Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 172

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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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172. Penalty (3)
A self-made escape room began—one where no one had locked us in, only we were locked inside.
The moment I realized the door was locked, I frantically patted my pockets searching for my phone, but neither my phone nor Do-ha’s—both of which I’d been holding just minutes before—were anywhere to be found.
“Damn it. The phones must be in the living room.”
When Do-ha knocked earlier, my legs had given out and I’d collapsed to the floor, leaving both phones behind.
I tried turning the doorknob several more times just in case, but it only rattled uselessly as if caught on something, refusing to budge. After a moment of deliberation, I found myself staring back and forth between the frying pan in my hand and the locked doorknob.
“Should I smash it with this?”
“…Is that too reckless?”
“Actually, I’ve tried a few times already.”
Do-ha responded in a calm voice, as if he could read my mind as I contemplated how to demolish the doorknob with the frying pan. The knob was covered in countless fine scratches.
Just as I gripped the pan with the determination to obliterate the doorknob, Do-ha’s voice took on a slightly defeated tone as he recounted his failures.
“But every time I hit the knob, the door frame twists more, making it even harder to open.”
Okay, scratch that idea.
Trying the same failed strategy twice in a game was about as trollish as it gets.
I casually set the frying pan down on the floor and immediately began searching for an alternative approach.
“Right, you came looking for your wallet. Don’t you have a card or something?”
“A card?”
“Yeah. Or even just some paper if you have it.”
At my words, Do-ha hurriedly pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and handed me a card from inside. It was a transit card with a cute pink character drawn on it—a stark contrast to his massive frame.
“….”
“…The convenience store only had this one in stock.”
I hadn’t even said anything.
But correcting him seemed unnecessarily awkward, so I simply nodded in acknowledgment and turned back toward the doorknob.
“What are you doing?”
“I used to be able to open doors like this sometimes back in the day.”
Catching a glimpse of Do-ha as he curiously stepped closer, I turned the knob and carefully slid the card through the gap in the door frame.
This was a technique where you’d slip the card into the gap as the knob turned to unlock the door—something I’d picked up years ago when the editorial office door at the Company would occasionally jam this way.
“…Nope. Doesn’t work.”
But whatever was wrong with the lock, it was thoroughly jammed, and the card simply wouldn’t fit through. Another failure.
After returning the adorable transit card to Do-ha, I sat down in front of the door. I then gestured for Do-ha, who was still standing, to sit down as well.
“Let’s think about this together. We’ve got two high school graduates here—surely if we put our heads together, something will come to us?”
At my suggestion, Do-ha crouched down and sat on the floor near me.
It briefly occurred to me that we could be sitting on the chairs or bed inside the room instead of on the floor by the door, but since the priority now was escaping, I decided to overlook the cramped conditions.
We crossed our arms and began discussing seriously how to get out of this room.
“Do-ha, you use an iPhone, right? Let’s try calling Siri.”
First attempt. The AI assistant route.
“Siri! Siri, can you hear me? Call Tae-hyun for me. Siri! You better earn your keep!”
“The soundproofing seems to be blocking the sound.”
Failure due to the unnecessarily thorough soundproofing.
“What if we just…tried breaking the door down?”
Second attempt. The “strong body, easy mind” route.
Lee Do-ha suggested it seriously while staring at the door, but I quietly shook my head.
“There’s a sink and refrigerator right across from this room. If something breaks or the fridge gets damaged, things could escalate.”
Failed due to the room’s location issues.
“….”
“…?”
“…Can that window screen open?”
“Ha-jin. We’re on the sixth floor.”
“If I wrap myself in a blanket and grab the pipes and somehow manage it….”
“….”
“…Yeah, that won’t work. Right.”
Third attempt. Open the window and execute the falling operation.
The moment my feet touch the ground, my soul would ascend to the heavens—disqualified.
I tilted my head back and rested it against the door. Looking at the clock on the wall, I realized I’d been here for over thirty minutes already.
‘Tae-hyun knows I came to the Dormitory…. If he can’t reach me, he’ll probably sense something’s wrong and come check on the place….’
If I just held out, things would naturally work themselves out somehow, but sitting still like this felt uncomfortable.
Seo Ju-dan was probably at Ju Eun-chan’s House by now, hanging garlands and balloons with excitement, and I felt bad about wasting time like this.
‘The colleague summon function won’t work anyway since my phone is outside…. Ah, is there no way?’
As I racked my brain, I noticed Lee Do-ha’s Room, which I hadn’t properly observed before.
Temporary soundproofing material installed on the wall, MIDI equipment for simple work, a microphone, and audio interface—all the gear was neatly set up on one side.
On the other side, Lee Do-ha’s clothes and daily necessities were organized in a black carry-on case. It seemed he’d prepared in advance, considering the possibility of moving rooms after the vacation ended and members moved into the Dormitory. I pressed the soundproofing material on the wall and spoke to Lee Do-ha.
“Hey. If you really can’t use this room, why did you do all this soundproofing work? We haven’t even heard anything about how the Dormitory situation will be handled.”
“Ah…. I can remove it if needed. I just put it up temporarily just in case.”
“Since you can remove it anyway, why not just take it off now? Then Siri could hear your voice.”
“I’d need a knife or something to peel it off, and I don’t have one in my room.”
“I see….”
Fourth attempt. Failed without even trying.
I let out a regretful sound, when a familiar ringtone came from outside. It was my phone ringing.
“Wow, Tae-hyun must be calling. Ugh, how do I answer that?”
“Just in case, I turned on my Bluetooth earbuds too…. Either the distance is too far and they won’t connect, or I turned off the Bluetooth function—they wouldn’t pair.”
“…You really tried everything, didn’t you?”
“….”
At my words, which carried a hint of admiration, Lee Do-ha turned his head bitterly. If this were a webtoon, his face would probably be drawn with about fifteen diagonal lines and dead fish eyes in chibi form by now.
‘In the end, just enduring is the only answer.’
The moment the faintly audible ringtone cut off, it felt like a rescue ship had passed us by without noticing we were stranded on a deserted island.
At this point, I was planning to wait for the perceptive Tae-hyun to notice our predicament(?), but suddenly I felt like I was missing something huge.
“…Lee Do-ha. You were working here during your vacation, right?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
This was Lee Do-ha’s Room.
Lee Do-ha’s Room, set up with minimal equipment for him to work in.
In other words, “it” exists here.
“So where’s your laptop right now?”
The laptop that might become our only lifeline!
“…!”
Upon hearing my words, Lee Do-ha’s eyes lit up like some Western grandfather who’d supposedly shouted “Eureka!” after entering a public bathhouse, and he sprang to his feet. Then he pulled out a laptop pouch from his suitcase like he was drawing a holy sword!
“Hallelujah….”
Overwhelmed by the realization that we could finally contact the outside world, I could only cover my mouth.
We immediately powered on the laptop, logged into Lee Do-ha’s PC messenger, and explained everything in the group chat.
Kairos Seo Tae-hyun ‖ hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
<Kairos Seo Tae-hyun ‖ Oh, I’m sorryㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ But it’s too much. It's funnyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜ
【Kairos Seo Tae-hyun ‖ (voice recording)】
When I played the voice recording Seo Tae-hyun sent, I could hear Seo Ju-dan's booming laughter in the background.
These bastards—their seniors are in distress, and they're….
I felt a vague sense of betrayal, but since they were our only lifeline to get us out, I couldn't bring myself to get angry.
I calmly suppressed my rage and typed out a message, my fingers tapping rapidly across the keyboard.
【If you don't open the Dormitory door by 7, I'm posting Seo Tae-hyun's Gangwon Province evacuation story online】
【How he quit practice, went into villain mode, ran away to Gangwon Province, and cried and complained that he couldn't debut—I'm telling everyone】
【Kairos Seo Tae-hyun ‖ Hyung, I just told Kwon Wook hyung and he said it'll take about 30 minutes so wait a bit more】
【Kairos Seo Tae-hyun ‖ Me and the guys are already ordering dinner】
【Kairos Seo Tae-hyun ‖ What do you want to eat? Chicken?】
【Kairos Seo Tae-hyun ‖ (winking and acting cute emoji)】
"You're messing around, kid."
I closed the messenger with a victorious smile.
"Kwon Wook hyung said it'll take about 30 minutes. Should we just wait?"
"Yeah. Got it."
"…."
"…."
And then came the silence.
In that moment, I thought to myself.
'…Wait. So what am I supposed to do with him for the next 30 minutes?'
We weren't close enough to call ourselves friends, but not distant enough to say we weren't close either—two same-aged coworkers trapped alone in a small room with nothing particular to do. What's the proper way to handle this?
'Should I just hit myself with the frying pan and pass out for a bit?'
Kang Ha-jin, a man who despised enduring awkward silence for more than a minute more than death itself.
A 30-minute time attack with a coworker in deathly silence.
Start.
* * *
"…."
"…."
"…."
"…Should we just turn on the TV?"
"Yeah."
"…."
"…."
"…Oh. The remote must be outside."
And so, back to the present.
The manager was running about twenty minutes late due to traffic, leaving Lee Do-ha and me trapped in this room for nearly an hour now. As I sat back down in the chair, spouting nonsense out of sheer awkwardness, Lee Do-ha pondered quietly before responding.
"Actually, the TV is outside too."
"…Right. Of course."
"…Want to watch Netflix or something?"
"Nah, it's fine. Your brother will be here soon anyway."
Watching Lee Do-ha suggest we stream something on his laptop, I shook my head listlessly and declined. The thought of sitting in silence watching a movie together felt even more awkward.
"…."
"…."
And silence fell once more.
Unlike most people, I hated prolonged silences unless I was with someone I was truly comfortable with. Lee Do-ha, however, didn't seem to mind the quiet at all. He didn't appear uncomfortable with the situation—if anything, I was the one dying of awkwardness.
'But why does he feel so strange to me?'
When I thought about it, there was no real reason for us to be awkward.
As I stole a glance at Lee Do-ha while pondering this, the memory of his past timeline surfaced in my mind.
'…He ended up quitting music after all.'
The equipment I'd seen in that dream looked incomparably better than the cheap gear Lee Do-ha currently owned. There seemed to be an actual, properly built studio—not just this makeshift soundproofed wall with cheap acoustic foam slapped all over it. And judging from the dialogue of whoever was with him, he'd apparently made quite a name for himself in the underground scene.
'Wait. Didn't the System say I couldn't see past timelines until his response rate exceeded 70%?'
That's why I'd been watching for opportunities to raise Lee Do-ha's response rate.
Struck by sudden realization, I quickly opened the System window and checked Lee Do-ha's response rate.
[System Alert: 'Lee Do-ha' is 'responding' to you. (Response Rate: 70.7%)]
'Huh? It went up?'
Though it was only about 1%, Lee Do-ha's response rate had somehow crossed the 70% threshold.
Why? I wanted to find the reason, but I couldn't seem to figure out what that guy was thinking.
"Ha-jin."
"…Huh?"
Lee Do-ha's sudden use of my name felt so unfamiliar that my response came out strangely.
But Lee Do-ha didn't seem to mind my reaction, quietly pointing at something with his finger.
"That…."
That what?
Following Lee Do-ha's words, I turned my gaze to where his finger was pointing.
On the desk, a handheld camera blinked a red light toward us.
"Oh…."
"Is that recording?"
Don't tell me everything we've been doing this whole time has been captured on film?
"This really isn't my day…."
So it wasn't Seo Tae-hyun who'd be exposing my embarrassing history first—it was me. Damn it!

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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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