Jaewon quietly looked down at the tabletop.
Patch notes. A crystal orb. A quill pen. An ink bottle.
Then he glanced toward the door.
Snow-White First Snow was still there. Stroking Log. Happily.
Jaewon looked back at the table.
Then back at the door.
‘……It’s not like there’s no way.’
Jaewon’s hand slowly grasped the corner of the patch notes. Boldly, yet carefully, so that no trace of fear would seep into the sound. He tore one page halfway off. Then stopped.
Snow-White First Snow did not raise her eyes.
Log showed no reaction either.
Jaewon tore off the remaining half.
A single sheet of paper lay on the table.
Jaewon rose from his seat. As naturally as possible. He stretched a little. Pretending it was nothing. Like someone simply getting up after sitting for a long time.
Then he said toward Snow-White First Snow.
“I’ll be heading out to the bathroom for a moment.”
Snow-White First Snow responded without lifting her head.
“……”
“Please keep an eye on Log.”
“Understood.”
Log slightly turned his head in her hand. He looked at Jaewon.
Jaewon’s eyes met Log’s.
Log’s eyes dropped toward the paper, then looked back at Jaewon.
Jaewon twitched an eyebrow. His eyes said, Even if you noticed, don’t show that you noticed.
Whether he understood or not, Log said nothing and looked straight ahead.
The Constellation’s soft, cotton-snow-like hand stroked Log’s head and gently pressed it down.
Jaewon nodded, then crumpled the paper in his hand as if emphasizing it was for toilet paper and left the cabin.
---
It was the forest.
After walking a little way from the cabin, the undergrowth grew thick. It was a section Jaewon came to often. The route for doing his business. One of the first things he had checked after coming to this world was a suitable bathroom location.
Jaewon went deep enough into the bushes and stopped.
A distance where the cabin could not be seen. A distance where sound would be sufficiently blocked.
He unfolded the crumpled paper. With the clean side facing up.
And then.
Jaewon started rummaging through his pocket, then stopped.
‘……Ah.’
He had left the pen in the cabin.
The ink bottle too. He had managed to bring the paper out naturally by pretending it was for toilet paper, but what would it look like if he walked out carrying an ink bottle?
He would not look like a normal person writing while taking a shit in the bushes. If it were a smartphone app, maybe, but who in the world brought an ink bottle to the bathroom?
He couldn’t bring it out.
For a moment, he pressed the once-crumpled note paper with his thumb as if ironing it, and stared into the air.
If the Director did not handle the patch notes, they were just paper. If someone possessed the Director’s qualifications, any ink would do. The composition of the ink was not important; what mattered was the Director writing with intent. So, theoretically.
As long as it could be marked, anything would work.
Jaewon looked down at his hand.
‘…….’
Something suddenly flashed through his mind. A manga he had read in the world he used to live in.
Death Note. The protagonist in it, Yagami Light, went to all sorts of lengths to avoid having the notebook discovered. Using his genius, he hid a piece of the notebook inside his small wristwatch, put a mini notebook inside a bag of chips. In that way, he had created a structure that let him secretly take it out and write anywhere.
It was a genius setup.
‘I should’ve made something like that too.’
Jaewon thought that for a moment.
He had nothing.
‘All that’s in that shitty cabin is stubborn ink and a trashy quill pen.’
That was all. He didn’t have a wristwatch either. He didn’t have a bag of chips where he could plausibly move his hand around.
But he had to write with something right now.
Jaewon looked down at his hand again.
There was only one way.
“……Haa.”
He let out a short breath.
Then he brought his index finger to his mouth.
‘Let’s get this over with.’
Jaewon bit down hard on his index finger.
“Uaaaaaaaaaagh——!!”
A scream burst through the forest.
Birds flapped away. Somewhere, there was the sound of a squirrel darting into its burrow.
Jaewon crouched there and held back his tears.
It hurt. It really hurt. His teeth were sharper than he had thought. No, had this always hurt this much? Were teeth always this sharp? Could teeth overcome instinct and be this hostile toward their owner?
Blood welled at the tip of his finger.
Jaewon confirmed it with narrowed eyes, then hurriedly spread the paper over his knee.
But since he had just screamed, it might have been heard from the cabin.
Jaewon hastily made a sound.
“Uuugh——uuuuuuuuugh——!!”
It was the sound of constipation. As plausible as possible. He reproduced the sound of someone straining their stomach. With the feeling of raising abdominal pressure. As if the scream from earlier had been a prelude to this sound.
A moment of silence passed.
There was no sound from the cabin.
Jaewon caught his breath.
‘……I think they bought it.’
He brought his blood-beaded index finger to the paper. It was uncomfortable, but there was no helping it.
He wrote the letters as if scratching them in.
Shortly. Concisely.
```
Manifested Constellation movement-route snowfall effect —
If caused by a passive effect rather than a skill, automatically disappears 1 hour after snowfall begins.
Compensation paid for farmland damage.
```
Three lines. It was enough.
Jaewon lifted his finger and checked the paper. Crooked blood-red letters were embedded on the page.
“Damn it, I’ll have to bite it one more time.”
---
He returned to the cabin while pretending to adjust his waistband.
Snow-White First Snow was still in front of the door. Stroking Log. Making snow fall. As if nothing had happened.
Jaewon sat down.
The tip of his finger was still throbbing. He quietly curled it into his fist and picked up the crystal orb.
He had finished the snowfall compensation patch in just three lines, but the second task would not be easy.
```
Ver. 4.1.9a — Scheduled Patch Notice
※ This patch is scheduled to be applied after [6 PM today]
along with the 4.1.9 Manifestation Stabilization Patch.
▶ Combat Death Revival Cost Reduction Event
— Dramatic 40% reduction compared to current cost
— Applies to: all classes, all regions
※ However, upon repeated revival within the same battle,
an additional 10% cost will be charged per revival.
(Purpose: prevention of infinite revival)
```
‘A scheduled patch.’
In reality, it had just been written, but by making the notice and effect go up later, it would look as if it had been written at that time.
About thirty minutes later, while Jaewon was poking around in the fireplace with a skewer, a notification sounded from the crystal orb.
Jaewon tilted the crystal orb and opened the community tab.
Responses were already appearing.
```
======================================
■ Ver. 4.1.9a — Patch Notice ■
======================================
▶ Combat Death Revival Cost 40% Reduction (Scheduled to apply at 6 PM today)
[591 comments]
ㄴ SwordsmanHero : LOLOLOL Is this for real?? Revival’s getting cheaper?
ㄴ AdventurerUnionLeader : Oh, this changes the landscape of large-scale battles
ㄴ FlameOfTheRedForge : If dwarf cannons get released and revival costs drop,
it really feels like war’s gonna break out lol Is this saying it’s fine as long as we revive even if we die? lol
ㄴ WheatfieldKeeper : And the snowfall damage compensation too, a bit late but same-day notice?
The devs are alive today
ㄴ VeteranAdventurer : Two patches at once today? Did something happen
ㄴ PitchBlackVeil : I think it’s related to that snow phenomenon.
Doesn’t it mean something seriously huge passed by?
ㄴ FlameOfTheRedForge : It’s a Constellation’s movement, obviously.
Anyway, if revival prices get cheaper, it’s worth having one big clash
```
Jaewon set down the crystal orb.
‘Done.’
For a war that the Constellations would go wild over to break out, he needed to set one more fire.
The certainty that it was okay to die.
In a large-scale battle, death was unavoidable. The Constellations knew that too. If the cost of that death was high—no matter how interesting the state of the war was, they would hesitate to pour in divine power. If revival costs were lowered, that psychological hurdle would drop. Because even if they died, they could be raised again quickly.
‘I’ve set the stage to satisfy every desire—ideology, pride, coveted items...’
If divine power became cheaper, this side would take a loss too, but no matter how he thought about it, the deal was worth it. Far more.
Jaewon opened his eyes.
The throbbing in his finger had now subsided a little.
That was when it happened.
---
“You seem to be without worries.”
It was Snow-White First Snow’s voice.
‘!?’
Jaewon slightly raised his head, his chest filling with panic. He had tried to hide it as much as possible, but had he been caught after all?
With that worry, Jaewon turned his gaze toward her.
She was still standing in front of the door, stroking Log. Her gaze was directed down at her hand. Her fingers slowly moved as they stroked Log’s feathers.
“This child.”
She said as she stroked Log’s head.
“I envy him.”
‘...Was that directed at Log?’
Jaewon looked at Log.
Log was sitting in Snow-White First Snow’s hand, his eyes half-lowered. He did not move an inch. His feathers were neatly arranged. His body was relaxed. On the surface, he looked completely at ease.
‘That guy.’
Jaewon thought inwardly.
‘He’s just too scared to move right now.’
When the Constellation’s manifestation had first reached out her hand, he had seen Log’s eyes. There had been something in those eyes. A look somewhere between What should I do? and Please save me.
He was not without worries.
This pitiful spirit bird had only frozen up from fear.
Outwardly, he was putting on an act of detachment.
Jaewon had thought a Constellation’s observational ability was the highest grade.
To think it could miss the mark this badly with a judgment like he seemed to have no worries.
Jaewon swallowed the rebuttal to her impression. Saying it aloud would be strange. No, to begin with, explaining to that Constellation that Log was scared would be even stranger.
Jaewon replied naturally.
“……You seem like someone noble, but do you also have moments when you envy a lowly creature?”
It was courtesy. It would be awkward to just let it pass.
Even at being called a lowly creature, Log was instead in a state of utter emptiness due to his overflowing anxiety.
At Jaewon’s question, Snow-White First Snow was silent for a moment.
Then.
“I do.”
She said calmly.
“Lately.”
She lightly rested a finger on Log’s head and continued.
“I am uneasy about the fate that will come to me.”
Jaewon narrowed his eyes slightly.
A Constellation felt unease.
It was unexpected. No, perhaps reacting as if it were unexpected was rude. Constellations had emotions too. It was only natural that they did. But for an existence of her level to say it aloud herself—
His mind began to turn slightly.
‘Fate.’
‘And unease.’
Jaewon closed his mouth for a moment.
Out of courtesy, he had to ask. Not asking would be even stranger.
What sort of fate could make a Constellation feel uneasy? Had the collapse of this world been prophesied? Or had someone’s destruction been foretold? The end of the world? A war between Constellations outside the game?
Was there some sign that Arcana Online was going under?
Jaewon asked politely.
“……May I ask?”
Snow-White First Snow raised her head.
She looked at Jaewon.
And then.
“The manifestation fee.”
She slowly began to speak.
“I paid for it with my mother’s divine power card.”
“……”
“This manifestation.”
“……”
Jaewon closed his mouth.
“If Mother finds out.”
Snow-White First Snow continued. Still calmly.
“The wyvern was so cute... and I wanted to keep hugging him from now on too... What should I do if she requests a refund?”
Jaewon’s expression shook minutely.
‘...Refund?’
Refund.
The divine power poured into this manifestation. He had already used part of it today. On the emergency snowfall patch. On the revival cost reduction patch.
It was being deducted from the divine power balance in real time.
There was no way he could return all of it.
In this bewildering situation, Jaewon tried to manage his expression.
Relaxing the muscles of his face so he would not scowl,
“Hey, you fucking bitch, how old are you, stealing your mom’s card like that