Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 142

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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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142
. Cheongchun Bulpae (1)
Whatever happened below the stage, whatever is happening now—none of it matters once I step into the spotlight.
At least on stage, I must forget it all.
I agreed with that sentiment, though not because I possessed some iron-clad idol professionalism or unwavering mental fortitude.
I simply learned through navigating society that life works this way for everyone.
Even if I broke up with my lover yesterday, I still have to show up to work today.
Even if my body aches as though it might shatter, clients won’t wait for me to recover.
Living hand-to-mouth, growing more exhausted with each passing day,
that exhaustion still doesn’t justify treating customers coldly.
That’s why, carrying complicated emotions in my chest as I ascended the stage, I smiled.
I gave my absolute best in that moment, radiating warmth and brightness.
Among the people gathered here, there were surely those who came all this way, hoping only for my happiness with genuine hearts.
“Yes! The Cheongchun Bulpae Team has successfully completed your team mission—the perfect pitch challenge—and you’ve earned today’s most crucial item: ‘band instruments’! Congratulations!”
My team, the Cheongchun Bulpae Team (named by Gong Seok), had faced a perfect pitch mission where we had to rapidly articulate words with exaggerated accents on each syllable. The mission word was “Destinestimyestiolmyty”—we were on the verge of gestalt collapse—but we pulled through.
“…We almost ended up doing a band live without actual band members.”
“If we can’t secure a microphone stand after this, we’re in real trouble.”
“We absolutely have to get the stage LED lights too.”
“What could the individual missions be…? I hope they’re not too difficult….”
The Cheongchun Bulpae Team’s mission items were instruments, a microphone stand, and stage LED lights.
We’d already secured the most crucial item—the instruments—and if we succeeded in the individual missions, we could perform without issue. Since we only needed a majority to succeed, we had four chances with two required victories.
“So, who would like to attempt the first Destiny mission?”
At MC Choi Yeon-woo’s question, Ha-ru and Seok’s gazes naturally turned toward me. It seemed they figured I had good variety show instincts and always stepped up readily for these things.
Even I thought that under normal circumstances, I would’ve volunteered first to boost morale. But…
….
Though I was trying not to show it, the truth was I couldn’t focus properly on any of this right now. As the sun gradually set, the lights installed around the plaza blazed to life, and from the stage, I could now clearly see the faces of the audience filling the square.
I spotted placards bearing my name here and there, and fans holding up phone lights. Each time I did, my emotions grew complicated. I didn’t want to think about it, but it was unavoidable.
But that was that, and this was this.
I exhaled sharply to steady myself, about to volunteer when—
“I’ll give it a try!”
“Oh, trainee Dan Ha-ru. The youngest’s bold spirit?”
“Yes! I’ll definitely secure that microphone stand for my hyungs!”
Dan Ha-ru threw himself forward with unwavering determination, as though he could pluck stars from the heavens if needed, his hand shooting up eagerly.
Before I could even react, Ha-ru had moved to center stage. While Choi Yeon-woo conducted a brief interview, Jeong Si-u, who’d quietly shifted to the spot beside me, gave my back a reassuring pat.
“Now, trainee Dan Ha-ru’s Destiny mission is!”
“Ugh… please let it be something easy….”
“The ‘Trainee Investigation Quiz’!”
“…?”
“Dan Ha-ru, the youngest of Miro Maze and famous for being a ‘hyung collector’—this mission tests how well you actually know those hyungs you love so much. There are three questions total. You must answer all three correctly to succeed.”
Ha-ru nodded solemnly, his expression tense with focus.
Even though there were still three more chances left if this failed, Ha-jin found himself chuckling at how determined they all seemed.
“Alright, here’s the first quiz. In Miro Maze Episode 1, what drama did Gong Seok and Park Jae-young reenact together to escape Miro?”
“Yes! That’s correct! Shoot the Moon!”
“What was the famous line from Shoot the Moon?”
“There’s only one drink in this world that can intoxicate me… and that’s your lips…☆”
“Aaaah…! Stop…! Please stop…!”
It was Dan Ha-ru reciting the iconic line, but bizarrely, Gong Seok standing behind him was the one suffering.
Whether Jeong Si-u patted Gong Seok’s back in encouragement or not, Dan Ha-ru was delighted that he’d answered the first quiz so quickly.
Dan Ha-ru breezed through the second quiz just as easily—”What song did Jeong Si-u sing during his Miro audition?” Choi Yeon-woo tactfully asked Si-u to perform a verse, and true to form, Jeong Si-u delivered a sweet, unaccompanied live performance right there on the spot.
And then came the final quiz.
“Alright, if you get this one right, you’ll have successfully completed 50% of the Destiny mission. Here’s your last question.”
“….”
“Kang Ha-jin’s favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate. True or false?”
Ha-jin lifted his head at this unexpected personal trivia about himself.
With the emergence of “mint chocolate”—now an official point of contention alongside the perilla leaf debate—the audience stirred with excitement.
Dan Ha-ru rested his chin in his hand like a detective, pondering for a moment before shaking his head firmly and answering decisively.
“False. I like mint chocolate, but it’s not his favorite.”
“Do you know what his actual favorite flavor is?”
“Ha-jin hyung has a different favorite ice cream for each brand! But mint chocolate isn’t his number one!”
“Are you certain?”
“I’m certain!”
“Then do you know what his favorite flavor is from the 31 flavors?”
It seemed the Production Team had signaled Choi Yeon-woo to stretch out the time, as he didn’t immediately reveal the answer and instead posed additional questions to Dan Ha-ru. Dan Ha-ru maintained his serious expression, thinking carefully before responding cautiously.
“Hmm… There are a few flavors he eats regularly. Recently, it seems he’s been having Rainbow Sherbet quite often!”
“Rainbow Sherbet…?”
At the mention of an ice cream flavor just as divisive as mint chocolate, Jeong Si-u—who had maintained his composure throughout—turned to look at Kang Ha-jin with a shocked expression.
Ha-jin, who had been listening to Ha-ru’s answer calmly, responded nonchalantly to Si-u’s reaction.
“What? You eat Bibigo too.”
“What’s wrong with Bibigo?”
“You eat Babamba as well.”
“….”
“And Bungeoppang Chocolate too.”
His point was that their tastes weren’t all that different anyway, so they shouldn’t bicker about it.
Understanding Ha-jin’s gesture of truce, Si-u quietly closed his mouth and turned his attention back to Ha-ru.
Ha-jin decided not to reveal that he actually liked Bibigo, Babamba, and Bungeoppang Chocolate as well.
“Yes! That’s correct! Dan Ha-ru, you’ve successfully completed the Destiny mission!”
“Yaaay! Hyungs!! I did it!!!”
“Good job, our brave little rabbit warrior.”
“Huh? What warrior?”
“Oh, just saying you did well. We only need one more person to succeed now.”
Ha-jin bounced excitedly and patted Ha-ru on the back as he returned to his hyungs’ embrace.
But did I ever tell him that he had favorite ice cream brands for each company?
A small doubt that suddenly surfaced in one corner of my mind was pushed to the back for now.
* * *
The Cheongchun Bulpae Team was able to obtain all the items after Gong Seok succeeded consecutively at his mission of “guessing the song by listening only to the lyrics.”
As instruments and equipment were set up on the stage, excited cheers erupted from the Destiny fans. When Ha-jin, not Si-woo, sat down at the keyboard—which had been making creaking sounds from various places since they came up on stage—the cheers doubled in volume.
“Well then, while the hyungs check their instruments, shall our trainee Ha-ru do an interview with me?”
“Ah, yes! I’ll give it a try.”
As the team members were occupied checking their respective instruments, Choi Yeon-woo naturally pulled Ha-ru, who had been standing quietly beside him, to center stage.
Ha-ru’s fans, holding support cards and other items, let out small gasps of delight. Ha-ru smiled brightly at his fans and waved his small, pale hand in greeting.
“Our Cheongchun Bulpae Team. What song did you prepare for today?”
“We mashed up ‘Where am I’ with another song. Si-woo hyung will explain what the other song is.”
As if listening to a principal’s address, Ha-ru pointed to Jeong Si-u, who was checking the guitar tuning in the back. Then Si-u, who had been carefully checking the notes, let out a small “ah” and grabbed the microphone fitted into the stand in front of him before answering.
“That… the other song doesn’t have a title yet. I think it would be nice if all of you Destiny fans listened today and suggested a title.”
“Then, is it perhaps an original composition by trainee Jeong Si-u?”
“No, it’s a song my father wrote.”
The cheers that had been coming from various places at the mention of Si-u’s original composition grew even louder at the mention of his father’s song. With one more setting added that further solidified the nicknames “Miro’s Noble Prince” and “Classical Prince,” Si-u’s fans were bouncing with excitement.
“Wow, a song your father wrote. That’s really cool. But trainee Ha-ru, all the other hyungs seem to be playing an instrument each. Does trainee Ha-ru not have a separate instrument to play today?”
“Oh, no! I have one too. My instrument!”
At Choi Yeon-woo’s question, Ha-ru’s eyes sparkled brightly. He turned around for a moment and proudly pulled out his secret weapon from the floor. The identity of the yellow instrument covered with cute stickers everywhere was…
“A xylophone?”
“Yes! A xylophone.”
Choi Yeon-woo laughed with a slightly surprised expression at the adorable and cute instrument choice.
“I’m curious why you chose the xylophone out of so many instruments.”
“Well… the hyungs taught me so many instruments. When we proceeded with the final arrangement, there was an opinion that it would sound pretty if the xylophone sound was included, so I ended up taking the xylophone.”
“What instruments did you learn?”
“Recorder, drums, and Si-woo hyung taught me a bit of acoustic guitar too. And um… cajon? Caho?”
“Cajón?”
“Ah, yes. I learned that too. It was really difficult.”
“Rhythm instruments are a bit difficult when you first learn them.”
Choi Yeon-woo nodded in understanding. It seemed he guessed that after trying to learn several instruments and finding it wasn’t easy to master, Ha-ru ultimately played the easier xylophone. Not just Yeon-woo, but most of the audience seemed to think the same way, as murmurs of how cute Ha-ru was began to be heard from various places.
Watching over the entire situation, Ha-jin, who was loosening his fingers lightly over the piano, thought to himself.
‘When the practice scenes air on broadcast, everyone’s going to be blown away.’
Ha-ru had mastered all the instruments his hyungs taught him over several days at quite a rapid pace.
Not to mention piano, acoustic guitar, and recorder. He could play rhythm instruments like drums, cajón, and djembe, as well as violin and bass guitar quite well.
The reason Ha-ru played xylophone today was genuinely because the xylophone sound was needed.
Not because Ha-ru couldn’t do anything else.
‘Which is why I became even more convinced he’s a Regression Returner.’
I remembered the “has learned instruments before” item from among the past records of the Regression Returner that Thirteen had confirmed last time. Though I had no memories of the regression itself, he said experience points had accumulated to some degree…
If Ha-ru was indeed a Regression Returner, there was a high possibility that his quick mastery of instruments was influenced by that.
“Yes, understood. Then shall we begin the stage….”
“Oh, wait. Could I say one more thing?”
Choi Yeon-woo had nearly finished his preparations on stage and was about to deliver his closing remarks when Dan Ha-ru stepped in to stop him. Choi Yeon-woo glanced at the prompter to check the time, then nodded at Dan Ha-ru as if to say go ahead.
Dan Ha-ru then gripped the microphone firmly with both hands and opened his mouth with a gentle voice.
“Before we take the stage, there’s something I really wanted to say to you all.”
…To us?
The team members, who had been maintaining their instruments at their respective positions, simultaneously lifted their heads, their eyes drawn to the confident and spirited figure of their youngest member standing before them.

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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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