Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 195

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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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195. GUESS
“MacGuffin?”
Windy, the account holder who had once gifted Ha-jin with “The Cat’s Repayment,” clicked the link without hesitation the moment she saw the public notification that the video had been uploaded.
In her haste to click, she hadn’t gotten a proper look at the thumbnail, but it seemed to show an image of trump cards stacked like a mountain.
The thought crossed her mind that simply plastering the kids’ faces across the front might help with views, but before she could dwell on it, the video began.
♩♬♫♪♬♪―
-Sometimes I think about it.
A voice so pleasant it sent shivers down her spine pierced through her earphones. Windy, who had been rewatching the self-produced content twelve times a day recently, recognized it as Ju Eun-chan’s voice instantly.
Alongside Ju Eun-chan’s narration, countless Easter eggs that Destiny members had discovered—and failed to discover—played out one by one.
-Where are we running toward?
A grandfather clock pointing to 9:15 began to tick slowly. Simultaneously, footsteps echoed through a long, endless hallway.
Accordion music played faintly, as if passing through some medieval cathedral.
-Where does this wingbeat end?
The man walking through the hallway came to a stop. With rhythmic camera cuts, his entire figure filled the screen.
It was Ju Eun-chan, with jet-black hair and a black coat reminiscent of priestly robes.
Eun-chan, whose youthful features still bore the softness of boyhood, lifted his gaze with eyes full of untold stories. The camera, shot from the side, captured his sharp, defined profile.
-Who are we?
Soon the angle shifted, revealing the end of the hallway that Eun-chan had been gazing toward. There, hundreds and thousands of trump cards formed a towering fortress.
Eun-chan knelt down and picked up a single card that had fallen from the structure.
Just as he was about to flip the card to reveal its identity―,
♩♬♫♪♬♪―
The scene shifts with a rapid, driving beat.
Eun-chan now sat on a sofa in a cozy, warm space rather than the long, desolate hallway. His clothing had changed too—from the priestly black coat to a navy beanie, a color-blocked varsity jacket, and bright light-wash jeans.
As Eun-chan looked around in confusion, the screen panned with his gaze.
Ding― dililing―,
Accompanied by a lazy guitar melody, Jeong Si-u appeared, leaning comfortably against a corner of the room.
Like Eun-chan, Si-u maintained his black hair, having grown out the locks he’d trimmed slightly during the Miro Maze days into a more flattering style. When he casually swept back his bangs—which fell just enough to partially cover his eyes—his straight, well-defined forehead was revealed.
Si-u held a light-purple guitar pick between his lips, playing the acoustic guitar known to have been inherited from his father.
“Holy….”
Windy, who had been openly savoring the camera angle that screamed “Isn’t our Si-u handsome?”, found herself speechless and covered her mouth. Her fandom, which had begun as Dan Ha-ru’s favorite and Kang Ha-jin’s second favorite, had long since evolved into an all-fan devotion to Kairos through her deep dive into Miro Maze.
As Windy marveled at Jeong Si-u’s visual assault, the camera representing Eun-chan’s gaze panned to another location.
A sunlit window. Seo Tae-hyun sat nearby, gazing out the window in contemplation, while Dan Ha-ru sat beside him, diligently writing in a diary.
Ha-ru, whose hair had been a honey tone, now gleamed in an almost golden blonde. She wore a white short-sleeved shirt layered with a brown crewneck, and was tapping the pen’s tip against her chin repeatedly.
Tae-hyun, who had been lost in thought while listening to music with his headset on, noticed Ha-ru and removed his headset, gesturing for her to stop. His ash-khaki hair color, paired with a black turtleneck that reached his neck and a denim jacket, created a perfectly harmonious look.
“Is this a campus concept? It feels more muggle-like than the deeper worldbuilding we’ve seen before.”
Compared to Yupia, which had outright gone with a coup d’état concept, or Endway, which had positioned itself as a foreigner fallen into a fantasy world from the start, this teaser seemed far more straightforward. Windy voiced her confusion.
At first, that strange card castle seemed to have some meaning, but so far it just looked like a peaceful scene of members in an ordinary hideout. Of course, hidden within this simplicity might be all sorts of settings she didn’t know about….
“…The genius unnie fans will probably upload their interpretations later anyway.”
Deciding that was a problem for later, Windy continued watching.
Eun-chan’s gaze shifted once more. Lee Do-ha appeared in the center of the room, spinning a basketball on his finger. His neatly styled hair and simple black short-sleeved shirt perfectly captured Do-ha’s laid-back atmosphere.
As the camera angle lowered, a lanky figure lying on a makeshift bed came into view behind Do-ha. Yoo Gun, his silver hair bleached with a strong blue tint, slept with what appeared to be his own black rider jacket draped over him.
Unlike Tae-hyun, Yoo Gun wore earbuds, squinting as sunlight streamed through the window. Upon spotting him, Do-ha set down the basketball and quietly raised his hand above Yoo Gun’s line of sight, casting a gentle shadow—a tender moment captured perfectly.
“Those two have been getting decent combo popularity lately with the whole ‘brothers’ angle. Has Yoo Gun actually opened up a bit to Do-ha?”
Fans who’d rewound the reality footage frame by frame all sensed, whether consciously or not, that Yoo Gun maintained an awkward distance from the other members. Windy, who’d voted for Won-ho instead of Yoo Gun during the final vote, often found herself thinking, “If Won-ho had been selected instead…” whenever she saw Yoo Gun like this.
Of course, such thoughts were meaningless now. Still, she couldn’t help wishing Yoo Gun would show more initiative within Kairos.
♩♬♫♪♬♪―
A tender melody repeated, as if recalling cherished memories from a happy childhood.
After surveying the entire room, Eun-chan still looked confused as he glanced down at the card in his hand once more. The card bore the Ace of Spades symbol that had appeared from the Easter egg at the very beginning.
-…But you know what.
Just then, a narration cut through the warm song—a voice slightly more mature and solid than Eun-chan’s, yet tinged with playfulness.
And someone else suddenly flopped down onto the sofa beside Eun-chan.
The last member of Kairos, who hadn’t yet made an appearance.
“Oh, no way. Kang Ha-jin with red hair!”
The moment burgundy hair, crimson as the sun itself, came into view, Windy couldn’t help but scream.
“Right, it was way too perfect to use for just one day of the Miro Maze final and then throw away. God, this is it.”
Since his profile photos and reality footage showed darker hair, Windy had assumed everyone would have black hair for the debut album. Now she finally exhaled in relief. The other members were one thing, but Ha-jin’s red hair had such an impact that it felt wasteful to see it only for that one day of the Miro Maze final.
Red hair, a black mustang jacket, and a silver drop earring dangling from one ear.
Kang Ha-jin was the very picture of casual perfection—and he even had a red lollipop in his mouth!
With a friendly expression, Ha-jin draped an arm around Eun-chan’s shoulder while snatching the card from Eun-chan’s hand with his other. Gazing at the still-confused Eun-chan, Ha-jin smiled and spoke.
-Does that matter?
As he spoke, the Ace of Spades in Ha-jin’s hand began to ignite from one corner, spreading flames across its surface. Ha-jin let the card drop onto the table in front of him and Eun-chan.
On that table sat a tower made of playing cards—when it had appeared was anyone’s guess—shaped similarly to the massive card castle Eun-chan had first encountered.
Eun-chan stared intently at the burning card castle.
The scene shifted, and Eun-chan in priestly robes gazed upon the enormous card castle at the end of the hallway before him, engulfed in flames.
A beautiful card castle burning within the BGM.
Just as Windy felt an odd sensation amid this cinematic atmosphere, the scene pulled back to show all the Kairos members gathered in that cozy hideout, captured in a wide shot.
-Figure it out.
With the voice, the screen faded to black as if a candle had been snuffed out.
Ha-jin’s voice whispered playfully, like the Cheshire Cat from some fairy tale mocking Alice.
-What’s real?
【K:RUS 9/15 6:00 pm】
【OVER THE NIGHT】
Simultaneously, elegantly designed English font appeared against the black screen, and the teaser ended.
“…Damn, these crazy bastards.”
A teaser just over a minute long.
As the video’s progress bar reached the end, revealing there was nothing more, Windy clawed at her hair in frustration.
“What the hell are these maniacs planning to drop…?”
How much money was in her account again?
Windy hit the replay button and let out a quiet groan.
* * *
While numerous members of Destiny were simultaneously engaging in concept speculation and fan sign-cut speculation over the cryptic teaser,
the controversial man known as “the red-haired guy,” soon to be called either “the red candy guy” or “the Kairos Mustang guy,” Kang Ha-jin, was also entering a new phase.
[System Notification: ※☆★ I’M BACK!!!! ★☆※]
“Yeah. Welcome back.”
[System Notification: The System is displeased with the Chosen Regressor’s response!]
“Should I throw a party or something…?”
Thirteen had returned.
[System Notification: You have unclaimed rewards]
[System Notification: You have unread information]
[System Notification: New Quest has arrived]
[System Notification: Information about the Chosen Regressor has been updated]
“Isn’t this a bit much right after coming back?”
[System Notification: The System is feeling depressed about the mountain of accumulated tasks]
[System Notification: ヽ(●ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ●)ﾉﾟ]
And all of it was accompanied by an enormous number of red notification badges.
Anticipating this, Ha-jin had logged into the Unconscious Space as soon as arriving at the Dormitory, and now buried his exhausted body into the sofa, shaking his head.
“First, sort everything by reading priority.”
[System Notification: What new functions did you add while I was gone?]
Whether Thirteen was bewildered or not, Ha-jin reorganized the categories with a few finger taps, and the information bearing red notification badges was rearranged accordingly. Kang Ha-jin pleasantly ignored Thirteen’s startled cry and clicked on the notification that appeared at the top.
[System Notification: New Quest has arrived]
“Right. It’s time for a Quest update.”
Over the translucent blue window he hadn’t seen in a long time, Ha-jin’s new Quest materialized.
[Single Quest 03.]
‘The Boy’s Desired Happiness’
Description: Congratulations on your upcoming successful debut.
To protect everyone’s dreams and happiness,
this group requires a solid foundation and a path to success.
Fill in the gaps of the past timeline, and change it.
Survive the flood of idol competitions and win the Rookie Award.
Success Reward: Block The One Who Returns’ possibility of timeline intervention
Failure Penalty: Increase The One Who Returns’ possibility of timeline intervention
So it’s finally here.
Ha-jin’s eyes gleamed sharply.

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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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