Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 166

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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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166. The Butterfly Effect (1)
I dreamed.
‘…What is this?’
The dream shifted through multiple perspectives as if to prove it was indeed a dream.
The first was Tae-hyun.
-…Mom.
Much time had passed, and Tae-hyun, now a young man, stood somewhere unfamiliar.
Loaded with luggage—a suitcase and backpack—Tae-hyun arrived at a Pension in Gangwon Province that I already knew, and wept as he embraced his Mother and Uncle who had come to greet him.
-It’s okay, son. It’s okay….
Tae-hyun’s Mother, cradling her son as he crumbled into tears like a child, looked equally weary and sorrowful. His Uncle, who appeared somewhat older than when I’d last seen him, silently gathered Tae-hyun’s belongings and carried them inside. In the living room of what must have been the house, a man who appeared to be Tae-hyun’s Father sat alone, quietly drinking.
‘Ah, could this be….’
I immediately recognized this as Tae-hyun’s past.
‘I’m not sure which timeline this is, but it seemed to be the day he returned home after abandoning his entertainment career.’
Then the perspective shifted.
‘This isn’t A Christmas Carol, but what kind of dream is this….’
As I recalled the Charles Dickens novel I’d found quite entertaining as a child, an ordinary Fast Food Restaurant came into view.
-I’m heading out for delivery.
And a familiar voice reached my ears.
Instinctively turning toward the voice, I saw Kim Won-ho dressed in a delivery uniform and helmet instead of practice clothes.
-Delivery order.
-Ah, thank you~
Loaded with hamburgers, Won-ho arrived at an Outdoor Park.
Apparently a shoot was underway, and Won-ho paused with an odd expression upon noticing Staff Members busily moving about with cameras and lighting equipment. When the production crew took the food and turned to leave, Won-ho urgently grabbed one of them.
-Ah, excuse me. The person who ordered needs to pay upon delivery.
-The person who ordered said they already paid?
-No, they didn’t. Could you please check?
-Sigh…. One moment.
While the production crew looked into the situation, Won-ho examined the shoot more closely.
Soon one area grew noisy and bustling. Turning around, a celebrity-looking person was emerging from a large van. Though wearing a hat, sunglasses, and mask, Kim Won-ho seemed to recognize him immediately.
Of course, I watching the scene also recognized him at once.
He was Seo Tae-il—our agency’s senior and the main MC of Miro Maze. From Upia.
-Driver, can you print a receipt?
-…Ah, yes. I’ll send it by text.
Won-ho, who had been staring blankly at Seo Tae-il approaching his position, nodded at the production crew’s words.
After completing the card payment and carefully printing the receipt, I turned around to find Seo Tae-il had walked right up to him.
Their eyes met, but naturally, Seo Tae-il didn’t recognize Kim Won-ho. Won-ho fled the park.
And then the perspective shifted again.
-Youngest, eat something. Will you?
Eun-seok knocked on someone’s door with an anxious voice.
From the way he called them “youngest,” the person in that room was likely Eun-chan.
-I won’t ask you to go outside. I won’t tell you to do anything. Let’s just eat something, okay?
-…Just leave it there.
-Okay. Got it. I’ll leave the food here for you, hyung. Just eat it. You have to eat. If it’s uncomfortable for you, I’ll stay outside. You really need to eat. Understood? I’ll check on you later.
As Eun-chan’s voice leaked from the room, Eun-seok nodded vigorously and quickly set the tray down in front of the door. With a face that looked ready to cry at any moment, Eun-seok hurriedly changed into outdoor clothes and left the house, worried that Eun-chan might not leave the room because of him. A faint ring mark remained on the ring finger of his left hand.
-‘…What is this, Ju Eun-chan.’
What happened?
Ha-jin immersed himself in the unfolding past, concealing his shock.
It was a long time after Eun-seok left before Eun-chan’s door creaked open slightly.
Inside, unlike now, Eun-chan sat in front of the door wearing a long hoodie, his hair disheveled and his body gaunt and thin.
-….
Eun-chan’s face, staring at the meal tray that appeared to have been prepared by his brother, showed no expression.
With a soft touch of the spoon, Eun-chan quietly hugged his knees and buried his face within them.
And information about Eun-chan’s “past days” flowed rapidly into Ha-jin’s mind.
-‘In the end, the Executive Director and that bastard Han Sung-woo….’
Unable to withstand Han Sung-woo’s subtle gaslighting and ostracism from fellow trainees, Eun-chan had ultimately signed a contract with the Executive Director. With the innocent heart of someone who couldn’t burden his brother or parents with worry, he had signed without telling anyone, and that contract became Ju Eun-chan’s shackle.
Fortunately, before the situation became critical, Eun-seok discovered what was happening and proceeded with a lawsuit, but in that process, Eun-chan seemed utterly exhausted. Eventually, Eun-chan, who had developed panic disorder and other mental illnesses, hid away in his room, and Eun-seok, who tried to care for him until the end, had to go through with a divorce.
-‘…I should have twisted those two bastards’ necks back then.’
Though it was a dream, Ha-jin felt anger intense enough to grind his teeth.
But before that anger could fully subside, the perspective shifted once more.
-Are you really selling all of this?
…It was Lee Do-ha, disposing of all his composition equipment.
-Yes. Please take whatever you need.
Lee Do-ha, like Tae-hyun whom I had seen earlier, appeared somewhat more mature than now.
Probably in his late twenties to early thirties.
With sharper, more defined features than now, Lee Do-ha showed him all the equipment in what appeared to be his small soundproofed studio.
-Then I’ll take that and that pedal, and… oh, can I take this tomorrow with a friend?
-Yes, that’s fine.
-Um, but…. Are you perhaps Daeon? The one who wrote ‘New Wave’?
When the man who came to buy equipment asked carefully, Lee Do-ha flinched for a moment before nodding.
‘Daeon’ seemed to be Lee Do-ha’s rap name.
-Wow, that’s crazy. I really love Daeon’s mixtape. I had a feeling when I heard your voice!
-…Ah, thank you.
-But why are you really selling all of this? I heard you’ve barely been active lately….
In the timeline where the Executive Director and Han Sung-woo hadn’t disappeared, Lee Do-ha had ultimately failed at idol debut and switched to becoming a rapper. Or rather, seeing that he was listening to mixtapes rather than albums, it seemed he hadn’t even done official activities as a rapper.
-‘He should have at least left SPR-it out, that stubborn bastard.’
While Ha-jin thought irritably, Lee Do-ha quietly gazed at his MIDI equipment with a face that didn’t easily reveal emotion. Then he quietly answered the man’s question.
-…Making music alone just isn’t fun anymore.
And then Ha-jin woke from the dream.
* * *
“Huk, huh-uck…. Phew….”
I had simply awakened from a dream, yet I could feel my entire body drenched in sweat.
Just as it happened when I had an exceptionally vivid dream, it took me a few seconds to fully comprehend that this waking moment was ‘reality’.
Upon realizing that this place with my eyes open was reality, and that the dilapidated ceiling before me belonged to my Semi-basement Family Home—a sight I’d grown weary of knowing so intimately—I exhaled a breath of relief.
“…Damn. My mood’s been off since this morning.”
I pushed myself up from the floor of the small room I shared with Ha-won. The clock already showed 11 AM, indicating I’d slept far longer than expected.
Though I’d returned home after a long time, Ha-won had gone to school and my parents had left for work, leaving only me in the house. Only after washing my face in the Restroom and rinsing away the sleep clinging to my eyelids could I recall yesterday’s events.
“The finals ended and… I came back from the after-party at dawn.”
The fact that the finals—where I’d shed tears and snot—had been just yesterday felt strangely unreal.
I tried to recall yesterday’s events in greater detail. Perhaps because my dream had been so profound despite not touching a drop of alcohol, everything felt devoid of reality.
-Sparkle. Come here for work.
-Ah… Ha-jin.
‘Right. As expected, I was planning to look after Dan Ha-ru, who was alone, and go grab a meal together, but….’
-Ju Eun-chan, why are you alone?
-Ah, my brother… suddenly had to go on an urgent business trip because of work at the Company….
-Why is Si-woo alone too…? Didn’t your mother come…? No, don’t tell me. I’m not mentally prepared to hear about your mother’s situation yet.
-I haven’t said anything yet?
-Lee Do-ha, are you alone too?
-Ah. My sister came by earlier and left.
-…She came and left?
-Yeah. My nephew is still young. If my sister isn’t home, he keeps crying, so she had to leave quickly.
I mean, isn’t it standard practice that when someone does a Survival Program final like this, grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, nephews, relatives, distant cousins, and even the mother-in-law of the son-in-law all show up in full force?
Why were all of them alone?
No matter what, these were moments that had become turning points in their lives, and I simply couldn’t bear to let them go home alone to empty houses.
And so, one by one, party members began to gather….
-What! I’m coming too! Lee Yu-gun, you guys join in! Uncle, you know Ha-jin, right? That hyung who came to pick me up back then.
-No, I’m going home… I have to go to my grandfather’s place!
-Me too! I want to go too!
-My whole family is in Chicago. I’m lonely….
-…Fine, everyone come. Just come.
…In the end, it became a group after-party for Miro Maze trainees (plus some of their families).
The moment I heard that the time deliberately set aside for them to spend intimate moments with their families had become meaningless, Ji Su-ho hastily made additional reservations up to the second floor of the Restaurant he’d already booked for the staff gathering.
With all the eliminated trainees who’d come to watch the finals joining in as well, I remembered how yesterday we’d made a ruckus and played until the Restaurant closed, then headed home.
[System Notification: That was quite an exhilarating night….]
[System Notification: The System is savoring the lingering afterglow of yesterday’s spirited gathering…☆]
Why are you…?
Watching Thirteen sway about like an office worker the morning after a proper three-round drinking session, I couldn’t help but wear an expression of bewilderment.
‘Anyone would think you’d drunk alcohol by the crate.’
[System Notification: It was surprising that one could have that much fun without a single sip of alcohol.]
[System Notification: The world of humans seems truly fascinating!]
[System Notification: The System burns with scholarly enthusiasm, noting there is still much to learn.]
[System Notification: ( •ω•́ )و✧]
I let out a quiet chuckle at Thirteen’s nonsensical chatter from the moment I woke up, then headed toward the living room.
Following my routine, I took a sip of water, opened the refrigerator to check what was available, and soon retrieved the side dishes Mother had prepared, quickly setting up my breakfast table.
“…Thirteen, but.”
[System Notification: Yes?]
“That dream from earlier…. That was it, right? The past timelines of the colleagues I’ve collected.”
[System Notification: Yes, that’s correct. Last night, the Fixed Returner requested it, so I played it for you. Don’t you remember?]
[System Notification: (๑•̌.•̑๑)ˀ̣ˀ̣]
“I did?”
Ah…. Now that I thought about it, the memory came back hazily.
-What if I’ve changed too many things? No one can guarantee that this future will be a good one…. Of course, I’m thrilled. Obviously I’m happy, I’m happy, but…. Sometimes I can’t help but think that maybe someone couldn’t debut because of me, and that makes my heart… (omitted)
…I remembered my embarrassing dark history from the early morning hours yesterday when I was drunk on melancholy, coming home and rambling on to Thirteen in the Unconscious Space.
“Was I a bit…. intoxicated yesterday?”
[System Notification: As you know, you didn’t have a single sip of alcohol.]
“I mean, was I drunk on the atmosphere? The atmosphere….”
I quietly attempted to rationalize this while stirring my rice into the broth with my spoon.
Yet the sights I had witnessed in the dream still lingered in my mind.
I watched the rice grains slowly absorb into the rich broth and spoke softly.
“…Thirteen.”
[System Notification: Yes.]
“I’m doing the right thing, aren’t I?”
For someone who had been running toward the single goal of stopping regression, too many things had changed.
The fact that I had altered someone’s life brought joy, pride, and satisfaction, but at the same time, it terrified me enough to want to run away.
Now that it was certain that Dan Ha-ru was a Returner, I was beginning to faintly understand why he had separated his basic personality from his personality as a Returner.
Hidden within the words “I’m just living” was the fact that my own wings were bringing forth far too great a wind….
And that was a far more complicated feeling than I had anticipated.
[System Notification: Well, I’m not sure….]
[System Notification: Regarding human life, I find it difficult to give you a clear answer about what the standard for ‘doing the right thing’ is.]
[System Notification: However….]
After a moment of contemplation, Thirteen left me with a brief answer accompanied by a soft notification chime.
[System Notification: Sometimes you only know certain things by waiting and seeing. :)]
And the butterfly effect I had created was already unfolding.
Without my knowledge, in a place very close to me.

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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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