Extreme Mode in a Single Kick
I headed to an abandoned building about a ten-minute walk from my studio apartment. Construction had been halted for years, leaving the structure half-collapsed with exposed rebar. Once on the rooftop, I loosened up and opened the system window.
Trait: Snow Shadow Ice Flower Step — Detailed Information
Classification: Movement Technique (Permanent)
Description: Freezes moisture in the air to bloom ice flowers in the void. You may step on the blooming ice flowers to leap, with flight time and speed increasing in proportion to the user's Agility and Mana stats.
“Hmm. The description looks pretty straightforward.”
For a newly awakened hunter who hadn’t even started climbing the tower, this was a high-difficulty skill that would likely end with a twisted ankle rather than proper mana control. But I had stats earned from moderating the gallery—grotesquely inflated raw numbers built by shredding hundreds of trolls every single day. In other words, my current physical abilities should handle it just fine.
“Alright. Let’s give it a shot.”
I took a deep breath and carefully stepped into the empty air.
Crack—!
The moment my foot touched down, the surrounding air chilled rapidly and an iridescent blue ice lotus bloomed. It was solid. The thin-looking chunk of ice floating in midair supported my weight far more reliably than I’d expected.
‘Whoa… this thing actually works!’
With newfound confidence, I stepped forward with my other foot and launched myself into the air.
Crack, crack—!
Every time I moved, transparent ice flowers bloomed like stepping stones across the rooftop sky. At first I flailed my arms for balance, but thanks to my abnormally high Agility stat for someone who hadn’t even cleared the first floor, my body quickly adapted. Walking on air felt surprisingly refreshing. The cold air rising from the flowers even cooled my overheated head after an all-nighter of moderation.
“Nice. This’ll be useful for running away later.”
I circled the rooftop, gradually increasing my speed. The rate at which the ice lotuses bloomed and the distance of each leap followed my intentions smoothly. I was enjoying the sensation when—
Personal message received.
A cheerful notification sounded as a golden-bordered envelope appeared in the corner of my vision. I stopped midair, standing on an ice flower, and opened the message.
‘Who is it this time? The righteous faction? The demonic cult?’
I even felt a flicker of hope that the Ice Palace Lord might be trying to extend their quest time, but when I tapped the envelope—
Sender: Murim Alliance Lord, Namgung Jinhwa
Content: Moderator. I do not know what you received from the northern monsters, but cease the quest immediately. Or remove the restrictions so that our Murim Alliance may post as they do. Favoring one side is hardly fair, is it not!?
“…Hah.”
The content was so absurd that I let out a hollow laugh mid-reading. It was unbelievable. They’d burned a thousand coins just to send a message, yet the most important part was missing.
‘So where’s the reward?’
The man who stood at the pinnacle of Murim was throwing a tantrum at the gallery moderator without offering a single bribe. On top of that, it wasn’t even a request—it was a command. As a slave to capitalism, I found this utterly unforgivable.
“Tsk. This is why the righteous faction types are hopeless. No flexibility, no business ethics.”
I pressed the reply button on the system window floating in the air. Instead of typing text, I activated the image attachment function.
Click.
I took a photo of myself elegantly flipping the middle finger, attached it with a short comment, and hit send without hesitation.
🖕
Then I swiped open the moderator menu, searched for the username “Murim Alliance Lord Namgung Jinhwa,” and hovered over the ban duration setting.
‘How dare you give orders to Padak without a bribe?’
Clicking my tongue, I pressed confirm.
Do you wish to ban this user? (Reason: Violation of moderator authority and failure to provide bribe)
Ban Duration: 1 hour
User: Murim Alliance Lord Namgung Jinhwa’s access to the board has been restricted for 1 hour.
“Tsk. Stubborn old fossil. Spend that hour reflecting on a wall and learn how to properly bribe someone.”
Humming to myself, I closed all the system windows. When I pushed off with my toes again, a radiant ice lotus bloomed and gently lifted me back onto the rooftop. There were no free lunches in this world. I needed to make sure that arrogant Alliance Lord understood that this was a strictly capitalist community.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been practicing Snow Shadow Ice Flower Step. While blankly watching the sun slowly set, an impulsive thought crossed my mind—maybe I should try climbing the tower after all.
‘Hmm… Honestly, the first floor should be manageable.’
The Tower of Ruin. A mysterious colossal structure that had suddenly risen in the capitals of various nations during the Great Cataclysm. It was the very symbol of calamity that had already destroyed the most countries. Of course, the rewards and resources obtained from conquering it were equally enormous, which was why countless awakened hunters risked their lives knocking on its doors.
After a moment of deliberation, I muttered without realizing it.
“Well, it’s not like I’m risking my life. Might as well try Easy Mode for a taste.”
According to information I’d picked up in the gallery while doing moderator work, the monsters on the first floor’s Easy Mode were just five green slimes. With the mobility of Snow Shadow Ice Flower Step, there was no way something as slow as a crawling slime could touch me.
Okay, let’s go.
Decision made, I kicked off the ice flower beneath my feet and descended to the ground. Then I opened the system window and pressed the tower entry button without hesitation.
Flash—!
My vision turned pure white for an instant. When it cleared, I stood inside a massive circular arena surrounded by gray stone walls.
You have entered the Tower of Ruin.
Commencing combat rating measurement for first-time climber (Lee Minhyuk).
A blue scanning wave passed over my body along with the floating message. Soon my stats and combat rating appeared.
“…It even says unmeasurable?”
I let out a hollow laugh at the abnormal numbers. Most novice awakened hunters entering the first floor had stats hovering between 11 and 14. Mine were grotesquely high. Who knew the rewards from shredding hate posts and trolls every night in my room would be this sweet?
Nodding with satisfaction, I waited for the next message. But the system’s reaction was completely different from what I expected.
The climber’s stats and combat rating far exceed what the first floor of the Tower of Ruin can accommodate.
The system has detected a severe balance disruption. Difficulty will be significantly adjusted to match the climber’s combat rating.
Current Difficulty: Easy → Extreme
“…What?”
The dumbfounded sound left my mouth at the same time the five green slimes writhing on the opposite side of the arena began merging with grotesque noises. The slimy masses mixed together, transforming into a massive blob swirling with red, blue, and yellow.
It was the Elemental Slime, a hidden boss from Hard Mode’s fifth floor that spammed elemental magic—something I’d only ever seen in the gallery’s hate-post tab.
As if that weren’t enough, a red warning window drove the final nail in.
Warning! In Extreme difficulty, exit is impossible until the target monster is defeated.
‘Okay, something’s definitely wrong here.’
But the system gave me no time to think, flashing another message.
Protector barrier will disappear in 30 seconds.
Thirty seconds until the raid began. If I didn’t find an answer by then, it was over.
‘Stay calm, Lee Minhyuk. My raw stats are overwhelming. I just need an attack method.’
I quickly opened the system window and scrolled through the detailed description of Snow Shadow Ice Flower Step all the way to the bottom. It was a movement technique, but it utilized mana. There had to be an offensive application.
And there it was, in tiny text at the very end—an additional effect.
When mana is raised to its limit and a powerful kick is delivered, condensed ice energy can be fired like a slash.
“That’s it.”
The description made it sound somewhat difficult, but I had no choice. Besides, the larger a slime-type monster grew, the lower its mobility became. With the overwhelming speed of Snow Shadow Ice Flower Step, I could land the first strike, create distance, and keep firing ice energy. That should be more than enough.
The barrier has disappeared. Begin combat!
The moment the countdown hit zero, the translucent barrier surrounding me shattered like breaking glass.
Glurp— Glorp!!
The Elemental Slime began absorbing the surrounding mana with a wobble. But before it could complete its spell, I struck first.
“Never thought I’d get to try something I only saw in old comics.”
Recalling the trajectory of a kick technique from a manga I used to read, I kicked off the ground and leapt into the air. Stepping on another ice flower midair for extra height, I gathered mana to its absolute limit in my right leg, twisted my waist, and unleashed a powerful kick straight at the center of the slime.
Flash—!
In that instant, the pure white cold energy extending from my foot transformed into a massive crescent-shaped ice blade and surged toward the monster. The energy was far larger and more powerful than I’d anticipated.
BOOM—!!
“…?”
My plan to strike and retreat for a prolonged fight became meaningless. The moment the crescent-shaped ice energy embedded itself in the Elemental Slime’s center, it froze the entire massive blob solid and shattered it into countless pieces.
The ending was far too anticlimactic. Only a slightly skin-prickling chill lingered in the arena as I remained frozen mid-kick in midair, blinking in disbelief.
At the same time, a flood of tower messages appeared.
All stats +1
5 Intermediate Mana Stones
400 Coins
Extreme Symbol
“…Whoa.”
Hard Mode only gave two random stat points, right? Extreme gave double that? Insane.
‘No, wait.’
The other rewards, including the stat boosts, were already ridiculously overpowered, but the final line was what really caught my eye.
Would you like to take a photo to upload to the Integrated Community?
“…How am I supposed to resist this?”