Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

There’s a term called a “key item.”

Also known as an entry ticket, a key item is an essential object required to enter a special Gate—and the Memory Fragment of the Volcanic Island was exactly that kind of item.

Su-ho immediately used the combination formula.

As a result, the fusion pot’s grade increased from the lowest tier to low-tier, its color deepening. Su-ho placed all eleven Memory Fragments into it.

[ You have placed the Eleventh Memory Fragment of the Legendary Volcanic Island into the fusion pot. ]

[ You have placed the Seventh Memory Fragment of the Legendary Volcanic Island into the fusion pot. ]

[ You have placed ❀ ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the Third Memory Fragment of the Legendary Volcanic Island into the fusion pot. ]

[ You have placed the Fifth Memory Fragment of the Legendary Volcanic Island into the fusion pot. ]

......

He shoved them all in at once, without caring about the order.

Then he activated the combination formula right away.

[ Beginning fusion. ]

[ Fusing... ]

[ Huh? What's happening to the pot?! ]

[ Congratulations! A rare treasure has been created from a low-tier fusion formula! ]

[ You have acquired Memory of the Legendary Volcanic Island (S). ]

[ You have achieved a great feat—10 bonus stat points will be awarded. ]

The combination was a success.

The Memory of the Volcanic Island resembled a gemstone—opal. But it wasn’t bright or radiant like a real opal.

It had a somewhat faded glow.

He had expected to get a key item, but he hadn’t expected to receive bonus stats along with it.

Not that it was all that surprising.

After all, no key item of this grade had ever been discovered anywhere in the world before.

Su-ho invested all the bonus stat points into Strength, then checked the item’s information.

[ Memory of the Legendary Volcanic Island ]

– Grade: S

The sealed memory left behind by the deeply slumbering legendary volcano.

The one who holds the memory shall reach the sleeping volcano.

A brief description.

No other details were given.

How unkind.

But that was fine.

Most key items react the moment you inject them with mana.

With practiced ease, Su-ho channeled mana into the Memory of the Volcanic Island.

The faded memory began absorbing mana, then slowly started to emit a faint glow from within.

[ The Memory of the Volcanic Island guides you to the volcano. ]

A system notification popped up in front of him.

At the same time, a small minimap appeared in the corner of his vision.

The minimap showed a red dot marking Su-ho’s location, and a yellow dot indicating the destination.

“Let’s go, then.”

Su-ho began moving, following the minimap’s guidance.

***

Thankfully, the place marked on the minimap was Hallasan.

Following it for quite some time, Su-ho eventually arrived at the very top of Hallasan—Baekrokdam Crater.

Su-ho peered down into the sunken crater of Baekrokdam.

“Knew it.”

He had a hunch the Hallasan Gate would be centered on Baekrokdam, and sure enough, that’s where the trail led.

Well, it couldn’t be helped.

This place was the most iconic part of Hallasan.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Su-ho shifted his gaze and looked toward the crater, where water should have been pooled.

But there was no water.

It wasn’t because of a Gate or mana influence.

Baekrokdam’s water level naturally came and went—it was that kind of place.

Confirming that the water was gone, Su-ho began descending into the crater.

There was no one around.

No monsters, either.

But for some reason, the area surrounding Baekrokdam was devoid of even a single plant, like a dead land.

As Su-ho approached the heart of Baekrokdam—

[ The Memory of the Volcanic Island reacts to ???. ]

[ The Memory of the Volcanic Island resonates with ???. ]

[ The Memory of the Volcanic Island opens the path to ???. ]

Flash!

A burst of light accompanied the system messages.

At the same time, a portal materialized right where Baekrokdam stood.

“So this is it.”

The Gate to the Volcanic Island.

Su-ho approached and checked the portal’s information.

[ Tomb of the Sealed Volcano ]

– Entry Requirements: Level 160–199, at least 2 Orange Stats and 2 Red Stats.

– Maximum Entry Limit: 5 people.

After reading the portal’s conditions, Su-ho nodded in surprise.

While he barely met the level range, seeing the stat restrictions written below confirmed what he suspected—this wasn’t a Gate just anyone could enter.

“Even capping it at under level 199...”

That limit implied this was a Gate on par with a two-star dungeon.

And it only allowed five entrants.

Even the Nest of Wind allowed six.

This one had harder entry requirements and allowed one fewer person.

Su-ho had no way of knowing how difficult it would be.

But it didn’t matter.

“In the end, it’s still a one-star Gate.”

Just as there’s a vast difference between zero and one, there’s an equally vast gap between one and two.

No matter how strong it was, it was still within the one-star range.

That’s why Su-ho stepped into the Gate’s portal without hesitation.

[ Entering Tomb of the Sealed Volcano. ]

The moment he stepped through, the scenery began to shift around him.

What first filled his vision was pitch-black color.

But it wasn’t darkness.

Amid the pitch-black, red veins of light spread like blood vessels, until—

BOOOOOM!!

A massive explosion erupted right over Su-ho.

“What the—!”

A wave of heat blasted him from the front.

Scorching heat surged through his airways.

Swept up in the explosion, Su-ho was flung far into the distance.

But the angle of his trajectory was high—his body was launched clear out of Baekrokdam, and he started falling down the slope of Hallasan.

Floating in midair, Su-ho furrowed his brow as he realized what had happened.

“Seriously.”

To think this was the welcome he got upon arrival.

He quickly activated several skills.

[ Blessing activates. ]

[ Blood Weapon activates. ]

Using Blessing, he inflated his stats, and with that boost, summoned an even sturdier weapon.

The weapon he chose was the Blood Spear.

Su-ho summoned the Blood Spear and immediately extended it like a staff, using it to brace against the ground.

To stop his fall.

But—

Whoosh!

The ground where the Blood Spear struck burst into flames.

He thought it was just normal land—but it turned out to be lava, only partially hardened and disguised as solid ground.

Of course, the Blood Weapon didn’t melt.

Blood Weapons never corrode or break. As long as there’s blood from the Blood Prison and mana from the caster, they are infinite.

But that also meant he had to manage his blood and mana supplies carefully.

Seeing how quickly his blood was draining, Su-ho retracted the spear’s length and landed below.

Then canceled the Blood Spear altogether.

“...Damn.”

Even with shoes on, the soles of his feet were burning.

It wasn’t like he had stepped on solidified lava again, like with the Blood Spear earlier.

‘Thank god I came prepared for this.’

Preparation for unfamiliar Gates usually relied on their names.

That’s what made Gates so tricky.

There were times when players were completely thrown off by the absurd naming sense.

But Su-ho, being a regressor with access to the Library of Memory, already knew the details of most Gates.

That’s why, unlike others, he always challenged Gates with only the bare minimum of preparation—and that’s why people were constantly surprised by him.

In that sense, this Hallasan Gate was a rare, unfamiliar one for him to face again.

So he drew from his past experience and prepared thoroughly.

Su-ho looked up toward Baekrokdam, where he’d just been launched from.

From the looks of it, the boss room was going to be at the summit of Hallasan once again.

‘That’s why it flung me away the moment I arrived.’

Some Gates were like that.

When the entry and starting locations overlapped, they forcibly flung players away to make the strategy more difficult.

That explosion earlier likely happened for that very reason.

So, in that context, the final goal was to climb back up to the summit of Hallasan.

But unlike Hallasan in Jeju Island, this one looked like an active volcano—no grass or trees, lava flowing in spots, ash fluttering in the air.

The ground was hot, the air was scorching.

Without proper prep, the heat alone could easily knock someone out.

Su-ho began by healing himself.

[ Heal activates. ]

[ Recovery activates. ]

The explosion had been powerful enough to singe his hair and tear parts of his clothes.

He had light burns and had lost some HP.

So he began with self-healing.

It didn’t take long.

Thanks to Recovery being S-rank, this level of burn was nothing.

Su-ho then pulled out the fire-resistance gear he had arranged in advance through the Union and began putting it on.

The items he had prepared were focused solely on fire resistance.

Any gear with added defense or bonus effects would have cost a fortune.

‘All I need is fire resistance, nothing else.’

Things like defense, for example.

All the gear was designed with mobility in mind—normal clothing shapes with fire resistance added.

Once he put on the fire-resistance mask for respiratory protection and sneakers with strong fireproof features, he was finally ready to move.

And then—

Flap flap—

A few shapes appeared in his vision.

Upon closer inspection, they weren’t birds—they were bats.

– Volcanic Bat Lv.161

– Volcanic Bat Lv.167

– Volcanic Bat Lv.162

......

Volcanic Bats, all over level 160.

They had only one eye, and two pairs of small wings for flight.

They had no feet.

Like sharks that moved constantly until death, these things flapped their wings without rest.

Su-ho had never entered the Volcanic Island Gate before, but he already knew about Volcanic Bats.

‘High-level Gates always have this kind of scout-type monster.’

And that’s exactly what they were.

Their role was surveillance.

That’s why they never approached players directly—their job was to notify nearby monsters that a challenger had entered the area.

‘I need to move quickly.’

Just as he thought that and summoned his Blood Sword—

Rumble rumble...

A slight tremor.

At the same time, volcanic ash kicked up from the ground, and solidified lava began to bubble.

It wasn’t just one or two bubbles.

They swelled like balloons, then burst with a pop!

Scattering ash and lava in all directions.

From within them emerged humanoid monsters, about 160 centimeters tall.

– Ashen Volcanite Lv.174

Ashen Volcanites.

That was their name.

They had curved silhouettes, but no detail—just round, humanoid shapes.

They seemed to have appeared in response to the Volcanic Bats’ report, meant to stop Su-ho.

And there were a lot of them.

Su-ho immediately activated Holy Enchant.

Fwoosh!

Radiance wrapped around the Blood Sword.

Once the blade was fully enshrouded in holy light, Su-ho slashed at a Volcanite.

Slaaash!

But—

Whoosh!

The moment the blade cut into the Volcanite’s body, flames erupted along the sword’s edge.

And that wasn’t all.

Crackle crackle crackle...

The decapitated Volcanite’s head hit the ground—but instead of a system message confirming the kill, the head began regenerating.

Seeing that, Su-ho let out a hollow laugh.

A regenerating monster, in a Gate that wasn’t even two-star?

And just brushing against their bodies set your sword on fire?

Ridiculously annoying conditions.

Of course, he knew the strategy.

‘Regenerating monsters have to be killed before they regenerate—or you destroy their core.’

But with Volcanites, touching them even slightly set your blade on fire, so minimizing contact was critical.

Judging by the monster composition, blood absorption wouldn’t work either.

He’d have to conserve as much blood as possible until meeting the boss.

Naturally, he had a plan.

That’s why he made a trip back to the mainland beforehand.

‘Good thing I didn’t use this earlier.’

Su-ho pulled out an item from inside his coat.

What he took out was none other than... Gi Seung-hwan.