Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 261

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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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261. A Slice of Everyday Life, Perhaps. (4)
“Huh↗?”
The moment I opened my eyes this morning, I habitually checked the music charts—and my jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
82nd Place (
▲
) Over the Night
K:RUS
91st Place (
▲
) Kick Off
K:RUS
“Why is this here…?”
Not only was 【This Isn’t a Carol】 charting, but songs from our debut album had also landed at the tail end of the TOP 100.
Of course, judging by the trajectory, they’d likely plummet again soon, but the fact that we’d broken in at all was what mattered.
Even more impressively, 【This Isn’t a Carol】 had climbed all the way to 58th place.
Considering that the upper ranks of the TOP 100 chart were practically monopolized by mainstream picks—concrete pop and the three trot titans—this was genuinely a monumental achievement.
“Did we really do that well on Touch High…?”
With bleary eyes, I absently ran my fingers through my disheveled hair.
I hadn’t properly checked the first episode of 【Touch High!】 yesterday because I’d been out at a provincial event, but something had clearly happened.
We’d originally planned to watch the first broadcast together as a team since it was our first public broadcast, but the schedule shifted when what was supposed to be a one-episode wrap got extended to two episodes and moved up to this week.
“So what kind of reaction did we get…”
The empty bed next to mine suggested Do-ha had gone out for his morning jog. I put on my glasses through the haze and activated the system—apparently I’d gotten used to it by now, because reactions about 【Touch High!】 automatically lined up across the transparent window.
“Sigh… I don’t know how I’ll survive when this disappears later.”
At this rate, South Korean science will just have to advance a little further into the cutting edge.
Hang in there, science students.
With that pointless thought, I checked the system window.
The first thing that caught my eye was this.
[Kairos/Ha-jin] Our Ha-di’s Development Disaster Compilation.zip
#Shorts
“Ugh.”
The next one that popped up was this.
Rookie boy group who did variety and came back with rare footage
#Shorts #Kairos #Ha-jin
“Heh…”
Beyond the footwork show that drove people crazy and Uncle Struck by Lightning, there was even the Miro Maze blundering at footvolley—an endless stream of every embarrassing video imaginable.
I couldn’t even look away, so I checked the comments, and it was even worse there.
– Anyone who watched Touch High and saw our clear-eyed fool, give a thumbs up
2,190 Likes 309 Replies
└ Thumbs up22
└ Thumbs up3333333
“Footsie kick…?”
I looked it up—apparently it’s called a “good luck kick.” Damn it.
Whenever Touch High guests came out, there were a lot of times it got really boring because I wanted to fight them so bad, but yesterday I was cracking up every time they appeared lol
– Sanchez really has a talent for finding entertainment gems, look at those sparkling eyes
– He doesn’t just look like a shuttlecock, his whole demeanor is cold too…
I was practicing and kicked the shuttlecock, and when it fell on Kacam’s head, that was seriously legendary lmaooo I was eating and couldn’t even breathe from laughing lololol
– But he looked so wronged that I’m pretty sure he’s not actually a destroyer
– Honestly I thought he was just a concept character until the opening, but watching it, he’s just a naturally hilarious entertainment talent
“Yeah, well… I guess I’m just really good at this kind of thing.”
That was something I already knew.
But seeing it go this well was surreal—it didn’t feel quite real. I scratched my chin and scrolled to the next post, and another one popped up.
Gangppuppi
@ENFP_KHJ
Kang Ha-jin, this crazy bastard
In the self-con, he’s a nerdy guy
In the music video, he’s the band club vocalist hyung
And now on variety, he’s serving up excited younger-man energy like it’s soup
all mixed together tlqkf…
(Screenshot: Ha-jin carefully looking after a female fixed panelist on his team)
(Screenshot: Height difference between Ha-jin and the female fixed panelist standing side by side)
(Screenshot: Ha-jin catching a female fixed panelist with one hand as she nearly falls during a relay mission)
Shares 3,938 Quotes 910 Likes 5,331
Rossy Day
@rossy_1017
Yo listen up
Our group’s male members
Look at that physicality…
Right now behind here
There are HㅖJoowoongni and MㅣHeroeongni…
(Screenshot: Female panelists obscured behind Ha-jin and Do-ha)
Kang Ha-di
@kang_HD
How Kang Ha-jin boosts Destiny’s morale
: Go on public broadcast variety and be insanely handsome
(GIF: Ha-jin laughing in natural light, dark green long coat billowing)
(GIF: Ha-jin winking and joking around with fixed panelists in the opening)
(GIF: Ha-jin standing at an angle with arms crossed in team outfit, listening to the rules)
(GIF: Ha-jin half-sprawled on the floor looking bewildered after failing the footsie kick)
Shares 7,730 Quotes 1,203 Likes 1万
“…So my face did all the work?”
I’d been worried about getting overshadowed by other groups, so I’d pulled out all the stops with skills and swelling for the first time in ages, and I’d trained like a madman the day before. Turns out it was all worth it.
Not just me—Lee Do-ha had also become quite the hot topic with his overwhelming physicality and even more overwhelming laziness, it seemed.
Dan Ha-ru still seemed to be getting by as just the cute maknae for now, but honestly, that would all change once the second week’s “Boy Business” and “Seizing the Flag of Attack” aired.
Winter Tail, who’d pushed forward with decent reactions and solid concepts, seemed to have gained some benefit too, but ultimately, it really did seem like Kairos had reaped the biggest promotional boost from Touch High.
“As for Storm Header… well, they seem satisfied with just breaking through to broadcast television.”
I was flipping through the system window, checking if there was anything else worth noting, when suddenly the door burst open.
“…? What. Seo Tae-hyun?”
Standing in the doorway was Seo Tae-hyun, his bangs swept back dramatically with a headband, a sheet mask plastered under his eyes, looking grim and determined.
The moment our eyes met, he strode toward me with steps that could’ve been excited or furious—I couldn’t tell—so I instinctively raised a pillow as a guard.
“Kang Ha-jin!”
“W-what…?”
“What the hell did you do on Touch High!?”
“Hey, hey, Tae-hyun. Listen to your hyung. You’re upset because of Touch High, right? I had a reason for everything, okay? It wasn’t that I didn’t want to promote the new song—by breaking away from the typical opening, I was executing a strategy to spark people’s interest and curiosity about our group, you see…”
“We’re number one on the trending videos!”
“…Huh↗?”
I made a stupid sound, and Seo Tae-hyun turned his phone around to show me.
Sure enough, the music video for “This Isn’t a Carol” was sitting at number one on AiTube’s trending videos. Even the “Over the Night” music video was at number three.
“…Wait, is this… really having this much of an effect…?”
“This is insane right now, seriously. Our music video and user-created content view counts keep climbing. The Bluebird official account and AiTube subscribers have gone up by almost five hundred thousand. And they’re still going up, constantly.”
“Five hundred thousand? That many?”
“Look at you being a respectable hyung for once!”
“For once…?”
Seo Tae-hyun grabbed my shoulders and shook me excitedly, grinning like a madman.
Well, the results were good, so of course I was pleased, but I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. Even as the system window endlessly displayed the results from yesterday’s broadcast, I felt dazed.
The view count for “This Isn’t a Carol” climbing in real-time felt surreally unreal.
Jeong Si-u, who’d come to rein in Seo Tae-hyun—who’d been delirious from a sudden dopamine rush after studying so hard—laughed like a picture when he saw me wearing that stupid expression.
“You did well. They said you did great, and you really did do great.”
“…Right. I feel like Cinderella. Like it all happened overnight…”
“Kwon Wook hyung called earlier all excited too. Looks like entertainment offers are pouring in. You’re going to be even busier next year, aren’t you?”
“…Yeah, being busy is good.”
I chuckled softly at Jeong Si-u’s joke and nodded. With a reminder to wash up and eat soon, Jeong Si-u left the room with Seo Tae-hyun.
The moment the door closed, I opened the system window again to analyze the cause of this insane surge. No matter what, I couldn’t believe the impact was this massive.
“I’m uneasy because it’s going too well, you know…?”
After digging through the internet like I was hunting rats, I came to this conclusion:
【Cause 1. “This Isn’t a Carol” got great reactions for its funny lyrics ▶ People who became interested started endlessly diving into all our past content】
【Cause 2. We performed incredibly well on Touch High ▶ People who became interested started endlessly diving into all our past content】
【Cause 3. We looked incredibly handsome on Touch High ▶ People who became interested started endlessly diving into all our past content】
【Cause 4. People who watched Touch High got curious and searched for our performances ▶ People who became interested started endlessly diving into all our past content】
【Cause 5. People heard our group’s song inserted in Touch High, liked it, and started searching “What’s this song?” ▶ People who became interested started endlessly diving into all our past content】
So basically,
“…So we really did incredibly well, didn’t we?”
I’d rummaged through everything wondering if some unexpected fortune had occurred from Quest rewards or something, but there was nothing like that.
Unable to feel purely joyful, with a vague sense of unease gnawing at me, I scratched my chin when my phone rang with an incoming call. Checking it, it was Ji Su-ho’s number.
Of course. Wondering if something had gone wrong, I answered immediately, and Ji Su-ho delivered his message concisely.
-That was you, right~
“…What do you mean?”
-Miro has Han-sol for all the digging we need, so if you happen to see reactions in the morning and start second-guessing yourself, just shower and grab some food~ I’m hanging up.
Then, click.
The call ended.
“What was that…?”
I was just blinking in bewilderment when a messenger notification chimed.
【Miro_Upia_Seo Tae-il Senior ‖ Hey kid】
【Miro_Upia_Seo Tae-il Senior ‖ You did it, huh~?】
【Miro_Upia_Seo Tae-il Senior ‖ Buy us dinner lolololol】
Then came a message from someone else.
【Miro_Endway_Choi Yeon-woo Senior ‖ Hey Ha-jin】
【Miro_Endway_Choi Yeon-woo Senior ‖ Watched Touch High yesterday, great jobkkkk】
【Miro_Endway_Choi Yeon-woo Senior ‖ If we’d been in it, it would’ve been a disaster lololol】
【Miro_Endway_Choi Yeon-woo Senior ‖ When’s the radio dropping】
【Miro_Endway_Choi Yeon-woo Senior ‖ I gotta stamp my approval before things get busy, so when…?】
“Seriously, these seniors…”
Still dazed from the flood of messages since morning, I was just swallowing hard when another call came through.
【Miro_Upia_Nam Da-down Senior】
“…? Why is this senior…”
Startled by the sudden call, I answered, and a ridiculously loud voice came through the phone like machine-gun fire.
-Insane, Ha-jin! Ha-jin buddy! Or Ha-jin uncle!? What was that!? Little Tae-il! You totally blew up!? What, what. I’m getting calls left and right asking me to introduce you, it’s chaos. Oh, of course the introduction here isn’t like a blind date introduction, it’s more like a meeting kind of introduction…but that meeting isn’t that kind of meeting, you know? Like when we first meet at work and get introduced and exchange business opportunities, that kind of business meeting. You know what I mean? M-E-E-T-I-N-G…
“Senior, I’m really sorry but I’m in the middle of a schedule right now, so I’ll call you back in a bit.”
-What, senior!?
“Nam Tee-joo, the coolest main dancer in the world, I’ll call you back shortly.”
-Roger that~
Click.
What just happened? What passed by?
What kind of storm is this? Or is it a typhoon?
Like Cinderella whose world flipped overnight, my head was spinning.
I understood something had gone really well, or rather, I’d expected it to go well.
But I hadn’t anticipated success on this scale—the bewilderment and slight fear mixed with excitement and tension that came with it subtly crept down my neck and tightened my chest.
“It’s… something, it went… too well?”
Ding dong.
Then, another message came through from someone.
【The Strongest Woman in the World】
I checked the messenger from the familiar notification, and there was a very concise and brief message from Mother.
【The Strongest Woman in the World ‖ Son】
【The Strongest Woman in the World ‖ Nice work】
【The Strongest Woman in the World ‖ Well done】
“…Wow.”
I really did something….
I must have done really well.
Only then did I cover my mouth in admiration at my own impressive performance.

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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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