A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 136
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Regression Guide for Idols Who Lost Their Initial Intentions Episode 136
PT Exercises number 8. Full Body Twist.
The punishment that would rain down on us with curses calling us damn disobedient bastards if we fidgeted or whispered even a little during PE class.
The image of the Tiger PE Teacher who carried around a baseball bat, saying these punks couldn’t understand words, flickered before my eyes.
Compared to the Military Instructor, the PE teacher with his baseball bat was scarier, but the military combat training was definitely more intense.
Since there was only one PE teacher, it was possible to slack off by avoiding his gaze, but there were multiple instructors, making it nearly impossible to escape their watchful eyes.
Trembling as I lowered my legs to the whistle sound, I made eye contact with a familiar face. I blinked, wondering if I was seeing things wrong.
Why are you coming out here…?
The guy wearing the instructor’s hat was definitely my high school friend Kim Woochan.
What were the odds of meeting my friend as an instructor at a place I came to film a military variety show?
They say even when the sky falls, there’s a hole to escape through. I winked at the guy who was flaring his nostrils, trying to hold back laughter.
I trust you, my friend!
As I subtly lowered my head, the guy whose lips were twitching immediately barked an order.
“Number 227 Owl! Raise your head and lower your legs more!”
“Ack!”
I reflexively responded and reluctantly took the proper FM position again.
You bastard, I even bought you drinks to celebrate your leave, and this is how you repay me? Just wait until your next leave.
After finishing PT exercises up to number 14, we were given a 10-minute break.
Of course, I couldn’t rest and was called in front of the camera for an individual interview. What’s so important about broadcasting that I can’t even enjoy this precious break time?
“It seemed like you knew one of the instructors. Is he an acquaintance?”
“He’s a high school friend. I never expected to meet this friend here…”
“Is this the first time you’ve met since graduating high school?”
“No, we met a few months ago when this friend was on leave.”
It was exactly that friend who had come on leave a few months ago and had a blast hanging out with me when our leave periods overlapped.
Kim Woochan, who was similarly called out for an interview, burst into laughter holding his stomach as soon as he saw me after finishing his interview.
“Hey, you said you had at most 8 years left! As soon as I saw your face, I was shocked thinking you’d caused some trouble and enlisted to escape. Really.”
“Tell me about it… What kind of hardship is this?”
“Are you a regular on this program?”
“No, just filling in this once.”
“Hey, what should we do? You’re going to become a guy who runs away in his underwear after experiencing combat training and finding it too hard. Hahaha, the great Yoon Eden!”
I gaped at this unexpected perspective.
“Work hard and win the Combat King title. Then instead of less talk, you become a god. If you try to slack off like earlier, you’ll become a failure who couldn’t endure and ran away.”
“What do you mean…”
“Hey, just trust me and do as you’re told. Then you’ll understand.”
Kim Woochan, who patted my back hard as encouragement, immediately switched back to instructor mode when the 10-minute break ended and pushed my back.
Next came combat course training. I gritted my teeth and threw myself into the training, keeping Combat King in mind. It was fortunate that I had built up my stamina through regular exercise.
Otherwise, I would have already collapsed, or let go of the rope and fallen into that muddy water, or tumbled to the floor while climbing the wall.
When the cameras briefly turned off, unlike the still disciplined soldiers, the panel members gathered in one place and sprawled out comfortably. This was, after all, a variety show.
“Oh man, I’m dying. What kind of hardship is this, being dragged back to the military at my age?”
The middle-aged actor in his 40s groaned while rubbing his shoulders. The broadcaster in his late 30s expressed strong agreement beside him.
The comedian in his mid-30s tapped me and asked.
“Eden, how old are you this year?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Twenty-two? Where in the military does anyone use polite speech?”
“You didn’t even give your rank and name?”
Damn, the cameras are off though.
“Private Yoon Eden! Twenty-two years old!”
But sadly, I was the youngest who had to comply when told. When I gave my rank and name and answered again, the broadcaster who giggled and patted my shoulder said to me.
“You came at exactly the right time. Even though it’s 5 nights and 6 days.”
“Youth really is good. You were so energetic.”
“But you really are good at this. Did you debut after doing sports? Or are you a veteran?”
“Come on, hyung. Where are there veteran idols? These days, idol kids all go after turning thirty.”
“No. I debuted after doing hip hop.”
“Hey hey, speak casually. Casually. I was just joking around.”
The comedian who had seriously told me to give my rank and name chuckled, hit my back a couple times, and advised.
“Take it moderately easy. It’s a variety show anyway, and if you get hurt here, your future will be bleak.”
I have a reason why I absolutely must win the Combat King title and return. I couldn’t earn the dishonor of dropping out because it was too hard.
The Defense Ministry clock still ticks, and the final day of combat training dawned.
Ah, by my standards, is it the broadcasting station clock?
What appeared before us after starting the damn refreshing morning with wooden staff exercises was an 11-meter mock tower, the height humans fear most. It was rappelling training.
Going up, I could see the open scenery. It was fortunate that I had tried bungee jumping once before my regression.
The bungee jump back then boasted the highest domestic height, so it was incomparable to this.
“Do you have a girlfriend!”
“No!”
Woochan, why would you specifically ask an idol friend if he has a girlfriend?
If I said yes here, it would be another regression scenario. Of course, I don’t actually have one anyway.
“Shout what you want to say and begin descent!”
“Why did I agree to come here! Oh wait, that’s not it. Daydream, I love you! Descent!”
I blurted out my true feelings, then came to my senses and belatedly put on my idol persona.
Kim Woochan’s face that I saw before descending was desperately trying to hold back laughter.
“Number 227 Owl, descent complete!”
I grabbed the rope, came down, and reported while landing lightly on the mattress.
“Hey, you’re good. Eden, don’t you want to join as a regular? You’re too good to be just a substitute.”
Judging by the praise, it seemed I came down with decent form. Of course, I had no intention of joining as a regular.
The last thing remaining was CBRN training.
“Those who feel physically unwell and cannot participate in CBRN training, raise your hands.”
I pressed down my hand that was automatically about to rise at the instructor’s words. If I raised my hand here, the Combat King title would fly away into the sky.
Putting on gas masks and walking into the building with grim faces, thick CS smoke greeted us. And then…
“Remove filters!”
With the instructor’s command, the first hell I’d ever experienced in my life arrived. Even in the midst of this, the instructor made us sing.
“Sing ‘Mother’s Heart,’ begin!”
What was ‘Mother’s Heart’ again…? I was roughly following the melody of the person next to me when I held my breath and blinked at the increasingly strange song.
“Ahhh, thank you. Teacher’s love… huh?”
“I said sing ‘Mother’s Heart,’ who told you to sing ‘Teacher’s Grace’! Again, sing ‘Real Men,’ begin!”
Another unknown song appeared. At least with ‘Mother’s Heart,’ I could remember bits and pieces when I heard the melody, but I had no idea about this one.
“Born as a man, there’s much to do!”
Blinking through my yellowing vision, I followed along with the military song again, reading the room.
Every breath brought in CS gas, and it really felt like I was dying. At least I was fortunate to be a rapper who could hold my breath for a long time.
As soon as I came outside, I sat down on the floor, tears and snot streaming. Even in the midst of this, I desperately turned my back to avoid the cameras. I couldn’t be broadcast with this face.
And time passed again, and finally the long-awaited day of the combat training graduation ceremony dawned.
“Combat King, Private Yoon Eden!”
At the sound of my name being called, I clenched my fist and walked to the platform.
Good, I won’t earn the dishonor of running away after one try because it was too hard!
I put the red combat instructor hat on my head along with the certificate and returned to my seat.
After finishing the return march, filming ended with the completion of combat training.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
I bowed to the PD, staff, and cast members, then ran to where my manager hyung was gesturing to me.
Let’s not see each other for the next 8 years! Slipping my hand into my pocket and raising my middle finger so it wouldn’t be visible was just a bonus.
[Prohibited action detected.]
[Initial Intentions -1]
Can’t you cut me some slack if I don’t get caught?
* * *
Finally finishing the 5 nights and 6 days military base experience filming, I arrived at the dormitory I had missed so dearly.
“Eden, are you crying…?”
As I stood blankly in front of the dormitory, Manager Hyung rolled down the car window and asked cautiously.
“Who’s crying?”
I roughly rubbed my dry eyes and strode forward with big steps. When I entered the door lock password and opened the dormitory door, the members who were in the middle of eating turned their attention to me.
“What, why are you back already? The private room was nice.”
Seo Yehyeon grumbled, speaking like a hyung whose younger brother had returned from discharge and was about to lose his private room again.
Other groups sell themselves as harmonious pseudo-families, so why are we like this?
I don’t have a real older brother, but this sounds exactly like what I heard from friends who do have older brothers.
“Hyung should go to the army and receive combat training, then you’d understand why 5 nights and 6 days feels like ‘already.'”
As I scooped rice into a bowl and plopped down on a dining chair while grumbling, Seo Yehyeon shook his head.
“Anyone listening would think you completed your full military service.”
Seo Yehyeon really should have been the one to go. Then he would have felt the preciousness of group activities and come back with his head on straight. Like me.
I took a big spoonful of Gyeon Hajun’s side dishes that felt like I was eating for the first time in ages. Seo Yehyeon glanced at me eating with a moved expression and asked.
“Did you starve in the army?”
“Army food tastes like shit.”
[Profanity detected.]
[Initial Intentions –2]
There’s absolutely no way to express this without using profanity.
After finishing my meal, I was chugging bottled water from the refrigerator when Ryu Jaehee scurried over to my side and showed me his cell phone screen with news, starting to speak.
“Hyung, weren’t you close with the G1 Producer? There was chaos while you were in the army. They caught drug offenders red-handed at a club during a birthday party.”
So that’s how it ended up. I was clicking my tongue and finishing my water when Ryu Jaehee added one more thing.
“But the informant was G1.”
At those words, I choked and started coughing while immediately looking for my cell phone.
Damn, if I had known this would happen, I should have gone to the birthday party instead of the army variety show! To miss such incredibly entertaining content!
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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