Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 275

Fortunately, what Jeong Cheol-min and Lim Cheol had feared didn’t happen.

The President and the other attending VIPs didn’t raise their voices or cause a scene.

Instead, as if it had been prearranged, they quietly offered brief apologies upon arrival, listened to the briefing as if nothing had happened, and approved every part of the plan without protest.

Of course, no one knew their true intentions.

They were old—old enough to harbor a vague fear and contempt toward Awakened individuals. But at the same time, they were far too calculating not to act rationally when it benefited them.

They weren’t children.

Once the briefing ended and the VIPs left, President Lim Cheol gave a long sigh of relief, thanked Su-ho and the team for their efforts, and left the hotel alongside the Vice President.

Only two people remained.

Jeong Cheol-min was the first to speak.

“Seriously... I still don’t know what the hell that all was.”

“Well, at least the worst-case scenario didn’t happen.”

The worst-case scenario being the classic boomer-type officials making outrageous statements, refusing to admit fault, and provoking Su-ho’s wrath.

But that hadn’t happened.

Like he’d said—those people were too skilled at playing the game.

They knew when to concede and when to take advantage.

For people who survived by their tongues, saying a few appeasing words wasn’t a big deal.

“That’s why I let it go, too.”

Su-ho wasn’t some kid who needed them to bow and scrape for him to feel better.

As long as they didn’t become obstacles to what he wanted to accomplish, that was enough.

He didn’t want to turn everything into a war of attrition.

“Honestly, there’s no country I’d even want to immigrate to.”

Every so-called leading hunter nation had stabbed Su-ho in the back in his past life.

Sure, there were countries that hadn’t been part of the final stand against extinction... but those?

Knowing what skeletons they had in their closets—and what their futures held—Su-ho had concluded that staying in Korea was the best course of action, both in the short and long term.

“Worst-case scenario? If I’m lucky enough to wipe out all the Gates, I’ll need to live somewhere. Might as well be Korea.”

Jeong Cheol-min spoke up.

“Well, thanks to you, we got most of the approvals we needed. Time to really get this rolling.”

“Yes, sir.”

This was where the real work began.

***

The Next Day

Su-ho summoned Jo Jin-hwi and shared the full details of the North Korea Project with him as they began preparing for the official public announcement.

Simultaneously, under the Association’s authority, he issued invitations to every guild leader in the country.

It wasn’t a forced summons.

They were simply told that the North Korea reclamation project was underway, and that interested parties were welcome to participate.

As a result, representatives from guilds both large and small gathered at the Association’s main auditorium.

There were no special seats or VIP sections for the large guilds.

In Su-ho’s eyes, they were all just guilds.

As the day approached, a female Special Division staff member handed Su-ho the attendance list, her voice full of excitement.

“Chief! This time, 98% attendance!”

“Ninety-eight?”

“Yes!”

“Damn... I thought we’d hit 99%. Surprising.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. Good work.”

After checking the list, Su-ho stepped up onto the podium. At the sight of him, the crowd quickly quieted.

Click–click–

The only sound in the silent hall was the shutter of Jo Jin-hwi’s camera.

He wasn’t here today as a PBS journalist, but working a one-day gig as Su-ho’s assistant, helping with documentation.

Su-ho scanned the room, then took the mic.

“Ahem. Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming, despite the short notice. I’m An Su-ho, Chief of the Special Division's Special Affairs Department at the Grand Hunter Association.”

He gave a polite nod, and the guild reps returned it with obligatory applause.

Immediately, Su-ho clicked the remote to display the opening slide of his presentation.

[North Korea Reclamation]

That was the title.

Su-ho spoke.

“As previously announced, the reason I’ve gathered all of you here is to discuss the officially declared North Korea Reclamation Project. The operation is officially named ‘Purification Unification.’ The reason for that name is simple—North Korea’s interior has been overrun by Gates, mana, and monsters. It’s polluted.”

He clicked again.

A map of the Korean Peninsula appeared. Clicking once more zoomed in on the northern half and overlaid a series of red inverted triangles marking key locations.

“As some of you may know, North Korea collapsed when the Kim regime recklessly exterminated all its own Awakened in the early days. They lost their ability to defend against Gates, and that led to their downfall. So the core of the ‘Purification Unification’ project is simple—extermination.”

“Extermination?”

“Like, kill everything?”

“Is that even possible?”

The word extermination stirred a murmur among the crowd.

Su-ho answered in a calm, flat tone.

“I personally went on an unofficial tour of North Korea. And after what I saw, I came to one conclusion: extermination. Of course, this applies only to monsters and Gates. North Korea’s collapse happened a while ago—almost no humans remain. If we do find survivors, we’ll rescue them immediately. Everyone else? Treat it like monster hunting, and go wild.”

Someone raised a hand.

“Wouldn’t it be more efficient to just bombard everything?”

“Yes, we’ve considered that. But we can’t blindly bomb the entire region. There could still be survivors.”

Once the room quieted again, Su-ho continued.

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