248: Chapter 248 The Author's True Identity Revealed! Signed and Binded Daily Update Agreement

The Author's ID flickered three times.

Then, the two smudged characters began to clear up—

[Author: Lin Chen]

Lin Chen stared at those two characters, completely stunned for a full five seconds.

"Myself... writing about myself?" He looked at Future Lin Chen.

A trace of helplessness flashed in Future Lin Chen's golden pupils. "To be precise, it's 'a version of you from a certain timeline' who, in a dimension we cannot observe, created the story 'dimension shareholder'. Then, the text of this story was projected onto the Narrative Layer, forming our universe."

Arrogant Dragon was utterly confused. "So we are all... just words?"

"No." The Librarian shook his head. "The text is the seed, the Narrative Layer is the soil, and our consciousness and existence are the fruits that grow. But the fruits cannot understand the origin of the seed—until now."

The Word document continued to automatically input a description of the current scene:

[Lin Chen stared at those two characters, completely stunned for a full five seconds.]

[He looked at Future Lin Chen: "Myself... writing about myself?"]

The cursor paused, waiting for input.

As if waiting for the 'Author' to decide what to write next.

"So," Current Lin Chen forced himself to calm down, "that 'Author Lin Chen' can see us now? Can he control us?"

"He can see us, but cannot fully control us," The Game Designer interjected. "Otherwise, he would have written us into a perfect happy ending long ago. Creation has its limitations—the Author must follow 'character logic'. He can't force nonsensical writing, or else readers will abandon the book, and the story will be abandoned."

"Abandoned..." Lin Chen seized the key point. "So the Author is also afraid of abandoning the story?"

"Terrified of it." Future Lin Chen pulled up some data. "According to the creation backend logs I intercepted, 'Author Lin Chen' has been updating ten thousand words daily for three consecutive months, but his average subscription numbers have been continuously dropping. In the last three days, he's had the impulse to 'drop it and start over' seven times."

The document suddenly automatically added a segment:

[Future Lin Chen pulled up some data: "According to the creation backend logs I intercepted, 'Author Lin Chen' has been updating ten thousand words daily for three consecutive months, but his average subscription numbers have been continuously dropping."]

[(Author's note: Damn, you can even see this?)]

The note was in small red text within parentheses.

Everyone in the meeting room froze.

The Author... is interacting in real-time?

Lin Chen took a deep breath and spoke to the air, "Can we talk? Mr. Author."

The document paused for a few seconds.

Then, a new paragraph appeared:

[Lin Chen took a deep breath and spoke to the air, "Can we talk? Mr. Author."]

[(Author's note: Talk about what? Revenue split? Don't even think about it, I'm about to lose my full attendance bonus this month.)]

The small red text carried a bleak sense of corporate drudgery.

Lin Chen suddenly felt it was absurd—the mastermind who had been tormenting them was actually a Struggling Author worried about his full attendance bonus?

"We can cooperate." Lin Chen quickly shifted into business negotiation mode. "You update, we'll cooperate to perform exciting plotlines to boost the data. You get the royalties and bonuses, and we gain more stable existence—a win-win."

[(Author's note: How to cooperate?)]

"First," Lin Chen pulled up the reader data for 'dimension shareholder', "you're updating ten thousand words daily but the data is dropping because the plot has fallen into a formula—Lin Chen always solves everything with money. The readers are getting tired of it."

"So?"

"So we need innovation." Lin Chen pointed at Arrogant Dragon. "For example, the next chapter could write about 'Arrogant Dragon Awakens Business Talent, Reverse Acquires Lin Chen's Underworld Group'. Create suspense and conflict, and the data will definitely rebound."

Arrogant Dragon's eyes lit up. "That sounds good!"

[(Author's note: But the outline isn't set up that way...)]

"The outline can be changed." Lin Chen pulled up Future Lin Chen's "Nirvana Plan". "Look, even my future self is planning to devour Number Zero and usurp the throne. The main plot has already gone off track. Why not go with the flow and write a 'Dual Protagonist Business War'—me and Arrogant Dragon both cooperating and competing, similar to Mei Changsu and Prince Jing in 'Nirvana in Fire', but using business tactics."

The document paused for an even longer time.

Then, the red notes became dense:

[(Author's note: That's kind of interesting...)]

[(But readers love seeing Lin Chen invincible. Would strengthening Arrogant Dragon get me criticized?)]

[(Also, writing deep into business warfare can easily become boring. I need exciting points.)]

[(And what about Number Zero's storyline? How do we wrap that up?)]

Lin Chen smiled.

The Author was tempted.

"Exciting points are simple." He pulled up the data from the previous doomsday livestream. "After Arrogant Dragon acquires the Underworld Group, I make a comeback, use financial means to short all the assets he acquired, and finally force him to sign an 'Unequal Treaty'—like being my Security Captain for a hundred years."

Arrogant Dragon: "...I protest!"

[(Author's note: Hahaha, that's great!)]

[(But it needs to be reasonable, can't use a deus ex machina.)]

"Of course it's reasonable." Lin Chen pulled up the Underworld Group's hidden assets. "I secretly set up three hundred Offshore Shell Companies a long time ago. The shareholding structure is so complex even Number Zero can't figure it out. What Arrogant Dragon acquires is only the surface assets; the real core has already been transferred—this fits my character, always keeping a backup plan."

[(Author's note: Reasonable!)]

[(What about Number Zero's storyline?)]

"Number Zero can serve as a third-party force." The Librarian suddenly spoke up. "After discovering it's infected, it decides to 'format and restart' the entire Narrative Layer to save itself—this can create an ultimate crisis."

The Game Designer added, "Then have Lin Chen and Arrogant Dragon temporarily join forces against Number Zero, but remain wary of each other, ready to betray at any moment. Readers love this kind of frenemy relationship."

[(Author's note: Brilliant!)]

[(But writing this requires a lot of detail. I'm already exhausted from writing ten thousand words a day...)]

"We can help you." Future Lin Chen suddenly said. "We can connect our 'Character Autonomous Performance System' to your writing software—you only need to write the outline and key plot turns. The daily plot will be automatically generated by us based on character settings. You just need to review and edit, cutting your workload in half."

[(Author's note: There's such a good thing?!)]

[(Wait, wouldn't I just become an editor then?)]

"You already are one." Current Lin Chen smiled. "Moreover, you can promote the automatically generated content as a selling point of 'AI-assisted Creation'. It might attract a wave of curious readers."

The document fell completely silent.

Thirty seconds later.

A brand new 'Creation Cooperation Agreement' popped up in the Word document.

Party A: Author Lin Chen.

Party B: All characters of the 'dimension shareholder' universe in the Narrative Layer.

Core Terms:

1. The Author guarantees daily updates of over 6000 words and will absolutely not abandon the story.

2. The characters will cooperate in performing high-energy plotlines to ensure the story's data steadily improves.

3. After deducting the platform's share, the Author receives 60% of the royalty income. The remaining 40% will serve as the 'Universe Maintenance Fund' managed by Lin Chen.

4. Major plot turns require a vote of approval from the main characters (Lin Chen, Arrogant Dragon, Su Qingyu, etc.).

5. If the story concludes, the Author must write 'Character Epilogues' to ensure the universe's continued existence.

There was also a line of small text after the terms:

[(Author's note: This is the best deal I can negotiate. The platform would take more if I asked for less.)]

After reading it, Lin Chen smiled.

He clicked "Party B Signature".

Arrogant Dragon, Future Lin Chen, The Librarian, and The Game Designer signed one after another.

Number Zero's weight fluctuated, but ultimately it also signed—its infection had eased, and it had regained some rationality.

The agreement took effect.

Instantly, the entire Narrative Layer's data streams began to reorganize.

The synopsis for 'dimension shareholder' was updated:

[Original Synopsis: Lin Chen obtains a wealth system and uses money to dominate all realms.]

[New Synopsis: Dual Protagonist Business War + Doomsday Survival! Lin Chen and Arrogant Dragon go from mortal enemies to allies, confronting the Narrative Layer's formatting crisis. Financial warfare, equity battles, cross-dimensional mergers & acquisitions—money can solve any problem, but the problem is... money can't solve 'existence' itself.]

The cover was also changed—now showing Lin Chen and Arrogant Dragon standing back-to-back. One holds financial reports, the other holds an Immortal Emperor's longsword, with a collapsing universe in the background.

The reader comment section instantly exploded:

"Holy crap, the synopsis changed? Dual protagonists?"

"Is Arrogant Dragon about to rise?!"

"The Author finally listened to advice!"

"Update faster!"

[(Author's note: The data is starting to rise! Subscriptions are up by 200!)]

[(I'm going to write now!)]

The document closed.

The Author's backend permission interface slowly disappeared.

The meeting room returned to normal.

Arrogant Dragon looked at Lin Chen. "So... are we safe now? The Author won't abandon the story?"

"For now." Lin Chen pulled up the execution monitoring of the new agreement. "As long as the data stays good, the Author has motivation to write. But if we slack off and the data drops—"

He didn't finish, but everyone understood.

"So," Future Lin Chen summarized, "we have to desperately perform exciting plots, help that Struggling Author earn royalties, just to survive."

Absurd.

But also reasonable.

"By the way," The Librarian suddenly remembered something, "before the Author's backend closed, I intercepted one last hidden log."

He pulled up the log:

[Screenshot of Author Lin Chen's computer desktop]

[Aside from the 'dimension shareholder' document, three other manuscripts were also open:]

['i open a supermarket in the apocalypse' (Daily updates of 2000 words, data is struggling)]

['immortal emperor returns' (Abandoned for three months)]

['star overlord' (Just started a new book, first chapter)]

[Browser search history:]

["How to write four books simultaneously without collapsing?"]

["Early symptoms of Schizophrenia"]

["What to do if Fictional Characters Become Sentient?"]

Everyone: "..."

Lin Chen rubbed his temples. "So he's not just a Struggling Author, but a Struggling Author trying to juggle multiple projects to his own demise?"

"Worse," Future Lin Chen pulled up the Narrative Layer correlation chart, "those three books all have data entanglements with our universe—'i open a supermarket in the apocalypse' is the world we just saved; 'immortal emperor returns' is Arrogant Dragon's origin story; 'star overlord'... is the suspected source of Number Zero's infection."

"What does that mean?"

"It means," Future Lin Chen said with a grave expression, "if the Author messes up any one of those books, it could trigger a chain reaction and drag us all down."

As soon as the words were spoken.

An alarm sounded.

The surveillance feed showed—the world of 'i open a supermarket in the apocalypse' suddenly began to collapse.

The reason was...

The Author wrote that book's protagonist to death.