Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 293

In the central shopping district of Bangbae-dong, Choi Ye-Rim, who ran her own hair salon, was enjoying a quiet morning. It was 7 AM, and she had opened her shop earlier than most other salons. Not because she was trying to attract customers, but simply because she was an early riser.

She brewed herself a warm drip coffee and sipped it slowly, enjoying the taste that awakened her senses each morning. By the time her mug was half-empty, the little bell on the shop door jingled, signaling a visitor.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Kiriel! It’s been a while. Are you here for a haircut?” She greeted him with a smile.

She remembered the first time she met Kiriel; he had long hair. The foreigner who moved to Bangbae-dong last year had said he’d never had a haircut before. But after she offered to cut it as a kind gesture while trimming Byeol’s hair, he seemed to enjoy it. Since then, he had become a regular at her salon.

“Take a seat here.” She directed him to the middle of the three chairs.

“Alright.” Kiriel nodded slightly and sat in the chair she gestured to.

“You want the same middle-part cut as last time, right?”

“Yes.”

Choi Ye-Rim ran her fingers through Kiriel’s hair to examine it. It had grown quite a bit, but she noticed some changes.

“Uh...”

“What’s wrong?” Kiriel asked, noticing her worried expression and wondering why she froze.

Choi Ye-Rim carefully examined the top of his head. His hair looked noticeably thin. His hair had never been particularly thick, but now his scalp was clearly visible.

“It seems like you might be having some... hair loss,” she said.

“What’s that?”

“Well... it means your hair is falling out a lot. If it continues, you might go bald someday.” 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

At her words, Kiriel was so startled that he dropped his smartphone with a thud.

“B-bald?”

“You’re not there yet, but you should start taking care of it now. Did your father, by any chance, have hair loss issues?”

Kiriel’s eyes darted around nervously. He thought back to his father, the Emperor of the Raden Continent. As far as he remembered, his father’s head had resembled that of a vulture, completely bare at the top.

“Y-yes, my father was bald. But what does that have to do with anything?” he asked nervously.

“Well, hair loss is usually hereditary. If your father had it, there’s a good chance you might inherit it too. However, it’s not always the case.”

“Are you saying I’ll go bald?” Kiriel let out a loud, high-pitched cry, his face pale with disbelief.

“Not yet, but you should consider taking preventive measures,” Choi Ye-Rim consoled him. “For now, I’ll just give you a cut without the perm. Perms can damage your hair further.”

***

A little while later, Kiriel sat under a gazebo in front of the supermarket, anxiously shaking his legs while scrolling through his smartphone.

Hair loss? He had never thought about it before. This was a bolt from the blue.

“How to Manage Hair Loss”

“Hair-Loss-Friendly Foods”

He clicked on one of the articles at the top of the search results.

“To prevent hair loss, it’s important to maintain a healthy diet and get regular sleep. Black soybeans, in particular, are known to be beneficial. They contain high levels of isoflavonoids, a type of phytoestrogen with mild estrogen-like properties, which can inhibit 5α-reductase and dihydrotestosterone, making them highly effective against hair loss.”

***

A few days later, Kiriel was talking with Do-Jun, looking dejected.

“That’s why...” Kiriel explained.

“So it was you. You’re the one hoarding all the beans at the market.” Do-Jun sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead.

When Kiriel met Do-Jun’s gaze, he quickly averted his eyes.

The front page of the local newspaper in Do-Jun’s hand featured the headline: “Bean Hoarding Rampant... But Why?”

“Daddy,” Byeol called from the side.

“Hm?”

“Does that mean Kirieh is bald?”

“Not yet, but he might be, eventually,” Do-Jun explained.

“Oh... Okie.”

Somehow, Byeol looked genuinely sad as she turned her pitying gaze toward Kiriel. Being bald meant losing all hair, and that, to her, was a truly sorrowful fate.

“Kirieh, do you want some of my hair? I have a lot, and it’s long, too,” she offered.

However, her innocent offer felt like a dagger to Kiriel’s pride. He glanced at Byeol’s long, shiny hair. It was thick, glossy, and full of life. At that moment, Kiriel couldn’t help but envy her.

Do-Jun addressed the main issue. “Anyway, hoarding is illegal. It’s fortunate you only bought out the local market. If it had been on a larger scale, the district office staff would have come after you.”

“I’m sorry...” Kiriel lowered his head, ashamed.

Watching him, Do-Jun sighed again. He figured Kiriel probably didn’t even understand the concept of hoarding and had simply bought all the beans in sight without thinking. He could sympathize, though. Hair played an incredibly crucial role in shaping a man’s image.

Do-Jun drummed his index finger on the table, pondering how to handle this new crisis. He also found it fascinating that this guy came from an incredible bloodline of an emperor.

Kiriel sat slumped, looking utterly dejected. His anxiety about the issue was only likely to worsen.

Do-Jun finally asked, “Today, it’s your turn to take care of Byeol, right?”

“Yes...”

“Then why don’t you take her here for me?”

Do-Jun pulled up a picture of a bright red fruit resembling a strawberry, labeled “Darian,” and handed it to Kiriel. When Byeol saw it, her eyes sparkled. It was a fruit she used to eat often to stave off hunger when she lived on the first floor of the Core.

***

On the first floor of the Core at an altitude of approximately eight hundred meters, Kiriel trudged through the dense foliage, following Byeol.

Byeol waddled confidently, her little bottom swaying as if she knew the way perfectly, toddling along narrow paths. Not long ago, Kiriel had been feeling down, but now he couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Byeol’s adorable little figure. Every ten meters or so, Byeol turned around to check on him.

“Are you keeping up okay?” she asked every now and then.

“Hah, I’m famous in the Deep Realm for being an excellent tracker,” Kiriel replied.

Satisfied that Kiriel wasn’t falling too far behind, Byeol turned her attention back to the path ahead.

I’ve never seen this place before, Kiriel thought.

He prided himself on being familiar with most of the Core’s geography, but this area was completely new. Adding to the mystery, the entire forest was imbued with a strange, mystical energy.

“W-whoa!” he exclaimed as roots suddenly burst from the ground and wrapped tightly around him.

Struggling to free himself, Kiriel summoned his strength, but the roots were unyielding, dragging him dozens of meters across the ground.

“Kirieh!” Byeol’s startled voice rang out.

“Dammit! Byeol, run! This place is dangerous!” Kiriel shouted, his voice echoing through the air.

The scene abruptly changed. The dense forest vanished, leaving only an open clearing with a massive tree standing at its center. Ethereal green energy gently swirled around the tree.

Kiriel’s eyes widened in surprise. “The World Tree...?”

No, it wasn’t the World Tree, but it exuded a similar presence.

The roots binding Kiriel retreated into the earth. Dazed, Kiriel stared up at the towering tree. Then, with a sudden pop, Byeol appeared midair.

“Welcome, Kiriel the Transcendent.”

***

The World Tree was the Tree of Life that protected the eighth Floor of the Core. The Tree of Wisdom introduced itself as the source of the World Tree, the entity overseeing the entire Core's ecosystem. It claimed that the fruit called Darian grew exclusively in this sacred place.

“So that’s why I’ve come,” Kiriel muttered.

“Hmm... What was it called again?” asked the Tree of Wisdom.

“Hair loss.”

“You mean baldness?”

“Yes, eventually... no, probably very soon.” Kiriel sighed deeply, remembering a post he’d read on an internet forum that claimed baldness was a disease even gods couldn’t cure.

At that moment, Byeol came running over, clutching the front hem of her skirt. Inside were four strawberries, each as big as a fist. With a small plop, she let the fruit drop onto the grass. They looked exactly like the fruit Do-Jun had shown him before.

Byeol picked up one of the Darians with her tiny hands and handed it to Kiriel.

“Here, twy it, Kirieh!”

“Is it good...?” he asked.

“Yeah! It’s super tasty. I eat it all the time when I’m hungwy.”

Curious, Kiriel examined the Darian before taking a large bite. Juice exploded into his mouth with a tangy yet sweet taste that danced on his tongue. It was more intense than a strawberry, almost addictively so. For something grown in the Core, its flavor was exceptional, enough to make adventurers risk their lives for it.

“Hah, that’s pretty good,” Kiriel said.

He grabbed another Darian. The flavor was so addictive that he couldn’t stop himself from reaching for more, even though he wasn’t particularly hungry.

“Feel free to eat as much as you like. There are plenty of Darians here,” the tree said.

***

After filling himself with Darians and spending the day playing with Byeol on the first floor of the Core, Kiriel finally made his way back to Earth. He carefully handed the sleeping Byeol, who was slung over his back, to Do-Jun. Holding Byeol in his arms, Do-Jun gently patted her back to soothe her as she murmured softly in her sleep.

“Well done,” he said to Kiriel.

“It was nothing.”

Do-Jun looked at Kiriel’s head. Compared to earlier in the day, Kiriel’s hair was now extremely thick and full. His once sparse crown was now so dense that his scalp was no longer visible.

“Kiriel,” Do-Jun said.

“Yes?”

“Your hair has grown a lot.”

“What?” Puzzled, Kiriel raised a hand to his head and felt a full mane of hair. “Wha...! How... how is this possible?”

He quickly grabbed his smartphone and took a picture of the top of his head. The photo showed a full, vibrant head of hair.

“Wow! Wow!”

Kiriel exclaimed in disbelief, repeatedly running his hands through his hair.

***

The next morning, the first customer of the day arrived at Choi Ye-Rim’s hair salon. It was Kiriel again.

“Oh my, Mr. Kiriel! Back so soon?”

“I’m here to get my hair done.”

“Do you want to cut it more?”

Kiriel held up a men’s magazine featuring a model with a classic middle-part hairstyle, a style he had previously favored.

“Well, I can do it, but like I said yesterday, perms can damage your...” Choi Ye-Rim trailed off, her voice hesitant.

Wait, his hair looks... thick? Surprised, she ran her fingers through Kiriel’s hair.

Overnight, his hair had transformed into a luscious mass of strong, healthy strands.

“How... how did this happen? Did you get a hair transplant?” she asked, shocked.

“Hair transplant? That’s a thing?” Kiriel asked, equally stunned.

She concluded that wasn’t the case. With a closer look, all of his hair appeared healthy, lively, and evenly filled.

Without waiting for her to speak, Kiriel seated himself in the middle chair he’d used the day before and wrapped the cape around his neck like a pro.

“Hehe, the King of Earth truly is the best,” he remarked.

“Sorry...?”

Regardless, Choi Ye-Rim styled Kiriel’s hair as requested. After about an hour of meticulous work, the transformation was complete. The man staring back at Kiriel in the mirror looked strikingly handsome.

After paying for the service, Kiriel went straight to show Do-Jun.

Do-Jun chuckled and complimented him, “Looks good.”