Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 304

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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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304. Phantom Pain (3)
I walked slowly toward Si-woo. Watching him panic as if still seeing Father’s phantom, I raised my hand over his eyes to block his vision.
“It’s okay, hyung. Just a nightmare.”
For someone claiming to be fine, my lips felt parched, but I made an effort not to show it.
But it was fine. For now, it was fine.
Because this much was something I’d anticipated.
“You were just a bit under the weather for two days and three nights, hyung. You took medicine and fell asleep, but the medication gave you nightmares. That’s all.”
As I said this, I opened the System window.
I’d decided not to rely on skills or the System’s power as much as possible, but this situation was beyond my own strength, so I’d made preparations in advance with Thirteen.
[System Notification: Will you use the authority of Time Management Authority Zero (0)? (Y/N)]
[System Notification: Warning. The administrator’s authority is incomplete. Using this authority will incur a penalty.]
[System Notification: Warning. The corresponding timeline (Jeong Si-u) is not included in the scope of the administrator’s authority. Using this authority will incur a penalty.]
[System Notification: A higher interference system (How much would it take?) for the corresponding authority has been confirmed. The penalty will be substituted.]
[System Notification: You can substitute the penalty with coins.]
[System Notification: Will you substitute all remaining coins for the penalty? (Y/N)]
For this very purpose, when I designed the Unconscious Space, I’d set aside a small amount of coins like an emergency fund just in case.
Without hesitation, I selected YES, and the System ran quickly, displaying multiple notification windows. After skipping the unnecessary ones appropriately, the System window with the content I wanted finally appeared.
[System Notification: The timeline and memories of the corresponding timeline (Jeong Si-u) will be adjusted.]
[System Notification: Memories of the past timeline will be deleted.]
[System Notification: Loading….]
“Don’t worry and get some good sleep, hyung.”
As the System window indicating the memory deletion was complete appeared, Si-woo’s previously vacant eyes slowly closed, and I felt his body go limp. It seemed he’d consciously shut down his awareness as the tension released.
I caught Si-woo’s falling body and carefully seated him against one wall, then confirmed he’d fallen properly asleep before standing up. Yet even after standing, I remained motionless in place, my mouth clamped shut.
In my mind, tangled threads were rapidly unraveling one by one even in this moment.
‘Think. Think, Kang Ha-jin.’
There was still a chance.
I hadn’t lost anything yet.
Chewing over words Su-ho had once told me, I exhaled sharply as if steeling myself.
It was the very next moment that someone came up the stairs behind me with a loud noise.
“…?”
When I turned around, I saw Yoo Gun stumbling up the stairs with a clattering sound, his foot twisted as he awkwardly braced himself on the floor. Startled, I stepped forward, and Yoo Gun quickly waved his hand as if to say he was fine, then got up and approached me.
In the meantime, he must have glanced at Si-woo sleeping against the wall, because Yoo Gun approached me with a face that had composed his shock as much as possible, awkwardly pointing at Si-woo and asking.
“Is this hyung okay?”
“…I put him to sleep so he’d be fine. Why did you come up? You said Kwon Wook hyung wasn’t coming for another two hours.”
“Ah, well…. Do-ha hyung just called me….”
Yoo Gun trailed off as he remembered the reason he’d come up to the second floor, wetting his lips with his tongue. As his hesitation made my eyes sharpen, Yoo Gun exhaled like a sigh and spoke.
“Ju Eun-chan and the Executive Director got into an accident and they’re at the hospital now. Ju Eun-chan’s side doesn’t seem to be too serious, but the Executive Director―,”
From the moment I heard those words, the subsequent words didn’t reach my ears properly, as if water had entered them. So this is what the common expression about one’s heart dropping to the ground really feels like. Along with what sounded like tinnitus in my ears, the timeline of Ji Su-ho that I’d confirmed earlier flashed before my eyes.
[Blindness]
[Reason: Traffic Accident]
Today, he might lose the world itself.
The moment his worst nightmare materialized into reality, I squeezed my eyes shut.
* * *
The reason I hadn’t dared speak of Ji Su-ho’s “accident” was because it was an event with a higher probability of never occurring.
[System Alert: Fortunately, this “accident” is not a fixed event!]
In most timelines, Ji Su-ho loses the internal political struggle against Miro’s former Executive Director, ultimately transferring jobs without ever properly demonstrating his abilities. Even after the transfer, the former Executive Director uses every connection at his disposal to obstruct him, eventually pushing him down to a nameless small company—that was his primary timeline.
[System Alert: Just once. It happened exactly once in the timeline when the Chosen Regressor turned twenty-six.]
[System Alert: The timeline when Kang Ha-jin was twenty-nine.]
His traffic accident occurred just once.
It happened that year when Dan Ha-ru first survived until twenty-six after beginning his regression cycles. He, who handled everything alone at a small company, was hit by a drunk driver while pushing himself to return from a provincial business trip at dawn. Though he miraculously survived, Ji Su-ho lost his sight from the accident and was forced into early retirement.
This was why I had never heard the name Ji Su-ho throughout all my years moving between industries.
-Then…. Then what do we do? We can’t exactly tell Ji Su-ho never to drive for the rest of his life. Traffic accidents don’t only happen because someone chooses to drive.
[System Alert: The One Who Returns is quite cunning.]
[System Alert: The moment he realizes that Kang Ha-jin knows about this accident and fears it, he will exploit it.]
-So what, just sit back and take it? If Ji Su-ho actually gets into an accident then, it’ll be too late.
[System Alert: The timelines that have passed are currently fragmented and in disarray by the One Who Returns.]
[System Alert: Since this event is not a “fixed event,” the One Who Returns might not have noticed it yet.]
[System Alert: First, I’ll try my best to hide that accident!]
[System Alert: But if…. If that accident does occur….]
To me, still unable to hide my anxiety and unease, Thirteen made this solemn promise.
[System Alert: I will resolve it no matter what.]
[System Alert: Please just endure, Kang Ha-jin.]
-What else can we do. Do you have a method? Or I could take some penalty instead….
[System Alert: No. With just the current plan, you’re already in considerable danger.]
[System Alert: As your System, I cannot permit any further self-sacrifice.]
-….
[System Alert: Please trust me! I will definitely find a way to protect Ji Su-ho.]
[System Alert: This is a promise I make as a Time Management Authority.]
[System Alert: ( •̀ω•́ )و✧]
I didn’t think nodding in agreement to those words back then was a mistake.
I was only now beginning to truly grasp it.
The weight of Thirteen’s repeated pleas to “endure,” and the precipice-edge feeling that the Chosen Regressor Dan Ha-ru must have experienced at every moment.
“Ah.”
…How the hell am I supposed to crush this bastard to feel satisfied?
In the car driving from Namhae to Seoul, I had to cool the rage rising in my throat while watching the landscape shift in real time.
Yet simultaneously, I knew this wasn’t the moment to merely rage. Having forced myself to regain composure, I sat in the passenger seat and asked Kwon Wook, who was driving with a blank expression.
“How did the accident happen? Wasn’t Eun-chan supposed to stay at his hometown?”
Then, as anger surged again at the thought, Kwon Wook exhaled a deep breath from deep within and answered in a tone of displeasure I’d never heard from him before.
“It’s those damn reporters causing trouble. I shouldn’t say this in front of you guys, but…. Seriously, how do people who’ve lived long enough to have that much age go through life like that? It’s unbelievable.”
“Reporters?”
“Eun-chan had a family gathering, remember? Rumors about his family have been circulating among reporters. Tae-hyun must have stumbled onto something while digging into Boy Heaven. After hiding it so carefully, these disgusting bastards….”
Everything that happens in this world is interconnected.
Tae-hyun, Boy Heaven, reporters, Eun-chan, family.
As I lined up the keywords in sequence, I quickly grasped the connections between them.
When Tae-hyun’s scandal erupted, suspicions arose about his appearance on Miro Maze, and traces of Eun-chan’s family company, Judiz Furniture, were subtly woven throughout the show. Moreover, since Eun-chan’s debut, Judiz Furniture has been producing web variety content with the Studio—the production company behind Miro Maze—for corporate promotion, just as I’d suggested.
‘Ju isn’t exactly a common surname, so they must have caught the scent.’
And if they’d dug up the bait that Han Sung-woo’s side had deliberately spread to shift the nepotism scandal onto Eun-chan….
There was no way reporters would leave Kairos alone—the most talked-about and recognized rookie idol group currently debuted, a perfect prey.
“A reporter disguised herself as a fan and approached Eun-chan as he was leaving after eating with his family. At first, he didn’t realize she was a reporter, and when she said Desty, he couldn’t refuse and didn’t handle it properly. He even ended up giving her an autograph.”
“…He’s always been more attentive about fan service anyway.”
“Fortunately, he refused to take a photo and only signed, but the woman wouldn’t let go. When Eun-seok sensed something was wrong and found them, he pulled Eun-chan away, but by then it was already too late.”
Eun-seok had already gone through extensive promotional efforts as Judiz Furniture’s new leader and was in the process of becoming a recognizable face. If they’d spotted Eun-seok looking after Eun-chan, confirming the connection between Judiz Furniture and Eun-chan would have been trivial.
I nodded knowingly, and Kwon Wook continued speaking, checking his side mirror multiple times and changing lanes even as he talked.
“But these insane reporters weren’t satisfied with that—they actually tailed him. Yeah, well, tailing is something those reporter bastards do all the time, so we could overlook that much. But with such tight security and Eun-chan not stepping foot outside his hometown, these assholes got desperate for a scoop.”
“…?”
How far can humans go in their selfishness to satisfy their greed and desires?
Even as Kwon Wook spoke, suppressing his emotions to prevent any unforeseen accidents, I watched him strike the steering wheel, and that question suddenly came to mind.
Kwon Wook’s fury erupted immediately after.
“They deliberately caused an accident, deliberately! Isn’t that absolutely insane? The Executive Director went to pick up Eun-chan separately after realizing reporters were following him, and seeing that, these bastards intentionally rammed their car into his just to get an interview! Are they even human? They’re just scum blinded by the pursuit of a scoop!”
Faced with this nauseating tragedy born from someone’s selfishness, I felt like I might retch.

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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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