Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 225

One after another, system messages appeared before Su-ho’s eyes.

[The Volcano has returned to its original form.]

[The Volcano is deeply grateful to you.]

[Thanks to you, the Volcano will continue its peaceful greenery from now on.]

Su-ho stared at the alerts, momentarily confused.

‘The Volcano?’

The only volcanoes he knew were the kind that erupt—active or dormant ones.

So if a volcano had regained its power, shouldn’t it be erupting and spewing lava?

Why suddenly peaceful greenery?

Just then, something shot up from the crack in Baengnokdam.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Launched like cannonballs, the objects rolled and landed at Su-ho’s feet, as if discharged waste.

He stared at the large, blackened items for a moment, then picked up the one in the middle to inspect its information.

But the moment he touched it, the surface crumbled away with a soft crackle, revealing the true content hidden within.

“This is...”

A fist-sized orb.

Its color was dark red, and inside it, something constantly flowed like molten lava.

Su-ho checked the item’s details.

[Essence of a Powerful Volcano]

– Grade: A

An essence /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ imbued with the might of a powerful volcano.

Contains a vast amount of volcanic energy.

As expected.

He’d thought it looked familiar—it was a volcanic essence.

And volcanic essence was one of the ingredients required to break the seal on the Feather of Sealing.

Su-ho pocketed it without using it right away.

Then he grabbed the item next to it.

Again, the outer layer shattered with a crackle, revealing another item that looked similar to the volcanic essence.

But Su-ho’s eyes widened the moment he saw it.

‘No way...’

He hurried to check its information.

[Soul of Fire]

– Grade: S

A blessing of nature that grants the power of fire.

Bound to the first person who acquires it.

Seeing the item info, Su-ho let out a chuckle without meaning to.

The Soul of Fire?

It was one of the highest-tier items from the "Blessings of Nature" series.

Especially significant during the second singularity that occurs around level 200, making it incredibly rare and valuable.

And yet, it dropped here?

And not just any blessing—but a soul?

‘Soul is the highest tier, followed by heart, and then flesh.’

There were only three variants per element from B-grade to S-grade—and the higher the grade, the exponentially harder it was to acquire.

In his previous life, even among the top Players, very few had ever possessed an S-grade Soul.

‘Most only got the flesh, and at best, the heart if they were lucky.’

But now he had the Soul?

Su-ho couldn’t stop grinning.

Of course he was thrilled—after all, Blessings of Nature were items he’d always intended to collect in due time.

He had already mapped out how and when he’d obtain each one.

But he’d never imagined getting one here.

‘A Hidden Gate is a Hidden Gate for a reason.’

Still smiling, Su-ho pocketed the Soul of Fire and moved on to the last piece of loot.

Crack!

The outer shell crumbled away.

But this last item was even larger than the others, completely dark and shrouded in a heavy aura.

‘What’s this?’

He immediately checked the information.

[??? of ???]

– Grade: ???

??? of ???.

To reveal its true form, powerful fire energy is required.

Su-ho narrowed his eyes.

Judging by the question marks, it was clearly a sealed item. It looked like it would take time to unlock.

‘Still, this one’s obvious. "Powerful fire energy," huh?’

Which likely meant it had a connection to the Soul of Fire that dropped with it.

That made things easier.

Truly difficult sealed items didn’t even come with clear hints.

‘Most of the late-cataclysm items were like that.’

So this one was relatively mild in comparison.

Su-ho tucked it away as well.

And then, finally—a portal appeared before him.

Seeing it, Su-ho scoffed under his breath.

“Tch... figures.”

Three items had dropped as loot.

And once he picked them all up, the portal opened.

Sometimes that happened.

A portal only opens if the Player picks up all the loot.

Usually, that meant the dropped items were harmful to the Gate—so the system forced the Player to remove them.

‘Like being told to take out the trash before you leave.’

And now Su-ho understood why the area was a “volcano” and why it turned green after being cleared.

The volcanic essence, the Soul of Fire, and the unidentified item—

These were the root of the problem.

‘So it wasn’t that kind of volcano after all.’

This “volcano” wasn’t a fire-mountain (火山), but rather a flower-mountain (花山), symbolizing brightness and greenery.

The lush vegetation now covering the land and the nature of the loot confirmed it.

‘Then the Gatekeeper must’ve been like a malignant tumor.’

The Gatekeeper wasn’t a true guardian—it had been a parasitic invader.

Now that he understood the secret of the volcano, Su-ho nodded to himself, satisfied.

He turned his gaze toward the Guiyeong Spear.

It was still absorbing the Gatekeeper’s shadow.

‘It’s taking longer than usual.’

Then he’d wait.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

To pass the time, Su-ho pulled out the Sealed Feather and the volcanic essence.

‘Volcanic essence is just as valuable and rare as the Wind essence, but...’

It didn’t matter anymore.

He now had the Soul of Fire—far rarer than any crafting material.