How to Raise Your Regressor

"Anyway, hello there," Victor (he was not exactly Victor but someone controlling his body) smiled bemusedly as he looked at the woman hidden in the shadows of the glass tubes.

"!!" The woman's eyes widened as she felt their gazes meet.

"So you are the hidden masterminds," Victor chuckled as his gaze shifted to the man. "I'm Victor Novakovich, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"The contract had a failsafe, huh?" The man sighed to himself.

"The pleasure is all ours," the woman recovered from her shock quickly and greeted him back.

A failsafe in a contract which involved taking control of the target's body was surprising, but it wasn't the first time she had seen something like this.

Her surprise mainly stemmed from the fact that this happened in a Class 3 world.

"Oh, please. I am honoured to be in the presence of figures as great as you two," Victor chuckled again.

"I didn't quite catch your name there," the man asked. "What was it?"

"Ah, it's Victor Novakovich."

"No, no," the man shook his head. "I'm asking for your real name."

"Well, my real name is [Insert a random name here]."

"…"

"…"

"Also, if I say something weird and completely out of context, just know that it's because I am an automated program which is still far from completion. I- well, my creator actually- wasn't expecting for something like this to happen so quickly. We thought that you'd be more cautious."

"…"

"…"

"Um, hello?" Victor waved his hand.

"…Well, we admit that we were a bit hasty this time," the man nodded.

"But in our defence, it was Victor who called for this meeting, not us," the woman followed.

"Well, your mole got a crucial piece of information and just could not hold onto it. You should have trained him better."

"So you knew that Victor was our… mole?"

"Oh, no, I didn't," Victor shook his head. "It was just a simple trick (should I call this a trick? Or would scheme work better? Maybe plan? Check and decide later) to weed out the traitors."

"…You really are far from completion," the man said. "Why did you even create a program for a party trick? Taking direct control would have been much easier."

"Well, firstly, for security and to remain anonymous. Using a program ensures that I cannot be traced back," he glanced at the woman for a moment. "Secondly, because it's more fun."

"Fun, eh?" The woman smiled as the magic spell she used to trace the source of Victor's body's takeover gave no results. "Do you do everything for fun?"

"You could say that."

"Was the news about Elixir for fun as well?"

"Well, who knows?" Victor shrugged.

"Are you the guy who discovered the method to create an Artificial Elixir?" The man asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. I doubt giving such a crucial piece of information to you [insert total number of people] would be the most tactical decision on my part."

"But don't you think it would be more fun to reveal that to us?"

"…I'm sorry, I have no idea how to respond to that query. Please contact the creator for more details."

"…"

"…"

'This is a waste of time,' the man sighed.

"Just kidding," Victor chuckled. "I'm an Artificial Intelligence; you think I'll have no idea how to respond to that?"

Get pranked.

"…"

"…"

"You sure like your random bouts of silences, don't you? Anyway, like you said, revealing my identity to you could be slightly more amusing, but it doesn't fit in my Grand Plan."

Epic Prank=Grand Plan.

"The Grand Plan?"

"It's nothing more than a series of events which must happen in the correct order in order for me to have the most fun. Obviously, real life is different, so some deviations are bound to occur, but I believe I am more than capable of limiting the scope of those deviations."

"Is this meeting a part of that Grand Plan as well?" The man asked.

"In a sense," Victor nodded.

"How did you know that there was a traitor among you?"

"I did not," Victor shook his head.

"You did not?"

"I just believed in the nature of humanity," he smiled. "I knew that there was bound to be at least one traitor. All I had to do was to weed him out. I'm not gonna lie, though, that was way easier than I expected."

"Well," the woman scoffed. "It seems we underestimated you."

"You are admitting you're wrong?" Victor seemed taken aback. "You're not just some run of the mill villains, are you?"

"You could say this is not our first rodeo," the man smirked.

"Hmm…. Does that also mean that ours is not the first world you are invading?" Victor's eyebrows rose.

"Who knows?" The man shrugged.

By the way, the man and the woman were still hiding in the countless rows of the glass tubes. Victor knew where they were, but to the untrained eye, it would seem that he was talking to mere voices.

"…I might have to raise your evaluation a bit," Victor said.

"So would we. You are way better than we expected."

"Am I?" Victor's eyes brightened. "Why, I am flattered," he grinned sheepishly.

"You deserve it. We were complacent because we underestimated you, yes, but to install a failsafe in a contract that destroys the soul and erases one's existence is nothing short of exemplary. Not a lot of people can achieve that, even on our side," the woman lied.

In fact, even a child of a Class 1 world could create something as small as a contract which erased one's existence if the contract was violated.

Needless to say, however, even if a mere child could make such a contract, they weren't actually allowed to. Magic spells of this category were highly regulated.

Any unauthorised individual who so much as tried to use such magic spells was immediately arrested and met with adequate punishment, which ranged from a simple fine to immediate execution.

So, in a sense, the woman had not lied; only some people from her side could use such spells. It's just that it wasn't like others could not use such spells, they just weren't allowed to.

"Oh my," Victor gasped. "Does that mean that our chances of survival have raised because of me?"

"Well, slightly," the man smiled.

He didn't have the heart to tell him that his existence only upped their chances of survival by 0.0001%.

"You have no idea how much that means to me," Victor sniffed back a tear. "Thank you."

'I-is he crying?' The man flinched; he didn't expect that.

"Yup. You are so good, in fact, that we have an offer for you," the woman smiled.

<Are you really trying to recruit him?> A voice rang inside her head.

It was the voice of her companion aka the man.

<Well, it doesn't hurt to try, does it? Talented people are always welcome.>

<As you wish,> the man shrugged.

"An offer? For me?" Victor seemed taken aback, as if he hadn't expected that.

"Yup," the woman nodded. "We want to recruit you."

"Recruit, as in you're asking me to betray my comrades and join you?"

"Betray is a strong word. We are just allowing you to make a choice which you can be satisfied with later."

"Hmmm…" Victor cupped his chin.

"I'm sorry to say this, but your world is not going to survive no matter what you do."

"Hey, you just said-"

"I did," the woman nodded. "But the truth is that a single man cannot change the tide of war. There is only so much you can accomplish on your own."

"Urk!" Victor groaned, as if the truth had hit him right where it hurt.

"The sad reality is that we will kill all of you and win this war. Everyone will die, including you and those you love."

"…" A coldness descended in Victor's eyes.

This just confirmed that Victor valued his comrades (lol).

"However, by joining us, you can ensure that you and your loved ones will survive."

"…They will?"

"Yes, we can guarantee that," the woman nodded.

"Do you even have the authority to guarantee such a thing? You know, what if your superior decided that we were not worth the effort to save or something?"

"Don't worry about that," the woman's smile widened. "We have no superiors."

"W-wait," Victor's eyes widened. "Does that mean you are the supreme commander of this operation?"

"You can think of it that way. Where we are from, our word is law, so as long as we say that you and your loved ones will live, they will. And no one can decide otherwise."

"I see, so you are the Supreme Commanders," Victor kept nodding for some moments then suddenly, a grin appeared on his face.

"Hmm?" The man noticed that unnatural change.

"This was unexpected. I think I'll have to reintroduce myself," Victor gave a courteous bow. "I'm the Supreme Commander of the United Force. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"…" The woman raised her eyebrow. "Are you trying to raise your value in our eyes?"

"In a way. Anyway, it has been a pleasure meeting you," suddenly, Victor's skin started to wriggle. "But I have some important matters to attend to, so I will catch you later."

"Shit!" The man cursed.

"Protect them!"

"Until we see each other again," Victor snapped his finger with that.

The snap was followed by a blinding flash of light with him as the source. A moment later, a deafening boom resounded inside the forest as shockwaves spread out, rending everything in their way.

After the explosion subsided, all that was left was a huge, empty crater.

The Supreme Commander had been pranked.