# The Regressor's Notepad - Episode 1
Spectrum
Those who wield mana on the continent each possess their own special color.
This is called the talent of mana, "Spectrum."
Why is it that even though they use the same mana, some bastards control a house-sized golem, some outright synthesize living creatures, and some are like mongrels…….
Because it's a crucial factor in evaluating mana itself, those whose Spectrums are like mongrels receive quite a lot of pity.
Like me, sprawled out here in this abandoned factory.
"Hey. My Spectrum really is a notepad, okay?"
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A pure white window floating on my retina. This blank sheet of paper, visible only to me, records and stores the sentences I think. Once saved, the contents can be recalled anytime, anywhere.
So, it's a "Notepad."
This is my Spectrum.
Fuck.
"I had nothing else to do with this, so I wrote a diary, okay? A fucking notepad. It's no help at all until the moment you die."
Thanks to that, I'm dying. To be precise, I'm on the verge of death, but it's all the same.
Right now, I have no sensation below my neck. My stomach is split open and blood is gushing out, but there's no pain. It means my cervical spine is completely severed.
Is it good because it doesn't hurt?
—You ungrateful fly bastard.
A low voice, as if scraping vocal cords, echoes through the empty factory.
You might wonder if this is what a wolf would sound like if it could speak, but its actual appearance is that of a werewolf, with a human body and only the limbs twisted into those of a beast.
That bastard's Spectrum. "Beastification," or whatever it's called.
"For a fly, this treatment is a bit excessive."
On the other hand, mine is "Notepad."
I can take notes anytime, anywhere. Even right before I die, I can jot down all sorts of gossip about that bastard, you know?
It's really something to be proud of.
I asked the dog, no, the wolf.
"Did the Chairman order this?"
—Ha. Do you think the Chairman cares about you? A bug like you?
"You probably do, at least a little. I know 'Libra' well, after all. I'm from Libra too."
Libra. The continent's greatest prestigious family, and the household of the current Chairman.
A master of such authority that a single word could flatten the Gert Mountain Range into plains. My enemy.
—……Sion Ascal. You overestimate yourself too much. Someone who doesn't even know.
It was the most personal grudge.
They made me an orphan. They twisted my life far too much.
"What do you mean I don't know? There's probably no one who knows Libra as well as I do, except for that cripple."
At that, the wolf straightened its back. Fur sprouted all over its face. Its snout elongated, and its pupils turned a sickly yellow.
It was a complete werewolf.
—Don't be delusional. You were never Libra's enemy, not even once. You weren't even a threat.
"Sigh. Yeah, sure, let's say that's true. I'm a sick man, after all."
Brain tumor at nine, somehow overcoming it; leukemia at thirteen, miraculously surviving somehow; dantian cancer at eighteen…… my life has been this tumultuous.
"Ah, right. Have you ever seen the Chairman?"
—…….
Silence.
It probably means no.
"You haven't? You served for seven years and never saw them once?"
—Shut up.
"Well, they've only made public appearances a handful of times in their life. I've had three."
—……Three times?
The wolf's brows twitched. It seemed quite curious.
"Yeah. Once by chance at elementary school graduation. Once on the day they were elected council member. Once on the first day they attended the assembly."
—What was the Chairman like?
The wolf's tongue lolled out. Its eyes widened slightly, and its tail wagged eagerly.
Just like a puppy thinking of its master.
"Hmm……"
I immersed myself in reminiscence for a moment.
Those days when I had glimpsed the Chairman. Those moments when I faced the master of the clan I had loathed my entire life.
"Well."
It feels really pathetic to harbor such feelings even as I'm being killed, but I still can't help but admit it.
"I can't express it in words."
There was something beyond beauty about her……. A mysteriousness that seemed to hold some sacred value.
"It's like a religion. So I can understand, to some extent, you lot who are fanatically loyal."
—……Then your life must have been satisfying.
"You're talking out of your ass."
My eyes snapped wide open at the wolf's bullshit.
Satisfying, my ass. Of course it's not satisfying.
Living as nothing more than a host for diseases rather than a human, a life spent only struggling and fighting before withering away—there's no way that could be satisfying.
If God truly exists, I will curse Him until the moment I die.
Snort—!
The wolf snorted.
—Anyway, you clung to the impossible. A fly like you annoyed a great mountain.
"……."
It might be right.
My own desperate efforts, my attempts to dig up Libra's corruption and bring their crimes to the surface.
They were nothing more than drinking-table gossip.
The blood-soaked voices of those Libra had murdered were quickly forgotten by the public—no, the public never even tried to remember—and my colleagues turned their backs on me.
I knew from the start that it was an unwinnable fight.
"……Still, in the end, I got something somewhat useful."
—You still haven't come to your senses. I told you not to be delusional. Your death is the will of the Chairman's Office. The Chairman wouldn't care about dust like—
"Yeah, yeah."
I tilted my head back. I rested it against the cold concrete wall.
Somehow, a desolate wind blew in through the gaps of the factory's broken windows.
Then, grinning widely, I bared my teeth.
"You see this?"
—…….
A white crystal lodged in my front tooth. The wolf's eyes narrowed as it gazed at it.
It was the prototype of 'Perion,' a new mana synthesis material developed by Libra.
It is the source and core of the highest-grade physical mana amplification agent, soon to be mass-produced.
—What are you going to do with it now?
"Praise me a little. I stole it with great effort."
The fact that I'm dying here is also because of this, actually.
If I had stayed hidden, I would have lived about a month longer.
So, it was a life that would have lasted a month at best anyway.
Because the cancer lump in my dantian has already destroyed my entire body.
"Well, Perion, this new mana material that supposedly amplifies essence too? Does it help with dungeon raids? You guys promote the hell out of it, but how many thousands of people did you kill to make this? You conducted clinical experiments on homeless people and orphans, you son of a bitch bastards."
Crack—!
I bit down and ate the Perion.
Crunch—! Crunch—!
I chewed and swallowed it defiantly.
Even though it's an amplification agent, I don't feel anything surging. Even though the dosage definitely far exceeds a lethal amount, I only feel slightly feverish and the world spinning before my eyes.
Ah, is it because all my nerves are severed?
I spat at the bastard.
"Ptooey, you bastard. This is about one billion Ren in damages to Libra."
—……Perion prototypes are kept at each continental branch. This means they've made ten more identical ones.
"……."
—You thought we were like you?
I stared blankly at the wolf. It stared back into my eyes.
A sigh boiled up from within.
"Ah~ fuck. Those fucking bastards."
In the end, I couldn't do anything until the very end.
Unable to achieve revenge on them, unable to leave even a tiny scratch, I was just a fly that was slightly itchy and irritating, exactly as this wolf bastard said.
That was all I amounted to.
—…….
"What are you staring at? Just kill me. My tongue's starting to twist."
Srring— It raised its claws. Moonlight seeped into the sharp edge.
"Hey. You dog bastard. If, hypothetically. If you ever get to meet the Chairman later. Pass on a message for me."
I smiled silently.
"Please…… enjoy this fucking world all to yourself and live well."
Its fingers flashed before my eyes.
It had pierced my throat.
This son of a bitch.