Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 227

The press conference began at 1:00 PM.

They had scheduled it for the afternoon on purpose.

After contacting the reporters in the morning, they intentionally stalled until public interest in the Hallasan Gate had spread across the entire nation.

And, just as expected, the reaction was explosive.

— Holy sht, I’m dying to know. I thought the GHA was just incompetent, and now this? An End Gate...?*

— How many End Gates have been discovered so far?

└ Lmao, you lazy bastard. Three.

└ Bullsht, it’s two. US and China.*

└ Didn’t feel like looking it up. Thanks.

└ Haha, I said I’d tell you when you asked.

— If the Sword Saint really cleared an End Gate, isn’t that basically enough to call him the strongest in Korea?

└ With achievements like this, he needs a chart update.

└ I’d accept it if he takes the #1 spot.

└ But there’s still a huge level gap, isn’t there?

└ Levels aren’t everything, lol.

└ True.

— Damn, if this was a strategic raid on an End Gate, I can already hear the nation’s prestige rising...

└ That’s a hallucination.

└ Go see a doctor.

— This is the most exciting teaser since superconductors. Gate scholars said End Gates are the key to world peace.

└ Those guys are always wrong. Why do people still trust them?

└ Gate scholars = same credibility as the weather forecast.

└ They’re always like “Oops, never mind~” so why trust them at all?

No different from what Su-ho had monitored yesterday.

Everyone’s anticipation was at its peak.

Finally, the promised hour struck, and Jeong Cheol-min appeared at the podium in a sharp suit, in the press room prepared by the Association.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Camera flashes erupted like fireworks.

The briefing began, and Jeong Cheol-min glanced at the script he brought and started speaking.

“Hello, I’m Jeong Cheol-min, Team Leader of the Special Management Team 2 at the Gate Bureau. We will now begin the press conference regarding the End Gate that appeared in Jeju—what’s being referred to as the Hallasan Gate.”

As the briefing began, curious eyes locked onto him.

Their gazes were like laser beams.

Anticipating this, he had taken a calming pill beforehand.

Jeong Cheol-min read through the script and looked up at the reporters.

“To be direct, the Hallasan Gate was a ‘project gate’ that our Special Management Team 2 has been preparing for some time. Once all preparations were complete, we dispatched Deputy Team Leader An Su-ho, and as a result, we successfully cleared the Hallasan Gate.”

The mention of a “project gate” made everyone’s eyes go wide, and they began typing furiously.

Jeong Cheol-min continued.

“At first, we considered the possibility that the Hallasan Gate could be an End Gate. But because End Gates are so rare, it was difficult to be sure...”

It was a textbook-style briefing.

The chances were slim, but they decided to proceed with the raid in hope.

And luckily, their prediction was correct, and they managed to clear the gate.

But that didn’t mean Jeju would be free of gate appearances from now on. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Because the system always introduces new variables, even if the gate they cleared was called an End Gate, there was no guarantee it truly was one.

It sounded like semantic wrangling.

But that was intentional.

Su-ho, who had come from the future, knew that once an End Gate was cleared, no gates would appear in that region again—but such information could easily be exploited by the so-called “factions” for their own purposes.

‘Well, not like this will completely prevent that either.’

He also briefed them on details Su-ho had given him, such as the Hallasan Gate’s theme and the types of monsters that had emerged.

“...That concludes the explanation about the Hallasan Gate. I’ll take questions now before moving on.”

At ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the mention of questions, reporters began raising their hands.

Jeong Cheol-min pointed to them one by one and continued the Q&A.

All the questions were predictable.

That’s why Jo Jin-hwi didn’t raise his hand.

He already knew everything that was going to be said at this press conference.

He had already written his article in advance.

All he had to do was hit “Enter” to upload it.

Still, he had come here in person to avoid raising suspicion.

If the top journalist covering Awakened news didn’t show up to this event, it would’ve sparked rumors of insider connections.

After the first round of questions, Jeong Cheol-min continued.

“Without a break, I’ll move on to the next item. As of this moment, the Grand Hunter Association officially declares that every sealed gate in South Korea has been cleared.”

The moment those words left his mouth—

“...Huh?”

“What...?”

“W-what did he just say...?”

Everyone froze.

It was clearly a bombshell, but the shock was so intense they forgot to keep typing.

And it wasn’t just the reporters in the room.

Everyone watching the live broadcast on TV and online reacted the same way.

Especially in the livestream chats—

— What the fck did he just say?*

— Is this real?!

— I knew the Sword Saint was clearing sealed gates like crazy, but when the hell did he finish all of them?

— Holy sht, this is insane.*

— Wait, I just checked and the Square in my neighborhood is being dismantled, wtf

— Same here!

— Yo, when the hell did they do all this?

The reactions were on fire.

It felt like you’d burn your fingers just touching the screen.

Livestreams and social media exploded.

The reporters, once they snapped out of it, began frantically pushing out breaking news.

But by that point, PBS had already published their article, having been on standby.

Jeong Cheol-min took a quiet breath.

He had anticipated this reaction.

That’s why he continued in a steady, unwavering voice.

“This project began right after Deputy Team Leader An Su-ho joined our Special Management Team 2, and all sealed gate raids were carried out by him alone.”

“Whoa.”

“Insane.”

“Is this for real?”

More gasps followed as the explanation continued.

Articles poured in, and comment sections exploded.

Next, Jo Jin-hwi displayed a screen showing the former locations of sealed gates across the country, followed by a slideshow of photos showing the ongoing dismantling work at the Squares.

Nothing could be more convincing than that.

That concluded the second round of the briefing.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

This press conference wasn’t meant for excuses—it was for an official announcement.

Su-ho, monitoring the broadcast, smiled.

‘Nice. Reactions are great.’

Until today, the truth about the sealed gate raids had been deliberately kept under wraps.

All to unleash it at the most impactful moment.

And that moment was now.

The second Q&A session immediately followed.

As expected, the questions were nothing special.

How could he have cleared a sealed gate?

What was the process like?

Why had it been hidden until now?

Su-ho had simple answers ready for those.

“We developed the optimal strategy for Officer An Su-ho after extensive research.”

“Detailed materials will be released later.”

“It was something that needed to be done anyway, and given the chaos of the times, we simply delayed the announcement.”

Standard answers.

There were no shocking reveals.

After all, the idea of one individual clearing every sealed gate in the country was already beyond shocking—what more impact could possibly be added?

Once the second Q&A ended, Jeong Cheol-min finally took a sip of the water that had been prepared for him.

After wetting his throat, he jumped straight into the third part of the briefing.

“Again, without taking a break, I’ll now proceed to the third announcement.”

The third topic.

Everyone's hearts began to pound.

The first two announcements had already been bombshells—what could he possibly be announcing next?

Some reporters, overwhelmed with anticipation, even stopped typing and stared at Jeong Cheol-min with their mouths half-open.

Someone would write the article anyway.

Whether it was them or someone else, the internet would be flooded with the same story—so in that moment, they chose simply to pay attention.

Jeong Cheol-min, after moistening his throat, spoke.

“Our Special Management Team 2 has, in secret, successfully completed our top priority mission: the clearing of all sealed gates nationwide and the Hallasan Gate. And now, we will begin a new project that matches the name of our department.”

A new project.

What could it be?

Gulp. The crowd swallowed dryly as Jeong Cheol-min raised a pointer and slowly flipped to the next slide on the screen.

A map of the Korean Peninsula appeared.

The room went still.

Only the faint click of cameras echoed in the silence as Jeong Cheol-min clicked the pointer once more.

The peninsula split in half along the 38th parallel. The southern part was filled in with a soft green color representing safety.

Then, the northern region was suddenly consumed by red—signaling danger.

Everyone reacted.

— Wait, what?

— No fcking way...*

— No... seriously?

— Is this what I think it is?

— Oh god, please let it be what I think it is!!

Jeong Cheol-min lowered the pointer and turned toward the reporters.

“As of now, the Grand Hunter Association is officially launching the long-delayed project to reclaim and clear the gates in North Korea.”

The moment those words were spoken—

“Wow...”

“Holy crap...”

“Haa...!”

Gasps and incredulous chuckles burst from every direction.

But the emotion underlying all of it was the same—shock.

And the reaction from the online world was no different.

— LOOOOOOL holy sht!!!*

— Bro, no way hahahahaha

— This is insane hahahahaha

— THERE IT IS!

— Holy crap, the Association is killing it right now

— How do they start doing their jobs this well the second they clean out the corrupt idiots?

— Seriously, they should’ve axed the top brass ages ago hahahaha

Explosive reactions.

Of course they were.

After the Great Cataclysm began, a lot of countries disappeared.

Most were unable to adapt to the new world order—whether due to their systems, internal issues, or because they were simply overwhelmed by the sheer volume of powerful gate eruptions.

But North Korea had fallen for slightly different reasons.

Su-ho recalled how North Korea had collapsed.

‘North Korea was already severely lacking in everything. Most people there weren’t familiar with gaming, so they couldn’t adapt to the system, which basically functioned like a game. They died in droves.’

Granted, compared to South Koreans, they were more accustomed to violence and killing, so they showed some early promise with their aggression.

But even then, the real reason for North Korea’s downfall was its leadership.

Terrified by the sudden emergence of new power, the regime refused to support the Awakened. Instead, it began hunting them down to preserve control.

And with that, the already scarce pool of players was decimated.

‘Then, when the gates showed up, they were completely wiped out.’

And now, it was time to reclaim that land.

Technically, it wasn’t a conquest—it was a recovery.

The North Korean regime had already collapsed, and the land had become a dead zone.

Jeong Cheol-min continued.

“There will be no Q&A for the third item. This concludes today’s press conference. We will follow up with an official briefing in the near future. Thank you.”

No questions allowed.

And with that, Su-ho once again succeeded in shaking the world to its core.

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