Jaewon was sitting on a straw bale in the barn, checking the lounge post through the crystal orb.
The response wasn’t bad.
The Snow-White First Snow Constellation had checked the wing-folding animation. The Wood Fairy Constellation was considering changing their nickname. It had appeared in the dwarf area over by the Red Furnace as well.
‘It’s spreading nicely.’
The Jet-Black Curtain reacted to the modeling quality and inventory access.
Jaewon let his gaze rest on that comment for a moment, then moved on.
For now, he was still in the observation stage.
The information that fairies could access the inventory was spreading naturally. Through the Constellations talking to one another. Word was also spreading that the modeling was incomplete. So was the impression that the structure looked shoddy.
He had sown the seeds.
Now he just had to wait and see who would make them sprout, and where.
Jaewon closed the crystal orb.
Daylight slanted in through the gaps in the barn roof.
He had done everything he needed to do.
Jaewon leaned back against the straw bale and took out the crystal orb.
He opened the screen. He could check the areas where fairies had appeared. The Central Great Forest, the cave along the dwarf border, the coastal reed field. They had appeared in all three places. It had spread faster than expected.
He tapped one screen.
It was the village square. Daytime. A fairy was flying low over the stone pavement.
A child was chasing after it.
The child ran with arms outstretched, with an energy that made it hard to tell whether they were trying to catch it or fly alongside it. The fairy turned toward the child, then fled again. The child laughed and changed direction.
Jaewon looked at the screen.
‘……It really is cute.’
He rolled the crystal orb in his hand, then stopped.
It was cute.
“I can see why it’s the mascot of a giant media company.”
He had made it into a trap. Bait, with a transaction delay planted inside, a tag attached, waiting for someone to take it.
But once it was reflected in the world, it really was cute.
Jaewon let that thought be for a while.
As a designer, he had made a design. That design was running around cutely in the world.
Both things were true at the same time.
Inside the crystal orb’s screen, the child finally got the fairy onto their hand. The fairy landed on the child’s head
and settled there. The adults nearby laughed.
Jaewon closed the screen.
Leaning back against a straw bale with no backrest, he looked up at the ceiling. Sunlight was coming in
through the gaps in the barn roof.
Now he just had to wait.
The bait was in the world.
The thread was attached.
If someone bit, he would know.
---
The crystal orb vibrated.
Jaewon opened the screen.
```
[Log → Director]
— We’ve secured the first lead on the newbie slaughter faction.
```
Jaewon sat up.
```
[Director → Log]
— How long did it take?
```
```
[Log → Director]
— Half a day.
```
Jaewon stared at the screen for a moment.
Half a day.
```
[Director → Log]
— Report.
```
He straightened his back atop the straw bale.
When Log returned, Jaewon was sitting on the straw bale in the barn, looking into the crystal orb.
There had still been no reaction from the tag planted in the fairy update.
He was waiting.
“I will report.”
Log folded her wings and landed on the straw bale. She rolled a crystal orb toward Jaewon.
Jaewon took it and opened the screen.
---
It was the first file.
Movement data.
It overlaid the movement routes of the newbie Constellations who had suffered damage with the locations where they had been attacked. Dots were marked across it. Jaewon looked at the dots.
“It’s a chokepoint. What, do they think they’re holding Changban Slope or something?”
The narrow mountain path leading from the Central Great Forest to the first village. It was the area newbies first set foot in after finishing the tutorial. The crossroads leading inland from the eastern coast.
Likewise, a point where newbie movement routes concentrated.
The sighting locations were marked only at those chokepoints.
Their movement routes were straight lines. The shortest route to the next victim’s location. Their waiting time was consistent. The interval between attacking one newbie and moving to the next target. The same pattern repeated.
“That’s way too precise to call it a chance encounter.”
Jaewon muttered and flipped to the next file.
---
It was combat data.
Skill hit rate. Jaewon looked at the numbers. It was more than twice the average for the same level range. They had taken almost no damage. It was one-sided.
And yet the combat time was long.
Jaewon skimmed through the combat log.
They didn’t kill them in one go. They cut their HP down to a certain level, then stopped. When the opponent recovered, they cut it down again. In between, emotes had been recorded. Taunt. Another taunt. Defeat emote. Mockery.
Once the HP dropped below 10 percent, they finished them off.
Jaewon closed the log.
“It makes no sense that I haven’t banned this guy yet.”
---
It was the third file.
Chat logs.
It was a specific community board. A private channel, but Jaewon didn’t ask how Log had gotten in.
He looked at the contents.
Coordinates were posted, roughly. People gathered. There were messages about moving together.
Jaewon set the crystal orb down on his lap.
“They won’t fix this even if we warn them.”
After a moment, he continued.
“They’re not doing this because they don’t know better.”
Log said nothing.
---
“There is one more thing I confirmed.”
Log rolled over another crystal orb.
Jaewon took it.
Account information appeared on the screen. The unique device values for those accounts. Jaewon
looked at the numbers, then stopped.
Beside the device value, other account information was attached.
It was the same number.
Jaewon looked back and forth between the two accounts. One was an account created today. The other was a high-level account. There was a large level gap. Their equipment was different. Their names were different too.
The unique device value matched.
It was the same person.
“……An alt.”
“That is correct.”
Log gave a small nod.
“I checked all relevant accounts. They are newly created accounts, but cases where their device values match existing high-level accounts make up 78 percent of the total. They were operating in newbie areas while hiding their skill.”
Jaewon looked at the screen.
They had hidden it. They had created new accounts in order to hide it. If they used their high-level accounts, access to newbie areas would be restricted. So they had made new accounts. The device was the same, but the account was different.
If one person had done this alone, it would just have been griefing.
Jaewon looked at the account numbers again.
Seventy-eight percent. There were multiple people. Each had made an alt. Sharing coordinates
in the same community.
“I don’t think this is just one guy messing around.”
Jaewon said, holding the crystal orb in his hand.
Log waited quietly.
Jaewon opened the chat logs again.
Coordinates. Assembly. Movement. Newbie culling.
And glitch spreading. Cabins burned to the ground. Report bombing.
They had all happened separately.
But they were all heading in the same direction.
Toward driving out the people newly entering Arcana Online.
Jaewon set the crystal orb down.
“Log.”
“Yes.”
“What are the chances they’re connected to the glitch spreaders?”
Log answered after a moment.
“There is no evidence at present.”
“To be honest, dealing with two groups is such a pain that I’d prefer it if they were the same people.”
“It seems that way.”
Jaewon looked up at the barn ceiling.
Afternoon light slanted in through the gaps in the roof.
Jaewon set down the crystal orb and took out the patch notes.
Log looked at him.
“Aren’t you going to deal with them?”
“I’ll hit them, sure.”
Jaewon picked up the pen.
Log waited.
---
Jaewon began writing.
```
======================================
■ ARCANA ONLINE ■
Internal Processing — Server Separation Applied
(Private / Not Posted to Constellation Lounge)
======================================
▶ Targets
The following measures will be applied to account groups
that meet the criteria for newbie slaughter.
Slaughter Criteria:
— Repeated appearances in the same area (concentrated along newbie movement routes)
— Repeated HP depletion without ending combat
— Multiple uses of taunt emotes
— Confirmed group movement after assembling through the community
▶ Measures
The relevant accounts will be separated from the general server.
Separated accounts will only operate in the same areas
with accounts subject to the same measure.
No separate notice will be given to the target accounts.
```
Jaewon stopped his pen and looked at the last line again.
‘No separate notice will be given to the target accounts.’
That sentence was the key.
They themselves wouldn’t know. They wouldn’t know that the server had been separated. They wouldn’t know that anything had changed about the server they had entered.
“Just go hunt newbies like you always do.”
```
“Creating an exile server will consume a lot of divine power, won’t it?”
“Yeah, so.”
Jaewon showed her what he had written in the notebook.
▶ Separated Server Settings
— Characters connected to the relevant server will be afflicted with the Curse of Delusion.
```
“...So, you’re saying they’ll go insane and be made to believe they’re playing the game normally?”
“Well, since it’s basically running the game on the characters’ brains, that ‘server’ won’t last long.”
Jaewon lifted his pen.
Log looked over the patch notes from beside him.
She read one more line.
Then raised her head.
“…….”
Jaewon closed the patch notes and spoke.
Log remained silent for a moment.
“That is cruel.”
“Hey, these bastards deserve worse for killing powerless newbies for fun. It’s better than a ban.”
Jaewon placed the patch notes on his lap and continued.
“What happens if I ban them? They destroy the evidence and make new accounts. Then we’re back to square one. This way, it’ll take time for them to notice something’s wrong. It’ll take them a long while just to feel that something is off.”
Log did not nod.
But she did not refute him either.
“And.”
Jaewon added.
“If the tracking on the glitch hunter side finishes in the meantime, we deal with them all at once then.”
“All at once.”
“If the newbie slaughter faction and the glitch spreaders are connected, we catch them together. If we deal with them separately, one side will notice and run.”
Log thought for a moment.
“How long will it take?”
“We won’t know until the glitch hunter takes the bait.”
“No reaction yet?”
“None. I’m waiting.”
Jaewon looked up at the barn ceiling.
A day had passed since the fairy content was reflected. There had still been no tag reaction. Maybe the opponent was cautious, maybe they hadn’t found the fairy content yet, or maybe they were looking at another route.
All he could do was wait.
Jaewon confirmed that the letters glowed, then disappeared.
Application complete.
Somewhere, a server was quietly separated.
The newbie slaughter faction’s accounts entered the new server. They didn’t know. They had simply
logged in again today. Today, too, they headed to the eastern crossroads.
They would post coordinates.
They would gather.
And they would find the newbie they had been waiting for.
---
The crystal orb vibrated.
Jaewon opened the screen.
It was the tag.
```
[System Alert]
Fairy tracking tag reaction detected.
Abnormal access to Exchange transaction — 1 case.
Beginning recording.
```
Jaewon looked at the screen.
It had happened.
“Log.”
“I saw.”
Jaewon picked up the patch notes.
“They bit.”