Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 351

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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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351. ADMIRATION AND SALVATION (10)
[System Alert: Colleague Dan Ha-ru’s response rate is high (Response Rate: 97.1%)]
[System Alert: ‘Will to Live’ exerts a positive influence on colleague Dan Ha-ru.]
[System Alert: Colleague Dan Ha-ru’s condition stabilizes.]
‘Good work. You did well.’
[System Alert: Successfully apprehended The One Who Returns (Time Management Authority No. 12).]
[System Alert: System will be away for processing for the time being.]
‘Right. I’ll handle things here. You’ve worked hard too.’
I nodded along as Thirteen rattled off notification after notification. I was careful not to make any grand gestures—the youngest was still clinging to me and sobbing uncontrollably, and I didn’t want to upset him.
‘Why did that bastard Dol-ja have to drag the kid to that stinking restroom of all places….’
If he was going to do it anyway, wouldn’t a fragrant flower field have been nicer?
I was entertaining such pointless thoughts when Thirteen, who claimed he was leaving, lingered hesitantly in my field of vision. I glanced over to see if there was another notification, but that wasn’t it—the system’s next message appeared after displaying a loading symbol.
[System Alert: I….]
‘Yeah. What is it.’
[System Alert: I have something I’d like to tell you when I return.]
[System Alert: I can’t disclose it carelessly since I’m not entirely certain yet….]
Faced with Thirteen’s unusually serious demeanor, I had no choice but to acknowledge him.
Sparkle had regained consciousness, Dol-ja was finally caught—there shouldn’t be anything more serious to worry about, yet his cautious appearance made me tense as well.
‘Well, I suppose…. There are still plenty of mountains to climb.’
I couldn’t let my guard down just because that zombie-like Dol-ja was caught, and Dan Ha-ru, still crying before my eyes, and my own personality integration were still ongoing. I also needed to check whether the timelines Dol-ja had tampered with throughout had any remaining problems….
‘What, there’s so much to do?’
Why does this outsourced work never end.
With that complaint, I decided to send Thirteen off first. Once I sent him away, I’d take this kid outside for a bit.
‘Understood. Let’s talk after you come back. I have plenty to do right now too.’
[System Alert: Roger that.]
[System Alert: Then I’ll…. be on my way!]
[System Alert: (๑’ᵕ’๑)⸝*]
As always, the system disappeared completely with a cheerful emoticon. I checked the digital clock that automatically displayed on the system’s lock screen (which I’d configured during its absence), then quietly handed a tissue to Dan Ha-ru, who was still gripping my arm.
“Hey, Sparkle. Done crying?”
“…sniff.”
The kid had died and come back to life, and somehow he’d become even more endearing. Well, Ha-ru was always cute to begin with.
After venting his sorrow for quite some time, he finally seemed to regain his senses. Dan Ha-ru, who had blown his nose with the tissue I gave him, suddenly brightened and grabbed my arm again.
“…Where’s Ju Eun-chan? Where is Ju Eun-chan?”
As if he’d forgotten all about crying just moments ago, his eyes and nose were bright red as he asked urgently. I slowly patted Dan Ha-ru’s hand to calm him.
“He’s fine.”
“….”
“No one got caught, Ju Eun-chan wasn’t arrested, and I caught that stalker bastard.”
At the way I spoke, predicting the future without being asked, Dan Ha-ru made a dumbfounded expression for the first time in a while.
But what could I do—the explanation was going to get long from here on.
“I’ll explain everything kindly, so shall we head outside first? This location isn’t quite the right setting for telling such a touching story.”
* * *
How did I know the timing for when The Returner would make his move?
That was―.
“Intuition.”
“….”
“I’m serious.”
There were plenty of clues.
First, following the last awakening incident, my attempts to scratch Seo Tae-hyun, poke Ju Eun-chan, and blow up Ji Su-ho had all fallen through, so it was about time his cooldown expired.
Second, I got a weird feeling when Dan Ha-ru’s primary personality suddenly changed and the System started malfunctioning.
Third, it was suspicious that Ju Eun-chan suddenly got attacked by some terrorist right when Dan Ha-ru was subtly paying attention to him.
‘Plus, a kid who suffered from panic disorder and social anxiety in his past life suddenly showing up at this crowded theme park? If I were him, I’d think I’d lose my villain credentials if I didn’t cause an incident at a time like this.’
But the most decisive clue came from an unexpected source.
“…Lee Yu-gun?”
“Yeah. When we ran into each other earlier, he said something? That Ju Eun-chan seemed weird.”
I recalled the situation from before.
Lee Yu-gun, who was half-unconscious after riding only a bumper car and carousel a few times, suddenly grabbed my wrist while Seo Tae-hyun stepped away to get water, and said this.
-Hyung.
-Yeah.
-…Try not to leave Ju Eun-chan alone if you can help it.
-Why? Is something wrong with him?
-When we were filming the opening earlier, I noticed his eyes looked weird. When Lee Yu-rang was little, he used to get like that sometimes in crowded places, you know? And he’s been through a lot of strange things lately anyway…. I’m worried something might happen if you leave him alone with so many strangers around.
In the official large photo, Ju Eun-chan was second from the right end, and Lee Yu-gun was at the far left, so they were facing each other—which is probably why Lee Yu-gun was able to notice Ju Eun-chan’s abnormality.
“That kid’s something else, really. Seems careless but is actually meticulous in a weird way.”
Updating my impression of Lee Yu-gun, I enthusiastically ate through the completely cold chicken mayo bento box on the table. It was still warm when we first arrived, but it had cooled down by the time I came back from the restroom after soothing Dan Ha-ru a bit.
“Here, eat up. Maknae.”
After pushing the bento box toward Dan Ha-ru—having thoroughly mixed it with even the kimchi side dish to avoid leaving any scraps—I started mixing the second bento box. My hands kept working as I continued talking.
“Ever since we split up for the invitation filming, I’ve been running enhanced GPS and danger detection sensors on Ju Eun-chan’s system, and just in case, Thirteen’s been watching through CCTV mode the whole time.”
“Thirteen… what?”
“Yeah, basically there’s something like that. The crowd situation—Kwon Wook hyung and the Production Team called in double the usual security team, so the scene was cleaned up quickly, and also….”
“…So, that stalker?”
“Brace yourself for this.”
Since this was the highlight, I even stopped mixing the chicken mayo and announced it in a solemn voice.
“We caught him thanks to a tip from Destiny on the scene.”
“What?”
“See, everyone was pulling their phone zoom all the way out trying to get shots of Eun-chan, right?”
“….”
“Someone who was leisurely admiring Ju Eun-chan’s beauty from a distance spotted something suspicious in the photos and reported it to the Production Team. Said there was this person who’d been following Eun-chan around since earlier and it looked sketchy. But here’s the thing—you can’t restrain someone unless they’re caught in the act, right?”
“…So―.”
“So we tipped Eun-chan off beforehand, and while we were doing close protection, we deliberately gave him a small opening, and the guy rushed right in. We caught him red-handed on the spot and handed him over to the detective in charge. The probability of him being the same perpetp is 125%.”
“….”
At those words, Dan Ha-ru’s expression became quite peculiar.
How should I put it….
Like the face of someone who’d just realized a lottery ticket they’d never expected to win was actually a jackpot.
Of course, I knew that expression well enough, so rather than tease Dan Ha-ru, I simply smiled and scooped up a generous spoonful of the mayo chicken we’d been sharing.
“So, it turns out… there’s still humanity left in this world after all?”
He said it casually, but the truth was, there were shadows here just as deep as anything Dan Ha-ru had experienced.
However, I didn’t bother spelling out those shadows in detail for him. Compared to the future he’d witnessed, they were far too dim and insignificant, and I had no desire to shatter the humanity he’d only just recharged with careless words.
Sometimes it was necessary to view the world through a slightly blurred lens.
‘Though if there’s one important shadow to mention, it’s that I found out a bit late that the Returner was directly pressuring Dan Ha-ru….’
That was the only thing Thirteen and I had missed.
We’d discovered rather late that the Returner bastard had been dragging Dan Ha-ru into the unconscious space and applying coercion disguised as something else. At the time, I figured Thirteen was too busy focusing on Eun-chan to notice it sooner, but thinking back on his reaction then, it didn’t quite feel that simple either.
‘…Is that what Thirteen said he’d tell me about once he was certain?’
Ah, forget it. I’ll think about that when Thirteen shows up.
Anyway, I pushed a proper spoonful of the mayo chicken into my mouth. Since Dan Ha-ru across from me was eating steadily whether or not I was, I continued enjoying it bite by bite, and soon Dan Ha-ru, who’d been quietly watching me, carefully picked up his spoon as well.
“…Drink some of this orange juice too while you eat. You need to recharge your energy.”
“…”
Instead of shooting me that usual “shut up” look, Dan Ha-ru quietly nodded. We didn’t exchange any further conversation, just ate in silence. The staff seemed busy moving toward the Concert Hall as equipment cleanup was finishing up.
Then Kwon Wook, who’d been tidying up the site as well, approached us.
“You two, the others have already arrived at the Concert Hall and are eating and preparing there, right? The crowds here have mostly cleared out, so once you finish eating, take your time and head over in the moving van. I borrowed it from Dreamland specifically for this.”
“Yes, hyung. Um, is Eun-chan doing okay?”
“Oh, yeah. He seemed pretty startled at first so I was worried, but now that he’s resting with the others, he seems to be doing better. Still, just in case, I’ve pushed tomorrow’s schedule back for now.”
“Thank you, hyung.”
At my thanks, Kwon Wook laughed as if to say I was being too formal, and tapped my shoulder. Then he said something to Dan Ha-ru, who was quietly pushing rice into his mouth across from us.
“Ha-ru, you did really well in today’s interview—the PDs were praising you so much. I’m proud of our maknae. Eat plenty, and if the bento boxes aren’t enough, there are snack boxes too.”
“…Yes.”
“Good, good. I need to take another call, so I’m stepping out for a bit. Wait for me once you’re done eating—I’ll be back soon.”
After Kwon Wook gave us his final reminders and left, silence returned to the table. Only after confirming that the people bustling around us weren’t paying us any attention did I open my mouth again.
The System’s filtering function was still active, but without Thirteen around, I had to be cautious about everything.
“…About Eun-chan’s panic disorder and all that—Thirteen apparently deleted it as a past timeline incident, more or less.”
“…That Thirteen guy did that?”
“Yeah. And well…. It’s hard to explain in detail, but anyway, he’s already brought in colleagues and applied mental care measures. So you don’t need to worry much about him suffering because of his past life going forward. If he develops new issues in this timeline, that’s unavoidable, but….”
Despite my somewhat blunt explanation, Dan Ha-ru quietly nodded.
Up to this point, everything was within my expectations, so explaining wasn’t particularly difficult.
‘The problem is what I’m about to say….’
It wasn’t really a big deal, but I wasn’t sure how Dan Ha-ru would take it, so I felt a bit awkward. Still, once we finished eating, we’d soon be heading over to meet Ju Eun-chan, and I couldn’t just let them run into each other without warning him first.
I finished the last spoonful of mayo chicken in one big bite and chewed it thoroughly before swallowing. Only after downing the orange juice they’d brought as dessert in one shot did I find the courage to speak.
“Anyway, so…. Things have gone pretty smoothly up to this point. Well, actually, everything’s gone smoothly.”
“…?”
“There’s just one variable I didn’t anticipate, so I figured I should tell you beforehand.”
At my grandiose setup, Dan Ha-ru lifted his head to look at me, wondering what it could be. If this were the old days, those eyes would’ve been blazing with incredible rudeness, but now there seemed to be something a bit gentler reflected in them—a hint of Ha-ru’s usual sparkle, perhaps?
‘Tae-hyun’s personality should have sparkled more—Ha-ru should have returned with more of that brilliance.’
With that wish in mind, I conveyed the main point to Dan Ha-ru.
“Remember the Executive Director? When we deleted the timeline, everything got scrambled, and you ended up remembering all those past timelines where we first met.”
“…No way.”
Sensing what I was about to say, Dan Ha-ru’s expression slowly hardened.
I nodded silently in response.
“…Eun-chan remembers it all too. Everything that happened in the previous timeline.”
“….”
“He’s awakened, Ju Eun-chan. So now he knows—you’re a Returner.”
Ju Eun-chan had come to know everything.
Upon hearing this truth, Dan Ha-ru simply sat there in stunned silence, his mouth sealed shut.

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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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