The summary tells you exactly what happens in this arc plotwise, with a few chapters of followup/denouement. The cold shou x puppy gong relationship is sweet and funny as expected, with a few details that the summary doesn't cover and some assorted worldbuilding that was nice though a bit info-dumpy because often when a concept or detail is introduced, there will be long passages of explanation/backstory. Sometimes this came out of nowhere, where the story will introduce a character and be like "here's this guy who's never been mentioned before, but here's an extensive CIA report of his long personal history with the MC". The translation is good though.

The first chapter is almost entirely summary to give background on the rebirth and emphasize the terrible circumstances that led to the shou's death, so the story really only picks up on the second chapter. Also, the novel summary is a bit misleading in terms of the alphas toying with/being scumbags to the shou—for the most part it makes it sound worse than it is, and some of the scumbag stuff is that thing that happens in many rebirth novels where most of the scumminess never happens in this timeline, though of course the scum characters end up doing other scummy things instead in order to deserve smackdown.

The shou is indeed a cold, emotionally distant, and frequently indifferent protagonist, but unlike other novels where this archetype annoys me, he didn't annoy me, perhaps because his motivations and ambitions are clear and he's self-aware that he's emotionally stunted and actually takes time to consider and reconsider his responses/reactions. Dude just wants to peacefully retire to farm, and is determined to make that happen—he doesn't seem like a stereotypical salted fish as he is really dedicated to having and running his farm. At the same time though he's still willing to give others face, finds it important to honor his word, and often finds himself nonplused with regards to the gong—but even while intellectually he may object, he finds himself getting carried along with the flow much to his own bemusement and, eventually, acceptance and appreciation.

The gong is simple-minded (in part due to his alien nature, as well as learning human ways and mores) and eager to please the shou. He just wants to make his mate happy in whatever way (which means every way) he can so they can be together, and doesn't really have anything holding him back other than unfamiliarity with human courtship or courtship in general.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I liked the worldbuilding with regards to alien life, the shou being cold but willing to learn to love within his own space, the gong's eagerness to work hard, and those two idiots finding happiness together.

This fantasy arc at first seemed like it had a little more plot and characterization going on, featuring the aftermath of a generic successful "heroic party slays the great evil" quest where our MC (whose name is Josh Drake, for real), the lazy-but-competent mage of the party, ends up getting smacked by a magical talking prophecy scroll that forewarns him his secret incubus heritage is going to activate in the near future and he'll become embroiled in a torrid affair with his comrade the prince/Holy Saint. Unfortunately, after an interesting start, the story slows way down and also makes the weird choice to turn into a smut-heavy story that actually doesn't feature any smut because it's always fade to black. Despite the all the setup and initial world building, very little actually happens and many things initially brought up end up glossed over or are never mentioned again.

The MC heeds the scroll's warnings and chooses to retire quietly to the country territory inherited from his deceased mother. Along the way, he happens to save an unconscious super hot blond guy he assumes is a knight and is overjoyed at the thought that since this guy is now indebted to him, the knight can basically manage the estate and lands for him while he, the lord mage, can take it easy. Little does he know this mysterious knight is actually the Demon Lord (named... Albert, that is his real Demon Lord name, not a human pseudonym), who, much to his own bemusement, turns out to be a very efficient administrator and also finds himself increasingly attracted to his new human lord, who reminds him of a lazy little kitten that he just wants to spoil...

This arc was interesting at first but after maybe 10 chapters or so, I started to get bored as there isn't much plot, conflict, or mystery driving the story forward, and the characters turn super bland. It felt like a chore to finish reading. This should have been a 15 chapter story instead of 30+.

Granted that things do happen, like the MC's incubus heritage awakening and him having to deal with that and fearing others finding out, but the chapters draaaaaaag with endless descriptions of him sort of half-heartedly reflecting on his childhood and cold mother, worrying about the gong finding out about his half-incubus nature, and acting in turns tsundere and coquettish while being over-the-top pampered by the gong.

I went from thinking the MC was okay to actively disliking him because his behavior around the gong annoyed me so much—I don't find it cute or funny for a grown-ass man to be so lazy and "pampered" that he will literally lie on the couch while his knight/steward/manager/secretary/administrator/lover hand-feeds him bite-sized pieces of fruit one a time, wipes his mouth for him, makes fresh tea and holds the cup to the MC's lips for him to drink, and then picks him up to carry him to bed for naptime. And gag unto me with a spoon when, at first bite, the MC kittenishly only leaves toothmarks on the fruit and turns his head away in mewling complaint that this piece is a little sour, for which the gong apologizes and feeds him sweeter fruit instead. The constant comparisons to being a kitten started off typical-whatever, but by halfway through the story I started loathing it.

I've read pampering novels and some I did actually enjoy. I apparently draw the line at the pampered shou acting like and being treated by the gong like a literal baby.

It's also weird because the MC's heritage as a half-incubus is a big part of the story and he has to "feed" off of the gong in the BL-dictated manner, but it's all teasing/foreplay and then fade to black (and sometimes there's not even the former, it's just a vaguely suggestive line and then fade to black). But because the MC has to deal with his incubus stuff regularly, it fades to black a lot. I'm not thirsting for smut or anything but it feels kind of like either just write the R-18 scenes or else maybe don't write a PG-13 story about a half-incubus desperately needing to vent his lust and s*xually feed off the gong.

The relationship between the shou and gong isn't one-dimensional as much as it is no-dimensional. They don't have any chemistry and the gong's initial interest in the shou is based on... nothing in particular. And his budding love for the shou is based on... literally viewing him as a cute kitten and being amused at his temperamental nature but ineffectual (and literal) habit of biting him. The gong is an amorphous blob with zero character besides being "indifferent" to his own role as Demon King—put him into any given situation and I could not tell you how he'd react because he has no personality, drive, interest, or motivation. He'd probably just stand there like a lump, only with less personality than a lump.

As for the MC, he sees the gong as a convenient tool and willing near-s*ave who does all the work for him, and is sort of attracted to him I guess maybe kind of because the gong does so unreasonably much for him and is also physically very attractive. And that's it.

The first set of extras are an okay epilogue while the second set is a pointless AU where the MC's mother spoiled him as a child instead of raising him strictly and distantly, and the child MC meets the adult gong, then the story time skips to reuniting with him as an adult. Nothing of interest occurs in the AU extras and they end before anything actually happens.

I'd recommend skipping this arc. It starts off decently but quickly slows down, nothing happens, and the characters are boring or annoying. There are better things out there to read, or at least faster things.

that there was actually a reason for the reincarnation. Not that there has to be, but when you have an all powerful being, might as well toss them the plots, right?

I don’t appreciate Bai Muxing saying married couples HAVE to have s*x in the first arc either