—Flap, flap, brrrrrrr...
There was a sound of something coming down the chimney.
Jaewon tried to hide the straw in his hand behind his back, then realized it was already too late.
Log landed beneath the chimney and looked at Jaewon.
At Jaewon, who was standing there awkwardly trying to conceal the burning straw.
“……”
Log’s eyes slowly moved from the straw to Jaewon, then from Jaewon back to the straw.
“Is turning me into roast chicken how you intend to commemorate this fortunate development for Operations?”
“No.”
“Is there any other possible interpretation of your current state?”
“There is.”
Jaewon lowered the straw with a sigh. “Don’t you realize how cold it’s gotten in here? Since you weren’t coming back, I couldn’t light the fireplace. So I was holding this, at least. There aren’t any windows here that open properly. And I knew you’d be coming in through the chimney...”
As the explanation grew longer, Log stared at Jaewon with narrowed eyes.
“……For now, I will believe you.”
“What do you mean, for now? I’m telling you, that’s really why.”
“The circumstances are too suspicious for me to believe you completely.”
Jaewon was about to argue, then gave up. He threw the straw into the fireplace and picked up the flint. It took three tries for the fire to catch. Flames came alive inside the fireplace, and the inside of the cabin grew a little brighter.
Jaewon pulled an old blanket from the bed and looked at Log.
“Come here. Let’s share it.”
“I am fine.”
“You’re a tropical bird. Isn’t it bad for you to get cold?”
“Before I am a bird, I am a spirit. Temperature does not affect me.”
“Still—”
“I said I am fine.”
Jaewon looked at Log for a moment, then shrugged.
“Suit yourself.”
He pulled the blanket up to his shoulders and looked around toward the table. Even with the fireplace burning, the wind slipping in through the gaps in the windows was persistent.
They had said the windows were cracked and did not open, so it was no different from having no windows at all, but in truth, the gaps were worse than having windows.
Jaewon’s gaze landed on the pile of parchment on the table.
‘That should block it.’
Jaewon picked up the parchment and rose from his seat.
Log reacted immediately.
“What are you planning to do now?”
“A makeshift curtain.”
“That is precious material containing information from all over the world of Arcana Online—”
“I’m cold.”
“Mr. Jaewon.”
“I’m seriously cold.”
“No—”
Jaewon was already walking toward the window. Log’s words followed from behind, but his feet did not stop. If he hung the parchment over the top of the window frame, less wind would come in. They were records he had already read anyway, and he could organize them again later.
Jaewon stepped right up to the window and lifted the parchment.
And then.
Their eyes met. With the being beyond the window.
Without even having time to think that it would have been better if it were the bakery owner who had come to catch the thief,
Jaewon froze.
It was a woman. She was standing just outside the window. So close that if there had been glass, it would have fogged with her breath.
White hair scattered in the cold wind, and a white halo in the shape of a snowflake faintly, yet unmistakably, illuminated her surroundings.
It was unclear whether her eyes were focused on Jaewon himself standing right in front of her. She had a slightly dazed impression, but she was beautiful. That much was certain.
And then.
Something in Jaewon’s mind rapidly clicked into place.
The white halo in the shape of a snow crystal behind her head.
The small, delicate snowflakes falling as they spun acrobatically around her.
The dazed impression.
...Snow-White First Snow.
A Constellation.
At the cabin window.
Was standing there.
With the hand holding the parchment stopped in midair, Jaewon could not say a word.
---
Jaewon waved from the window.
Calmly. Naturally. As if greeting someone whose eyes he had happened to meet while passing by.
Snow-White First Snow looked at him for a moment.
Then she looked away. As if she was not particularly interested. She began looking around the house again with that dazed expression.
Watching her, Jaewon slowly moved away from the window.
The moment he turned around, his expression collapsed.
He quietly rushed over and stuck close to Log, lowering his voice.
“She found me.”
“……”
“She found me. I’ve been found out, haven’t I?”
Log looked at Jaewon.
Jaewon’s mind was spinning rapidly.
It could not be revealed that he was the Director. The reason was simple. Simple, but fatal.
If the Director was exposed in a game played by Constellations— from that moment on, he became the target of requests. Do this. Change that. Put a buff on our character.
The problem was that these were not requests between humans.
They were requests between a mere human chosen as Director and Constellations. If he refused, he could die. If he accepted, the game would collapse.
‘And if the game collapses, the Director dies.’
And once his location was exposed to one of them, it was only a matter of time before that information spread. He would become a target. Until he died, no, perhaps even after that.
But hardcoding things so that even if a Constellation entered the game, they could not become stronger than the Director, or hiding in some deep place that Constellations could not find, was not the answer either.
Because that was an easy method, but also arrogance.
The kind that would be taken to mean a mere human was trying to control Constellations from above.
That, too, was a path to death. Only the direction was different.
No matter what he did, there were two ways to die.
Jaewon looked at Log.
“What happened?”
His voice was low and quiet.
Log was different from usual. No immediate answer came. His feathers were subtly ruffled.
It was an expression Jaewon had never seen since taking this position. For the first time, that expressionless face looked flustered.
“……It is only a guess.”
“Yeah, tell me.”
“This was the first time a Constellation fully manifested in Arcana Online. I had no experience with it either.”
Log paused for a moment.
“Normally, as a spirit, I am invisible to beings within the game. The structure is such that only you can see me, Mr. Jaewon. But a manifested Constellation is— a being within the game and, at the same time, a being above it. There may have been a structure by which I could be traced backward.”
Jaewon looked at Log.
“Traced backward...”
“I failed to consider the premise that the Director could also be detected, and overtrusted my own system as a spirit.”
The inside of the cabin fell silent.
Jaewon slowly looked back toward the window. Snow-White First Snow was still outside. She was looking around with a dazed expression. She did not yet seem to be fixing her gaze particularly on the cabin.
Yet.
“Then right now.”
Jaewon lowered his voice even further.
“Whether that person came looking for me, or just happened to come here by chance.”
“I do not know.”
“……You don’t know?”
“It is a possibility. This is my first time experiencing this as well.”
There were far too many firsts today.
Jaewon drew in a deep breath.
Outside the window, white hair was still fluttering in the wind.
About thirty seconds later.
Knock, knock.
There was a knock.
Jaewon closed his eyes.
“To hell with it.”
“……Mr. Jaewon.”
“I’ll open it for now. If she makes a request, I’ll pretend to accept it at first.”
Jaewon pulled the patch notes on the table within reach.
“Then I’ll immediately write a service termination notice and shut down the server.”
Log froze.
“If you do that, unless the soul you possess is completely broken down and reassembled, the being known as Jaewon will never be able to operate again.”
“I know. But I have to survive too.”
Jaewon exhaled.
“If I shut it down, neither you nor I will be able to return to Operations. But I can go back to my original world. At least I’ll be able to save my life.”
The inside of the cabin fell silent.
Knock, knock.
The knocking sounded again.
Jaewon looked toward the door and was slowly about to rise from his seat when—
“Mr. Jaewon.”
Log spoke.
His voice was different from usual. It was not dry. Nor was it brief.
“It has been an honor to serve with you until now, Director.”
Jaewon froze.
He looked at Log for a moment.
Then, without saying anything, he picked Log up. He hugged him tightly with both arms. Log did not struggle. His colorful feathers remained still in Jaewon’s arms.
“……Thanks.”
He spoke briefly and set him down.
Jaewon tucked the patch notes under his arm and walked toward the door.
He grabbed the handle.
He took one breath.
And opened it.
——
A woman stood before his eyes.
As if proving that she was the manifestation of a Constellation, the snowflakes vanished without leaving behind water.
Her eyes were large, and their focus was faintly hazy.
Looking closely, even her pupils were in the shape of intricate snowflakes—
They were killer, thought one part of his brain, while another quietly cursed at him, asking if this was really the time.
‘Ah, damn it. Why did she follow me? How did it come to this?’
Those words were not directed at the Constellation, but at himself.
The algorithmic loophole that a manifested Constellation could trace a spirit backward. Even if it was the first time, he should have caught it in advance. Why hadn’t he known? Why hadn’t he thought of it?
Jaewon maintained a natural expression as he looked at the other party.
A brief silence fell between them.
Snow-White First Snow opened her mouth.
“That parrot.”
“……Pardon?”
“Is it yours?”
Jaewon paused for a moment.
“……Yes, it is.”
Snow-White First Snow’s hazy eyes moved from Jaewon to Log. After looking at Log for a moment, she looked back at Jaewon.
“May I touch him just once?”
It took Jaewon’s brain two beats to process the situation.
‘It’s not a request?’
What followed was not a solicitation.
Nor was it a service termination notice.
It was a parrot.
“……Yes.”
Jaewon picked up Log and held him out.
As he was handed over, Log looked at Jaewon.
His eyes were silent. Yet Jaewon could hear what those eyes were saying.
‘It seems this will be the end, in a meaning far removed from honor.’
Log looked as if he were thinking just that. Snow-White First Snow carefully reached both hands toward him.
Even as Log was placed atop her hands, he did not take his gaze off Jaewon.
They were the eyes of a chicken being taken away by a chicken seller on the dog days of summer.
Looking at those eyes, Jaewon quietly averted his gaze.
It would be a lie to say he did not feel guilty.
‘...If it means I can get far away from that woman right now, anything goes... If necessary, you sacrifice yourself.’
‘If that happens, I will curse you. I will become a ghost of gaming burnout and dwell in your eyes and ears.’
Jaewon pretended not to read his gaze.
---