Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 49

⌜The expedition team returns without progress.⌟

⌜Can the Hunter’s Bureau ease the public’s doubt about its Chief’s competence?⌟

⌜Behemoth Guild Master Lee Kang-Hyun currently on break.⌟

In the backseat of a luxury sedan crossing through Euljiro, Young-Chul sighed as he scrolled through internet articles on his smartphone.

Since Behemoth Guild’s return from the Core region, he had held a press conference admitting that no progress had been made, sparking a debate over the competence of the Hunter’s Bureau Chief.

﹂ttis***: Is Behemoth the problem, or is it the Chief? They haven’t made any discoveries in three years. (Likes: 111,231 / Dislikes: 38,531)

﹂chro****: They said there are S-rank monsters blocking the entrance. That’s understandable. But my question is, why only send three members on the expedition? Sure, Behemoth Guild is the strongest—having the top three Hunters. But the numbers are overwhelmingly insufficient. Chief, if you’re reading this, consider increasing the expedition team size. (Likes: 72,231 / Dislikes: 1,461)

﹂sinh****: I know that Korea is a Hunter powerhouse, but honestly, if we cooperated with other countries, the progress would be faster. Is this a pride thing? Or are they just squabbling over their political interests again? The people in Gangwon-do are anxious because we don’t know when monsters from the Core might pop out, so you need to come up with a solution quickly. (Likes: 42,231 / Dislikes: 7,589)

﹂sks****: Just sack the current Chief and appoint someone else. He’s completely washed. (Likes: 22,910 / Dislikes: 6,539)

While he was lost in the comments, the sedan soon arrived at the Hunter’s Bureau building.

“Sir, we’ve arrived,” the driver quietly informed him.

“Oh, we’re here already? You’ve had an early start today; thank you for your help.”

“Not at all. I’ll be on standby in the office.”

“Alright. Be sure to have breakfast.”

Young-Chul pocketed his smartphone, stepped out of the car, and headed for the elevator.

Twenty? he thought in surprise when the elevator started descending from the twentieth floor, where his office was the only one.

Did someone have business with him?

Young-Chul’s eyes widened as the elevator doors opened.

“S-supervisor Lee, what brings you here so early in the morning...?”

Seeing Young-Chul swallow nervously, Do-Jun silently pointed to the opposite side of the hall. There, the promotional screen briefly flashed the words “2019 Basic Course on Understanding Fissure Management, Session 1.”

“I have training today. You’re in early, too. I was told you would arrive at 8:50,” Do-Jun said.

“Ah, yes... I had some business to attend to.”

“I see. Well, if you’ll excuse me.” Do-Jun bowed slightly and passed by Young-Chul.

Young-Chul turned around and called out to Do-Jun, “Supervisor Lee, you came down from the twentieth floor. Were you here to see me?”

Do-Jun stopped in his tracks and looked back.

“You’ll find out once you get to your office.”

***

[Tutorial Zone Entry Token (Core Exclusive)]

Category: Miscellaneous / Consumable

Grade: S

Description: A token that allows access to the Core region’s tutorial zone. Once used, the token is consumed. Each challenger requires one token. Even for re-entry, a ticket is required, so use them wisely.

“Supervisor Lee left this?” Young-Chul asked his aide.

“Yes, sir.”

Young-Chul’s pupils trembled slightly.

Curious as to why the Chief was reacting this way, the aide picked up one of the many paper scraps from the pouch and checked it.

Now he understood.

“I-isn’t this... the entry token?” he stammered.

This token granted access to the tutorial zone—the very item that Young-Chul and Behemoth Guild had been desperately searching for since their twentieth expedition attempt.

How had Do-Jun gotten hold of these? And so many, at that?

“Did he say anything else when he gave these to you?”

“No, sir. He only told me that you’ll know what it is.”

Young-Chul thought he had to secure Do-Jun, no matter what it took.

This isn’t just a matter of how strong he is.

It seemed possible that Do-Jun knew the secrets of the Core that ordinary people could not.

That suspicion gnawed at Young-Chul.

“Bring Supervisor Lee here,” He ordered the aide.

“Pardon?”

“He should be at the training in the small auditorium.”

But then, Young-Chul realized that he had given the wrong order. He shot up from his seat and hurriedly left the office.

“S-sir! Where are you going?”

His aide hastily followed after him.

***

Day 2 of training, 9:30 a.m.

Assistant Manager Cha Jin-Woo, in charge of the day's first class, enthusiastically explained the by-products and mana stones that could be obtained by defeating monsters inside Fissures.

The trainees' attitudes had noticeably changed after Do-Jun’s presentation the previous day. No one was dozing off or playing with their smartphones. Everyone was focused on the lecturer, trying to absorb every word he said.

Cha Jin-Woo glanced at Do-Jun, who was diligently taking notes just like the previous day. His lecture was filled with shallow information that anyone could find by searching the internet, so he wondered why Do-Jun was so focused.

Ugh. I made eye contact with him, Cha Jin-Woo thought as he unwillingly flinched.

Though his gaze wasn’t exactly fierce, there was an inexplicable power behind those eyes. For some reason, whenever Do-Jun looked at him, Cha Jin-Woo felt like he was being stripped naked and as if Do-Jun could see through everything.

Just then, the door to the small auditorium flung open with a loud Bam!

“As you can see, you can take the leather and teeth to the smithy... gasp!” Cha Jin-Woo audibly gasped in the middle of the lecture when he saw who entered through those doors.

It was the Hunter’s Bureau Chief Jung and his aide.

To a Bureau employee, Young-Chul was like the president of the nation. Outside of the quarterly Bureau-wide meetings, it was almost impossible to see him under normal circumstances. Every word he said profoundly impacted the entire Bureau—no, the entire Hunter world.

The civil servants in the room turned around, feeling something was off. When they spotted the Bureau Chief, they were astonished and began whispering to each other.

“Why is the Bureau Chief here?”

As Young-Chul walked down to the front, paying no attention to the gazes, the still-stunned Cha Jin-Woo quickly gathered his wits and ran down from the podium, bowing so deeply it looked like his back would break.

But Young-Chul didn’t pay him any mind either and stopped in front of Do-Jun. Then, together with his aide, he bowed to Do-Jun.

“W-what is happening?”

The people around gasped in surprise.

Not only did Chief Jung appear at a training session out of nowhere, but he was now bowing to Do-Jun?

“I apologize for intruding during your training,” Young-Chul said.

Do-Jun had been silently staring at Young-Chul. He sighed and finally muttered, “I thought you were smarter.”

“Sorry...?”

Do-Jun stood up and walked over to Cha Jin-Woo, who stood frozen with his mouth agape.

“I apologize for the commotion, Assistant Manager Cha. May I be excused for a moment?” Do-Jun asked politely.

Cha Jin-Woo glanced between Young-Chul and Do-Jun, then nodded vigorously.

With permission granted, Do-Jun turned to Young-Chul and asked, “Shall we head to your office?”

“Yes... that would be appreciated.”

As Do-Jun walked ahead toward the exit, he paused and turned around. “Make sure to apologize to the instructor and the other trainees before you leave, Chief Jung.”

Do-Jun left the small auditorium, shutting the door behind him.

The others stared, their mouths hanging open.

A mere civil servant had just said something so audacious to the head of the Hunter’s Bureau. Yet, Young-Chul didn’t seem offended at all. In fact, he felt grateful to Do-Jun.

“S-s-sir...” Cha Jin-Woo’s lips trembled as he approached Young-Chul.

“I’m sorry for disrupting your lecture. Could I borrow the microphone for a moment?”

“N-no need to apologize, sir! Here’s the mic.”

Young-Chul took the microphone, addressing the attendees who were still watching him.

“I sincerely apologize for interrupting your valuable time. Please forgive this intrusion with generosity,” he said to the auditorium, bowing deeply.

***

Inside the Chief’s office.

Sword Emperor Kang-Hyun sat on the sofa while a blonde beauty with slightly wavy long hair that came down to her waist poured him tea.

She was Moon Ae-Kyung, ranked third among the First Hunters.

Across from Kang-Hyun sat a spiky-haired man with an undercut, wearing sunglasses, who was casually blowing cigarette smoke while holding an entry token.

“So, you're saying some civil servant named Lee Do-Jun brought this?”

Ryu Jun-Yeol, ranked second among the First Hunters, snorted as he propped his legs up on the table.

Ae-Kyung frowned at him and scolded, “ Jun-Yeol, put your feet down.”

“There you go, nagging again. What’s the big deal? The table isn’t going to wear out. Besides, the old man must’ve finally lost it. Lying about some civil servant bringing this. Who would believe that?”

Kang-Hyun set down his teacup and spoke up. “Put your legs down. The Chief will be back soon.”

At Kang-Hyun’s words, Jun-Yeol reluctantly lowered his legs, though not without complaint. “Tch. Guild Master, no—brother Kang-Hyun. We’re past tiptoeing around Chief now, aren’t we? You should change that stiff personality of yours, too. What’s the point of being ranked first if you’re so uptight you can’t enjoy it? You’re too rigid.”

Ignoring Jun-Yeol’s grumbling, Kang-Hyun examined the token again. The red pouch contained ten thousand of them.

“Anyway, that civil servant... I heard he replaced you as commander. Judging from the articles, he doesn’t seem to be one of ours. Is he some sort of a genius strategist? Well, he must be smart to be a civil servant. A meathead like me could never.”

The office door burst open at that moment, and three men entered.

Jun-Yeol turned his head to see Young-Chul and his aide, who was accompanied by a man he hadn’t seen before. But he instantly knew that this man was the civil servant from the rumors.

“I see that everyone’s here,” Young-Chul said and gestured to the sofa for Do-Jun.

“Please, sit wherever you like, Supervisor Lee.”

“Thank you.”

Watching this, Jun-Yeol snickered.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Young-Chul, who was always full of pride, was acting so subservient it was almost comical. He wished he could take a picture.

That’s that, but... Jun-Yeol wasn’t too fond of Do-Jun.

Despite seeing the might of Behemoth, the top guild with the most powerful Hunters, Do-Jun remained unfazed and indifferent.

Arrogant, Jun-Yeol thought.

Just because he played the role of commander once, did he think he could look down on Hunters?

Jun-Yeol decided to give Do-Jun a little greeting of his own.

With a crackle, the ring on his finger began to glow and transformed into a long spear.

Startled, Kang-Hyun shouted, “Stop!”

But Jun-Yeol ignored him, smirked, and gripped the spear. Then, a flash of light shot toward Do-Jun’s eyes.

He had no intention of harming him. He just wanted to scare him a little.

Seeing that Do-Jun didn’t move, Ryu Jun-Yeol thought to himself, He can’t even react. How boring.

He was sure that Do-Jun was just an average person.

The sharp tip of the spear stopped just before reaching Do-Jun’s eyes.

“Ryu Jun-Yeol!” Kang-Hyun growled with his face twisted in anger, and seeing that, Jun-Yeol shrugged and retracted the spear.

“Did I scare you? Oops, sorry.”

At Jun-Yeol’s sarcastic apology, Do-Jun narrowed his eyes and chuckled softly.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t dodge—it was just so pathetic. It reminded him of the lowly thugs he used to deal with in Martial World, so he had decided to just watch.

“W-what... what did you just do...?” Young-Chul was standing beside Do-Jun. He turned pale and slowly glanced at Do-Jun, trying to gauge his reaction.

“Chief Jung,” Do-Jun called.

“Yes...?”

Do-Jun smiled and continued, “You’ve trained your dog poorly.”