Chapter 316

While having lunch with colleagues at work, there were times when everyone would eat silently without much conversation. This was one of those moments.

Inside a

cheonggukjang

[1] restaurant close to City Hall, the Fissure Exploration Unit staff quietly ate their meals. During such moments, Cheol-Soo often tried to lighten the mood with a sudden, unexpected joke.

“Why does an owl take swimming lessons?” he asked, and Hyuk-Soo and Do-Jun looked at each other in confusion. “Because it didn’t want to go hoo-verboard.”

The table fell silent. Normally, jokes like this would leave the atmosphere even more awkward. But, surprisingly, Do-Jun couldn’t help but chuckle. It wasn’t the forced laughter of someone trying to maintain social etiquette—it was genuine amusement. Sitting across from him, Hyuk-Soo also cracked a smile.

“Chief, that one was actually pretty funny.”

“Right? I’ve got more. What happens when a king parks a car...?”

Encouraged by their reactions, Cheol-Soo started sharing a few more of his so-called “dad jokes” he’d kept in reserve. Ordinarily, most people would cringe or shake their heads at these corny jokes, but for some reason, they struck a chord with Do-Jun, who laughed every time.

***

“Are you serious? You actually thought that was funny? ‘When a king parks a car, it’s parking.’ Where do you even learn jokes like that?” Laghaim asked, wrinkling her nose in disbelief.

Kiriel quietly tried to hide the joke book in his hands behind his back. Earlier at the bookstore, he had been laughing his head off while reading it, but now his sense of humor was being thoroughly rejected.

“H-hmph! I didn’t think it was funny, either.” Kiriel lied.

“Really?”

“Yeah!” he shouted defensively, but then, realizing he had just raised his voice at the Spirit Queen, he gasped in horror. Without missing a beat, he activated his teleportation skill and disappeared from the Spirit Realm.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Laghaim let out a long sigh as she watched him flee.

“‘When a king parks a car, it’s parking’... Seriously...” She muttered it a few more times, shaking her head in disbelief. Then, without warning, a chuckle escaped her lips.

Realizing she had just laughed at such a tasteless joke, her face flushed slightly with embarrassment.

***

Back at the food stall, Kiriel stood at the sink, scrubbing dishes with a sulky expression. Every few moments, he let out a heavy sigh. Hakase glanced at him with narrowed eyes as he swept the floor nearby. The endless sighs had been grating on his nerves for a while.

“Hey, lizard,” said Kiriel finally.

“What?”

“I think my sense of humor just doesn’t match up with other people’s.”

“Where is this coming from?”

Pausing his dishwashing, Kiriel spoke with a dejected voice. “Listen to this: ‘When a king parks a car, it’s parking.’”

“What the hell are you saying?” Hakase asked, annoyed.

“Not funny, huh?”

“Yeah. Not even a little.”

Kiriel let out a resigned breath as if accepting his fate as a comedy outcast.

Hakase shook his head, convinced he would never understand the thought process of this generational idiot. A few moments later, Kiriel finished the dishes, said he needed to step out, and left the stall. Left alone, Hakase found himself repeating the joke in his head.

“Parking... huh? Then, when a king gets scared, is it shocking...? Heh... that’s actually kinda funny.” Chuckling to himself, Hakase resumed preparing the ingredients.

***

“What’s this?” Byeol said, picking up a book lying on the ground near an F-rank Fissure in Huam-dong.

The thin book looked like it had been through a lot. Its cover was worn and frayed, making the title unreadable. Next to her, a Horned Squirrel tilted his head curiously, peering up at the book.

“What kind of book is that?” the Horned Squirrel asked.

“Dunno.”

Byeol opened the book and saw lines of text arranged as Q&A pairs, with the letters “Q” and “A” standing out among the Korean text. She tilted her head, wondering what kind of book it was, and started reading through the entries.

“Q: What happened to the fragile myth?

“A: It was busted.”

The book was filled with hundreds of similar Q&A-style jokes.

Blinking a few times, Byeol’s face suddenly lit up. “It’s a quiz book!”

“A quiz?” the Horned Squirrel asked.

“Yup! You ask questions and guess the answers.”

However, the jokes seemed a little too hard. Byeol guessed they were probably meant for adults. Even so, she smiled brightly, holding onto the book.

“Wow! Sounds fun!” the Horned Squirrel exclaimed excitedly.

“Right? Let’s have fun with it!”

Thinking about what they could do with the quiz book, Byeol suddenly had an idea. With a determined smile, she started running, with the Horned Squirrel hopping along beside her.

***

If a monster appeared in the city, most people would scream and run for the nearest shelter. Most F-rank monsters were no exception, as ordinary civilians stood no chance against them.

However, this didn’t exactly apply to the residents of Bangbae-dong. They had grown accustomed to seeing the F-rank monsters, Horned Squirrels, wandering around with Byeol. Rather than running in fear, people even approached and offered them snacks.

Kim Deok-Bae was arranging the display of the newly arrived clothes outside his store when he was interrupted by a greeting.

“Hello, Mistah!”

He turned around to see Byeol standing there, smiling brightly. She wore a white dress that fluttered in the breeze, and a book was tucked under her arm. His face instantly lit up with a smile. It wasn’t even Monday, but he was delighted to see her nonetheless.

“Mistah, over here!” Byeol called again.

“Oh, hi, Byeol!”

“I’m gonna give you a quiz. Wanna twy answering it?”

“

Haha

! So that book’s a quiz book, huh?”

“Yup!”

“Alright, let’s hear it!”

Byeol opened the book, her eyes scanning the pages carefully as she picked the perfect question.

“Okay, here’s the question!” she said.

“Go ahead!”

“Why did the egg have a day off?”

Kim Deok-Bae crossed his arms, thinking hard. But no answer came to mind.

“Hmm... I don’t know. What’s the answer?”

“Because it was Fwiday!”

The moment he heard the punchline, Kim Deok-Bae realized it was one of those classic dad jokes.

“

Ahaha

! So that’s it—Friday! That’s pretty clever!”

Byeol didn’t fully understand why the answer was funny, but seeing Kim Deok-Bae laugh made her happy.

“Was it funny?” she asked.

“Of course! I love jokes like that.”

“Cool,

hehe

.”

“Your dad will like them too,” Kim Deok-Bae suggested. “Or... maybe not? Actually, that’s a tricky one.”

“Oh! My Daddy likes quizzes, too?”

“Well, you should give it a try. He’ll love anything if it’s coming from you!”

Byeol decided she would quiz her dad as soon as she got home.

“Anyway, since you made me laugh, I should give you a thank-you gift!” Kim Deok-Bae said, grabbing a handful of candy and offering it to Byeol.

“Thank you vewy much!” she said, bowing politely.

Sharing the candy with the Horned Squirrel, Byeol waved goodbye and skipped off to the next shop.

“Have you ever heard about the kidnapping at school? It’s okie, he woke up!”

“What does a nosey pepper do? It gets jalapeño business!”

“What do you call a cwiminal landing an airplane? Condescending!”

***

A few days later, Kiriel wandered down the street, his steps aimless until, without realizing it, he ended up in front of the bookstore he often visited. No matter how he thought about it, the joke collection he had picked earlier still seemed funny. But since others had said it wasn’t, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of humor people actually like these days. Filled with curiosity, he decided to find out.

The doorbell chimed as he walked in.

“Oh! Mr. Kiriel, hello!”

A bookstore employee recognized him instantly, which was expected since Kiriel spent over a million won on books each month, making him a VIP among VIPs. Kiriel responded with a slight nod.

“Ahem. I have a question,” he said, hesitantly.

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“What’s the most popular humor book these days?”

“The most popular humor book... Ah, I know!”

The employee led Kiriel to the Best Sellers of the Month section, picked out a book, and handed it to him. As Kiriel took the book, the employee smiled and started explaining. “It’s called Joke Collection, and it’s been incredibly popular lately. You know, dad jokes? For some reason, they’ve been flying off the shelves since a few days ago—we just restocked another fifty copies today!”

Kiriel stared at the book with wide eyes.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Kiriel?” the employee asked.

Kiriel rubbed his eyes in disbelief. This book—wasn’t it the same joke collection that Laghaim, Hakase, and others had criticized as terrible?

“This... This is the best-seller?”

“Yes! Look over there—people are buying copies as we speak. Oh, and just between us, next month the publisher is releasing a second volume.

Haha

!”

Slowly, Kiriel’s lips started to curl into a smile. Of course. There was no way his sense of humor could be considered niche. Clutching the book tightly, he dashed toward the cashier.

***

“Chief, have you started reading?” Hyuk-Soo asked.

“Yeah, take a look at this. I didn’t know they published stuff like this. I’ve only seen jokes like these online before.” Cheol-Soo held up the book to show the title. “This one’s a big hit right now.”

“Guess people secretly enjoy jokes like these.”

“Seems so. Hey, Do-Jun, have you seen this?”

From behind his partition, Do-Jun glanced at the book in Cheol-Soo’s hands and gave a slight nod. It reminded him of how Byeol had been carrying that book around recently—especially in the Bangbae-dong area, where it seemed like everyone knew about it.

***

“Bye, Squa! See you tomowwow!” Byeol waved at the Horned Squirrel as it scurried into its cave.

The sun had already begun to set, and as the clock ticked past 6 PM, Byeol suddenly remembered that her dad would be home soon! She quickened her pace toward home, hugging her book tightly so she wouldn’t drop it.

***

After returning home from work, Do-Jun took a shower and sat down on the sofa. As if waiting for this moment, Byeol toddled over, holding a book in her hands.

“Daddy.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you like quizzes?”

Smiling, Do-Jun nodded. “I do.”

“Weally? Then I’m gonna ask you a question, so twy to guess!”

“Alright.”

Carefully, Byeol opened the book and flipped through the pages, scanning for a good question. Her tiny fingers traced under each line as her lips pursed in concentration.

“This one’s weally hard,” she murmured.

Hands clasped behind her back, she paced around Do-Jun like a little teacher.

“Here’s the question! Why does an owl take swimming lessons?”

“Hmm... Let me think... Is it because it doesn’t want to go hoo-verboard?”

Byeol’s eyes widened in surprise before narrowing with suspicion. “Hmm, cowwect. But the next one’s even harder!”

Do-Jun did his best to suppress the chuckle that was trying to escape.

“Next question! Why did the egg have a day off?”

“Hmm... That’s a tough one.”

“Wanna hint?”

“Sure.”

Byeol offered to give the first letter as a clue. However, since she couldn’t remember the answer herself, she had to check the book again.

Just then, Do-Jun slowly said, “Ah... was it... Friday?”

Byeol blinked in disbelief. Flipping through the book, she gasped when she found the answer.

“Whoa... Daddy, you’re a genius...”

The game continued.

Sure enough, the correct answer was pa-king, just as her dad had said.

“Daddy, how did you know the answer?” she asked.

Do-Jun replied, “Daddy knows everything.”

Byeol’s eyes sparkled with admiration. Indeed, her dad seemed to know everything there was to know.

1. Cheoggukjang is a stew made with fermented beans. Mind-blowingly stinky, but the taste makes it worth it!! ☜