Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 24

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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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24. Do You Want to Become Special? (2)
Why mention the end-of-month evaluation right before the survival show? It’s obvious.
“We’ll be conducting the end-of-month evaluation this time as well.”
“Ah~.”
“However, this evaluation will be somewhat special.”
As Ji Su-ho gestured, the staff member who had accompanied him affixed a large sheet of paper to the wall behind us. The neatly designed chart displayed the trainees’ names, each divided into different groups.
“The top ten performers in this end-of-month evaluation will begin the survival show starting in March as the ‘Special Class.'”
Special Class. The moment that word—essentially Miro’s caste system—was uttered, the atmosphere in the Practice Room shifted. The previously buoyant energy instantly turned frigid. The gazes exchanged between trainees became sharp and piercing.
“Of course, we won’t use the term ‘Special Class’ on the broadcast itself, but the meaning is exactly what you’re thinking, and the benefits are the same. The Special Class members will have their titles revealed first, and they’ll have advantages in the distribution of title track parts.”
“….”
“You’ll also gain benefits in posters and various other promotional materials. Of course, once we enter the broadcast, the Special Class members may change, but regardless, this is your first introduction to the public.”
But everything hinges on that first impression. Even if we consider Seo Tae-hyun—who’s receiving all the initial push and already has existing recognition—an unavoidable frontrunner, the rest of us trainees are still completely unknown civilians who’ve never been exposed to the public.
For people like us to gain fans who’ll support me and achieve popularity, there’s only one way: exposure. Selling our faces. Look at me—thanks to that cat’s debt of gratitude or whatever—I’m already being mentioned online based on a single sighting report.
And as if reading my thoughts, a new Quest materialized with a shimmer.
[Single Quest 03.]
[‘Do You Want to Become Special?’]
[Content: The trainers still show little interest in you, a mere fledgling trainee. Achieve excellent results in the end-of-month evaluation, demonstrate your abilities, and place within the top ten!]
[Success Reward: Clues for tracking regression & recruitment of allies]
[Failure Penalty: 40% increased possibility of 5th cycle regression activation, 15% increased possibility of survival show elimination]
‘Is the balance really this broken?’
Well then, let me assess my current specs.
Name: Kang Ha-jin.
Age: Twenty. (Masquerading as twenty, but actually twenty-nine plus change)
Special notes: Lived as a half-human for 2n years, currently one month into being a Miro trainee.
‘Place in the top ten among guys who’ve been doing this for years? Easy?’
This damn system. I really wish it would stop using regression to blackmail people, but then again, I’m doing all this to stop the regression in the first place.
I mentally calculated my ranking odds while considering the number of trainees and the skill level I’d observed over the past few days.
“Normally, I would’ve let you form teams autonomously, but since this evaluation affects the survival show, we’ve assigned teams ourselves so we can better assess individual abilities. Check your assignments accordingly.”
“Yes!”
“From now on, practice will revolve around the end-of-month evaluation teams, so keep that in mind. That’s all. Any questions?”
“None, sir―!”
“Good. Then I’ll be heading out. Check your team assignments and start practicing. Fighting! Let’s do our best, everyone!”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Resounding acknowledgments erupted throughout the Practice Room in response to Ji Su-ho’s sincere encouragement. He certainly seemed to hold a respected position within Miro. The moment Ji Su-ho and the staff member left, the trainees rushed toward the bulletin board as if on cue.
“I hope we’re on the same team.”
“I doubt it. You and I probably got separated.”
Noticing me moving slowly behind the other trainees, Seo Tae-hyun—who had been walking beside me at a leisurely pace—paused, and I shook my head at his words, thinking that was unlikely.
‘Our positions are worlds apart.’
Unless the Executive Director intervened, Seo Tae-hyun was essentially a confirmed debut member. Even if he went on the survival show, suddenly screamed “I don’t want to be an idol!” while dressed as a demon and performed death metal, his fans would still shower him with support for his transformation.
As for me?
‘Miro’s Zhuge Liang or whatever, but I’m still just a newbie a month in.’
I hadn’t even completed a single song properly in front of the trainers yet, so there was no way they would have paired me with Seo Tae-hyun.
“Ah! I’m doomed.”
“Gasp, we got paired.”
“Hmm… I’m in the same group as him.”
The trainees who checked their group assignments erupted with varied reactions. If this were a survival show, the cameras would have zoomed in desperately to capture those shots. I found myself clicking my tongue at the trainees who didn’t yet understand what “broadcast mode” meant and expressed themselves so candidly.
“Hyung! We got paired!”
Ju Eun-chan, having spotted it first with his tall frame, pushed through the crowd and called out to Seo Tae-hyun. Seo Tae-hyun, who had been momentarily disappointed at being separated from me, brightened up again at the news of being in the same group as Ju Eun-chan.
“Really? Ah, thank goodness. At least we’ve practiced together often.”
“Exactly. Having at least one close hyung….”
“One? Why? Am I the only one? Who are the other group members?”
Sensing Ju Eun-chan’s relief—the voice of someone who was quite shy—Seo Tae-hyun grew anxious and hurried toward the bulletin board with Ju Eun-chan.
I wasn’t in any rush, and I doubted I’d see much from the crowd anyway, so I waited my turn slowly at the back. That’s when Dan Ha-ru, looking like he’d been through the wringer, approached me with an expression that seemed on the verge of tears.
“What’s wrong with you now?”
“…They’re all hyungs I’m not close with.”
“So we didn’t get paired either, huh?”
“Yes. You’re in Group A. I’m in Group C….”
Dan Ha-ru, the youngest among all the trainees and constantly watching the faces of the older members, puffed out both cheeks in complaint about what he was supposed to do.
‘Of course he’ll perform incredibly well anyway.’
Having trained with him several times already, I knew his abilities well enough not to worry too much.
“Who else is in your group?”
“Jeong Si-u hyung… and Yuki hyung, Kim Min-uk hyung, Yun Tae-won hyung, and Shin Kyung-ho hyung.”
“That’s hopeless.”
“Whoa. What am I supposed to do?”
A combination of Jeong Si-u from the elite special class, two cronies of Han Sung-woo who acted as the general class leader, and two timid fence-sitters. It was the perfect recipe for Dan Ha-ru to get crushed.
‘But then, who exactly am I grouped with?’
At this point, I was starting to feel anxious and needed to check quickly myself. It wasn’t like I was a middle schooler on a field trip—being without close friends was fine, but having someone incompetent was a problem. My life depended on this monthly evaluation.
Tap, tap.
“…?”
Someone approached and tapped my shoulder. When I turned around, it was that bear from earlier—Lee Do-ha. Why had he been clinging to me like this since before?
“Oh, Do-ha. If it’s about what you said earlier, let me just check my group and….”
“We’re in the same group.”
“Huh?”
“We got grouped together.”
Lee Do-ha pointed at the bulletin board. As the trainees dispersed after checking their assignments, the text on the board became visible through the gaps.
【■ February Monthly Evaluation Group Assignments】
-Group A
Kang Ha-jin (Vocal)
Gong Seok (Vocal)
Lee Do-ha (Rap)
Kim Won-ho (Dance)
Yun Tae-hee (Dance)
-Group B
Seo Tae-hyun (Vocal)
Ju Eun-chan (Vocal)
Lee Yu-gun (Dance)
Jayden (Rap)
Park Jae-young (Dance)
-Group C
Jeong Si-u (Vocal)
Dan Ha-ru (Vocal)
Yuki (Vocal)
Kim Min-uk (Dance)
Yun Tae-won (Dance)
Shin Kyung-ho (Rap)
-Group D
….
‘These group assignments are brutal.’
Each group had a crystal-clear concept—you could see exactly what they wanted to showcase. Ji Su-ho clearly had an eye for this.
Take Group B, for instance.
“Still, I think we’d be better off pushing a dance track, don’t you?”
“Well, with Yu-gun here… and honestly, both of us are confident with dance anyway.”
There was Lee Yu-gun, the main dancer who’d made a name for himself on the street dance circuit before joining the company—a guy who radiated quiet confidence. Then Seo Tae-hyun, who’d gone live on broadcast on sheer charisma alone. And Ju Eun-chan, whose exceptional control and expressiveness had made him the go-to for performance-heavy numbers. They were basically assembling a dream team of dancers to see what kind of synergy they could create.
Group C was no joke either.
“Man, Jeong Si-u really does sing incredibly well… This is going to be rough.”
There was Jeong Si-u—the kind of textbook handsome face you’d expect to see at Rene Entertainment, and on top of that, he was a graduate of one of the country’s top three arts universities with real vocal credentials to back it up.
“And you can’t sleep on Dan Ha-ru either. He’s the only one who actually beat Jeong Si-u in vocals during the monthly evaluation.”
Dan Ha-ru, who’d breezed through the dreaded sixteen-year-old voice-change phase like it was nothing and emerged with an insane tone, had been the main vocalist for the general class.
‘Group C is basically just those two fighting it out.’
This wasn’t some clash of world-ending titans or anything.
‘…So why does our group feel so ambiguous?’
Objectively speaking, our group had the most stable lineup in terms of pure position distribution, but because the other groups were so heavily weighted toward specific concepts and skill sets, our stability ended up looking relatively… ordinary.
‘In this industry, if you don’t stand out, you’re in the red.’
No matter how perfectly balanced your skill hexagon was, in this business, an extreme isosceles triangle beat it every time. Because you could actually appeal with that. A well-rounded hexagon? You’d just get trampled by all those isosceles triangles, rolling and rolling until you became a circle.
‘This is a genuinely difficult combination.’
As I stared at my group members with growing unease, Lee Do-ha approached again. Yeah, he was another problem. The only special-class trainee in our group, and the one I understood the least.
“The other group members all seem to be waiting for us.”
“Oh, yeah. Let’s go.”
‘At least he’s better than those other guys.’
I gazed at the three remaining trainees waiting for us off to the side—somehow deeply untrustworthy—and let out a quiet sigh that no one else could hear.
‘Kim Won-ho, Gong Seok, Yun Tae-hee. All three from the general track with short trainee periods.’
The level-divided classes were at a point where not a single person attended the ‘Advanced’ tier. Right before the survival show, they’d paired up the skilled ones and then gathered together the ones who fell awkwardly in between.
In other words, this was essentially a discarded combination.
‘I’m still an unproven newbie in my first month, so that makes sense for me. But why him?’
I tilted my head again, questioning the presence of Lee Do-ha—the only Special Class member in this combination. He must have sensed my gaze, yet he continued forward without any particular reaction, heading silently toward where the trainees had gathered.
“Ha ha, hello everyone.”
“Hello, hyungs.”
“This is the first time we’ve all come together like this!”
“Right? Our positions are clearly divided too, which seems good?”
“And since we have Do-ha with us, we won’t have to worry about arrangements and things like that!”
Starting with the youngest Yun Tae-hee’s vibrant voice, the three hopeless brothers (no ill will, but there was no other way to call them) offered up rather optimistic outlooks. Shadows clung to their faces—they clearly sensed this combination was unstable themselves, but they couldn’t show it so openly, so their forced enthusiasm was painfully transparent.
‘Is this really okay…?’
An ominous premonition bloomed thickly in my mind.
And by this point, I’d be familiar enough with it—such premonitions were rarely wrong.

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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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