Next report.
```
[Report #0123]
Details: This is about the group of malicious users I reported above.
Is there still no response? Please handle it quickly.
```
Jaewon looked at the screen.
He checked the timestamp.
It had been sent three minutes after Report #0001 was posted, urging them to hurry.
Jaewon exhaled.
Then he opened the next report.
```
[Report #0124]
Details: My dragon was hit by a cannon and died.
Can I receive compensation too?
```
Jaewon paused for a moment.
‘This one.’
It seemed like a Constellation sponsoring a dragon had lost that dragon in battle and was demanding compensation.
However.
Jaewon checked the reporting account.
It was the Lord of the Abyss.
Jaewon closed his eyes.
It was the Constellation whose dragon had been shot down earlier after ordering it to charge straight in. The very Constellation who had personally given the order to charge, then posted on the community, “What the hell did I just do?” was now demanding compensation.
Jaewon lifted the patch notes from his lap for a moment, then lowered them again.
‘……I get it.’
As per the prior notice, he gave the standard response that losses caused by a user’s strategic misjudgment were not eligible for compensation, then opened the next report.
```
[Report #0125]
Details: Is there still no response about the malicious user group above?
```
This time, Jaewon opened the reply field.
```
[Response #0125]
We have already responded.
Please check the response to Report #0120.
```
He sent it.
Jaewon shook his head once and opened the next report.
```
[Report #0126]
Details: The malicious user group issue still hasn’t been handled.
My hero died again. This time it was definitely malicious.
```
Jaewon checked the coordinates.
‘The same village?’
It was the same village.
The demon race borderlands.
Jaewon closed his eyes.
He thought for a moment.
Then he opened the reply field.
```
[Response #127]
You have suffered repeated damage in the same area.
That area is a zone of ongoing demon race activity.
Large-scale battles are currently taking place across the world,
and the frequency of demon race actions is higher than usual.
We recommend that you review page 3 of the beginner Constellation guide
once again.
```
Jaewon stopped while writing.
He deleted the last line.
He had already told them to check the guide twice. A third time would be no different from deliberately pissing them off.
He wrote again.
```
We recommend moving your hero.
```
He sent it.
Jaewon stared down at the patch notes on his lap for a moment.
There were still over four thousand report numbers left.
Fire was burning.
Smoke was rising.
Jaewon opened the next report.
```
[Report #0131]
Sender: Constellation Account — Pioneer of the Wilderness
Details: A creature that does not fit the world setting of Arcana Online
is roaming around.
It is a penguin.
There is a penguin on a hill.
Do penguins exist in this world?
If not, isn’t it a bugged entity?
I confirmed that some user took it away. This is unfair, so please capture or remove it immediately.
```
Jaewon froze.
A screenshot was attached.
He opened it.
It was Rogue.
Rogue with a penguin skin applied. A penguin waddling on a snow-covered hill. Pure-White First Snow was stroking it beside her.
The composition was clear. It looked like the witness had captured it precisely from a great distance.
Jaewon lifted his gaze from the screenshot.
The flames in the cabin crackled.
‘…….’
A line of sweat ran down Jaewon’s forehead.
Remove the bugged entity.
It was a report asking him to remove Rogue.
Jaewon stared down at the patch notes on his lap for a moment.
He opened the reply field.
```
[Response #0131]
Hello, this is the Arcana Online operations team.
We have confirmed the entity in question.
At present, a snow-attribute Constellation is manifesting
in the northern hills of Arcana Online.
The ice and snow attribute of that Constellation is having
a temporary effect on the surrounding ecosystem,
```
Jaewon stopped.
He thought for a moment.
```
and during this process, entities associated with a snowy ecosystem
may be sighted temporarily.
This is not a bugged entity, but an attribute-linked phenomenon.
The operations team is monitoring the situation,
and it is scheduled to disappear naturally after the manifestation ends.
Thank you for using our service.
```
Jaewon read it over.
‘Monitoring the situation.’
‘Scheduled to disappear naturally.’
Neither was a lie. Once the Constellation’s manifestation ended, Rogue would take off the skin and return... so natural disappearance was correct.
He sent it.
Jaewon wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
Next report.
Jaewon dipped his finger in ink and turned the page.
Boldly.
```
[Report #0147]
Sender: Constellation Account — Guardian of the Warm Hearth
Details: At present, a bread thief is running rampant
within Arcana Online.
In the chaos of war, grain is precious and crops have also been damaged,
so bread producers are desperately
making bread.
However, the finished bread keeps disappearing.
It is difficult to identify the culprit,
but traces lead toward the nearby forest.
A proper thief user continuously stealing something as trivial as bread is poor manners.
Please punish the bread thief.
Please discipline them in a manner appropriate to the in-game setting.
```
Jaewon read it.
Then slowly came to a stop.
There was a sender Constellation.
Guardian of the Warm Hearth.
Jaewon searched through the Constellation status tab. He found the account.
```
Account Name: Guardian of the Warm Hearth
Sponsorship Field: Baking, food production, wheat processing
Sponsorship Targets: Bakers throughout the northern plains, mill guilds in general
Activity History: Steady small-scale sponsorship. Supporting food production NPCs in general.
```
It was a bakery Constellation.
That there was a Constellation in Arcana Online specializing in sponsoring bread.
Jaewon had only just learned that now.
Sweat ran down Jaewon’s forehead again.
Twice from the mill. Once from a street stall. Once more from a street stall. Twice behind a nearby estate warehouse.
Those breads.
They had been made by producers who received a Constellation’s sponsorship.
‘Traces lead toward the nearby forest.’
Jaewon reread that line.
The cabin was halfway up a mountain in the forest.
That direction where the traces led.
Jaewon wiped the sweat from his forehead with the parchment. With a clean part.
‘...They haven’t figured out that I’m the Director.’
He opened the reply field.
```
[Response #0147]
```
The cursor blinked.
Jaewon remained still for a moment.
Then he began writing.
```
Hello, this is the operations team.
We are reviewing the report you submitted.
Since the outbreak of war, opportunistic looting behavior
has increased across the world,
and food production areas are no exception.
We will respond after further investigation of this matter.
Thank you for using our service.
```
‘After further investigation.’
It was the first time he had used that pattern.
He sent it.
Jaewon quickly flipped through the patch notes.
On to the next report.
---
Fifty. Sixty. Eighty.
As Jaewon was flipping through them, his hand stopped.
While skimming the reports, something bothered him. At first, he hadn’t noticed. Viewed one by one, they were all separate incidents. Demon race activity that looked like trolling. A creature that didn’t fit the world setting. A bread thief. Item drop rates.
But when he looked at several of them together.
Jaewon flipped the patch notes backward and looked again.
The Constellations who had sent the reports.
Most of the accounts had been created recently. Their registration dates were similar. Three days ago. Four days ago. Five days ago. It overlapped with the time Arcana Online’s ranking had begun to rise.
And then he looked again at the demon race-related reports.
It was normal for the demon race to attack villages. That was right. But there was one strange thing.
The timing of the attacks was dense.
It was natural behavior for the demon race to take advantage when war broke out. But right now, the front line had formed in the north. The area where demon race activity should have been the highest was the east. Yet the villages receiving reports were spread out strangely evenly.
If it were naturally occurring, they wouldn’t be connected to one another. They would be scattered.
This was.
‘……There’s a pattern.’
Jaewon tapped the crystal orb, then sent another message to Rogue.
```
[Director → Rogue]
I think the demon race attack pattern is strange.
The coordinates are too evenly distributed to be natural behavior.
Isn’t it organized?
```
After a brief silence, a reply came.
```
[Rogue → Director]
It is difficult to check while being petted.
```
```
[Rogue → Director]
But it is entirely possible.
It is true that the demon race is moving directly, but there may be
a Constellation inducing them to do so.
On the surface, it looks like natural NPC behavior,
so it is difficult to filter through reports.
```
Jaewon looked down at the parchment on his lap.
‘Constellation support disguised as ordinary demon race activity.’
They were intervening from outside Arcana Online. Not by directly violating the rules, but by shaking the world indirectly through NPCs.
Jaewon scratched at the parchment.
```
[Director → Rogue]
Is there a way to confirm it?
```
```
[Rogue → Director]
There are two.
```
Jaewon waited on the parchment.
```
[Rogue → Director]
The first is building an anti-cheat system.
It would be a system that uses all the divine power received so far
to track, in real time, the intervention routes of all Constellations
within the world.
```
Jaewon opened the balance tab.
He looked at the number.
```
[Rogue → Director]
The cost would be the entire current balance of divine power.
```
Jaewon closed the balance tab.
‘All of it.’
```
[Rogue → Director]
And one more thing.
Constellations are, by default, beings
who exist above this world.
If they learn that the system is monitoring
the actions of such beings,
their reaction may not be positive.
It is the same context as the fact that the Director is not omnipotent.
Constellations who feel they are being monitored may
leave.
```
‘Anti-cheat is only natural in human games, but Constellations are different.’
Jaewon stared down at the parchment.
If he spent everything to build the system. If the Constellations got offended and left.
Zero balance, plus departures.
‘Out of the question.’
Jaewon tapped his finger.
```
[Director → Rogue]
No. Next.
```
```
[Rogue → Director]
The second is linking official accounts of the Constellations, recognized by the Constellations themselves.
```
```
[Rogue → Director]
It is a system where, when accessing Arcana Online,
they also authenticate their official Constellation World account.
If an external Constellation wants to intervene in Arcana Online,
they must do so through an official account,
and that route will be recorded.
```
Jaewon read it.
Then waited for the next line.
```
[Rogue → Director]
To put it simply, when logging into the game,
they log in once more
with their official Constellation World account.
```
Jaewon almost dropped the parchment from his hand.
Two logins.
When they opened the game, Constellation World official account login. Then, after that, Arcana Online login.
Jaewon considered actually making the Constellations do that.
‘Mm, that won’t work.’
He knew it even from the world he had lived in. Two logins. Account linking. Additional authentication. Unless someone was extremely invested, they started quitting right there.
Even if the Constellations were hardcore users pouring in divine power, a login barrier was different. It was just annoying. The moment they tried to launch it and saw that they had to enter information twice, they would turn it off.
```
[Director → Rogue]
No. Even ordinary users all leave
if there are two logins.
```
```
[Rogue → Director]
That is correct.
```
```
[Rogue → Director]
That is why it is difficult for me to recommend it as well.
```
```
[Rogue → Director]
There is no realistic solution at present. Since I am being held by this... Constellation Pure-White First Snow.
For now, recording the patterns and continuing to observe is the best option.
```
Jaewon set the parchment down on his lap.
He looked at the patch notes.
There were still thousands of reports left on the list.
The cabin was burning.
Rogue was being petted in a penguin skin.
The crystal orb was dead.
Jaewon closed his eyes for a moment.
‘For now, record it and keep observing.’
It was the best he could do.
Jaewon opened his eyes and spread out the patch notes again.
He was about to open the next report... then stopped.
---
```
[Director → Rogue]
What if I go in person and figure it out?
```