Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 55

The screen above the stage displayed the current bid of 500 million won, which had started at just one million merely ten minutes ago, showing how heated the auction was getting.

“We have 500 million won. If there is no higher bid in the next five seconds, it will be sold to Guest No. 53.”

This feels like it might be a jackpot. Shouldn’t we bid? Cheol-Soo anxiously bit his nails, his leg bouncing nervously.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to enter the bid on the number pad. After all, today’s auction had been completely entrusted to Do-Jun, and there was also the chance of buying low-grade equipment at an exorbitant price.

“And... sold! The item goes to Guest No. 53. Congratulations! Now, let’s reveal the stats for the winning equipment.”

The equipment auction hosted by the Korean National Smithy had an additional layer of excitement—they would reveal the stats of the winning equipment to all participants, which brought about a mix of regret and relief.

[Quirez’s Decorative Bow]

Category: Weapon / Bow

Grade: E

Attack Power: 1

Agility +5

Description: A bow carved by the sculptor Quirez as a gift for his wife. To please his wife, who loved flowers, he painted colorful blossoms along the bow’s body, making it aesthetically pleasing. As it was not meant for actual use, its attack power is very low.

Once the stats were revealed, sighs of relief and chuckles of disbelief could be heard all around.

“It certainly looked like an A-grade weapon.”

“I almost bought an E-grade bow for 200 million.”

“Quiet down. I’d be crying if I were the winner.”

“Please note that the winning items will be handed over after the auction is concluded and the payment is completed. If a fraudulent bid is made, compensation will be claimed, and the item will be returned to the Korean National Smithy. We will resume the auction in one minute.”

Staff members emerged from behind the stage, covered Quirez’s Decorative Bow with a cloth, and then removed it.

Do-Jun watched the process with indifference.

Sitting next to him, Hyuk-Soo whispered to Do-Jun, “That was close.”

“I had no intention of bidding in the first place.”

“No way... Do-Jun, did you somehow get the list of the auction items or something...?”

“If I did, I would have told you,” Do-Jun said with a smirk.

As Hyuk-Soo had mentioned, Do-Jun could have obtained information on the auctioned items in advance from the Bureau Chief if he wanted. But there was no need to go that far.

“Now, for our second item of the night! We’ll start again with a starting bid of one million won.”

The second item was a wooden plaque—one that was broken in half.

Without much expectation, Do-Jun extended his qi sense to inspect the equipment. When he didn’t sense any energy, he clicked his tongue in disappointment, resting his chin on his hand.

Then, suddenly, his half-open eyes flashed with interest momentarily. For a fleeting instant, he sensed qi from the characters inscribed on the plaque, which read “Return to the Origin,” before it disappeared.

Do-Jun flicked his finger and sent his internal energy toward the wooden plaque. The energy moved through the air and was absorbed into the plaque.

The dormant qi within the plaque’s inscription blended with Do-Jun’s energy and resonated for a brief moment. It was a pure concentration of qi, gathered and lying dormant within the characters.

After calculating everything in his head, Do-Jun placed his fingers on the number pad.

“Guest No. 68 has bid 10 million won. If a higher bid is not entered within five seconds, Guest No. 68 will win... Oh! Guest No. 11 has bid 50 million won. All right, let’s restart the countdown.”

Heh. The auctioneer’s lips curled up in a smile.

The wooden plaque was an F-grade item with almost no useful stats. It was basically a piece of junk. Considering that the average price for F-grade equipment was around one million won, they were already achieving more than fifty times the usual profit.

Without hesitation, Do-Jun entered a hundred million on the keypad, and the auctioneer cheered internally. Selling a low-value item for a high price would certainly boost his performance rating.

Watching from the side, Hyuk-Soo swallowed hard and thought, If that’s not at least B-grade or higher, we’ll be at a loss...

Judging by the trends of the previous auctions, about seventy percent of the auctioned equipment tended to be C-grade or below.

Based purely on probability, there was a seventy percent chance of suffering a loss. Perhaps aware of this fact, no one else placed a bid, and the plaque was soon awarded to Do-Jun.

“Sold! To guest No. 68 for 100 million won.”

“Now, let’s reveal the stats for the winning equipment.”

[Broken Wooden Plaque]

Category: Talisman/Support

Grade: F

+1 HP when carried.

Description: A broken wooden plaque of unknown origin, marked by the passage of time.

Murmurs spread through the crowd with reactions similar to those when the stats for Quirez’s Decorative Bow were revealed.

“Wow, someone really bought that for 100 million won.”

“That’s enough to make someone cry.”

“But isn’t the Korean National Smithy the real problem for auctioning off something like that?”

“I really feel sorry for him.”

Meanwhile, seeing the plaque’s grade and options, Cheol-Soo checked the price displayed on the screen. He rubbed his temples and sighed deeply.

“Chief, I’ll buy this one for myself.”

“What? Hey, everyone makes mistakes. Why spend your own money? We can just include it in our budget.”

Cheol-Soo thought that Do-Jun intended to pay out of pocket because of guilt.

Looking concerned, Hyuk-Soo also added, “Do-Jun, the chief is right. It’s not just a few hundred thousand won; it’s a hundred million...”

“The auction will resume shortly!”

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Do-Jun shrugged and turned his head back to the stage.

***

Cheol-Soo checked the auction results with disbelief.

The Fissure Management Division had won five pieces of equipment with a bid of 1.47 billion won.

Do-Jun sat at the counter, reading through the purchasing contract.

Warlord’s Spear (B)

Plunderer’s Gloves (B)

Vampire Cape (A)

Qilin (A)

Broken Wooden Plaque (F)

“Please write up a separate contract for the Broken Wooden Plaque under my name,” Do-Jun requested.

“D-Do-Jun, I'm telling you, we can just buy this with our budget.”

“But if we do that, the plaque will be registered as the property of the Fissure Management Division, right?”

“That’s right. You don’t need to waste your own money.”

After winning the Broken Wooden Plaque for 100 million won, Do-Jun successfully bid for two A-grade pieces of equipment and two B-grade ones.

This was a massive gain, considering that just one piece of A-grade equipment would typically cost over 3 billion won.

Cheol-Soo assumed that Do-Jun was stubbornly trying to take responsibility for his mistake.

“So, how would you like me to proceed?” the staff at the counter asked impatiently.

“Please do as I’ve said. Oh, and I’ll pay for the plaque right now.”

“Understood.”

Cheol-Soo kept muttering something beside him, but Do-Jun ignored him, proceeded with the contract, and paid for the plaque immediately.

“Payment has been confirmed.”

Receiving the plaque from the staff, Do-Jun double-checked its stats on the spot, but nothing had changed. However, as he looked at the plaque, a strange, indescribable feeling welled up inside him.

Return to the Origin.

At its current state, it meant going back to the beginning but considering the plaque was broken, there must have been more text that continued on the other half.

Do-Jun channeled his internal energy into the plaque.

Suddenly, the characters emitted a faint light, and a scene flashed in Do-Jun’s mind.

“Go back. You are not ready yet,” a woman dressed in flowing martial attire whispered as she stabbed a sword into Do-Jun’s abdomen.

The scene ended there, and the light on the plaque’s character faded.

What was that just now...?

Do-Jun tried pouring his internal energy into the plaque again, but it was no longer responsive. He checked the options again, but there were no changes.

He slipped the plaque into the inner pocket of his suit jacket.

***

Time passed quickly, and it was Saturday morning.

Using the Challenger’s Memory artifact, Do-Jun and Karsiel teleported to the Central Island. Not much had changed since the week before, but now there was a pathway leading downward at the island’s center.

Nearby, he could see the back of Tusitala as she stared off into the distance.

“Thanks for waiting, Tusitala,” Do-Jun said to the fairy with a ring of internal energy around her neck.

Since Do-Jun returned to Earth, Tusitala had tried everything to break free from this restraint but had been unsuccessful. She remained in place, waiting for Do-Jun’s return.

Do-Jun loosened the ring around Tusitala’s neck, but the fairy stayed still, looking off into the distance. Then, she turned to face Do-Jun.

“I’ve been thinking for a while now, and with your strength...” She had a rather serious look, and after taking a deep breath, she continued, “May I ask a favor?”

“A favor?”

“To set the story straight.”

Tusitala then gestured into the air, and a translucent image of a pillar appeared. It was a representation of the entire Core. Tusitala pointed to the bottom-most point, the Deep Realm.

“I’ve only heard rumors myself, but at the end of the Deep Realm, there are said to be seven beings called the Transcendents. These are individuals who have broken through the Core and adapted to the Deep Realm. I’ve heard that Epicurus, the one who compiled your Ataraxia, is also one of them.”

“The Transcendents...” Do-Jun let out a small chuckle.

“It means they are incredibly strong. You saw the monsters at the entrance to the Core, right? On Earth, they classify such monsters as S-rank, but these monsters were pushed out because they couldn’t even adapt to the very outskirts of the Core. Imagine how powerful the beings residing in the Deep Realm at the very end must be,” Tusitala said, biting her lip.

At that moment, Karsiel asked, “Um... What exactly do you mean by ‘setting the story straight’?”

“The Core has been thrown into chaos by the actions of the Transcendents on their journey to the Deep Realm. So, it means returning the Core to its original state.”

Listening to Tusitala, Do-Jun thought back to the plaque he had obtained at the auction a few days prior. Could there be a connection?

“Of course, I leave the decision to you. It’s not my place to force you, and I don’t have the power to do so anyway.”

Do-Jun stroked his chin. As Tusitala said, this was a matter of choice, and it didn’t matter whether he did it or not.

All he needed to do now was to gather information for Behemoth Guild to assist them with their expedition. For now, his life on Earth was unfolding just the way he wanted.

However, the scene he had seen when he first acquired the plaque replayed over and over in his mind.

“Go back. You are not ready yet.”

That was the only thing bothering him.

Do-Jun scrutinized Tusitala’s eyes. Her gaze was ambiguous. It didn’t seem like she was lying, but it didn’t seem entirely sincere either.

Why had her attitude suddenly changed? What could this fairy gain from making such a request?

Still, he wanted to find out if he could perhaps regain some of his lost memories.

“Well, it’s on the way, anyway. Seems like fate,” Do-Jun said.

“Come again...?” Tusitala’s jaw dropped, but then she soon smiled and nodded.

Do-Jun and Karsiel leaped toward the pathway.

Looking down toward the Deep Realm, Tusitala murmured, “He... he might be able to save you, Cecilia.”