Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 229

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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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229. Gambling Hotline: 1336
Dan Ha-ru was bustling about, surveying the Conference Room, when he caught sight of me in the middle of a Live Broadcast. Rather than calming down, he grew even more flustered, his eyes darting frantically around the room as he looked about.
“Y-you were in the middle of a Live Broadcast…?”
“Yeah.”
“Not gambling…?”
…It’s pretty much the same thing, though.
Still, I couldn’t very well tell him that an idol was gambling on a live stream, so I answered with silence instead. At that, Dan Ha-ru tilted his head in confusion and approached me.
“That’s strange….”
“What is? You trying to cause trouble again?”
“But Si-woo said that you were definitely ‘taking a luck test right now to see if you could pick the exact outcome you wanted most out of 63 possible results within 30 chances.'”
“….”
“He said ‘I think I’ve already lost 100,000 won, but I hit the jackpot on my first try’!?”
“….”
– Yeah… that’s definitely gambling…
– And you have to add the endless undisclosed content to complete the picture, ugh
– Should we call that an abbreviated explanation or an exaggeration…?
That kid got so scared and came running over lol
Following the “Kang Ha-jin Club Rumor,” the originator and spreader of the “Kang Ha-jin Gambling Rumor” were the eldest and youngest of the same group—how was I supposed to handle this situation?
‘I can’t even sue them… should I just make a PowerPoint presentation and have them sit through it?’
While I was pondering this for a moment, Dan Ha-ru relaxed his guard and approached me, examining our albums and photo cards spread across the desk with fascination.
“So what are you doing right now, hyung? Oh, that’s right. Destiny, hello! I’m Ha-ru!”
“I’m doing an album pull, but I got duplicates so it’s a bust….”
“Oh, that’s sharp. It looks like a carrot?”
As I spoke dejectedly while looking at more than twenty unopened albums still remaining, Dan Ha-ru picked up the carrot-shaped knife in front of me and examined it with wonder.
And seeing that sight, something like a strange sense of mission stirred within me.
‘A baby rabbit warrior and the absolute carrot…?’
As Kairos’s representative otaku (I’ve decided to just accept it now), there was no way I could miss such a rare image. It felt like I’d discovered an unexpected lucky charm.
I quickly grabbed Dan Ha-ru’s arm and pulled over a nearby chair, seating him.
“Hey, come here. You try it too.”
“Are we looking at our albums?”
“Yeah, something like that. You look at the albums. I just need to see the photo cards.”
Haha, but it’s still your album though lol
– He always wants to do things with his hyungs every day haha.
“Our Ha-jin definitely showed interest at first—he even looked through the album photos and seemed really into it, you know?”
– Welcome, photo card maniac
– If Ha-ru pulls Tae-hyun again… our god rabbit’s luck looks pretty good
Oh my gosh, the short-eared rabbit is so cute!!! 😭😭😭
The chat showed delight at Dan Ha-ru’s participation in the album pull. Some people spammed the yellow hearts and sparkle emojis that Dan Ha-ru had been using frequently on SNS lately.
The reactions were mostly positive, but remembering the strange messages that had appeared during the last live broadcast, I needed to be cautious. I naturally shifted the monitoring tablet toward myself and gestured for Dan Ha-ru to pull another album.
“Pick one. See here, in the back? If you get a photo card with a heart mark on it, you win.”
“Wow, hyung, did all of yours come out? There are so many stickers?”
“…Don’t ask. It’s a painful past.”
“Ah. But why are you doing this, hyung? Is it content?”
“…Something like that. Ah, hurry up and pick one, come on.”
– Ohhh
– The otaku’s appearance and something about muggles
– Ha-jin’s crying, Ha-ru
Hey!!! What’s up???lololol
I urged the chattering Dan Ha-ru to pick an album already, and he deliberated before selecting one. It was the ‘THE NIGHT’ version that included a Lee Do-ha uniform photocard.
“Okay, now open it. Be careful.”
The carrot knife, having finally found its owner (or not), carefully peeled away the album’s plastic wrapping. I watched with a prayer in my heart.
‘Please… please don’t let only me be missing.’

Eight consecutive duplicates is something only a demon would do.
With such earnest prayers and wishes, I held my breath and watched Dan Ha-ru’s first album pull.
* * *
Thirty minutes later.
The heat in the Conference Room was now reaching a point where even the word “madness” seemed insufficient.
“Hyung!! It came out!!! It came out!!!!!! Yoo Gun basketball photocard!!!!!!”
“Ahhhhhhh!!! We did it! We did it!!!!! You magnificent bastard!!!”
Like archaeologists who had just discovered Pharaoh’s hidden golden treasure, Dan Ha-ru and Kang Ha-jin embraced each other and let out tearful screams.
In Dan Ha-ru’s hand was Kang Ha-jin’s coveted photocard No. 5—Yoo Gun in athletic wear, loosely resting his chin on a basketball and gazing downward.
Thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks
– This is so touching
– Ha-jin please trade with me I’m serious please I have 2 Tae-hyun cherry piece photocards I’ll give them to you please I’m serious
Finally got my first craving after a whopping 19 tries lol
Seriously, it’s not showing up at all lol
– Oh my, what a day. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha?
On the table, roughly twenty photocards from the albums were neatly organized by version and member.
Those photocards, too numerous to count, were overwhelmingly dominated by Ha-jin and Ha-ru—the result of Kang Ha-jin pulling his own photocard every single time, just as Dan Ha-ru had an uncanny knack for selecting only his own face.
Now that I think about it, those kids are just doing their own thing lol
– Come to think of it, Si-woo also pulled his own face and felt…
– Still, compared to Ha-jin, Ha-ru is better at least Ha-ru pulled enough other members like that
Everything’s good except for Kang Ha-jin himself, but of course he got a duplicate demotion in his own position lololololololololololololololololol
The two of them, overwhelmed with emotion and clinging to each other while savoring their joy, belatedly came to their senses and straightened up in their chairs again.
Still being the senior, I cleared my throat and delivered a formal closing remark.
“We apologize. We got carried away by such great joy…. We apologize.”
“Sorry about that.”
As I bowed my head in apology, Ha-ru beside me quickly followed suit, bowing as well. Yet his face was beaming with amusement.
There were still about ten unopened albums left, but I decided it was best to stop here for today. After all, the timing of when to stop a frenzy was more important than the timing of when to repeat it.
“Well, anyway, since we’ve pulled one Galwang… let’s wrap up the album opening here for today. We need to put these photo cards into sleeves, organize them in my binder, and head back to the Dormitory soon.”
“Come on, hyung? We’re on a roll now! Album opening is all about momentum…!”
Dan Ha-ru, who had somehow become even more absorbed than I was in photo card gambling—or rather, album opening—voiced his disappointment.
With eyes that screamed he’d become the first idol ever reported for album-opening addiction, I hastily pressed an OPP sleeve into Dan Ha-ru’s hands and changed the subject.
“Come on, put the cards in the sleeve. Then just slip them in here.”
“Ugh… I really felt like one more would’ve done it… I had a good feeling….”
Did this guy secretly rewind time and do album openings like 300 times on his own?
Seeing symptoms more serious than I’d expected, I quickly pressed the collection binder into Dan Ha-ru’s hands and swept all the remaining unopened albums back into the shopping bag I’d brought. Dan Ha-ru hummed disappointedly for a moment, but soon refocused on organizing the photo cards.
I set aside the shopping bag with all the opened albums neatly packed, then joined in organizing the photo cards myself. As I inserted the photo cards Dan Ha-ru had placed in OPP sleeves into the binder in order—by member, age, and version—I casually asked Dan Ha-ru a question to fill the silence.
“So Ha-ru, what’ve you been up to lately?”
“Lately?”
“Yeah. The Destiny members must be curious about how you’re doing. We don’t have any schedules now that our activities are over.”
“Oh, um… I’ve been practicing singing.”
“Oh, singing practice? What are you practicing?”
Dan Ha-ru’s expression shifted subtly at my question.
I recognized that look—the face of someone about to drop a massive spoiler, hesitating with ‘should I say this?’—and from my experience, I quickly covered Dan Ha-ru’s mouth.
“No. Don’t say it. I don’t think you should say it. Don’t say it. Whatever’s in your head right now, forget it.”
Dan Ha-ru eagerly nodded at my words. Still not trusting him, I made eye contact and extracted several promises of ‘I won’t say anything’ before finally letting go.
“You have to be careful. Seo Tae-hyun might be watching all of this right now.”
“Tae-hyun hyung was just with Eun-chan hyung doing that….”
“No! Don’t say that either, you bastard!”
This guy really does spoil on the inhale and cause chaos on the exhale, doesn’t he?
My heart sank for a moment, but I patted myself on the back for preventing a major spoiler home run, when another comment caught my eye in the chat.
– Seo Tae-hyun✓: What about me?
– Seo Tae-hyun✓: I sent Dan Ha-ru to bring you back, so what are you two still doing???
“See! I told you he sees everything? Wow, the moment you mention him, he’s already typing in the chat.”
“Oh! Tae-hyun hyung! Look! I pulled your photo! Can I keep it in my wallet?”
Dan Ha-ru cheerfully held up Seo Tae-hyun’s photo card to the camera and waved it.
Shortly after, Seo Tae-hyun’s message appeared again.
– Seo Tae-hyun✓: Yeah, good job, I saw it all~ Ha-ru pulled really well lol
– Seo Tae-hyun✓: But hurry back lolol Si-woo hyung is waiting outside
Dan Ha-ru beamed with pride at the praise. Wondering why he was suddenly rushing us to come back so quickly, I belatedly remembered that we had scheduled a meeting about the ‘Upia Concert guest stage’ for this evening.
“Ah, okay. Everyone saw that, right? We should probably get going now. We have another schedule coming up….”
“Huh? We have another schedule? No we don’t? Today we…”
“Ha-ru, shh.”
“…Shh.”
“Just stay quiet. I’ll tell you after the broadcast ends.”
When I quietly told Dan Ha-ru to be silent to prevent spoilers, he seemed to feel his spoiler instincts stirring and covered his own mouth with his finger, nodding.
“Alright everyone. We’ll be heading in now. We’ll let you know the rest of the album opening results through Bluebird or the Kairos log. See you then. Next time we’ll see you again, everyone. …Ha-ru, say goodbye too.”
Thinking I should at least have him say goodbye, I gave Dan Ha-ru a look, and he fluttered his hand at the camera. Then, in a bright and cheerful voice, he spoke.
“Hi, Destiny! See you all again next week!”
My greeting differed from his by just a single character, yet that one letter sent shockwaves through the chat.
– Next week…?
– Next week??????????????
– Did he say next week?
– ???????????????????????????????????????????!?!?
– Yo what’s dropping next week?????????
– We trusted Dan Ha-ru the spoiler bomber
– Hahaha I’m going to get scolded again one dayㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I stared blankly between the chat window and Dan Ha-ru’s face, alternating my gaze.
Dan Ha-ru, seeing the chat flooded with question marks, realized his mistake and frantically clamped his hand over his mouth, quietly slipping under the desk to hide.
And then, amid the torrent of question marks in the chat, a blue checkmark next to a verified nickname appeared once more.
– Seo Tae-hyun✓: Dan Ha-ru.
– Seo Tae-hyun✓: You’re getting two extra hours of spoiler prevention training today.
– Seo Tae-hyun✓: No meat in your salad tomorrow.
– Seo Tae-hyun✓: Kang Ha-jin’s grandfather next to you.
– Seo Tae-hyun✓: Bean rice for dinner tonight as punishment for not looking after your Younger Sibling.
“No, Tae-hyun. Why me…? Didn’t I do my best? Tae-hyun. Tae-hyun? Teacher Tae-hyun. Teacher?”
“I… I need to sew my mouth shut… I need to seal it shut…”
In the end, until Jeong Si-u burst into the Conference Room and grabbed us by the scruff of our necks to drag us out, we could only remain at our respective seats, calling out Seo Tae-hyun’s name like tragic male leads drowning in regret.
However, there was no way to prevent bean rice from appearing on my dinner table that evening…

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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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