"Am I seeing this right?"
Su-ho was truly covered in blood and wounds, no mistake about it.
"An Pro-nim!!"
A shocked Jo Jin-hwi ran toward him.
The other soldiers, stunned by Su-ho’s rare wounds, stood frozen, their mouths agape.
Jo Jin-hwi, genuinely astonished, asked,
"What, what’s all this blood? Are you okay?"
"Ah, yeah, it’s fine. But first, let’s take some photos."
"Photos?"
"You need to write a special feature."
"A special feature? ...Ah!"
Only then did Jo Jin-hwi’s mind catch up, and everything started making sense.
With a smile, he lifted his camera.
"Okay, let’s start shooting."
The constant click of the shutter and the flashes from the camera filled the air.
The soldiers didn’t know what was going on, but for now, they stood quietly, observing the two.
Meanwhile, Jo Jin-hwi relentlessly snapped photos, while Su-ho acted more fatigued than ever.
When Jo Jin-hwi gave the signal that he was done, Su-ho took out the Giant Mimic’s magic stone from his inventory and held it up.
"This is the magic stone I extracted from the super-large Giant Mimic, the boss of the Dark Gorge."
"Wow? So, this must be at least 1-star, right?"
"Correct. And it's a trophy that needs to be returned to the government."
"Ah! Okay! Returning the trophy, got it!"
Hearing the mention of the returnable trophy, Jo Jin-hwi became excited and started snapping even more pictures.
As a journalist preparing a special feature, he knew all too well what this meant.
After enough pictures of the magic stone were taken, Su-ho pulled out a pile of swords from his inventory.
But none of the swords were intact.
All of them were chipped, some with broken blades, others with cracked hilts.
The signs of fierce battles were clear.
Anyone could tell these swords had been used in combat.
And there were so many of them.
There had to be more than forty swords.
Jo Jin-hwi asked,
"Pro-nim, what are these?"
"These are the swords I used during the Gate raid. Forty-two of them. The boss monster was the super-large Giant Mimic, and we had to fight it inside a steel mass, so it was quite a hassle."
"Ah, that’s why the swords are in such bad shape?"
"Yeah, thanks to that, this raid is going to be a huge loss. Even cheap swords aren’t usually used for a 1-star Gate raid. Of course, if we sell the magic stone, it’ll be fine... but as you know, I don’t own the rights to the Gate trophies, do I?"
Jo Jin-hwi’s lips pursed as he listened to Su-ho’s well-reasoned explanation.
He thought he had prepared plenty of material for the special feature, but hearing from a current civil servant Hunter—especially one at the level of a Sword Saint—performing like this was bound to cause a huge ripple effect.
After snapping several more photos of the broken swords, Jo Jin-hwi grinned and said,
"I can already picture it. First, we’ll use your injury photos to grab attention, then report on the news of the Sword Saint clearing a sealed Gate, and finally highlight the issues with the loot and the raid costs. That will definitely make a splash."
"Then, would it be okay if I post the injury photos?"
"An Pro-nim?"
"I just thought of a good way to do it. Of course, you can post the ones taken in front of the portal at the right moment, Reporter-nim."
"Oh? I’m really looking forward to hearing what you’ve got in mind. Let’s go with that timing for the first photo, and would you mind keeping these swords for me? I’d love to take them, but as you know, I’m an unawakened civilian and don’t have an inventory."
"Of course. I’ll pack them up and send them to the station."
"Hehe, as expected, An Pro-nim."
After the photoshoot, Su-ho walked over to the soldiers who had been silently watching from afar.
He then approached Major Kim Seung-ho and gave a light bow.
"The Gate has been completely cleared. You can start the withdrawal operations."
"Ah, yes! But are you sure you’re okay? You look really bad."
"Oh, this?"
In response to Kim Seung-ho’s concern, Su-ho used Heal on the wound on his left arm.
The wound healed cleanly, and Su-ho wiped away the scab to reveal the now-perfectly healed injury.
"I'm fine. I have self-healing, so it's all good. Take care now."
"Ah..."
Kim Seung-ho was left speechless by Su-ho’s cool demeanor.
But with the self-healing, what more could he say?
After getting into his car, Su-ho called Jeong Cheol-min.
– Oh, Su-ho.
"I just finished clearing the Dark Gorge Gate."
– Really?! Are you hurt at all?
"I’ve got a few scratches, but nothing I can't heal on my own. More importantly, I was thinking of heading back right away to write the report... Would you mind having a quick meeting about this?"
– A meeting? You just cleared a Gate, and now you want to talk about a meeting? You can do that tomorrow! Just rest up at home!
"No, I can rest while driving. I’ll be there soon, so let’s meet later."
– Haha, you crazy guy... Fine, see you soon!
What boss would turn down a competent subordinate asking to discuss work?
Of course, an incompetent and foolish boss might have refused, but Jeong Cheol-min was neither incompetent nor foolish.
Vroom!
Su-ho’s car sped off toward Daheon-hyeop.
***
At the entrance to Daheon-hyeop, Su-ho deliberately parked his car in the outdoor parking lot.
Normally, he would have parked in the underground staff lot to avoid people, but today, his purpose was different.
As expected, several people who recognized Su-ho’s car began gathering around it.
Among them were journalists.
Even if they weren’t the target of an interview, it was standard for reporters to recognize the cars of celebrities.
In that sense, this was a rare moment.
It was a chance to capture Su-ho, a figure usually difficult to spot, stepping out of his car in such a striking scene.
‘Heh, a photo of An Su-ho is perfect for boosting views, even if there’s no substantial content. I’ll make sure to rack up those views...!’
As soon as the journalist raised the camera, their eyes widened in surprise.
"Uh, uh?"
They thought they might have seen it wrong for a moment.
And it wasn’t hard to see why—Su-ho, the Sword Saint, was covered in blood and scabs, and his clothes were tattered.
Others had the same reaction.
While they recognized Su-ho, seeing him in such a battered state—something they had never witnessed before—left them speechless and shocked.
"Sword Saint?"
"Sword Saint?!"
"Why’s An Su-ho like this?!"
A beat later, everyone erupted in disbelief.
Only then did the journalist snap back to reality and quickly start taking pictures.
Click! Click! Click!
People began to crowd around.
Other journalists, hearing the news, joined in.
The sound of camera flashes popped repeatedly, and the reactions of the crowd grew louder.
Shock. And concern.
But the most dominant emotion was curiosity.
How did Sword Saint An Su-ho end up like this?
The curiosity quickly spread to the world, starting with the first journalist who captured the photos.
– [Breaking] Sword Saint An Su-ho appears in Daheon-hyeop seriously injured...
There was no need to make the headline overly sensational.
Just the name "Sword Saint An Su-ho" was enough to grab attention, and adding "seriously injured" to it guaranteed the article would generate views.
As expected, the response was explosive.
– No way?
– What?
– Did the Sword Saint get hurt?
– What happened? Why’s he so messed up?
– Why is he even showing up to work in this state?
– What the hell?
Meanwhile, Su-ho smoothly parked his car, stepped out, and began walking toward Daheon-hyeop with a slower pace than usual.
Some of the people snapping photos couldn’t help but barrage him with questions, but each time, Su-ho politely responded,
"I’m sorry, but I can’t disclose any details right now."
He kept defending with apologies, and eventually, someone couldn’t hold back and asked,
"Su-ho! Just tell us this! Did those injuries come from the Gate?!"
But even with that question, Su-ho didn’t answer. He just gave a dry smile and continued walking toward Daheon-hyeop.
However, the public’s curiosity didn’t stop there.
Though the general public couldn’t enter Daheon-hyeop, the staff inside began to notice, though no one outside attached themselves to Su-ho like they had earlier.
Su-ho naturally swiped his access card and headed for the Gate floor.
Finally, when he met Jeong Cheol-min, Jeong’s eyes nearly popped out.
"What, what, what the hell? What happened to you?"
"Let’s go to the meeting room first."
"Are you... okay?!"
"Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s just head to the meeting room first."
Su-ho calmly guided Jeong Cheol-min to the meeting room.
Jeong Cheol-min’s heart was pounding out of his chest, but once they entered the meeting room, he quickly closed the curtains and locked the door.
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Then, with a trembling voice, he asked,
"W-what happened? Why are you like this? Did you get seriously hurt on the Gate raid?!"
"I did get hurt on the Gate raid, but it wasn’t anything serious."
"Not serious?! You look like this and you say it’s not serious?!"
"It really wasn’t that bad. Want to see?"
In response to Jeong Cheol-min’s panic, Su-ho used Heal on himself.
He scratched off the scab, revealing smooth, healed skin.
"...Huh?"
"I’m a healer, did you forget?"
"Huh? Ah? Ah, ah...!"
At Su-ho’s words, Jeong Cheol-min made a strange sound, then nodded.
"Right, you’re a healer... but still, what happened?"
"I was just putting on a little show."
"A show?"
Su-ho then explained to Jeong Cheol-min the special feature he was preparing.
He deliberately inflicted the wounds and even prepared the broken swords.
Then, as a final touch, he showed him the Giant Mimic’s magic stone.
"I’ve already gotten photos of this. Now, the article will go out. If we just share this, we’ll have enough to keep the civil servant hunters’ strength intact, but what’s the government doing, sucking the life out of their own hunters?"
"Wait, you... wow... Haha, unbelievable..."
Su-ho spoke calmly about his plan, and Jeong Cheol-min had nothing to say except a forced laugh.
Eventually, the conclusion was inevitable.
"You’re really crazy..."
At those words, Su-ho chuckled.
"Someone has to stand up like a real crazy person if institutional change is going to happen. In that sense, I’ll be the one to carry that burden."
"Why are you the only one carrying it? Let’s carry it together."
"Carrying the burden is something you do alone. By the way..."
Su-ho checked the time before speaking.
"Since you mentioned it, how about we have a company dinner today?"
"A company dinner?"
"Yeah, I think even Chief Investigator Lee Won-an from the exploration team was hoping to have a dinner soon."
"...I appreciate you suggesting it, but after causing all this buzz, don’t you think we’ll get flak if we just go have a relaxed dinner now?"
"Get flak? From who?"
"...Us?"
"Haha, no one’s going to complain. If anything, they’ll feel sorry for us. But just to be safe, let’s have the dinner at my place. It’s pretty private."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, I’m serious. So, I’ll go pay for the magic stone first. We need to make sure it goes into the government’s pockets so there are no loose ends. Also, can I write the report after I go home and freshen up? It’ll take everyone some time to get here anyway."
"You’re really something else. Do whatever you want."
"Yep, thanks. I’ll head out now."
Su-ho gave a salute and, with a smile, got up and left first.