Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 141

Like any other day, Hakase was busy making taiyaki.

Under the blazing sun, he faced the scorching heat from the taiyaki grill head-on. Of course, such heat posed no real threat for a mighty dragon, but enduring the persistent warmth was still somewhat of a nuisance.

Another customer arrived. “Hi, Mister! Can I get three taiyaki, please?”

Amid flipping taiyaki like a machine devoid of a soul, Hakase briefly lifted his head. Surely, by now, the crowd must have thinned out—or so he thought. However, the sight that greeted him plunged him into despair.

“You’ve got to be kidding me...” he spat.

Not only had the crowd not dwindled, but it had also grown. Three hours into his shift, the cash box already held over a hundred thousand won. With each passing day, word of mouth brought in more customers. Unbeknownst to Hakase, his taiyaki had become a renowned spot for foodies in Bangbae-dong.

“I want a break...” he mumbled with a sigh.

He briefly considered closing up shop but quickly recalled his promise to Do-Jun. He also couldn’t ignore the fact that some humans drove for over an hour by car just to get a taste of his taiyaki.

“Bossman, can I get six taiyaki and two slushies?” asked another customer.

Tilting the batter-filled jug, Hakase poured the thick mixture into the taiyaki mold. Even as he thought about resting, his body instinctively responded to customer demands. Hakase squinted his eyes, deciding he would take a break for just one day. Of course, not a complete break—he would leave the stall in someone else’s hands.

Still, who could he entrust it to?

***

The house was a mess.

Shoes were scattered haphazardly at the entrance. The leather sofa was torn, with stuffing poking out, and the floor was littered with spilled water and toys.

It was utter chaos.

“What happened here?” The master of the house clenched his fists and spoke in an angry voice.

It didn’t make sense. Who could have done this?

The culprit behind the mess was adamant—it wasn’t him.

“I-it wasn’t me, Master! Please calm down!”

“Is there anyone else in this house who would do this?”

“I’m telling the truth! This is very unfair!”

Tears welled up in his eyes. Why did Master always resort to scolding before knowing the truth?

***

“Ugh. Master, I swear it wasn’t me... Ahhh!” Yong-Yong rolled off the bed with a loud thud and woke up.

Rubbing his tear-filled eyes, he dashed to the living room to inspect the state of the house. As always, the living room floor gleamed, the shoe rack was neatly arranged, and the sofa looked pristine.

“Phew. It was just a dream.”

Flopping onto the floor, Yong-Yong let out a sigh of relief. What a ridiculous nightmare! If he was going to dream, why couldn’t it be about feasting on braised short ribs?

He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 10 AM.

Throwing open the balcony curtains, he inhaled the fresh morning air. He turned his gaze to the right toward Hakase’s stall, but Hakase was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he...?” Yong-Yong muttered. “Oh, right! He said he’s taking the day off.”

Then he remembered that Hakase had asked him to run the stall for the day, insisting that taiyaki must remain a year-round service. Yong-Yong opened the fridge to fetch the batter and red bean filling that Hakase had prepared the night before.

***

Hakase was relaxing in his nest, but for him, relaxation meant something slightly different from usual. Instead of lying around and napping, he indulged in his passion for mechanical engineering, studying and conducting experiments to his heart’s content.

Ever since starting the taiyaki business, this hobby had fallen by the wayside. But today, he planned to dive back into it full force.

Hakase paused in the middle of sketching a blueprint. He abruptly stood up, shook his head, and then sat back down. Less than five minutes later, he stood up again.

“No, Hakase. Today is your day off,” he told himself sternly.

Why couldn’t he stop thinking about the taiyaki stall? He smacked his cheeks to refocus.

Ever since he began selling taiyaki, he found himself spending most of his time obsessing over taiyaki recipes rather than pursuing his passion for mechanical engineering. That felt wrong to him.

“This is my calling, not selling taiyaki,” he said firmly.

He just needed to get through a single day of rest without thinking about the fish-shaped buns before returning to his routine at the taiyaki stall tomorrow. Besides, he had left the stall in capable hands.

“I can trust them, right...?” Doubt had crept into his voice.

In the Core, Izaas had been nearly flawless, a perfectionist who wouldn’t tolerate even a single mistake. Although Hakase hesitated to say the same now, deep down, he believed in his lord’s potential.

***

Making taiyaki wasn’t too difficult. First, pour the batter into the mold. Next, add the red bean filling, and finally, cover it with more batter and grill it evenly. The process was simple enough for even Byeol to handle.

Yong-Yong placed a perfectly cooked taiyaki on the display rack, where thirty golden fish-shaped buns were already lined up neatly. However, not a single customer had shown up yet.

“Nom.” Munching on a taiyaki, Yong-Yong pondered why.

He decided to rectify the situation.

First, he needed to make it clear that this stall had delicious taiyaki for sale. Using a marker, he wrote a sign on a piece of paper and stuck it on the front of the taiyaki grill: Seling taiyakie, three fo one thousand.

No, wait.

He crossed out “three” and wrote “four” instead, sort of like a limited-time promotion. Then, he waited.

“Why isn’t anyone coming? These are so good!” He sighed.

Hakase had mentioned that people usually lined up since morning. However, today, passersby only glanced at the stall without buying anything.

As time passed, the weather grew hotter.

Karsiel had left early to investigate the Core with Anne, who usually used the relic, Prophet’s Telescope, to observe it. Maybe they’d found something?

Soon after, Byeol exclaimed, “Look, it’s the taiyaki Mistah!”

“Hakase? Where’s Hakase?” Yong-Yong asked, glancing around.

“Look! I’m the taiyaki Mistah now! I’m selling taiyaki!” Byeol said.

She wasn’t here to buy taiyaki; today, she was selling it, which she found interesting. After observing how it was done, she quickly got the hang of it. The taiyaki tasted decent, too, thanks to Hakase’s batter and filling.

“Excuse me, are you selling taiyaki here?” someone asked.

Finally, they had their first customer of the day.

***

After lunch hours, they began to see more customers.

However, perhaps because Yong-Yong had eaten too many taiyaki while making them, the red bean paste filling had already run out, and their earnings only totaled 18,000 won. Considering that Hakase’s usual earnings exceeded a hundred thousand, this was far too little, even accounting for the lack of red bean paste.

Scratching his head, Yong-Yong suddenly had an idea and dashed back home.

***

He was in a hurry, especially since he had left Byeol alone. Bursting into the house, Yong-Yong bumped into the shoe rack in his haste, but he didn’t have the time to worry about that for now.

He rummaged through the fridge for anything he could use as filling for the taiyaki: sweet potato mousse, strawberry jam, cheese, peanut butter, a leftover Choco Pie, and even some spicy buldak sauce. Yong-Yong stuffed everything into a duffel bag.

As he hurried out, the duffel bag brushed against the dining table. By the time Yong-Yong stepped outside, the items on the table came crashing down.

***

Using the improvised fillings he had brought, which were an assortment of whatever he had grabbed from the fridge, Yong-Yong made more taiyaki to clear the backlog of orders. Some buns had sweet potato mousse, others had strawberry jam and cheese, and some had peanut butter. These turned out to taste quite good.

“Humans like spicy food, right?” Yong-Yong said as he squeezed buldak sauce into one of the buns.

A spicy aroma wafted through the air as the taiyaki cooked to a golden brown. Byeol, who had been staring blankly, suddenly began to cry streams of tears.

“This is weird,” Byeol muttered, wiping her tears with a tissue. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

She tilted her head in confusion. She wasn’t sad, so why was she crying? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t figure out the reason.

“This should do,” Yong-Yong said, looking at the display stocked with over fifty taiyaki.

***

It was already past 4 PM.

The specialty taiyaki that Yong-Yong had whipped up on the spot was a hit with customers and sold like hotcakes.

“Woah, this is good! What’s inside this?”

“I got strawberry jam.”

“Mine’s... cheese? But I can taste some peanut butter, too.”

Naturally, the sales figures climbed rapidly. Although they didn’t reach one hundred thousand won, Yong-Yong managed to earn around eighty thousand.

“Let’s close up and head home,” Yong-Yong said, proudly looking at the sales jar.

“Mm! We sold lots,” Byeol agreed.

Then, a tall man emerged from a dark alley, glancing in their direction. He wore a cap, dark sunglasses, and a mask, and despite the summer heat, he was dressed in a coat. He clearly appeared very suspicious. The man hesitated, scanning the area before cautiously approaching.

“Wehcome!” Byeol greeted the last customer of the day.

The man glanced at the backs of cheerful high school students who were happily chatting as they walked away with taiyaki. Then, he noticed the sign on the front of the fish-shaped bun machine that read, “Four for one thousand.”

“You’re selling four for a thousand won?” Hakase asked.

“Yup! There’s a sale today!” Byeol said proudly.

Hakase, who had intended to ask why there was a sale, gave up on the question and simply handed over a thousand-won bill. Coincidentally, there were exactly four taiyaki left. However, for some reason, they appeared slightly redder than usual.

Hakase took a big bite. Having provided the red bean paste himself, he assumed he knew how it would taste, but he was soon proven wrong.

“Argh! What is this?!”

It was spicy—too spicy.

Bright red liquid dripped from inside the taiyaki. Hakase quickly pulled out another one-thousand-won bill and handed it to Byeol.

“G-give me a slushie! Now!”

Yawning, Yong-Yong nonchalantly replied, “Slushies are hard to make, so we didn’t bother trying, Hakase.”

Hakase blinked, then removed his sunglasses and mask. “How did you know it was me?”

“Whoa! It’s the taiyaki Mistah!” Byeol exclaimed.

***

Meanwhile, Karsiel spent the entire day in the Core, surveying it alongside Anne. It had been nothing short of perilous. Through the Prophet’s Telescope, Karsiel had observed powerful figures roaming freely, and according to Anne, a fierce battle for power was currently underway.

Karsiel gently raised her paw to enter the pin for the apartment door before stepping inside.

The entryway was cluttered with shoes, and the living room was in complete disarray, as if a tornado had swept through. Items from the dining table were strewn across the floor.

“Why is it so messy...?” She wondered aloud.

Karsiel sighed, deciding to clean up before the young master returned. Grabbing a dry cloth, she started wiping the floor. Just then, the door opened, and Do-Jun walked in. He was home earlier than usual as he should have been at work at this hour.

He surveyed the chaotic state of the house and locked eyes with Karsiel, who was on the floor cleaning.

Startled, Karsiel hiccupped. Frantically waving her hands, she stammered, “M-master! I-I did not do this. It was already like this when I came in...”

Do-Jun nodded. He was sure she was telling the truth. If anything, she would clean, not make a mess.

“I know.”

Leaving only those words behind, Do-Jun turned and walked out the door.

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