The Merfolk Master Mistakenly Raised a Villain

★ Scum-top Master, six months down the drain. Fake your death and run.

★ Check out my upcoming novel, Infinite Game: A Crumbling World!

Shi Li's final transmigration assignment: provoke the villainous, scheming tea-green apprentice, max out his corruption level, then kill him with his own hands.

He wanted to get it over with and kill him outright, but discovered that his young apprentice had a hundred ways to kill him, each more absurd and twisted than the last. With no other choice, Shi Li turned to Plan Two: bring his corruption level down to zero.

Young apprentices were easy to fool. As a scum top who'd dallied among countless beauties, Shi Li knew how to keep the kid happy. But he was so obviously a scumbag that the apprentice's corruption level never budged. The System thought he was exploiting a bug and slacking off, so it gave him a pile of inhuman tasks.

Shi Li worked diligently at his tasks, toiling so hard he nearly pushed his apprentice down onto the bed, but the corruption level still didn't change.

Then one day, the System told him he'd raised the wrong person.

The wrong person! And the one he'd raised was the protagonist, the very person he absolutely must not provoke!

He had to die before the protagonist discovered him, fake his death, and go find the Demon Lord, the real villain.

What he didn't know was that after he faked his death, his apprentice's eyes turned red, and the junior brother who had always admired him went mad, swearing to search the entire cultivation world and bring him back to life.

Meanwhile, Shi Li stared in bewilderment at the newly born villain, flipping through a calendar and wondering if the dates were wrong. From then on, the scum top became a full-time nanny.

He could look after the kid, sure, but why did the baby look so much like his former black-lotus apprentice?

Later, when the villainous Demon Lord grew up, he met the young apprentice who looked exactly like him. The Demon Lord demanded furiously:

"I'm just a substitute, aren't I?!"

"Let me explain."

"Master, am I just a plaything you can cast aside whenever you want?"

"I can explain."

"Senior brother left just to covet a position in the demon clan?!"

"I can explain."

Then they started fighting.

Hey, don't fight each other! Fight me! Give me a chance to be a scum top. If you beat me to death, I can go back.

"Shut up!"

It's over. I'm screwed.

*

Yu Huaizhou has a secret: he's been in love with his Master for years.

Everyone told him to wake up, because his Master was an utter scumbag, but Yu Huaizhou believed his Master must have had his reasons.

Then Yu Huaizhou learned his Master's secret: his Master planned to abandon him, go to the demon realm, and seduce the demon realm's young lord.

Yu Huaizhou finally went mad. He used everyone around him and, as he wished, transmigrated into the unborn young lord of the demon realm so he could meet his Master.

But because he transmigrated into a newborn baby, Yu Huaizhou's mind was underdeveloped, and he soon lost his memories.

The amnesiac little Demon Lord had an immortal he liked. He always followed the immortal around, giving him sweets and flowers. But the little Demon Lord discovered that the immortal loved someone else.

Then the little Demon Lord met Yu Huaizhou, who looked exactly like him.

The immortal anxiously explained, "Darling, let me explain."

The little Demon Lord: "You used to call me darling. Who's this sweetheart?"

◎ One-on-one, both leads' first love. The protagonist and the villain are the same person.

◎ Task-focused scum-top Master X black-lotus apprentice who is hell-bent on killing his Master

◎ Everyone falls for the universally adored top, but he doesn't get it.

◎ Love-triangle showdown, faked death, melodramatic substitution plot, amnesia, a chaotic mix of tropes. QAQ

◎ The scum-top Master will put the bottom through a little angst.

★

(Both leads transmigrate from ancient times to the modern day, entertainment industry dating show)

Jun Yan woke up one day in the body of a celebrity in the 21st century. As the most pampered young prince in the capital, he used his considerable talents to ruin four TV dramas, six magazine covers, and two concerts.

The internet exposed Jun Yan for throwing his weight around on set and disrespecting the staff.

As scandals spread across the trending topics, his manager somehow still managed to get him an offer from the entertainment company's top same-sex dating show, Love Crystal Romance.

Jun Yan: What a hassle. I'll just quit show business.

Manager: You'll have to pay fifty million to get out of it.

*

The dating show aired live, bringing together all kinds of celebrities and singers. Its viewership soared as soon as it began.

The other guests eagerly worked to promote themselves, while Jun Yan was so flagrantly lazy that he infuriated everyone. He slumped in his chair as though saying one more word would violate the laws of heaven.

At least he had a handsome face.

The prince didn't care about the criticism online and kept slacking off.

When several guests turned against each other and nearly fought over the cameras, the prince sat in the back eating sunflower seeds and watching the show.

Jun Yan: "No, that's not how you kill someone. Let me teach you."

"???"

Despite slacking off like this, the prince came in first every time and got his pick of the food and rooms. His haters shouted, "It's rigged! It's rigged! Drop out! Drop out!"

Just as the hate directed at him peaked, the show's investor suddenly appeared and pulled the prince, who was under attack online, off the set.

Jun Yan recognized him at once. Damn, the investor is my older brother. No, my imperial brother!

Jiang Linsong: "I'm not."

Jun Yan: "Yes, you are."

Viewers noticed that Jun Yan had changed his lazy ways. He even started flirting with Jiang Linsong and wouldn't leave him alone.

They thought Jiang Linsong would get angry, but the CEO merely snapped his fingers, and more than a dozen top chefs cooked for the prince. He bought a luxury yacht for the prince to fish from, then personally peeled shrimp for him at a seaside barbecue.

Unfortunately, his imperial brother kept his secret identity tightly under wraps and refused to admit who he was.

The prince: ...

The prince was so angry he cried, then ran off the set.

The director looked nervously at the investor, whose face had darkened, and wailed, "Come back, Your Highness!"

*

After the dating show ended, paparazzi even caught them entering a hotel together.

The haters' insults flooded in: #Chi Yan is a resource-backed star by day and Jiang Linsong's bedmate by night!# #Chi Yan, get out of show business!#

Jun Yan crossed his legs and posted a photo on Weibo. It showed a pile of scripts, including scripts others would fight tooth and nail to get, all for him to choose from.

He added a smug caption, and the post shot straight to the top of the trending list.

Haters: (╰皿╯)!!!

◎ Spoiled, clingy little star with a brother complex X emperor with money to burn

◎ One-on-one, mutual feelings in bold and at full volume.

◎ They are not related by blood. They are not related by blood. They are not related by blood. They weren't related by blood before transmigrating, either.

◎ The full novel is already written, so you can count on it being completed.

Theme: Treating others with kindness and warmth brings a beautiful tomorrow.