Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 335

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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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335. Strike First, Strike Hard (2)
The Destiny fanbase had weathered a nightmare—their first major schism since debut, born from that brutal clash with the rival group.
They now existed in a ceasefire masquerading as peace.
– No, you guys, we’re all going to die like this; please show some restraint until the comeback
For some, it was self-purification; for others, enforced silence.
They buried their grievances and resentments beneath the earth, united by a single reason: their love for Kairos. The justification was simple—they could revisit these wounds after the members’ carefully prepared comeback track dropped. There was no rush.
Yet hearts once wounded inevitably bore their scars.
The fan community, where regeneration posts had once flourished, now moved so sluggishly that a single day pushed the front page back by entire sections. The SNS accounts that had once overflowed with theories and speculation locked themselves down one by one, retreating into underground bunkers.
The surface reasons were all identical.
One Daydream
@haru_dream_
Taking a break from fandom life until the comeback 🙂
~REST~
(Spring Doesn’t Come – Dan Ha-ru Edit Clip 1.gif)
(Spring Doesn’t Come – Dan Ha-ru Edit Clip 2.gif)
Students cited exam season; office workers blamed the grueling stretch before May’s golden holidays. A substantial portion of Destiny fans vanished from the online sphere under these convenient pretexts.
Among them, not a few were quietly lurking in private accounts, sampling other idol fandoms as a test run. If this comeback failed to satisfy them, those account locks might never come undone.
‘Would they solidify their position at the top, or would they crumble?’
Faced with this critical juncture where the team’s fate hung in balance, I chose to wait.
I offered no countermeasures to repair the fandom fracture or stem the exodus. I simply waited for this silent April to end.
The reason was straightforward.
‘Why would I let them crumble?’
I had confidence that this album would persuade the fans.
K:RUS Official
@kirus official
K:RUS 2ND Mini Album
‘The End of Youth’
Case 01. The Disappearance of First Love
‘Spring Doesn’t Come’ M/V
§ itu.be/Kie3v_FPalss…
17K Shares 21K Likes
Silent April faded away, and the promised May arrived.
K:RUS’s “Spring Doesn’t Come” music video and the tracks from The End of Youth album dropped simultaneously.
This was my opening salvo.
* * *
Everyone had anticipated that K:RUS’s second mini-album title track “Spring Doesn’t Come” would be an easy-listening piece in the melancholic-refreshing genre, built on a band sound foundation.
From “Daylight,” the theme song for Miro Maze, to the debut track “Over the Night,” and the massive hit “This Isn’t a Carol”—while each song possessed distinctly different colors when examined closely, they all shared a common thread: band-sound compositions anchored by real drums and electric guitar riffs.
Moreover, having already created the perfect success template with “This Isn’t a Carol,” the industry standard for this essential album was to either create “This Isn’t a Carol 2” or stick with a proven formula—safe, reliable, guaranteed to hit.
‘But was that truly the best approach?’
Success was the goal, certainly, but I had no desire to manufacture factory-line music in pursuit of success alone.
It wouldn’t be right to Seo Tae-il, who readily accepted the song commission, or to Lee Do-ha, who yielded the title track position, or to the members and company staff who trusted me completely with the album planning, or to the fans who would buy this album simply because we made it.
So Ha-jin made a choice.
If I couldn’t touch the song’s genre, then I would touch the emotions and story contained within it.
The same sky, the same day
The world remains ordinary even today
Indifferently
The music video content and lyrics of “No Spring” weren’t drastically different from what Desty fans had deduced after watching the concept trailer.
An endless hamster wheel spinning
This world, perfect without a single flaw,
Somehow holds no joy,
Tediously
The story unfolded with a slightly more graceful dramatic tie—Dan Ha-ru awakening in a world where the people he loved vanished in an instant, confused about which reality was true, struggling to reclaim the truth.
From the opening of the music video, scenes of the members boating and enjoying spring flowers by the riverside, or running barefoot freely and playing joyfully in the fields, were presented with sophisticated color grading. It was a directorial choice to further contrast the grayscale reality that followed immediately after.
Am I Wrong?
I feel like I’ve forgotten something
No matter how hard I grasp
Like sand slipping through my fingertips
Where am I?
The world and me,
One of us must be insane
Dreaming dreams I’ve never seen
Losing hands I’ve never held
Going mad, I know, that’s right
The song of a time traveler who had lost ordinary and unremarkable memories began to shift subtly from the pre-chorus of the first verse.
Dan Ha-ru’s initially vibrant appearance gradually became cold and indifferent, and the lyrics followed suit, becoming somehow desolate. The bright and powerful atmosphere of a children’s anime opening OST from years past created an ironic contrast.
Spring without you,
Spring where only you disappeared
Meaninglessly
At the climax of the mounting emotions, all instruments suddenly vanished, replaced by an alien xylophone sound and a low-pitched voice singing. It was Tae-hyun’s voice. In the music video, Dan Ha-ru with vacant eyes stared directly at the camera.
If it’s a world where I can never find you,
Then perhaps instead―
Behind Dan Ha-ru, sunlight began gradually brightening. No—it began to brighten far too intensely.
As if the world itself were ending, the screen became engulfed in light, and Dan Ha-ru smiled with his original clear smile, singing the lyrics for the first time.
Go,
Perish completely
It was an incantation for Earth’s destruction delivered with the most endearing expression in the world.
* * *
Kang Dae-jang
@strongjin
So what you’re saying is, youth’s apocalypse means…
They really did end the world…
These crazy lovers…
A world without you holds no meaning
They really forced the world to collapse…
Youth itself met its apocalypse…
These insane bastards…
Shared 1,029 Likes 2,445
[Kairos new song is fire]
Kinda feels like listening to old anime OSTs lol
– At first I was like why are the lyrics like that, but then I came to and I’m just humming “let it all collapse”
– The lyrics alone are a total depressing sad ending but the song itself is weirdly hopeful which is killing me lol
– It’s like… somewhere between that muggle sensibility and otaku sensibility lol
JungSoftCream
@ice_ciu
Kairos always
packs the lyrics tight
into songs over 3 minutes, love that
kinda has that old 3rd gen boy group vibe
Shared 907 Likes 1,233
‘Good response.’
When I hit Alt+Tab on the system window containing fan response monitoring, it automatically switched to the music site monitoring window. I was really pleased with how it felt like using a futuristic AI smartphone now.
34th Place(
▲
) This Ain’t a Carol
K:RUS
(…)
70th Place(NEW!) Spring Doesn’t Come
K:RUS
“70th place entry? That’s insane.”
Plus, the ranking for “This Ain’t a Carol,” which had been languishing dully since winter passed, had shot up considerably, apparently boosted by the comeback streaming surge.
So the chart really does only respond to easy listening. It was the result I’d expected, but I felt slightly dazed.
“There’s probably some opening day buff involved….”
Still, this was a satisfying start. Actually, to be honest, it exceeded my expectations. Just seeing the SNS timeline, which had been quiet for a while, get noisy again proved it.
Regardless of everything else, the fact that people were satisfied with the song we’d worked so hard to prepare was enough to put me in a good mood.
‘Since it’s a music video that basically throws the story at you to interpret, it looks like there are a lot of analysis posts popping up….’
All the effort we put into the music video during the A&R Team planning meetings had paid off.
Especially how in the first verse the story unfolds centered on Dan Ha-ru, but from the second verse onward, the other members were actually opening their eyes in different worlds searching for each other, and the scene where the mysterious entity they thought was their “first love” is revealed to actually be the members—it was expressed so sensually that I was really pleased with it.
‘I never thought Ji Su-ho securing the music video director before the accident would turn out to be this helpful.’
If nothing major happens going forward, it seemed like it would be good to work with this director on a few more pieces.
Pressing Alt+Tab again, I pulled up the personnel dictionary from the main categories and placed a checkmark on the music video director’s profile saved in the most recent list. Then something glimmered in the bottom right corner as a new message appeared.
[System Notification: Hey, wait a minute….]
[System Notification: What did you do to me while I was gone?! The System protests!!!]
[System Notification: ᕕ(ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)ᕗ]
[System Notification: I’m the System itself—how can there be functions I don’t know about?! The System rages!!!]
[System Notification: (ʘ言ʘ╬)]
It was Thirteen, finally back after all this time.
I casually pretended not to hear, picking at my ear with my pinky finger.
“Well, who told you to be away for so long anyway, right…?”
[System Notification: How can you be so shameless…?]
[System Notification: The System is left speechless by the fixed returner’s brazen attitude…!]
Brazen? What’s that supposed to mean?
The kid’s vocabulary sure expanded while I was gone.
“Ugh, stop getting mad. Keep it up and you’ll actually turn human again.”
[System Notification: Th-this…! This is an insult to the System!]
“What’s that supposed to be.”
[System Notification: An insult to the Time Management Authority’s dignity!]
“How do you even do that.”
[System Notification: Argh…! Do you know how hard I worked to resolve Ji Su-ho’s situation?!]
“Yeah, and you already cried and thanked me the day you first came back. Want to cry again?”
[System Notification: …The System closes its shutters, deciding to say nothing more.]
[System Notification: s(・｀ヘ´・；)]
Watching the System window glow purple, I figured I should probably stop teasing now. I let out a hollow laugh as the System window actually shut with a mechanical click-clack sound, like real shutters closing. The kid had gotten some rest and came back with even more attitude than before.
“Hey, Kim Thirteen.”
[System Notification: No response]
“Thirteen, I still have monitoring to do.”
[System Notification: The System grumbles, asking if you’re going to put away your phone and laptop to make soup instead.]
“Come on, you’re way more convenient, smarter, and accurate.”
[System Notification: ….]
Look at that transparent reaction.
“Ah, it’s almost 8 o’clock now…. It’s about to go live…. This is so fun…. Seriously, you’d absolutely lose your mind seeing this, your dopamine would go crazy, you’d think it’s insane, but ah, I guess I’ll just watch it on my phone alone.”
[System Notification: ….]
“This was filmed while you were gone, so you don’t even know what it’s about, tsk, and I have to head out for a schedule soon, so I can only watch it now. Watching through the System is so much more vivid and fun than on a phone or tablet, but ah….”
[System Notification: ….]
As I deliberately whined with regret, even though the System knew I was being manipulative, I could see the shutters of the tightly closed System window trembling.
After glancing at my wristwatch a few more times and muttering, “Ah, should I just watch it alone on my phone with earbuds…?” the System’s shutters finally opened completely, and Thirteen’s grumbling message appeared.
[System Notification: The System installs a timer, stating ‘just this one video and then I’m closing the door.’]
[System Notification: The System earnestly emphasizes that it’s merely fulfilling its duties—it is NOT forgiving you!]
“Yeah, yeah. Kim Thirteen is the best. Got it, so hurry and pull up our group’s AiTube. It’s already 8 o’clock.”
With a bit of flattery, a crystal-clear AiTube screen materialized in the air like a 60-inch display. No matter how I think about it, if I get used to this, I’m going to feel so empty when I can’t use the System later. What do I do?
Even as I thought that, my hands faithfully logged into Kairos’s official AiTube account. The time was now exactly 8 o’clock. A new video had just been uploaded to AiTube.
[System Alert: What is this?]
[System Alert: The system expresses curiosity about the unusual thumbnail and title.]
[System Alert: (｡・ω・｡)?]
“Oh, this? Well, it’s like this….”
【Today’s Kairos S2 EP.01 Teaser ‖ Desty…you…are…my star…☆ A Kairos production about how that guy who would kiss you for just five thousand won seemed cool, but it turned out he was actually a wolf and I got seduced】
A thermonuclear missile-grade bomb to obliterate the entire evil war.
My second preemptive strike.

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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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