Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 258
Kiriel left early in the morning. His destination was an F-rank Fissure in Huam-dong.
Upon reaching the corner of the park where the Fissure was located, he looked at it proudly before stepping inside. Inside, there was a guidepost with a map to help the visiting Hunters. On the map, a red dot was marked at the eleven o’clock position, labeled “Comic Book Café.”
Kiriel wiped the guidepost with a cloth he had brought along, ensuring it was clean so that Hunters using this Fissure could easily find their way. Then, he followed the well-maintained forest path toward the comic book café. When he arrived, he placed the latest comic releases he had bought from the bookstore onto the shelves.
He opened the cash box to find a measly sum of 2,800 won collected for the day.
Kiriel hummed thoughtfully.
For some reason, the number of Hunters frequenting this Fissure had been steadily declining. Just a few months ago, the area had been bustling with Hunters, with at least five of them hunting goblins even at dawn. But now, not a single one was in sight.
***
F-rank Hunter Kim Soo-Han was a rookie Hunter in his second year. He had started out as a porter but was now hunting solo.
The dull sound of his club rang out as the goblin he struck collapsed lifelessly.
Having leveled up and improved his stats while working as a porter, Soo-Han had no trouble hunting goblins. He was even considering trying his hand at an E-rank Fissure soon.
“Maybe I’ll start hunting elsewhere tomorrow,” he muttered to himself.
Hmm? He suddenly felt a sticky gaze on him.
Turning his head, he saw a young man sitting on a rock, intently watching him hunt goblins. He seemed to have something to say as he got up from the rock and started walking toward Soo-Han.
“U-uh, do you need something from me?” Soo-Han asked.
“I have something to ask you,” the young man said, clearing his throat. “You mentioned earlier that you were thinking of moving to another hunting ground.”
“Yes, I did. Why do you ask...?”
“Is there something wrong with this one?”
Soo-Han blinked, caught off guard. “What?”
“I’m asking if you find anything inconvenient about hunting here,” The young man repeated.
“Uh, no, not really.”
“Then why?”
Why? What kind of question was this?
Soo-Han glanced at the small, glittering F-rank mana stone in the goblin’s corpse. One of these stones was worth nearly 30,000 won, but even that price had been steadily dropping.
“Well, it’s mostly because there are only goblins here. I feel like my skills have surpassed this place, so I’m considering upping the difficulty. And, honestly, the money isn’t great...”
“I see...” The young man looked visibly disappointed. “So that’s why the humans have all left.”
“You see, I run a comic book café over there,” the young man said, pointing to the red dot marked on the guidepost. “I’ve been stocking up on lots of fun new releases recently, but no one’s been coming to check them out.”
“I see,” Soo-Han said, recalling the rumors he had heard about a lunatic who had opened a comic book café in a Fissure. It dawned on him that the man in front of him was that person.
“Are you leaving because goblins aren’t profitable?”
“Well... yeah, that’s the main reason.”
“Alright.” The young man nodded and then said, “Come back tomorrow.”
Then, he disappeared in a flash.
Soo-Han looked around in shock. “What... what was that?”
***
With a flash of bright light, Kiriel suddenly appeared at the street food stall near Changshin Villa. He approached Hakase, who was chopping green onions, and sat down across from him, grinning from ear to ear. His eyes sparkled with a childlike innocence.
Hakase, however, already felt a headache coming on.
“Let me warn you now: if you’re about to suggest some stupid crap, you’d better drop it,” he said bluntly.
He had lost track of how many times he’d been roped into Kiriel’s antics, only to end up writing reflection papers afterward. What stood out in his memory was how Kiriel always had that same innocent look in his eyes just before causing trouble. Sure, the Earth’s king wouldn’t have made Hakase write the papers if he weren’t to blame for enabling Kiriel, but it was always Kiriel who lit the fuse.
“Lizard, I must be a genius,” Kiriel commented.
More like an idiot, Hakase thought to himself.
“As you know, I’ve been running a business,” Kiriel said, referring to the comic book café, where he charged a hundred won per comic and also sold snacks. “Lately, though, the traffic’s gone down significantly.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So, I asked a human earlier why, and he said goblins aren’t worth much money anymore. You see, I understand. Humans care a lot about making money. So, I’ve been thinking, and I have a great idea...”
Before Kiriel could even finish, Hakase’s knife froze mid-chop. He had a bad feeling about this. Based on Kiriel’s track record, he could already guess where this was headed.
“You’re not thinking of releasing other monsters into the Fissure, are you? Don’t be stupid,” Hakase said with a frown, recalling the last time Kiriel had released Headless Knights to guard their farm, only to be sentenced to write a hundred-page reflection paper by Do-Jun.
“I got scolded by the King of Earth for that. I won’t do anything like that again,” Kiriel stated.
***
The National Smithy, located in the Hunter’s Bureau, was a marketplace where Hunters could buy essential supplies, and it was the largest of its kind in Korea. Naturally, it dealt with buying and selling of materials like monster by-products and mana stones.
“So, you’re saying you want to purchase mana stones?” a clerk asked.
“Yes. And don’t worry, I brought the money,” Kiriel answered.
Ha Ji-Ye worked at the first of the eight counters in the mana stone section. At Kiriel’s reply, Ha Ji-Ye smiled awkwardly. “Right...”
Bringing money to buy mana stones was, of course, expected.
He’s kind of strange, but he’s too good-looking.
The young man with a middle-parted hairstyle was, in fact, remarkably handsome. He appeared much more attractive than most actors on TV. Introducing himself as Kiriel, the young man produced a check, no, a hundred checks, each worth 10 million won.
“I’ll have you know that I’m a man who’s won the lottery jackpot twice,” Kiriel said.
“C-congratulations. Now, which grade of mana stones and how many would you like? Here’s the price chart for your reference.” Ha Ji-Ye handed over a pamphlet.
Kiriel examined the price list. The cheapest F-rank mana stone was priced at 40,000 won, and the price increased exponentially with each higher grade, sometimes doubling or even increasing tenfold.
***
The next morning, Soo-Han made one last visit to the F-rank Fissure in Huam-dong. He had originally planned to start challenging an E-rank Fissure today, but his curiosity was piqued when Kiriel, the man he saw in the Fissure the day before, told him to come back.
Walking along the forest trail, Soo-Han suddenly stopped. About thirty meters ahead, he spotted a goblin. Drawing the dagger from his waist, he approached the goblin with practiced movements and drove the blade into the back of its neck.
“Kerk!” The goblin died instantly.
By now, Soo-Han had become completely accustomed to hunting goblins. Skillfully, he began dissecting the goblin to retrieve the mana stone inside.
But then, what emerged was a blue gem, the size of a finger, glowing faintly. It was clearly different in size and luster compared to the F-rank mana stones he had seen so far.
“Huh? Could this be... an E-rank mana stone?”
This was a first for him. Goblin cores were supposed to be F-rank mana stones by default, but for some reason, this goblin had an E-rank stone. Puzzled but intrigued, Soo-Han decided to keep going and placed the mana stone in his backpack.
Kerk!
Another goblin appeared.
Soo-Han quickly moved, slashing the goblin with his dagger and killing it instantly. Once again, he began the dissection process, and this time, the mana stone he extracted was as big as his palm.
Unable to contain his excitement, Soo-Han shouted, “Wow!”
Although it was a bit murky, there was no doubt—it was a D-rank mana stone.
***
Recently, a rumor spread among Hunters that hunting goblins in the F-rank Fissure in Huam-dong could yield mana stones ranging from F-rank to as high as D-rank.
As the average skill level of Hunters improved over time and the value of mana stones gradually declined, more Hunters began taking risks to challenge fissures of E-rank or higher, leaving F-rank Fissures relatively abandoned. But the Huam-dong F-rank Fissures had become an exception, attracting a flood of visitors.
“Let’s take a break before we hunt again.”
“I heard there’s a resting area in this Fissure.”
“I saw it on the way in and took a photo of the sign with my phone. Just a sec.”
One Hunter pulled out his smartphone and showed a photo of the sign at the entrance. The group of Hunters followed the red dot marked as the resting area.
“Whoa, this place is busy.”
The resting area was bustling with activity. People were lounging on sofas, leisurely reading comic books or snacking on drinks and chips.
“It’s only a hundred won to read a comic book.”
“A bottle of water is five hundred. Anyone got cash?”
“They stocked this place with all the latest comic books.”
“Hey, you love comic books, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
The cash box gradually filled with coins and bills as the Hunters relaxed.
***
The rumors about the Huam-dong F-rank Fissure eventually reached Do-Jun. After investigating the goblins that were dropping mana stones higher than their ranks, he figured out the cause but decided not to interfere.
“Ah, come in, come in.” Hakase greeted Do-Jun warmly at the food stall after a long absence.
He prepared a simple snack of fried chicken wings for Do-Jun and served them with beer.
After a brief silence, Hakase said, “I didn’t realize this, but Kiriel seems to have a knack for business.”
Do-Jun glanced at Hakase, raising an eyebrow, wondering if he was serious.
“You know, the comic book café he’s running. It’s been making quite a profit lately. Just yesterday, he earned 90,000 won. Pretty impressive, don’t you think? Especially with all the talk of a bad economy lately, his revenue keeps increasing.”
Hakase smiled faintly, thinking that maybe Kiriel would become a great businessman someday.
