Villain: 10x Rewards Begins With The Protagonist's Mother

In the early morning, Dante ended his cultivation session with a smile on his face.

’So this is Peak Stage.’ He clenched his fist a few times.

The feeling of getting stronger was seriously addictive. It was like leveling up a character in a game except he was the character.

[Name: Dante Ackerman]

[Realm: Mana Awakening Peak Stage]

[Bloodline: None]

[Talents: Foresight(EX), Mana Affinity(SS), Scheming Mind(S), Two-Faced(C), Business Sense(D)]

[Luck: Doomed (In Rise)]

[Villain Points: 30,000]

[System Slots: 1/2]

[Bound Targets: Natasha]

[Techniques: Flowing River Art (Super Rare), Mana Zone (Legendary), Basic Combat Techniques (Rare), Golden Hands (Rare)]

[Inventory: 1 Mana Stone (Mythic), Ascension Essence (50% remaining)]

Looking at his status panel, Dante couldn’t stop smiling. Compared to where he started, his stats had grown considerably.

He still couldn’t compare to the heroines or even supporting characters like Freya and Felix, much less the protagonist.

But he didn’t bother measuring himself against others.

All of this was achieved in just two weeks. And he hadn’t even started with a heroine yet.

"I still have one mythic mana stones and half the Ascension Essence left. That should be enough for me to reach Body Reformation." He said with an excited look.

Just 20% of the essence had been enough to break through to Peak Stage. He used another 30% along with two mythic stones to push his cultivation further. Now he was almost halfway through the Peak Stage.

Honestly, the Ascension Essence was designed as a bottleneck breaker. Using it for regular cultivation was a bit of a waste.

But it didn’t really matter. He could farm them infinitely if he wanted to.

Besides, the effectiveness of the essence would decrease as he progressed through the realms, so he wanted to use it while it still made a difference.

"Now let’s see... what mission should I go with?" Dante rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression.

"Since we went on a date yesterday and she’s figured out my feelings for her, how about we watch a movie together?" He added with a smile.

***

At the breakfast table, both of them ate while chatting.

Natasha wasn’t as nervous and flustered as before. She had thought she was the only weird one this whole time, but now that she knew about Dante’s feelings, she somehow felt relieved.

That said, the situation was actually worse than before, so she was still a little awkward and on guard.

But more than anything, her realm had actually increased for the first time in two decades.

She used the Ascension Essence and broke through to Mana Core Formation. She had initially thought it wouldn’t be enough, but maybe it was because she was recultivating rather than breaking new ground.

’She seems to be in a good mood today. Is she that happy I like her?’ Dante looked at her with some curiosity. ’No, that can’t be it.’

Remembering the Ascension Essence, he pulled up her status panel.

[Name: Natasha Raven]

[Realm: Mana Core Formation Early Stage (Previously Law Perception)]

[Bloodline: None]

[Talents: Aptitude(SS), Sword(SS), Comprehension(SS), Teacher’s Eye(A), Cooking(A), Gentle Authority(B), Business Sense(B)]

[Luck: Legendary]

[Favorability: 59 (Crush)]

’Oh, she actually broke through.’ Dante figured that must be the reason for her mood.

He waited for both of them to finish breakfast before starting with the mission.

In the living room, the two of them were relaxing on the couch. Natasha was on one end scrolling through her phone and Dante sat on the other with a lot of space between them.

Dante cleared his throat and asked with a smile.

"Master, do you want to watch a movie together?"

Natasha looked up from her phone and stared at him for a second before saying with a smile. "Sure."

’...Huh?’ Dante blinked after she agreed so easily. He had a whole speech prepared in case she refused. He even had the system mission ready to back him up.

’It must be a combination of her mood and her underestimating movies. Well, this makes things easier.’ He reached out to grab the remote from the coffee table. ’It’ll be funny to watch her reaction when she sees what I picked, hehe.’

His smile didn’t last long because his hand grabbed nothing but air.

The remote was gone.

It was already in Natasha’s hands.

"Come, sit here." She said with a smile as she scrolled through the options and picked one without asking him.

A comedy movie.

"It’s been a while since we watched something together."

’I fucked up.’ Dante thought of asking for the remote, but decided to do it after this one finishes.

And he edited the misson a bit and sent it to her.

[Mission: Movies Together]

[Description: It has been a while since you and Dante watched a movie together. Watch movies with him and enjoy the moment!]

[Time Limit: None]

[Reward: 100 Mana Stones (Legendary)]

[Failure: None.]

’Pretty simple.’ Natasha read the description and breathed a sigh of relief. The reward didn’t interest her much but it was better than nothing.

The movie started and within the first twenty minutes, Natasha was already laughing. Her shoulders shook and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand.

Dante glanced at her a few times and tried to laugh along but his timing was always half a beat off.

"Pfft, hahaha!" Natasha pointed at the screen. "Did you see that? He fell right into it!"

"Ha... yeah. That was hilarious." Dante said with a stiff smile, looking at her favorability bar.

As the first movie ended, Dante opened his mouth to ask for the remote but the credits rolled into a preview for Part 2.

There were three parts.

THREE.

’You’re telling me this thing has a trilogy? What kind of milking is this?’ Dante’s smile froze on his face.

"Oh, there’s a sequel! I didn’t know that." She said with genuine excitement and pressed play before he could say a word.

By the second movie, Dante had given up on the favorability entirely. He was just sitting there with his arms crossed and silently cursing every character on screen.

’Why does this guy keep explaining the joke after he says it? Bro, we got it. We all got it. Shut the fuck up.’

’They really gave the fat guy a fart joke in the big 2026. Whoever wrote this deserves to be pinned down and face farted.’

’This woman has tripped and fallen into a man’s arms four times now. Is she wearing heels or fucking banana peels?!’

Meanwhile, Natasha was having the time of her life.

She laughed so hard during one scene that she actually slapped his arm without thinking and said "did you SEE that?!" with tears forming in her eyes

"Yeah... I am seeing that." He said, wiping his tears like he laughed too much.

But he was crying for real.

[Favorability: 59(crush)]

’I’m glad one of us is enjoying this.’

By the time the third movie ended, Dante felt like a man who had just served a prison sentence. Natasha turned off the TV and stretched with a satisfied look on her face.

"That was fun. We should do this more often."

’Over my dead body!’ Dante smiled and nodded. "Sure, Master. Anytime."

***

Back in the bedroom, Dante was sitting on the bed with his hands covering his mouth and a depressed aura radiating off his body.

’I have never faked my laugh this much in a single day. My mouth actually hurts.’ He looked at the clock with tired eyes.

6 PM.

He had wasted nearly half the day watching those movies.

He pulled up the system and collected the 10 Mythic Mana Stones. This was the first time a mission gave him zero villain points and zero favorability increase.

"Haha, it’s really not easy." Dante looked at the favorability bar and let out a crazy laugh.

It was his own fault for being careless and rushing into it.

"I should be more careful next time. I still have time but I can’t waste any more chances." Dante regained his composure and started thinking about his next move, pacing around the room.

The clock kept ticking. The sun went down and the moon took its place. Then the sun came back up, crossed the sky, and went down again.

By the time the moon rose for the second time, it was already the night before Emma’s return.

Both of them had eaten dinner and gone to bed.

Inside the master bedroom, Natasha was cultivating peacefully.

The past few days had been good despite finding out about Dante’s feelings. Her strength had improved, she spent quality time with Dante every day, and she wasn’t worrying about everything as much as before.

Meanwhile, Dante was watching her through the feed with a serious expression. He turned to look at the mission he had planned.

"Should I really go with this?" There was a bit of uncertainty in his voice.

"She’s already developed feelings for me. And the villain points notification said she’s hesitant to reject me if I confess." He stared at the screen with a doubtful expression. "So is this really necessary?"

From what he could tell, Emma hadn’t told Natasha she was coming back tomorrow. She probably only told him. Once Emma returned, her presence alone would be a constant reminder to Natasha of what she was doing.

And knowing Natasha’s personality, she might actually sacrifice her own feelings for her student’s sake.

"This might be a gamble, but I need to awaken the possessiveness in her. Otherwise she’s just going to keep pushing me away." He thought with a determined expression.

He glanced at the mission one more time, teeth gritted, before assigning it.

"Fuck it. We ball."

***

On the other side, Natasha opened her eyes after hearing the familiar mechanical voice in her head. A blue panel appeared in front of her like usual.

[Triggering a new mission...]

[Mission: Sleep With Dante]

"...Excuse me?"