Proving the North Sea's Name

Honestly, when it came to promoting the trait, choosing a faction and living safely under their protection was probably the dream of most Awakeners in this world. Except for those from nations that had already been superpowers before the Great Cataclysm. Even some of them were struggling because of the Tower with its 100-day deadline. Yet in this insane world where you never knew when you might die, being able to join a faction—especially a large, secure one? The moment someone received an offer from a big shot whose name alone was famous, they would probably spam the community with proof shots, flip double middle fingers, and bow all the way back to their ancestors from the Gojoseon era.

But that story had nothing to do with me. For one thing, there was no benefit in having my identity exposed. More than anything, since I could grow overwhelmingly on my own without anyone’s help, no matter how I looked at it, these offers just didn’t seem advantageous.

‘Besides, I already screwed over the Murim Alliance Lord twice. If I went to the North Peng Clan… ugh.’

After thinking it over for a moment, I sent rejection messages to the three leaders, choosing my words as politely as possible. Still, I was a little disappointed about giving up their secret martial arts… what a shame.

Afterward, while watching the messages slowly disappear, a fun idea suddenly popped into my head and I grinned. Instead of the secret techniques, why not blow off some steam by spamming the gallery?

‘…Alright, let’s do it!’

I lined up the three half-transparent, ornate golden slips side by side and snapped a screenshot. Then I immediately logged into the Integrated Gallery and made a new post.

Less than a minute after posting, the comment section exploded just as I expected.

‘Kuh, this is the feeling that makes enduring all the disgusting and crappy images worth it.’

Feeling dopamine spread through my brain, I couldn’t hold back my laughter and kept refreshing the page. While enjoying the tearful screams of the anonymous users and high-tier nicknames, I was busy replying with more teasing comments when a newly posted thread caught my eye for a split second.

I reflexively clicked on the post. Along with the author’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠verified high-tier nickname, a translucent window filled the air, displaying a high-resolution full-nude image of a perfect High Elf wearing not even a single leaf. Beautiful figure, exquisite composition, and an overwhelming sense of otherworldly mystery—it was an incredible piece of work.

Without thinking, I left a comment right away.

And faster than anyone else, I activated the system’s image download function with just a thought and saved it deep inside my personal secret folder. Of course, the joy of collecting lasted only a second. The moment the download-complete notification appeared, I returned to my strict moderator expression and mercilessly hit the delete button on the post.

Good things like this should only be seen by a hardworking BlueSticker who works hard every single day.

“Hmm, it really is because it’s daytime.”

Even though the BlueSticker himself posted, there was almost no interest. But if I really took my hands off the gallery for a while… it wouldn’t be fun if people started looking for me in other ways.

While I was seriously pondering that, a system notification suddenly rang out.

‘Platinum? Wait, wasn’t the transmission cost for that 10,000 coins?’

Doubting my eyes, I checked the sender.

Not even a day had passed since I rejected three 1000-coin golden slips with a gallery post, and now a 100-million-won slip had arrived. As if possessed, I touched the envelope, and a message personally sent by the Ice Palace Lord appeared in the air.

“…Hah.”

An involuntary chuckle escaped me. This was completely different in quality from the Murim Alliance Lord who had arrogantly given orders without offering any bribes. To propose a quest that might be rejected, while offering a secret art easily above A-rank, she had burned a massive 100 million coins just to ask politely.

‘It would be rude to ignore this level of sincerity in a capitalist society.’

Since she said I could use the face-mosaicing system function, there was no risk of my identity being exposed. Without hesitation, I tapped the quest accept button.

After some time passed, it was 2 PM. It was a bit of a shame I couldn’t enter during the most relaxed time slot, but this time period should still be fine for stepping away briefly. Today, the BlueSticker was unusually focused on moderation.

As my vision returned, the fifty green slimes that had filled the gray arena began gathering in one place. The sticky slime swelled up and soon split into ten massive elemental slimes. But it didn’t end there.

Thud—!

The ten elemental slimes devoured each other’s bodies and fused together, transforming into a monster so enormous it nearly touched the arena ceiling.

“Whoa, what the hell. This guy wasn’t even in the information.”

The pressure of the mana it emitted was clearly different from ordinary elemental slimes. That meant I might actually have to fight seriously this time.

“Well… it’s the perfect sandbag to test out my new martial art.”

I extended both hands forward, imagined the shape of spears in my mind, and activated the Frostforge Armament Art.

Flash—!

The surrounding air rapidly froze, and two transparent, sharp ice spears materialized in my hands. The tips weren’t as sharp as I had imagined, but it was more than enough for attacking.

“Go.”

While keeping the two ice spears floating in the air, I activated the Snow Shadow Ice Flower Steps and leaped into the sky.

The moment the system countdown ended, I twisted my body in midair and kicked the tips of the two floating spears in succession with both feet.

Boom—! Boom—!

The ice spears, infused with the condensed mana and rotational force of the Snow Shadow Ice Flower Steps, shot forward like meteors whose trajectories couldn’t even be seen.

Whoosh—!

In the brief moment the Chimera Elemental King Slime tried to cast various attribute magic by swelling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its slime, the two ice spears faster than bullets pierced its massive core with perfect accuracy.

Thud, thud—!

The giant slime, its heart destroyed, couldn’t even let out a proper scream before its entire body froze. Soon, with a sharp cracking sound, it shattered into tens of thousands of ice fragments.

“Huh…? That was a one-shot too?”

Lightly landing by stepping on ice flowers in the air, I looked at the scattered ice fragments and let out a hollow laugh. At the same time, countless messages appeared as if they had been waiting.

“There’s a ton of stuff.”

Especially the Unidentified Trait Scroll (B) reward piqued my curiosity the most, but keeping my promise with Seol Yeon-hui came first. I immediately took a proof shot and uploaded a post along with the strategy video I had recorded through the system camera.