Chapter 37

The contract was finalized.

They decided to go over the remaining procedures and additional information the next day, and the two left the guild for now.

It was late, and Suho didn’t want to continue the conversation further, as Jo Jin-hwi looked too exhausted.

Thus, Suho and Jo Jin-hwi headed straight back to Kaiser Cheongdam.

As Jo Jin-hwi tried to take the wheel again, Suho spoke up.

“I’ll drive this time.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll handle it.”

“You’re not my manager, and I can’t keep relying on you for rides.”

“But I am your manager, though?”

“What?”

“Well, technically, aren’t I? You keep giving me exclusive news reports. The least I can do is act as your manager. Seriously, I’m fine with it. I’ve been driving a Ferrari all this time, so driving a sedan feels comfortable. I might just switch to a sedan after this.”

Suho chuckled at that.

“I agree, sedans are more comfortable. By the way, you didn’t go to the office all day today. Are you okay leaving your post like that?”

“Don’t worry about that. With the exclusive scoops I’ve gotten today, no one’s going to complain.”

“Well, that makes sense.”

It was a good sight to see. This was exactly the kind of arrangement Suho had envisioned.

While driving, Jo Jin-hwi casually asked,

“So, I’ll run the sealed Gate clearance article first. It would make more sense to start with your Nexus membership, but we don’t know how long the government’s embargo will last.”

“That’s true. Do whatever works best for you.”

“Looks like I’ll be heading straight back to the office after this… By the way, Suho.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, how were you so sure you could clear the Nameless Sword Gate?”

“Oh, that?”

Jo Jin-hwi had been wanting to ask for a while now. Suho had merely brushed off Bae Dong-hyuk’s question earlier by saying he just ‘defeated it,’ but he couldn’t give such a vague answer to Jo Jin-hwi.

‘Whatever I tell him will end up in the detailed report, so I should be more specific.’

Suho replied,

“The Sword Emperor was the Nameless Sword, right?”

“Yeah, the Nameless Swordsman.”

“I was well aware of his reputation. His skill forces all players into sword combat. That’s why so many died, and a good number of them were swordmasters. So, I had confidence.”

“Confidence? In what?”

“If it was just sword fighting under the same conditions, I knew I’d win. You know I’m a healer, but my main focus is swordsmanship.”

“…That’s the entire reason?”

“Of course.”

“But… come on, the guy killed over 200 players, and some of them were high-ranking swordmasters. You know that, right? Weren’t you scared at all?”

“What’s the point of being a high-ranking swordmaster? Under the Sword Emperor’s skill, the physical stats are copied equally between him and the challenger. The key to defeating the Sword Emperor lies solely in swordsmanship. It’s not about items or skills, just pure swordsmanship. I focused on that and trusted in my abilities.”

“Do you have a swordsmanship skill?”

“Yeah, it’s an S-rank skill. It’s also a creation skill, so I’m the only one who has it.”

Jo Jin-hwi’s eyes widened once again.

“S-rank?! When did you learn that?”

“Not too long ago. But hey, I’m not going anywhere, so feel free to ask me anything at your own pace. We need to release the reports gradually to keep people excited. I’ll answer any questions you have whenever you’re curious.”

“Hah… Suho, you really have a way of driving me crazy. I never thought there’d come a day when I’d get this excited over a guy. Now I understand why people obsess over idols or singers. I never used to get it.”

“Oh, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“No, really. By the way, let me thank you again for calling me first. And I apologize for not believing you right away.”

“Haha, no problem.”

Jo Jin-hwi, full of admiration, dropped Suho off in front of Kaiser Cheongdam before heading straight back to his office.

Thanks to him, Suho arrived home comfortably and naturally collapsed onto the sofa.

‘What a long day.’

Clearing the Gate wasn’t exhausting in itself. It was the long-distance travel that was tiring. Even with high stats, it still took its toll.

Suho closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again to check his status window.

Seven bonus stat points had accumulated.

Suho chuckled.

It felt like some kind of magical interest—even if he didn’t check for a short while, the bonus stat points kept piling up, almost as if they were multiplying.

As planned, Suho invested four of his bonus stat points into his Perception stat, raising it to 100.

Finally, his Perception stat had reached the Red grade, the last remaining stat to do so.

And as Suho’s fourth stat reached the Red grade, the system sent another notification.

This was the Unification Effect. Suho immediately checked his updated status window.

Looking at the updated status window, Suho felt a thrill. Thanks to the Unification Effect, he had only used three bonus stat points but managed to increase his Perception stat by 11 points.

‘The Unification Effect can only be triggered when all stats are the same color, and only when you’re just one step away from unifying the stats. It’s a rare bonus.’

It was indeed a difficult perk to receive. There were many conditions to meet, and even if all conditions were fulfilled, if there weren’t any bonus stat points left to use, the perk wouldn’t activate.

‘This is what you’d call a hidden bonus.’

Having organized his status window, Suho finally allowed himself to rest. After taking a light shower, he checked his now-main secondary phone.

There was a message from Jo Jin-hwi, informing him that the article about the Nameless Sword Gate had been published.

‘Let’s see what the reaction is like.’

Suho turned on his laptop in the living room. As soon as he did, he saw that the internet news, YouTube, social media, and various online communities were completely flooded with his story.

The public reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

It was to be expected. So far, Suho hadn’t been involved in any scandals or attracted the kind of backlash, commonly referred to as ‘haters’.

‘But once fans appear, haters are bound to follow.’

Suho knew that gaining haters was only a matter of time. After all, the reality was that the world wasn’t full of only kind-hearted people.

With that in mind, Suho turned on his main phone, which had been switched off.

As expected, a flood of missed calls and messages came pouring in.

Among them, one contact stood out for the sheer number of attempts to reach him.

Park Pyung-sik, the scout for ‘Prime’, the top guild in the industry.

‘That old man is nothing if not persistent.’

It made sense. From Park Pyung-sik’s perspective, he had been one of the first to recognize Suho’s potential and had tried to recruit him early on.

But he had only offered the best deal for a rookie, a decision he must now deeply regret.

As a result, Park was practically clinging to Suho, trying to make up for that mistake, reaching out almost every hour of the day.

But no matter how capable the man was, some things just weren’t meant to be.

‘You’re good at what you do, old man. Maybe we’ll work together if there’s a chance next time.’

Suho switched off his main phone again.

Just then, his secondary phone rang. The caller ID showed a familiar number. Suho answered with a smile.

“Hey, how’ve you been?”

—You sound really relaxed, don’t you?

The voice belonged to none other than Goo Yeon-hwa, the leader of the Banshees. She had called Suho as soon as she saw the article about him.

“So, what’s your answer?”

—Let’s meet first.

“Do we need to? I just need a simple yes or no.”

Suho had already met with her once, which was more than enough. If he kept accommodating her, she might mistakenly think she held the upper hand in this situation, and Suho had no interest in letting things go that way. He intended to draw a clear line this time.

He was confident. After proving his abilities, it was obvious who had the upper hand in this negotiation.

Goo Yeon-hwa responded.

—You’re very confident, huh? You know we haven’t accepted your offer yet, right?

“Then don’t.”

—What?

“I’m not desperate. If you don’t want it, just forget it.”

—Wait, why the sudden shift…?

“But remember this. Do you really think it’s a good idea to make an enemy of me? I can come after you and your team anytime.”

At that, there was a brief silence from Goo Yeon-hwa before she finally spoke.

—Hah… Fine. What do you want us to do next?

Suho smirked. She wasn’t exactly submissive, but it was clear who now held the upper hand.

In response to her question, Suho said,

“It’s late today. Let’s meet tomorrow. How about lunch at the Nexus Academy in Paju?”

—All of us?”

“Of course.”

—That’s a bit difficult. Two of my team members have jobs, so they can’t make it during the day tomorrow. I also have a lecture.

“So? If real life is more important than your revenge, just keep living like that. Maybe I misjudged how desperate you all are.”

—…Ha! Fine. Lunch tomorrow at Nexus Academy. See you then.

“Great.”

Suho chuckled as he ended the call.

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