Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 110

Morning work sessions were always followed by a lunch break.

Do-Jun usually ate lunch with his teammates, but since they were all out on business trips that day, he headed to the cafeteria alone.

There were two options on the menu: Korean and Western cuisine. As usual, Do-Jun walked over to the Korean cuisine section for his meal. He got a serving of mushroom rice, assorted greens, grilled bulgogi, and yogurt for dessert.

Though it was just a company cafeteria, the food was tastier than most restaurants, so he was always satisfied with his meal.

As he ate, someone placed a tray down across from him. Do-Jun looked up to see a woman with slightly wavy short hair. He recognized her immediately as a fellow intern, though his memory was a bit hazy, and he couldn’t recall her name.

“Mind if I sit here? There aren’t many available seats,” she asked, pulling a chair before Do-Jun could answer.

A quick glance around showed that plenty of seats were available, contrary to her words.

Though he didn’t understand why she bothered to make an excuse, Do-Jun nodded in approval. However, he noticed something odd—her tray held only a single piece of bread. Given the intense workload at the Hunter’s Bureau, he thought it would be tough to last on just a piece of bread.

As he munched on a piece of lettuce, someone passing by called out to her, “What, you’re eating again?”

At the remark, the woman, Lim Jin-Ah, glanced at Do-Jun with a fluster and, after a moment, gave an awkward smile.

“O-oh, I thought the croissants looked especially good today,” she explained herself.

Her curious colleague tilted their head as if puzzled but soon left, telling her to enjoy her food.

Do-Jun glanced at Jin-Ah and made an innocent observation with no other meaning behind it. “You already ate?”

To Jin-Ah, though, it sounded like he was teasing her, and she flushed in embarrassment.

“I only got it because it looked good, really. Don’t get the wrong idea,” she retorted with a scoff.

“Oh? Well, you should eat as much as you want if you’re hungry.”

“I’m not eating because I’m hungry.”

What was he supposed to say to that? Sighing, Do-Jun continued his meal.

Jin-Ah abruptly asked, “By the way, what kind of proposal did you submit to top the intern ranking?”

Do-Jun finally realized why she approached him with just a single piece of bread for a lousy excuse.

Jin-Ah continued without giving him a chance to respond. “I’m sure you referred to the other proposals with an ‘Excellent’ rating from the last quarter, but what was your topic? Was it Fissures? Or maybe something trending like mana stone engineering? Oh, wait, you probably wouldn’t know much about engineering. I heard you joined the workforce right after high school.”

Do-Jun clicked his tongue. This girl sure talked a lot.

“I didn’t refer to any previous materials. I wouldn’t even know where to find them,” he replied.

“Huh? Then how did you... What groundbreaking idea did you come up with?” Jin-Ah asked, surprised.

“Groundbreaking...? No, I only focused on the basics.”

Do-Jun had faithfully stuck to the basics, and that was indeed the truth. Since he’d lost the entirety of his first twenty-six years on Earth, he didn’t have as much knowledge as others. Because of this, he knew he had to focus even more on the fundamentals than most.

“Just the basics?” Jin-Ah asked, puzzled at such a plain answer.

“I see internships as a time to learn the company’s culture and processes and build a foundation. Besides, one month is barely enough time to learn even the basic duties of a team.”

Jin-Ah nodded in agreement.

“Furthermore, the purpose of my team—I work in the Fissure Management Team—is management. That’s it.”

Countless Fissures existed across the country, with over two hundred and fifty Great Fissures ranked B and above and thousands of C-rank and lower Fissures.

In the Fissure Management team, daily tasks were set in stone. Instead of dazzling techniques, what mattered was consistently completing necessary work. The Fissure Management Division at Seoul City Hall was no different.

Do-Jun explained the nature of his team’s work.

“Our team checks for anomalies in the registered Fissures and, if any changes are detected, contacts the guild responsible for that Fissure to verify the change. If the Hunters need support artifacts, we coordinate with the support team to expedite orders from the workshop, and we also manage the settlement for the byproducts collected by the Hunters.”

All these tasks were divided among the team members. Like interlocking gears, if even one stopped turning, it would disrupt the entire operation. Employees of the Fissure Management teams were expected to perform their duties without complaint.

Do-Jun continued explaining, “Sure, adding a new business item to the proposal might stand out, but I questioned the feasibility of an intern suggesting a business plan without a thorough understanding of the team’s responsibilities. To us, it might seem innovative, but to the supervisors with years of experience, it’s probably all the same.”

“So... you think they’re too set in their ways to expect creative ideas from young interns? Then why ask us to come up with proposals in the first place?” Jin-Ah asked, finding it hard to believe that a simple approach could earn such a good rating.

If it could, then she wondered if she had been going about it all wrong.

“I don’t think creativity is the only thing they’re looking for. They’re assessing if the proposal is feasible, whether it’s a one-off or has sustainability, how much it would cost, and how much benefit it would bring the company. If they just wanted creative ideas, why bother with interns? They could open a public contest.”

Watching Jin-Ah sit there, speechless, Do-Jun continued. “There’s a reason why interns are called interns. I think management wants us to learn more about our work as we prepare our proposals.”

***

On the floor of the Artifact Business Team at the Hunter’s Bureau.

After lunch, Jin-Ah returned to her desk and stared at the pile of business ideas she had prepared on her desk. She had been working tirelessly to create proposals in hopes of standing out and getting hired as a full-time employee.

“There’s a reason why interns are called interns.”

Recalling Do-Jun’s words, Jin-Ah turned on her computer. On her desktop, she found a folder containing materials on ongoing projects that a senior colleague had given her, as well as templates for the reports used by the bureau, guidelines, and workflow charts for the team.

These were the “basics” that Do-Jun had mentioned, but material that she had glanced at once and then set aside.

Without a word, Jin-Ah began reading through the documents her senior had provided, this time with full focus.

***

The hallway in front of the Fissure Management Team 1 office.

A woman hid against the wall, peeking her head out to secretly watch a man through the glass door. He had neatly trimmed dark brown hair and sharp yet balanced features that weren’t too imposing. Most importantly, his forearms with faintly visible veins, broad back, and defined shoulders were visible beneath his rolled-up shirt sleeves.

The woman, Ae-Kyung, swallowed unconsciously.

Had she been staring too intently?

Just then, someone placed a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around in a panic.

“Whatcha doin?” the person asked.

“Please refrain from sneaking up on people like that, Ryu Jun-Yeol.”

It was none other than the man known as the Spear King; the second-ranked Hunter of Korea and the second-in-command of Behemoth, the country’s top guild.

“Why the sudden formal language?” he asked.

“I was just... a bit startled, that’s all...”

“Whatever. The Chief wants everyone to gather, so let’s go, chop-chop.”

“Fine, just get your hand off me already.”

Ae-Kyung swatted his hand off her shoulder. Her former lovestruck face now wore a fierce expression, which Jun-Yeol found rather amusing.

“Nothing’s going to happen if all you do is just stare at him, you know?” he commented.

Ae-Kyung’s face flushed bright red. “W-what are you saying...!”

Watching her flustered expression, Jun-Yeol snickered.

***

Hunter’s Bureau Chief’s office.

Four people sat on the sofa in front of the table: Young-Chul and three members of Behemoth Guild.

“Our Status Window mastery is currently at forty percent. At this pace, we should be able to reach one hundred percent and move on to the next level within two months,” Kang-Hyun reported while reviewing the mastery analysis chart.

They steadily improved their mastery with the help of the mapping and strategy guides Do-Jun had crafted for the first floor of the Core.

For reasons unknown, the adventurers on the first floor hadn’t interfered with them, which only benefited them.

“If Supervisor Lee could accompany us, we would progress much faster. But when one of those mythical creatures shows up, we’re forced to retreat to Earth for a few days, which slows us down a bit,” Kang-Hyun added.

“Don’t rush. The most important thing is to stay alive,” Young-Chul reassured him.

“Yes, Chief. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Listening to their conversation, Jun-Yeol glanced over at Ae-Kyung, who was intently studying the strategy report, and smirked. He decided to ask an innocent question.

“By the way, how long is Supervisor Lee assigned to work here?”

Young-Chul answered, “Until the end of the month. He’s here as an intern. Why do you ask?”

Ryu Jun-Yeol casually mentioned what he had seen earlier. “Right before this meeting, I saw a certain lady gazing longingly at him while he was working.”

Ae-Kyung visibly flinched and shot him a murderous glare.

Watching the two, Kang-Hyun muttered, “You probably didn’t even see him that often... Well, Supervisor Lee is indeed handsome, but...”

What they didn’t know was that Ae-Kyung had spent four whole days at Do-Jun’s house. And during that time, they had even shared the same bed.

Although nothing romantic had happened between them, those days had been a significant experience for Ae-Kyung, who had zero prior experience with men.

“W-when did I do anything like that? I was just... curious about why he’s working here, so I looked for a second. Can you all stop jumping to conclusions?” Ae-Kyung snapped, flustered.

“Eh, you’re right. Might as well just give up. Supervisor Lee already has a girlfriend, anyway,” Jun-Yeol remarked.

Ae-Kyung jumped in surprise. “H-he does?”

“No.”

She stared daggers at Jun-Yeol.

“Wow, but that really got to you, huh? Do you actually like him?”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward her. Feeling overwhelmed by their stares, she lowered her head and clutched the fabric of her skinny jeans. That’s when Kang-Hyun stood up, walked over to Ae-Kyung, and placed both hands on her shoulders.

“An excellent choice,” he said with sincerity.

***

It was the end of yet another workday.

Exiting the elevator on the first floor, Do-Jun spotted Ae-Kyung hiding behind the lobby wall, casting furtive glances in his direction.

What is she doing?

When Do-Jun looked her way, Ae-Kyung quickly ducked out of sight. Sensing potential trouble, he considered leaving through the back entrance but sighed and headed toward the front door.

“Oh? Supervisor Lee, what brings you here?” Ae-Kyung greeted with a feigned surprise and emerged from around the corner.

Seeing Do-Jun staring at her silently, Ae-Kyung stammered in embarrassment, “H-hello? S-supervisor Lee?”

Do-Jun spoke in a deadpan tone. “Wow. What a coincidence, running into each other in a place like this.”

“Y-yes! W-what a coincidence!” she stuttered and quickly averted her gaze.

Do-Jun glanced at a nearby corner where Kang-Hyun and Jun-Yeol watched them, trying to remain unseen.

“So.” Do-Jun smiled faintly. “What’s your intention here?”