As William kneeled under the sudden pressure, he knew he had made a critical mistake; he had assumed too much and hadn't thought enough. In simpler terms, he had judged a book by its synopsis. Oh wait no its cover.
[Author's Note has been activated.]
[Name: Haralen Syerna]
[Attributes: Royal, Noble, Sadist, Ruler, Apostle of Pain.]
[Status: Reader of Conquerors.]
[Core Ability: Conquer.]
'Number Nine on the leaderboard, the King of Kings...'
'Lets see...A core ability likely revolving around the concept of a king, a ruler. I need to find a way to destroy his sense of self.'
Just then, a magnificent figure clad in all sorts of jewelry and expensive clothing would step out from atop the watchtower.
His hair was a dark blood red, and he looked like a fierce war general.
"Greetings, people of the Outer Ring! I have come to bring you a glorious chance at greatness! Serve me, and we will conquer this Fame Game!"
'Conquer...'
William would remain in the kneeling position so as not stand out.
[Writing has been activated]
As time came to a stop, the illusory pen would once more appear in William's hands.
[You have 100 seconds. Make it quick.]
'What could I write to injure this guy as much as possible? Let's see...This is only a hypothesis, but if there were an ability that allowed you to conquer other living beings, the key to winning this would be to tip the scales...'
He'd begin to write...
[Writing has been deactivated.]
The man would continue his regal speech.
"As one of the chief representatives of the Heavenly Sinner Sect, I am powerful enough to guarantee all of your safety. I know you must be suspicious; hell, some of you are probably planning to kill me as I speak. If we work together, think of the things we could accomplish; we could win this game and take over! I'm going to be honest with you all, I only ever joined the sect to protect others. This is a cruel and unjust game, and I wish to end it as soon as possible. If you join me, I will protect you to the best of my ability-
A gunshot could be heard as a man in the crowd yelled and fired a bullet at the Commander, except for the fact that the bullet was glowing and ethereal, supernaturally enhanced using an ability.
The bullet would expand and contract extremely quickly, pulsing as if it were about to explode, before slamming into the top of the watchtower. Except that's what it should've done if it hadn't stopped in the air, right before it would have hit the man, as a red and bloody aura exuded from his body.
He flicked the bullet, and it sped towards the crowd, accurately striking the one who had shot the bullet in the head.
"As I was saying, if you put your trust in me, I will, in turn, grant you safety and prestige. So whattya say?"
The crowd would roar in the king's favor.
[As the crowd listened to the man's speech, they would be hesitant, which is the logical reaction to a trope such as this, the overconfident king. However, to their surprise, the man would begin to speak in a way that the crowd could understand and accept, promising safety and protection if they served under him, and being relatable. Afterwards, he would be attacked by supernatural abilities, to which he would use his abilities to counteract in the most dominant way possible. Afterwards, he would continue his speech and win the rest of the crowd over, after all, a person is smart, but people are dumb.]
'We boost his confidence with the crowd's approval. The effects of writing are extremely hard to sense, so he shouldn't be suspicious. I have his natural charisma and strength to thank, or else the paragraph I wrote would violate probability and cost me a ton of Ingenuity.'
'Step 4: While the man is overconfident, continue the infiltration process!'
Xiao Wei would continue up the watchtower, passing through each floor as she did before in the espionage process. Only this time, she was authorized to the highest floor, which was previously being guarded via a barrier skill.
As the doors creaked open, Xiao Wei saw a wide open area, utilizing the size of the top layer to turn it into a full-on resort-looking place.
It was quite modern and beautiful, except for the vast number of bedrooms and shadows in those very bedrooms that Xiao Wei could sense. Most likely here for less than pleasant reasons.
'Well...I can't say I didn't expect this. How distasteful.'
William calmly sighed.
'However, as the king is currently giving his speech, he should be keeping his guard up, especially to those who may attempt to backstab him. I need to weaponize his overconfidence against himself.'
[Description x Writing (Descriptive Writing) has been activated]
[The man will see as people all cheered and clapped whilst kneeling, before starting to chant his name, King of Kings, and feel a sense of responsibility for the crowd, these were his people and he was their king.]
'Step 5: Emotionally damage him beyond repair.'
Two figures hid in the shadows, a safe distance away from the watchtower, but close enough to see what was happening. One of them stared intently, as if waiting for something to occur,
All of a sudden, Li Jiaojie's phone started to ring; it was William. As a text message that William had secretly been writing while listening to the king's speech using a single hand would also appear, he utilized the transformation ability to shift his eye to the palm of his hand to see the screen from inside his pocket.
'Yknow, I did that because it looked cool, but I think there's a text message function in the Library that uses thoughts instead...Eh, who cares?
"It's go time, kiddo. Did you finish your preparations?"
Li Jiaojie would turn to Fei Kangzhen, who was standing before a mountain of bodies. Not dead, but certainly injured in some way.
"Yup."
Fei Kangzhen's eyes would glow red.
[ Fear?, has been activated.]
As soon as Fear was used, the sky would darken above the watchtower, and black rain would fall. As the people in the crowd were hit by the rain, they began freezing up and spazzing out uncontrollably; a number of them even passed out completely.
The "King" at the top was able to block most of the rain coming his way, so he tried to jump in and attack the cloud to protect his people.
Just then, a black bolt of lightning exploded into the man. A concentrated dosage of fear, freezing the man mid-air, causing him to begin to fall.
It could be considered unfortunate timing for the man, as a blast of something invisible pierced through his statue-like body as he fell. Sending blood and pieces of his organs throughout the area and delivering a critical blow.
Seeing this occur, William, still in his kneeling position, would smile slightly through the black and red rain, which thankfully had been planned ahead of time to miss him, so he didn't have to suffer the social embarrassment everyone else did.
'Step 6: Kick. His. Ass.'