Zhong then opened his mouth with a shocked expression and let out:

—Oh.

When he truly began to observe his disciple, similarities started working in his mind. His face was exactly like Darius's, just younger and smaller, like a teenager's. As he looked at the young disciple before him, a shrill voice appeared again:

【Congratulations to the host for having found The Tyrant Villain! The host must hurry and collect tenderness points up to 100 to unlock the OOC function! If the host performs OOC actions with less than 100 points, they will be automatically punished! This system is rooting for the host! (#^.^#)】

Zhong snorted in his mind, responding to the shamelessness of this system: "How will I avoid acting OOC if I don't even know what Master Zhong's personality is like?"

【The host seems confused, for now the host can only have minimal master-like actions without severely affecting the story! I ask the host to continue with the Master's posture until reaching the minimum OOC release limit! The host's current points are 80/1000! We are very close o(^o^)o】

How had it increased to 80 points so fast? He hadn't done anything until now, how had this happened?

Unable to continue his complaints,the young disciple before him spoke again:

— What would the Master wish from this disciple? — The gaze of the young Darius before him was fixed on a specific point on his shoulder, but with a blink, his sweet cat-like eyes returned to him, smiling.

Ignoring the atypical action of the future demonic villain, Zhong hurried to invent an excuse.

He had been taken by surprise, he didn't imagine that the very disciple who would care for him all this short period was actually Darius, the tyrant! Heavens, he thought about inventing something while the other was being summoned, but with the man himself in front of him, his plans had slipped away like water.

— Please, come closer. Your Master wishes to ask you something — His speech sounded forcibly gentle and atypical of his normal self, causing a strange shiver to run through his body.

— What can this disciple do for my Master? — replied the youth, approaching so close that Zhong could feel the heat his demonic body emanated.

Staring fixedly at his disciple's figure, Zhong noticed something strange, the young man's fingers were slightly trembling and squeezing themselves as if containing a strong emotion. But his expression was gentle with pure devotion while his eyes smiled at him with a charming glow.

— I ask for this disciple's understanding regarding your Master's situation — after completing his sentence, Zhong quickly saw the future demon emperor's face contract for an instant, but before he could say anything, his face returned to normal, throwing him a smile, the youth before him said:

— My Master has this disciple's word. — receiving this answer, Zhong felt satisfied although something in the youth's tone sounded slightly forced. The youth before him, upon noticing his acceptance, softened his expression even more in an almost exaggerated way. "His Master really was easy on the eyes," but his observation carried something more that someone as ignorant of the facts as Zhong could never notice.

— Therefore, your Master needs your help. — While formulating a good excuse to gather more information about the moment he was in, Zhong could only cry in his heart, how had he ended up in this situation?

— What does my Master need? This disciple will be happy to help. — replied the youth before him, and this time Zhong did not imagine it - there was really a fleeting glint of mischief in his gaze, quickly replaced by the previous sweetness.

Ignoring his disciple's exotic attitudes, Zhong decided to continue with his lie.

— I fear your Master has lost a bit of his memory with the last event and cannot remember exactly what happened. Therefore, I ask for this disciple's help. — An awkward silence hung in the air, during which Zhong noticed Darius's eyes narrow almost imperceptibly, as if he were processing this information with some kind of secret satisfaction.

— This disciple will be happy to help my Master. — said Darius, giving him a tender smile, but his bright eyes seemed to examine every microexpression of Zhong, studying him like a predator would its prey. Still, the figure was so cute that Zhong involuntarily slightly raised his lips in response. Seeing this, the youth continued cheerfully with his speech — Before my Master fainted, he had helped the young disciples of the fire tigers escape from a level 4 water demon when he was hit by one and ended up fainting. This disciple asks for forgiveness for not arriving in time to rescue my Master. — spoke the youth before him, seeming downcast, but Zhong noticed that his hands were firmly interlaced behind his back, the knuckles white from pressing so hard.

Heavens, what a weird kid! And what's with all those "my Master"s?

With a sour taste in his mouth, Zhong paused for a moment and reflected: "So that's how my reincarnation happened."

— Right, this Master thanks your help. Now I kindly ask you to give me some time alone for the rest of the day. — upon saying this, the youth before him wilted like a small lotus flower, but Zhong noticed a quick glint of frustration in his eyes before the disappointed expression. The contradiction was so brief he almost doubted what he saw. And, as if under a spell, he completed his sentence: — I ask my disciple to come only to help me with my bath and dinner.

After saying this, the youth's face lit up genuinely - but this time, the happiness seemed loaded with something more, something like triumph. Darius smiled, showing all his teeth:

— Then I will go. I'll return later to assist my Master! — replied the youth animatedly before quickly withdrawing from the room, his steps too light, too silent for someone so "cheerful".

Cute. Was Zhong's thought before catching himself. But then he noticed: the covers on his side were inexplicably wrinkled, as if someone had squeezed them with excessive force exactly where Darius had been sitting. What was he thinking? This was the future snobbish and imposing Darius, whom he loathed so much! He must be being manipulated just like the other did in his route. Yeah, that was it.

A bit irritated, Zhong sighed and got up. He was eager to find out how rich people lived... 

"He was going to explore his residence!"