Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 63

Vroooom.

At 2 PM on a peaceful Saturday afternoon, a large chartered bus was cruising down the highway. Inside, over twenty people were drinking soju and beer while a karaoke machine played songs.

Cheol-Soo stood with a necktie wrapped around his forehead, singing a trot song. “Ohh, my beloved♪”

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

The crowd clapped along, some shaking tambourines. Others weaved through the narrow bus aisles, passing around the liquor.

“Here, Do-Jun, have a drink, ohoho.” Lee Yeon-Hee handed Do-Jun a paper cup and filled it about one-third of the way with soju.

She was a woman in her mid-thirties, a fellow employee from the Fissure Management Division on the administration team. She was passing out drinks and setting the party atmosphere.

Do-Jun lightly downed the soju and returned the paper cup.

“Hunter Ye-Ji, would you also like a drink... Oh, she’s asleep.” Lee Yeon-Hee chuckled awkwardly as she moved further down the bus after realizing Ye-Ji had already dozed off in the seat next to Do-Jun.

“Mmm... Mr. Administrator... Hehe.”

Do-Jun stared indifferently at Ye-Ji, who was sleeping so soundly that not even a bomb going off could wake her up. More precisely, he stared at the damp patch on his shirt’s shoulder, soaked by the drool trickling from her mouth.

Do-Jun recalled what had happened a few days ago.

***

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, at the office of Seoul City Hall’s Fissure Management Division, Cheol-Soo’s loud voice echoed through the otherwise quiet office. “What do you mean you’re canceling? But we’ve already paid?!”

Do-Jun paused his work on the Excel sheet to listen to the conversation. If he concentrated, he could make out the faint voice coming from the other end of the receiver.

—I sincerely apologize, sir. It seems our staff made a mistake and overlooked the pre-existing reservation. We will issue a full refund immediately. Again, we are deeply sorry.

“You’ve ruined our plans! Do you think just a refund will be enough? It’s too late to find another place now. What are you going to do about this?”

—W-we’re truly sorry. We sincerely apologize.

“You can forget about your apology. We’ll be staying at your place, which we reserved, on the scheduled date as planned. Goodbye.”

—W-wait, sir!

Without hesitation, Cheol-Soo slammed the receiver down with a heavy sigh.

The upcoming trip was an overnight retreat for the Fissure Management Division staff, scheduled as part of an Advanced Site Tour in April. But now, the accommodation they booked in mid-March was trying to cancel at the last minute.

Do-Jun quickly searched for the tour announcement document to find the address of the previously reserved lodging and found it was near Mongdol Beach on Geoje Island.

Searching Resorts near Mongdol Beach, he filtered out the spacious-looking ones from the preview images and began making calls.

“Hello, I’d like to make a reservation for April 6th. Would you be able to accommodate twenty people?”

—Oh, you should have called much earlier. You would need four rooms, but we’re fully booked this Saturday. I’m sure other places are the same.

“All right, thank you.”

No matter how many places he called, the response was the same. While there was room for smaller groups, no place could accommodate twenty people at once, and it was too last minute to change the location entirely.

But that was when Ye-Ji entered.

“Mr. Administrator, is something wrong?” Ye-Ji asked with a tilt of her head.

She had just returned from the Hunter’s Bureau. She sat in what had now become her designated seat next to Do-Jun.

After Do-Jun explained the situation, Ye-Ji suddenly stood up and left for the hallway.

“Huh...?” Do-Jun muttered with a puzzled look.

After a few minutes, Ye-Ji returned to the desk and said, “Mr. Administrator, you don’t need to worry about finding a place.”

“Excuse me?”

“So, my family runs a hot spring inn near that area. I asked my mom, and she said we can host up to twenty-five people, and you can all stay for free.”

Hearing this, Hyuk-Soo, who was also searching for accommodations, turned and stared wide-eyed at Ye-Ji as if silently asking if she was serious.

Upon hearing the conversation, Cheol-Soo jumped up from his seat and walked over. “H-hunter Ye-Ji, is that really true?”

“Yes. The original resort was near Mongdol Beach, right? Our inn is about two hundred meters from there. My mom said exactly four rooms are available, so we can put the men in two and the women in the other two. You can look it up if you search for Mongdol Hot Spring Inn.”

It did indeed come up in the online search results, and it seemed quite famous, with dozens of blog posts about it. But there was one problem.

“W-wait, it’s 400,000 won per night?” Cheol-Soo’s eyes widened at the cost of stay.

That would cost them 1.6 million won for the four rooms, which was far beyond their budget.

“Oh, that’s okay. My mom said not to worry about the fees.”

“S-still...”

“She said it’s nothing compared to what you guys do for her clumsy daughter.”

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Ye-Ji then glanced at Do-Jun with a bashful smile and said, “Mr. Administrator, I did well, didn’t I? Say I did!”

Her eyes were filled with anticipation. If she had a tail, it would probably be wagging furiously.

Do-Jun awkwardly patted her head while avoiding her gaze, and Ye-Ji leaned into his hand with a contented expression.

***

The chartered bus, speeding along the highway, finally arrived at Mongdol Hot Spring Inn around 3 PM.

As people stepped off the bus, they couldn’t help but exclaim in awe as they were greeted by the spacious private parking lot and a charmingly decorated garden.

“Hmm, it feels similar to the ryokan[1] I stayed in Japan,” Cheol-Soo muttered as he looked at the large two-story building.

“You’re right. I heard we designed it with that concept in mind from the beginning. That’s why we get a lot of Japanese tourists. Come on, let’s go inside,” Ye-Ji explained as she urged the group inside.

She cheerfully led the way, and the staff from the Fissure Management Division followed her. Upon passing through the main gate, they found themselves in a quaint and elegant interior that caught everyone’s eye.

A middle-aged woman emerged from the front desk, glanced at Ye-Ji, and bowed to the group. “Welcome to our inn. You must be the guests from Seoul City Hall! My daughter has told me a lot about you.”

The head of the division, Kim Deok-Bae, stepped out of the group to receive the greeting. “I’m Kim Deok-Bae, head of the Fissure Management Division. We can’t thank you enough for inviting us today. We came very close to canceling this trip, so thank you.”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you for taking such good care of my daughter. By the way... which one of you might be Supervisor Lee Do-Jun...?”

As the owner, Yang In-Sook, scanned the group, Do-Jun stepped forward and bowed.

“Hello. I’m Lee Do-Jun from Seoul City Hall’s Fissure Management Division.”

“Oh, so you’re the supervisor my daughter mentioned. She speaks so highly of you. She told me how much of a help you’ve been to her. I don’t know how ever to repay the favor. Now, please, come inside; it’s chilly outside. I’ll guide you to your rooms.”

Smiling, Yang In-Sook led them down the corridor. As they followed, the group marveled at their surroundings. Noticing a presence, Do-Jun glanced at a small room behind the front desk.

A shadow quickly vanished from sight. Someone had been hiding and observing him from earlier.

“Let’s go, Mr. Administrator,” Ye-Ji urged as she tugged on Do-Jun’s arm.

As they walked with the others, a young girl peeked out from the room behind the front desk, biting her nails while glaring at Do-Jun.

So, that’s the guy who’s got my sister head over heels for himself...

***

As they entered the room assigned to them and opened the window, the breathtaking full view of the beach was enough to make Cheol-Soo exclaim in awe. The room was spacious enough to accommodate ten people comfortably, and the warm air rising from the floor relieved the fatigue from their long journey from Seoul to Geoje Island.

“Well, since the barbecue isn’t until after 6 PM, how about checking out the hot springs beforehand?” Cheol-Soo suggested to the group.

“Chief, you had a drink earlier. Are you sure you’re okay to go in hot water?” Hyuk-Soo asked with concern.

“It’s fiiine. I’ll just dip my toes for a bit. Do-Jun, let’s go.”

“I’ll join you a little later,” Do-Jun said.

“Really? Then Hyuk-Soo and I will go ahead. Take your time.”

“Yes, Chief.”

Shortly after the two headed toward the hot springs, Do-Jun stepped out into the hallway. After turning a corner, Do-Jun paused, turned around, and stood still in silence.

Soon, he was confronted by someone who had been stealthily following him.

The girl, who appeared to be in middle school, flinched and stepped back in fear the moment she met Do-Jun’s gaze.

Do-Jun sighed and asked the girl, “You’ve been tailing me for a while... Is there something you need from me?”

“W-who said I was following you?!” the startled girl stuttered, avoiding Do-Jun’s eyes.

Although he had noticed her following him for some time, there was no point in pressing her further since she denied it. Ignoring her, Do-Jun walked into the nearby lounge, and the girl naturally followed him.

Pretending to choose a drink from the vending machine, she kept sneaking peeks at Do-Jun sitting in a massage chair with his eyes closed.

Finally, she approached him. “Excuse me, Mister.”

Do-Jun slowly opened his eyes and replied, “Yes?”

“Stop hitting on my sister.”

“What...?” Do-Jun stared at the girl, bewildered.

The fact that she was Ye-Ji’s younger sister was surprising enough, but the accusation that he was hitting on Ye-Ji was utterly absurd.

“There seems to be a misunderstanding. I...”

“Misunderstanding? Do you think I don’t know your true intentions? Sure, my sister’s beautiful, has a great figure, and a good personality. Plus, she’s kind and always buys you food. It’s only natural you’d be interested! But I won’t eeeever accept you!”

When people were extremely taken aback, they often lost their ability to speak. And that’s exactly where Do-Jun was right now.

“But you won’t give up, will you? Because you wouldn’t want to miss out on such an all-rounded beauty! So, here’s my proposal. Let’s play a game. If you lose, you give up on my sister, got it?”

The girl’s attitude was actually quite endearing to Do-Jun. She probably grew up receiving tons of love from her older sister, but now that Do-Jun was in the equation, she likely thought that her sister’s attention had been stolen away by him, making her feel defensive.

Smiling, Do-Jun asked, “And if I win?”

“Hah? That’s not going to happen.”

“Why are you so sure?”

The reason was simple: The girl, Cha Yoon-Ji, wasn’t an official Hunter, but she had already Awakened. Thanks to that, she was able to obtain a temporary Hunter license and, through physical enhancement and hunting in Fissures, had reached the capabilities of an E-rank Hunter.

In terms of physical prowess, defeating an ordinary person was a piece of cake. However, she didn’t reveal this.

“Well, fine. If you win, I’ll do anything you ask,” Yoon-Ji said.

“Anything, huh... So, what are we playing?” Do-Jun asked her.

Yoon-Ji raised her hand and pointed to the table tennis table.

“Table tennis. The first one to score eleven wins,” she declared and placed her hands on her hips, wearing a confident smile.

She must have been pretty good at table tennis. On the other hand, Do-Jun had never played table tennis before—or at least not since he returned to Earth, so he naturally didn’t even know the rules.

Do-Jun pulled out his smartphone and searched for the rules of table tennis on a portal site. Once he roughly grasped the rules and how to play, he looked up at Yoon-Ji.

“Remember, you said anything,” he said with a smile.

***

Yoon-Ji bounced the ball on the table tennis table with one hand, watching Do-Jun.

The well-defined forearm visible through the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt was admittedly slightly intimidating, but seeing him examining the paddle and nodding as if he got the gist of it made her chuckle.

He was clearly a complete beginner. In contrast, she had once won first place in a regional table tennis tournament. There was no way she would lose.

“Don’t expect me to go easy on you. You’d better be ready to cry.” She fired her warning.

“Yeah, yeah...”

Given their age difference, Do-Jun switched from honorifics to informal language, which seemed to irk Yoon-Ji.

“You seem pretty confident, but let’s see how long that lasts.”

Tack.

Yoon-Ji served lightly. She didn’t plan to use any mana from the start, as she was confident that her sheer skill would be more than enough to beat a novice.

But what followed suggested otherwise.

With a casual flick of the wrist from Do-Jun, the ball bounced once on her side of the table before hitting the net behind her.

Yoon-Ji stared at the ball rolling down the net in disbelief. “Eh...?”

Seeing her reaction, Do-Jun smirked and asked, “That means 1:0 for me, right?”

“B-beginner’s luck. I’ll be serious now.”

Yoon-Ji served once again and gripped her paddle tightly as she waited for Do-Jun’s counter. She thought she was just too relaxed earlier and would have no problem if she concentrated just a little bit.

But she was wrong.

Thwack!

As Do-Jun swung his paddle, the sound of the ball bouncing on the table rang out, and the table tennis ball spun and got stuck in the net behind her.

“W-what is happening...?”

She couldn’t see the ball at all. All she knew was that it bounced on her side of the table. After that, it was impossible to tell where it went, how it spun, and its trajectory.

“Now it’s my turn to serve, right?”

Do-Jun caught the ball and looked at Yoon-Ji as she took a deep breath and gathered her mana into her body.

She told herself, no more going easy. Using mana against an ordinary person was cheap, but she couldn’t bear the thought of losing her sister.

Sensing the mana seeping out of Yoon-Ji, Do-Jun smirked and swung his paddle.

***

The utterly one-sided game ended with a final score of 11:0. Yoon-Ji couldn’t score a single point.

She stared blankly at the scoreboard beside the table tennis table, then turned to Do-Jun, who was smiling at her.

What... is this guy?

Placing the paddle on the table, Do-Jun looked at Yoon-Ji and asked, “You did say you’d do anything if you lost, right?”

Yoon-Ji twitched at those words.

1. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn that offers a cultural experience and a glimpse into Japanese hospitality. They are known for their communal baths, tatami-matted rooms, and kaiseki meals served in guests’ rooms—from Google. ☜