Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 260

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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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260. Daily Life Part. Probably. (3)
It was insane.
“HOT100 ranked 9th with TOP100 at 81st…?”
Was I losing my mind?
Honestly, I’d expected decent performance, but even accounting for that, this was absolutely extraordinary.
The red triangle (
▲
) beneath the track title showed no signs of disappearing.
If this were stocks, I’d be Warren Buffett right now.
“Why? Why? Why is the performance so good?”
Clutching my phone with both hands as if it were a sacred relic, I knelt there trying to puzzle out the cause of this inexplicable skyrocketing success.
That’s when Lee Yu-gun, who had his glasses turned backwards and hooked over the back of his head while preparing snacks in the kitchen, looked at me with an expression of utter bewilderment.
“How can you be curious about that? You said you’d cut off your hand if this song flopped.”
“No, I knew it would do well. I mean, it’s a school band concept with an uplifting anthem and easy listening. That’s true, but… even so, getting this kind of immediate response makes my heart race a bit, you know?”
“I seriously don’t know what kind of person you are.”
“I thought we’d manage at best a TOP100 entry. But looking at the current trend, it seems like we’re going to climb even higher. People keep listening to our song. It’s crazy. What is this? What’s happening?”
As I rolled my eyes trying to find the cause behind these better-than-expected results, a sudden thought struck me, and I dropped my phone, covering my mouth with both hands.
“Am I actually a composition genius…?”
“…So that’s what you were building up to.”
Lee Yu-gun, regretting that he’d been listening seriously, shook his head in disapproval and returned to the room with a plate of snacks.
Still caught in the complex emotions surrounding these insane results, I hurriedly opened the system to check the public’s reaction.
‘Let me check Destiny’s reaction first since I’m nervous.’
Ha-rang
@dohajin_luv
Oh my god this is crazy
This is the school uniform universe from
that MV or something this is insane
(Over the Night MV final ‘reality’ scene classroom capture)
(This isn’t Carol it’s the MV classroom capture)
[Their MV universe this time]
It connects with the concept and self-content too
The position we decided on back then is written on the blackboard lol
Si-woo – Student Council President (has to represent the school with his face)
Ha-jin – Class President, Club President (actual leader)
Do-ha – Student (just a regular student since there should be at least one who doesn’t take on anything)
Tae-hyun – Vice Class President (shadow ruler)
Yu-gun – Dance Captain, Dorm Captain, Cleaning Captain (volunteered himself. Doesn’t trust the other members)
Eun-chan – Assistant Cleaning Captain, Height Growth Captain (grow up healthy, our maknae)
Ha-ru – Members’ Mental Care Captain, Eating Well Captain (grow up healthy, our maknae 2)
(This isn’t Carol it’s a capture of the blackboard in the MV)
– How is Kairos raising Dan Ha-ru and Ju Eun-chan?
– Seriously, no matter how many times I watch it, it’s ridiculous. The entire thing is just class president material lololololololol
└ Do-ha being the only student is hilarious lololol cuteee lololol
└ Why is our Do-ha called the “person in charge of nothing”
– The fact that he ran away from Jeongshu’s power and eventually became the president with his face made me laugh ㅠㅠㅜㅜㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└ lololololololololololololololololololololol
– The kids’ high school rock band concept this time is seriously insane…I listen to the song every day
Kang Ha-di
@kang_HD
What Kang Ha-jin put together
Nerdy Class President VS Band Club Vocal Hyung
This actually happened. This is actually canon
Kang Ha-jin, you crazy bastard
(GIF of Ha-jin reading a book in the library)
(GIF of Ha-jin holding a microphone and smiling wickedly in the MV)
Shares 1,351 Likes 1,099
‘As expected, there’s more discussion about the MV than the song itself.’
Kairos’s deliberately crafted high school band concept seemed to be a success.
Watching Destiny’s reactions as they picked apart every frame of the three-minute music video with satisfaction, I found myself feeling even more proud.
I manipulated the system’s scroll with my eyes, searching for reactions from people who weren’t fans.
– The lyrics are so damn funny lololololololololol
– Why are you guys holding hands at someone else’s birthday and making a fuss <
“…Kairos?”
Kairos—they were the idols who had sung the commute song he’d just been listening to.
Of course, he’d only listened to that song diligently, so he didn’t know all the members’ names yet…
But these were voices that had practically taken over his daily life lately, so Cafe Owner A felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Besides, with Kairos, he could at least recognize their faces. He’d watched them every time they appeared on the AiTube timeline, captivated by the subtle warmth the music video gave off.
In the end, Cafe Owner A decided without much deliberation to watch that episode as his meal companion for today.
“Wow, Sanchez has aged quite a bit too. …I really can’t tell who’s who among idols these days.”
Cafe Owner A’s chopsticks stopped mid-chuckle as he listened to the opening talk.
Finally, the Kairos members were slowly walking down a long red carpet with their long statures.
The eyebrow-scratch boy who had made the most personal impression on Cafe Owner A appeared on screen in full, sporting a well-set comma hairstyle and swirling a dark-colored long coat. When he wore a school uniform, Cafe Owner A had thought he had a youthful charm, but seeing him styled like this, he thought, ‘Ah, so this is what an idol really looks like.’
Following that, a brief VCR explaining Kairos aired. The styling as an idol rather than a student in the music video felt entirely different.
“He’s really, truly ridiculously handsome…”
Looking at the name tag reading “Kang Ha-jin” on his chest, Cafe Owner A casually thought, ‘He looks like a puppy,’ and without realizing he was experiencing a period of entering fandom, carefully observed Ha-jin’s cool and cynical atmosphere.
In the music video, he seemed cheerful and playful, but it seemed like in private, he was this calm and cold type of person…
-Oh my, so you were a father-in-law.
“Huh?”
The cold, composed, and cynical eyebrow-scratch youth had vanished, and on screen, Ha-jin was making a deep bow together with the other two members.
The way he naturally responded to the panelist who was protesting about what father-in-law meant, saying that ‘if they’re family of Destiny, they’re all my family and my father,’ was slightly at odds with the personality of Ha-jin that he had imagined based solely on appearance.
It wasn’t that he disliked it—it was truly unexpected, and quite funny.
-I’m still only seventeen, senior!
-What?
-I’m fine with Destiny as long as it’s my older sister!
-That won’t work for me!
Setting aside the favorability I’d accumulated under the label 【Not This Carol】, the Kairos members were genuinely entertaining. The banter with the fixed panelists was fun, and their timing and delivery seemed spot-on. While all three guest teams appeared equally on camera, Kairos undeniably dominated in terms of impact.
I’d only meant to watch until I finished eating, but Cafe Owner A had already polished off his meal and was now completely absorbed in Touch High!.
The young man with the distinctive eyebrows seemed to dance better than expected. The music video hadn’t shown much of his dancing, but watching him pick up the other groups’ choreography so quickly during the opening was impressive even to someone like me who knew nothing about dance.
Before long, Cafe Owner A had pulled out his phone and was searching “Kairos Kang Ha-jin” on the internet portal.
-Well then, finally, let’s hear Kairos’s new song!
At Sanchez’s cue, Cafe Owner A stopped reading the wiki entry about Ha-jin and refocused on the broadcast.
Were they going to perform 【Not This Carol】 live?
These days, so many groups nail the recording but stumble with live performances, so I was hoping they’d do well…
-Actually, we won’t be doing that.
-Huh?
“Huh…?”
At the words of the tall young man wearing a nameplate that read ‘Do-ha’, Cafe Owner A mirrored the exact same reaction as the other panelists on the tablet screen. The unpredictable remarks and flow left me blinking in confusion.
I wondered if it was just a joke, but the Kairos members genuinely seemed to have no intention of performing their song.
“Wait, why…? Are they seriously not going to sing?”
All the other groups did.
Feeling oddly disappointed, Cafe Owner A absently tapped at an innocent can of beer.
Then Ha-jin on screen flashed that characteristic smug smile, scrunched his nose playfully, and began hamming it up.
-We’d really like it if you seniors kept wondering about us.
-Sorry?
-We’d love it if you were so curious about us that you were going crazy. After filming ends, when you’re heading home, we’d be thrilled if you searched up our performances.
-This guy’s not your average trickster….
Then Ha-jin winked at the panelists one more time with a flourish, and he definitely came across as a trickster.
Something like a lunatic with clear eyes? That sort of thing.
The important part was that this trickster’s antics worked perfectly on Cafe Owner A.
“Man, crazy…. That’s kind of cute…?”
Cafe Owner A picked up his phone again.
This time he logged into AiTube and searched for “Kairos MV”.
Since they’d debuted not long ago, there weren’t many official uploads, or so it seemed.
Actually, it seemed like there weren’t any.
“What? Why is there so much?”
Beyond just a few official music videos, there were covers, their own content, music show crossover edits, legendary stage compilations from their pre-debut days at Miro Maze, and even direct camera footage from their guest appearance at the Upia Concert.
The endless trail of achievements Kairos had steadily built up unfurled before me.
‘I’m actually curious what they’re like on stage.’
Cafe Owner A paused Touch High! and, as if entranced, clicked on the video with the highest view count. And instinctively, I felt it.
That after this video ended, I would inevitably be swept away into the endless waves of other videos.
And that day, it wasn’t just Cafe Owner A who dove into that algorithmic wave of Kairos.

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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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