Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 50

“You trained your dog poorly,” Do-Jun said.

With that one sentence, the air in the room sank.

“Pahahahaha!” Jun-Yeol’s laughter broke the silence.

He was a First Hunter ranked second in Korea and was also known as the Spear King. It was utterly ridiculous to him that a mere civil servant had called him a dog.

Jun-Yeol laughed for a while, covering his face with his hand. When he finally stopped and took off his sunglasses, his face was twisted in anger. Then, mana surged from his body as if it was about to explode.

“Jun-Yeol, stop. This is the Chief’s office,” Ae-Kyung warned him.

Jun-Yeol ignored it and strode over to Do-Jun. He got up close, almost in his face, pressing his forehead against Do-Jun’s, glaring at him as if he were about to devour him.

“Want that dog to rip the life out of you?” Jun-Yeol growled lowly, thick with killing intent.

Young-Chul had been watching anxiously. Just as he was about to raise his voice, Do-Jun slowly raised his hand and grabbed Jun-Yeol by the neck.

Watching this, Ae-Kyung was shocked.

An ordinary person dared to lay their hands on the Spear King and his neck, no less? She was certain that Jun-Yeol would kill Do-Jun, but what happened next was quite the opposite.

Do-Jun lifted Jun-Yeol into the air, and the mana radiating from Jun-Yeol’s body dissipated instantly.

As Jun-Yeol struggled to pry Do-Jun’s hand off his neck, Do-Jun spoke. “If I squeeze any harder, you’ll die.”

His cold voice echoed in the room.

Ae-Kyung couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She wondered if this was a dream or if Jun-Yeol, the Spear King, was really being subdued.

“S-spare... me...” Jun-Yeol pleaded, his face turning paler by the second the longer he couldn’t breathe.

He tried to gather his mana to escape the situation, but for some reason, his mana wouldn’t respond.

“I’ll let it slide just this once, but know that...” Do-Jun released his grip, and Jun-Yeol collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath and coughing violently. “There won’t be a second time.”

“Cough! Cough, cough!”

“I apologize, Supervisor Lee. This won’t happen again,” Young-Chul quickly apologized as he bowed his head.

“Well, Chief, it wasn’t really your fault,” Do-Jun said as he walked over to the sofa and sat down.

Meanwhile, Kang-Hyun swallowed dryly, deep in thought. He didn’t even use mana.

Do-Jun had overwhelmed Jun-Yeol with pure physical strength. But what was puzzling was that the mana Jun-Yeol had gathered had scattered so abruptly, and after that, he couldn’t use his mana at all.

Young-Chul felt cold sweat trickling down his back.

He knew Do-Jun was strong, but he hadn’t expected him to be able to subdue Jun-Yeol, a First Hunter, in a single move.

Ridiculous monster, he thought.

Ignoring the stares directed at him, Do-Jun said, “Can you tell me why you called me here? Though, I think I can guess why.”

Now regaining his composure, Young-Chul walked to his seat and sat down. The still-pale Jun-Yeol clenched his lips and sat next to Kang-Hyun.

The overwhelming difference in power made it hard even to consider it a humiliation. His fists trembled in anger, but he had to swallow that rage.

Young-Chul said, “Very well, Supervisor Lee, let me be direct. Please join the expedition team for the Core.”

It was just as Do-Jun expected, but he had no intention of accepting. The Core expeditions, called Dives, usually required a leave of a minimum of two weeks. If he had no responsibilities and no family, he might have considered it, but the reality was that he had a job and a daughter to take care of. He couldn’t leave for that long.

“I will not join the expedition team.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised. Ah, we are very grateful that you secured the entry tokens for us. Honestly, we were about to give up on the Core expedition altogether... but thanks to you, we can proceed.”

Young-Chul paused briefly before pulling out a bankbook from the inside pocket of his suit and handing it to Do-Jun. “This is a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it.”

“Chief Jung.”

“Yes, Supervisor Lee?”

“Civil servants get fired for accepting bribes,” Do-Jun said as he pushed the bankbook back toward Young-Chul.

“This isn’t a bribe, it’s a token of gratitude.”

“In our line of work, that’s considered a bribe.”

Young-Chul let out a pained groan.

Seeing this, Do-Jun chuckled softly and continued, “That said, I’d like to maintain a good relationship with the Hunter’s Bureau going forward.”

“T-thank you.”

“If you continue to show your sincerity in the future, I might help you a little more. So that your expedition team can make it through the Core smoothly.”

“What do you mean by sincerity...?” Young-Chul asked tentatively.

Do-Jun didn’t want money or fame, so what was he asking for?

Everyone was stunned by Do-Jun’s next words.

“It’s quite simple. Whatever I request from you in the future, Chief... All you need to do is say, ‘done’.”

Do-Jun had practically declared himself the de facto leader of the Hunter’s Bureau.

***

Friday, 4 PM.

After finishing his work, Do-Jun stopped by a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries before heading home.

He was planning to explore the Core over the weekend, which meant that he would be leaving his family for two days, so he wanted to do something nice for them.

This should be enough.

His hands were full of grocery bags that totaled over 100,000 won. He had even searched blogs on portal sites to learn the recipes for the dishes he would make. Everything was going according to plan.

Two small dragons ran toward him as he opened the door to his apartment and stepped inside.

“You’re home ea... huh?” Yong-Yong stopped running toward the door and looked back and forth between Do-Jun and the clock on the wall.

“Master,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“You’ve finally been fired.”

“No, I haven’t.”

Karsiel also chimed in, “Does this mean we’re going to be starving from now on?”

“I said I wasn’t fired.”

Do-Jun walked into the kitchen and placed the groceries on the counter. Yong-Yong jumped up and inspected the contents of the bags. When he saw a package wrapped in plastic, his eyes gleamed.

“T-this is... beef ribs...!”

“Yep. I got them for you guys.”

Seeing Yong-Yong’s excitement, Karsiel smiled. “I hope Young Master comes home soon.”

“Why?” Do-Jun inquired curiously.

“Well, because she’s the one who does the cooking.”

“I’m cooking today.”

At Do-Jun’s words, Yong-Yong and Karsiel tilted their heads in confusion.

“Master... cooking?”

“But we’ve never seen you cook before.”

“Don’t worry. The recipe is all in my head.”

Yong-Yong and Karsiel stared at him, dumbfounded.

Do-Jun decided to clean the house before Yoon-Hee returned.

Since she juggled both school and household chores, she must have been exhausted. He figured it would be nice to do this for her, at least for a day.

“How...?” Do-Jun said in surprise. “How is there not a single speck of dust?”

The living room, bathroom, and even his room were sparkling clean. There wasn’t a single dirty dish in the sink or any dirty laundry in the hampers.

Seeing Do-Jun wandering around in confusion, Yong-Yong spoke up. “As soon as you leave for work, she does all the cleaning, laundry, and dishes before going to school.”

“Young master is incredibly diligent,” Karsiel added.

Hearing this, Do-Jun felt a mix of emotions. He remembered hearing about Cheol-Soo’s daughter, who refused to clean anything, not even her room. On top of that, Cheol-Soo had said with a deep sigh that she constantly complained and took over 500,000 won in allowance every month.

I knew Yoon-Hee was different from other high school girls, but...

Now that he thought about it, she had never once asked him for allowance. She must have needed money to do stuff for fun outside, but now that he thought about it, she had never even mentioned any friends.

Have I been burdening her without realizing it?

Do-Jun decided he needed to have a conversation with her about it and walked back to the kitchen.

“Huff, huff, Master, are you making braised ribs?”

“Yep. braised ribs, doenjang jjigae, and three rolled omelets. Let me get started with the prep.”

Do-Jun took out a pack of beef ribs and opened it. He then dumped the ribs into a pot, poured in a bottle of water, and placed it on the stove. Bright red blood spread through the water in the pot.

“We’re cooked...” Yong-Yong muttered.

***

Yoon-Hee glanced at her wristwatch as she ran toward home. It was already well past 6:40 PM.

Her practical class had ended late, and she was rushing because she needed to start dinner immediately so that it would be ready by the time Do-Jun came home.

As she opened the door a little while later, she noticed a savory smell in the air.

She noticed Do-Jun’s shoes in the entryway, took off her own, and stepped inside. She then found Yong-Yong and Karsiel frowning by Do-Jun’s side as he stirred a pot with a ladle.

“Master, I really don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to do it.”

“The blog said to do it like this.”

“I... I apologize for speaking out of line, but I believe you might be misremembering...”

Yoon-Hee walked over to Do-Jun and asked, “F-father, are you... cooking?”

“You’re home? Dinner will be ready soon, so just wait a little.”

“Sorry...?”

What had come over him to make him cook all of a sudden?

And judging by the bloody foam floating in the boiling pot, it didn’t seem like he was doing it right.

“Did you leave work early today?” Yoon-Hee asked him.

“I took the afternoon off. You work hard every day, so I thought I’d make dinner for a change.”

“Huh...?”

As Do-Jun skimmed off the foam with the ladle, he continued speaking.

“You prepare dinner every day after school and do my laundry too. I didn’t realize it until I tried to do some cleaning myself, but the house is spotless. I understand that all these things I had taken for granted were because of you.”

Yoon-Hee stared at him silently.

“Thank you, Yoon-Hee. Let Dad make dinner tonight.”

Hearing those words, Yoon-Hee felt her heart ache; before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face. She hugged Do-Jun’s broad back from behind.

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“No, it’s not all because of me.”

“Hmm?”

“Because of you... because I have you, I feel like I’m experiencing more happiness than I deserve. Having dinner together in a warm home every day, watching TV together, going out on weekends sometimes. If you hadn’t taken me in, I wouldn’t have any of this.”

What an incredible kid, Do-Jun thought.

***

The four sat around the warm table, steam rising from the freshly cooked food.

“Today’s ribs have a peculiar taste.” Even as he said that, Yong-Yong was busy gnawing on the rib meat.

Watching him, Do-Jun and Yoon-Hee exchanged smiles.

“By the way, why have you never asked for allowance money?” Do-Jun asked Yoon-Hee.

“Allowance? I already get some, though...”

“I’ve never given you any.”

“You gave me 720,000 won last month.”

“Huh?”

“I bought a vacuum for 210,000 won and a dryer for 340,000 won...” Yoon-Hee mumbled as she counted on her fingers.

Do-Jun sighed and said, “That was money for household items. I meant something for your personal use.”

“Oh, I spent 70,000 won on transportation.”

Was she actually this naïve, or was she pretending to be?

Do-Jun let out an empty laugh.

“And besides—”

Do-Jun interrupted her, “You need allowance money if you’re going to hang out with your friends.”

“Oh, I’m okay on that part.”

“Why? Do your friends pay for you?”

“No. I just like being at home better.” Yoon-Hee smiled, and it seemed genuine.

“You need to hang out with your friends every now and then to build relationships. Well, in any case, if you need anything, just ask.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, and by the way, I have a work trip to Gangwon-do this weekend, just so you know.”

At those words, Yoon-Hee flinched. “S-so suddenly?”

“Yeah. It just came up,” Do-Jun said as he put a spoonful of the potato side dish in his mouth.

“Can I come with you?” Yoon-Hee asked him.

“No.” Do-Jun was firm.

Yoon-Hee pouted her lips, then sighed. “So, you’ll be back Sunday night?”

“Probably. Maybe earlier.”

As Karsiel munched on her food, she glanced up at Do-Jun and thought, Is he going to the Core?