probation period is over, shouldn’t we at least have a little celebration? You’re the first and youngest perfect scorer, but it seems like you didn’t even get a certificate because of the bad press.

As expected of Jo Jin-hwi.

He was sharp when it came to these things.

Suho chuckled and said.

“Then why don’t you come by my place later for a simple drink?”

– Sounds great! See you later!

The call ended, and Suho headed to the parking lot at Seoul Station where his car was parked.