Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 187

Gonryun.

There, seven challengers and one enemy stood.

And one observer.

The observer took a step back and spoke.

“Get ready.”

At those words, Kim Geon nodded and said,

“Formation A.”

At the mention of Formation A, the Banshees lined up according to their positions.

Ho-oh.

They’ve even come up with formations now?

Su-ho watched their positioning with interest.

However, the Banshees' placement was a bit unusual.

Tank Guak Doo-ho led, with Kim Geon and Gu Yeon-hwa standing beside him.

Then, a little further back, Kim Hyun-min and Seo Gyo-won, followed by Nam Hae-won and Seo Gi-won, took their positions.

'Interesting positioning.'

Su-ho was curious.

After nodding, Su-ho’s avatar charged toward them.

“Let’s go!!”

As the avatar rushed forward, Guak Doo-ho also shouted fiercely, charging head-on with Kim Geon and Gu Yeon-hwa to face Su-ho’s avatar.

At that moment, Su-ho’s avatar adopted its characteristic sword stance, swinging its blade widely.

Guak Doo-ho reached out, blocking the avatar's sword with his shield. At the same time, Kim Geon and Gu Yeon-hwa, positioned a little behind, advanced and drew their swords, aiming to strike.

“Whoa.”

Unlike the past, where heads would fly off instantly, now there was no hesitation in their movements.

Just as Kim Geon and Gu Yeon-hwa’s swords were about to strike Su-ho’s avatar, Kim Geon shouted.

“Now!”

That was when it happened.

Whoosh!

Crackle!

Flames erupted, and a thunderous attack followed.

It was the magic skills of Seo Gi-won and Nam Hae-won.

Everything was timed perfectly, pouring in within a second.

But Su-ho’s avatar wasn’t one to be taken down by such an attack.

As Guak Doo-ho blocked the attack, Su-ho began to retrieve his sword, preparing to counter the attack.

At the same time, he twisted his body, getting ready to block Kim Geon and Gu Yeon-hwa’s strikes.

Around that time, Su-ho saw the magical attacks from Seo Gi-won and Nam Hae-won.

While his body blocked Kim Geon and Gu Yeon-hwa’s attacks, his eyes were fixed on the two mages.

Instantly, he assessed the situation and decided to give up on physical defense, preparing to step back and strike at the ground.

But that was where he made his mistake.

Boom!!

A massive explosion.

Just as Su-ho’s avatar attempted to retreat, a huge blast detonated from behind.

It was Seo Gyo-won’s bomb attack.

To Su-ho’s surprise, Seo Gyo-won was behind the avatar, together with Kim Hyun-min.

It was astonishing.

Just moments ago, Seo Gyo-won was positioned behind the front line, with Seo Gi-won and Nam Hae-won, along with Kim Hyun-min, behind Guak Doo-ho.

The secret lay in Kim Hyun-min’s movement skill.

‘He deliberately created a situation where I had no choice but to retreat.’

Narrowing down the escape routes and attacking the only blind spot.

That was the strategy Kim Geon had found for dealing with Su-ho’s avatar.

Rumble...

Su-ho’s avatar, caught in the explosion, took a heavy hit and fell to the ground.

The damage was severe, and its body trembled.

Just as it was trying to get up, the swordsmen planted their blades into the avatar’s back, finishing it off cleanly.

One of the swordsmen, Gu Yeon-hwa, pulled out her sword and spoke.

“How was that?”

“Much better. But a bit eerie.”

“Compared to how many times we’ve been cut here, this is nothing.”

“Well, that’s true. But still, this is impressive. Did the increase in numbers make a difference? I guess numbers really do matter. But...”

Su-ho looked at Kim Geon and asked,

“This strategy wouldn’t work with just seven people, would it?”

Kim Geon smiled and answered.

“This formation was made to counter An Su-ho, after all.”

“Hm, really?”

“It was the best option. Your physicality is just too overwhelming to go one-on-one with.”

“Even the Ops #1 is complaining?”

“That’s Ops, not reality. And I must admit, your avatar feels more like a gate boss fight, to be honest.”

That was true.

Still, gathering seven people to overpower me—impressive, right?

‘Of course, they wouldn’t even be able to approach me now.’

But still, this was a satisfactory result.

Even though it was the early version of the avatar, An Su-ho is An Su-ho.

Compared to other amateurs, Su-ho was undeniably more powerful.

Su-ho nodded and spoke sincerely.

“You did well. A team needs a commanding officer.”

That was genuine.

Even if these guys joined the special division, most of them would be assigned to missions in groups.

Therefore, what Su-ho expected most from the Banshees wasn’t individual skill, but team coordination.

In that sense, the Banshee team led by Kim Geon was exactly what Su-ho wanted.

“Good. This is a pass. I didn’t recruit you for this specifically, but still, the veteran Ops #1 experience isn’t going anywhere, huh?”

“If it’s a similar genre, then it works.”

“Alright, then. Before we go on villain hunting, everyone get some serious level grinding in the virus dungeon. Once everyone hits level 100 and awakens their second characteristics, we’ll start villain hunting. Understood?”

“Just a moment.”

As Su-ho was about to dismiss the team, Gu Yeon-hwa raised her hand.

“Team Leader, please log out for a moment, I need to talk.”

“Why?”

“I have something to discuss with you.”

“Alright, sure. What about the others?”

“They’re fine.”

“Then take the rest of the day off and focus on leveling up starting tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

“Then, dismissed.”

At Su-ho’s command, everyone logged out.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

As soon as they exited the machine, except for those who requested interviews, the rest of the team left the center.

Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

But to Su-ho’s surprise, it wasn’t just Gu Yeon-hwa who had requested the interview.

The original Banshee squad members had all requested a meeting.

Seeing the group, Su-ho instinctively understood.

‘Here it comes.’

But he didn’t let on that he knew.

As Su-ho sat down, he spoke.

“I thought it was just Gu Yeon-hwa who requested the meeting, but I didn’t expect the original Banshee squad to all show up. What’s going on?”

After a moment of silence, Gu Yeon-hwa spoke on behalf of the others.

“We requested the meeting to thank you.”

“Thank for what?”

“For revenge.”

There was no preamble.

It seemed they had planned this from the beginning.

Su-ho was momentarily taken aback by the unexpected words.

He couldn’t help but feign ignorance.

“Wh-what?”

“You don’t need to pretend. The redevelopment gates that are happening right now—those are all your doing, aren’t they?”

“...Why do you think that?”

“Because you’re so calm about it.”

“Calm?”

“Do you remember when we first met?”

When they first met...

At her words, Su-ho smiled and asked,

“What, you’re talking about when you guys tried to blow up the building in Naegok-dong, and I stopped you?”

“...After that. When you scouted us.”

“Of course, I remember. You were speaking informally to me, acting pretty cocky.”

“...Are you trying to tease me? We're being very serious here, you know?”

“Who’s teasing? I’m just stating the facts. So, what about it?”

“Back then, you told us you were joining the Special Division because you wanted to take revenge for losing your family due to the government's intentional neglect of the premonition gates. And that you needed people to help you with that, so you asked us to join you.”

As expected, Gu Yeon-hwa.

She had a good memory.

Su-ho nodded.

“So?”

“What do you mean, ‘so’? The whole world is in an uproar over this, but not a single line with your name has appeared in the news. Not only that, but you act like it’s not even related to you, treating us like fools. Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

“Haha... I didn’t mean to do that.”

Maybe I’ve been ignoring it too much.

Su-ho awkwardly laughed, and Gu Yeon-hwa wiped the smile from her face before responding.

“Anyway, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you. After all, you’ve taken revenge on our behalf.”

“Hm... Honestly, I thought you’d be angry.”

“Angry?”

“Yeah, being teammates and all, why did you go ahead with the revenge without saying a word?”

“That...”

Before Gu Yeon-hwa could speak, Seo Gyo-won answered instead.

“I don’t think that’s the case. We did come together for the same goal, but there’s no such thing as a revenge method that satisfies everyone. Besides, we never even told you why we wanted revenge through the Special Division. You’re not our superior, protector, or the one seeking revenge for us. So there’s no need to ask for permission for something like that.”

Su-ho smiled at Seo Gyo-won’s words.

Because they were true.

However, even if something is true, not everyone will accept it purely based on facts.

People might seem logical and rational, but in the end, it’s emotions—feelings—that drive the critical moments.

Su-ho, still smiling, spoke in the same tone.

“Thanks for understanding. To be honest, the reason for revenge is a private matter, so I didn’t feel comfortable asking directly. I was waiting for you to speak up first, but I couldn’t just let time slip by without addressing it once I heard it.”

“I understand. This is not a game. So, even if it’s late, I wanted to thank you properly. You’ve done a revenge that was beyond what we imagined, perfect and impressive.”

Seo Gyo-won stood up, continuing the conversation.

The others followed suit, all standing and bowing deeply in unison.

“Thank you, Team Leader. Thanks to you, our long-standing grudge has been resolved.”

The Banshees, offering their heartfelt thanks, bowed deeply.

Su-ho smiled as he waved his hand.

“Oh, no need for such formalities... It’s fine, everyone sit down. I was just carrying out my own revenge.”

“Even so, we’re still grateful.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I suppose.”

With Su-ho’s gesture, the Banshees sat down again.

Once seated, Su-ho cleared his throat and asked.

“Hm, so what’s the plan now?”

Gu Yeon-hwa asked in return.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve taken care of your revenge, so there’s no reason for you all to stick together anymore. There’s no reason to keep going through this tough training.”

“True. But... are you saying you want to cut ties with us now?”

“No...! What [N O V E L I G H T] do you mean, ‘cut ties’? I’m just curious about your intentions.”

At that, Guak Doo-ho laughed and replied.

“There’s no need to worry. We’ve already discussed it amongst ourselves.”

“You’ve already decided?”

“Yep, we’re just going to keep living as Banshees. But now, instead of revenge, we’re thinking of it as a job.”

“A job?”

“Yeah, a job. I was just living a tough life, doing odd jobs, but thanks to you, I got a position in a huge guild, and now I’m about to become a civil servant with a special appointment in the Daehyun Association. So, who would be foolish enough to leave now?”

“Same here. I used to be a delivery guy, working day and night. Why would I go back to that life? Yeon-hwa’s the same. If she goes back now, she’ll have to go to college, and after graduation, she’ll have to prepare for a job anyway. So it’s better to get a job early and live properly. Oh, and our teacher, Seo Gyo-won, thinks the same way.”

Kim Hyun-min continued, and Seo Gyo-won smiled and added.

“You told me to quit my teaching job and come, so now, my life is in your hands, Team Leader.”

They all laughed, speaking casually and cheerfully.

Looking at their faces, it was clear that the desire for revenge had been washed away.

Su-ho, too, laughed joyfully and said.

“Yeah, you’re all my employees now, so I’ll take care of you. By the way, since we’re on the topic, should we have a dinner celebration today? Now that the truth is out, we should celebrate the end of this revenge together.”

“Sounds good!”

“Sure! You’re paying, right, Team Leader?”

“Of course, I’ll pay. Well, since today’s a special day, how about we have a quiet dinner with just us?”

“Hey, it’s fine. Gyo-won already knows most of our story. Let’s do it together. Since it’s all cleared up, let’s share it with everyone.”

“Is that so? Alright, I’ll contact them right away.”

“Got it!”

Kim Hyun-min took out his phone.

And everyone smiled brightly.

Su-ho, too, smiled brightly.

He felt relieved.

And he was grateful to them.

For not holding any resentment toward him and thanking him instead.

Because of that, Su-ho thought,

No matter what happens, he would take full responsibility for these friends.