Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 227

The press conference began at 1:00 PM.

They had scheduled it for the afternoon on purpose.

After contacting the reporters in the morning, they intentionally stalled until public interest in the Hallasan Gate had spread across the entire nation.

And, just as expected, the reaction was explosive.

— Holy sht, I’m dying to know. I thought the GHA was just incompetent, and now this? An End Gate...?*

— How many End Gates have been discovered so far?

└ Lmao, you lazy bastard. Three.

└ Bullsht, it’s two. US and China.*

└ Didn’t feel like looking it up. Thanks.

└ Haha, I said I’d tell you when you asked.

— If the Sword Saint really cleared an End Gate, isn’t that basically enough to call him the strongest in Korea?

└ With achievements like this, he needs a chart update.

└ I’d accept it if he takes the #1 spot.

└ But there’s still a huge level gap, isn’t there?

└ Levels aren’t everything, lol.

└ True.

— Damn, if this was a strategic raid on an End Gate, I can already hear the nation’s prestige rising...

└ That’s a hallucination.

└ Go see a doctor.

— This is the most exciting teaser since superconductors. Gate scholars said End Gates are the key to world peace.

└ Those guys are always wrong. Why do people still trust them?

└ Gate scholars = same credibility as the weather forecast.

└ They’re always like “Oops, never mind~” so why trust them at all?

No different from what Su-ho had monitored yesterday.

Everyone’s anticipation was at its peak.

Finally, the promised hour struck, and Jeong Cheol-min appeared at the podium in a sharp suit, in the press room prepared by the Association.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Camera flashes erupted like fireworks.

The briefing began, and Jeong Cheol-min glanced at the script he brought and started speaking.

“Hello, I’m Jeong Cheol-min, Team Leader of the Special Management Team 2 at the Gate Bureau. We will now begin the press conference regarding the End Gate that appeared in Jeju—what’s being referred to as the Hallasan Gate.”

As the briefing began, curious eyes locked onto him.

Their gazes were like laser beams.

Anticipating this, he had taken a calming pill beforehand.

Jeong Cheol-min read through the script and looked up at the reporters.

“To be direct, the Hallasan Gate was a ‘project gate’ that our Special Management Team 2 has been preparing for some time. Once all preparations were complete, we dispatched Deputy Team Leader An Su-ho, and as a result, we successfully cleared the Hallasan Gate.”

The mention of a “project gate” made everyone’s eyes go wide, and they began typing furiously.

Jeong Cheol-min continued.

“At first, we considered the possibility that the Hallasan Gate could be an End Gate. But because End Gates are so rare, it was difficult to be sure...”

It was a textbook-style briefing.

The chances were slim, but they decided to proceed with the raid in hope.

And luckily, their prediction was correct, and they managed to clear the gate.

But that didn’t mean Jeju would be free of gate appearances from now on.

Because the system always introduces new variables, even if the gate they cleared was called an End Gate, there was no guarantee it truly was one.

It sounded like semantic wrangling.

But that was intentional.

Su-ho, who had come from the future, knew that once an End Gate was cleared, no gates would appear in that region again—but such information could easily be exploited by the so-called “factions” for their own purposes.

‘Well, not like this will completely prevent that either.’

He also briefed them on details Su-ho had given him, such as the Hallasan Gate’s theme and the types of monsters that had emerged.

“...That concludes the explanation about the Hallasan Gate. I’ll take questions now before moving on.”

At ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the mention of questions, reporters began raising their hands.

Jeong Cheol-min pointed to them one by one and continued the Q&A.

All the questions were predictable.

That’s why Jo Jin-hwi didn’t raise his hand.

He already knew everything that was going to be said at this press conference.

He had already written his article in advance.

All he had to do was hit “Enter” to upload it.

Still, he had come here in person to avoid raising suspicion.

If the top journalist covering Awakened news didn’t show up to this event, it would’ve sparked rumors of insider connections.

After the first round of questions, Jeong Cheol-min continued.

“Without a break, I’ll move on to the next item. As of this moment, the Grand Hunter Association officially declares that every sealed gate in South Korea has been cleared.”

The moment those words left his mouth—

“...Huh?”

“What...?”

“W-what did he just say...?”

Everyone froze.

It was clearly a bombshell, but the shock was so intense they forgot to keep typing.

And it wasn’t just the reporters in the room.

Everyone watching the live broadcast on TV and online reacted the same way.

Especially in the livestream chats—

— What the fck did he just say?*

— Is this real?!

— I knew the Sword Saint was clearing sealed gates like crazy, but when the hell did he finish all of them?

— Holy sht, this is insane.*

— Wait, I just checked and the Square in my neighborhood is being dismantled, wtf

— Same here!

— Yo, when the hell did they do all this?

The reactions were on fire.

It felt like you’d burn your fingers just touching the screen.

Livestreams and social media exploded.

The reporters, once they snapped out of it, began frantically pushing out breaking news.

But by that point, PBS had already published their article, having been on standby.

Jeong Cheol-min took a quiet breath.

He had anticipated this reaction.

That’s why he continued in a steady, unwavering voice.

“This project began right after Deputy Team Leader An Su-ho joined our Special Management Team 2, and all sealed gate raids were carried out by him alone.”