Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 23

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

23. Do You Want to Be Special? (1)
‘This guy’s making a fuss over nothing.’
I’d been deceived by the system. I really shouldn’t trust something made of zeros and ones (or not) with no emotions (or so it claims) so carelessly.
[System Alert: The system expresses its grievance!]
Don’t grumble about zeros and ones. After dismissing the system appropriately, I stood up without hesitation. I’d decided there was no need to stay any longer.
“Y-you’re leaving just like that?”
“What else? You’re not coming down? Ugh, it’s freezing.”
“W-wait, I’ll come with you.”
Seo Tae-hyun, who seemed to have plenty to say, got up from his seat almost involuntarily. As he followed me quietly, he appeared to be contemplating something, and soon his expression cleared as if his thoughts had settled, his head nodding to himself.
[System Alert: Colleague ‘Seo Tae-hyun’s’ current state is… “gaining enlightenment”.]
[System Alert: Your colleague has gained enlightenment! (Congratulations reward: 30 cash)]
[System Alert: Your colleague’s enlightenment will greatly assist Quest progress!]
‘Wait, that’s actually beneficial?’
Seeing the system trumpet fanfares and dance around excitedly, it seemed our conversation had produced quite favorable results, whatever they were. Shouldn’t I get a reward too? As I scrutinized the system window hoping for some crumbs to fall, an aurora-colored notification appeared once more.
[System Alert: ☆★There isn’t one!★☆]
…This bastard.
I stared at the system window with a bitter expression when Seo Tae-hyun made a puzzled sound. Looking at what he was observing, the Special Class Practice Room was completely empty with all the lights turned off.
“What? Where did everyone go?”
“Isn’t this individual practice time?”
“No, it’s almost time for group choreography.”
Watching Seo Tae-hyun pull out his phone, wondering if something else had happened that I wasn’t aware of, my own phone vibrated. It was Dan Ha-ru.
“What’s up?”
-Ah, hyung, where are you?
“I’m here on the first basement level. Special Class Practice Room.”
-Oh, is Tae-hyun hyung with you too?
“Yeah. What’s going on?”
-Just come to Room A together. There’s an announcement for all trainees, and everyone’s gathered here.
An announcement for all trainees… I nodded absently, assuming it was probably about the survival show, and hung up.
“Everyone’s in Room A. There’s some kind of announcement for all trainees. Let’s go quickly.”
“An announcement for everyone? What’s it about?”
“Probably about the survival show, what else. Come on, let’s hurry. They said we’re the last ones.”
I moved forward with Seo Tae-hyun without a second thought, completely unaware of the massive shockwave that announcement would bring.
* * *
A few days later.
As always, I changed clothes in the changing room and entered the practice room, casually muttering under my breath.
“Man, the atmosphere here is completely rotten.”
The moment Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru, who were in a corner of the practice room, saw my grim expression, they turned pale and rushed toward me like puppies reuniting with their owner, their tails wagging frantically as they grabbed onto my arms.
“Hyung. I think I’m going to throw up.”
“….”
One of them wore an exhausted expression while Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru, already nauseous and dizzy, simply clung to my arm. I gently extracted my arm from them and smiled kindly.
“Just endure it.”
“….”
“Once you debut, a world of even fiercer power struggles awaits. Simply bear it, little lambs.”
“But still….”
To my utterly useless solution, Dan Ha-ru clung to my arm again like a puppy robbed of its snacks, speaking quietly.
“But… I’m scared I can’t practice together with the Special Class seniors!”
The Special Class had been disbanded.
Once the representative completely purged the Executive Director from Miro and discovered that he’d been accepting bribes and manipulating the Special Class to his liking, he immediately dissolved it and redistributed all trainees by age into new classes. The reasoning was that with the survival show coming soon anyway, everyone was starting from the same line.
Thanks to that, the practice room that had become crowded overnight was absolute chaos.
“Everyone’s more on edge because of the survival show. Don’t worry—just loosen up.”
With Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru still clinging shyly behind me, I steadied myself to begin warming up. The fact that no one greeted me except for those two when I entered the practice room spoke volumes about the current atmosphere.
There were three distinct groups in the practice room.
‘Some trainees who were deeply displeased at receiving the same treatment as you,’
‘Some trainees who thought it pathetic how arrogantly they carried themselves despite being abandoned after squandering money,’
And ‘moderate trainees who just wished everyone would shut up and practice properly.’
Of course, I was the representative trainee of that neutral ground.
“Where’s Seo Tae-hyun?”
“Oh, he has an interview today.”
“Right before they tried to bury Tae-hyun hyung. They keep digging up those photos from his Cherry Boy days.”
I nodded, thinking of Seo Tae-hyun, who had begun serving as the frontman booster for ‘Miro’s Next Survival Show.’
That legendary screenshot from his Boy’s Supremacy days that had dominated online communities was recreated in article photos once again, causing a stir—for a while, the hot keyword across all idol-related communities was ‘Boy’s Supremacy Cherry Boy.’
[Do you guys realize you’ve become Cherry Boy Cherry Guy from Boy’s Supremacy now? (263) HOT!]
[BEST‖Boy’s Supremacy Cherry Boy Seo Tae-hyun Recent Updates (Apparently appearing in Miro’s Next Survival) (762)]
As everything related to that guy online got bumped up, even unintended things became trending topics.
[Real-time RTs exploding over Miro’s next male idol trainee]
(Photo)
Seo Tae-hyun from Boy’s Supremacy spotted at Animal Hospital recently
Article confirming Seo Tae-hyun’s participation in Miro’s next male idol survival show drops
Male next to him also presumed to be a Miro trainee
Wow, Seo Tae-hyun grew up so well.
– Seo Tae-hyun at Miro? Wow can’t even imagine it
└ 222 Isn’t Seo Tae-hyun more the type for Rene or Ocean Blue?
└ Rene’s a bit much? Haven’t you seen Cha Min-seok
– I really admired Seo Tae-hyun ㅠㅠㅠ It’s survival again, Tae-hyun ㅠㅜㅠ
– Seo Tae-hyun went to Miro? But why didn’t they debut him under Endub? His visuals are way better
└ How would the kids here know that? Do you realize that’s rude to Endub and Enderview?
└ Comment deleted. Deleted. Anyone who pays attention to this guy can never go to their main concert, gets banned from fan signs, and is hated by their main fandom
– Am I the only one whose eyes went to that black hoodie oppa? My heart’s racing right now
Here, add the person who got sniped by the black hoodie oppa.
└ 3333 So who is that black hoodie oppa anyway
└ 44
└ 5555 My Tamla is going crazy right now lolololololol
– Han Se-won’s taste is really consistent…. I feel like I’m about to mortgage my life to Miro again
└ Who is Han Se-won?
└ Miro’s representative
– What’s the position of the black hoodie guy…. Dancing, right?
└ Honestly, with that face alone, even if he were tone-deaf, Han Se-won would clap and recruit him
└ A high school classmate spilled the tea—he was in the school band back then
└ I’m sorry, but where do you see that story? Some link ㅠㅠ
So this was the cat’s debt of gratitude.
In an instant, his entire Instagram account and graduation photos were exposed. Fortunately, the reaction didn’t seem too bad, so I let it slide.
“Ha-jin, sorry, but could you move a bit?”
“Oh, yeah.”
I was trying to find a spot in the practice room to warm up, but the area in front of the mirror was already completely occupied by the “heavenly elite special class” members. There was no way a “neutral zone” like me could approach there.
Look at this. Just getting near them and they’re already on guard, growling.
‘Ah, childish teenagers….’
“Hey, Dan Ha-ru. Hold my leg for a sec….”
“Ah! Aah! Dan Ha-ru! Dan Ha-ru, stop!”
“Hyung, are you made of wood? How is it even less flexible than yesterday?”
I looked toward Dan Ha-ru, who had the most flexible and elastic joints among us, for the leg-splitting stretch. But seeing him already mercilessly stretching Ju Eun-chan’s legs, I turned away without hesitation.
‘I’ll just do it alone by the wall.’
Ju Eun-chan looked up at me with pleading eyes, but I averted my gaze without hesitation. Sorry, Eun-chan. The living have to survive.
“Hey.”
“…?”
As I was heading to a corner to find a spot, someone tapped my shoulder and called out to me. When I turned around, there was a bear of a trainee—still bigger than me, thicker, and devastatingly handsome—looking at me.
‘Ah, that bear from back then.’
It was the trainee I’d run into in the company hallway before, the one I’d decided I absolutely had to recruit no matter what. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be a nepotism hire or a troublemaker. But what was his name again?
“Ah, Do-ha. You’re Lee Do-ha, right?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s up? Got something to say?”
Lee Do-ha, who hadn’t exchanged a single word since introducing himself on the first day, scratched his chin hesitantly.
“Um.”
“Yeah.”
….
….
….
“…?”
‘Is he asleep?’
What kind of psychology was it to start talking and then keep his mouth shut for so long? As I pondered his intentions, it suddenly occurred to me that he was also in the special class.
‘Ah, is he asking me to move?’
This corner barely has any mirrors, which is pretty petty of them.
“You want me to move? Fine, go ahead and use it.”
“What? No, that’s not what I meant….”
“Everyone, pay attention! Gather around.”
Lee Do-ha had tried to add some explanation, but his words were cut short when Ji Su-ho opened the door and appeared at an unfortunate moment.
Lee Do-ha’s lips moved regretfully, but we trainees couldn’t dare defy the Team Leader (who was set to be promoted to Executive Director soon), so we moved without hesitation.
“What? You got into it with Do-ha hyung too?”
“No, he just asked me to move. Would it kill us to share a mirror? He’s being really petty about it.”
“…? Do-ha hyung did?”
Seo Tae-hyun, who had entered with Ji Su-ho after finishing the interview, tilted his head in surprise. That’s not like him at all. Hearing the confusion in his voice, a mischievous urge bubbled up inside me.
“Yeah…. I guess there’s something different about those from the Special Class, even among us….”
“What are you even saying.”
“A noble connection that mere regular class nobodies like me can’t possibly intrude upon―”
“I really hate you, Kang Ha-jin.”
Sorry, but you and Ju Eun-chan don’t realize I keep going because your reactions are so entertaining.
“The company’s been a bit hectic these past few days, right? We merged classes and changed the schedule a lot, so thanks for keeping up. Today I have some announcements to make.”
Ji Su-ho, who had been consulting with a New Artist Development Team staff member while looking over some documents, launched into his opening with a loud voice. Even though they tried to hide it, all the trainees were clearly tense, their ears practically standing on end—exactly like teenage boys.
“You’ve probably heard the rumors already, but I should make it official anyway. We’re going to hold an in-house survival show to determine the next debut group.”
As silence continued, Ji Su-ho went on.
“I’ll be managing and directing all of you overall. As you saw from the articles, Tae-il from Upia has also agreed to participate specially.”
With the ‘survival show’ news finally made official, the trainees who had been standing at attention like soldiers began to loosen up, and I could see them stirring with emotion. It was a reaction mixing the tension that came from the very concept of ‘survival show’ and the excitement of possibly debuting.
“The survival show’s first recording is scheduled for around March, and the finals for May. We’ll start full-scale preparations from June, aiming for a second-half debut.”
Ji Su-ho continued.
“That doesn’t mean you get to slack off until March, though. We’ll be shooting profiles and teasers, recording the title track, and all sorts of things, so get ready for things to get busy.”
At the mention of profiles and teasers, the trainees couldn’t contain their anticipation and burst into excited murmurs. Ji Su-ho watched them with an amused smile, then cleared his throat with a small cough and returned to his official tone.
“And before that, what do we have in February again~?”
“….”
“Why are you suddenly quiet? What do we have in February? Aren’t you going to answer?”
“…The end-of-month evaluation.”
…I had no idea about that.
A chill ran down my spine at the ominous feeling. Damn it.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————