Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 349

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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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349. Longing and Salvation (8)
[Greed.]
Once, there was a name to call this being, but now even that has been lost.
The Voice spoke to Dan Ha-ru in this manner.
Did you choose a life of greed?
[Greed.]
Once, this being was salvation itself to Dan Ha-ru, yet ultimately led him toward ruin.
The Voice spoke again in this way.
They made you covet life itself, it said.
[Greed….]
Once, this being merely observed the passage of human time, but now desires that very time.
The Voice spoke yet again.
This time, Dan Ha-ru could not discern toward whom its words were directed.
[…That cannot be.]
‘What are you talking about….’
To the Voice’s utterly incomprehensible words, Dan Ha-ru answered irritably.
Ever since the primary personality shifted, I had anticipated that such a moment would eventually arrive, so I was not surprised. I had prioritized only ‘Ha-ru’s choice and broken my contract with the Voice, yet I never believed he would simply release me without consequence.
‘Ah, I’m so tired….’
I wanted to say something else, but my eyes kept closing.
‘Will I die like this?’
If so, then death—which I had feared so greatly—seemed almost trivial.
Yet unfortunately, the Voice seemed to have no intention of granting me such peaceful rest for breaking our agreement.
[If you wish to covet greed again, then I must remind you.]
[What kind of human you are.]
My eyes finally closed.
The Voice’s final words echoed like a haunting refrain.
[What else your choice will destroy.]
…Somehow, I knew I would fall into a long, terrible nightmare.
* * *
When I opened my eyes again, Dan Ha-ru stood motionless in a strangely hollow room. Not a single ray of sunlight penetrated the tightly drawn blackout curtains.
Before I could even properly comprehend the situation, a knock sounded from behind. Dan Ha-ru startled and spun around. Soon, a desperate voice came from beyond the firmly closed door.
-Eun-chan.
Eun-chan?
My body trembled at the familiar name.
-Hey, youngest. Your hyung’s heading to the Company now. You’re not going to show your face today either?
Only then did Dan Ha-ru realize which timeline the Voice had brought him to.
This place was, in other words….
-…It’s fine if you don’t show your face, but I’m leaving food and medicine outside the door, so make sure you eat them, okay?
…This place was, in other words, the timeline where Ju Eun-chan had ‘failed’.
[No? No, that’s not right.]
[‘It’s a timeline where Ju Eun-chan’s life has been completely ruined because of you.’]
The Voice, which had appeared without warning, helpfully corrected my sentence.
Even though it was the Voice itself who had urged Dan Ha-ru to turn back time, it shamelessly pinned everything on him. Yet Dan Ha-ru couldn’t firmly deny those words.
After all, the regression I had chosen had only compounded Ju Eun-chan’s misfortunes into a mountain of suffering—that much remained unchanged.
-….
Behind me, I sensed the presence of someone moving. Without even turning around, Dan Ha-ru could easily guess it was Ju Eun-chan.
Because of that, I couldn’t bring myself to turn around.
I didn’t have the courage to witness with my own eyes how completely shattered Ju Eun-chan had become.
[Closing your eyes in a dream won’t wake you up.]
Then, helpfully, the Voice illuminated my vision anew. Like a third-person observer’s perspective in a game, even though my body still faced the door, I could now see the entire room laid out below me.
And there, in the darkest corner of the room, Ju Eun-chan slowly pushed himself upright, naturally entering my field of view.
Between unkempt, tangled hair, eyes completely devoid of light flickered dimly. His lips were clamped shut as if he would never speak again, crusted with dried blood, and his fingernails were so ravaged from biting that there wasn’t a single finger left undamaged.
“….”
Dan Ha-ru swallowed involuntarily.
Witnessing someone who had shone so brilliantly collapse so utterly was vastly different from merely knowing it in one’s head. It felt like reading the torn-out pages from a fairy tale I had stubbornly kept my eyes shut to, refusing to acknowledge all this time.
But Dan Ha-ru pulled himself together. This was my penance, my penance indeed, but right now the priority was understanding the Voice’s intention.
“…So what, what do you want.”
Dan Ha-ru answered with deliberately harsher tone.
Having spent so much time together already, he knew well what the Voice desired.
“You’ve ruined so many people’s lives—don’t make a fool of yourself now. Just hand over your body quietly, why don’t you?”
[I haven’t said anything yet, though?]
“….”
[How sad.]
When Dan Ha-ru didn’t respond, an even deeper darkness descended upon the already dim room. Soon, Ju Eun-chan’s pupils, who had been sitting blankly in the corner, turned crimson for a moment before he slowly began to rise.
A sickly smile that couldn’t possibly belong to Eun-chan appeared at the corners of his mouth. The Voice, borrowing Eun-chan’s body, spoke toward Ha-ru.
[We made a deal, didn’t we, Ha-ru. I would give you happiness, and you would give me your body.]
[You were the one who broke the deal first, yet why do you cast me as the villain so naturally?]
“….”
[I haven’t even started doing the truly terrible things yet.]
“…What?”
Then the space rippled and shifted once more.
Just as nausea began to creep in, Dan Ha-ru realized he was standing in the middle of a crowded Dreamland.
[Let me give you a taste of the ‘truly terrible’ things about to unfold.]
Soon, Dan Ha-ru spotted a large ribbon balloon floating incongruously through the crowd. It was Ju Eun-chan, moving forward in small steps while being protected by staff members and security personnel.
Amid the surging crowd, Ju Eun-chan appeared distinctly uncomfortable. Despite it being only early May with mild weather, beads of cold sweat were visibly forming on his forehead and neck.
-Please step back, please step back. You’ll get hurt, move away!
-Oppa! I’m a fan!
-Eun-chan! Eun-chan, look over here! Damn it, Eun-chan!
-Don’t curse! Stop taking photos and move back, please!
-I’m sorry, excuse me, I’m sorry….
To see him, to photograph him, or to touch him.
I watched Ju Eun-chan’s complexion drain of color in real time as he stood pressed against the crowd with no space to breathe, phone cameras thrust into his face. His pupils trembled with anxiety, and his hands clenched and unclenched helplessly—a clear testament to his mounting dread.
-Uh, uh…!
-Be careful, be careful!
Despite the security guards’ desperate attempts to clear a path, the chaos was too overwhelming. Eun-chan, jostled and pushed by the throng, finally stumbled over someone’s foot and fell.
-Eun-chan! …Hey! Stop pushing! Everyone back!
Even as the staff members shouted, the crowd refused to lower their phones. Not a single person showed any sign of retreating for safety.
In that chaos, Eun-chan remained crouched on the ground.
Staring at hundreds of eyes and thousands of camera lenses all directed at him.
“…Stop! Stop it!”
Just as Eun-chan’s terrified pupils began to lose their light—the same way they had in that room earlier—Dan Ha-ru finally screamed with his eyes squeezed shut.
In an instant, the pandemonium froze into silence. Everything stopped as if it were a painting.
The “Voice” still wearing the guise of the “failed” Ju Eun-chan spoke.
[How do you like it?]
[This is the price for breaking our contract on a whim.]
“…What do you want?”
[You’ve known all along, yet you keep asking—is it because you still harbor hope?]
Laughing with a chilling rasp, it stepped closer to Dan Ha-ru. Soon, Eun-chan’s fingers brushed against Ha-ru’s chest.
[Your body.]
[Your life.]
[This noble existence that someone like you—who doesn’t even understand its value—has no right to possess.]
“…”
[You should have stayed quietly trapped in that fortune when you had even a single “day” of your life guaranteed.]
[Because you suddenly decided to start living now, I’ve been forced to treat you this cruelly.]
Snap.
The “Voice” flicked its finger cheerfully. Time began flowing again. Dan Ha-ru’s gaze instinctively turned toward Ju Eun-chan.
He still lay on the ground, unable to get up.
[You’ll need to decide quickly, Ha-ru.]
[Now there’s no turning back time, no matter what happens.]
Then, from within the vast crowd, a single figure became illuminated as if by spotlight. Dressed in a dark hoodie, black cap, and black mask, their identity was so thoroughly concealed that even their gender was indiscernible.
An ominous feeling coursed through my entire body. With something clutched in their pocket, they slowly—inch by inch—drew closer to Ju Eun-chan.
[And besides, as you well know…]
Suddenly, an incident from days ago flashed through Dan Ha-ru’s mind.
The perpetrator who had disguised themselves as a staff member, hidden in the waiting room, and launched a gift attack targeting only Ju Eun-chan—they still hadn’t been caught.
[Because humans are beings who won’t hesitate to commit even the cruelest and most dangerous acts.]
Time suddenly slowed to a crawl. This was undoubtedly another game by the “Voice.”
The figure in black reached Ju Eun-chan’s side. As Eun-chan rose to his feet with only a staff member’s support, their eyes met. Then, in slow motion before Dan Ha-ru’s eyes, the figure withdrew their hand from their pocket and lunged at Eun-chan.
Dan Ha-ru’s breathing quickened. He wanted to rush forward and stop it immediately, but as if to prove they were in a dream, he found himself unable to exert any physical influence on anything around him.
When I turned my head again, the “Voice” stood with grotesque composure, blood caked around its lips where the scab had been torn open, nodding leisurely as it spoke.
[Choose, Ha-ru.]
[All you have to do is disappear from this world.]
[If you simply surrender your body and vanish quietly, Ju Eun-chan’s accident will never happen.]
“…How am I supposed to trust you?”
[Hahaha! I’m truly hurt, Ha-ru.]
[Haven’t I kept every promise I’ve ever made to you?]
[And… honestly, it’s rather amusing that you’re worrying about Ju Eun-chan now.]
The Voice spoke with a tone of contempt, gesturing dismissively at its own face.
[You did nothing while he fell into this state.]
[Now? Hahahaha!]
With that laughter, a countdown materialized above Ju Eun-chan’s head.
【10:00】
【09:59】
【09:58】
….
[What do you think?]
The Voice asked gently.
[Will you turn a blind eye to Ju Eun-chan’s misfortune again, all for your own selfish desire to live?]
Ten minutes remained until Ju Eun-chan’s ‘misfortune’.
Standing at the precipice of choice, Dan Ha-ru swallowed hard, as if resolving himself to something.

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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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