A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 292

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Regression Manual for Idols Who Lost Their Original Intent Chapter 292

Moving rooms was all well and good. But there was one thing that bothered me.

“Wait, hold on. I clearly said a new environment. Then it shouldn’t just be changing rooms, but roommates should change too, right? Yehyeon Hyung is honestly too familiar. He’s as familiar as Kim Dobin.”

Kim Dobin, who was about to lose his roommate because of my protest, urgently raised his hand.

“Don’t let familiarity fool you into losing something precious, mmph!”

Ryu Jaehee, who successfully covered Kim Dobin’s mouth as he spouted nonsense, smiled quite trustworthily and said to me.

“We haven’t changed rooms once this year. That means Hyung has never been roommates with twenty-four-year-old Yehyeon Hyung. A new roommate, ta-da.”

Now that I heard it, that seemed right too.

“Is that so…?”

When I nodded at the strangely convincing words, Seo Yehyeon looked at me with pitying eyes and scolded me.

“What do you mean ‘is that so’? You gullible fool. At this rate, you’ll probably buy a jade bed mat too?”

“Of course, if Doby or Hyung had said this, I would have called it nonsense. But when the Youngest Member says it, it somehow has credibility…”

“Seeing this makes me understand the mechanism of how cults are born. I recommend you stop outsourcing your intelligence to the Youngest Member.”

Seo Yehyeon shook his head. To misinterpret outsourcing only when absolutely necessary like this. Anyone listening would think I normally live by outsourcing my intelligence to the Youngest Member.

Gyeon Hajun clapped a few times to focus attention on himself, then spoke.

“Let’s just try using the rooms as decided for one day. If Eden feels this isn’t a new environment, we can change again tomorrow. Or we could change every day if needed.”

It was truly a good idea. I was moved by that proposal full of consideration for me.

But the other members, including Seo Yehyeon, didn’t seem to think so. Judging by how they were all staring with their mouths agape.

Seo Yehyeon looked back at Gyeon Hajun and asked carefully.

“…Huh? Change rooms every day…?”

“Since Eden says he needs a new environment. Everyone can do this much trouble for our hardest-working leader, right?”

“Uh, uh… it’s not that we can’t do it… uh…”

Seo Yehyeon, caught up by Gyeon Hajun, agreed in bewilderment.

“As expected of Hajun Hyung. Framing it so anyone who objects becomes a traitor, completely blocking opposing opinions.”

Ryu Jaehee nodded and muttered.

Since I was the one who needed a new environment, only Ryu Jaehee and I needed to change rooms. After finishing organizing the moved luggage and flopping onto the bed, Seo Yehyeon called me.

“Hey, Yoon Eden.”

“What.”

“What was the room atmosphere like when we were roommates?”

“I don’t know, I only remember it being awkward. But why do you ask?”

“To create a new atmosphere different from back then, so you won’t ask to change rooms in just one day.”

“Oh, oh, it’s already new.”

I responded half-heartedly to Seo Yehyeon’s words while fully enjoying the bright sunlight streaming through the window. Hmm, maybe I won’t need to change rooms again tomorrow?

* * *

The day of the first round finals stage mid-check.

IJM looked us up and down as we came dressed in matching outfits and let out an exclamation.

“Wow, you even came in matching uniforms? You’re just like an idol unit.”

His tone was so bland it was hard to tell if it was sarcasm or genuine admiration.

Seven Kick, whether taking it as admiration or trying to get under his skin, chuckled and muttered to himself.

“Oh, do I look kind of like an idol?”

Seeing IJM’s face scrunch up, it must have been sarcasm after all. Or maybe he just found Seven Kick’s suddenly cocky appearance disgusting.

Gongchul and BQ9 took their seats in chairs in front of us standing in a line. It reminded me exactly of the monthly trainee evaluations at New Born.

Of course, LnL didn’t have such things. That didn’t mean I was completely comfortable mentally though.

“This side really prepared seriously.”

Gongchul nodded while looking at us in our matching stage outfits. BQ9’s face also had a subtly satisfied smile.

“Then let’s see IJM and No Name’s team first.”

Their skills weren’t bad.

IJM, as he proved in the solo performance that was the group leader guerrilla mission during the group music mission, was actually a level above Seven Kick in skill.

True to the performance he showed in that mission which received average reviews, he didn’t particularly stand out and matched well with No Name too.

A stage above average.

That was my assessment of IJM & No Name team’s stage.

The following performance by me and Seven Kick ended well without mistakes as we had practiced. BQ9 looked quite satisfied, but Gongchul’s expression was ambiguous.

“We’ll see you tomorrow for the final selection.”

After Gongchul and BQ9 left the practice room, and IJM and No Name also departed, Seven Kick looked back at me and asked.

“Are we done for today too?”

“We have to perform on stage tomorrow, so let’s practice together one last time before we go.”

At my suggestion, Seven Kick, who had been staring at me, suddenly asked.

“Are you like, a PD pick or something?”

The PD pick is Choi Hyeongjin (G-TE), whose position was suddenly elevated to my rival on the broadcast.

“No.”

“Then why are you so confident?”

I lightly tapped Seven Kick’s shoulder once.

“You said it was connections versus skill. Didn’t Hyung also choose me because you were confident?”

When I smiled confidently, Seven Kick brushed his bangs and adjusted his snapback while grumbling.

“Damn it, take responsibility if we fail tomorrow. I threw away all my expectations to avoid disappointment, but you’re making them surge to MAX again.”

After finishing that last practice and doing some music work in the studio, I arrived at the dormitory not too late for tomorrow’s stage.

I was already thirsty, so the cafe takeout cup placed on the living room table caught my eye.

Oh, iced americano. The ice had melted a bit, but it still looked quite cool.

“Oh, oh, Hyung! Don’t drink that!”

As soon as I picked up the cup, Ryu Jaehee urgently stopped me.

“If you drink that, Hyung won’t be able to perform on stage tomorrow.”

“What is it? Is it poison instead of americano?”

When I asked while shaking the particularly dark-looking liquid in the takeout cup, Ryu Jaehee let out a deep sigh.

“It is americano. But it’s not just any americano – it’s a 5-shot americano that Doby Hyung ordered because he wanted to experience an adult taste, that’s the problem.”

“It really is poison. Since when has 5-shot americano been an adult taste?”

“Hyung drinking 4-shot americano probably looked cool from Doby Hyung’s perspective.”

“Good grief, all the cool things are ruined. I don’t even drink that normally – I only drink it once in a while when pulling all-nighters. Why would he copy that? And why did he add one more shot on top of that?”

“It’s Doby Hyung.”

It was a short but convincing reason. Don’t try to understand it.

I thought someone had drunk some of it. Kim Dobin must have taken a few sips and then abandoned it here because he couldn’t drink anymore.

“But why can’t I perform on stage if I drink this?”

“You’ll stay up all night and be tired. What if you yawn while rapping?”

“I can do it even while dozing off, man.”

I chuckled and replied jokingly, then put the cup down.

“Have you been practicing for the stage until now?”

“No, we just practiced that one more time at the end. I was working on music. I couldn’t do it for long since there’s DTB filming tomorrow.”

“Hyung, don’t overdo it too much. If Hyung finds it really difficult, we can get songs from outside sources for this activity…”

My expression hardened momentarily at the mention of getting songs from outside, but I quickly relaxed my face, remembering that Ryu Jaehee said it to reduce my burden.

Even knowing such an option existed, choosing it would make me feel like my contribution to Rev was drastically reduced, so I wanted to keep that as a truly last resort.

But sharp-witted Ryu Jaehee seemed to have noticed my brief serious expression. Judging by his look of having made a mistake.

“That’s right, there’s also me, the Billboard chart composer.”

Kim Dobin, who smiled playfully, jumped in with his overused Billboard chart composer joke that had been watered down to nothing. Thanks to that, the momentarily frozen atmosphere became soft again.

“Right, Jaehee. Do you think Hyung doesn’t know you’re saying that for Hyung’s sake? And Dobin, instead of talking nonsense, hurry up and clean that up.”

I lightly ruffled Ryu Jaehee and Kim Dobin’s hair once each, then turned around to enter the new room.

“Should I just throw it away?”

“Yeah, Hyung. Just throw it away. Before there are more victims.”

I could faintly hear the Youngest Line’s whispering behind me.

That night.

I had a nightmare.

A nightmare where Kim Dobin’s composition became the CEO’s pick and was selected as our title track. And a nightmare where the CEO, who loved Kim Dobin’s song so much, appointed Kim Dobin as Reve’s exclusive composer.

‘This is a masterpiece that can definitely make it onto the Billboard charts!’

‘That’s right, Eden. That’s what we’ll do. How about we put your song as a B-side track? Should we make the worldview grand scale with a space war?’

What made it even more infuriating was that my pre-regression experiences mixed randomly with nightmare fantasies, giving it an ambiguous sense of reality.

I wanted to scream that it couldn’t happen, asking if the CEO had no ears, if he wanted to see us all fail, but no sound came out as if someone had firmly sealed my mouth.

Damn it, at this rate I’m going to end up in infinite regression! After everything I’ve been through to get here!

Hands shaking me vigorously pulled me out of that terrible nightmare and I snapped my eyes open.

My vision, blurred by darkness and drowsiness, gradually became clearer, and I could see the face of the person who had woken me up and saved me from this terrible nightmare.

“Why are you groaning like that? You were making such pained sounds that you woke me up.”

“I was…?”

“Yeah, you were. Are you sick or something? Should I call an ambulance?”

“No, I just had a terrible nightmare…”

I was responding drowsily when I suddenly froze as I realized who I was talking to. It had been a perfectly ordinary conversation, but the moment I became aware of who I was talking to, I could sense something was off.

I sneakily glanced sideways at my cell phone next to my pillow to check the time.

AM 03:05

A chill ran down my spine. Seo Yehyeon, who wouldn’t wake up even if someone carried him away while sleeping, had woken up in the middle of the night just from my groaning sounds. This sounded like the nightmare I just had was becoming reality.

Faced with this supernatural phenomenon that had absolutely no possibility, I naturally felt fear.

Now I could finally understand why the members made such a fuss about me being possessed when I received the personality reversal penalty.

Sorry for clicking my tongue and calling you cowards back then. Actually facing it myself, it really is pure horror.

I asked with a trembling voice toward this Schrödinger’s Seo Yehyeon, not knowing if he was possessed or the second character from my nightmare.

“Who are you? Just who are you to be doing this in Yehyeon hyung’s body?”

“Doby finally succeeded in corrupting even you.”

This is strange. Judging by how he’s spouting such harsh words at me, it really is Seo Yehyeon.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————