Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 133

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

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133
. A Small Catalyst (5)
I found myself momentarily at a loss for words at Si-woo’s audacity.
‘What kind of person is this guy, really?’
I mean, sure, he was handsome!
Honestly, it would be a lie to say I didn’t notice—he was genuinely handsome!
‘But who asks “Am I handsome?” just to lighten the mood, right?’
Of course, I wasn’t in a position to judge, considering I’d pushed a truth game on everyone without even alcohol to ease the tension.
I’d been hoping to pry something more out of Si-woo, but unfortunately, our conversation ended ambiguously right there.
Ha-ru and Gong Seok had returned from washing up.
“…Did you wash your face, or did you take a shower?”
I asked, watching Ha-ru return completely drenched—not just his face, but his bangs and chest soaked through.
Ha-ru, having managed to compose his emotions and barely wiped away the sadness, quietly dabbed at the moisture with a tissue.
“I held cold water and cried a bit more, so everything got wet….”
“If you’re going to cry, just cry. Why are you dunking your face in water and torturing yourself?”
“That way the tears stop quickly. And my face doesn’t get all red.”
“…So even crybabies have their own techniques.”
I conveniently ignored the fact that among those “crybabies,” I was the “chief crybaby.”
After joking that I’d definitely teach this trick to Ju Eun-chan later, we finally began serious preparations for the fourth competition.
Since I’d yielded the leader position to Si-woo this time, he took charge of leading the meeting.
“Everyone’s already heard this, but this competition is a guerrilla concert. The stage format is free, song selection is free. It’ll be broadcast live online, and benefits go only to the one team that ranks first when combining online and on-site votes.”
Si-woo, whose cold tone from earlier had completely vanished, returned to his usual manner and calmly briefed us on the details of the fourth competition.
We’d already heard this during the last joint recording, but back then everyone was too busy crying to properly absorb the competition format—now it finally sank in.
“So basically, we need to prepare a stage that can appeal to both online and on-site audiences….”
Si-woo trailed off, looking at his teammates.
I naturally picked up where he left off.
“But honestly, didn’t everyone get a sense of our team’s concept the moment the team was decided?”
Jeong Si-u—a true-blue member of Team A from the arts university, a main vocalist.
Gong Seok, who showed remarkable promise as a main vocalist during the third competition.
Dan Ha-ru, blessed with a clear, beautiful voice as if he’d completely shed his voice change.
And me, Kang Ha-jin, boasting an emotionally resonant vocal style and powerful vocal strength.
Four trainees from Miro Maze who were genuinely considered the top candidates for the “main vocalist role” had come together as one team.
‘There’s no way anyone’s crazy enough to suggest we do hip-hop here.’
I clenched my fist with a determined expression, raising it like a politician campaigning for votes.
“We need to push forward with vocals. Whether it’s a cappella or whatever, let’s do something properly.”
Everyone nodded in agreement at my words.
Si-woo also added his thoughts while pointing to the sheet music he’d organized.
“Actually, that’s why I only pre-selected vocal-focused songs. This is what we have from the company’s sheet music collection, but if any of you want to do a different song, just let me know. I can handle the arrangements and harmonies.”
Truly an arts university student.
I was secretly impressed when a sudden idea occurred to me, and I leaned forward.
“But hyung, if we only do vocals, won’t it feel a bit awkward the whole time we’re singing?”
“Well, I think it depends on what song we choose and how we arrange it… but you’re right, it probably won’t have the same impact as a performance with clear choreography or gestures.”
“That’s why I was thinking—what if we played some instruments?”
“…Instruments?”
Everyone’s attention snapped toward Ha-jin.
Ha-jin nodded and continued speaking.
“You majored in piano, hyung. I can play guitar a bit too. If you play piano and I play guitar, and if Seok-i hyung and Ha-ru practice some simple instruments to join in… wouldn’t that give the performance more structure?”
“…Structure?”
“…Ah. Composition, I mean composition.”
Ha-jin had unconsciously blurted out broadcasting industry slang he used back when he was a Production Director, and he quickly added an explanation.
Then, struck by an inexplicable sense of injustice, another comment slipped out.
“But wait, doesn’t everyone use the term ‘structure’ like that?”
“…?”
“…”
“…”
“…So nobody uses it. My apologies. I use it all the time.”
Only after Ha-jin noticed the Production Director and Writer in the corner whispering to each other did he throw in the towel.
“Anyway. What do you think about doing a live performance?”
At Ha-jin’s quick topic change, Gong Seok cautiously raised his hand.
“Um… I actually learned violin. Would that be helpful?”
“Whoa, of course! Violin? That’s seriously cool.”
“Well, I… I… …recorder?”
“…Let’s take our time figuring out what Ha-ru can do.”
With positive responses from both Gong Seok and Ha-ru, the atmosphere naturally shifted toward adopting Ha-jin’s idea of playing instruments directly on stage.
Ha-jin scanned through the sheet music Si-woo had brought, mentally selecting pieces that would suit acoustic arrangements well, and waited for Si-woo’s response.
“What do you think, hyung?”
“…”
But contrary to everyone’s expectation that he would naturally agree, Si-woo hesitated to speak.
“…? Hyung?”
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking for a moment.”
Si-woo responded to Ha-jin’s call with an awkward smile and nodded.
“I like it too. Playing instruments.”
“Then let’s move on to song selection—”
“But there’s something I need to say first.”
“…?”
At Si-woo’s words, everyone looked up and turned their gaze toward him.
In that moment, Ha-jin sensed a crack forming in Si-woo’s usually composed expression.
Some indefinable emotion flickered coldly across Si-woo’s eyes.
Wait, what’s this about…?
“…I’ll play guitar instead. Not piano.”
…It seems like I touched something I shouldn’t have.
At Si-woo’s words, I nodded reluctantly.
* * *
“….”
After the first meeting and filming wrapped up.
Returning to the Dormitory for dinner and rest, I lay on the bed, lost in thought.
‘Jeong Si-u….’
I pulled up an empty system window into the air.
Then I retrieved Si-woo’s profile from the database and slowly began organizing everything I knew about him beneath it.
【Jeong Si-u】
Age: 22
Birthday: 07.04
Trainee Duration: 4th year (started spring at age 19)
Position: Vocal
Notable Details:
– Former Classical Piano Major
– Current Applied Music Vocal Major
+ Mother is a renowned pianist
+ No information on father
(Only maternal family information available since joining Miro)
+ Reason for quitting piano unknown
+ Joined Miro after withdrawing from Arts High School
+ Close trainee at Miro is Lee Do-ha
+ Currently on leave from Gaon Arts University
“…Looking at it this way, I really don’t know anything.”
[System Alert: Getting to know a person is quite difficult, isn’t it!]
“Ah, you startled me…!”
At Thirteen’s sudden appearance, I flinched in surprise.
So now he doesn’t even care that I’m fiddling around with the system window.
As if he understood that very thought, Thirteen’s system window shifted to a desolate grayscale.
[System Alert: Well….]
[System Alert: I’ve just given up at this point…?]
‘Is that so? …But can you even change the saturation like that?’
That’s actually useful.
I should definitely use that when I upgrade the system UI customization next time.
[System Alert: Look at you, already scheming something weird again….]
Whether Thirteen’s system window overflowed with sigh effects (=3) or not.
I crossed my arms, pondering what color I should change the system window to for a fresher feel.
‘…Thirteen, what do you think about Jeong Si-u?’
After all, since he was a Time Management Authority, I thought he might know something more than I did.
Thirteen, as always, seemed to know exactly what Ha-jin was thinking and turned the question back on him instead.
[System Alert: You want to know about the incident that caused Jeong Si-u to quit piano, correct?]
Ha-jin studied the question for a moment, then nodded as if to say he wouldn’t deny it.
Thirteen, who had been displaying a loading symbol (…), carefully brought up a system window.
[System Alert: As for ‘why’ Jeong Si-u quit piano and why he came to dream of becoming an idol singer, we find it difficult to explain precisely.]
[System Alert: We are literally ‘Time Management Authorities,’ so we only manage all the time that occurs within that person’s timeline.]
[System Alert: We cannot know about the inner changes of a human being or their deep emotions.]
Just as Ha-jin’s brow began to furrow halfway, thinking this meant it was impossible after all.
Thirteen calmly continued with the next answer.
[System Alert: However… we can tell you what happened to Jeong Si-u around the time he became an idol trainee.]
Then, for the first time in a while, a Quest reward notification window floated up.
No, it wasn’t a reward for a Quest.
[System Alert: System Error Compensation Notice]
[Reward: Access to designated individual’s (Jeong Si-u) timeline]
[※Warning: Response rate with designated individual is low※]
[※Warning: Timeline access is restricted to text format※]
[System Alert: You still have pending compensation claims for system errors, Chosen Regressor.]
[System Alert: Will you view Jeong Si-u’s past as compensation?]
“Can’t I see it directly like before?”
[System Alert: That’s impossible due to the low response rate with Jeong Si-u.]
[System Alert: The penalty from the previous incident regarding Yoon Ki-seok’s past access is still being settled.]
[System Alert: I recommend refraining from risky actions that could incur additional penalties for the time being.]
[System Alert: In fact, I don’t particularly recommend viewing Jeong Si-u’s past either.]
“Why? I mean, if I’m going to catch the Chosen Regressor, I need to know something first.”
During the last infinite regression incident with Lee Yu-gun, if I had known about his family situation earlier, I might not have suspected him of being the Chosen Regressor.
‘…And I might have been able to help that bastard sooner too.’
Since I had to find the Chosen Regressor, I needed to gather all the information I could about the strong suspects. That way, I could minimize variables as much as possible and handle them if they arose.
To Ha-jin right now, Jeong Si-u was a ‘variable.’
Even Kim Won-ho, whom I already considered close enough, wouldn’t easily bring in a new teammate, so I didn’t think Jeong Si-u, whose personality I hadn’t even properly grasped yet, would easily do so.
‘Maybe it’s better to gather clues one by one like this.’
Having reached that conclusion, Ha-jin opened his mouth with firm resolve.
“Tell me. What happened to Jeong Si-u four years ago?”
What could have happened that made him drop out of Arts High School and become an aspiring idol?
Then the system window loaded for a moment.
Like web search results loading on an old computer, text slowly appeared across the system window.
[System Alert: Accessing Jeong Si-u’s event from four years ago]
And the moment Ha-jin read that information, he understood why Thirteen hadn’t particularly recommended this method to him.
Why he hadn’t provided information about other people in this way beforehand.
He could immediately grasp the reason.
“…Damn it.”
[Father ‘Jung Gun-ho’ Deceased (Cause of Death: Natural Causes)]

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

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