Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 335

The being that had once been an imoogi let out a piercing cry filled with intense hostility.

— Kyaaaaahhhhh!!

[ The Corroded Imoogi uses Boss Monster-grade Fear. ]

[ Dragon Blood activates. ]

[ Fear is negated due to the Dragon Mind effect of Dragon Blood. ]

A ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) chilling, metallic screech that made one’s hair stand on end.

But it had no effect on Su-ho.

Which meant this fight wouldn't drag out, either.

Su-ho immediately unleashed his skills on the creature.

[ Weaken activates. ]

[ Enhancement activates. ]

Starting with Weaken.

Then reloading Enhancement.

Su-ho reverse-summoned Bulgasari, and as the creature that had once been an imoogi lunged at him, he charged in response.

Its jaws opened wide and came crashing down like a meteor toward where Su-ho stood.

Boom!!

Its massive maw split grotesquely into four directions—nothing like the snout of any ordinary beast—as it slammed into the ground where Su-ho had just been.

The force of the impact was so intense that dust billowed up instantly.

Su-ho was nowhere to be seen.

Naturally—because he hadn’t dodged.

And then—

Flash!

Sssskkkrrrraaaaat!!

A burst of white light exploded from inside the creature that had once been an imoogi, sending out a fierce blast.

It carved a long trajectory, cleaving the beast’s flesh cleanly.

[ Steel Severance activates. ]

[ Enhancement is applied. ]

[ The power of Steel Severance is further amplified. ]

Su-ho dismissed the notifications in front of him.

Then swung his sword once more, completely bisecting the imoogi-form creature.

Thud!

The split halves of the creature fell to either side.

Su-ho stepped back and shook the viscous fluid off his blade.

Then he calmly waited.

[ The Despair Thoughtform attached to the Corroded Imoogi begins to amplify. ]

It immediately entered Phase Two.

The change began as the bisected body rejoined into one.

It grew larger—and even more grotesque.

But Su-ho showed no fear. Instead, he moved swiftly again.

[ Weaken activates. ]

[ Enhancement activates. ]

Skills unleashed without hesitation.

There was no reason to hold back.

As Su-ho fearlessly charged, the creature—now in its second phase—charged him right back.

But did it not learn? Once again, it opened its jaws to lunge at Su-ho.

Boom!!

Again with the clamping maw.

But this time, even before Su-ho could swing, the creature suddenly retracted its mouth.

[ Heatstorm activates. ]

“KIEEEEEEEEH!!”

The creature howled.

It was because of the high-temperature Heatstorm.

With severe burns around its mouth and inner throat, the beast writhed in agony.

Su-ho, unaffected, calmly prepared his next strike.

[ Rage Mode activates. ]

It was Rage Mode.

Since Rage Mode took considerable time to activate, it was practically reserved for boss fights.

That’s why he had saved it.

And now that the fight had entered Phase Two, there was no reason not to use it.

As the skill activated, a deep orange aura erupted from Su-ho’s body.

He swung his sword swiftly at the creature, which was thrashing in pain.

[ Cloud Severance activates. ]

[ Enhancement is applied. ]

[ The power of Steel Severance is further amplified. ]

Flash!

Blades of orange and white light erupted.

They slashed forward in an instant, and once again, Su-ho succeeded in slicing the creature clean in two.

Roughly three seconds after his sword strike passed through its body—

[ You have defeated the Corroded Imoogi. ]

[ The Gate has been cleared. ]

[ MVP of this Gate clear: ‘An Su-ho’. ]

[ Additional EXP awarded for MVP selection. ]

[ Bonus stat +1 granted for MVP selection. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats increased by 1. ]

[ You have gained 1 bonus stat. ]

A cascade of system notifications.

As expected after defeating a boss monster.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it.

The most important quest remained.

Su-ho shifted his gaze to the corpse of the slain creature.

Twitch—

The imoogi’s corpse began to writhe.

Su-ho silently watched the squirming.

And finally, he saw it.

A small white serpent sprouting from the dead imoogi’s body like a seedling.

It was the freed imoogi.

With the snow-white glow unique to spirit beasts, it blinked its red eyes a few times, then gave Su-ho a nod of gratitude before slipping into a nearby hole.

Then, new notifications appeared before his eyes.

[ The Lord of the Abyss has been freed from the Despair Thoughtforms. ]

[ Quest complete. ]

[ The Imoogi expresses its gratitude to you. ]

[ Congratulations! You have acquired “Dream of the Imoogi (A)”. ]

He obtained the Imoogi’s Dream.

Upon inspection, it was the same type as the ones he had acquired before.

Su-ho stashed it away and allocated the bonus stat to Strength before swiftly exiting through the portal.

Next stop: Baekdu Mountain.

VROOOOM!

Mounted on his mana bike, Su-ho sped toward Baekdu.

*

[ Linear Gate activates. ]

After clearing the Aoji Gate, Su-ho maxed out his bike’s output and headed straight for Baekdu.

He bypassed all visible monsters using the Linear Gate.

Even though the terrain was rough, he arrived at Baekdu’s entrance far faster than expected.

'Finally, Baekdu Mountain.'

Baekdu was the last stop before initiating the Yalu River Project.

In other words, he was nearing the final objective.

More than that, Baekdu held personal significance for Su-ho.

Because in his past life, he had seen a dragon only twice—and one of them lived on Baekdu.

He was lucky.

All the other North Korean gates had been snatched up by other guilds, but Baekdu had been prioritized for the Grand Hunter Association because of its symbolic importance.

Of course, they had never cleared it.

They were simply granted priority.

That’s why this time, Su-ho wanted to personally slay the dragon of Baekdu.

Without dismounting from his bike, Su-ho began ascending straight toward Baekdu’s summit using the Linear Gate skill.

VRROOOM!

The mana bike surged toward the Cheonji crater lake at the peak.

But something felt off.

In his past life, Baekdu had been crawling with monsters, yet this time it was oddly quiet.

And the mana bike wasn’t exactly whisper-quiet, either.

After a long, steady climb, Su-ho finally reached the summit.

'There it is.'

He could see it.

Cheonji of Baekdu—the crater lake said to require three generations of virtue to witness.

'Still as elusive as ever, Baekdu’s Cheonji.'

In the pre-Cataclysm era, one had to go through China to see it.

Though the area near Baekdu was North Korean territory, the mountain itself was a jointly administered zone between China and North Korea.

That’s why China called it Changbai Mountain and even tried to rewrite history to claim it as their own.

From their attempts to register it as a UNESCO World Heritage Site to replacing nearby Hangul signs with Chinese and English ones.

But all of that was ancient history now.

Since the Cataclysm and the emergence of “those things” near the Yalu River, China had abandoned most of its cultural assimilation campaigns.

'In simple terms, they gave up on anything that didn’t make money right now.'

Besides, the saying about needing three generations of virtue was largely due to weather.

Unless one was blessed with good weather, Cheonji was usually hidden beneath thick fog.

Su-ho raised his head to look at the Gate portal hovering alone above the lake.

Floating atop the lake like an island, it was nearly impossible to approach without a ship or flying device.

But that wasn’t a problem for Su-ho.

He had Cheongryubo.

Su-ho stored the mana bike in subspace and activated Mana Perception before diving into Cheonji.

[ Mana Perception activates. ]

He surveyed the lake.

In his past life, not only the mountain but even the lake itself had been teeming with monsters.

But now, no matter how he scanned it, there wasn’t even a trace of mana aside from the Gate portal.

'What the hell?'

Nothing at all?

That couldn’t be.

Well—there was a difference between then and now.

The Baekdu Gate in his past life had appeared during the mid-Cataclysm period, during the North Korea invasion arc, and had been at least 3-star difficulty.

Now, it couldn’t even be rated beyond 2-star at best.

Gate content, storylines, themes, and difficulty all evolved with time.

'So maybe this version of Baekdu is what existed before the version I knew ever formed.'

That was the only reasonable conclusion.

After his inspection, Su-ho dove into the lake.

Splash!

[ Skystride activates. ]

The skill lifted his body above the surface of Cheonji.

Su-ho hurled himself straight into the Baekdu Gate.

[ Entering the Gate. ]

[ Loading Gate information. ]

[ Dragon vs. Tiger ]

Dragon vs. Tiger (Yongho Sangbak)?

Su-ho furrowed his brows at the gate’s name.

Dragon vs. Tiger—as in the phrase that refers to a titanic clash between two fierce beasts?

That alone confirmed it.

This wasn’t the Baekdu Gate he remembered.

The one he knew was called Lord of Cheonji.

And this new version had a much smaller max party size.

'So Dragon vs. Tiger must be a precursor to Lord of Cheonji.'

It was easy to guess: once inside, the dragon and tiger would probably be fighting.

With that in mind, Su-ho stepped in.

[ Entering “Dragon vs. Tiger.” ]

His vision flickered the moment he entered.

And when it returned—

—Kyaoooooo!!

—Grrrrrrrrraaaaahh!!

Roars that seemed capable of tearing eardrums apart.

Simultaneously, a torrential downpour began, and the previously clear skies turned darker than ever.

Rumble—KABOOM!

Even lightning crashed down.

[ You have entered the Boss Room. ]

[ The Boss Monster appears. ]

As if that weren’t enough—

A system message indicated that he had entered the boss room the moment he entered the Gate.

“What the hell is this now?”

It wasn’t unheard of for a boss monster to spawn instantly, but—

This was a 2-star Gate?

At that moment, a massive shadow passed over Su-ho, stirring up a violent gale.

“That’s...”

The immense shadow and wind belonged to none other than the dragon Su-ho had seen at the Baekdu Gate before.

And just as it passed—

“Kyaoooo!!”

Another enormous shadow emerged.

It grew steadily in size until, with a thunderous crash—

KABAAAANG!!

It landed harshly on the ground, revealing its presence.

The second shadow’s owner was a tiger.

But not just any tiger.

The tiger of Dragon vs. Tiger was none other than a White Tiger.