Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 165

The 21st century was truly the age of Hunters, not just in Korea but across the entire globe.

Ten years ago, the world experienced a sudden combination of geological upheaval, the emergence of monsters, Awakenings, and the ability to acquire skills through Status Windows. The introduction of powerful monsters, which ordinary people couldn’t hope to contend with, plunged the world into chaos and fear. Meanwhile, those who Awakened with the power to fight these monsters became figures of admiration and reverence. They were known as the Hunters.

***

The Core was the talk of the town—no, the world. Just a few months ago, progress beyond the entrance had been impossible. However, now, the second floor of the Core had been successfully cleared. As a result, the first raid team, Behemoth, rose to superstardom worldwide, their value continually skyrocketing.

“Hunter’s Bureau announces new Core assault team members!”

“Hunter’s Bureau Chief Jung Young-Chul states that the Core assault team will consist of the top 10 Hunters.”

“The new members are expected to attempt the Core Tutorial by late August.”

***

The comments section under the official post by the Hunter’s Bureau about the Core raid progress was flooded with reactions.

﹂Behemoth really is amazing. How do they survive in such a terrifying place?

﹂Korea’s other S-rank Hunters are no joke either. My favorite has to be Han Min-Ji.

﹂Man, I’m so proud of my country (crying in patriotism)!

In his office, Young-Chul read through the comments while glancing at his metal wristwatch. It was 8:30 AM, and he still had an hour and a half before the meeting about the Core raid. He took out his smartphone and sent a text to Do-Jun.

***

Like most office workers, Sundays were a welcome day of rest for civil servants. However, Do-Jun had to visit the Hunter’s Bureau today for a meeting regarding the Core raid scheduled for 10 AM. He figured it would be better to go early rather than risk being late by trying to arrive just on time.

Standing in front of a full-length mirror, Do-Jun loosened his tie, which was fastened tightly against the collar of his white dress shirt, and checked his appearance. Although Young-Chul had told him to dress casually, he was now so accustomed to the office attire that wearing a neat suit felt more comfortable for any official outings.

Just then, his phone beeped. It was a message from Young-Chul.

Bureau Chief Jung Young-Chul: Supervisor Lee, this is Jung Young-Chul. May I ask when you expect to arrive?

Considering that the subway ride to the Hunter’s Bureau took about half an hour, Do-Jun estimated he would arrive no later than 9:30 AM. He replied to the Chief accordingly, and five minutes later, he received a single-word response: “Understood.”

***

On the seventh floor of the Hunter’s Bureau, two staff members were busy at work in the conference room: Assistant Manager Kim Min-Soo and regular staff member Kwon Hyun-Seok. Although they had finished preparing for today’s Core raid meeting on Friday night, the Bureau Chief had instructed them to conduct a final check on Sunday morning.

Kim Min-Soo tapped the microphone. “Mic test. One, two, three.”

“It’s working perfectly, senior,” Kwon Hyun-Seok said.

“What about the projector?”

“Checked it earlier, no issues.”

“Did you double-check the presentation slides?”

“I’ve probably checked them a hundred times,” Kwon Hyun-Seok replied.

“Let’s just check them one last time, just to be sure,” Kim Min-Soo said.

The meeting would involve the Hunter’s Bureau Chief and ten S-rank Hunters. If any equipment malfunctioned or the preparations were insufficient, it would undoubtedly provoke the ire of their superiors.

Kwon Hyun-Seok flipped through the documents on the podium, which detailed the tutorial of the Core.

He remarked, “Just a year ago, the atmosphere here was abysmal, as if someone had died. We couldn’t even get to the tutorial stage, huh? I even recall discussions about replacing the Bureau Chief. The first Dive was about five years ago, right? There was no progress for the longest time, but now it’s all moving so fast.”

“Well, it’s Behemoth we’re talking about. They couldn’t access the tutorial because they didn’t have the entry token, not because they weren’t skilled. Haven’t you seen the footage? They’re flying through the first and second floors.”

“That’s true.”

Behemoth’s movements felt almost supernatural. It was as if they had been there before, as if they already knew the Core’s secrets. Their progress was as unstoppable as a bulldozer.

“All set?” Kim Min-Soo asked Kwon Hyun-Seok.

“Yep.”

“Still fifty minutes until the meeting starts. Let’s sit for a bit and head out at 9:30—” However, Kim Min-Soo didn’t get to finish his sentence as they suddenly heard hurried footsteps echoing down the hallway.

The sound grew louder until the conference room door slammed open. A man clung to the doorknob, gasping for breath. The sheer force of his presence caused the two staff members to flinch.

The man, Jun-Yeol, glanced at the clock on the wall and clenched his fist, smirking. “Made it.”

Kim Min-Soo and Kwon Hyun-Seok exchanged glances. As they prepared to bow and greet the Spear King, they froze and swallowed nervously upon hearing more hurried footsteps echoing from the hallway. This time, Min-Hyuk and Ae-Kyung entered the room.

Jun-Yeol, still catching his breath, straightened his posture and reprimanded nonchalantly, “Can’t you people be on time?”

“Ryu Jun-Yeol, you’re surprisingly early today,” Min-Hyuk remarked.

“Of course. I was so excited about seeing Supervisor Lee that I couldn’t even sleep,” Jun-Yeol replied with a shrug. “You see, I’m a bit of a thorough man. I’d never do anything to upset him, you know? You should take notes.”

“That sounds a little suspicious... but fine. You did arrive earlier than us,” Min-Hyuk said, noticing the sweat trickling down Jun-Yeol’s neck, but he decided to ignore it and took a seat.

The clock read 9:15 AM. They had made it just in time to meet the Chief’s “be here by 9:20” directive.

Thud, thud, thud!

Even more footsteps echoed in the hallway.

***

The Hunter’s Bureau was quieter on Sundays compared to weekdays, but the first-floor service center was still bustling with Hunters, guilds, and agents from management agencies. Do-Jun walked past the busy service center, which resembled a busy marketplace, and stood in front of the elevator.

The elevator doors opened, revealing two men who seemed to be employees of the Bureau. They were deeply engaged in conversation, but when they realized the elevator had reached the first floor, they stepped out.

“I’ve never seen S-rank Hunters act like that before.”

“Right? In all my time here, I’ve never seen them so flustered—” Kwon Hyun-Seok stopped mid-sentence, turning his head to glance back at Do-Jun, who had stepped into the elevator and was now pressing the button for his floor.

“What’s up?” Kim Min-Soo asked Kwon Hyun-Seok, noticing him stopping.

“Oh, it’s nothing. That guy just looked familiar.”

“Familiar? Do you know how many employees work here? You can’t possibly remember them all.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen... ah! He used to be an intern here. Remember when all the interns had to submit those projects? He ranked first among all of them, so I checked out his profile.”

“Oh? Which department does he work for now?”

“Oh, he doesn’t work here.”

“What?”

Kwon Hyun-Seok shrugged and added, “I heard he’s a civil servant.”

***

Do-Jun arrived at the conference room exactly at 9:30 AM, but oddly, all the attendees for the day’s meeting were already seated. Do-Jun checked his watch again. It was definitely 9:30 AM, and he was sure that the meeting was scheduled to start at ten. He sighed, looking at Young-Chul, who was seated right next to the head of the table.

“Looks like I’ll need to start arriving on time from now on,” he said.

Although the Hunters outwardly seemed composed, Do-Jun could sense the erratic heartbeat of several S-rank Hunters. He had a rough idea why.

***

The meeting didn’t take as long as expected.

They began with a briefing on Behemoth’s progress as the vanguard and then discussed the formation of the next raid team, concluding that Min-Hyuk and Min-Ji were selected as the next team members. freeweɓnøvel~com

“If both teams are in the Core, and a national emergency arises, we’ll need S-rank Hunters available to handle it ‘externally.’ For now, the remaining five will stand by,” Young-Chul decided.

Do-Jun’s input wasn’t particularly considered in this decision. There wasn’t much to critique, and he didn’t care about the raid team compositions. After all, the Core operations were entirely the Hunters’ domain.

While reflecting on the information provided, Min-Hyuk suddenly thought, Hold on, something’s not right... What they’re saying is that when you enter the first floor of the Core, you essentially start at the level of an ordinary person.

He thought back to the tutorial explanation and the details about the Status Window Snake obtained in the third stage.

In the Core, the Status Window used on Earth was locked, and the Status Window Snake was introduced to help humanity survive there. The color of the snake determined its growth potential, making the tutorial a crucial starting point in the entire Core journey.

The Status Window Snake started at red and grew exponentially as it moved up in color. If that were true, Do-Jun should have been no different from the rest of them until he accumulated mastery.

So, how did he manage to get to the fourth floor ahead of everyone else? Min-Hyun wondered.

He discreetly glanced at the thin bracelet on Do-Jun’s wrist—the same type used by Behemoth Guild members to house their Status Window Snakes. On the surface, it looked identical to those used by Behemoth’s Hunters. If anything, it was indistinguishable.

However, for a brief moment, barely a fraction of a second, Min-Hyuk felt an overwhelming sense of intimidation emanating from Do-Jun’s bracelet. It was as if an enormous serpent, large enough to encompass the Earth and beyond, had locked eyes with him.

None of the other Hunters seemed to notice, which meant it was likely a phenomenon only he experienced.

A-am I seeing things?

Yet, it had felt far too vivid.

***

On Monday, the staff of the Fissure Management Division at Seoul City Hall gathered in front of a large wall-mounted OLED TV in their office.

⌜Yesterday, the Hunter’s Bureau concluded an internal meeting to decide on the next Core expedition team members. The selected members are Hunters Kang Min-Hyuk and Han Min-Ji from Icarus Guild. Bureau Chief Jung Young-Chul announced that the Icarus Guild’s first dive into the Core could happen as soon as the end of this month.⌟

The news then proceeded to broadcast clips from Behemoth Guild’s Core expedition. The footage included fields of burning lava, adventurer-created civilizations on Yggdrasil—a tree rising from molten ground, bizarre and gigantic lifeforms, and never-before-seen extraordinary artifacts.

The harsh, unforgiving environment was enough to intimidate most Hunters, let alone ordinary people. The footage also showed adventurers from other planets battling against one another, and to the average viewer, it was nothing short of a war among the stars.

The scene shifted to depict Kang-Hyun battling a monster. The milky white light scattering along the path of his sword was breathtaking.

“That’s just incredible,” murmured Cheol-Soo, watching the TV with his arms crossed.

Then he glanced at Do-Jun, who was quietly sitting at his desk, focused on work and seemingly uninterested in the Core-related news dominating the broadcast.

He smirked and returned his gaze to the TV, thinking, Well, it’s not like we’re directly involved with the Core anyway.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢