A Paddak's Day
The forum post title read: Honestly, the Paddak who showed up recently… isn’t he kinda hot? Posted by AbnormalLustLover.
“Haa.” They really never run out of new ways to surprise me. It felt like just yesterday everyone was screaming that the world was ending, yet here I was, watching otherworlders who’d become full-blown internet ghosts getting horny for a moderator. I wasn’t sure whether to find it delightfully comedic or just deeply unsettling. Either way, I had no idea.
Part of me wanted to slam the permanent ban button right then and there, but unfortunately the post didn’t quite meet the criteria. It wasn’t straight-up porn or a targeted attack on another user—just someone screaming their warped sexual fantasies into the void.
And the fact that those fantasies are aimed at Paddak 3—aka me—makes this extra fucked up.
Besides, burning through bans one by one like this was inefficient if I wanted to hit the hundred-ban stat. Most importantly, I couldn’t afford to be painted as some strict dictator. That would make it annoying later when I needed to build favor with the strong ones. After all, a Paddak’s trait only grew stronger the more competently he managed the gallery.
“Haa… guess there’s only one answer then.”
I pressed hard on my temple with my index finger and quickly left a single comment.
The moment I posted, the replies exploded in typical perverted-post fashion—“Huk, Paddak has descended,”“Please step on me, Master,” and other unhinged comments flooded in. I lightly ignored them all and scrolled the window upward.
After mediating a few minor disputes and deleting one particularly disgusting close-up shot of a goblin’s body parts, I could finally wrap up my duties. The clock had already passed 3 a.m.
No matter how useful the slow-motion passive was for reading and processing posts quickly, it didn’t ease the dryness in my eyes or the mental exhaustion.
“Haa… let’s call it here for today.”
I rubbed my gritty eyes and spread my palm toward the empty air. Then I lightly tapped the tab hidden in the farthest corner of the system window.
Special Paddak Authority: Activate Auto-Moderation Mode?
※ This skill can only be maintained for up to 8 hours per day. It will mercilessly block critical disputes and extreme hated images within the community.
“Yeah, yeah, I know it’s supposed to be used the other way around… but I want to control the dawn hours.”
Without hesitation, I pressed the confirm button. All the dozens of community windows that had filled my vision melted away like dissolving ice. The colorful text that had been pressing on my optic nerves vanished, and for the first time in hours I saw the cramped, shabby interior of my one-room apartment.
A five-pyeong space barely lit by a flickering fluorescent bulb. Mold bloomed in one corner of the wallpaper, and through the window I could faintly hear the clashing of blades—Murim warriors fighting in the night streets.
I tugged at the stretched-out short-sleeve shirt I was wearing and collapsed onto the bed. The cheap mattress with its dead springs screamed in protest, but right now even that sounded like a lullaby.
Staring blankly at the water stains on the ceiling, I habitually opened the system settlement window.
Current Coins: 10,500 C
One coin equaled ten thousand won. In cash, that was over one hundred and five million won. For just a few weeks of sitting in my room deleting hated images and controlling bait, it was an absurd amount.
“Already over a hundred million…”
An empty laugh slipped out before I could stop it. It felt wrong to say it to the Hunters who risked their lives clearing gates and literally shitting blood, but looking at this insane cost-performance ratio made me think maybe Awakening wasn’t such a bad deal after all.
Of course, every time I saw a hated image I still wanted to quit being a Paddak…
“Still, I should be able to escape this dirty one-room soon.”
A safer, cleaner place with proper soundproofing. I already had enough money. It was enough to visit a real estate office tomorrow and look at a decent officetel.
Just thinking about it washed away some of the fatigue that had piled up during the day. Finally, I checked to see if anyone had sponsored me any traits or skills, then closed all the settlement windows floating in the air.
The faint blue light filling the room disappeared completely, and total darkness settled in. My eyelids grew heavy. I was already dreading what kind of lunatics would set the bulletin board on fire tomorrow, but for now I needed sleep.
I pulled the blanket over myself, closed my eyes, and drifted off.
Special Paddak Authority: Auto-Moderation Mode will be disabled in 15 minutes.
I woke up groggily to the alarm. After a light stretch, I got out of bed, went to the bathroom, turned on the shower, and let the cold water shock me awake. Then I tore open a meal kit whose expiration date was hanging on by a thread and dumped it into a pot.
While the gas stove heated it, I sat at the dining table and familiarly operated the system. The list of bans Auto-Moderation Mode had executed overnight scrolled up in a translucent window.
Let’s see… I wonder if it left any real porn behind.
Setting aside the strict moderator mask for a moment, I secretly began flipping through the blocked images. Soon I found a rather risqué one—a high-elf photoshoot where leaves barely covered the important parts—and the corner of my mouth twitched upward.
Only one view. Which meant practically no one but me, the moderator, had seen it.
Good. This one goes in my personal folder.
Satisfied with my harvest, I was about to scoop a spoonful of the now-boiling stew when—
A personal message has arrived.
A luxurious golden envelope icon appeared before my eyes. I nearly dropped the spoon I was holding.
A personal message. The ultra-expensive system that cost a thousand coins—one million won—just to send once. What kind of insane rich bastard would spend ten million won on a message first thing in the morning?
Almost in a trance, I tapped the envelope.
Moderator. I shall speak plainly. For just one hour today, close your eyes and allow the children of my North Sea Ice Palace to freely enjoy their deviation in the gallery. In return, I shall gift you a permanent trait from our palace’s secret martial arts.
Allow the North Sea’s Deviation
📍 Reward: Permanent Trait — Snow Shadow Ice Flower Step (a footwork technique that manipulates snow and ice to step through the empty air)
“Hmm.”
After reading the entire message, I was genuinely surprised. I never expected to receive a legendary quest offer this quickly—the kind that normally took at least six months to a year of grinding as a Paddak before a faction leader or equivalent heavyweight would even consider sending it.
They say just triggering a quest costs close to five hundred million won?
And the sender was none other than the master of the North Sea Ice Palace, a force currently locked in fierce power struggles with the Evil Faction, Demonic Cult, and Righteous Faction.
Also… Snow Shadow Ice Flower Step… Is that the one where you step on ice and fly through the air?
I swallowed hard without realizing it. Right now I only had the basic Paddak abilities and decent stats. I had no proper traits, which was why I couldn’t attempt climbing the Tower yet. This was an incredibly sweet offer.
And the condition was simply to slack off on gallery management for one hour.
Well… an hour should be fine if I’m flexible. There’s still the five-minute cooldown rule anyway.
In the end, I put on a capitalist smile and firmly pressed the accept button.
Immediately afterward, the gallery’s main board exploded as if it had been waiting for this moment.
Every time I refreshed, the Ice Palace members’ provocative posts flooded the screen, turning it blue. While observing the overall atmosphere, I clicked on the single post that was getting an absolutely insane number of views.
(An image of an absolute beauty with a cold, haughty expression, surrounded by beautiful and brilliant ice lotuses in full bloom, elegantly raising her middle finger toward the camera.)
If you don’t take advantage of this authority that only costs 51,000 coins, you people are clearly idiots.
Oh shit… it really is the Ice Palace Master herself.
Below the photo of the Ice Palace Master gracefully throwing up double middle fingers, users from the three major factions were already having meltdowns.
“Yeah, I’m pretty curious about that too.”
The completely unexpected wording of “WhatAreYouGonnaDoTV, FrozenTV” had momentarily blue-screened my brain. I barely recovered and began skimming through the ever-increasing comments one by one.
Yep. This should be fine to leave alone for an hour.
While they’re at it, shall I go experience Snow Shadow Ice Flower Step?
Having made up my mind, I practically inhaled the rest of the food, quickly changed clothes, and left the house.