```
Ver. 4.2.1 — Stabilization Patch in Commemoration of Rank Increase
▶ Arcana Online Constellation World Ranking
Confirmed increase: 17th → 16th.
Available limit for incoming divine power adjusted upward.
※ Congratulations on your rank increase.
※ All problems arising hereafter fall under the Director’s jurisdiction.
```
---
The Queen of the Blizzard had disappeared.
Log stood on the hill, shaking his head back and forth to brush off the snow. The snow piled on his penguin body fell away in clumps. He shook himself twice, then three times, but there was still some left.
Jaewon watched the scene through the crystal orb and opened the text window.
```
[Director → Log]
Good work. Come back now.
```
Log stopped brushing off the snow.
```
[Log → Director]
There is still a problem.
```
Jaewon tilted the crystal orb.
Log’s field of vision was turned to the right.
It was Snow-White First Snow.
Her head had been hanging low, and she had gotten down from the wyvern’s back. She stood in a spot where the snow had been cleanly cleared away. She was looking at Log.
More precisely.
She was looking at Log in his penguin form.
Her eyes were saying it.
‘What is that?’
Snow-White First Snow’s hand moved slightly.
Log took one step back.
Jaewon cupped the crystal orb with both hands.
‘……Ah.’
She was a manifested Constellation. The highest grade of divine power. System-wise, she was currently in a state where her body was directly inside the world, so her senses were different.
A being who felt everything in this world against her skin.
Log was Jaewon’s system spirit, and strictly speaking, he was not a being that belonged to the world, but… if he simply flew away, he could get caught in a manifested Constellation’s senses. The fact that “that thing is somehow different.”
There was a chance he would be tracked.
```
[Log → Director]
What should I do?
```
Jaewon thought for a moment.
```
[Director → Log]
Just stay there. Come back once she loses interest.
```
```
[Log → Director]
Until when?
```
```
[Director → Log]
Until she loses interest.
```
```
[Log → Director]
……When will that be?
```
Jaewon tilted the crystal orb and looked at Snow-White First Snow.
She was taking one step toward Log.
```
[Director → Log]
I don’t know. Just hang in there for now.
```
Log’s field of vision stayed fixed straight ahead.
Snow-White First Snow’s hand came to rest on the penguin’s head.
```
[Log → Director]
Mr. Jaewon.
```
```
[Director → Log]
What?
```
```
[Log → Director]
If there is more fat, does the area available for petting increase? Will the time spent being adored also increase?
```
Jaewon looked down at the crystal orb for a moment.
```
[Director → Log]
I hadn’t thought of that. There’s a chance it might.
```
```
[Log → Director]
……Understood.
```
Log did not move an inch.
Snow-White First Snow began stroking the penguin’s head.
---
Jaewon set the crystal orb down on the table.
He opened the community tab.
The battlefield was still running. The dragon was on its way back after drinking up the elixir spring. Meanwhile, the dwarves were reinforcing the cannon with acceleration, and the human army was cautiously approaching the elixir spring from a detour route. The Constellations continued pouring in divine power.
The payment notification rang three more times.
Jaewon opened the balance tab.
The number was rising. What had been lost to refunds had already been made up for, and more besides.
And then.
Jaewon narrowed his eyes.
The Constellation World Ranking tab was blinking.
He opened it.
```
⚡ Rank Change Notification
Arcana Online
17th → 16th
```
Jaewon stared at the number for a while.
16th.
It had gone up.
Jaewon opened the text window.
```
[Director → Log]
Our rank went up. 16th. You said before I came here, it only ever went down, right?
```
A brief silence passed.
Snow-White First Snow was in the middle of petting him, so it seemed Log could not check right away.
Then a text arrived.
```
[Log → Director]
……Confirmed.
```
```
[Log → Director]
It is something worth celebrating.
```
Jaewon tapped the table.
```
[Director → Log]
When you come back, should we have a celebration party together? Do you eat cake too?
```
```
[Log → Director]
Made of what?
```
```
[Director → Log]
Nuts.
```
```
[Log → Director]
Understood.
```
And then.
```
[Log → Director]
Mr. Jaewon.
```
```
[Director → Log]
What?
```
```
[Log → Director]
Our rank has gone up, and it seems the available divine power limit has increased.
```
```
[Log → Director]
However.
```
Jaewon tilted the crystal orb.
```
[Log → Director]
I am currently being held by a Constellation, so it will be difficult for me to provide support.
I do not know how long this state will continue.
```
```
[Log → Director]
And since a change in ranking is a major issue, once our rank rises, other worlds may begin trying to keep us in check.
There are games that are sensitive to changes in the rankings.
Through unlawful methods.
```
```
[Log → Director]
Please be careful.
```
Jaewon rested his elbow on the table.
```
[Director → Log]
Don’t worry. That kind of interference is forbidden by the laws.
Interfering with the operation of Arcana Online from another world
is a violation of the Higher Constellation World Law.
They won’t be able to do something like that.
```
Jaewon pressed send.
The cabin was quiet.
One second.
Two seconds.
Beep————.
A sound came from the crystal orb.
It was not the usual notification sound. It was a longer, higher signal tone, its pitch wavering. Jaewon picked up the crystal orb.
The screen turned white.
Then it went out.
“……Huh?”
Jaewon shook the crystal orb. There was no response.
“Log?”
The text window would not connect. The vision-sharing tab would not open. The screen itself was black.
“This thing could get warm?”
The crystal orb had stopped from overload.
And he saw the patch notes he had covered up rattling and vibrating.
---
Jaewon set the crystal orb on the table and picked up the patch notes.
The screen opened, and at the same time, his fingers stopped.
In the upper right corner, the printer icon was blinking.
Then paper came out.
From bottom to top.
Jaewon picked it up. It was a report for illicit use. The sender field had a Constellation’s name written in it. It was not a name Jaewon knew.
A second sheet came out.
A third.
A fourth.
As he received them by hand, he lifted his gaze.
The paper did not stop. One sheet. Another sheet. Another sheet. Faster and faster. It piled up on the table, then spilled over the edge and down to the floor. It covered the tops of his feet. Up to his knees. Up to his waist.
Jaewon rose from his seat.
The inside of the cabin filled with paper.
And then.
Beyond the paper blocking his vision, there was a fireplace.
The fireplace in the corner of the cabin, where a fire was always lit. The edge of the paper pile had reached it.
Scrape.
It was a very small sound.
Whoosh.
With that sound, it caught fire in an instant.
Only then did Jaewon look beyond the paper.
There was simply too much of it. Which also meant there was more than enough fuel for the flames to devour. The area around the fireplace was engulfed in fire, and then it spread to the wall beside it. Smoke rose through the hole in the ceiling.
Jaewon picked up the patch notes.
Like a broken receipt machine, paper was still coming out without stopping.
He felt around the back part, which seemed to be the notebook.
There was no function to stop printing bills, and since he had sat down in this place, he had never used it even once.
He tore off the paper.
Still holding the patch notes that continued pouring out paper in both hands, Jaewon opened the door.
When he looked back, the cabin was still burning.
Flames climbed up over the roof. Sparks flew from the open ceiling. The sound of old wooden furniture burning came from inside. The perch, the table, the chair, the bed.
He had not been able to bring the crystal orb.
“Mm…”
He stood there blankly, making a dazed sound.
Smoke slowly rose above the forest. His hands tightened around the patch notes held close to his chest.
In the corner of the table had been his predecessor’s last memo.
‘I’d shoved it into the corner of the table.’
The flames were devouring the cabin roof entirely.
“……Well, it doesn’t matter.”
Light from the cabin seeped through the trees. He had the illusion that he could hear a wyvern crying somewhere.
Kkyu——.
Small. From far away.
Jaewon loosened his grip on the patch notes, then tightened it again.
“……Where are we going to sleep when Log gets back?”
---
Jaewon watched the cabin burn for a long while.
“Still, it was a house I’d grown attached to… no, not really. It was a garbage cabin.”
He shook his head.
Only after the flames had eaten through the entire roof did they begin to die down a little. The smoke that had occasionally risen like coughing also thinned. The frame was still standing. The blackened pillars were maintaining their shape.
Jaewon slowly exhaled.
At least that much was fortunate. If the pillars survived, it could be repaired. Rebuild the walls, put up a roof, restore Log’s perch first—
One pillar tilted.
“Ah.”
And then the rest too.
There was a sound of collapse. Rumble. The charred black pillars fell one after another, stirring up the remains. Smoke rose again. Ash scattered in the wind.
“Cough, cough.”
He inhaled ash and coughed.
The cabin was gone.
Jaewon stared at the spot.
For a long time.
“……Ha.”
It was a sigh. Long. Low. Filled with resignation.
With the patch notes held to his chest, he walked toward the wreckage. There was still residual heat. He watched his step. Stepping on the charred remains, he slowly made his way inside.
The place where the table had been.
It was a lump of charcoal. Only its shape remained. It looked as if it would crumble if he reached out and touched it.
He felt around the area near the table. His predecessor’s final memo had surely already turned to ash. There was nothing he could do about that.
The problem was the crystal orb.
The crystal orb was not a fragile material like the ones other users possessed.
Similar to the patch notes, it was an item meant for the Director, an observation tool linked to the world’s design data.
It would not burn. It had a structure that would not be lost unless the world itself evaporated.
In theory.
Jaewon lowered his gaze and sifted through the remains.
There it was.
Beneath the heap of charcoal, between the remnants of the table. The crystal orb was half-buried. It was covered in soot, but it had not broken. Its form was intact.
Jaewon picked it up. Whether because of the fire or because it had overheated earlier, it was still warm.
He rubbed its surface with his palm. The black ash wiped away, and from within, a faint bright light returned.
Jaewon left the site of the cabin.
***
Jaewon sat on a tree stump beside the wreckage and placed the crystal orb on his lap.
It was on the power screen. With hands stained in ash, he opened the screen.
He found the chat window. The messages he had sent were lined up one after another. They were the ones he had sent after Log went out to scout. They had been marked as read.
Jaewon found the format button. It was a function buried deep in the settings menu at the upper right. A button to reset the observation records and reconnect. Originally, it was used when the device malfunctioned.
He pressed it.
The screen went out once.
Then lit up again.
─────────────────────
Reconnecting system spirit channel...
Connection complete.
─────────────────────
The chat window was clean. All past messages had disappeared.
A moment later, a message came from Log’s side.
> LOG
> I am on my way back.
Jaewon looked down at the screen.
> LOG
> The chat has been initialized. Did something happen, by any chance?
Jaewon cupped the crystal orb with one hand. Residual heat still lingered. It was warm.
Behind the tree stump, smoke was slowly rising from where the cabin had been.
Jaewon turned on the screen.
> JAEWON
> Nothing much.
There was a brief pause.
> LOG
> ……Is that so?
> LOG
> It will take some time to arrive. At the moment, my short wings are being observed.
Jaewon set the crystal orb down and leaned his back against the stump. The forest was quiet. Once the sound of burning had completely disappeared, he could hear birdsong. Somewhere far away. A slight breeze was blowing too.
He set the patch notes down beside him.
There was a little black ash on them.
Jaewon wiped it away with his finger.
Then quietly placed it back on his chest.
The fire was going out completely.
“Fuck, who was it? I almost died.”
Immediately afterward, a flame was kindled in his chest.
---