A Day in Padak's Life

“Would you like to take a photo to upload to the Integrated Community?”

“…How am I supposed to resist this?”

Without hesitation, I pressed the confirm button. A translucent camera-like object materialized above my head. I grabbed it, framed a perfect shot of the massive ice fragments from the shattered Elemental Slime, and clicked the shutter.

Click.

The photo came out spectacularly.

“Never thought I’d be writing my own verification post… Feels nostalgic.”

After a quick edit, I opened the gallery notice board and typed up a post.

The moment I posted, the perverts who had been targeting Padak and all sorts of bored Awakeners began flooding the comments with enthusiastic reactions.

I couldn’t help but smirk as I watched the comments blaze in real time. Seeing those basement-dwelling trolls get completely flustered by overwhelming real-world force… how should I put it? It felt like ten years of indigestion finally clearing up.

Of course, that didn’t mean I could keep acting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so carefree. A reason to get serious had just appeared.

‘I really need to watch my back now.’

I’d been happily trolling just moments ago, but once my rationality returned, reality hit me hard. There were only two moderators left in this Integrated Community. Originally there were three, but one had been living as the gallery’s tyrant by ripping off powerful figures and eventually got himself killed.

If I didn’t want to end up the same way, I had to manage the gallery strictly and quickly grow stronger. Especially when it came to big shots like the Ice Palace Lord, I absolutely had to leave a good impression.

‘I should also make good use of the quest ability.’

The System quest that could only be activated once a week. I needed to carefully pick only the quests from the most generous big shots and collect the best bribes.

“At this rate, I might actually start enjoying the shitposts from now on.”

At that same moment, in the central control room of the Korean Awakened Association headquarters.

A red alert was frantically blinking on the massive screen. Association President Kang Tae-geon tossed the documents he was holding onto the desk and let out a sigh.

“Is the world announcement that just went out really true?”

“Yes, Mr. President. It’s a new record for the 1st floor of the Tower of Ruin.”

Department Manager Lee Hyeon-woo glanced around nervously before casting his tablet screen onto the main display.

“But the record is… a bit strange. It shortened the previous 7-second record set by an American guild down to 2 seconds. And not on Easy or Hard mode, but on Extreme difficulty — something that has never been reported in the Tower’s history.”

“Haah… 2 seconds. That means he sliced the monster the moment it appeared.”

The other executives in the control room stared at the screen in stunned silence.

“The bigger problem is the identity of the record holder. The nickname registered in the System is… Blue Badge 3.”

At those words, Section Chief Kim Cheol-su’s eyes widened and he shot up from his seat.

“Blue Badge 3? Isn’t that the moderator of the Integrated Gallery that’s mixed with otherworldly beings?”

“Correct. He even posted a verification image on the community earlier. It showed him instantly freezing an Elemental Slime.”

“……”

Association President Kang Tae-geon stared at the photo for a moment before speaking with a hardened expression.

“That gallery — our intelligence department has been monitoring it, right? Have we figured out Blue Badge 3’s tendencies?”

“Actually… we have some rather interesting analysis results.”

Section Chief Kim flipped through his documents and began his report.

“First, his processing speed is abnormally fast. He shows a strong ‘ppalli-ppalli’ attitude typical of Koreans. Also, while he’s usually merciless with bans, whenever Korean culture or nationalistic topics come up, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he tends to delay or overlook bans in a strangely lenient way.”

“In other words—”

“Yes. Considering his vocabulary choices for vulgar insults and his frequent use of memes, Blue Badge 3 is 100% Korean.”

The atmosphere in the control room lightened slightly at the confident answer. A powerful figure who held sway over a community filled with the strongest beings in the world, and a monster with the insane combat ability to clear Extreme difficulty in just 2 seconds. The fact that such a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠being was a citizen of South Korea was enough to make their hearts swell with pride.

Perhaps South Korea could finally step onto the stage of the Great Cataclysm era, which had been dominated by the United States, Russia, China, and the United Kingdom.

“Mobilize all intelligence networks and find that person immediately!”

“Yes, sir!”

“We must secure him before any foreign or otherworldly factions notice his identity. Use any means necessary!”

“These clever little bastards. They upload disgusting images the moment I look away to write a post?”

I immediately clicked the link left by one of the anonymous users. After briefly admiring the photo of something nearly the size of a human torso standing in the middle of a blue plain, I cleanly deleted it.

After refreshing the board and scrolling down, my eyes stopped on a particular post.

‘Oh, this one I can’t resist!’

Inside the post were three high-resolution photos of Yoo Ha-yeon posing seductively in a daring bikini. Damn, this is a good find!

I quickly saved all the photos in secret, then immediately put on my strict moderator mask and activated my authority.

“Phew, today as well, I keep the gallery’s waters crystal clear.”

After that, I spent a long time deleting countless disgusting images, gender war posts, and pure anti-Padak threads. Then I stretched lightly and cracked my stiff neck from side to side.

The popping sound of my joints made the accumulated fatigue feel like it was easing up a little.

‘More importantly… since I’ve already done some climbing, maybe I should start cashing out slowly from today.’

Thanks to the second identity the System had perfectly laundered for me, all that remained was converting the accumulated wealth into real-world money.

I roughly pulled a hat down low, threw on an outer coat, and stepped outside.

Korean Awakened Association Branch.

“Yes, Hunter Lee Minhyuk. Your D-rank Awakener registration is complete. Here is your ID card.”

“Thank you.”

I accepted the plastic card from the receptionist and walked out. The System’s behind-the-scenes work was so thorough that the entire identity verification and registration process was completed smoothly in less than an hour.

I immediately headed to the Awakener-exclusive appraisal and exchange office connected to the Association building. I took out a single mid-grade magic stone from my pocket, slid it across the counter, and manipulated the System window in the air to request a cash-out of 500 coins.

“One mid-grade magic stone valued at 1.2 million won. Adding the 5 million won from coin exchange, the total comes to 6.2 million won. Would you like it deposited into your account, or prepared in cash?”

“Please give me all of it in 50,000-won bills.”

“Understood~ Please wait a moment.”

The staff member skillfully packed a thick bundle of cash into an envelope and handed it over. Apparently, even a freshly registered D-rank Hunter wouldn’t raise much suspicion over a single mid-grade magic stone. Lucky. It had been a bit of a gamble, but it worked out.

After safely exiting the exchange office, I stopped in a deserted alley and peeked into the envelope, bringing the bundle of bills up to my nose.

“Kuh… The scent of capitalism fresh off the printing press.”

The thrilling smell of paper made my cheeks lift on their own.

‘At this rate, if I split it into three exchanges of about 100 coins a day and sell magic stones little by little, neither the National Tax Service nor the Association will ever notice.’

So today, I should treat myself to something nice for the first time in a while. Just as I was about to move my feet, imagining the marbling of prime Hanwoo beef dancing before my eyes—

A golden-bordered envelope icon appeared in the air. I stopped humming and checked the sender printed on the envelope.

‘Namgung Jinhwa, Leader of the Murim Alliance.’

The stubborn old man I had banned for an hour earlier after he tried to give me sloppy orders.

‘Oh? Has he finally done some self-reflection and come to his senses?’

With a light heart, I tapped the envelope icon.

After reading the entire message, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“Hah… This old man still hasn’t come to his senses.”

It was good that he had acknowledged his mistake. The Namgung Clan’s sword art also sounded quite plausible just from the name. But trying to snatch top-tier Tower intelligence in exchange for a single sword art trait? That wasn’t a bribe — it was straight-up robbery.

‘To think he believes I’d hand over such valuable information for just one martial art. The Leader of the Murim Alliance really has no idea how the market works.’

Shaking my head, I pressed the reply button on the System window. Instead of the text input field, I opened the folder containing the finger photos I had taken earlier. This time, I selected a more carefully composed double middle-finger photo and attached it.

The moment I hit send, I immediately opened the moderator menu without delay. I searched for Namgung Jinhwa’s nickname as usual and hovered my hand over the ban duration setting.

‘I should shut his mouth for a day so he can figure out the market price.’

After pressing confirm, a cheerful notification sound rang out. I turned off the System window with a refreshing feeling and, tapping the money envelope in my arms, headed once more toward the beef restaurant.