- Chapter 8 -
As soon as he returned to the villa, he received a system notification.
[Congratulations to the host for completing the first round of the villain plot. Character consistency score: 100 points. Rewards have been issued. Please check, host!]
Rewards?
Lucas Grey hadn't expected that aside from the ultimate ten-billion prize, there were also stage rewards for progressing through the plot.
He quickly opened the interface to check.
As long as he maintained a character consistency score above 60 during the plot roleplay, he would receive a basic reward: five attribute points.
With a score above 80, he could choose between an additional skill or enhanced wound recovery.
At 100 points, he would receive a complete ancient martial arts manual.
And the rewards could be stacked.
In other words, Lucas Grey had just earned all three major prizes.
He first clicked on the attribute bonus.
In that moment, a warm current surged through his entire body. Lucas Grey immediately felt his strength, mental clarity, eyesight, and hearing had all improved significantly.
When he clenched his fists, even his arms tensed up and revealed a layer of visible muscle.
Bear in mind, Lucas Grey was a typical rich playboy. He stayed up late, smoked, drank, and never exercised. His body was as weak as could be.
Now he actually had muscle. That alone showed how incredible the attribute bonus was.
Next, without hesitation, he chose the enhanced wound recovery over the additional skill.
The Grey family had no worries about food or money. What would he need extra skills for?
Of course he would choose the ability to quickly recover from injuries after being beaten by the male lead. That way he could suffer less.
As for the third reward, Lucas Grey browsed the list of manuals and picked "Legendary Light-Footwork Technique."
As a villain, nothing was more important than quickly healing after getting beaten, and even more crucial was running away before getting hit.
Once he confirmed the rewards, Lucas Grey tested his speed by running from the sofa to the door. He actually covered the distance in the blink of an eye.
Perfect.
Even if the male lead wanted him dead in the future, at least he could run and survive.
It might be a little cowardly, but what choice did he have as the villain?
Better to live in shame than die pointlessly.
With the rewards settled, Lucas Grey felt much more relaxed. He immediately pulled out his phone and called up all the rich brats and pretty girls in his contact list.
A playboy who didn't indulge in wine, women, and parties wasn't truly living the life.
It had to be said, Young Master Grey's reputation carried real weight.
In less than half an hour, a crowd of young men and women arrived at the villa.
The guys bowed and scraped the moment they saw him, repeating phrases like "Young Master Grey is the best" and "Young Master Grey's kidneys are treasures."
As for the girls, whether sultry or sweet, they clung to him like they had no bones in their bodies.
They crowded him from the left, right, front, and back without leaving a single gap. Even his feet were grabbed by a girl for a foot massage.
The spacious villa soon filled with pounding music. The men built champagne towers, and the women changed into bikinis.
The atmosphere couldn't be more intense.
Before long, Lucas Grey lost himself in the revelry and passed out among a pile of beauties.
…
"Lukie, wake up. Mom made you some hangover soup. Get up and drink it or the hangover will be terrible."
Mom?
Lucas Grey opened his eyes groggily and found himself lying in a warm, sunlit bed.
Sitting by the bed was a beautiful woman in her forties. She held a bowl of hangover soup and looked at him with a gentle smile.
This was the villain's mother, Susanna Wade?
He sat up, took the bowl, and drank as he stole glances at Susanna Wade. He was afraid this woman would notice something was off about her son.
But Susanna Wade's expression was full of motherly warmth. She even reminded him now and then, "Drink slowly. Don't choke."
Lucas Grey suddenly felt a bit moved.
Everything else in this world felt fake, but this sincere motherly love was real.
It was just that in the original novel, her ending wasn't good.
The novel had written: "The Grey family lost everything. Lucas Grey's parents were left with nothing. One ended up sweeping streets while the other washed dishes in freezing back kitchens for a pitiful wage."
Lucas Grey couldn't help but glance at Susanna Wade's hands.
They were fair and delicate, clearly pampered with luxury. He wouldn't have doubted it if someone told him they belonged to a twenty-year-old girl.
Yet those very hands were doomed to develop chilblains and be soaked in icy water every day, all because of him.
The thought made him feel a bit guilty.
Forget it.
Being a villain was his own business. He couldn't drag his parents into it.
He had to find a way to protect them.
Just then, Susanna Wade spoke.
"Lukie, I don't mind you inviting friends over to the house. But you have to be careful. You're pure and naive, and you don't understand how dangerous people can be. You might get taken advantage of."
Lucas Grey nearly spat out his soup.
Pure?
Naive?
What do those words have to do with a villain?
"Do you know? When I came home last night, I saw a girl taking advantage of you while you were passed out. If she had succeeded and ended up with a child, what would we have done?"
What?
Lucas Grey's jaw dropped. Someone had taken advantage of him?
Hell no. Which female pervert was it? Step forward if you dare. Do it while he's sober, if you've got the guts.
Pulling tricks while he was blackout drunk didn't count as real skill.
"Lukie, don't worry. The White family is about to give in. Once Rose White marries into our family, I promise she'll be head over heels for you."
The moment he heard that, Lucas Grey quickly cut her off. "Mom, I don't like Rose White anymore. Please don't get involved in this."
The first thing he needed to do to save his parents was to keep them far away from Rose White.
Otherwise, they'd eventually provoke the male lead and bring disaster on themselves.
"You don't like her anymore?" Susanna Wade's eyes widened. "Lukie, are you still drunk? You chased Rose White for so long. You even stole your dad's company stamp for her. How could you possibly not like her anymore?"
Lucas Grey scratched his head awkwardly. "People change, right? I'm sick of looking at her poker face every day. Time for a change."
Her son had always been spoiled and reckless, especially prone to acting on whims.
Susanna Wade was stunned for a moment but quickly accepted it. "Alright. If you don't like Rose White anymore, then I'll help you find someone better."
"Uh… there's no need to trouble yourself, Mom…"
"What do you think about Sylvia Morgan?"
Pffft!
Lucas Grey sprayed the hangover soup all over the bed and stared wide-eyed. "Who?"
"Sylvia Morgan. The eldest daughter of the Morgan family. Don't you remember? The two of you even shared a bed as kids. She went abroad for school and just came back. The Morgan family is searching far and wide for a son-in-law."
No way.
Sylvia Morgan…
Lucas Grey unconsciously raised a hand to press against his chest.
This woman wasn't just David Fox's childhood fiancée. She was also the female villain who loved and hated him throughout the entire novel.
Of course, in Dragon King novels, any woman, no matter her role, eventually fell in love with the male lead. Even the antagonists.
So even though Sylvia Morgan claimed to hate the male lead, she often helped him in secret.
In the end, she even handed over the martial technique she had trained in for twenty years, allowing the male lead to ascend to the pinnacle of power.
And now his mother was suggesting, he go on a blind date with Sylvia Morgan?
Was she trying to get him killed faster?
"No, Mom, I just broke up. I don't want to jump into anything new so quickly. Let me cool off for a few days."
Susanna Wade, afraid he would change his mind and go back to chasing Rose White, stood up at once. "It's settled then. I'll contact the Morgan family right now and arrange for you to meet Sylvia Morgan!"
-End of Chapter 8-