Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 26

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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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26. Do You Want to Be Special? (4)
“Alright, what should I splurge on first?”
With the mindset of a nouveau riche determined to blow through my fortune tonight, I scrolled through the system window. Of course, I’d already decided what to purchase first.
“First, I need to upgrade my existing skills.”
Skills could level up through experience points as well. So I’d gradually raised them through my practice sessions, but as everyone knows, free-to-play players can never compete with those who spend real money.
Without hesitation, I spent my cache.
[System Alert: Skill 【As I Say】 (LV.3) ▶ (LV.4) has leveled up!]
[System Alert: Skill 【As I Say】 (LV.4) ▶ (LV.5) has leveled up!]
[System Alert: Skill 【How Much Will It Cost?】 (LV.1) ▶ (LV.2) has leveled up!]
[System Alert: Skill 【How Much Will It Cost?】 (LV.2) has leveled up. You can now convert affinity from a wider range into cache.]
[System Alert: Current Cache Balance ∥ 6,200 cache]
‘That should do. Next.’
If I wanted to prepare for the survival challenge, including the end-of-month evaluation, I’d need plenty more. I immediately navigated to the skill creation tab.
[System Alert: To create a skill, please specify the desired skill’s details concretely.]
What’s the most important ability in a survival challenge?
“I want to see people’s stats. As specifically as possible. Their strengths and weaknesses, and especially anything related to performance would be great.”
[System Alert: Measuring skill creation probability….]
[System Alert: The skill content is effective for Quest progression! Creation probability increases. (Measuring….)]
[System Alert: Skill creation is possible!]
[System Alert: Create skill 【Behold Through Dragon’s Eyes】?
Required Cache: 5,000 (Y/N)]
What’s with this naming sense…?
[System Alert: All skill names utilize the skill user’s database to aid in easy comprehension. No complaints allowed.]
“Fine, thanks.”
[System Alert: You’re welcome. (´,,•ω•,,｀)]
Don’t get shy—that wasn’t a compliment.
While we were at it, I thought about taking Kang Ha-won to a PC room this weekend. I clicked to create the skill. Five thousand cache? The prices were absolutely brutal. Watching the dust I’d painstakingly accumulated scatter in one blow felt like tearing up my bank account.
[System Alert: Skill 【Behold Through Dragon’s Eyes】 has been successfully created.]
‘Then let me check myself first….’
My hand froze in mid-air as if someone had taken control of it.
‘Check….’
An emotion I’d forgotten since the regression began washed over me like a massive wave. Will you be okay? Even if you confirm your limits? A helpless voice from deep within me spoke.
My breath felt like it might stop.
“Later. I’ll look later.”
I hurriedly steadied my breathing and regained my composure. I just won’t look at it, simple as that. I forcefully shook off the strange emotions that had briefly overwhelmed me. In that brief moment, cold sweat had broken out, and the bitter winter wind cut sharply through my clothes.
I fled the rooftop.
“Ugh, my head….”
I’d gone out to find a place with no one around, but the bitter cold had frozen my body in just a short time. The moment I stepped back into the warm indoors, the chill released its grip and a cough burst out, leaving my head spinning.
“If I go out twice, I’m done for.”
My coughing fit was so severe I nearly coughed up blood, even choking in the process. I was experiencing firsthand how excessive coughing stretches your abdomen and brings tears to your eyes. After coughing for so long, I wiped away my blurred eyes and pressed down on my still-heavy, throbbing head.
“Huh?”
Wait.
“Kang Ha-jin?”
A familiar voice called from behind me. I turned around half-expecting it, and there stood Seo Tae-il from Upia with a worried expression on his face.
I quickly assessed my current state: flushed cheeks from the cold, a runny nose, tear-glistened eyes, and a grimace.
‘Oh, please no.’
“What’s wrong? Ha-jin, you’re―.”
Was the misunderstanding still going on?
“No, it’s not.”
I simply denied it outright first.
“What do you mean it’s not….”
“Whatever you’re thinking, you’re mistaken.”
“You were just crying….”
“I wasn’t.”
“Your eyes are still bright red….”
“They’re not, I’m telling you.”
Seo Tae-il still couldn’t shake the suspicious expression from his face, but as I continued to deny it, he nodded as if accepting my words. I wanted to clarify further, but….
“Fine, whatever. If that’s what you say.”
His expression screamed ‘I know everything, but you seem embarrassed so I’ll pretend not to notice for now’—so it seemed pointless to push further. I simply closed my mouth.
The situation felt awkward, and being alone with him didn’t seem like the best idea at the moment, so I tried to excuse myself and slip away, but today wasn’t going smoothly for Seo Tae-il either.
“So… are you preparing well for the end-of-month evaluation? How’s it going?”
He even approached my side and asked in a friendly manner. After all, he was a senior, and more importantly, he was the one who’d pushed me forward while handing me his business card as my manager—I couldn’t just brush him off without feeling guilty.
‘If anything, he’s someone I need to keep on my side no matter what, so there’s no reason to make an enemy of him.’
In the end, I abandoned my plan to flee and relaxed my posture, giving him a reasonable answer.
“I’m just starting to prepare now. Since it’s my first monthly evaluation… I’m a bit worried, to be honest.”
“You know I’m joining as a survival show producer, right? I ended up becoming a judge for the monthly evaluations too. I have high expectations for you.”
“For me?”
“You’re a trainee I brought in by putting my name on the line. Of course I’d expect something. Though the judging will be fair, naturally.”
‘As if.’
I’d momentarily forgotten while thinking about Ji Su-ho, but it seemed Seo Tae-il had played a significant role in me becoming a trainee at Miro.
I was afraid the rumors about Miro’s strategist would only grow bigger, but at this point, there was no use crying over spilled milk. If I couldn’t avoid it anyway, I might as well make full use of it.
‘Oh, that skill.’
As I exchanged a few more words with Seo Tae-il, I recalled the new skill I’d tried to test earlier but failed to activate.
“Since it’s your first time, you’ll be nervous, but just go for it. If you stick to the basics I’ve been guiding you on, you should be fine.”
A founding contributor of Miro. The greatest leader in history, having commanded those wild Upia members for over a decade.
‘With stats like that, he could serve as a decent benchmark.’
While the conversation continued, I pulled up the system window and activated the new skill. A ding sounded as coins were deducted for the skill activation, and soon a notification window appeared before my eyes, rotating as if measuring attack power.
“What did I do during my first monthly evaluation…. I can’t even remember now.”
[System Alert: Skill 【Behold with the Dragon’s Eyes】 is now active.]
[Seo Tae-il (Affiliated Group: Upia)]
Vocal: 93%
Dance: 83%
Expression: 91%
Special: Composition, Producing (63%)
Appeal Points:
‘Everything is in my hands!’
-Leadership, Charisma, Stage Control
These are some incredible stats.
“Oh, senior! Hello!”
I was trying to analyze what all these numbers meant when Seo Tae-hyun emerged from the office and spotted us. He greeted Seo Tae-il warmly as if they already knew each other, but Seo Tae-il looked surprised, glancing between the two of us alternately.
“Yeah, Tae-hyun. Are you two close?”
“…Not really?”
“Not particularly….”
“Yeah. You’re close.”
When asked if we were close, we exchanged glances and hesitated, but Seo Tae-il laughed cheerfully and offered some formal words of encouragement, saying he’d be rooting for both of us.
He seemed to want to say more, but when a manager’s voice called out urgently from the other direction, Seo Tae-il gave a light farewell and quickly disappeared.
Seo Tae-hyun, who had been bowing until Seo Tae-il was out of sight, straightened up the moment he vanished and gestured for me to follow him.
“Hey, hyung, aren’t we close? I’m a little hurt.”
“You said not particularly.”
“You said not really.”
“Let’s just call it even.”
I shrugged and headed toward the Practice Room, exchanging casual banter with Seo Tae-hyun’s chatter while I continued analyzing Seo Tae-il’s stats hovering before me.
‘Are these percentages? So this guy’s producing is only at 63%?’
Seo Tae-il’s popularity stemmed partly from his character as Upia’s mad leader, but his producing and composition abilities—which earned him praise as an idol-tier talent—played a significant role.
He was guaranteed in his producer abilities to the point that a famous foreign artist had personally found his SNS account to send him love calls, yet his stats were only 63%?
‘Something’s off.’
“Man, I’m craving tteokbokki. I need to watch my diet, but this is a disaster.”
To get a clearer picture, I’d need another comparison point. Well, I needed another sample from the trainees anyway. Without hesitation, I activated my skill on Seo Tae-hyun.
[Seo Tae-hyun (Affiliation: Miro)]
Vocal: 45%
Dance: 67%
Expression: 52%
Special: Acting, Charisma (82%)
Appeal Points:
‘Eyes are drawn, eyes are drawn!’
-Tone, Dance Lines, Stage Expression
‘So it’s definitely not just percentages.’
Looking at Seo Tae-hyun’s stats, I was certain. These weren’t simple numbers.
‘Seo Tae-hyun isn’t the type who can only reach this level even if he can’t overwhelm others with singing or dancing.’
The only scores that made some sense were his acting and charisma in the special category….
‘I need to look into this a bit more.’
Lost in thought about one thing and another, I found myself already at the Practice Room. My gaze suddenly shifted to one spot as I was about to enter Practice Room A, which Seo Tae-hyun and I had reserved in advance.
Now that I thought about it, there was one more person I needed to test this skill on.
“….”
“Hyung, aren’t you coming in?”
“Yeah, go ahead first.”
I waved dismissively at the confused Seo Tae-hyun and turned my steps toward what had caught my attention. At the end of the hallway, among the practice rooms connected like an ant colony, there was one small room with its light on.
Ding―.
Given the soundproofing of the private practice room, I pressed the bell installed instead of knocking. A loud clatter echoed from inside (?), and not long after, the person I’d been waiting for appeared.
“Huh…?”
“Hey there, Lee Do-ha.”
“…Yeah, hey.”
We still have some things left unsaid, don’t we? At my gentle smile, Lee Do-ha’s pupils trembled 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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