"…he…"

"But… just…"

For the second time in the day, I opened my eyes to the voices of people around me. As expected, the ones I found after waking up were Azell and Noelle.

I'd be pretty worried if it was someone else, actually.

"Good morning." I rose up and greeted them.

By the way, it seemed I was enjoying Azell's lap pillow.

Pretty weird, if I may say so myself, but pretty wholesome as well.

"Samur!" Azell gasped in what seemed to be relief.

Is this guy alright?

"You're awake." Noelle's reaction was more normal.

"Sorry for worrying you."

I mean, it was my fault for suddenly coughing up blood and then straight up fainting even though I had assured them that there was no risk of death in my little experiment. I wonder how I should handle this.

Let's just do what I do best; dodge responsibility.

"I'm just thankful you're safe." Azell heaved a sigh of relief. "But what happened there?"

Hmm, should I just tell them the truth? That probably won't be the most tactical decision. Better to hide it for now.

"A Mana Annihilation Explosion."

But that wouldn't be fun now, would it?

I won't reveal the whole truth, of course, but I'll still use this situation to my advantage and further my persona as 'The traumatised boi who cannot trust anyone'.

"What is that?"

"Basically, when Mana and Anti-Mana come in contact, they annihilate each other and form matter."

It's basically the opposite process of the collision of matter and antimatter.

"And what is Anti-Mana?"

"Hmm, in simple terms, it's Mana but with opposite properties. It does not exist in nature."

It has to be specially created through complex processes which involve calculations that simply cannot be performed by a human brain.

In fact, the very concept of Anti-Mana is so advanced that the theories it is based on can advance this primitive civilisation by up to 50 generations.

There's a reason I spent millennia in its research, and it is what led me to the discovery of synthetic Mana.

In other words, kneel before me, plebeian.

"Then… how did you manage to create it?" Noelle asked.

"I won't be able to explain it, unfortunately. As far as you're concerned, I have new Mana Circuits."

"Wha?!"

"Impossible!"

"Possibilities are limited by your own imagination, Azell." I smiled. "Now, shall we discuss the terms of my employment?" I gave them a slightly nervous smile while subtly hiding distrust in my eyes.

"Ah…" Azell bit his lips and his gaze drooped.

Yes, this was the effect I was going for.

Let's roll back a bit and look at the type of character 'Samur' is supposed to be.

Since the moment he was born, Samur has been treated as a cursed monster who did not deserve to live. There was not a single person in that household who looked at him with eyes full of love.

For his whole life, Samur has been ostracised, abused, tortured, until he was thrown away to die by his own family.

It would be unnatural- and foolish- to expect him to trust someone just because they saved his life.

Such a being, much less a human child, is not able to view other's kindness as pure goodwill; he expects them to have ulterior motives. After all, who would willingly help a cursed monster?

If it was indeed the original 'Samur' and not me, then he would have felt the same. He would have been grateful to Azell for saving his life, but he would have also been sceptical of his motives for doing so.

He would have believed that even in the best-case scenario, Azell invited him to his guild only as an act of mercy.

And since Samur has seen first-hand how fickle mercy actually is, he would have wanted to become someone useful to Azell to ensure the latter doesn't abandon Samur when he runs out of pity.

That's the story I was going for right now; that I risked my life because I couldn't trust their goodwill, which showed just how broken I really was from years of abuse and neglect.

Well, this is all bullshit to be honest and it's not like doing this is absolutely necessary, but I like to stay in character so yea, enjoy being hurt, Regressor boi.

"So?" I urged him.

"…What are the terms you propose?"

"An executive position where I directly answer to you."

I'd like to avoid being treated like a small fry from the veterans of Guild, if possible. That gets so boring and annoying that I fear my hand would accidentally slip and I'd give them a classic 'sword in the throat'.

That wouldn't be ideal now, would it?

"Hmm." Azell pinched his chin. "What are your areas of expertise?"

"Honestly, everything."

"Oh?"

"I know enough about politics, propaganda and tactics that I could give you the same political power as the King. I understand religion so well that I could turn you into the second coming of the Gods. I'm such a phenomenal manager that I could take your Guild to the absolute top, and I've such an unparalleled understanding of Mana and the human body that I could give you power far greater than what you could possibly imagine."

I could make him the 11th Ancient God, to be more precise.

"…"

"…"

Both Azell and Noelle looked at me with widened eyes as if they were staring at a monster.

"Needless to say, I'm joking." I chuckled.

"Oh."

"You brat." Noelle sighed exasperatedly. "For a moment I thought you were telling the truth."

"Really?"

Did she seriously believe the words of a 12-years-old? Damn.

"Well, you did pull off that stunt. I haven't even heard of Anti-Mana, much less an Energy Annihilation Explosion."

"Fair enough."

I did say all that in a pretty convincing manner.

"So, what position would you like?" Azell brought us back on track.

"Hmm, do you have a Research and Development Department?"

"Nope."

"Well, create one and make me its Head."

"What will be its aim?"

"To develop new and exciting things; from weapons and potions to things that would make our daily lives easier."

I also need a workshop to upgrade my body. If I'm really going to help a Regressor of all people, this weak body just won't cut it. At the very least, I need to be as strong as I was at the prime of my 104th life.

Hmm wait, that won't be the most tactical decision. I have to help a Regressor save a world (probably), not overthrow the Gods and once again become the Master of this Universe.

Eh, I'll just wing it. We'll see what happens. No way in hell he needs that much power.

Or maybe he does.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I probably need to sit down with him one day and ask why exactly he regressed.

"Welcome to the Guild, R&D Head." Azell extended his hand.

"Pleased to be with you, Guild Master." And I shook it.

"Welcome!" Noelle enthusiastically rubbed my head.

"Thanks."

Oh, right.

I cast some magic and turned my hair white; can't have people running away after seeing my black, cursed hair.

"…"

"…"

"Don't look at me like that. I just like white."

I told them the truth, but judging by their looks, I don't think they believed me.

Ah right, let's check my status.

NAME: Samur Eckart

AGE: 12

TEMPERAMENT: Maniac

TITLES: ~information not available~

STRENGTH: 2 (Trash)

AGILITY: 1 (Trash)

ENDURANCE: 1 (Trash)

INTELLECT: 714874232813496917894974896471 (What the fuck?)

MAGIC: %$&! (???)

SKILL: Eye of Truth

OVERALL: [You piece of trash, did you seriously just apply Hargreave's General Theory of Relative Energy to construct yourself a new Mana Circuit with such precision? No, no, no. This doesn't even make any sense. What in the goddamn hell?

Who the hell are you?]

Well, I was the one who proposed that theory in one of my past lives, so it makes sense for me to know how to apply it in real life.

Anyway, after my stunt, this shitty manager of the System would probably try his/her/its best to dig into me, but information about me is classified and requires an Origin level clearance.

And to get one, an applicant needs the unanimous vote of all the 10 Ancient Gods. Of course, they'll never grant it to the manager one considering it's related to me.

In fact, even if someone did manage to discover my true identity, that 'event' itself would be treated as an emergency of the highest level and the individual would be swiftly eliminated.

Well, that is to be expected. They can't have some dodgy malaka discovering my true identity and coaxing me into a fight to regain my lost status.

"Let's go now, shall we?" Azell asked.

"Sure." I nodded.

I don't know why Azell chose to regress. I don't know what he faced in his previous turn, what made him fail, and what exactly he lost. I don't even know anything about the crisis we'll face.

But there's one thing I do know; as long as I'm here, he will not fail.

After all, I'm the First Being, the man who brought forth existence from the Void.

If I can create a Universe, I'm sure I can help Azell succeed in whatever he's trying to fix.

❄️❄️❄️

"HE is here."

A living hell.

"76% of the worlds have already fallen."

A never-ending nightmare.

"Is there anything we can do?"

An Undying Army led by a lone Commander.

"Not a single soul survived."

Their ultimate goal; to destroy everything.

"We must work together and resolve our problems in a way that benefits us all."

The greatest alliance.

"Remember our pain, the pain of having everything stolen from us!"

Our final stand.

"I'll kill them, I'll kill them all!"

A corrupted God.

"T-The Ancient Gods… they… they have fallen…"

The undefeated enemy.

"They have breached the final defensive wall!"

A pathetic defeat.

"We cannot win! We must run!"

An unsightly retreat.

"I- ugh! I love you…"

A broken love.

"I'm sorry…"

A meaningless sacrifice.

"We must do it over."

Our last resistance.

"Azell, you're the best possible choice for rewriting the past."

A misplaced hope.

"You cannot fail. You must find and kill him before he can awaken his army."

A heavy burden.

"He knows what we plan to do!"

A traitor.

"To think I'd die for you…"

A fallen friend.

"We believe in you, Azell."

A mountain of corpses beneath my feet.

"Believe in me."

The promise I made.

"As all things were made by my hand, so shall they be unmade."

And a hateful enemy.

"This time, I will not fail."

My resolve to find the enemy and kill him.

"This time, I will save all of them."

My resolve to kill the First Being, the one who brought forth existence from the Void, and the one who destroyed everything he created.