Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 344

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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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344. ADMIRATION AND SALVATION (3)
Ju Eun-chan ultimately managed to complete the fan sign event successfully that day.
On the surface, at least.
—Eun-chan, Ju Eun-chan! Are you okay?
—…Ah, yes. I’m fine. It’s just that suddenly my legs gave out….
The moment we returned to the waiting room after the fan sign event ended, Ju Eun-chan collapsed onto the floor as if his body had simply given way. It was a moment that revealed just how much tension he’d been holding in, despite his denials.
In the end, we had to cancel all the individual schedules planned for that day and force ourselves to rest at the dormitory. The company was ready to send any of us to the Psychological Counseling Center at the slightest sign of trauma or emotional distress from the incident.
And I was grateful for the company’s overprotectiveness.
Honestly, if it were someone else, I might not worry so much, but Ju Eun-chan had a history—that made me even more concerned.
‘In the previous timeline, he lived with both agoraphobia and panic disorder as a package deal. I can’t rule out the possibility that The Returner might actually do something truly insane.’
However, contrary to my worries, Ju Eun-chan smiled more often after that day and ate better too. I observed him carefully for several days, wondering if he was just acting to avoid worrying us, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
The only concerning thing was that he seemed slightly more withdrawn around strangers than before. But even that wasn’t something to worry about as long as the other members were with him.
‘…Is he really okay?’
Well, if he is, that’s actually a relief.
Still, there’s no harm in being prepared in advance, so I decided to work with Thirteen to strengthen security as much as possible.
[System Notification: Mental care system for colleague ‘Ju Eun-chan’ has been reinforced.]
[System Notification: Security is being strengthened. (UP)]
[System Notification: Security is being strengthened. (UP)]
[System Notification: Intruder alert has been set.]
‘But this actually works, right? I’m just doing it because I’m anxious, but….’
[System Notification: The system recognizes the fixed returner’s statement as contempt!]
‘No, I’m just saying this because accidents keep happening. Wait? Why haven’t we caught that bastard yet?’
[System Notification: The system has no words to offer on that matter and is evading the question….]
According to Thirteen’s explanation, The Returner is currently fleeing between fragments of past timelines, constantly watching for an opportunity to interfere with the present timeline again.
The fact that he deliberately switched Dan Ha-ru—that fragile rebel—into the main personality was concerning, and it seemed like he’d take some action soon. That perverted bastard still hadn’t abandoned his goal of stealing someone else’s body to live in, and I was growing increasingly fed up with it.
‘If only my life genre were a hunter novel instead….’
No matter how I thought about it, I regretted that my life’s genre was #idol instead of #hunter. If it were a hunter novel, I could have just cleanly eliminated him with a sword, bow, or magic.
It wasn’t even a regular regression novel—it was an idol novel, which meant getting entangled in any illegal activities would end my life in an instant.
“Alright, everyone! Now focus! We’re starting filming!”
The moment I thought that, the sound of clapping accompanied Kwon PD’s energetic voice.
‘Right, I’m an idol.’
A successful idol’s life was ridiculously busy. Even if the sky fell, you had to do fan signs; even if the earth rose up, you had to attend events. That was the virtue of being an idol.
In other words, despite experiencing that shocking accident, we still stood before the camera for the filming of Today’s Kairos.
“Kairos’s Youth Targeting Project! This location is….”
And it was none other than….
“Dreamland—a land of fantasy and happiness where dreams and hope spring forth, and adventure and imagination overflow―!”
Aaaaaaaaahhhhh―!!!!
Behind Kwon Myung’s cheerful opening remarks, the screams of people echoed softly like background music. The roller coaster tracks receding and approaching in the distance mirrored our own turbulent hearts, and I couldn’t hide my gloomy feelings.
To the members standing blankly, staring at the ominous rides, Kwon PD added a comment in the voice of a happy cat who’d tasted capitalism.
“By the way, today’s OCA comes with Dreamland PPL♥”
…Ah, so you’re the sponsor. The advertiser.
“Coming to Dreamland has been the dream and bucket list of my entire life.”
Well, that changes things.
With the terrifying sounds of spinning rides as my backdrop, I flashed a bright smile and gave a thumbs up to my one-shot camera.
* * *
On a Tuesday morning—the most ambiguous weekday—perhaps because the weather forecast had mentioned possible rain, Dreamland was far less crowded than expected.
I’d briefly harbored hope that this might be one of those “we rented the whole place just for you” scenarios, but seeing the staff members whispering among themselves about how fortunate it was that there weren’t many people today, it seemed we’d genuinely lucked out.
“Then I’ll brief you on your mission. You’re scheduled to hold a guerrilla concert at the Love Square stage here at Dreamland at 8 PM this evening.”
“…Here?”
“Yes, here! So starting now, you’ll need to promote the guerrilla concert by moving around various parts of Dreamland!”
…Wait. Isn’t this actually fortunate?
The moment I received the mission briefing, something felt off. Kwon PD continued with a cheerful smile.
“But a typical guerrilla concert would be boring, wouldn’t it? Today, there’s a specific target audience number.”
“How… how many people?”
“300 people. The Love Square stage’s seating capacity is exactly that size. Therefore, you must bring 300 audience members here by 7:30 PM, thirty minutes before the performance starts.”
Meeting 300 people in a crowded amusement park wasn’t particularly difficult.
But keeping those people here until 7:30 and making them watch our performance was another matter entirely. Since this schedule was conducted in complete secrecy, it wasn’t easy for our fans who heard the news to rush here immediately.
Moreover, today was unusually sparse on visitors.
Despite the mission being harder than expected, these merciless production staff members added several conditions.
“But you can’t just invite anyone! Only those who possess the invitations we’ve prepared can enter. Each member will be provided with just 10 invitations as a base.”
“10 invitations? That’s only 70 total?”
“Exactly. So what should you do?”
Kwon PD’s smile shone with particular brightness. I knew that smile. It was the same one from when he’d tied a handycam to my hands and thrown me off a bungee jump (technically I jumped myself, but given my psychological state, it felt like being thrown). That very smile.
Aaaaaaahhhhhhh――!!
Mooooooom――!!!!
Screams echoed from the bungee drop tower where people were plummeting from great heights. Kwon PD, who was savoring those screams as if they were some delightful orchestral concerto, opened his mouth.
“You’ll need to do your very best to earn them, won’t you? Kairos, fighting!”
The cast members who’d worked with this senior… they must have felt exactly like this.
That guy is a demon. Absolutely a demon.
Reflecting on my past self, who’d once giggled behind the camera calling this a fun project, I silently gazed up at the sky, which was as overcast as my mood….
* * *
If you asked whether I was good at riding amusement park rides, I’d say I didn’t just ride them well—I actually enjoyed them. If I hadn’t been built that way in the first place, Kwon PD wouldn’t have had the opportunity to dangle and throw me in my previous life.
Ironically, the one who couldn’t ride them well despite his appearance was on the other side.
“I can’t ride it. Seriously, I really can’t! I hate it! What am I supposed to trust to board that hunk of rebar and climb 22 meters above ground!”
“You look like you’d chew through rebar itself, so why are you scared of a roller coaster? Are you a baby? Even tigers would ride this.”
“Then go ask Lee Yu-ho and have him ride it instead of me!”
Watching Yoo Gun cling desperately to a pillar, refusing to budge even if it killed him, Seo Tae-hyun—sporting an adorable rabbit headband—shook his head in disbelief. No matter how I looked at it, Seo Tae-hyun seemed more frightened while Yoo Gun appeared exasperated, which felt like a cliché reversal. Anyway, none of these guys ever turned out the way you’d expect.
…And there was another one on my opposite side who couldn’t have fun despite his appearance.
“Then Yoo Gun, you ride the carousel with Lee Do-ha. He said he’d rather die than ride a roller coaster because of motion sickness.”
Lee Do-ha, with his massive build, had turned pale after just one spin on the Mega Spin—the guy trained hard in sports, so his inner ear shouldn’t be easily disturbed, yet he suffered from surprisingly severe motion sickness.
I set down the GoPro camera I’d been holding onto the bench and moved closer to Jeong Si-u to examine the map he was studying. The Dreamland map provided by the production team listed the missions and rewards for each ride.
Satisfied with the current situation, Jeong Si-u had even procured a red pen and marked stars next to every ride he wanted to try. I asked him about it.
“You can ride anything, can’t you? Looking at all these stars you’ve marked everywhere.”
However, Jeong Si-u’s answer was completely different from what I expected.
“No? I don’t know.”
“…You don’t know? What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve never been to an amusement park before. I’ve never ridden any rides, so I don’t really know if I’m good at it or not.”
“…Then why did you mark stars?”
“If I can’t ride them, at least you guys should get to.”
…There was another person here who’d tie my feet and throw me off a bungee jump.
I instinctively stepped back from the madness radiating off Jeong Si-u, but it was pointless. Seo Tae-hyun, who had been coaxing Lee Yu-gun on the other side, approached us.
“Look, let’s map out a route first. Splitting up seems more effective than staying together given the time constraints. How many invitations should we secure to be safe?”
“We’ve already got 70 as a base, so we need 230 more. But since there’s no guarantee that people who receive invitations will actually show up, if we account for some no-shows, we should distribute at least 500. So even if we’re conservative, we need to secure at least 400 to be safe.”
“But constantly hunting for invitations doesn’t feel right either, does it? What if we set a time limit? It’s 10 AM now, and honestly, distributing invitations from this point on seems pointless. For example, we could distribute invitations until 4 PM, and after 4 PM, we focus on using the invitations we’ve already secured.”
“True…. People are more likely to come as the performance time gets closer anyway.”
“If we secure invitations but can’t distribute them, it’s meaningless anyway, so I’m good with it.”
As expected, the moment the three of us gathered, a plan materialized instantly.
If I’d had people like this back in university, I could’ve become an infinite perpetual motion machine instead of a bus driver. No matter how I think about it, meeting these people as business partners rather than college peers was my eternal regret.
‘Or wait, is it actually fortunate that I met them as business partners?’
In any case, it was clear that the brains of this group were definitely these three, and with that accurate character assessment, I picked up Jeong Si-u’s red pen and tapped the map.
“So should we form teams? Two teams seem inefficient, what about three teams—two, two, three?”
“Sounds good.”
“Then let’s pair up those Lee brothers first. No matter how I think about it, those two can probably only ride kids’ rides.”
“Agreed. Go ride the carousel and bumper cars hard and come back.”
Just like that, the first team was formed. Jeong Si-u, who lightly agreed with Seo Tae-hyun’s opinion, added his own suggestion.
“Then I’ll go with Tae-hyun. Since I don’t know how well I’ll adapt to rides, I think it’s better to go with someone who rides well.”
“I’m fine with that.”
“Well, I don’t mind…. Do I seem untrustworthy to you, hyung?”
Feeling like I’d been sidelined by Seo Tae-hyun, I raised my eyebrows and asked. Jeong Si-u laughed with a soft chuckle and shook his head.
“It’s not that, but I think you need to stick with Ha-ru and Eun-chan. They’re already meeting strangers, and if I attach Tae-hyun to them, he’ll be completely drained and knocked out before 4 PM.”
That was also an accurate character assessment.
Whether it was sparkling Dan Ha-ru or rebellious Dan Ha-ru, both versions drained Seo Tae-hyun’s energy equally. It wasn’t a bad proposal for me, who had been worried about the combination of Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru in various ways.
“Alright then. I’ll take responsibility for the maknae today.”
“Huh? But now that I think about it, where did the maknae go? I don’t see them?”
Seo Tae-hyun looked around with a puzzled voice. Normally, I should’ve been able to tell where they were even without looking, given how much they’d be chattering excitedly. But with their relationship turning cold lately, tracking down the maknae’s location had become quite difficult.
Fortunately, Jeong Si-u seemed to know their whereabouts and answered quickly.
“Oh, Eun-chan said he wanted to buy something earlier and went out for a bit. Ha-ru went with him, I think.”
“So they went together? I can’t tell if they fought or not…. Huh, Ha-ru’s coming over there?”
Spotting Dan Ha-ru walking toward us from a distance, wiping his hands, Seo Tae-hyun waved at him.
“Ha-ru, where’s Eun-chan?”
“…Huh?”
“Eun-chan. Didn’t you come together?”
At that, Dan Ha-ru’s eyes widened in confusion as he looked at us.
“…He left earlier, didn’t he? He didn’t come?”
“…What?”
In that instant, question marks appeared simultaneously on everyone’s faces. I glanced at the production staff and crew members beside me just in case, but they only wore bewildered expressions, clearly as lost as we were. Dan Ha-ru furrowed one eyebrow and spoke.
“…Where did Ju Eun-chan go?”
* * *
And at that very moment.
At Snack Town in front of Adventure Stairs somewhere in Dreamland.
“Hmm….”
Holding the shark headband Tae-hyun had recommended, the adorable cat balloon he’d bought because it resembled Ha-ru, and the blue cotton candy that reminded him of Do-ha, Ju Eun-chan pondered.
“Where was the opening location again…?”
Ten minutes had elapsed since the start of filming for Today’s Kairos’ Dreamland special.
A missing person situation had occurred…!

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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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