Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 171

“This looks like the spot,” Hakase said.

He and Kiriel wore straw hats with towels draped around their necks as they stood with tools in hand—a hoe, a shovel, and a pickaxe. Their bulky pouches bulged with seeds for the vegetables and fruits they planned to cultivate themselves.

“Hey, lizard. You promise I’ll get free food if I help out?” Kiriel asked for confirmation.

“Of course. We dragons never lie. As long as you work hard and your work meets my expectations, I’ll make sure you get as much food as you want for free.”

Recently, Hakase had been expanding the menu at his food stall and needed a reliable supply of ingredients. Instead of using common vegetables found in the market, he decided to grow superior produce from the Core for a unique edge.

“But what’s with all these random lowly monsters here?” Kiriel frowned, annoyed.

They were in the F-rank Fissure in Myeongil-dong, Gangdong-gu—Goblin’s Forest.

Hakase nodded in agreement with Kiriel’s observation. “You’re right. We’ll need to clean up a bit.”

“Right? Let me handle the cleanup as a special service. Be grateful,” Kiriel said, drawing Gungnir.

“Thanks...? Huh?”

As Kiriel drew the bowstring, his mana flowed into Gungnir, causing the ground to quake violently. When Hakase saw the earth starting to split, he quickly grabbed Gungnir and cast a debuff, neutralizing the mana.

“You dumb, dumb son of a bitch! Are you trying to ruin the farm before it’s even started?” Hakashe shouted.

“What the hell are you cussing at me for?!”

“If you do what you were just about to do, the whole field will be destroyed!”

“Oh, right. My bad.”

Kiriel slung Gungnir back over his shoulder and began taking out goblins one by one instead. His sheer strength was overwhelming—every time he struck, the goblin’s body couldn’t withstand the impact and exploded.

Watching the carnage, Hakase’s eyebrow twitched. The field, meant for farming, was now littered with goblin remains.

“That... stupid... sigh, breathe, let it go...”

While Kiriel took care of the goblins, Hakase began preparing the land for cultivation.

***

“Hey, lizard,” Kiriel called out.

“What now?”

“Why do those humans keep staring at us?”

“Ignore them,” Hakase said.

He had no time to worry about humans. To him, they fell into two categories: first, the grateful customers who visited his food stall, and second, everyone else.

“Lizard, I was thinking...”

“Go on.”

“You said the vegetables will take about a month to grow, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Then what if one of those humans comes and steals them before they’re ready?”

Hakase stroked his chin and said, “I’m surprised that you’re capable of thinking that far ahead. You’ve impressed me.”

He started thinking. How should he handle this? It wasn’t feasible to guard the field around the clock since he also had to serve customers at the food stall.

“Your face has ‘I’m worried’ written all over it. Don’t be. I’ve got just the thing,” Kiriel said, grinning.

“Huh? You have an idea?” Hakase asked, surprised.

“Of course. I have the perfect thing for this situation.”

Kiriel pulled out a small black pouch, slightly smaller than a hand.

Hakase leaned in to observe it more closely, then tilted his head and asked, “What’s that?”

“This is what you’d call a Sealing Pouch. Any monster that’s near death can be stored inside it. The best part? Once inside, the monster’s health regenerates, and it’ll be fully healed in about a week.”

“And why is that useful?” Hakase probed him.

Without warning, Kiriel untied the pouch, releasing several Headless Knights, mounted on black horses.

“Neighhhh!” The horses let out fierce cries.

“Y-you dumbass! What do you think you’re doing?!” Hakase snapped.

“Relax. They obey me.”

“What?”

With a serious expression, Kiriel addressed the Headless Knights. “Guard this field. If anyone tries to steal the crops, capture them and tie them to that tree over there.”

The Headless Knights nodded silently. As Hakase stared blankly at the scene, Kiriel gave him a thumbs-up that was dripping with pride.

***

The end of the weekend, Sunday evening.

As dusk fell, Yoon-Hee was busy cooking in the kitchen while Do-Jun sat on the sofa in the living room, reading a newspaper.

His smartphone vibrated and rang on the table, signaling an incoming call. Do-Jun folded the newspaper, set it down, and picked up the phone to check the caller ID. It was none other than Cheol-Soo.

Do-Jun answered the call. “Yes, Chief?”

—Sorry to bother you on the weekend, but an urgent issue came up. The manager instructed everyone in our unit to come in immediately.

“What happened...?”

A sigh came through the receiver before Cheol-Soo explained.

—You know Fissure number two in Myeongil-dong, right? The Goblin’s Forest. Hunters reported that all the goblins have vanished, and an unidentified monster has appeared. It seems like a rank-up phenomenon.

“A rank-up... Do you know what kind of monster it is?”

—That’s the problem. They say it’s something they’ve never seen before. We need to investigate and update our reports as soon as possible. Fortunately, we don’t seem to have any casualties.

“That’s a relief,” Do-Jun responded.

—It is, but it’s still an urgent matter. It’ll probably take you around an hour to get here, right?

“No, Chief.”

—What do you mean?

“I’ll see you soon.” Do-Jun ended the call.

As he put down the phone, Yoon-Hee, who had been preparing dinner, approached cautiously.

“Do you have to go to work...?” she asked.

“Yeah. Seems like there’s an urgent issue.”

“What about dinner? If you don’t have to leave immediately, you could at least eat first...”

“It’s fine. I’ll eat after work.”

Do-Jun changed out of his casual clothes into a suit before leaving the house.

***

On the rooftop, Cheol-Soo sighed as he exhaled cigarette smoke into the evening air. The cigarette burned down to the filter, and with a regretful final puff, he stubbed it out in the ashtray.

He entered the elevator and pressed the button for the seventh floor, where his office was located. As the elevator ascended, Cheol-Soo closed his eyes and let out another sigh.

Recently, it felt as though incidents and accidents were piling up. He found himself worrying about what might happen if monsters took over the world.

Ding!

The elevator doors opened, and he stepped out.

“Whoa!” Cheol-Soo exclaimed in utter amazement.

“Ah, Chief.” Do-Jun paused as he walked down the hallway to the office.

Startled, Cheol-Soo glanced at his phone to check the time. It was 7:20 PM. He remembered calling Do-Jun at 7:02 PM, so how did he arrive here so quickly?

“Were you already at the office...?” he asked Do-Jun.

“No, I was home. You said it was urgent, so I ran here,” Do-Jun replied with a small smile and entered the office.

“Aha, I see. You ran he...” Cheol-Soo trailed off, suddenly remembering that Do-Jun lived ten kilometers away from Seoul City Hall. “He ran here?”

He checked his watch again in disbelief.

***

Each Fissure was assigned a Fissure management number.

The Fissure in question was located in Myeongil-dong-002, Gangdong-gu, Seoul. Known as the Goblin’s Forest, this was the first Fissure that Do-Jun had explored after returning to Earth. For that reason, Do-Jun felt a stronger attachment to it compared to other Fissures.

A monster of unknown identity with an unconfirmed estimated rank... Do-Jun thought.

What stood out was that a Fissure’s rank-up phenomenon usually had clear warning signs; even then, the rank typically rose by only one or two levels. For instance, if an F-rank Fissure experienced a rank-up, it would generally produce D-rank or lower monsters, such as Kobolds or Lizardmen.

There was another thing that bothered him.

If there were a hundred goblins, usually one or two Kobolds would appear among them, or their numbers would steadily increase—these were the so-called warning signs. However, the goblins in this Fissure had disappeared all at once, completely replaced by new monsters. It was the first time Do-Jun had encountered such a phenomenon.

This is strange. How could no one catch the signs?

“Do-Jun, find any available Hunters immediately. I’ll start making calls too,” instructed Cheol-Soo.

But instead of waiting, Do-Jun answered with a curt “Yes” and left the office. Normally, he would have waited for the Hunters to arrive, but this time, something felt off. He had a strong urge to check it out immediately.

“Chief, I’ll just step out to the restroom for a moment,” he called back.

“Sure, go ahead.”

***

Gangdong-gu, Myeongil-dong, outside the Goblin’s Forest Fissure.

At the entrance, Do-Jun noticed several F- and E-rank Hunters gathered. They were gesturing and talking among themselves, clearly confused. When Do-Jun moved to enter the Fissure, one of the Hunters rushed to stop him.

“Hey, man, you can’t go in there right now. Do you even know what’s happening inside?”

“What’s the situation?” Do-Jun asked.

“Well... these headless skeleton soldiers are wandering around... It’s horrific. And they’re riding these massive black horses, taller than a person. One hit from them, and you’d be off to hell.”

Do-Jun stroked his chin, lost in thought. This wasn’t a type of monster he recognized. Could this be the emergence of a new monster species? Either way, he needed to see it for himself.

“Thanks for letting me know,” he said.

“H-hey, wait!”

Ignoring the warnings, Do-Jun stepped into the Fissure.

***

Inside the Fissure, he saw a scene that was slightly different from the map he had obtained during his previous exploration. As the Hunters had described, skeletal monsters on horseback patrolled the area. Interestingly, they circled a specific spot, seemingly guarding it.

Are they guarding... a farm?

As Do-Jun walked past the Headless Knights, he approached what looked like a field where various vegetables were growing quickly. However, the plants had unfamiliar shapes and colors, unlike anything found on Earth.

“This is...” Do-Jun recognized one of the herbs growing there. It was identical to Nalanium, a medicinal herb he had seen on the first floor of the Core.

To confirm his suspicions, he picked a single sprig of Nalanium. As if triggered, the previously motionless Headless Knights all turned to stare at Do-Jun. The air grew heavy with their killing intent.

“Weird...”

It wasn’t just their aggression; the Headless Knights emanated a strange energy that was distinctly foreign. The power they radiated was at a level that even S-rank Hunters couldn’t handle. It carried a unique energy that Do-Jun had only ever sensed from monsters in the Core.

“Is this Encroachment?” Do-Jun wondered.

Do-Jun recalled something Tusitala had said. “When the Encroachment is complete, the people of Earth will be transported to the Core and will begin the Tutorial.”

Schring.

A formless sword materialized in the air. Gripping the sword, Do-Jun swung it toward the oncoming Headless Knights. As the blade moved, an infinite darkness engulfed the entire Fissure, causing the Headless Knights to vanish without a trace.

***

The next evening, after dinner, Do-Jun stopped by Hakase’s food stall to buy some taiyaki for the kids.

He was surprised to see that Hakase wasn’t alone; Kiriel was there too. The two of them were chatting and laughing, appearing unusually friendly. Do-Jun chuckled quietly at the sight of the two, who had once been at each other’s throats, now acting like close companions.

“Welcome!” Hakase greeted Do-Jun.

“You two seem to be having fun.”

“Yes, things are going well these days,” Hakase replied cheerfully.

“Things?”

“You see, I recently got into farming. Growing Nalanium, Umter, Ailak...”

“Nalanium?” Do-Jun asked.

“Yes. It’s mostly used for medicine, but it’s also a common ingredient in food. Its distinct bitter flavor is known to stimulate appetite.”

“I see...”

“And this dum—er, Kiriel—summoned Headless Knights as guards to keep humans from stealing it,” Hakase explained happily.

Standing nearby, Kiriel smirked and wiped his nose, seemingly proud of his initiative.

Seated across from Hakase, Do-Jun rested his chin on his hand, tapping the food stall’s table with his fingers.

Sensing something on his mind, Hakase asked, “Is something wrong?”

Do-Jun’s tapping stopped. “So... it was you two.”