"Uh—!"
"The Gate is shaking!"
"No way—!"
"Huh? The Gate line is disappearing?!"
"Don't tell me… the Gate's been cleared?!"
When a Gate is cleared, the Gate line exposed to the outside collapses.
That's how people on the outside can tell whether a Gate has been conquered, and as everyone watched the fading Gate line, they couldn't hide their shock.
And for good reason.
In the case of an unpremonitioned Gate like this one, it was almost unheard of for it to be cleared on the very first attempt.
Seeing this, the Association staff hurriedly reported to Jung Cheol-min.
"Team Leader! The Gate has been cleared!"
"Uh… yeah, I'm watching it too…"
Jung Cheol-min's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he monitored the situation in real time.
According to the firefighter's report, the person who entered the Gate was clearly a healer.
And he had gone in alone.
And yet… he'd cleared an unpremonitioned Gate?
That was why everyone couldn't help but murmur among themselves, all eyes fixed on the Gate.
And it wasn't just Jung Cheol-min who knew.
Reporters who heard the news quickly began to gather, and before long, the Gate line completely collapsed, forming a portal that would serve as the exit.
Then, from within it, a lone figure slowly emerged.
It was Suho.
"He's out!"
"Wha—?! He really is alone!"
"That's insane—he cleared it solo?!"
The sunlight was blinding.
Stepping out of the portal, Suho frowned slightly as he looked over the crowd that had swarmed in like a horde of insects.
Quite the turnout.
Even so, no one was able to approach him yet.
Around the exit portal of a cleared Gate, the system automatically establishes a boundary that prevents anyone other than the clearer from approaching.
"Hey! Over here, please!"
"Who are you?!"
"I'm a scout from the Immortal Guild—!"
"I'm from the Hwarang Guild—!"
Stuck outside the boundary, people raised their voices and camera flashes alike, desperately trying to draw Suho's attention.
But Suho didn't spare them even a glance.
Instead, he searched the crowd for someone.
And before long, he found him.
Suho walked up to the person staring straight at him and stopped at the boundary line.
Then he asked,
"You're Team Leader Jung Cheol-min from the Korean Hunters Association, right?"
At those words, Jung Cheol-min looked startled.
"Pardon? Ah—yes. I am Jung Cheol-min, Team Leader of the Gate Management Division at the Korean Hunters Association, but… do you know me?"
Catching himself, Jung Cheol-min hurriedly introduced himself properly.
Watching that, Suho smiled faintly with his eyes and thought,
It's really good to see you again.
Suho knew exactly who Jung Cheol-min was.
Not just an acquaintance—far more than that.
After all, Jung Cheol-min was the man who would one day go on to become the President of the Korean Hunters Association.
I've never met anyone who worked harder or had a stronger sense of sacrifice than Cheol-min hyung.
So if this truly was the past he remembered, Suho naturally intended to work with Jung Cheol-min again this time as well.
Because Suho planned to join the Korean Hunters Association once more and become a civil-servant hunter.
Suho spoke calmly.
"Let's discuss the details at the Association. I need to stop by anyway to get my hunter license issued."
"Yes, of cour—wait, what?"
You need to get a hunter license?
Then that means… you're a newly awakened player?
Faced with that unbelievable fact, Jung Cheol-min could only blink in stunned silence.
After returning to the Association and checking Suho's background, Jung Cheol-min was left speechless.
Because what he feared most had turned out to be true—Suho was genuinely an unregistered hunter.
Worse still, he belonged to the healer class, widely regarded as the weakest of the four combat classes.
This is absurd…
That meant he hadn't been awakened as a player for very long.
And in that state—as a healer, no less—he had solo-cleared an unpremonitioned Gate?
It only grew more unbelievable.
Yet all of it was real, and Suho smiled leisurely as he went through the aptitude tests required for issuing a hunter license.
When all the examinations were finished, Jung Cheol-min had no choice but to be shocked once again as he reviewed Suho's results.
What in the world…
Looking at the test sheet, Jung Cheol-min wore an expression of utter disbelief.
That was only natural—across every category, from job aptitude to innate vocational potential, Suho's results were all completely average.
No… for a healer, they're actually a bit below average.
Judging solely by the results, Suho should have chosen the path of a warrior or an archer.
And yet Suho was already unmistakably a healer.
After all, Jung Cheol-min had personally witnessed Light of Healing and Cure.
How am I supposed to explain this…?
Lifting his gaze from the test results, Jung Cheol-min looked at Suho and asked,
"…If you don't mind me asking, what did you originally do for a living?"
Suho paused, digging through his memories, before answering.
"I was a college student."
"Was? Then you aren't one anymore?"
"Yes. I dropped out."
He remembered it clearly.
The day Suho had been caught in the Green-Red Gate was the very day he was returning after submitting his withdrawal papers.
The reason for dropping out?
Nothing special.
Suho had been a physical education major, and he felt the rigid hierarchy and so-called 'hazing culture' within the department were deeply unfair.
So even though he'd struggled to get into the school, he decided to leave decisively—if the temple is rotten, the monk leaves.
At that, Jung Cheol-min nodded and asked,
"Then were you perhaps a medical student? Or a nursing major?"
"Physical education."
"Physical education… then why did you choose to become a healer?"
From Jung Cheol-min's perspective, it made no sense.
If Suho had been a medical or nursing student, choosing healer would at least be understandable.
But a PE major?
Then shouldn't he have become a warrior or an archer instead?
Suho answered casually,
"I became a healer because I don't like being in pain."
"…Pardon?"
"I'm serious."
Since he had chosen the healer path because of the Ten Thousand Poisons, it wasn't entirely untrue.
But at this point in time, that answer only left Jung Cheol-min even more dumbfounded.
Jung Cheol-min closed his eyes briefly, then slowly continued.
"You really did clear the Gate alone, correct?"
"Yes. You saw me come out of the exit portal by myself."
"That's true, but… could you tell me a bit about how you cleared it?"
"Monsters showed up, so I fought them. I killed everything that came at me, and before I knew it, the Gate was cleared. For reference, the monsters inside were hobgoblins."
"H-Hobgoblins?"
"Yes."
As he spoke, Suho took out something he had collected along with the mana crystal from his inventory and placed it on the desk.
Jung Cheol-min's eyes went wide.
Because it was real.
"T-This is…!"
"It's the ear of the boss monster—the Boss Hobgoblin."
Then he placed the mana crystal taken from the boss beside it.
"And this is the mana crystal it carried."
"Hah…"
A mana crystal and proof of subjugation.
They were irrefutable pieces of evidence.
As Jung Cheol-min struggled to find words, Suho spoke first.
"I more or less understand what surprised you. Why a PE major chose healer instead of warrior or archer, and how someone who was an ordinary civilian until recently managed to solo-clear an unpremonitioned Gate. That's it, right?"
"Yes… I can't exactly deny it."
"But everything I told you is the truth. I saw them, so I killed them. I chose the beginner's sword because it was the only weapon that felt even remotely familiar to me. And it's also true that I chose the healer class because I hate pain. And once I get my license this time, I plan to continue working as a hunter."
"May I ask what led you to make that decision?"
"I hate magic beasts and Gates. If you run a background check, you'll see it—I lost my entire family in a Gate Shock incident in the past. Sure, I was exempted from tuition and military service because of it, but what good is any of that when your whole family is dead?"
"Then the reason you entered the Gate alone this time was…?"
"It was an impulsive choice, but I saw it as an opportunity to vent what had been weighing on my chest. On top of that, I was on my way back from submitting my withdrawal papers today. The reason I dropped out was the unreasonable hazing culture in my department. So I was carrying a lot of pent-up anger."
"…I see."
Jung Cheol-min nodded quietly.
Listening to Suho, he could imagine just how much anger this man had been suppressing in his daily life, impulsive or not.
Suho continued,
"I chose a physical education major because I thought it might help if I ever awakened. I never formally learned weapon techniques, but I figured it was related. And now that I've actually become a player, I think dropping out was the right choice."
Jung Cheol-min listened intently.
Seeing his serious expression, Suho decided it was about time to stop playing on emotions and throw out a more substantial piece of bait.
"But that doesn't mean I plan to live my life consumed by anger. Living in rage won't bring my family back."
The shift in topic made Jung Cheol-min look slightly surprised.
"Then…?"
"I want to work as a hunter, but if possible, I want to work for people's safety. For example—at the Korean Hunters Association."
At those words, Jung Cheol-min's eyes widened as if struck by lightning.
He had never expected that answer.
Perhaps because of that, his curiosity about Suho only deepened.
"Joining the Association means you'd have to live as a civil-servant hunter… are you sure you're okay with that? You could easily look it up, but to be honest, our compensation is… no, it's quite a bit lower than that of private guild hunters."
"I know. But you have unrestricted access to all kinds of Gates, including unpremonitioned ones, along with priority clearing rights. You also have strong authority to punish player crimes. I want to work for the public good—I'm not interested in personal wealth or glory."
"Ah…!"
At that reply, Jung Cheol-min let out an exclamation without realizing it.
Everyone claims altruism during interviews, but when you dig deeper, most of them value job security and the fact that they can earn money without entering Gates far more.
That was the reality.
As Suho said, Association-affiliated hunters have priority rights to unpremonitioned Gates—but most of them give those up and auction them off to private guilds.
Why?
Because it's dangerous.
There aren't many civil-servant hunters willing to risk their lives in Gates for a meager salary.
That was why Jung Cheol-min's heart began to race.
Suppressing his excitement, he asked,
"Then if you were to work for the Association, your assignment would be…?"
"I want to be in the field as much as possible. If I can, I want to focus on Gate raids."
…Ha.
At that answer, Jung Cheol-min nearly felt dizzy on the spot.
The Return of the Sword God–Level Civil Servant