Chapter 2: Even the Absolute Being Is a First-Time Dad
Absolute One's First Time Being a Dad - Episode 2
In the history of the Anux Continent, there was a man who became legend—the first to forcibly unite all kingdoms under his rule before ascending to the imperial throne as "Emperor."
Some described his overwhelming power as calamitous, while others likened it to divine authority.
The ultimate necromancer who first reached the 9th Circle.
A disaster descended from another world.
The King of the Dead who commanded tens of thousands of undead.
Until recently, his name was always accompanied by ominous or dreadful epithets. But now...
"Okay, open wide and say 'ah.'"
"Ahh—"
"Good girl."
He was completely absorbed in personally feeding warm baby food to his three-year-old daughter.
"Is it yummy?"
"Yummy!"
As Kang-jun scraped the last bits from the Lock&Lock container with a tiny baby spoon...
"My Lord."
The elderly man standing motionless before the father and daughter—"Chartia von de Crabsley"—spoke with utmost deference.
"I humbly apologize for presuming, but... might you be troubled by something?"
"Does it show?"
"With all due respect, your expression has seemed particularly dark today..."
Kang-jun nodded before responding.
"You're right. I was actually planning to bring this up after finishing Seol's meal."
After quietly answering, he popped the last spoonful into Seol's mouth with a "Here comes the airplane!" then added:
"It seems we've hit a serious snag."
At this, Crabsley involuntarily drew a sharp, shuddering breath.
'A... a snag?!'
How many years had he served by his lord's side?
Surely no less than two centuries.
In all that time, had his lord ever once used the word "snag"?
Not when standing at death's door in the most precarious battlefields...
Not when facing hopelessly one-sided combat without the slightest advantage...
'Never once has he spoken such words.'
In his mind, his lord existed in a category entirely separate from words like "danger," "crisis," or "snag."
Which made it all the more...
He couldn't help but be seized by terrible unease.
What catastrophic situation could possibly warrant...
His lord using the word "snag"?
Kang-jun gestured with his chin toward the mountain of envelopes piled at the table's edge.
"Read those documents aloud for me."
After swallowing dryly, Crabsley picked up a bill with trembling hands...
Using the legendary artifact "Sage's Monocle" enchanted with language deciphering magic, he began reading aloud.
"Final notice for unpaid telecommunications fees..."
"Next."
"Water service termination warning for overdue payments..."
"Next."
"Electricity suspension notice for delinquent account..."
"Next."
"Natural gas service interruption notice for overdue balance..."
"Enough."
After briefly stopping him, Kang-jun wiped Seol's mouth with a handkerchief before asking:
"From what you've heard, what would you say these documents are about?"
"With all due respect, they appear to be... demands for payment?"
Kang-jun exhaled deeply before responding.
"Exactly. My sister never mentioned it, but our finances seem to be in complete shambles."
His gaze naturally fell to Seol sitting quietly on his lap.
Had his sister been living alone, even with factory wages being meager, would things have gotten this desperate?
'Probably not...'
Raising a child alone on top of their already strained circumstances had clearly brought them to this point.
Just as Kang-jun was sinking into these thoughts...
"But my Lord..."
Crabsley cautiously interjected, his voice trembling with barely contained outrage.
"Who would dare demand payment from a member of the imperial family?! This is nothing less than blatant defiance and insult to imperial authority!"
"Yeah, and?"
"Should you but give the order, I shall ensure these insolent curs pay for their crimes with their lives by tonight—"
Instead of answering, Kang-jun clicked his tongue ("Tsk tsk"), making Crabsley promptly seal his lips.
After a brief silence...
Crabsley cleared his throat twice before speaking.
"With all due respect, I may have a solution to our current financial difficulties."
"Oh?"
"We could temporarily increase tax rates until the imperial treasury stabilizes, particularly implementing progressive taxation targeting nobles and regional lords—"
At this, Kang-jun couldn't help but laugh...
"Pfft—"
Eventually bursting into full-blown guffaws.
"Hah, tax hikes. Heh, progressive taxation—"
"M-my Lord?"
"Haa... damn, I'm laughing so hard I might cry..."
Seol, still in Kang-jun's arms, began giggling along without understanding why.
Finally composing himself, Kang-jun wiped his teary eyes.
"You seem to be seriously misunderstanding something. To explain our social status here on Earth using Anux Continent's class system..."
After brief contemplation, he murmured "Ah, right" before adding quietly:
"Think of us as basically 'slaves' or 'commoners.'"
"Slaves... or commoners...?"
"Yeah, probably somewhere between those."
Kang-jun added nonchalantly, his tone completely flat.
"We're in a position where we must eke out a meager existence from the pittance given by the ruling class in exchange for backbreaking labor."
"How dreadful... Then we truly are no better than slaves or commoners..."
Trailing off, Crabsley suddenly staggered as his legs gave way.
'S-slaves...?!'
The shock was unbearable for him.
Despite appearances, he was a pureblood vampire descended from royalty, who once rose to become "Vampire Lord" leading his entire clan!
Later, he oversaw the entire imperial chancellor's office...
Assisting the emperor and achieving numerous merits until being granted the title of Grand Duke!
'And now in this world, I'm merely a slave—?!'
After a dazed moment, Crabsley struggled to compose himself.
'If even I am this distressed, I dare not imagine how our lord must feel...'
A sense of something akin to self-loathing began smoldering in his heart.
Could he still call himself a "loyal vassal" without shame before heaven?
'I still have so far to go...'
Bowing deeply, he spoke with solemn gravity:
"I shall dedicate my entire being to ensuring your imperial majesty is restored to the throne in this world of Earth!"
"Yes, go ahead and do whatever you want to your heart's content."
Though it was merely a sarcastic remark dripping with mockery...
Crabsley interpreted those words as 'I hereby entrust you with all authority and processes leading to the founding of a nation.'
'Ah, my lord places such great trust in me! First, I should investigate the national power and diplomatic relations of the various kingdoms on Earth...'
Just then, Kang-jun stood up holding Seol and spoke again.
"Anyway..."
He added a few more words in a grave tone.
"We need to start making money now."
As he finished speaking, Kang-jun let out an involuntary dry chuckle.
'Money...'
Had he ever worried about wealth in the past few hundred years?
Probably never.
If anything, he might have occasionally fretted over storage methods for the excessive riches he'd amassed—wealth so vast no single person could rightfully claim it all.
But never once had he experienced financial anxiety born from poverty like this.
'Well, I suppose this is a happy problem to have.'
After organizing his thoughts, Kang-jun absentmindedly began patting Seol's bottom—a habit he'd already grown quite adept at.
That night, Kang-jun enjoyed peace as usual.
His daughter Seol slept soundly in his arms...
Pat, pat—
As he gently stroked her back, he watched the TV news.
[According to a survey conducted by the Korean Occupational Research Institute, Hunters ranked as the highest-earning professional group last year based on average income.]
[Even E-rank Hunters—the lowest classification—report an astonishing average annual income of 90 million won...]
[For A-rank Hunters and above, while averages cannot be determined, they record astronomical earnings...]
[Professor Kim Seong-dong from Korea University's Department of Social Phenomena commented, "This redistribution of wealth based on power dynamics will only accelerate further..."]
Kang-jun watched with rapt attention, as if about to be sucked into the TV, when—
"Kang-jun, is the news that interesting?"
His older sister Lee Soo-bin suddenly spoke up. Kang-jun nodded in response.
"The world's changed a lot in the past three years."
Soo-bin naturally took the seat beside him, deftly peeling an apple with a knife as she replied.
"Yeah, it really has. When the Gates first appeared, the despair was indescribable. Watching the news became terrifying."
"That bad?"
"Gates started appearing out of nowhere, monsters poured out everywhere, and so many people died or got hurt..."
Trailing off vaguely, Soo-bin speared a slice of apple with a fork and handed it to him before continuing.
"But we stabilized quickly, thank goodness. Some even say life's better now than before the Gates appeared."
"Really?"
"Honestly, I don't feel it. For ordinary people like us, life's still a daily struggle. Making ends meet is as hard as ever..."
She forced a bitter smile.
"And now we have to worry about Gates appearing anytime, anywhere. Our neighborhood's actually classified as a high-risk zone."
"Can't we move somewhere safer?"
"I'd have done it in a heartbeat if I could. For Seol's sake, I'd move tomorrow..."
Kang-jun took a bite of apple, chewing thoughtfully before cautiously asking:
"Not enough money?"
"No."
"Then?"
A heavy silence fell between them.
Soo-bin managed a smile.
"It's not just 'not enough'—we don't have a single won to spare. We're only able to stay here because our landlady overlooks the late rent payments..."
She sighed unconsciously before continuing with a strained laugh.
"I just hope this week's lottery ticket hits. Then we could live without a care in the world..."
"Lottery?"
"Yeah, I've been putting in 5,000 won every week for years. The jackpot's around 1 billion won these days."
After neatly arranging the peeled apple slices on a plate, she said:
"Kang-jun, tell the old man the apple's ready when he comes out."
Instead of responding, Kang-jun focused on her earlier words.
"So if you had 1 billion won, you could live the life you want?"
"Of course," Soo-bin replied matter-of-factly. "First thing, I'd move to a safer area."
"And then?"
"Hmm... Quit the factory job, focus on raising Seol until I find something better."
Her gaze drifted to Seol, sleeping peacefully.
"She needs love and attention at this age."
Kang-jun nodded several times.
"I'll make it happen."
"Huh?"
"The 1 billion won."
Though he'd forgotten Earth's currency values and couldn't properly gauge the sum's magnitude...
'What a relief.'
The thought that mere wealth could give his sister the life she wanted felt like a blessing.
'If this is a world where power equals money, then earning that much should be trivial...'
Hadn't he spent 300 years on the Anux continent amassing unrivaled, absolute power?
Truthfully, he disliked the idea.
Upon returning to Earth, he'd vowed never to use or reveal his abilities again—all to preserve the ordinary life he'd longed for.
But for family?
He'd break that vow a hundred—no, a thousand times over.
Kang-jun stared at his right hand, flexing it repeatedly...
Simultaneously, the Nine Rings coiled around his heart—symbolizing his mastery of the 9th Circle—stirred restlessly.
'Just until I earn that billion. And I'll be as discreet as possible...'
Suddenly, Soo-bin burst out laughing.
Her brother's absurd promise had triggered a flood of memories.
The Kang-jun in her memories had always made similar grandiose declarations.
'Noona, I'll definitely succeed someday and take care of you!'
They'd lost both parents young in an accident...
Leaving Soo-bin to shoulder the family's burdens.
Perhaps that's why her brother sometimes treated her like a parent, constantly vowing to "repay her."
Just like now.
With uncharacteristic brightness, Soo-bin said:
"This brings back good memories."
"Memories?"
"Never mind. Have more apple."
"Okay."