Chapter 123: Even the Absolute Being Is a First-Time Dad
Absolute Beginner Dad Episode 123
After finishing his work and picking up Seol from daycare, Kang-jun watched as his daughter immediately pulled out a sheet of A4 paper from her backpack and handed it to him.
"Daddy, this."
Kang-jun took the paper and began reading the words aloud.
"Parent-teacher newsletter..."
Before he knew it, he let out an impressed "Oh..." and a gentle smile formed on his lips.
How should he put it...
Holding the newsletter in his hands made the reality of being a parent sink in all over again.
"Teacher said I had to show you!"
Kang-jun quickly scanned the contents.
"Snow White Daycare Arts Festival?"
His eyes widened with interest at the intriguing announcement.
"Oh..."
It was a notice about the daycare's annual arts festival—an event where parents were invited to watch performances prepared by the children.
"For a daycare festival, the lineup seems quite diverse..."
From singing and dancing classes to taekwondo demonstrations and percussion performances, each class seemed to have prepared something unique based on their teachers' discretion.
"So, what's Seol doing...?"
Kang-jun's eyes meticulously scanned the densely packed text on the A4 sheet.
[Love Class: Children's Play]
He turned to Seol and asked, "Seol, are you preparing for a play?"
"Mm-hmm, yes!"
"What kind of play are you doing?"
After a brief moment of thought, Seol excitedly began explaining.
"There's a monster, and we fight it!"
"Huh? You fight a monster?"
"We're brave Hunters—!"
These days, if there was one profession that children Seol's age admired, envied, and aspired to the most, it was undoubtedly Hunters.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that plays, movies, and animations featuring Hunters were being churned out daily.
"What role are you playing, Seol?"
"I'm a super cool Hunter!"
At that, Kang-jun nodded several times as if he finally understood.
"So it's like a children's action play..."
Kang-jun was well aware that the arts festival wasn't a "competition," but...
For some reason, he found himself wanting his daughter to stand out the most at this event.
'Singing and dancing might have some impact, but to outshine taekwondo demos and percussion performances, they'll need solid preparation...'
He muttered under his breath again.
"Quality is everything in action scenes..."
"Daddy? What? Daddy! Daddy!"
"And quality comes from budget."
If the performance needed funding, he could provide it without hesitation.
This was his daughter's first-ever performance—money was no object.
"Alright..."
Kang-jun immediately began typing a message to Seol's homeroom teacher, Lee Ji-hee.
That evening.
"Good evening, sir."
As Lee Ji-hee entered a nearby café, Kang-jun, who had already taken a seat, greeted her warmly.
"Thank you for making time."
"What brings you here...?"
"You're preparing a play, right?"
Ji-hee nodded in confirmation.
"Ah, you mean the children's play for the arts festival?"
"Yes."
"We're working hard with the class to prepare it, but..."
Kang-jun cut in.
"I'll provide funding."
"Excuse me?"
"It's an investment for quality."
After saying this, Kang-jun clenched his fists and mimed throwing a one-two punch into the air before adding seriously,
"After all, isn't quality the lifeblood of action? And quality is usually directly proportional to budget, wouldn't you agree...?"
Truth be told, Ji-hee had been struggling with the limited budget allocated for the performance.
"Thank you so much for offering to help, but may I ask how much you're thinking of...?"
Given that parent reactions and evaluations at the arts festival directly impacted teacher performance reviews...
'I can breathe easier now...'
Ji-hee had been worrying whether choosing a play was the right decision with their tight budget, so Kang-jun's offer was more than welcome.
"I'm not an expert, but a few big bills should be enough for a decent-quality performance..."
She muttered softly, "A few big bills..." then clapped her hands together cheerfully.
"A few million won should be sufficient—"
"No."
"Huh? Then... tens of millions?"
"No."
Ji-hee's eyes widened.
"You don't mean... hundreds of millions?"
Spending hundreds of millions on a children's play for a daycare arts festival?
If anyone else had said it, she would have dismissed it as a bad joke, but...
Coming from Kang-jun, she couldn't take it lightly.
"This is Seol's first performance—no expense is too great if it makes it special."
Hesitating briefly, Ji-hee pulled out a script from her bag and handed it to Kang-jun, gently cautioning him.
"Sir, I truly appreciate your offer. But if you look at the script, you'll see it doesn't require such a massive budget..."
Kang-jun replied softly, "One moment," and began carefully reading the script for the children's play with full concentration...
"You're not seriously planning to have the 'monsters' in the play wear cheap mascot heads or furry costumes played by teachers, are you?"
"Well, that would be—"
"That can't happen. No, it must never happen. That kind of half-hearted effort won't let them outshine the other performances."
Then he drove the point home.
"I'll handle everything."
"Huh?"
"Let's create the best performance possible."
He continued.
"First, we shouldn't skimp on props for dynamic staging."
"Props?"
"Yes. If you authorize it, I'll take full responsibility for preparing them."
He already had artifacts stored in his personal vault that could serve as the "weapons" for Seol and her classmates...
'For the monsters the kids defeat in the play, I can just summon a few skeletons or ghouls and command them...'
The prop issue was practically solved.
"Next is authenticity."
Before Ji-hee could respond to Kang-jun's intense focus, murmuring, "Um, sir..." while hesitating...
"And what if we had an active Hunter as a consultant for authenticity?"
"Hiring an active Hunter as a consultant would be prohibitively expensive..."
Kang-jun immediately pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his contacts—specifically, the numbers of various Hunters.
After a while, he stopped at the name of the most authoritative Hunter he knew.
Then he added.
"This guy will do it for free."
"Huh?"
"Anyway, the groundwork is set..."
With enthusiasm, Kang-jun concluded.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow at the daycare."
After downing the rest of his coffee in one gulp, he stood up to leave.
"Sir..."
Ji-hee quietly watched his retreating figure and murmured.
"Why go this far...?"
From her perspective, having a reliable supporter for the play—which would affect her performance review—was a good thing, but...
"Why...?"
She couldn't help but feel a deep sense of curiosity about his genuine dedication.
Korea's top-ranked S-class Hunter.
Jung Yoon-chan.
In this chaotic era where strength brought "honor" and "wealth," the title of "No. 1 Ranked Hunter" carried...
An indescribably immense value.
"Haa..."
Standing in front of a full-length mirror, Yoon-chan took a deep breath as he checked his outfit.
"This should be fine..."
A high-end custom-tailored suit, hand-stitched by an Italian master artisan.
Leather shoes crafted from refined troll hide and a luxury watch worth billions of won.
After finishing preparations to leave his penthouse, he glanced at his wristwatch.
"I should get moving."
He felt restless.
It was because of the message he had received from Kang-jun the night before.
"My help..."
He checked the follow-up messages.
Until now, he had only ever been on the receiving end of Kang-jun's assistance...
"Finally, a chance to repay the favor..."
With light steps, Yoon-chan left his high-rise penthouse and got into his black sports car.
Vroom—!
He started the engine and was about to press the accelerator to head toward the "meeting place"—Backseol Daycare—when...
"Huh?"
Only then did it occur to him to wonder why the meeting place was a daycare.
In his excitement over Kang-jun contacting him first, he had completely overlooked this obvious question.
"What's going on...?"
On his way to the daycare...
"Hey, it's Jung Yoon-chan!"
Passersby who recognized him through the open window began reacting excitedly...
"Ugh."
Reluctantly, Yoon-chan rolled up the window.
How much time had passed?
Vroom...
His sports car pulled into the parking lot of Backseol Daycare, located in the heart of Yeoksam-dong...
"Let's go..."
He headed straight for the "Love Class."
Finally.
The moment he stepped into the classroom...
"Oh, you're here?"
Kang-jun, who had arrived earlier, greeted him warmly.
"Good morning...?"
Yoon-chan's gaze naturally drifted to the artifacts scattered haphazardly across the classroom floor.
At a glance, there were dozens of artifacts worth billions or even priceless items just lying around.
"You said you needed my help for something...?"
"Oh, that?"
"And what are these 'artifacts' doing here...?"
Kang-jun casually kicked a few artifacts aside with his foot and pointed toward the blackboard at the front of the classroom.
"See that?"
Yoon-chan's eyes followed.
"Arts Festival Children's Play..."
"Keep reading."
"Brave Little Heroes..."
Kang-jun added.
"Yeah, we're preparing a children's Hunter action play."
"Excuse me?"
"You've been recruited as a consultant for authenticity."
Just then, a group of children arrived by daycare bus and poured into the classroom...
Dressed in his formal suit, Yoon-chan stared blankly at the kids before asking hesitantly.
"So you're asking me to consult on a children's play..."
Kang-jun replied.
"You don't want to?"
Yoon-chan quickly answered.
"No..."
Then added.
"It's an honor..."
This was just part of adult life.