A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 339

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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 339

“Hyung, after 【Sherlock keyAn】, Entertainment Relay conducted a survey and 60% of opinions said you wouldn’t have ranked first as the star people want to take to an uninhabited island. How does it feel to have fallen from a reliable intelligence character to someone completely unreliable with just one mystery variety show?”

Ryu Jaehee, who was selected as the MVP of the Rev episode of 【Sherlock keyAn】 and received a detective hat, put it on and used his music show MC experience to attempt a semi-interview with me.

“Wasn’t the reason people wanted to take me to an uninhabited island to use me as a servant who could also use his brain anyway? From what I saw in the monitoring, everyone was planning to leave the physical and mental labor to me, leave the luck to Kim Dobin, and rest comfortably themselves.”

Since I knew very well that unlike the other stars who ranked 2nd and 3rd, I wasn’t chosen for pseudo-romantic purposes but simply as a servant, I shrugged my shoulders and countered without taking any damage.

“And hey, survival intelligence and problem-solving intelligence are different things.”

I grumbled while pressing Ryu Jaehee’s detective hat down firmly. Grandfather’s belief that I had the brains for studying but just wasn’t using them turned out to be just wishful thinking.

After that variety show storm passed, bringing confusion to Daydream and once again engraving my name and Rev’s group name into the public’s minds.

“Next week is already our final music show performance. Plus, year-end is approaching soon, so we need to start preparing for year-end stages too. Time really flies.”

The activities for Dream Journey Song were gradually coming to an end.

“Right. The shortened 【Ride or Die】 activities and Yoon Eden’s slump feel like they were just yesterday. Wow, I’ll be twenty-five in a month and a half?”

Seo Yehyeon covered his mouth and blinked his eyes.

It was unbelievable that Rev’s first concert, the slump, DTB 4, overcoming the slump, and charting on Billboard’s peripheral charts all happened this year. How could one year pass by so frantically like this?

Kim Dobin, who had returned with a slightly tanned face from the overseas filming of 【Trouble Travel】, also covered his mouth following Seo Yehyeon and muttered with a surprised expression.

“Come to think of it, all the group members became adults this year. Next year, our youngest will be twenty-one.”

“I’m more surprised that you’ll be twenty-two next year. How is it that nothing has changed about you except your stubbornness since you were eighteen when we just debuted?”

“Twenty-two really is a young age. But why did the hyungs back then seem so much older?”

“They looked big because they were bigger than you.”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

“Don’t you think it’s not that we were mature back then, but that you’re less mature now?”

“Compared to Hajun hyung who’s the same age as you, you didn’t particularly look mature back then eith— Ugh!”

Kim Dobin let out a refreshing exclamation as he received a neck massage for the first time in a while.

We achieved a triple crown on all three terrestrial music shows with 【Clear Stream Song】. 【Clear Stream Song】’s most fierce rival for first place was mostly 【Mist Song】.

【Clear Stream Song】 stayed at number 1 on the music charts for two weeks and was currently sitting at 5th place.

“We surpassed KICKS’ previous activity indicators, right? At this rate, aren’t we going to win the grand prize for the music category?”

Kim Dobin made a fuss with a face full of anticipation.

From my memory, while I wasn’t sure about Altair, KICKS had never won a grand prize. Not only the music charts that we had caught up to, but probably this year’s album category grand prize wouldn’t belong to KICKS either.

‘Come to think of it, was it this year…?’

The face of KICKS Parachute, who seemed to have been away for a while, suddenly came to mind.

I was still curious about what kind of ending the group called KICKS would face differently from before regression, probably because of Kwon Yunseong who had finally delivered a belated apology to Gyeon Hajun.

If he had realized something, he would apologize to Parachute too and embrace him as one team. Since I knew very well that Kwon Yunseong wasn’t the type to have that kind of capacity, it left a bitter taste.

So their predetermined downfall didn’t feel as satisfying as it did before regression.

I glanced back at Gyeon Hajun. Gyeon Hajun, who had been kicked out in a way that would leave more regrets than me, who had run out on my own feet.

Although he said KICKS meant nothing to him now, I wasn’t oblivious enough to miss the subtle rivalry that showed whenever we faced KICKS and the nerves that unknowingly sharpened.

“Why? Do you have something to say?”

Perhaps sensing my gaze on his cheek, Gyeon Hajun turned his head and asked me. I shook my head, avoiding Gyeon Hajun’s eyes that seemed to want me to bring up first what I had heard during the DTB finals stage preparation.

“Just, since we suddenly started talking about KICKS, it was an automatic reflex.”

Perhaps noticing that the atmosphere had become slightly stiff, Seo Yehyeon hurriedly squeezed between us and spoke up.

“Let’s stop talking about results that we’ll find out anyway, and talk about what we’ll do when we get vacation time after our activities end. From what I heard, they’ll give us a pretty long vacation this time, so after we each visit our family homes, let’s pick a place and go somewhere together.”

“Come to think of it, the Hawaii travel voucher we received as the prize for winning 【20,000 Won Happiness】, isn’t it valid until this year?”

“Yeah, let’s go to Hawaii with that. 5 nights 9 days? 7 nights 10 days?”

“We’ll have to see our vacation schedule first before deciding that, right?”

“How about we decide in a meeting first how many nights and days we want to go? If the majority opinion is to stay long, we could skip going home and head straight to Hawaii on the first day of vacation.”

“No way! I have to see our Caesar!”

“Video call, video call. I video call with Podo sometimes too.”

The stiff atmosphere melted into warmth as if nothing had happened while we planned our Hawaii trip schedule. It was such remarkable progress that our debut-era selves would have suspected we were filming a reality show.

* * *

“Guys! 【Clear Stream Song】 made it onto the Billboard Chart!”

At Manager Hyung’s hopeful and booming announcement as he entered the dorm, I asked listlessly without taking my eyes off my phone screen.

“Yeah, which obscure chart this time?”

Last time with 【Ride or Die】, they said it made Billboard too, so I got all excited, but it turned out to be some minor chart you wouldn’t know about unless you specifically looked for it.

Our agency promoted it so hard as a Billboard chart entry that we got some mockery for it. But seeing Daydream fans beating down the mockery directed at us by asking “Did your idols even chart there though?” made me feel reassured before getting annoyed.

With my expectations at zero, Manager Hyung answered my question.

“Hot 100! It’s at 93rd place right now!”

At first, only the number 93 registered in my ears. What, is 93rd place even meaningful? I thought, before the chart mentioned before it belatedly sank in.

Shit, Hot 100 is the main chart.

It seemed the overseas interest in 【Ride or Die】 had safely carried over to 【Clear Stream Song】. 93rd place might be faster to count from the bottom, but still, Hot 100.

This was an achievement I hadn’t reached even before regression. Since it was a song we all worked on together while overcoming our slump, this achievement of entering the main chart felt even more meaningful.

I hoped 93rd place wouldn’t end up being our career high. It wasn’t just because I wanted to end the infinite regression.

How far could my music take this group?

This was a chance to see with my own eyes the answer to this question that my pre-regression self had been curious about.

For that, I first needed to quickly raise Gyeon Hajun and Ryu Jaehee’s relationship improvement to 100. If I regressed to debut again, everything I’d built up would go back to zero.

When reset back to debut, I wasn’t confident I could keep my blood pressure down facing Kim Dobin who was afraid of me and Seo Yehyeon with his pre-improvement skills.

Kim Dobin suddenly started crying tears of emotion out of nowhere, sniffling and pulling me back to reality before I could get lost in sentiment. I should be the one getting emotional, so why are you crying…?

“I’m, I’m… a true Billboard chart composer…”

“Isn’t that the same thing you kept chanting during 【Ride or Die】?”

“That was some obscure fringe chart like you said, hyung, but this is the main chart, *sob*.”

“Right, if you want to proudly call yourself a true Billboard chart composer, study composition more with hyung. How can a true Billboard chart composer still get confused about chords?”

I patted Kim Dobin’s back halfheartedly while taking this opportunity to nag him. If he’s going to be grouped in the composition line, he should at least be able to make one song himself for album inclusion.

“We’re moving dorms in two months, so pack your moving boxes little by little until then.”

“We’re moving?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Wow, look at my brain.”

Manager Hyung, who had slapped his palm to his forehead, explained to us who were hearing this news for the first time.

“We’re starting to get complaints from apartment residents here because of sasaengs, so we decided to move. We need to go somewhere better. This place was just somewhere we found in a hurry after getting criticized for the semi-basement dorm broadcast anyway.”

“Six rooms! A duplex apartment!”

“We’re not quite at that level yet…”

Manager Hyung, who had dutifully responded even to Kim Dobin’s nonsense, looked at Seo Yehyeon with an apologetic face.

“Oh right, Yehyeon, if Seungchan misses one more schedule, tell me immediately. I mean, what kind of schedule manager makes his assigned celebrity personally check and confirm schedules? Even when I was handling all five of you alone, I never made mistakes like that.”

“Oh, hyung. Now you’re totally giving off Manager-nim vibes?”

“That’s what I’m saying. It feels like ancient history when I handled all the manager duties by myself during your debut days.”

“Those times existed too. That era when the number of members and staff members were roughly similar.”

As soon as those terrible times that couldn’t even be romanticized as memories resurfaced in my mind, I shook my head to dispel the ghosts.

“And Hajun, two drama scripts came in for you. Since I was coming to the dormitory anyway, I brought them with me, so read through them and let me know whether you’ll do them or not by the day after tomorrow. Got it?”

Gyeon Hajun nodded instead of answering and received the scripts.

Neither of them was the first drama that Gyeon Hajun had ever filmed. But as soon as I saw the drama titles written on the first page of the scripts Manager Hyung handed over, I immediately remembered.

One was a drama that failed due to controversy.

One was a drama that became a huge hit through word of mouth and even created catchphrases.

The problem was that the former had a synopsis, writer, and cast that anyone would covet, while the latter was at a level everyone would avoid.

And now, I had to use these scripts to persuade Gyeon Hajun to choose the latter.

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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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