Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant - Chapter 80
Chapter 80
Ahn Suho brought Park Goong to the Korean Hunter Association.
The entire trip, Park Goong kept his head lowered, looking like a criminal.
Seeing this, Suho kept his gaze forward and spoke.
“Why do you look like a criminal?”
“…Aren’t I one?”
“Why?”
“I hid the fact that I awakened.”
“So what?”
“Excuse me?”
“Think simply. Right now, all Park Goong needs to do is go to the association and report his awakening himself. Then nothing will happen.”
“What? What do you mean…? No, but why?”
“Of course.”
“What?”
“Has anyone been harmed because you didn’t report?”
“No… That’s not it, but….”
“Then that’s fine. Although I’m in charge due to my position, I have no intention of treating you as a criminal for an incident with no victims. Just go and say you awakened recently and report it.”
“…….”
At those words, Park Goong lowered his head again.
Suho continued.
“When you arrive at the association, go to the reporting center on the first floor and file your report. That way, you might not be able to practice archery for a while… or maybe never again, but that’s how the law is. Even so, you’ll find a way to live. You’re a talented archer.”
These weren’t empty words.
He meant them sincerely.
Eventually, Suho’s car stopped at the association, and Suho escorted Park Goong directly to the reporting center before leaving the building.
Just then, at the building entrance, Jo Seong-gil, who was smoking a cigarette, noticed Suho and approached him.
“Hey, Officer Ahn!”
“Ah, Investigator Jo.”
“Things going well? Working alone is tough, isn’t it?”
Jo Seong-gil said with a smile.
He was half-joking.
Tracking down unregistered players wasn’t easy.
But Suho responded honestly.
“No, it’s not that hard.”
“What?”
“I’m just getting started.”
“Just starting? So, you don’t need any help?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Despite Jo Seong-gil’s surprise, Suho gave him a brief nod and walked away.
Making a phone call to someone as he did so.
***
“Yes, Mr. Park Goong. Here’s your player registration card.”
“…Thank you.”
The player registration process was now complete.
Looking at the player card in his hand, Park Goong weakly left the center.
The two characters of his name engraved on the player card.
Now, he knew he could never go back to the days when he was just a civilian.
Even so, he felt a sense of relief.
After all, he had been anxious for days, lying to everyone.
‘I should tell Mom first.’
Thinking this, Park Goong pulled out his phone and dialed his mother.
But.
– “The person you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep….”
No matter how many times he called, his mother didn’t answer.
What’s going on?
Is something wrong?
Thinking this, he hurried to the store.
But when he arrived, Park Goong could hardly believe his eyes.
No, to be precise, he thought he was hallucinating.
“What… is this?”
The reason for Park Goong’s shock.
A line of customers stretched out from his mother’s snack shop in an unbelievable length.
Then, some of the customers in line began to recognize him.
“Hey? Isn’t that…?”
“Isn’t that Park Goong?”
“That looks like Park Goong.”
“It’s Park Goong!”
It wasn’t a mistake.
Some people really did recognize him and approached him.
“Excuse me….”
“You’re Park Goong, right?”
“You’re the promising archer from Anseong High School, right?”
“Could you take a picture with me?”
“Y-Yes?!”
He was shocked.
A picture?
It was true he was a promising archer, but athletes only really gained popularity after winning a gold medal at the Olympics or the Asian Games.
He hadn’t won a gold medal or even competed in such a big event yet…?
After taking a few pictures, he asked one of the customers.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
“But how did you all find out about our store?”
“Here? This is the Sword God’s favorite place.”
“The Sword God’s favorite place?”
“What? You didn’t know? The Sword God posted it on Stargram, so we came too.”
“…What?”
“It’s true. Want to see?”
The customer took out his phone and showed him Stargram to prove it.
And there it was, on Suho’s personal account, a picture of his mother’s store, “Park Goong Snack Shop.”
– “Park Goong Snack Shop, delicious.”
A picture of a bowl of ramen and two rolls of gimbap.
And a single short caption.
That was all the post contained.
But.
– Likes: 87,153
– Comments: 47,546
Despite the modest post, the number of likes and comments was extraordinary.
“What… what is this…?”
There was only one hashtag: ‘#favoriteplace’.
Yet, it garnered this much attention?
The customer showing him Suho’s post added more explanation.
“Everyone was curious about when the Sword God would make his first post after he created the account. But then he posted about his favorite place… isn’t it so cute?”
“Ah… Yes, yes. Right. So, this place being the Sword God’s favorite place, sure, but how did you know I was Park Goong…?”
“Researching the holy place before visiting is basic.”
“Ah…”
So that was why…
Accepting this oddly unsatisfying explanation, Park Goong nodded, and the customer continued with another question.
“By the way, have you met the Sword God?”
“Uh? Yes, I even rang up his bill myself.”
“Oh, then we’re at the right place. Shouldn’t you help your mom? Earlier, I saw her working like crazy on her own.”
“Oh!”
It was only then that he remembered his mother must be managing the store by herself.
When he went inside, he saw his mother indeed running both the kitchen and front of the store alone.
“Mom!”
“Oh, Goong! Oh, why are you here? What about the competition?”
“That… we’ll talk about that later. Let’s start by working. I should clean this area first, right?”
“Yes, yes! Start there!”
Thrown into an unexpected situation, Park Goong hurriedly helped in the store.
It was only hours later, when all ingredients were sold out, that he and his mother could finally rest.
For the first time since opening, his mother placed a sold-out sign on the door and sat down in exhaustion.
“My goodness… what on earth just happened…?”
“Right… seriously, what kind of whirlwind was that…?”
It had been a chaotic few hours.
People had ordered only simple tuna gimbap and a bowl of ramen.
But these two items had quickly become known as the “Sword God Set,” making Park Goong Snack Shop achieve its highest sales ever.
His mother, finally catching her breath, took a sip of water and asked him.
“But why are you here? What happened to the competition?”
“Well… that’s…”
It was time to confess the truth to his mother.
Just then.
Clang.
“Excuse me.”
The door opened, and someone entered.
Seeing the customer, his mother answered instead.
“Sorry, we’re out of ingredients, so we’re closed.”
“Oh, I saw the sign. I’m not here as a customer….”
The man handed over a business card, and Park Goong took it, reading the name on it slowly.
“Jo Jin-hwi… Reporter?”
It was Jo Jin-hwi.
Jo Jin-hwi smiled and introduced himself.
“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Jo Jin-hwi from PBS. I’d like to do an interview about you, Mr. Park Goong, if you have a moment.”
“Me?”
“Yes, I received a tip. I heard that despite barely qualifying for the competition, you self-reported your awakening and chose to withdraw.”
“…Excuse me?”
Park Goong blinked, confused.
And then.
“Self-reported your awakening? Goong, what is all this?”
His mother, only now understanding, began to panic too.
***
The Future Automobile High School Archery Competition.
Among high school competitions in Korea, it was the largest, lasting four days.
Anseong High School had entered Hong Won-seok in place of Park Goong, who withdrew.
The coach gave Won-seok a pat on the shoulder.
“Won-seok, you can do this, right?”
“Yes, I’ll do my best for Goong too.”
Won-seok smiled.
He hadn’t expected Park Goong to drop out of the competition before he could even report him.
‘Now I get to make my debut.’
Originally, he planned to report him after the competition.
If Goong won the Future Automobile Cup, he could bring him down right away.
Why was he doing this?
Nothing special.
Betrayal and anger.
It was only for these reasons.
‘How could a guy with such a shabby background shoot so damn well?’
Hong Won-seok was genuinely angry.
He had always respected Goong’s talent, but to find out it was all thanks to the player system?
He didn’t know when Goong awakened or what level his status was.
He only discovered Goong’s awakening by overhearing him talking to himself in the locker room.
But regardless of those details, Hong Won-seok’s anger was solely about the fact that Goong was an awakened player.
He needed this anger to rationalize why he had always been inferior to Goong.
‘If I win this competition, my family will finally acknowledge me.’
And so, the competition began.
Starting from the round of 64, the competition proceeded over four days, with Won-seok soaring through each round.
“Wow, Won-seok is flying out there.”
“Is he finally releasing all that resentment from being overshadowed by Goong?”
“Won-seok was always good, though.”
The attention from the crowd.
His heart raced.
He was thrilled.
It truly felt like his time had come.
Then, as he reached the finals, an unexpected visitor arrived at his hotel.
“Ahn Suho?”
“The Sword God?”
“The Sword God himself?”
The people murmured.
The person who had come to see Hong Won-seok was Suho.
Suho spoke to Won-seok.
“Mr. Hong Won-seok?”
“Yes?”
“I need you to come with me to the association.”
“What? Me? Why?”
“It’s a bit complicated to explain here… anyway, there’s an investigation that requires a day of your time.”
“What do you mean, a day? I have the finals tomorrow. What investigation?”
Won-seok protested strongly.
Naturally.
With the finals tomorrow, to be asked to miss an entire day was like asking him to forfeit.
But Suho remained firm.
“I’ll explain on the way. For now, why don’t you come along?”
“No way! Are you kidding? Would you go if it was your finals? I can’t go!”
“You know Hong Dong-seok, don’t you?”
“What?”
“Your older brother, Hong Dong-seok, is currently under investigation for false awakening reporting, suspected of military evasion. So, by law, all family members must be checked for awakening status. You need to come. And this is a major case, with many others involved. I’d appreciate your cooperation.”
“Wh-What…?”
“Come on, let’s go.”
With a cold expression, Suho escorted Hong Won-seok away.