Chapter 36: I Must Update Immediately! (Please Follow Along!)

Trevor opened his eyes; his maid had already prepared his clothes for the day. As the president of the Palavi City Magic Association, Trevor’s strength was considered formidable among his peers. However, he felt terrible right now. His head was throbbing. It was a splitting headache. The moment he sat up, a red liquid trickled down, landing on his palm.

I’m injured!

After a brief moment of confusion, Trevor’s heart was instantly filled with terror. He looked almost immediately at the ring on his finger. The crystal was shattered. It was his defensive ring. Without a doubt, had it not been for the ring’s effect, he would have died in his bed last night!

Who?! Who would dare assassinate the president of a city’s Magic Association?

Trevor’s heart was full of anger and fear. This person had managed to enter his room without him noticing and made such a direct, lethal attempt on his life. Regardless of who it was, Trevor was now certain of one thing: he had to get his hands on a dark mage who had consumed the remnant soul of the Demon King to offer to Hastings, and then transfer away from here immediately! If the ceremony in Sola Town could proceed as planned, this task should be completed soon. After all, what his teacher wanted was a dark mage with a remnant soul; as for how the dark mage was obtained, it didn't matter to anyone.

Just then, however, his subordinate rushed in hurriedly. "Lord Trevor! Something has happened in Sola Town!"

What Trevor did not know was that all his actions were being watched by someone. Under the influence of the "BIG BROTHER" ability, once you mentioned Vivian’s name, you would be watched forever.

***

Closing the conversation with White Jade Tower, Ron quickly cleared his mind of the memories. The memories of the Mad Demon King had once caused Ron great distress; after experiencing such "grand feasts," he felt no interest in real-world women, which led to him remaining a lifelong bachelor to this day.

After completing the initial transaction, Ron began to modify his previous manuscript. Since he didn't know how long Vivian would remain unconscious, Ron had to find a way to split the Sola Town storyline into several more chapters to fill the gap of the days she would be comatose. Fortunately, Ron had learned a thing or two about this from the veterans in the group.

How do you pad a story? By switching perspectives, of course! Writing the same event several times through the perspectives of various supporting characters makes it easy to stretch out a few chapters. This technique is most commonly used in "copycat" novels and stories about "acting tough and slapping faces." When they really want to pad the text, the shock of various characters alone can drag on for five or six chapters.

Ron wasn't quite that shameless; he simply described the inner thoughts of the enemies who saw Vivian bludgeon the white-robed mage to death. Through the reactions and shock of these cannon-fodder enemies, he highlighted the perceived strength of the white-robed mage, thereby emphasizing just how impressive it was that Vivian had managed to kill him. It was just another way of writing a "shock" scene.

Once he had the idea, the speed of editing increased. Ron quickly broke the plot segment into about six chapters. After finishing them, he began uploading. "The Gospel of Suffering" was likely to be his most important combat skill for the near future, and Ron had to obtain it as soon as possible. Therefore, it was necessary to accelerate the updates to the moment he acquired the book.

As for whether updating so quickly would leave him with nothing to write? Ron was quite confident. Compared to other veterans, he had a huge advantage: thanks to the "BIG BROTHER" skill, he learned of others' reactions to new events faster than the average author. Even if Vivian remained unconscious for a short time, he could use the "BIG BROTHER" surveillance to write chapters about how others evaluated Vivian’s actions in Sola Town to stall for time. Just like Trevor's current reaction, for example.

***

Upon learning that something had happened in Sola Town, Trevor rushed to the town almost immediately. Unfortunately, the area had already been cordoned off by Asolon, the captain of the Palavi knights. Trevor and Asolon had never gotten along. Fortunately, Derek (the deceased white-robed mage) was a member of the Magic Association, and Trevor used this as an excuse to enter the town.

"The killer used brute force to smash Derek’s skull," Asolon said, standing to the side with a cold expression. "The other victims nearby suffered similar fates."

"Are you saying the killer is a warrior?" Trevor immediately thought of the bandit camp he had investigated not long ago. Although the fire had destroyed most of the evidence, some clues could still be found on the corpses of the thieves. They, too, had had their skulls smashed in.

It was the same person! Trevor was instantly convinced.

Asolon was noncommittal. From his perspective, this so-called "warrior" had no technical skill whatsoever and was merely a brute; he could hardly define him as a true warrior. But just as Trevor said, this guy couldn't possibly be a mage either.

Trevor paid no attention to Asolon’s cold indifference; he only cared about one thing now: the whereabouts of those two fragments of the Demon King’s soul! Damn it! I must find this guy!

Trevor touched the wound on his head, a flash of malice appearing in his eyes. This fellow who had snuck into his room in the middle of the night—could it be that he also wanted to smash his head in?

***

Watching Trevor’s reaction, Ron couldn't help but chuckle. Yes, yes, the guy who keeps getting in your way is indeed a warrior. He felt that including Trevor’s reaction in the main text would be something the readers would enjoy.

On the other hand, it was unexpected that Wiegfart had actually gone to bother Trevor in the middle of the night. If not for Trevor’s magic ring, that blow would likely have taken his life. It was a pity that Miss Wiegfart, performing such a shameless sneak attack for the first time, left immediately after the strike without confirming Trevor’s death.

As Ron thought this, his fingers never stopped typing. To increase his strength, he had to update immediately! On the other hand, he also needed to stockpile some chapters to avoid being unable to update if he got caught up in some difficult dungeons later. He wasn't one of those big-name authors with a stable fan base who could afford to take a few days off.

Soon, the plot he had accumulated was almost written out, and Vivian woke up at that very moment.

[Vivian opened her eyes.]
[She pulled you off her body.]
[Looking around, she realized she was in the teacher’s bedroom.]
[Vivian reached out and picked up a piece of clothing.]
["Wow! Teacher is smaller than I imagined!" Vivian commented, looking at Wiegfart’s garment in her hand.]

Wait! What are you doing! Shouldn't you be reflecting on the previous battle after just waking up? Or at least be glad you survived! What is this nonsense about critiquing your teacher’s figure the moment you wake up?

["Oh? Is that so?"]
[Wiegfart’s gloomy figure appeared behind Vivian.]
[Her face was dark, cold as frost.]

Alright... Good luck, Vivian. Ron silently offered his blessings.