An Ocean-Spanning Offer
The title read: [Landlord Aunt Wants 5 Million Won for Window Repairs, What Do I Do?] [Posted by: Blue Badge 3]
Okay, I’ll admit it was my fault lol.
—ㅇㅇ: What the hell did you do to rack up a 5 million won repair bill? Report her.
↳Blue Badge 3: Right? I mean, it happens. You’re just practicing magic at home and suddenly every window in the living room shatters.
↳ㅇㅇ: You crazy bastard, you should be paying 10 million, not 5.
↳CuteLittleMage: Don’t tell me you used Condensed Vortex from the 1st Circle!?
↳Blue Badge 3: Haha, even left a warning note and everything… This is embarrassing.
↳CuteLittleMage: Oh no……
—ㅇㅇ(142.55): You even got hit with Condensed Vortex on top of everything?
↳Blue Badge 3: Jealous?
↳ㅇㅇ(142.55): Yeah, insanely jealous.
—MurimIsDoomed: Still, kinda jealous you get to break windows practicing magic at home. Some of us climb towers every day and still can’t even touch magic.
—TexasFirefighter: Tsk tsk. This is what happens when you wield magic without control or humility.
↳Blue Badge 3: Shouldn’t you be out putting out fires instead of lecturing here?
↳TexasFirefighter: I’m just stopping by the community on the way to a call.
↳Blue Badge 3: Ah, tough work. Thanks for your service.
By that point, the gallery folks had figured out I wasn’t actually furious—just bored and whining for fun. They started joking around, carefully toeing the line, and I played along with a few replies before swiping the community window away with a sigh.
“Haa… Time to get moving.”
I couldn’t leave the breezy veranda like that. I opened the System Shop tab and bought a 1 million won—100 coin—Restoration Magic Scroll. Catching the yellowed parchment that dropped into the air, I tore it with a slightly pained expression.
Restoration complete.
A soft light swept across the living room. Thousands of glass shards scattered across the floor flew back into place, restoring the floor-to-ceiling windows to perfect condition.
“Agh… My precious 1 million won.”
I tapped the now-intact window and groaned. It was money I could earn in a single day of moderating, but watching it vanish so pointlessly still hurt.
Lee Sieun, who had been standing nearby with a broom and looking guilty, finally lowered it with a sheepish cough.
“Ahem… Well, it’s still cheaper than getting shaken down for 5 million by the landlord. Let’s wash up and sleep.”
“Yeah. Today’s been quite the variety show.”
After a light stretch, I turned off the lights once I confirmed Sieun was in bed. That was when it happened.
Platinum Note received.
“……”
Another Platinum Note? A 10,000-coin Platinum Note that was already hard to receive even once a day had arrived for the second time today. The surprise lasted only a moment. After all, someone had just gifted me a 100 million won letter—what did timing matter?
‘Right. Exactly.’
I focused my mind and opened the envelope. The sender’s name that appeared was completely unexpected.
Sender: Arthur Coleman, President of the United States Awakened Association
Content: My apologies for contacting you at this late hour, Blue Badge 3. I have been watching your activities with great interest.
After seeing your connection with the Ice Palace Lord, I assumed you intended to align solely with the Murim faction. However, after witnessing you accept the Magic Tower Lord’s quest and perfectly control wind magic today, it seems that is not entirely the case.
If possible, I would like to invite you to America. I can promise you the finest treatment.
This is confidential information I am sharing only with you… but contrary to appearances in the community, America and the Empire are not on distant terms. Internally, we have already begun sharing magic and modern weaponry technology, preparing once again for America to become the guardian of Earth. Since you have shown a positive reception toward the Empire Magic Tower’s magic, I am confident our interests align.
“Wow… So America’s planning to go full imperialist now?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“…Ah, sorry. I said that out loud. Perfect timing. Come take a look.”
Before I knew it, Sieun and I—who had already finished getting ready for bed—ended up having a serious discussion. After about thirty minutes of conversation, we reached a conclusion: reject the offer.
The reason was simple.
“There’s no way to guarantee our safety.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
Our identities were fake, but our actual bodies were the ones our parents gave us. The moment those identities were exposed—fake or real—the risk of assassination would skyrocket. Even if America and the Empire provided VVIP-level protection, betrayal was always possible. There was no telling if someone among the higher-ups or bodyguards was secretly working with Murim or China.
Once we made our decision, I sent a reply.
Sender: Blue Badge 3
Content: I am deeply grateful for your generous offer, but I have no intention of serving under anyone just yet. I would prefer to handle my own safety. Still, I will not forget your kindness.
Just as I was about to close the window after hitting send, another notification rang out.
Message from Arthur Coleman, President of the United States Awakened Association.
Content: As expected. My apologies for the unreasonable request. Even if we cannot work together immediately, I hope we can maintain a good relationship going forward. As a small token of my sincerity, please accept this.
Before I could even finish reading, a golden reward box burst open in front of me, followed by a series of flashy notifications.
1 A-rank Confirmed Trait Draw Ticket received from Arthur Coleman.
100,000 coins received from Arthur Coleman.
“……”
“……”
Sieun and I stared at the system notifications and the deposited 100,000 coins in stunned silence, mouths hanging open. A “small token” worth a billion won—America’s scale was on another level.
I swallowed hard and turned to meet Sieun’s eyes.
“S-so… beef tomorrow?”
“…Deal!”
***
Sizzle—!
Marbled Hanwoo sirloin sizzled appetizingly on the grill.
“Hey, flip it. It’s burning.”
“I know, I know. Stop talking while I’m focused on the meat.”
I moved the tongs busily while glancing at the semi-transparent community window floating in the air. Just because we had money didn’t mean we could slack off—moderator work continued even during meals.
Then I noticed a post on the free board with a strangely attention-grabbing title.
[Title: Weird White Thing Found Outside the Elf Forest… What Is This?]
Without thinking, I clicked on it—and instead of text, a high-resolution image of something grotesque filled the screen.
“…Wow.”
It was a cross-section of a monstrous corpse—organs twisted in unnatural shapes, eyeballs embedded everywhere. Indescribably disgusting.
“Hey, why’s your face like that while grilling meat?”
Sieun, who had been wrapping lettuce, followed my gaze into the air and immediately recoiled.
“What the—! Ack! My eyes!”
She dropped her sauce-covered chopsticks and started gagging. I quickly banned the user for 31 days and deleted the post, but the nauseating afterimage was already burned into my mind.
“Ugh… Of all times to post that crap while we’re eating meat.”
“Bleh… My appetite’s completely gone.”
We spent a while staring at the red meat on the grill and overlaying it with the disgusting image we’d just seen, feeling oddly queasy. But the savory aroma of the sizzling premium Hanwoo eventually won out, and before long we were silently devouring the meat again.
After finishing our meal and rubbing our full stomachs, we headed to a newly built public gym for Awakeners nearby to help with digestion.
“Since we’re full, want to do a quick sparring match? Gotta earn our meal.”
“Oh, sounds good. I’ve picked up a few traits here and there while using Auto-Moderation Mode and loopholes.”
Once we faced each other on an empty training ground, Sieun snorted confidently. I loosened my shoulders and drew up my mana. We were indoors, so there was no risk of breaking windows, but I still decided to limit my output to 0.5 Circle level for safety.
“Wind Cutter.”
Several crescent-shaped blades of wind shot toward her from my fingertips. Without panicking, she extended both hands and chanted.
“Children of the earth, rise!”
Rumble—!
The dirt floor of the training ground shook, and a solid earthen wall as tall as a person’s waist shot up, deflecting all the wind blades.
“…Huh?”
I stared in surprise at the scene I hadn’t expected. Small, semi-transparent yellow spirits floated around her.
“Lesser Spirit Magic? When did you get that while working as a Padak?”
“Don’t underestimate this big sis’s potential! My turn now!”
“Why are you ‘big sis’? You could at least say ‘noona’.”
“Whatever! Here I come!”
Following her gesture, the yellow spirit shot forward and turned the ground beneath my feet into a swamp, firmly trapping my ankles. The unexpectedly smooth combination caught me off guard, and I stumbled, losing my balance.
‘Whoa, she’s better than I thought.’
I had underestimated the poor Padak who only did housework, but her affinity with spirits exceeded expectations. Still, I couldn’t afford to lose. I concentrated mana into my trapped feet and used a variation of Breeze Step to lift myself lightly into the air.
“You’ve improved quite a bit, but you’re still far from my level.”
From that position, I swung both hands and summoned a powerful gust.
“Air Bullet, rapid fire.”
Dozens of compressed air projectiles rained down like a storm. Even using the earthen wall as a shield, Sieun eventually reached her limit.
Thud thud thud—!
The wall collapsed, and the remaining air bullets stopped right in front of her nose.
“Damn it, I lost. You could’ve gone easy on me.”
Sieun grumbled while sitting on the ground. I landed lightly, cleared my throat, and offered her a hand.
“Ahem. At least we got some digestion in.”
“…I’ll give you that.”
Her potential was greater than I had expected. If I had let my guard down, I might have really taken a hit.