Omen: We Must Go Back to the Days When Arcana Was Just a Game
"I believe the Chief Overseer knows this better than anyone, but the Mage Tower is special. Everything about it! We put tremendous effort into it from the planning stage onward. In every aspect."
The Mage Tower. To live up to its setting as Arcana's greatest martial force, it needed a backdrop to match. The imperial capital, Antonim. It had to present an overwhelming presence, different from the Golden Palace of the ancient Yusra Kingdom.
"Expressing it purely through magic was no easy task. Back then, we had to consider balance. We couldn't let rumors spread that magic was omnipotent, drawing every player to choose mage."
So the Mage Tower got 'that setting' too.
"The setting that the Mage Tower is a creation of the Omen."
Gulp.
Park Minjae snatched up the paper cup. He wanted to wet his dry throat...
"Hot hot hot!"
No, why is it this hot?!
'Tsk, so undignified.'
Before he could quickly compose himself, Park Minjae's awestruck gaze turned to Hoyeol across from him. How does he down scalding green tea like that without a twitch?
'...No, this isn't the time to admire that.'
Wasn't it time to explain about the Omen?
Determined to earn his keep, Park Minjae pressed on.
"You may have heard this before. In simple terms, the Omen is an entity for narrative plausibility. Or, to put it bluntly... a setting just for balance patches?"
Arcana claimed to be another world, but it was undeniably a game. Back when it was just a game, developer Cosmo had continually issued balance patches and updates. Naturally, Raymon Sean held absolute authority over that process.
"Anyway, deletions are essential in patching."
Arcana wasn't your average game. It couldn't end with simple deletion; they had to release something into the Arcana Continent capable of performing deletions.
"In short, what the Omen swallows is deletion, and what it spits out is creation?"
That role fell to the [Omen].
"The Omen can do virtually anything. That's the setting we gave it from the start for that purpose. The Mage Tower's wondrous functions stem from the Omen's power."
In ancient times past. The site where the Omen resided. That was where the Mage Tower was built.
Park Minjae scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"This... talking about it now makes me embarrassed, Chief. It feels like our half-baked handling of player-invisible elements is exposed. I have no face to show."
If they'd given it a more concrete, fitting setting instead of slapping on something convenient like the Omen...
They might have provided more decisive help to the Chief Overseer.
But that was far too distant history.
No time for dwelling, anyway.
"Yes?! So it's fine now?"
Oh no.
Park Minjae pressed his forehead at Seong Hyunjun's outburst. The green tea had scorched his palate, and now this lack of decorum?
Suppressing his inner old man with effort, Park Minjae forced a smile.
"What's fine, Seong?"
"Well... haven't we already acknowledged Arcana as a real other world, Branch Chief Park? Reality has updated with Arcana Continent elements we didn't know about."
"Right, we have."
"Then that monstrous Omen might later...!!"
He'd wondered what question was coming, but this curiosity could defuse the tension. He'd been about to elaborate to the Chief Overseer anyway.
Park Minjae flashed an uncharacteristically affable grin.
"Good point, Seong."
"...Seong? Just call me Seong Hyunjun like always."
"Haha, kidding."
Slyly, Park Minjae's gaze flicked to Hoyeol. No reaction, so he continued.
"No need to worry about that. Did we want an Omen with absurd settings loose on the Arcana Continent? It was carefully sealed away."
"Sealed? Underground? Or hell?"
"Of course not."
Hadn't they confirmed the underground and hell exist? Yes, the Omen had to exist yet not exist.
Park Minjae added for Hoyeol.
"The Omen's location is the abyssal depths. Specifically, the Dead Sea where nothing can exist, deep in the southern seas of the Arcana Continent."
As the explanation wrapped, Hoyeol finally spoke. In his usual tone.
"A fine tale, Branch Chief Park Minjae."
"Thank y...ou."
"Save for one oversight."
"...Pardon?"
"The southern sea is no sea of death."
Another bombshell.
"Thus, the Omen lives and breathes in the abyss."
...
"No, that can't be. The southern sea setting was added because of the Omen—it's no exaggeration to say that...!"
Park Minjae blurted in panic.
But what could he do? These were words from someone who'd seen it with his own eyes.
The elves' land, Sisli.
Yes. Sisli floated above the southern sea.
Now, view the southern sea from the anomalies' perspective.
'A place where unrealized plot hooks gather?'
In simple terms, elements slated for later Arcana Continent updates were trapped in the southern sea.
Of course, the Omen among them was on another level...
'At least that's a relief.'
Imagine if the Omen were tied to demons. Grandfell's boundless meddling would have kicked in without fail.
'Just thinking about it gives me a headache.'
Deletion, creation—whatever powers it held, his lofty pride would never back down.
With a sigh of relief, I checked my quest window.
Progress Toward the Anomalies (In Progress)
● Uncover the origins of the Mage Tower.(Success)
Park Minjae's words rang true as the answer. No new objective appeared yet, but it was probably Omen-related.
Park Minjae stammered, "The Omen might be alive in the southern sea...? Do you know something about it, Chief Overseer?"
"Of course."
Beyond mere knowledge, I'd uncovered secrets of the World Tree and primordial evil alongside the elf leader, Agentress. Chest puffed with pride, a haughty tone slipped out unbidden.
"My arrangements exist there as well."
Arrangements again? Such grandiose phrasing.
But not wrong. I'd built enough rapport and influence to hand over [Command Rights] to Agentress and the elves.
Of course, tracing back, it started with threats via [Hierarchy of Blessings]...
But lengthy explanations didn't suit me.
"Arrangements? I never imagined!"
To the stunned Park Minjae, I delivered the essence.
"The elves—they would have been watching the southern sea's Omen. Through them, we might obtain concrete information on it."
"...!!!"
Park Minjae. And Yoon Sugyeom, Seong Hyunjun. The three men's faces filled with shock.
Elves? Their homeland Sisli? Sudden talk of that would surprise anyone.
Even I thought the pace was brisk.
But unavoidable.
'Time on the Arcana Continent flows four times faster than reality.'
In simple terms, four times the events had occurred.
I continued, "If it's too much, take notes."
"...Ah, yes! Will do."
Ballpoint pens, smartphones—each recorded my words in their way.
Watching the scene, unease crept in again...
"The elves reclaimed their pride after bitter lessons."
This damn motormouth.
"The World Tree sowed new seeds across the Arcana Continent."
Gilding his own face.
"Dragons and elves restored their blood kin's pride as well."
So naturally, as if...
"And I stood at the center."
The three finished scribbling, souls drained.
Park Minjae shook his head clear and asked, "Chief, is it alright sharing such top-secret info? From what I gather, it sounds tied to massive quests?"
Former Arcana operators, huh? They knew the player world well. Especially large-scale quests? More knowers meant more trouble.
But who was Grandfell?
"All is give and take."
He was the tiresome sort who honored his words.
"You offered trust, so I return it."
Of course, I, Lee Hoyeol, wasn't some saint. There was reason for my ready disclosure.
And that quest tied to elves, World Tree, dragons, and primordial evil...
Good and Evil
Akshan's Last Survivor.The Final Demon Hunter.
A class quest only I can undertake.
Thanks again, Hoyeol.
'What if demons popped up here too?'
Upper demon kings, great evils, primordial evils—demons aplenty demanded attention. If even the Mage Tower's origin, the Omen, tied to demons, no breather left.
Yes, whatever monstrous thing it was, gratitude first.
Thanks, Omen.
'And stay quiet as long as possible, quest.'
The three men, fully composed now. Their eyes sparkled differently—faces once ashen now vitalized.
"Your words honor us, Chief Overseer. Then we'll announce your deeds on the Arcana Continent to all AAU branches at once!"
"Compiling from branches might yield meaningful results."
"No quitting time today either...! But it's an honor just to meet you, Chief!"
...How would these spreading deeds boomerang back?
Unknowable, but one thing certain.
I'd have to hide my face for a while...
*
Gazing at the rippling sea. Ignoring the throbbing head. Biting her lip, she speaks.
"Hey, haven't you been chattier lately?"
The witch of the southern sea. She addressed the great Omen of the abyss.
Home, family, friends, lover... The Omen that stole everything still whispered ceaselessly.
"Ruin? Such greed."
Trembling hands lit a cigarette. The reason for the harsh smoke was simple. For that fleeting clarity of mind.
Thanks to it, those swallowed by the Omen sharpened one by one.
"You know? Macena's quill was a masterpiece. Made from griffon feathers. Remember the Land of Legends? It'd be blooming with myths by now."
Not tales of ancient kingdoms past.
The Omen had emerged from the abyss recently too, less than a century ago.
Exhaling smoke, the witch asked, "But that last thing you swallowed. Not satisfied even with it? I can't even guess why."
The cigarette burned to the filter. Flick— She tossed it toward the southern sea.
"But know this? That last one was a grave mistake. Word's everywhere. Those lunatics."
They would never forget the insult, even in hell.
Beyond strong or weak, they were more tenacious than any the witch knew.
So...
The witch smiled bitterly.
'I'll ask no more aid from you.'
Claudy.
...
I doubted my eyes.
...Presbyopia? No, impossible.
The quest window before me blinked.
A groan escaped before checking.
Yes, my fate.
'My workaholic luck could kill me from overwork...!'
As I lamented habitually...
...It wasn't the quest I expected.
Akshan-Style Diversion Operation
...A class quest? At this timing? Diversion what?!
And the motormouth chimed, "I see."
Quest objective updated.
Akshan-Style Diversion Operation (In Progress)
● Track the Omen of the Southern Sea that Swallowed Akshan.(In Progress)
Finally, realization dawned.
Omen, you messed up big time.
Messed with our seniors?
'What kind of folks are they.'
Even as demons in hell.
Demon hunters.
And you dared swallow them?!
The aftermath already showed in the quest objective.
"A new prey."
● Track the Omen's movements through the mark left by Akshan.(In Progress)
"Just what I desired. Akshan."