Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 45

“Who the hell are you?”

The red, puppy-like creature’s words were suffocating.

Without realizing it, Eun-Joo’s legs started trembling, and her heart pounded faster. It felt like if she moved even an inch or broke eye contact, she would be attacked immediately.

The word death flashed through her mind.

“Knock it off. She’s my friend,” Yoon-Hee said, gently tapping Yong-Yong on the head with her palm.

Once the overwhelming pure qi pressing down on Eun-Joo dissipated, she collapsed to the ground, the tension in her body seemingly completely relieved.

“F-friend?” Yong-Yong mumbled with a confused look.

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Yoon-Hee had been frowning but gave a slight nod. “You saw her before, remember? She said you were cute. You don’t remember that?”

Yong-Yong recalled his first meeting with Do-Jun. He glanced at Eun-Joo and finally recognized her. She was the girl who had approached him during the freshman Fissure tour and called him adorable.

“But why were you sitting on the ground, and why was she aiming a gun at us?” he asked.

“I fell because of the earthquake earlier. As for the gun, I don’t really know, but she definitely wasn’t aiming it at me.”

“Hmm... Is that true, human?”

Yong-Yong glared at Eun-Joo with a displeased look, and she nodded vigorously.

Watching this interaction, Yoon-Hee sighed and pulled Yong-Yong over to where Eun-Joo was. She then grabbed Yong-Yong’s paw and Eun-Joo’s hand and clasped them together.

“Shake hands. And Yong-Yong, apologize.”

“But I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then you can eat kibbles like Karsiel.”

“I sincerely apologize, Ms. Eun-Joo. I have committed a grave sin worthy of death. It won’t happen again.”

Eun-Joo looked at Yoon-Hee, surprised.

The once intimidating Yong-Yong had turned meek as if nothing happened. Normally, tamed monsters or animals didn’t follow anyone except their masters, but Yong-Yong was acting like Yoon-Hee was his master.

“I-it seems like you have another one now?” Eun-Joo asked, noticing Karsiel.

“Yeah. She’s Yong-Yong’s friend, and my father said we could keep her. Karsiel, you should introduce yourself too.”

Karsiel approached and bowed her head politely. “Hello, my name is Karsiel. I hear you are a friend of my young master. I look forward to your acquaintance.”

“H-hello... I’m Lee Eun-Joo.”

“You can speak comfortably.”

“O-okay.”

Yoon-Hee smiled and said, “We can walk around together now.”

***

After sending Yong-Yong and Karsiel to stay with Yoon-Hee, Do-Jun began reading through the quest that had just been activated.

[Nergess is watching you.]

[Special Quest: Toward the Core]

[Content: One day, Nergess, the guardian of the tutorial zone in the Core, violated the rules of the Core and massacred the challengers who had entered the tutorial. Nergess then disappeared, taking all the entry tokens. Gather all the entry tokens, break Nergess’ seal, and earn his acknowledgment.]

[Progress: 9,934/10,000]

[Reward: Obtain an entry token and open the central tutorial zone.]

[You cannot exit the Fissure during the time limit.]

[Time Remaining: 00:21:38]

The map fragments were referred to as entry tokens.

Considering how long it took the students to gather the entry tokens, it was likely that they would collect the remaining sixty-six within the next twenty-one minutes.

Do-Jun decided that he should hold at least one token before then.

He picked up an extra Assistant Bead from a corner of the observation deck. Then, he walked down the stairs, and soon, his figure disappeared.

***

“Kerrk.”

A goblin, a green-skinned, bald, one-meter-tall humanoid monster, emerged from behind a giant tree, boasting its pointy ears and the sharp fangs protruding between its lips.

An Assistant Bead shone beneath the tree, emitting a dark light.

Do-Jun ignored the goblin and reached for the area the light pointed to, and a sharp aura split the ground.

“Kerrk, kerrk.”

While Do-Jun was inspecting the area, the goblin slowly backed away. As soon as Do-Jun bent down to pick up the entry token buried in the dirt, it bolted away as if its life depended on it.

Unfortunately for the monster, Do-Jun flicked his hand without even turning around and shot the Assistant Bead toward the goblin.

With a resounding impact, the goblin exploded.

Do-Jun checked the number of entry tokens in his pocket after fifteen minutes of wandering the Fissure since leaving the observation deck.

Fifty-five.

[Progress: 9,945/10,000]

If he placed his tokens in the chalice in the plaza, the monster referred to as Nergess in the quest would probably appear.

And it seemed like the students were gathering at the temporary observation deck as the lesson neared its conclusion.

I have the entry tokens for now, but...

He recalled what the Young-Chul had said. “Please clear the Core with Behemoth Guild.”

Though it wasn’t mandatory, it was still a request asking him to consider it.

I’ll just hand them over. Do-Jun decided.

He wasn’t sure how strong the monsters in the Core were, but with a team of S-rank Hunters, including the Sword Emperor, there shouldn’t be much to worry about.

If it were a monster on the level of Malanuh the Titan from last time, it would be a different story, but even Do-Jun thought it was an irregular monster.

The Core shouldn’t have too many of those. At least, he hoped not.

“Father?” Yoon-Hee appeared through the bushes, looking confused, when she saw Do-Jun.

She had expected him to be watching with the other parents at the observation deck.

“Master!”

Yong-Yong ran over and leaped into Do-Jun’s arms with tears streaming down his face.

He looked up at Do-Jun with a pitiful expression and said, “Please listen to my tragedy. T-that girl, Eun-Joo... she kept pinching me, pulling at me, and squishing my cheeks. She bullied me so much! Sob, sob.”

“Yong-Yong! Why do you keep running awa... Oh, mister?”

Eun-Joo had been chasing after him. She shivered when she saw Do-Jun.

Seeing that, Yong-Yong tugged at his lower eyelid and stuck out his tongue.

“You’re finished now. Master, please teach her a lesson... eh?”

Do-Jun silently walked over to Eun-Joo and handed Yong-Yong to her. “Keep taking good care of him.”

“Master...?”

After Eun-Joo took Yong-Yong into her arms, Do-Jun quickly looked at Yoon-Hee to make sure she wasn’t hurt. She was wearing the white academy-issued suit, and since there were no rips or stains, it seemed she was unharmed.

“By the way, mister... Is that an Assistant Bead?” Eun-Joo asked as she looked at the black, glowing orb floating around Do-Jun.

He said last time that he Awakened as a Tamer, so it’s natural for him to have mana, but...

Since he hadn’t been Awakened for long, the bead should have emitted a red or, at most, an orange glow.

But black? She’d never heard of that.

“Yeah. Is there a problem?”

“Uh... how much mana do you have?”

Do-Jun withdrew the internal energy he had stored in the Assistant Bead. After putting the orb into his pocket, he walked toward Eun-Joo.

Seeing him approach with a blank expression, Eun-Joo instinctively backed away in fear.

“M-mister?”

Do-Jun reached his hand over Eun-Joo’s shoulder. She yelped as she squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them again, she saw a small stone in Do-Jun’s outstretched palm.

Do-Jun threw the stone in the direction it had come from.

“Kerrk!”

When Eun-Joo turned around, she saw a goblin with a hole in its stomach lying dead on the ground.

“You need to stay alert inside a Fissure, even if it’s just a training one,” Do-Jun said.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. But you’ll only cause worry if you get hurt, so be more careful next time.”

Of course, it wasn’t Do-Jun who was going to worry. He was talking about her brother, Kang-Hyun.

“Okay...” Eun-Joo mumbled as she lowered her head deeply.

Suddenly, Yong-Yong sensed a quickening heartbeat behind him and looked up at Eun-Joo’s face. Though her hair cast a shadow over her features, her cheeks were clearly flushed.

***

That night at 8 PM.

Looking out the balcony window, it was pouring down rain as if someone had punched a hole in the sky. The weather forecast had warned of heavy showers with thunder and lightning, but no one expected it to be this bad.

⌜Eventually, we decided to enter the log cabin.⌟

After dinner, the family sat together on the sofa, watching a horror movie.

To set the mood, Yong-Yong had turned off the lights, and the only illumination came from the occasional flashes of lightning outside and the light from the TV.

Do-Jun sighed as he looked at Yoon-Hee, who was clutching his sleeve, and at Yong-Yong, who was shaking while sitting on his head. Only Karsiel watched the horror movie with an indifferent expression.

Rumble!

“Eek!”

“Ack!”

Startled by the thunder, Yoon-Hee pressed herself closer to Do-Jun’s arm while Yong-Yong started smacking Do-Jun’s head with his paws.

“Pause,” Do-Jun said.

He pulled Yong-Yong off his head and brought him in front of his face, glaring at him.

“Be honest. You’re not scared at all, are you?” he asked Yong-Yong.

Yong-Yong trembled. He averted his gaze and whistled as if trying to avoid Do-Jun’s stare.

Do-Jun clicked his tongue and set him down on the floor. Yong-Yong was probably sulking and had decided to get revenge after being handed over to Eun-Joo earlier in the day.

“I wondered why you suggested watching a horror movie... You need some punishment. Come with me,” Do-Jun said.

“What?”

Do-Jun stood up.

“W-where are we going?” Yong-Yong asked.

“To the Academy. I need to do something in that Fissure from earlier.”

“At this hour?”

“I need to do it when no one’s around. Yoon-Hee, I’ll be back soon, so stay here and watch the house with Karsiel.”

Do-Jun flipped up the hood of his hoodie and patted Yoon-Hee on the head. Coincidentally, at that moment, it thundered again.

Yoon-Hee quickly grabbed his sleeve. When Do-Jun looked back at her, he noticed that she was on the verge of tears.

“T-take me with you... please, Father...”

“I can’t. It’s too dangerous. I’ll be back soon.”

“How soon...?”

“It’s an hour’s round round trip in the cab. With the rain, maybe two hours to be safe?”

Yoon-Hee shook her head at the mention of two hours. “Absolutely not, No way. In two hours, I’ll be...”

She couldn’t finish her sentence. Instead, her face turned red as she bit her lip.

Do-Jun sighed and asked, “Then how quick should I be?”

“Thirty minutes.... no, twenty.”

“Twenty minutes? The audacity of this girl?” Yong-Yong sneered and giggled at her suggestion.

Yoon-Hee shot him a cold glare. The lifeless look in her eyes frightened Yong-Yong, who then turned to Do-Jun.

“C-can we do that, Master? It seems like my life might be on the line here.”

Do-Jun stroked his chin in thought. If he used the skill, Steps of Heavenly Demon, he could reach the Academy in under a minute, but the problem with that skill was that it would draw too much attention.

Traceless Steps would take at least seven minutes.

It was a movement technique that left no footprints, even in snow.

Though it wasn’t the fastest, it was perfect for hiding one’s presence, making it a favored technique of the elite assassins of the Heavenly Martial Sect.

Putting aside around fifteen minutes for the round trip, if he could manage to defeat the monster Nergess in under five minutes, he could return well within 20 minutes.

“I have to defeat a monster in five minutes... I wonder if that’ll be possible.”

As Do-Jun pondered this seriously, Yong-Yong scowled.

If a monster can last five minutes against you, it might as well be a god, not a monster.