Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 96

It was a peaceful early Saturday morning.

As if spring were on its way out and making way for summer, the indoor air was already quite stuffy even before the sun rose. Do-Jun sat at the dining table in the living room, sipping coffee and browsing on his smartphone. The topic he was most interested in was none other than Event Fissures. He was reading through an article titled, “Event Fissure Created... Hunters Flock to Participate.”

Once a year, or sometimes every few months, about three to four rainbow-colored Fissures appeared simultaneously across the country, remaining active for twenty-four hours. Monsters ranging from F-rank to S-rank emerged from these Fissures. The further one ventured into the Fissures, the higher the rank of the monsters encountered, allowing Hunters to hunt creatures in areas suited to their skill level.

Event Fissures attracted so many people solely for one reason: the chances of monsters dropping an artifact were significantly higher than in regular Fissures. While artifacts could also be crafted at workshops using monster byproducts, they were often costly, so Hunters would rush to Event Fissures for a chance to get them with minimal effort.

Reading another article titled “Seoul’s Event Fissure open in the Olympic Park,” Do-Jun looked through his contacts on his smartphone.

***

Yoon-Hee furrowed her brow, half-opening her eyes. The morning sun filtering through the window warmed the room, and she felt beads of sweat soaking through her spring pajamas.

Stretching as usual, she finally opened her eyes fully.

“Huh...?” she said in surprise, realizing Do-Jun wasn’t lying on the bed as he should have.

She only saw Karsiel, curled up and fast asleep, and Byeol, snoozing peacefully in the center of the bed.

“Is he in the living room?” Yoon-Hee muttered, threw off the covers, and went to the living room.

However, Do-Jun was nowhere to be found, not even in the bathroom. Instead, a note lay on the dining table in the living room that read, “Taking Yong-Yong for a walk.”

It wasn’t even 8 AM yet.

She knew Do-Jun wasn’t the type to sleep in, but she hadn’t expected him to get up so early and even go for a walk. She sighed, thinking she should’ve woken up earlier.

***

Walking toward a coffee shop at the entrance of Olympic Park, Do-Jun spotted a woman in a white dress. Beside her stood a suitcase that looked almost like a carry-on. This was none other than Ye-Ji.

“You’re early,” Do-Jun said to her.

Though he’d told her to meet him at 9 AM, she had arrived thirty minutes early. He’d expected her to be running late after being invited out so suddenly, but it seemed she’d rushed out as soon as she woke up.

“You were the one who called me, so of course I’ll be... hmm?” Ye-Ji stopped mid-sentence when her eyes landed on Yong-Yong.

Tilting her head, she recalled hearing from Hyuk-Soo that Do-Jun had Awakened and acquired a taming skill.

“Ah, is this Yong-Yong? The monster you tamed?” she asked.

Do-Jun nodded.

Ye-Ji knelt down to observe Yong-Yong closely. Two small horns sprouted from his head, and a pair of tiny wings adorned his back, along with a medium-length tail. Ye-Ji had thoroughly studied all types of known monsters during her years at the Hunter Academy, but the creature before her was unfamiliar.

Unable to figure out what monster this was, she asked again, “What kind of monster is this?”

Yong-Yong opened his mouth in a wide yawn, still sleepy. Do-Jun focused on a bustling spot in the distance, where he could see the rainbow-colored Fissure stretching skyward, surrounded by Hunters in suits.

“Is he... going into the Fissure with us?” Ye-Ji asked, glancing at Yong-Yong.

“Yes, thought I’d take him along for a walk.”

“Isn’t that dangerous...?”

Though she didn’t know exactly what Yong-Yong was, he didn’t seem particularly strong or threatening. Since Ye-Ji planned to venture to the area with B-rank monsters today, she was worried Yong-Yong might get caught by one of the monsters.

“The ones who are in danger are the scrubs insi—” Yong-Yong started to say, but Do-Jun quickly released a burst of True Qi and sealed his mouth to prevent any more unnecessary comments.

He then smiled slightly and said, “Shall we get going?”

***

Anyone wishing to enter the Event Fissures had to undergo an ID verification by the Hunter’s Bureau staff stationed at the entrance. All around them, people were forming parties or advertising for guild members to join. Party hunting typically involved a balanced team of dealers, tanks, and healers, but Ye-Ji preferred solo Hunting.

[Lee Do-Jun, Fissure Management Division, confirmed.]

Dressed casually in a T-shirt and cotton pants, Do-Jun hadn’t even brought a bag since he didn’t have much to carry. Event Fissures already had mapped structures and standardized monster types, so there was no need for mapping tools or an overlay.

The only item he held was a paper map handed out at the entrance.

Do-Jun’s plan for the day was just to observe as he leisurely explored the Fissure with Ye-Ji.

Ye-Ji wore an A-rank suit with a mana gun and combat support artifacts strapped to her waist. Standing beside her, the casually dressed Do-Jun stood out in stark contrast. In fact, 99.9% of those within the Fissure were Hunters, making Do-Jun an unmistakable presence. Soon, murmurs broke out among the Hunters.

“Who’s that guy...?”

“How’d a civilian get in here?”

“Just ignore him; he’s probably from the Bureau.”

Do-Jun paid no mind to the murmurs around him, knowing they’d lose interest soon enough. As he unfolded the map given at the entrance, he could see which monsters appeared in each area and got a general sense of the terrain.

Do-Jun was surprised to see an additional area marked with an exclamation point at the very innermost section, where S-rank monsters appeared.

Showing the map to Ye-Ji, he asked, “Ye-Ji, do you know what this is?”

Ye-Ji nodded and replied, “That’s an unexplored zone.”

“Unexplored?”

“Yes. I heard it was abandoned because of the high difficulty... As far as I know, the Icarus Guild tried forming a raid party and attempted it a few months ago but failed.”

The Icarus Guild was a major guild boasting S-rank Hunters like Min-Hyuk and Min-Ji, along with many other S and A-rank Hunters.

Even with such personnel, they failed.

Do-Jun decided he’d check it out later but, for now, focused on accompanying Ye-Ji.

“The deeper we go, the fewer people there are. Here, it’s a bit...” Do-Jun trailed off, shrugged, and looked around.

The area was littered with Hunters hunting monsters ranked E and below. The monsters here were Dwarf Goblins, the weakest of the F-rank monsters. Since over half of Korean Hunters were ranked D or below, most of them were hunting in this section.

Suddenly, a Dwarf Goblin approached Do-Jun.

Ye-Ji turned, drew her sword, and dashed at the goblin. A flash of light swept through, and the goblin’s body split in half.

“Thank you,” Do-Jun said and continued forward casually, while Ye-Ji trailed after him with a grin.

Watching them from behind, Yong-Yong tilted his head back and forth as he looked between them. “Eh?”

***

Slash!

A horde of Red Orcs fell effortlessly to Ye-Ji’s sword strikes. All Do-Jun did was watch leisurely from behind, occasionally pointing out stray monsters she failed to notice.

“Master, why aren’t you fighting?” Yong-Yong asked Do-Jun.

He had been wondering why Do-Jun wasn’t getting involved at all. These minor monsters would have been deleted with just the snap of Do-Jun’s fingers. He couldn’t understand why Do-Jun was letting a weak human like Ye-Ji handle the hunting.

“Because that would defeat the purpose of bringing her along,” Do-Jun answered.

“Huh?”

Ye-Ji clearly had talent in swordsmanship, and thanks to her S-rank skill, Scholar’s Swordsmanship, that talent shone even brighter. However, gaining experience was the only way to grow that talent to perfection.

Do-Jun wanted to see Ye-Ji get there.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said to the still-puzzled Yong-Yong.

After finishing up her hunt, Ye-Ji ran over to Do-Jun. Her silver suit was splattered with monster blood, evidence of how hard she had fought.

“Look, Mr. Administrator! I already got three artifacts!”

She proudly showed the artifacts she’d collected from the monsters: a ring, a glove, and a leather pouch. The grades were one B-rank and two C-ranks, with fairly decent stats.

“Congratulations, Ye-Ji,” he said, thinking that bringing her along over the weekend had been worthwhile.

***

After her shower, Ye-Ji lay on the bed, examining the ring on her finger. It was one of the artifacts she had earned from hunting in the Event Fissure today.

[Zenith's Lotus Ring]

Category: Ring / Accessory

Grade: B

Stamina +10

Agility +10

Special Effect: Gives a slight boost in resistance against water-type attacks

Description: A ring crafted with great care by the mid-level water spirit Zenith as a gift for his wife. Wearing it grants resistance to water-type attacks.

Reading the ring’s description made Ye-Ji’s cheeks flush. A ring made as a gift for one’s wife felt romantic, and imagining Do-Jun giving it to her made her heart swell.

She opened her phone’s photo album to look at a picture she had taken earlier today.

After about two hours of hunting in the Event Fissure, they had gone to a restaurant in Olympic Park to grab some food and coffee. Casually, she had suggested they take a picture as a keepsake, to which Do-Jun had readily agreed.

“If we ever end up dating...” Ye-Ji mumbled.

Of course, it was just wishful thinking.

Ye-Ji thought she must have scored a lot of points with Do-Jun today. She hadn’t let a single monster escape, and he had even complimented her, saying her skills were improving by the day.

She looked at the picture taken at the café over and over again. Then, noticing the red creature in the background, she zoomed in and tilted her head.

“But seriously, what kind of monster is this?” she muttered.

She searched the tameable monsters from F to C-rank and even B-rank. The one in this picture didn’t look like any of the ones she knew. Just then, the trending keywords on the portal site refreshed, and the top search was “Aduntath.”

Ye-Ji tapped on the word and searched for Aduntath.

“System Alert of Boss Monster Death in Olympic Park Event Fissure.”

“Name of the Boss Monster was ‘Aduntath.’”

“Hunters Claim ‘There Was No S-rank Hunter Present.’”

“Hunter’s Bureau Dismisses It as Unknown Phenomenon.”

Ye-Ji was stunned after reading the articles. The system message had appeared less than ten minutes after she and Do-Jun had finished their coffee.

“If I’d known, I would have kept hunting a bit longer...”

That way, she could have seen the notification with Do-Jun.

***

Do-Jun sat on a bench, examining an artifact’s stats.

[Aduntath’s Cloak of Invisibility]

Category: Armor

Grade: S

Strength +50 ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Special Effect: Activates invisibility when worn.

Description: The cloak worn by Aduntath, the Assassin of the Deep Realm. His unseen presence struck fear into all.

He looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight with his hand.

“Looks like summer is on its way.”