Thinking of this, I racked my brain to think of how to activate it...
’The wiki said I should just view myself as a God, right?’
I remembered reading about [Augury] before.
There had been a particular passage about the first God of Augury, one that explained why the ability required its user to see themselves as something above the mortals they were observing.
If I remembered correctly... the passage went something like this:
[There was once a God who looked upon the world below and wondered why the mortals feared their own futures. For one cannot divine the fate of another while standing among them. Thus, those who seek Augury must first rise above the mortal gaze and look upon the world as though it were beneath their feet. Only then may they see what the mortals cannot.]
’Oh wow... how did I perfectly recite that in my head just now...’
’Ah. Focus.’
I took a quiet breath and tried to immerse myself in the act.
I needed to stop thinking like myself.
If the [Augury] required me to view myself as a god, then I had to actually convince myself that I was something above the people standing before me.
I straightened my posture as I looked down at the Response Unit.
’...I am a god.’
Nothing happened.
’Everyone beneath me is a mortal.’
Still nothing...
I stared at them for a few more seconds, desperately trying to force myself into the mindset.
"..."
It was too awkward.
’Fuck. I can’t do this.’
I immediately abandoned the attempt.
To the Response Unit below me, however, it looked as though the supernatural entity had simply fallen into a long, unnatural silence.
I continued staring down at them with a blank expression.
None of them dared to move.
The longer the silence continued, the more uneasy they became.
’Did we... say something wrong?’
The Response Unit exchanged subtle glances.
Their hands slowly moved toward their equipment, quietly preparing themselves in case the supernatural entity suddenly attacked.
Meanwhile, I was having an entirely different problem.
’Hm... is it really necessary that I view myself as a god?’
I thought back to the passage.
’Ah! Perhaps it’s just a matter of having a different perspective?’
If that was the important part, then perhaps feeling like a "god" wasn’t necessarily the only way to achieve it.
What if I simply needed to view them from an outside perspective?
Like perhaps... the perspective of one who views [Arcana] as a fantasy? What if I viewed them like characters in a book?
Following this thought process, I tested my theory.
’Four people. Three men and one woman.’
’The brown-haired guy is obviously the leader. He’s the one doing most of the talking, so he’s probably the one making the decisions. He’s careful too... he thinks before he speaks and seems to be constantly watching the situation.
’If we were to follow a story plot, he probably won’t die immediately. If he does die, it will most likely be after figuring out something important.’
’The younger one... he’s probably the least experienced. He’s been nervous this whole time, and he seems pretty easy to intimidate. But he’s still following the others, so he probably has some use.’
’The woman has spoken quite a lot too. She’s probably important. She’s observant, she seems knowledgeable, and she’s been contributing information instead of simply following the leader. She might be the one who eventually figures out how this place works...’
"She’s probably still going to die."
’And the tall guy... He hasn’t really said much.’
’Actually... that’s suspicious. The quiet one in a horror story is usually either completely useless, hiding something, or is far more important than he looks.’
’He’s also way too relaxed compared to the others!’
’Could he be the black sheep of the group? Or maybe he’s the type of character who doesn’t speak much because he already understands more than everyone else.’
’Well... he does look like he’d be an important character in a book.’
I continued thinking as I judged the people below me through stereotypical means.
I almost felt like I was reading a book.
Except this time, the characters were standing right in front of me.
As I continued looking at them from above, I suddenly noticed something strange.
A few glowing "lights" had appeared above their foreheads.
’It worked!’
I tried my best not to show my elation as I stared at the lights above their temples.
According to the information I knew, these lights were the manifestation of [Augury], with each color representing something different about a person’s fate.
Elias had a bit of white above his head, which depicted purity, along with some blue that represented Turmoil.
Clara and Jonathan both had light blue above their heads as well, although Jonathan’s shade was noticeably darker. The deeper color seemed to indicate that the turmoil surrounding his fate was stronger than Clara’s.
My gaze eventually fell upon Marcus.
Unlike the others, Marcus’ [Augury] was completely different.
There was red mixed with yellow above his head.
Red signified misfortune, while yellow represented good fortune. Two completely opposing omens appeared together, as though Marcus’ fate could lead him toward either fortune or disaster.
’What does that mean...?’
A person with a single clear omen was easy enough to understand, but Marcus had two conflicting signs appearing at the same time.
And for some reason, that made him stand out even more.
Despite the confusing mix of lights above Marcus’ head, I had only one thought.
’This guy has to be important.’
After all, Marcus was already the strangest one among them.
He was the quietest member of the group, yet he seemed far too relaxed compared to everyone else. Now, even his [Augury] was different from the others, showing both misfortune and good fortune at the same time.
’Could he actually have some sort of protagonist aura...?’
Although it sounded ridiculous, the so-called "protagonist aura" was a common joke within the [Arcana] community.
It was used to describe characters who always seemed to survive situations that should have been impossible to survive, somehow escaping disasters that would have killed anyone else.
It had become such a common joke that some fans had even started arguing that there might be more to it.
After all, [Arcana] already had [Augury], concepts of destiny, and supernatural abilities capable of influencing fate itself.
If powers like those could exist, then why couldn’t something similar be responsible for the strange luck surrounding certain characters?
Some fans seriously theorized that what people jokingly called "protagonist aura" might actually be a type of supernatural power.
Of course, there was no real proof behind the theory.
It was still just another ridiculous discussion among [Arcana] fans.
The more I thought about it, the more convincing it became.
In the horror stories I had read, the characters who stood out the most were not always the ones who talked the most.
Sometimes, it was the quiet guy standing in the corner who suddenly turned out to be connected to everything.
A strange Augury, a mysterious personality, and a face that looked like it belonged on the cover of a novel...
’Yeah... if I were reading this as a story, I’d definitely suspect him to be an important character...’
Thinking of this, I finally had an idea about what kind of hint to give!
Without warning, I slowly raised my hand.
My movement was deliberate and calm as I slightly elevated my arm and extended my finger toward Marcus.
The sudden movement immediately caused the Response Unit below me to tense up.
Their bodies flinched almost simultaneously, and a few of them nearly reached for their weapons, clearly prepared to attack if the supernatural entity suddenly made a hostile move.
I noticed their reaction, I was a bit frightened, but I didn’t let it show.
I kept my expression completely unchanged, maintaining the same eerie calmness as I pointed toward Marcus.
"Here’s a hint."
My voice remained calm and mysterious.
"Let him lead the way, and escape will definitely be possible."