Chapter 5

"Please don't do this, Mr. Lakeworth," Ruth pleaded as she bit hard on her lip.

Despite feeling infuriated on the inside, she dared not avoid Clement's touch.

But of course, Clement didn't dare to tease her any further, either. He knew that even though Ethan's luck had gone down a bit, he was still the Chosen One blessed by fate.

Being the villain, it was perfectly reasonable for him to tease Ruth. But if he dared to stick his hand down her blouse, he figured the almighty censorship would cause an accident that would result in his hand getting chopped off.

Clement wasn't going to test that theory out.

"All I want is for things to be handled fairly," Clement declared, still clutching Ruth by the jaw. "You can run along and hire a lawyer for him now. I'm leaving."

He got into his Bugatti Veyron and drove off.

"You have gained 1,000 villain points."

"Did I just get that many villain points from teasing the female supporting character?" Clement mused.

He was enjoying himself. How fun it was to be the villain! Not only did he get to tease the women however he liked and suppress the Chosen One, but he could also farm villain points for himself!

…

"The Lakeworths are indeed one of the three most prestigious families in Grusoire, huh? What a lavish estate this is," Clement remarked.

After driving into Lakeworth Estate, he couldn't resist marveling at the centuries-old estate that was steeped in history, with the buildings featuring classical architecture.

He drove the car into the garage, which looked more like a parking garage, of his personal villa. His eyes nearly fell out when he took in the neat rows of cars featuring brands like Ferrari, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi.

The Lakeworths were filthy rich, alright. Even Clement's basement parking garage looked like it could be a car expo.

The Audi R8, the dream car that Clement would've had to starve for two decades just to afford in his past life, was covered in dust in the most unnoticeable corner of the lot.

"I've got to hold onto all of this!"

To make sure he didn't lose all that he saw before him, Clement became even more determined to defeat Ethan.

…

When Clement entered the villa, Glenn Johnson, an old man with graying hair, looked at him and said respectfully, "Mr. Clement, Mr. Michael would like to see you."

"Glenn," Clement greeted with a smile.

Glenn had been working as the Lakeworths' butler for over 30 years now and held a high position within the family's household staff. He had also watched over Clement as he grew up.

"I'll head right over to him now."

While walking, Clement used Loyalty Check on Glenn.

"Name: Glenn Johnson"

"Physique: 95"

"Luck: 70"

"Loyalty Rating: 93"

Clement was thunderstruck when he noticed that Glenn had a physique rating of 95.

It turned out that the unassuming Glenn was secretly an expert fighter. Even an elite soldier from the special forces would merely have a physique rating of 80. Only the formidable war heroes who surpassed all ordinary people could reach a rating of 100.

Therefore, 95 was already considered an incredibly high rating. Even though Glenn was old, he could take on five ordinary men without breaking a sweat!

"I shouldn't expect any less from a butler who has served the family for three generations. With a loyalty rating of 93, that means he's willing to die for the family," Clement remarked to himself.

He didn't know that according to the original plot, Glenn would indeed end up dying after sustaining a blow from Ethan while protecting him.

Inside the house, a stern, imposing man was sipping coffee.

"Dad."

Clement looked at Michael, who was now his father. As the head of the Lakeworth family, Michael was cunning and ruthless, befitting the textbook villain archetype.

In the original plot, Michael was a wolf in sheep's clothing who proved to be the ultimate villain and a despicable one at that. But in Clement's eyes, he was a loving father. All of his villainous traits were plus points instead.

"Clement, I heard you got into a fight at a bar, and your bodyguards were beaten up," Michael said with a frown. He doted on Clement very much. "I also heard you made a police report.

"Is it really necessary to get the police involved just to deal with a pesky bug? I'll send someone to have him killed later."

"No, Dad. Please don't do that!"

Clement jumped in alarm when he heard what Michael said. He knew all too well that if they sent someone to kill Ethan, they would only be doing him a favor.

"Ethan Hunter is a pretty intriguing guy, Dad. I want to deal with him myself."

"Oh?" Michael eyed Clement in surprise. He knew he'd spoiled Clement rotten, turning him into a reckless good-for-nothing who'd resort to violence over the tiniest things.

"I'm not the same person I used to be, Dad."

Clement saw the doubt in Michael's eyes. He knew it was because the old Clement had been far too useless.

"I want to use this Ethan to hone myself."

"Excellent. Of course, my wonderful son. It looks like our ancestors have blessed us. You have finally grown up, Clement," Michael exclaimed in excitement. "In that case, I won't get involved in this matter."

Turning to the side, he called out, "Bruce. From now on, you'll be in charge of protecting Clement and executing his orders."

"Understood!"

Bruce Golde, a muscular man who was about six feet tall, appeared and walked up to Clement. "Mr. Clement."

Clement hummed in acknowledgment before using Loyalty Check on Bruce.

"Name: Bruce Golde"

"Physique: 110"

"Luck: 55"

"Loyalty Rating: 91"

Bruce had been a special forces soldier before being recruited by Michael and becoming Michael's personal bodyguard.

"I've still got things to do, Dad, so I'll head off now."

After accepting his new powerful bodyguard and saying goodbye to Michael, Clement went back to his villa in a good mood.

Being the son of a wealthy family was great. He'd gotten himself such a formidable bodyguard with just a snap of his fingers.

"You've finally grown up, Clement. You've learned to use your brains," Michael said to himself, his gaze tender as he watched Clement leave.

…

Clement led Bruce back to his villa.

"Feel free to use any room you want, Bruce," he said before eagerly rushing back to his room.

It wasn't because he had a woman waiting for him, of course. He was still single. Though the old Clement did fool around with plenty of women outside, the Lakeworths abided by strict family rules. Even the old Clement dared not bring those women back to the house, no matter how much of a hedonistic lifestyle he led.

As for the current Clement, he had no intention of having anything to do with those women. Why would he, when they had been with the old Clement? He wasn't keen on inheriting another man's women.

After sitting down on the couch, Clement hurriedly checked his stats.

"Host: Clement Lakeworth"

"Physique: 60"

"Luck: 20"

"Villain Points: 3,400"

"Skillset: Loyalty Check (Beginner)"

"I can finally activate the system store," Clement said as he happily tapped away and scanned the options.

Since he didn't have that many villain points, he could only see a limited selection of items. One of them was cash, and a villain point was worth 10,000 dollars. Villain points could also be used to exchange for cars and property.

However, none of these were of any use to Clement. As the heir of the Lakeworth family, he had more than enough money.

"Fruit of Stamina, 1,000 villain points per fruit. Medical Expertise (Beginner), 10,000 villain points. Close Combat Martial Arts (Intermediate), 5,000 villain points. What should I exchange my points for, System?"

After seeing the plentiful options available, Clement was tempted to pick everything.

"I would recommend the lucky draw."

"The lucky draw?"

Clement took a look and saw that the basic lucky draw cost 3,000 villain points per draw.

"Alright. I'll go with the lucky draw!"

"Congratulations, Clement! You have drawn…"