Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 72

The Seven Star Formation.

There once was a time when Do-Jun served as a scribe for the Martial Arts Alliance of the Central Plains.

One day, as he strolled through a training ground where junior warriors honed their skills, he looked up at the sky and saw a breathtaking scene where starlight was spread out like a river of stars.

Among them, the seven brightest stars—together known as the Big Dipper constellation—stood out.

The stars were named Heavenly Pivot, Heavenly Jade, Heavenly Pearl, Heavenly Authority, Jade Balance, Opening Sun, and Shaking Light. Each shone in the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy, and purple.

As he stared at the constellation, a realization flashed through Do-Jun’s mind, and the result of that epiphany was a new martial art born by his hand: the Seven Stars Escape Technique.

Flash!

“W-what in the world!” Einhasad exclaimed.

In the cloudless night sky, where only moonlight illuminated the hidden world within the forest, seven stars appeared out of nowhere, each radiating a different color and forming a constellation.

Each of these stars held an immense power—the very same used by the challengers of the Core.

“Y-you, are you...?” Einhasad was shocked.

The Transcendents were the seven god-like beings that resided at the deepest level of the Core’s Deep Realm. There was no way such a being could exist among humans, so why was a Transcendent who should remain in the Deep Realm here in this place?

“Destroy.”

As Do-Jun’s deep voice echoed throughout the hidden world of the forest, the seven stars that were drawn in the sky each transformed into a soul sword.

***

The mist that had shrouded the Sleeping Forest dissipated along with the death of Einhasad.

At the same time, the borders between the Edge, the Trunk, and the Core of the Sleeping Forest were broken.

Looking around, Do-Jun found himself surrounded by hundreds of Dark Elves. Ignoring the Dark Elves, Do-Jun approached a woman’s corpse lying on the ground, lifted it, and examined the face.

The woman’s face had often looked up at him in admiration and trust. Her body now had a hole in the abdomen as if pierced by a sharp spear.

He gently set the woman’s corpse down and then walked about two hundred meters eastward. There, he found the body of a young man.

A light blinked from the lens hanging around the man’s neck.

└This is crazy... Did he really die?

└But how did he die without even putting up a fight?

└RIP Sang-Woo, damn.

└Idiots, read the room.

└Wait, isn’t this guy that civil servant from earlier?

└How did he survive?

Do-Jun clenched his fingers and crushed the emergency camera.

Both Ye-Ji and Lee Sang-Woo, who had been with him just a moment ago, had died.

The Dark Elves must have killed them after they were stripped of their Hunter powers with their Status Windows sealed.

They were in a Fissure that appeared on Earth, not in the Core. Why were their Status Windows sealed?

Suddenly, Do-Jun remembered what Tusitala had once said.

“The Encroachment will begin.”

“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.”

Do-Jun looked at the Skill Enhancement Ring on his finger. Light flowed from the ring, which was only supposed to be usable in the Core. Still, this place was a Fissure, not the Core.

He wondered why the Skill Enhancement Ring was activated here, but he set that thought aside for now.

[Pocket Watch (Enhanced)]

Effect: Turn back time by 24 hours.

The Pocket Watch skill allowed him to return to the day before his death.

When he was first transported to the Central Plains, he received a message about his awakening and acquired the Pocket Watch skill, which eventually enabled him to gain his current strength.

Due to the power of the Skill Enhancement Ring, the activation condition that required him to die seemed to have been removed.

[Returning to 24 hours prior.]

***

Do-Jun opened his eyes.

He found himself soaking in a bathtub with Yong-Yong and Karsiel swimming atop the water.

He had returned exactly twenty-four hours back in time.

“Sigh.” Do-Jun closed his eyes and submerged himself up to his shoulders. He didn’t think he’d be using the Pocket Watch skill again, never mind using it for such a reason.

He reached into the towel drawer on the wall, pulled out his smartphone, and called Ye-Ji.

The call connected within a second.

—H-hello?

Hearing her familiar voice over the phone, Do-Jun unknowingly let out a sigh of relief.

“Ye-Ji.”

—Yes, Mr. Administrator?

“Live a long life.”

—H-huh? What is this all of a sudden?

“I just wanted to hear your voice. See you tomorrow.”

—Huh? Huh? Hold on, what?

Do-Jun hung up, and watching Yong-Yong float on the water, he mumbled, “Supreme Yong-Yong.”

“Eh?”

Yong-Yong’s face turned pale as he scrambled out of the bathtub with a loud splash.

He had been making full use of Do-Jun’s SpacePad by watching internet streams at home while Do-Jun was at work. He was shocked, wondering how Do-Jun knew his nickname.

“How long have you known?” he asked.

Do-Jun chuckled softly and replied, “Since tomorrow.”

***

1 AM.

A pen twirled between Do-Jun’s fingers, who was sitting alone in the living room, jotting down notes in a notebook.

He was organizing his thoughts about what had happened... tomorrow.

There was just one main point: the sealing of the Status Window.

In the place known as the Sleeping Forest, when he encountered the boss monster Einhasad, he felt the space warp, and as a result, the Status Window he had been able to use on Earth became unavailable. He activated a new Status Window using the Status Window Snake artifact he had obtained in the Core.

And those who didn’t have the snake, Ye-Ji and Lee Sang-Woo, met their ends.

If they could have used their original Status Windows, they likely wouldn’t have died.

“Encroachment, huh...”

The Transcendents caused chaos in the Core during their journey to the Deep Realm. This meant that they weren’t originally from the Deep Realm.

It made him wonder if they were humans of the Mirror Earths that Tusitala had mentioned.

To correct the narrative—that was what Tusitala wanted—and it clearly had something to do with the Encroachment and the Status Window sealing incident that had happened tomorrow.

After reaching his conclusion, Do-Jun stretched and took a sip of water.

The bedroom door opened with a slight creak.

He turned his head to see Yoon-Hee peeking out, clutching a pillow tightly as she watched him cautiously.

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“Can’t sleep?” Do-Jun asked her.

Yoon-Hee mumbled, “Nope...”

“If you lie down, you’ll fall asleep eventually.”

“When are you going to sleep, Father...?”

“I’ll come in soon. You have school tomorrow, so you should get to bed.”

“You also have work tomorrow, don’t you?”

She absolutely couldn’t say what she really wanted to say—that she couldn’t sleep because Do-Jun wasn’t by her side.

Even Yoon-Hee didn’t know why she felt that way, as she had always managed to sleep alone in the living room until now.

“Want a cup of tea?” Do-Jun asked as he got up.

“Oh, I-I’ll make it for you.”

“Just sit down. Let me do this, at least. If I keep relying on you for everything, I won’t know how to do anything when I have to live alone someday,” Do-Jun said.

Yoon-Hee was stunned into silence.

Do-Jun boiled water in the kettle and took out two teacups. He opened the drawer, placed a tea bag in each cup, and poured the hot water evenly before bringing them to the table.

“Do you... want to live alone, Father?” Yoon-Hee asked him tentatively.

“Hm? No, not really, but it’ll happen eventually.”

“W-why do you think that?”

“When you eventually get married and move out, and Yong-Yong and Karsiel return to their original nests, it’ll just be me here, right? Well, if they decide to stay, I guess I won’t be alone.”

Thud!

Yoon-Hee slapped the table with her palm. “Father, I am not going to get married.”

“Uh, okay, it’s your choice to make.”

Nowadays, more and more people chose to be single rather than get married, as if staying single had become something of a trend.

But that wasn’t what Yoon-Hee meant.

“Marriage is just a formality where two people become a family, right?” she asked him.

“I... guess so?” Do-Jun replied, slightly bewildered.

Yoon-Hee smiled in satisfaction and nodded.

Anyway... Do-Jun’s thoughts turned to the Core again.

He had intended to leave the Core raid to Behemoth and withdraw from it himself, but considering what had happened tomorrow, he couldn’t just sit idly by.

There was no telling what would happen if the Encroachment fully came into effect, but one thing was certain: His current everyday life would collapse.

***

[Entusha has revealed itself.]

The challengers hid themselves as soon as a massive unicorn emerged from the pond on the first floor of the Core.

They all knew well what would happen if they were spotted by it. They had seen it hundreds, no, thousands of times over the decades.

Neigh.

Entusha snorted as it kicked off the ground and leaped upward. It was one of the three Mythic Beasts dwelling on the first floor of the Core. It emerged periodically from the pond and roamed the first floor in search of food.

“Fuck, it’s showing up way too often now.” A middle-aged man cursed under his breath as he watched the creature frantically ascend.

The beast, which used to appear once every five years, had recently appeared once every three months.

Cruuunch!

“Aaargh!”

It was always going to take an unfortunate victim. This time, it was Carson, the youngest member of the Nadia Blood Alliance.

Having only just reached 20% mastery with his Red Status Window, he failed to hide properly and was caught by Entusha.

After Carson was murdered by Entusha, all that remained was a mastery stone.

Though it was only 1% of the mastery Carson had accumulated, gaining 0.2% at once was significant in the Core.

Entusha absorbed the mastery stone, a primary food source for Mythic Beasts.

It was said that Entusha once thrived on plants and mushrooms growing in the Core, but at some point, it started hunting challengers to the point where it craved nothing but mastery stones.

Suddenly, the members of the Nadia Blood Alliance, who had been hiding, charged Entusha all at once. Five of their members had already fallen to the beast this year alone, and with the loss of Carson, they lost their minds with rage.

Sadly, they shouldn’t have done that.

“Idiots...”

As the long horn growing atop Entusha’s head glowed red, crimson clouds gathered in the sky. A single bolt of lightning struck down toward the members of Nadia.

That was all it took to turn the Blood Alliance members into mastery stones.

Entusha let out a savage roar into the air.

***

Monday, again.

Do-Jun took the afternoon off and entered a Fissure that appeared at Muhakbong Neighborhood Park.

“Foolish human...” Einhasad muttered as it toyed with a flower.

Shortly after, the Sleeping Forest shifted to its alternate state, which Do-Jun was now familiar with. As soon as the Status Window was sealed, Do-Jun used the Status Window Snake to activate a new one.

“I know this is my second time listening to your spiel, but I just can’t get used to it,” Do-Jun muttered as he observed the creature’s delusion one more time.

Boooom!

True qi surged from Do-Jun’s body.

***

Ding-dong.

“Welcome.”

After raiding the Fissure, Do-Jun stopped by a nearby café.

He responded to the cheerful welcome from the barista with a smile and glanced over the menu with its dozens of drink options. At first, he didn’t know what to choose, but after the countless coffee runs he did during meetings and late nights as the rookie, he had a general idea of what was what.

“I’ll have an iced Americano, please.”

Handing over his card to pay 4,500 won, Do-Jun received the buzzer and found a seat.

Then, he called Bureau Chief Jung Young-Chul.