Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 350
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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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350. ADMIRATION AND SALVATION (9)
“Is that really enough?”
Dan Ha-ru had made his decision.
Or rather, it seemed like he had no choice in the matter.
“Is that really….”
If that’s the case, you won’t do anything to my hyungs?
A sentimental question bloomed in his mind—something he could never have imagined when his personality was fractured. In that instant, Ha-ru found himself closing his mouth without thinking, and he mocked himself internally.
‘Dying for someone else.’
It was a choice the Chosen Regressor Dan Ha-ru would never make. Yet this resolve didn’t strike him as particularly surprising.
‘…This is truly Ha-ru’s way of thinking.’
Because I knew all too well that this was the nature of the person called ‘Dan Ha-ru’ whom I had envied my entire life.
And as always, only Ha-ru’s choice was my absolute priority. But that didn’t mean I trusted the ‘Voice’ on the other side.
“Show me proof first.”
[Proof?]
“Proof that if I surrender my body, you won’t touch those people again.”
[…Hahahaha! Ha-ru, my beloved Ha-ru.]
The ‘Voice’, wearing Ju Eun-chan’s face with its shaggy hair, laughed like a madman, and its pupils turned crimson. No, looking closer, all the blood vessels had burst, and tears of blood streamed down its face. With an expression already half-crazed, the ‘Voice’ that had drawn right up to my nose finally exploded in fury.
[Do you think I’m trying to make a deal with you right now?]
“….”
[That’s already long over, Ha-ru. You betrayed me first.]
The time that had paused for a moment began flowing rapidly again. So rapidly that it felt as though certain moments had been skipped.
In fact, there seemed to be scenes that were genuinely skipped.
Until just moments ago, Ju Eun-chan had been frozen with his eyes locked on some unknown assailant, but now he was in a semi-conscious state, clutching at one cheek that was bleeding profusely.
[Are you going to ruin even this last chance?]
Dan Ha-ru could sense that the ‘Voice’s patience was rapidly approaching its limit.
Behind me were the screams of people and Ju Eun-chan gasping for breath without even managing a groan. Above that, a timer with barely five minutes remaining blinked. Since I could no longer regress, once that time passed, there would be no turning back.
“….”
Yes, once something happened, it couldn’t be undone.
Not Eun-chan’s traffic accident, not Tae-hyun’s scandal, not Su-ho’s risk of blindness or Si-woo’s trauma.
Dan Ha-ru decided to accept all the guilt and debt he had been ignoring until now. Perhaps this was the greatest atonement he could offer. And he rationalized it somewhat—that this was the right conclusion for everyone.
Once life became precious, death no longer frightened me. Compared to the past when fear of life made even death terrifying, this was tremendous progress.
-I’ll always cheer you on.
You said you’d always support me.
Only then did Dan Ha-ru feel a lingering attachment anew. And upon recognizing that attachment, he realized he wanted to live. The puzzle of his heart, which he had denied until the end, only became complete when death stood before him.
He wanted to live.
He wanted to live as Dan Ha-ru.
Even though his life had been nothing but failure, he wanted to live.
-Your regression was an opportunity for me, after all.
Why did those words come to mind at that very moment?
-As someone who achieved their dreams because of you, wouldn’t it be ungrateful to just stand by?
It was a truly strange sensation.
Even Dan Ha-ru, dulled by years of numbness, was experiencing something entirely new.
It felt like I had suddenly recalled something I’d completely forgotten.
‘This makes no sense….’
I’d forgotten about Kang Ha-jin? How was that even possible? Yet it was true.
Until just moments ago, I had completely erased Kang Ha-jin’s existence from my mind. As if someone had deliberately hidden him from me, obscuring his very presence. It was as though someone had covered my memories of him with black paper.
‘Get a grip, Dan Ha-ru.’
It felt like I’d jolted awake from a nightmare. Now that clarity had returned, I began to notice things I hadn’t before.
[Dan Ha-ru, answer me.]
For instance, the state of The Voice standing before me.
Until moments ago, it had seemed to be expressing anger that had shattered the bounds of patience. But now I perceived it differently. The patience had indeed been exceeded, the anger was indeed being expressed, but there was something more to it….
‘Something more… like desperation.’
Why.
Why was it desperate?
Why had it needed to erase Kang Ha-jin’s existence from my mind?
The answer came swiftly. Beyond The Voice that had been blocking my view all this time, I spotted something utterly incongruous with this space—a presence that didn’t belong here at all.
【★☆♣♤EXIT♥♢♡★☆】
An Emergency Exit blazing with such manic luminescence that I couldn’t fathom how I’d missed it until now.
I swallowed my breath steadily, keeping my gaze fixed as close to The Voice as possible so it wouldn’t notice that I’d become aware of that exit. All the years I’d lived hadn’t been wasted—my acting ability was passable enough.
“…Still, I need an answer. At least promise you won’t touch Ju Eun-chan.”
[You’re asking for an answer even now?]
“You know better than anyone how persistent I am.”
I turned my gaze backward to check Ju Eun-chan’s form in the future timeline and the timer.
Just over three minutes remained.
I didn’t bother hiding how my breathing was becoming unstable. In fact, I thought showing my agitation would make my opponent lower its guard.
And before me, the Emergency Exit continued to glow brilliantly, now displaying yet another message.
【**!Sparkle!**】
…I told you not to call it that.
Above that madly luminous exit, sparkle effects were now floating about like CG animations.
But I no longer made threats about killing Kang Ha-jin. Having experienced it firsthand, I now understood just how terrifying the words “I’ll kill you” could be.
It was ironic, this sudden empathy, but it was what it was.
【Are you seriously falling for that bastard’s three-inch tongue again?】
【I drilled mental discipline into you so hard, and you’re getting gaslit again? I’m genuinely pissed.】
This message was longer than the others.
I had to work hard to manage my gaze so it wouldn’t catch me reading it. And simultaneously, I struck back at The Voice with brazen confidence.
“You should focus on convincing me instead. There’s only three minutes left.”
[Sigh….]
“What if I choose Dan Ha-ru over Ju Eun-chan again? Whether that bastard’s face gets scarred or not—why should I care? Besides, it seems like you can’t forcibly take my body without my consent anyway.”
Pressing the advantage, I watched as The Voice—now twisted into something almost demonic, retaining only Ju Eun-chan’s features—grabbed its forehead in bewilderment.
In that moment, another message from Kang Ha-jin arrived.
**Hey, Sparkle!**
You’ve done this before, right?
The moment I saw that message, a memory surfaced—the day I first encountered the baseline personality Ha-ru.
Kang Ha-jin, drenched in cold sweat and nosebleed, had grabbed my hand and leaped frantically over countless obstacles, bursting through that luminous door like a madman.
When your brother counts one, two, three, you run.
And at the end of that breathless sprint, I’d found myself in a warm, peaceful spring morning.
Come on, let’s go?
[So I should’ve dealt with those bastards from the start…]
One~
٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´->
This wasn’t an elementary school sports day signal flare—the scoreboard was unnecessarily cheerful with its chants.
And I already knew what came next.
Two―!
♡⸜(ˆᗜˆ˵ )⸝♡
(fireworks exploding emoticon)
He’d said we’d count to three, but Kang Ha-jin casually gave the signal to run on “two” as if it were obvious. Brilliant fireworks and signal flares erupted everywhere.
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“God, that crazy bastard.”
[…You…!]
And I ran like a madman. I sprinted so hard I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d run like this, gasping for breath.
I could feel The Voice chasing me at terrifying speed, having belatedly noticed my escape attempt, but I didn’t look back. I just kept my eyes fixed on that single door pouring out light like a lighthouse over the sea, running with everything I had.
[Where do you think you’re―!]
Just like before, countless obstacles blocked my path. The crowds in the Theme Park instantly transformed into tens of thousands of hands reaching to grab me, and the rides morphed into monsters pursuing me.
But none of that frightened me anymore.
Breathing hard, my chest heaving, I screamed with genuine desperation—something I’d never done before in my entire life, something that bubbled up from the deepest part of my soul.
“Ha-jin hyung―!”
Please, just one more time,
save me one more time.
As if that desperate plea had reached him, the scoreboard’s message changed with a cheerful sound effect, now almost within arm’s reach.
haha
Received
❛‿˂̵✧ b
At that moment, something like beams of light shot out from the bright door, streaking past me. They looked vaguely like chains, but I had no time to care.
Those chain-like beams that passed me had apparently restrained The Voice—a terrifying shriek erupted from behind, followed by a deafening roar calling out its own name. If hell had a sound, I imagined it would be something like this.
‘Almost there―!’
At the same moment, I finally reached that door pouring out light. Transparent blue panes of unknown origin streaked past me. In the rapidly fading edge of my vision, I thought I glimpsed the number “12”.
Ah, nothing mattered anymore.
I took the next step without hesitation.
‘Please….’
Please, let me not be too late.
With only that thought consuming him, Dan Ha-ru fell endlessly through the light, and simultaneously ascended. That strange sensation—as if he were sinking deeper into the ocean’s abyss while simultaneously rising rapidly toward the surface—washed over him once more.
How long had it been?
“…Gasp—!”
As if awakening from the deepest of nightmares, Dan Ha-ru exhaled a long, shuddering breath.
The sensation of real gravity enveloping his body—not mere sensation, but tangible reality—was so vivid it was almost unbearable. Before he could even regain his sight properly, his legs gave way beneath him, and his body swayed.
“―Damn, you scared me.”
Then he felt a firm grip seizing his body faster than he could react. Dan Ha-ru lifted his head, still breathing heavily. Through the haze that was slowly clearing from his vision, focus gradually returned.
“You did well.”
The first thing Dan Ha-ru saw upon returning to life was this face.
“You did well, Dan Ha-ru.”
Those fierce eyes, the clean line of his lips curved in a smile, the scratch at the end of his right eyebrow, and the dark beauty mark beneath his eye.
“Welcome back.”
Greeted by Kang Ha-jin—who had saved every moment of his existence from the very beginning until now—Dan Ha-ru finally broke down into tears. Kang Ha-jin, utterly unfazed by the sudden sobbing, simply laughed heartily and held Dan Ha-ru tightly as he clung to him.
“That’s right, that’s right. Now you’re acting like yourself again.”
Rather than consoling Dan Ha-ru, Kang Ha-jin patted his back as if encouraging him to cry more, letting him pour out everything for a long while.
He understood perfectly—these were tears held back for far too long.
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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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