“It’s pretty entertaining watching the dads sweat bullets.”
For Cheon Gyuri, who had no children, it was simply an amusing sight.
Gu Sinhu, who had seemed to be praying, suddenly began muttering angrily at her taunting tone.
“Sweat bullets? Guildmaster Cheon, our Heeyeon got a perfect score on the mock interview. You should hear how clearly and confidently she speaks.”
Cheon Gyuri shrugged, and Gu Sinhu glanced at Jurim before continuing.
“Guildmaster On might be worried, though. Your daughter’s five now, right? I heard early admission is difficult.”
At Gu Sinhu’s provocation, Jurim gave a derisive snort and replied curtly.
“My kid’s a prodigy.”
Cheon Gyuri snorted as she watched Jurim drum his fingers incessantly against his knee and Gu Sinhu tremble his leg.
‘They’re both pretending to be tough.’
Cheon Gyuri smiled mischievously.
“Then why don’t you both leave your phones here?”
“What for?”
Gu Sinhu tightened his grip around the phone in his hand, while Jurim raised an eyebrow.
“How about we bet on whose daughter calls first? Whoever passes will call as soon as they find out, right? Don’t you think?”
The implication was that a passing result would mean an earlier call, while a failing result would mean a later one.
Jurim narrowed his eyes in displeasure.
“Do we really have to do that?”
But Cheon Gyuri, thinking it was an opportunity to give Jurim a hard time, tapped the table.
Because of a promise they had made in the RP Dungeon, they had almost ended up holding a press conference. The resentment from that still lingered.
“Why not? It’ll be fun. We still have time before the interview.”
Cheon Gyuri beamed.
It was obvious that she found it amusing simply because it had nothing to do with her.
Then Gu Sinhu placed his phone on the table first.
Thump.
“I am curious. Will Guildmaster On’s prodigy daughter call first, or will our Heeyeon?”
“As expected of Heeyeon’s dad. How about it, Gru’s dad? You’re not backing out, are you?”
Gu Sinhu and Cheon Gyuri looked at Jurim at the same time.
“……”
In the end, Jurim placed his phone on the table with an unhappy expression.
Thump.
The two phones lay side by side.
The three exchanged tense glances before directing their attention toward the motionless phones.
At this moment, more nerve-racking than any other, Gu Sinhu clasped his hands together desperately.
‘Please, let’s win just this once.’
‘Heeyeon, you can do it.’
‘You’ll call Dad first, right?’
Just as one minute began to feel like an hour—
Brrrr—
One of the phones began to vibrate.
“……!”
All three pairs of eyes turned toward the table at once.
Only one of the phones had received a call.
Jurim slowly picked up his phone. With a crooked smile, he said,
“Looks like Heeyeon’s running a little late.”
“Ah……!”
Gu Sinhu lifted his phone with both trembling hands.
“Heeyeon!”
Jurim hurriedly pressed the call button as soon as he stepped outside the waiting room, pretending to remain calm.
At the same time, Gru’s voice came through the video call.
—Daaad, Daaad, Daaad!
Rather than being flustered by Gru’s excited voice, Jurim felt relieved and asked,
“Did it go well?”
—Yeees! I paassed! Uju and Oppa Serhi passed too!
Gru jumped up and down, shouting.
Her face disappeared from the screen, only to reappear a moment later, flushed bright red.
—We’re going to have a passing party together too! And also!
“You’re going to run out of breath.”
Jurim chuckled softly and stroked the screen with his thumb, where Gru’s cheek appeared. What he felt beneath his finger was not a warm, soft cheek heated with excitement, but only a cold screen.
He couldn’t shake his regret, rubbing the screen again and again as if he might be able to touch her if he tried hard enough.
He wanted to praise her for doing well and hug her, but Gru said,
—Dad, come quickly too! I’ll be waiting!
“Okay. I’ll be there soon.”
Gru repeatedly reminded him to buy that candy with the ridiculously long name, and Jurim replied several times that he understood.
After the paparazzi photos, requests for commercials had even come in, but no matter how often he heard it, he could never memorize that long name.
At that moment, a staff member came running up to the waiting room.
After confirming that Jurim was on a video call, the staff member gestured that he had to leave now.
Jurim nodded.
“I have to hang up now. I’ll call you again when work’s over.”
Perhaps she still hadn’t come down from her excitement, because Gru bobbed her head enthusiastically.
Was she really that happy?
Just as Jurim lingered, unable to bring himself to end the call, Gru pressed her face close to the phone’s camera and whispered.
—Dad, I love you.
A child’s loveliness always made him smile.
Jurim gave her the answer he had once been unable to return.
“I love you too.”
Gru smiled brightly.
*
The man pulling a suitcase through the airport terminal suddenly stopped walking.
On a television surrounded by small groups of people was On Jurim’s face.
The camera showed Gu Sinhu furiously exploding, Cheon Gyuri bursting into laughter, and Jurim wearing an utterly shameless expression.
The man stared at the screen for some time before turning around and heading out through the exit.
The taxi driver would be waiting, so he could no longer afford to dawdle.
He adjusted the collar of his coat, which fell to his ankles.
Winter had not yet passed in Korea, so he had hurriedly brought along a coat, but even the thin cashmere did not completely keep out the cold.
After checking the license plate number of the taxi he had arranged in advance, he got in. The taxi driver gave him a slight bow in greeting.
“Mr. Han?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s see~ Your destination is 61-7 Sangsin-ro, Bundang, correct? Bun-dang.”
The driver pronounced each syllable clearly in case his foreign passenger could not understand. Han smiled.
“Yes, that’s right. Please take me there.”
The taxi driver, flustered by the handsome dimples blooming beneath his sunglasses, awkwardly remarked,
“Oh, your Korean is very good.”
“Is it? I’ve been using Korean for quite some time, but it feels extremely awkward to me.”
“No~ You sound just like a native speaker~”
He smiled again.
“You’re a very handsome man. Even with those sunglasses covering everything, I can tell. You have exactly the kind of face young people these days like. But what brings you to Bundang?”
“Ah…… A friend of mine died, so I’m going to pay my respects.”
“Oh dear, I see. That’s the memorial park…… I asked something so thoughtlessly without realizing. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
“Then are you returning to your home country right after you finish?”
“No. I’m planning to stay in Korea. I have a place now, and there are things I need to take care of.”
“That’s a good decision. Korea is a very safe and wonderful country.”
While the taxi driver went on at length about the merits of Korea and recommended places worth visiting, Han looked out the window and responded from time to time.
Eventually, after driving for quite a while, the taxi came to a stop in front of the memorial park.
At the entrance, Han bought a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, then crossed between the graves without hesitation.
Before long, he stopped in front of a grave mound that appeared to have been built recently.
Instead of a name, the modest gravestone bore a sentence written in the Cyrus language.
[May you find a way to love within God’s embrace…….]
When he lowered his sunglasses, coral-colored eyes were revealed.
Within the irises, black pupils formed a triquetra.
“This seems to be the place.”
A single bouquet of flowers lay before the gravestone, suggesting that someone had already visited.
He placed his bouquet of chrysanthemums in front of the stone.
With both hands in his pockets, he silently read the words engraved upon it.
Within God’s embrace……
“Take me with you.”
He suddenly thought of the audacious little girl from Cyrus.
Cyrus, where the children’s crying never ceased, was surely a country without a god.
Even knowing that countless children had been sacrificed, Han had taken the girl’s hand because of that.
Because he had been drawn to her desire to bring down a godless country.
“Rest well there, Irina.”
As we wished, the Tower will be rebuilt.
I hope you’ll watch over it from above.
End of Part One
[Character Introductions]
On Gru
⋅Gender: Female
⋅Age: 5
⋅Likes: Dinosaurs, Gudetama, TiniPing, Groot, and other characters; justice
⋅Dislikes: (Ideologically) villains
She became an S-rank Awakened with an L-rank skill at the age of four, and grew clever in order to understand the system.
Her dream was to earn money and live with her mother and father. While running a business in a dungeon to achieve that dream, she unexpectedly became On Jurim’s adopted daughter.
Her primary skills include the L-rank passive skill “Crafting with a Broken System Engine,” which makes anything possible; “Mold and Meld,” which changes and combines forms; and “Pull It Right Out,” which extracts the properties of materials.
On Jurim
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: 27
⋅Likes: Cars, driving
⋅Dislikes: Amusement parks
A first-generation Awakened who challenged the unprecedented calamity known as the “Tower.” He was the only person to survive and come back down from it.
Guildmaster of Hyeonak and ranked first in South Korea. He is unofficially regarded as the strongest man in the world.
The owner of the Tower’s 99th floor, Shayer, is sealed within his left hand.
The skill he primarily uses in the story is “Internal Interference (SSS).” It is a type of hacking skill that allows him not only to manipulate electronic devices, but also to search through other people’s minds and obtain information.
Mephisto
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: Unknown
⋅Likes: Gru, children’s programs
⋅Dislikes: Gru’s indifference, Veilak
A mysterious life-form created by Gru by extracting a dungeon core.
He once usurped the throne and became emperor, but after being reborn on Earth, he forgot everything.
He is the son of Shayer, the owner of the 99th floor sealed within Jurim’s left hand.
He is registered as Gru’s guardian, but his mental age is about the same as hers.
Veilak
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: Unknown
⋅Likes: Zombies, Uju (food)
⋅Dislikes: Mephisto
He was sealed in the body of a young child by monster poachers, but Gru’s skill changed his form again, turning him into an ugly hamster.
Sometimes he cannot maintain his hamster form and transforms back into that of a young child.
He has a somewhat old-fashioned, authoritarian temperament.
Seo Uju
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: 6
⋅Likes: Fangirling over Gru, his father, acting
⋅Dislikes: His father’s girlfriend
A popular child actor. He has an unrequited crush on Gru, and because he possesses a large amount of magic power, Veilak constantly eyes him as prey.
Gidan
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: 17
⋅Likes: Baseball, games, dungeon攻略 operations
⋅Dislikes: Soccer
He was the youngest among Korea’s S-ranks until Gru appeared.
For a time, he could not escape the guilt of having run away from his father’s death, but he is overcoming it well now.
Rather than relying on skills, he attacks using his innate stats and combat instincts.
Serhi
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: 17
⋅Likes: Games
⋅Dislikes: Gidan, friends
He is from Gnosis. He was subjected to various experiments in a laboratory, which led him to Awaken and then Awaken again.
Because he had little interaction with others before leaving Gnosis, he tends to embrace being a loner.
He is a magic-type user who manipulates earth, and frequently uses a skill that creates mannequins.
Jin Siwon (Yevgeny Markov)
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: 26
⋅Likes: Family
⋅Dislikes: Gnosis
An S-rank civil servant who defected to Korea. He has a history of killing members of Gnosis to such an extent that he was called a Gnosis hunter.
He can read his opponent’s thoughts through his skill, and summons a snake called Barret to make this possible and uses it in battle.
He and Serhi are brothers who were separated when they were young.
Shin Nayeon
⋅Gender: Female
⋅Age: 23
⋅Likes: Friends, taking photographs
⋅Dislikes: Growing plants
An S-rank hunter and former idol trainee. Born into a wealthy family, with a pretty face and exceptional athletic ability, she nearly lost her friends because she was poor at reading the room.
The skill she primarily uses is “Silver Vines (S).” It can block the magic power wrapped in its vines, and she was even scouted by the United States, which coveted the ability.
However, she joined Hyeonak simply because it was close to her home.
Ham Honggi
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: 19
⋅Likes: Dopamine stimulation
⋅Dislikes: Doing good deeds
The youngest son of the Minister of Justice nominee and the president of the Hunter Association. Though he is a B-rank hunter, he is barely capable of pulling his own weight.
After swindling Gru and stealing twenty million won from her, he instead became one of Gru’s retainers.
Because of orders from his liege, Gru, he now experiences symptoms of addiction, with his hands trembling whenever he does not do something good.
On Suhyeong
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: 67
⋅Likes: Family, work
⋅Dislikes: The media
On Ijo and On Jurim’s father, and the chairman of the Doan Group.
When the ‘Tower’ appeared, he had no choice but to send both his sons into it, where he lost his eldest.
Thanks to his eldest son, On Ijo, participating in a secret government project, the Doan Group received government support. When this fact became known to the media, the group was subjected to countless suspicions and accusations.
It also drove a wedge between him and his second son, Jurim, but thanks to Gru, their relationship is now recovering smoothly.
Nam Jiwon
⋅Gender: Female
⋅Age: 68
⋅Likes: Family, toys, work
⋅Dislikes: Family
Chairwoman of the group with the highest market capitalization in South Korea. She has been close friends with On Suhyeong since their university days and was once On Suhyeong’s first love.
She has a love-hate relationship with her family due to a dispute over her fortune. She is extremely fond of Gru.
Amakusa Kazuki
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Age: 27
⋅Likes: Crafting, doing good deeds
⋅Dislikes: Bad deeds that violate the law
Currently the only S-rank crafting-type awakened, apart from Gru. He is a Jurim fanatic who expresses his admiration for Jurim whenever he appears in the media.
He is famous for his S+ series of weapons, known as the ‘Amakusa Series.’
Chuen
⋅Gender: Female
⋅Age: 30
⋅Likes: Food, mahjong
⋅Dislikes: Hunger
An S-rank awakened with the skill to command ghosts.
Because of her unique skill, many people are after her, and she works as an information broker in the underworld while constantly on the run.
She discovered that the person who had taken Gru to the orphanage had died.
On Ijo
⋅Gender: Male
⋅Likes: Family
⋅Dislikes: Spiders
A one-of-a-kind powerhouse who had no equal while he was alive.
A perfectly well-rounded talent, lacking in nothing in appearance, ability, circumstances, or personality, he tried to be as kind to the world as the world had been to him.
Because of this, he took part in experiments intended to carry on his abilities and risked his life to save the world.
Part 2 Prologue
When he sensed a warm, gentle magical power, Jurim slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw upon opening them was a fresh green sprout.
The tiny sprout poking up from the crown of the beige-haired head was no longer unfamiliar.
It looks like it’s finally coming back to life.
Seeing the once-wilting stem standing straight, Jurim gave a low chuckle, kissed the crown of the head, and wrapped his arms around the soft little body.
But the child wriggled and wriggled, pushed his arms away, and stood up.
“……?”
Jurim sat up blearily and stared blankly at Gru as she climbed out of the bed filled with stuffed toys.
“Where are you going……?”
“On a walk!”
A walk? Rubbing his eyes, he rose after her.
“Why are you suddenly going on a walk?”
Gru puffed out her cheeks as she pulled up the shoulder straps of her loose overalls.
“It’s not s-sudden. Gru promised Daddy.”
“Ah.”
After turning five, Gru had forced several one-sided promises upon Jurim.
One of them was that ‘Gru would take responsibility for anything she picked up.’
He had not been particularly pleased about it, but he had decided to let it go for the time being, since learning how to make and keep promises was important for a child’s education.
Following Gru’s quick little footsteps out of the room and into the living room, Jurim narrowed his eyes at the sight before him.
“What are you going to do?”
“Go on a walk!”
Gru said brightly as she gripped a leash in her hand.
It was the handle of a collar leash.
Jurim looked at the boy wearing a dog collar. He was unmistakably humanoid, no matter how he looked at him.
“……With that?”
“Yeees.”
Gru currently looked like a child her age who had put a dog collar around another child’s neck and was holding the leash.
“Haaawn—”
Beilak, the one attached to the leash, seemed not to care much and was doing nothing but yawning.
Jingle—
The bell hanging around Beilak’s neck rang.
Gru gripped the leash tightly and declared firmly,
“Gru keeps her promises.”
“Yeah, I know, so don’t go outside like that. Absolutely not.”
“Hm?”
Gru’s face had become covertly known through various articles, but if she went outside like that……
There would be articles saying that On Jurim’s daughter had tied up her friend with a dog collar and dragged him around……
Just imagining headlines like ‘Terrifying Five-Year-Old’ plastered across the front page of the newspaper made his head throb.
“No dog collars.”
“Gasp!”
Jurim swiftly removed the dog collar from Beilak and confiscated it.
Where had she even bought something like this? Wasn’t she supposed to come straight to the company after getting out of preschool?
As Jurim turned away, lost in thought, Gru rummaged through her crossbody bag and asked,
“Beii, do you like pink?”
When Beilak nodded with an unmotivated expression, Gru pulled out a pink strap.
“Tada! A harness!”
Jurim hurriedly snatched away the harness.
“No harnesses either!”
Having the harness taken away as well, Gru opened her mouth into a little triangle and let out a lament.
“Eeeh…….”
On Jurim still found childcare difficult.