◈ Episode 299. Bad Omen

We must go back to the days when Arcana was just a game.

“I’m sure you know this better than anyone, General Manager, but this tower is special. We’ve put a lot of work into it from the planning stages, in so many ways.”

Magic Tower.

Arcana’s most powerful military organization needed a setting to match.

Antonium, the capital of the Empire. It had to show an overwhelming appearance in a different way from the golden palace of the ancient kingdom of Yusra.

“It was definitely a challenge to do it with just magic, because we also had to think about balance – we didn’t want magic to have a reputation for being all-powerful and have every player choose to be a mage.”

They also used “that setting” for the Magic Tower.

“The setting is that the Magic Tower is a creation of bad omen.”

Duk-seok.

Park Minjae picked up a paper cup.

He wanted to moisten his dry mouth…….

“Hot!”

No, what’s so hot?!

‘Oh my gosh, making a fuss so informally.’

It took me a moment to regain my composure.

Park Minjae’s wondering gaze is directed at Hoyeol sitting across from him.

How can you drink such hot green tea without changing your expression?

‘……No, this is not the time to admire such things.’

Isn’t it time to explain about bad omens?

I will pay for the food.

A determined Park Minjae continues.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. So, a bad omen is a kind of probability. To put it simply…… Is this a setting just for the balance patch?”

Arcana was another world, but Arcana was strictly a game.

Being a game meant that balance patches and updates were constantly being made by the developers and Cosmo. Of course, it was Raymond Sean who was in control of the process.

“After all, deleting is a necessary part of the patching process.”

Arcana is no ordinary game. It wasn’t just a matter of deleting, it was a matter of releasing “something” onto the Arcana continent that had the ability to do so.

“In short, what a bad omen swallows is deletion, and what it spits out is creation?”

[Bad Omen] was the one who took on that role.

“In reality, a being that can do anything is a bad omen. It was a setting that was given in the first place because such a role was needed. The Magic Tower wondrous functions also come from the power of bad omen.”

The long past.

A place where bad omens stayed.

The Magic Tower was built on that site.

Park Minjae scratched the back of his head.

“This……. I’m embarrassed to tell you this, General Manager. I’m embarrassed because it seems to show that we’ve been doing things in moderation, as if the players weren’t aware of it.”

If we had given a more specific and reasonable setting, rather than adding an appropriate setting like a bad omen…… I could have provided more decisive help to the general manager.

But that was a long time ago.

Of course, I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

“What?! So are you okay now?”

He asked.

Park Minjae raised his eyebrows at Sung Hyunjoon’s fussing.

The green tea was so hot that it reached the roof of his mouth.

Now he’s interrupting the conversation without any formality?

Park Minjae barely managed to suppress his bratty instincts and smiled.

“What do you mean, what’s wrong with you, junior Sung?”

“That……. Didn’t we already admit that Arcana was another world that existed, Mr. Park, and that the real world has been updated with elements of the Arcana continent that we don’t know about?”

“Yes, we did.”

“Then that incredibly bad omen was also later……!!”

I wanted to ask him a question, but it was enough to defuse my anger, because I was about to give the general manager a side story about it.

Park Minjae smiled inappropriately humanizing.

“That’s a good point, junior Sung.”

“……Junior Sung? Just call me Sung Hyunjoon like you always do.”

“Hehe, even a joke.”

Slowly.

Park Minjae’s gaze turns to Hoyeol.

He doesn’t show any signs of distress, so I continue.

“If that’s the case, there’s nothing to worry about. Would we have wanted a bad omen with a ridiculous setting to be released on the Arcana continent? It was buried meticulously.”

“Buried it? In the ground, or in hell?”

“Of course not.”

Haven’t we established that the underground and hell are real?

Yes, the bad omen had to be both real and non-existent.

Park Minjae added to Hoyeol.

“The place where the bad omen is located is in the deep ocean. It’s in the depths of the Dead Sea, the Southern Ocean of the Arcana Continent, where nothing can exist.”

A moment of silence.

Hoyeol finally spoke up.

In his usual voice.

“That was a good story, Mr. Park Minjae.”

“Thank you…….”

“Except you forgot one thing.”

“……?”

“The southern sea is not the sea of death.”

He dropped another bomb.

“So the bad omen must also be alive and breathing in the deep sea.”

.

.

.

“No, that’s not possible, the setting of the southern sea was added in the first place because of the bad omen……!”

Park Minjae looks puzzled and spits out the words like a rapid-fire cannon.

But what can I do?

I’m saying this after seeing it with my own eyes.

Sisley, the land of the elves.

That’s right.

Sisley was located on the southern sea.

This time, let’s look at the Southern Sea from Anomaly perspective.

‘It’s a place where unrealized pieces of cake are gathered, isn’t it?’

To put it simply.

Elements that would later be updated in the biography of the Arcana Continent were trapped in the Southern Sea. However, among them, the one called Bad Omen is on a different level…….

‘That’s good news.’

Imagine, if that bad omen had been associated with the demons. Wouldn’t Grandfell’s limitless outrageousness have unfolded without fail?

‘Just imagining it gives me a headache.’

Whether it’s the ability to delete and create, or whatever.

His pride would never have let him down.

Relieved, I checked the quest window.

─Progress toward Anomaly (in progress)

●Understand the source of the magic tower. (success)

Park Minjae’s words seemed to be correct.

I don’t know the next quest goal because I can’t think of it.

I think it might be a goal related to bad omens.

Park Minjae stammers and asks.

“I heard that the bad omen might be alive in the southern sea……. Do you know something about the southern sea, General Manager?”

“Of course.”

I hadn’t just known, I had worked with the elven leader, Agentress, to uncover the secrets of the World Tree and a primordial evil. It made me stand tall and proud. A haughty voice slipped from my lips.

“My arrangement exists there too.”

Are you going to do it again this time?

That’s a big word, really.

Still, it’s not wrong, right?

I’ve built up enough relationships and influence with the elves, including Agentress, to be able to take over [command].

Of course, the process goes back to my threatening them with the [Hierarchy of Blessings], but……. I’m not good at explaining things.

“What an arrangement? I never imagined this!”

To a stunned Park, I cut to the chase.

“Elves, they would have also been watching for bad omens from the southern seas. I might be able to get some specific information about the bad omen from them.”

“……!!!”

Park Minjae.

And Yoon Soogyeom and Sung Hyunjoon.

The three men’s faces are colored with horror.

They must be wondering what I’m talking about, being in Sisley, the home of Elves.

I guess I’m moving a little fast.

But I can’t help it.

‘Time runs four times faster on the Arcana Continent than it does in reality.’

In other words.

Four times as much has happened.

I continued.

“If it’s too much, it’s okay to take it.”

“……Ah, yeah, I’ll do that.”

Ballpoint pens, smartphones, each in their own way, writing down my remarks.

It’s a sight to behold…….

I’m starting to get anxious again.

“The elves regained their pride after a bitter lesson.”

This damn snout.

“The World Tree has sown new seeds on the Arcana continent.”

Gilding his face.

“Dragons and elves, they have restored the pride of their flesh and blood.”

It comes so naturally to me……!

“And in the midst of it all was I.”

The three men finish their dictation, their faces blank.

Gulp.

Park Minjae shakes his head and asks.

“More than that, General Manager, are you sure it’s okay for you to tell us such top-secret information? I can only guess, but from the sounds of it, there’s a huge quest involved?”

You were once an operator in Arcana.

You know the player world well.

Especially about these big quests?

It’s never a bad thing to know more people.

But who is Grandfell?

“Everything is a give and take.”

A tired man who must keep his word.

“You gave me your trust, so I give you my trust.”

Of course, I, Lee Hoyeol, am no saint.

I say what I say for a reason.

And so does he.

A primordial evil intertwined with Elves, World Trees, and Dragons.

The quest related to him is…….

[Class Quest: The Tree of Good and Evil].

Akshan The last survivor.

The last demon hunter.

It’s a class quest that only I can fulfill.

In that sense, let’s thank you again, Hoyeol.

‘Really, what would you have done if a demon came out here too?’

High ranking Demon King, Great Evil, Primordial Evil, whatever.

There are so many demons to worry about.

If even the source of the Magic Tower, the Bad Omen, was tied to a demon, there wouldn’t be a breathing space left. Yeah, I don’t know what the hell you are, but I’m grateful. It’s the Bad Omen.

‘And stay quiet for as long as possible, Quest.’

The three men came to their senses.

Their eyes sparkle like never before.

Life seems to have returned to their dying faces.

“I’m overwhelmed to hear you say that, General Manager, and I will immediately announce your accomplishments on the Arcana Continent to all AAU branches!”

“If we compile the information from each of the branches, we might be able to come up with something meaningful.”

“I feel like I missed work today again, but… … ! it’s okay. I am rather honored to meet you like this, General Manager!”

……How will the achievements that have spread like this come back to me?

I can’t guess, but one thing is certain.

I don’t think I’m going to be able to live with my face for a while…….

*

I look down at the churning sea.

I try to ignore my pounding head.

I bite my lip and speak.

“Hey, haven’t you become more talkative lately?”

The Witch of the Southern Sea.

She spoke to the Great Beast of the Deep. Home, family, friends, lovers……. The bad omen that took away everything was constantly whispering at this moment.

“Destruction, I’m full of greed.”

With trembling hands, she lit a cigarette.

Hu─

The reason for smoking strong cigarettes is simple. Although it was only for a moment, my mind became clearer. Thanks to this, I can clearly remember the bad omen and the people it devoured one by one.

“Did you know, McCanna’s feather pen, it was a masterpiece, made of griffin feathers? Do you remember the folktales? They must be all over the land by now.”

It’s not just the ancient kingdoms of the distant past.

The bad omen is less than a century old.

It had risen from the depths of the sea.

The witch blew out a puff of smoke and asked.

“And that ‘thing’ you devoured at the end. You swallowed it and weren’t satisfied? I can’t imagine what you were doing it for.”

The cigarette burned to a crisp.

Poof.

The witch tossed the cigarette into the southern sea.

“But you know what? I don’t know about the others, but that last one you swallowed was definitely the wrong one, because rumors are everywhere. Those crazy bastards.”

If they are.

Because even if they went to hell, they wouldn’t forget the humiliation. Strong or weak, they were witches, a more persistent group than anyone else they knew.

So…….

The witch laughed bitterly.

‘I will no longer look to you for help.’

Claudi.

.

.

.

I doubted both eyes.

……Do I have presbyopia?

No, that couldn’t be it.

The quest window in front of me flashed.

Before I could check it, a lament came out.

Yes, that’s what my nephew does.

‘I have so many workers that I don’t even know if they die from overwork…… !’

I was about to lament as usual.

……However.

The shiny quest wasn’t what I had in mind.

[Class Quest: Akshan-Style Operation Bucket].

……A class quest?

At this time of year?

What the hell is Operation Bucket?!

At the same time, a chattering snout.

“I see.”

The updated quest objective.

─Chase the bad omen of the southern sea that swallowed Akshan (Ongoing)

I finally realized.

Bad Omen, you’ve been messing with the wrong people for a long time.

Did you touch our seniors?

‘What kind of seniors are they?’

They became demons and fell to hell.

They hunt demons.

And you’re not afraid to eat them?!

The back end of it was already showing up in the quest objectives.

“A new prey.”

●Trace the bad omen through the markings left by Akshan. (Ongoing)

“The desired sea. Akshan.”