Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 265

The moment Su-ho brought the Pi Seong-yeol impostor—Im Chang-sik—outside, the man wore a dazed expression.

“Ahh...?”

There was no dazzling sunlight, but even the unfamiliar lighting of this new space—so different from what he saw every day—was enough to overwhelm him.

“Aahh... ahh...”

The swelling emotion in his chest pushed tears to his eyes from deep within.

And honestly, Su-ho understood why he was crying.

But understanding it didn’t mean he wanted to see it.

So, for the first time in a while, Su-ho used one of his item skills.

[The Ring of Joy and Sorrow reacts to the subject’s most intense emotion.]

[The absorbable emotion is: 'White.']

[Absorbing emotion from the subject.]

Shuuuuu—!

As the skill embedded in the Ring of Joy and Sorrow activated, the wave of joy surged out of Im Chang-sik and was absorbed.

Up until now, Su-ho had only ever absorbed “Black” emotions. “White” was a first.

Once the emotion was drained, the euphoria in Im Chang-sik’s chest faded quickly, and the tears dried up instantly.

Now that he’d stopped crying, Su-ho opened a portal back to the Subspace House and gestured toward it.

“See that? If you don’t want to go back there, behave.”

“Y-yes, yes!”

“Good.”

That was the end of the Pi Seong-yeol matter.

Su-ho handed the transformed Pi Seong-yeol over to the waiting warden outside and called for the next group.

The next “person” wasn’t just one.

Soon after, the individuals who entered the visitation room were all familiar faces—those who had once been thoroughly crushed by Su-ho.

It was none other than Seo Do-il and Moon Hye-hyun, former representatives of the Tamra Guild.

The moment they saw Su-ho, they visibly flinched.

Naturally.

If either of them were asked to name the most terrifying person in their lives, the answer would undoubtedly be Su-ho.

And now, after all this time, both of them looked as gaunt and ruined as Pi Seong-yeol had.

For the same reason.

Su-ho had left them half-crippled.

Once the warden stepped out, Su-ho greeted them cheerfully.

“It’s been a while. How have you both been?”

“......”

“......”

Silence.

Not even glancing at each other—they just looked down, frozen.

Sigh.

This wasn’t the kind of reunion Su-ho had in mind.

It seems that whether with people or beasts, regular discipline is necessary.

He furrowed his brow.

“I asked you how you’ve been.”

“Y-yes, yes! W-we’ve been fine!”

“M-me too...!”

The moment his voice chilled, they snapped to attention.

Just like little rats—they only react when the tone drops.

Still frowning, Su-ho spoke.

“Try to respond properly when I’m being nice, yeah?”

“Y-yes...”

“Apologies...”

“Anyway, you both got hit with hefty sentences... How’s prison life? Getting used to it?”

Seo Do-il’s expression twisted slightly at the question, but he forced an awkward smile.

Moon Hye-hyun, too.

Both squeezed out a reply.

“Yeah... well...”

“Yeah, sure... managing...”

“‘Managing’? When your bodies are half-broken? What the hell would be manageable about that?”

“......”

“......”

They wanted to retort.

To say something like “What the hell do you expect us to say, you bastard?”

But neither dared utter those words.

Both had already experienced the worst pain of their lives—courtesy of Su-ho.

Then, Moon Hye-hyun mustered some courage and asked,

“But, um... why did you want to see us?”

“Oh? Who told you you could ask questions?”

“N-no! I’m sorry! I just...!”

“I’m joking, man. Of course there’s a reason. You think I’d waste my precious time just to see you two for no reason?”

“N-no... you’re absolutely right...”

“Haha...”

“Anyway, you’re both lucky. If you weren’t Clerics, I’d have had no reason to ever see you again. You both can use Heal and Recovery, right?”

“Yes, that’s ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) correct.”

“Soon, someone’s going to come ask you to do something. Don’t complain—just do as you’re told. Your main job will probably be casting Recovery on inmates. Got it?”

“W-what? But that’s—”

“Did I say you could ask questions?”

“N-no! Sorry!”

“Good. That’s why I brought you here. In this entire prison, you two are the only Clerics of this level. Oh, and don’t worry—I’m not using you for free. Naturally, there’ll be compensation. So... pick one: eyes, ears, tongue, or wrists.”

“P-pick one? What do you mean...?”

“Are you playing dumb, or are you really that dense? Right now, you’ve got one blind eye, one deaf ear, a busted tongue, and broken wrists. I’ll fix one of those for now—think of it as a signing bonus. Do your job well, and I’ll restore the rest over time. Now pick one to fix first.”

“......!”

“......!”

That was exactly what Su-ho meant.

Before sending Seo Do-il and Moon Hye-hyun to Seoul, he had wrecked multiple parts of their bodies—and turned them against each other, for good measure.

The two exchanged glances briefly, then Seo Do-il spoke first.

“T-then please fix my... tongue...”

“M-me too. Please restore my tongue.”

“Tongue? Sure.”

He didn’t expect them to prioritize their sense of taste. That was... surprising.

Still, Su-ho used pressure point techniques to restore their tongues.

Then, he took out two candies he had on him and gave one to each of them.

The moment they popped them into their mouths, their eyes went wide.

“M-my tongue...!”

“This taste...!”

Yoon Hyun-chul and Jo Gwang-ho would oversee personnel.

Seo Do-il and Moon Hye-hyun would collect the matured Furnace results.

And then, through the warden’s channel, it would be sent back to the Cheongdam Safe House.

That way, Su-ho could continue producing Gi Seung-hwan without ever stepping foot in Cheongok again.

Of course, he also intended to assign tasks to "crush" members of the redevelopment cartel—excluding the impostor Pi Seong-yeol.

Hearing the plan, Kim Goong-won nodded while holding chicken in one hand and pizza in the other.

“Don’t worry, Brother. I’ll squeeze every last drop out of every bastard in Cheongok.” 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

“Good. That’s all you need to do. I’ll make sure the warden and deputy warden supply whatever you need.”

“Yes sir! I’ll serve with loyalty!”

Honestly, Su-ho wanted to entrust Gi Seung-hwan’s production to Kim Goong-won—but decided against it.

Security reasons.

Nothing good can come from Gi Seung-hwan’s existence being exposed.

Su-ho nodded and added,

“Oh, and among the new arrivals—”

He handed Kim Goong-won a list.

It contained names like Kim Mu-hwan—former members of Pi Seong-yeol’s direct unit.

“Keep these people out of the Furnace roster. As long as they don’t cause trouble, leave them be.”

“Who are they?”

“They used to serve directly under Pi Seong-yeol. I’ve got other plans for them.”

“Ahh, got it.”

“Alright, I think that covers everything. Anything else going on?”

“No, sir. Oh, actually—some Yakuza guys came in recently, and we roughed them up. That’s probably the only noteworthy event.”

“Yakuza? Ah, those guys?”

“You know them?”

“Of course. Wasn’t one named Suiru?”

“Oh! Yeah! How do you know that?”

“Because I’m the one who beat the crap out of them. Still not listening, huh?”

“Nope. Still can’t stop calling people ‘Chosunjing’ every five minutes, but we’ll fix that soon enough.”

“Alright. Try telling them this: ‘Inagawa is completely dissolved. Sumiyoshi took everything.’”

“Inagawa? Sumiyoshi? Wait—you mean those Japanese guilds...?”

“Yep. The very same. All the ones who came in are from Inagawa. Say that to them, and they’ll flip. If they want to confirm, tell them to call. I’ll notify the warden.”

“Oh... okay. Uh... Sir?”

Kim Goong-won asked hesitantly.

“Was it... you? The one who destroyed Inagawa?”

“Who knows?”

Su-ho just smiled.

Kim Goong-won gulped.

As a former member of the Platinum Gang—once Gangnam’s biggest syndicate—he had heard the names.

And knew exactly how powerful Inagawa was.

“...I’ll always be loyal.”

“As you should. Now eat up and head back in. I’ll tell the guards. And Goong-won—make sure you file the report properly.”

“Yes sir. You can count on me.”

“Alright, I’m off. Good work.”

With that, Su-ho wrapped up his business at Cheongok.

After giving the warden Kim Gil-yeon a final set of instructions, he finally left the prison and returned to Seoul.