Absolute One's First Time Being a Dad - Episode 69

Kang-jun's gaze lingered for a moment on the top of Jung Yoon-chan's head, which was now flat against the ground in prostration.

"Hey."

At his voice, Yoon-chan cautiously lifted his head...

"Do you know me?"

At Kang-jun's offhand question, Yoon-chan hesitated for a second before bowing again and answering formally.

"I have heard much about you from my master. So much that I could recite the great tales of the Immortal by heart—enough to make my ears grow calluses..."

The word "master" piqued Kang-jun's curiosity, and he abruptly cut in.

"Who is your master?"

Yoon-chan bowed his head once more and answered.

"My master is..."

A heavy silence fell between them, thick enough to feel the tension in the air.

"...Nazgul."

At that name, Kang-jun's eyes—usually unshaken by anything—trembled violently.

Nazgul.

No matter how much time passed, it was a name he could never forget. A loyal vassal, a comrade.

One of the Five Great Ministers who had served as the head of the Military Affairs Bureau, the core institution of the Anux Imperial Palace.

"Nazgul..."

As Kang-jun murmured the name softly, old memories rose vividly in his mind.

"Nazgul's disciple, huh..."

He muttered under his breath before adding,

"Stand up."

Then, without missing a beat, he asked,

"Where is Nazgul now?"

Yoon-chan licked his lower lip briefly before answering in the most cautious tone possible.

"My master has just returned to where he originally resided."

Kang-jun let out a sigh tinged with regret.

"Fate has a cruel sense of humor."

Yoon-chan then continued in a respectful and solemn tone.

"Immortal. In truth, my master repeatedly instructed me that if, by any chance, I were to meet you, I must deliver this message."

"What is it?"

"'I, Nazgul, who swore eternal loyalty to you, pray that you have safely reached the Earth you so longed for...'"

Yoon-chan trailed off, exhaled once, and finished.

"'...And I pray that you find happiness.'"

Kang-jun muttered, "Happiness..." before letting out a bitter chuckle and answering as if to himself.

"Worrying about the strangest things."

Then he added,

"At any rate, I came here to save you."

Having said his piece, Kang-jun took a few steps ahead toward the gate and spoke again.

"There's much I want to ask you. Keep me company on the way back to Earth."

As he walked, fragments of his final conversations with Nazgul flashed through his mind.

It had been an ordinary, quiet day.

The Anux Empire was experiencing its golden ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠age since its founding.

Wars had ceased entirely simply because of Kang-jun's presence...

Even foreign invasions that once threatened the empire's peace had vanished.

Droughts and famines were long forgotten...

And the people lived without worry or hardship.

But.

Ironically, Kang-jun himself was suffering day by day.

"Nazgul."

A chessboard lay between Kang-jun and Nazgul.

Clack.

Nazgul captured Kang-jun's pawn with his queen and replied.

"Yes, my lord."

Kang-jun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kept his eyes fixed on the board as he asked,

"Do you remember death?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then I have a question for you."

Before being revived by Kang-jun's hand, Nazgul had been the protagonist of a legendary "heroic tale" famous enough to be recorded in Anux's continental history.

Long ago, he was known as the savior who fought and defeated the "Dimension-Destroying Bear" that had invaded the Anux continent...

Later, he ascended the throne and ruled justly until fate allowed, before eventually embarking on his final journey—a figure etched into history.

"What was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠'death' you experienced like?"

Nazgul, too, kept his gaze on the board as he answered with perfect decorum.

"It was so long ago that I fear my memory is not precise, but..."

Then, in his signature monotone, he continued.

"From what little I recall, it was rather cozy and quiet."

Kang-jun nodded a few times at that before assessing the state of the board.

Nazgul had just sacrificed his queen—a powerful piece with wide movement—in a bold move.

Kang-jun immediately moved his king to capture Nazgul's queen and asked casually.

"That was an uncharacteristically reckless move for you, wasn't it?"

Despite Kang-jun's words, Nazgul silently moved only his own pieces.

Clack.

Nazgul advanced his knight, pressuring Kang-jun's king.

"Ah, a forced move."

No matter which way Kang-jun moved his king, he had no choice but to retreat.

And so, he wasted his turn repositioning his king.

Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.

The two took turns moving pieces in silence.

After eight consecutive moves in the suffocating quiet...

"Ah."

The game was decided.

"Checkmate."

Kang-jun flicked his own king over with a tap.

Clatter...

Now, there was nowhere left for Kang-jun's king to go.

"No matter where the 'king' moves now, there's no saving him."

Kang-jun's gaze shifted to Nazgul.

"I thought you had blinded yourself to immediate gains and sacrificed your queen, but..."

Nazgul replied.

"My apologies."

Kang-jun shook his head. "No." Then, sincerely, he added,

"It was a brilliant move."

Nazgul had foreseen eight moves ahead, forcing Kang-jun's king to march straight into enemy territory.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to beat you."

He often played chess with the imperial ministers.

Most couldn't even challenge him...

But for some reason, Nazgul remained unbeatable.

"A hundred battles, a hundred losses..."

"Yes, my lord."

"How humiliating..."

Then he added,

"Given your exceptional insight into strategy, I suppose your ability to read the flow of a chess game is also unmatched..."

Nazgul, unshaken, asked in return.

"If my lord were to step into the heart of enemy territory like that 'king,' what would you do?"

Kang-jun answered immediately.

"I'd kill them all and walk out."

Nazgul replied as if he had been waiting for that.

"That is the difference, I believe."

Kang-jun stared at Nazgul with a deep gaze, as if probing for meaning...

"My lord possesses such overwhelming might that he has no need for 'stratagems' or the like."

After a pause, Nazgul righted the toppled king and continued.

"A lowly being like myself lacks such power, so I have no choice but to immerse myself in schemes and tactics, do I not?"

Kang-jun smirked.

"Eloquent as ever..."

Then Nazgul asked pointedly.

"If I may be so bold as to remind you, my lord promised that if I won today's game, I would receive a 'reward'..."

Kang-jun muttered, "That's right," before getting straight to the point.

"I'll give you the imperial seal."

Nazgul jolted in shock, as if he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"My lord...?"

Kang-jun, however, continued nonchalantly.

"My current situation isn't much different from that king's on the board."

Kang-jun was exhausted by immortality.

His longing for home grew heavier by the day...

His heart festered in the endless cycle of unchanging days.

His time flowed aimlessly, without purpose.

"You must remember the decree I issued decades ago, when I summoned all the imperial arch-liches."

Nazgul simply stared at him with empty, unreadable eyes.

Eyes that once burned with a sinister crimson glow...

"I ordered them to find a way for me to enter eternal slumber. I've tried countless times to end my life using every method they devised, but..."

Nazgul answered.

"You failed."

He had wandered for so long, searching for a way back to his home, but it remained out of reach.

In the end, Kang-jun declared he would give up on returning to Earth...

From then on, he focused solely on finding a way to die.

He wanted death.

He threw himself into the Calamity Flames, said to burn everything to nothingness, and spent months there...

He once leapt from the top of the World Tree, tall enough to touch the heavens, in an attempt to end his life...

But all was futile.

No weapon, no matter how mighty, could so much as scratch his skin. Drinking the deadliest poisons daily had no effect.

"Decades passed like that."

Kang-jun added lightly.

"Not long ago, the imperial arch-liches finally reported they had devised a way for me to enter eternal slaughter."

Nazgul remained expressionless.

"Then..."

But the tremor in his voice betrayed him.

"Candras Leoric Nazgul."

Nazgul bowed his head.

"My loyal vassal, my longtime friend..."

Kang-jun clasped his hand tightly.

A skeletal hand, devoid of warmth.

"You may resent me for trying to flee in such a cowardly way."

Then, with genuine sincerity, he added.

"Though it shames me... please take my place and lead the empire."

From the moment he received the arch-liches' report, Kang-jun had pondered his successor.

"Grand Duke Crabsley has volunteered to accompany me in death, so he cannot be considered for the throne..."

Trailing off, Kang-jun continued.

"The Minister of the Interior, Iriel, is too soft-hearted. An emperor must sometimes sacrifice the few for the many."

Nazgul listened in silence.

"And the Minister of Research, the Lich Lord 'Lazarus,' is too vain and eccentric—unfit to rule."

After a pause, Kang-jun added.

"Nor can I entrust the throne to Veronica, whose human form grants her only a short lifespan, just like me."

Finishing, Kang-jun drove the point home.

"So I beg you—succeed me, ascend the throne, and safeguard this land's peace and prosperity with your foresight."

At that, Nazgul finally lowered his head deeply...

"I shall obey..."

Then, after a moment of silence, he added.

"However."

A heavy pause.

"If I may be so bold as to speak plainly... I suspect my lord will not find eternal rest so easily this time, either."

Kang-jun began resetting the chess pieces as he replied.

"Ominous words."

Nazgul's predictions were rarely wrong, so Kang-jun couldn't dismiss them lightly.

But...

Having resolved to abandon everything and flee into death like a coward, he had no right to rebuke him.

"Speaking with you, I often feel as though you've stepped into realms beyond my understanding."

He meant it sincerely.

Nazgul knew something.

Though he didn't know what...

"You clearly know something I don't."

But Nazgul gave no answer to Kang-jun's unspoken question.

And that day's private audience was their last before Kang-jun entered eternal slumber.

Or rather...

He tried to.

The method devised by the imperial arch-liches was "transportation magic."

A spell that would tear his body apart and scatter it across dimensions.

He was certain this would finally grant him death...

「 Jjanggu Bunsik 」

But when the magic activated, what greeted Kang-jun's eyes was the sign of a shabby old diner, written in familiar letters.

"Jjanggu Bunsik..."

Then, with a ding!, several system messages appeared in succession.

[ The privilege of '■■■' is forcibly activated! ]

[ The privilege of '■■■' protects you from shock! ]

【 Privilege: '■■■' does not fall easily. 】

As the bearer of the title '■■■', you cannot meet such a meaningless death.

Please continue to strive with all your might to satisfy the 'Watching Eyes'!

Startled, Kang-jun could only turn his head.

"Grand Duke...!"

He was worried about Crabsley, who had volunteered to die with him.

"I've never seen these characters before."

But Crabsley stood unharmed beside him...

More system messages appeared.

[ The privilege of '■■■' is forcibly activated! ]

【 Privilege: '■■■'s' companions do not fall either. 】

If a companion bearing the name '■■■' were to meet such a meaningless death, the Watching Eyes would surely grieve.

Please join forces with your allies and strive to create an even sturdier, more thrilling narrative!

Somehow, he and Crabsley had crash-landed on Earth...

Amidst the chaos of that unexpected arrival, Kang-jun could only think of one person.

"Once again, you were right..."

And so, this was how Kang-jun returned to Earth after centuries of wandering.