Chapter 80: The Hero Association President's Hobby (1)

Bubble, bubble-

The water in the pot began to boil. It seemed to have reached the right temperature.

"This should be good. Hwaryeon, you can stop breathing fire now."

"Got it!"

Hwaryeon closed her widely opened mouth, and I quickly opened the ramen package and put the noodles and seasoning into the pot.

Plop-

"Hwaryeon, go wait over there."

"Make it quickly! I'm hungry!"

"Alright, alright."

Such a whiner.

I stirred the bubbling ramen with chopsticks. I might not know other dishes, but I'm pretty confident in my ramen-making skills.

"If I add an egg and some chopped green onions..."

It's done. I moved the hot pot to the table. Steam rose, revealing the beautiful form of the ramen.

"Ramen's ready! Come and eat!"

"Ramen! It's ramen!"

Pitter-patter-

The kids must have smelled the finished ramen as they immediately sat down. I ladled ramen into the children's bowls.

"Looks delicious!"

"Dad's cooking is always tasty!"

Blow, blow-

The kids blew on the hot ramen to cool it down before eating. As they ate, Suryeon casually remarked.

"Dad's ramen is always delicious. You could open a shop with this."

"Is it that good?"

"Yeah, it's tasty. I approve from a gustatory perspective."

Slurp-

Suryeon savored the ramen taste calmly, sucking up the noodles. Seeing them eat so deliciously, I really wondered if I should start a business.

"I've been eating ramen for years. I guess I've gotten pretty good at making it."

"As expected of Father! You're amazing!"

Munch, munch-

Choryeon also chewed happily, eating the ramen with gusto. We all finished the noodles cleanly, even mixing in rice to empty the pot completely.

"Ugh, I'm full."

"Yeah! I ate too much!"

"Oof, I overate."

"It's because Father's ramen was too delicious..."

Plop-

Our family lay down in the living room right after eating. Everyone's stomachs were bulging upwards.

Hwaryeon, interested in the swollen bellies, came up to me and said.

"Dad, your belly is huge!"

Pat, pat-

When Hwaryeon hit my belly with her palm, it made a cheerful sound. Suryeon also approached me with interested eyes and patted my belly.

Pat, pat- Pat, pat-

"Dad, you've become an instrument."

"Don't hit too hard, kids. Dad's belly might burst."

"It won't burst from that much, Dad."

Suryeon is cold and keeps patting my belly without mercy. Still, she controlled her strength appropriately, so it didn't hurt.

"Hmm..."

Choryeon, perhaps not liking the sight, slowly moved closer and started patting my belly.

Pat, pat- Pat, pat-

Choryeon made cheerful sounds on my belly and said with a grin.

"Hmm, my sound is more beautiful! As expected, I, Lee Choryeon, know Father's body best!"

Puff-

Choryeon's shoulders rose, her expression full of superiority. Perhaps because of this,

"Hmph, is that so..."

Suryeon, feeling irritated, patted my belly vigorously.

Pat, pat- Pat, pat-

Suryeon grinned, satisfied with the belly sound.

"This is how it should be done. This shows you know Dad well. Don't pretend to know."

"No, Suryeon. Your sound isn't that good. My sound is better."

Pat-

Choryeon patted my belly again. Then Suryeon followed, patting my belly again. This continued as they persisted in their meaningless competition.

'How long are they going to keep this up?'

At this rate, Dad will be fully digested.

As Suryeon and Choryeon's intensity gradually increased, and red marks were about to appear on my belly,

Ring-ring-!

"Oh, a call from the Association. Everyone, move aside."

"Ugh..."

"Aaah!"

I pushed Suryeon and Choryeon away and reached for the vibrating smartphone. Then I opened the screen and checked the message content.

"Hmm..."

It was a more serious message than I expected. It was also a bit sudden. I wondered if I had really grown this much already.

"I'm not sure if I should be happy about this... or not..."

It's ambiguous.

Seeing my uncertain expression, the children who had just fallen over came closer, rubbing their heads that had hit the floor, and asked.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"What's the matter, Father?"

How should I explain this to the kids? I tried to explain in a way they could easily understand.

"My work superior wants to see Dad. The highest-ranking person, at that."

The Hero Association President. That person has summoned me.

I'm not sure if it's good news or bad news, but one thing was clear.

"Kids."

"Yeah?"

"Yes?"

"It seems Dad is doing better than expected."

Anyway, it probably means I've become a superstar. I patted the kids' heads with a strange sense of anticipation.

I felt good thinking I had become a father they could be proud of and that I might be able to earn a lot of money.

'I need to move to a better place soon.'

For my children.

***

Since I was summoned by the Association President, I headed to the Hero Association dressed as best as I could.

'It's still a tracksuit, but this was the best I could do.'

I really need to buy proper clothes now. I didn't have time to buy any because I was in a hurry. To think I'm meeting the Association President wearing a tracksuit…

The need to buy clothes hit me to the bone.

"Still, it's my cleanest tracksuit. They'll probably look at it favorably."

Sigh-

I walked down the corridor with tension.

At the end of the Hero Association corridor, a familiar face was waiting in front of the elevator.

"Ha-jun."

"Senior Han Ji-soo. It's been a while."

Swish-

I waved my hand to greet Han Ji-soo. Han Ji-soo looked me up and down and sighed.

"Ha-jun. That outfit again? How long are you planning to wear tracksuits?"

"With money and all. I didn't have time to buy proper clothes. But isn't this okay?"

"...Not at all okay."

Shake, shake-

Han Ji-soo shook her head and pressed the elevator button.

"Get in. The President is waiting."

"Okay."

I followed Han Ji-soo into the elevator. We went up to a floor almost at the rooftop, but it didn't take long. Han Ji-soo guided me inside and stood in front of a door that looked heavy, telling me.

"The President is in here. You can go in."

"I just open the door and go in?"

"Yeah, to be honest, I don't know exactly why the President called you. But it's probably for something good. Your performance has been quite impressive."

"Hmm, I think so too."

Even I think my performance is amazing. I resolve all dimensional gates alone without a scratch. I'm quite efficient as I don't require much manpower.

'The only downside is it takes a bit longer. But the cost-effectiveness is ridiculous.'

As expected of Ha-jun, father of dragons.

I praised myself in my heart.

"Heh, hehehe..."

"...Disgusting."

Han Ji-soo made a somewhat contemptuous expression, but I decided not to care anyway.

Han Ji-soo can't continue the romance business with me anymore.

"...Suddenly feeling sad. Anyway, I just go in, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Thanks for guiding me this far, senior."

I left a gesture of thanks and put my hand on the door.

Creak-

The heavy door pushed open, and the interior scene began to come into view. An antique wooden interior. It was a space that smelled strongly of the past. And at the end, there was an elderly man sitting in a leather chair.

'...He's clearly taken very good care of himself.'

Though he was old with white hair, he had few wrinkles and looked sturdy. More noticeable than that was his sharp and intelligent gaze, which was maintained despite his age.

'So this is the Hero Association President. Looks like an alpha male.'

Gulp-

I swallowed dryly from nervousness as I approached the President. Seeing me approach, the President started to rise from his leather chair.

As he got closer to me, he extended his hand and said.

"Hero Ha-jun. I've only heard about you, but I'm glad to meet you in person."

"Yes, yes... Nice to meet you..."

I extended my hand with an uneasy feeling and shook hands with the President.

After a moment, the President suddenly pulled on our clasped hands, drawing my body towards him.

'W-What...!'

Then he brought his face close to my neck and,

"Sniff-"

"S-Shit! What are you doing! Crazy old man!"

He suddenly buried his nose in my neck and started smelling.

What is this? Was this summons aimed at my chastity? Do I have to offer myself sexually to the President now? Is this what I have to do to become an S-class hero?

'S-Sorry, my daughters... Dad might end up marrying a strange person... Though I might earn a lot of money...'

Creepy old man.

I quickly pulled away and glared at the President. The President, like a psychopath, looked at me as if nothing had happened.

After a moment, the President looked at me with a serious gaze and quietly said.

"Ha-jun."

"W-What? You old man who ate age for shit."

And then, the President said something shocking to me.

"Is there a dragon near you?"

"W-What?"

"I'll ask once more. Is there a dragon near you?"

The President's eyes were infinitely serious as he said this.

I don't know what it is, but this President seemed to know about dragons, though it might not be in a good way.