Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 365

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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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365. Jeju Island’s Blue Night (7)
-So? Did you go horseback riding?
“Yeah, it was harder than I expected. Really fast.”
-Wow, that’s amazing. And? What else did you do?
“Well… I went surfing, ate cutlassfish, and oh, I bought some bread too. It’s supposed to be famous. I shared it with Lee Yu-rang.”
-I’m seriously jealous. Did you have fun? It must’ve been incredible, right?
Through the phone, I could hear the envy thick in his voice.
Sitting in an airport chair waiting for the flight back to Gimpo, Yoo Gun unconsciously bit his lower lip. It felt like a needle he’d kept hidden away throughout the entire trip had suddenly pricked through the surface.
Yoo Gun answered as nonchalantly as possible, letting his words flow so that the excitement and anticipation wouldn’t reach his younger siblings.
“I don’t know, things just kept passing by, and before I knew it, I was at the airport.”
Apart from the feeling of ‘joy and fun’, every word of this was one hundred percent true.
Even after parasailing ended, I was relentlessly dragged around to various water sports, surfing, horseback riding, cafes, volcanic cones, scenic walking paths, and restaurants. It felt like I’d visited every hot spot in the northeastern part of Jeju Island.
From the black pork kimbap restaurant worth buying from before climbing Seongsan Ilchulbong, to the electric bicycle rentals available along the coastal road walks.
Kang Ha-jin was really trying to do everything possible on a Jeju Island trip with me. I even had the absurd thought, ‘Did this guy get sponsorship from a Jeju travel agency?’
-Do they serve in-flight meals? Have you ever eaten airline food, hyung?
“The flight to Jeju is too short, so they don’t. You’d have to go somewhere like Europe to get that, right?”
-That’s so stingy… People going to Jeju want to eat in-flight meals too.
“You’re right, the airlines are terrible.”
Playing along with Yoo-ho’s playful complaint, I gazed out the window at Jeju Island’s crimson sunset.
‘Will I be able to come back again?’
As I’ve lived carrying the title of breadwinner on my shoulders, the first thing I abandoned was ‘dreams’.
Hope, a better future, optimistic thinking, the expectation that something might change.
I could only endure life without such things, and life went on without them just fine. That’s how Lee Yu-gun’s life had always been.
-Hmm… I want to go to Jeju someday when I make money too.
But I didn’t want my younger siblings’ lives to be the same.
Unable to hold back the small wish that Yoo-ho had let slip despite pressing it down, I found myself opening my mouth without thinking.
“You can come with me, hyung. What’s the problem?”
Since childhood, I’d never made empty promises to my younger siblings like ‘I’ll do it next time’ or ‘I’ll buy it next time’.
Because it was obvious I couldn’t deliver.
Because I thought broken promises would only multiply disappointment.
“Next time, let’s bring Grandfather and Lee Yu-rang and come as a group of four. There were a lot of places you guys would like among the ones I visited today.”
-Really?
In other words, everything I was saying now was a bad check I was writing for the first time in Lee Yu-gun’s life.
I didn’t know how much I’d receive in the next settlement,
and even if I earned well, I didn’t know how many years this income could last,
and even if I stayed active, I didn’t know if I could escape this tedious poverty so easily.
“Yeah. I’ll definitely bring you all next time.”
But I just said it anyway. I blurted it all out in one rush.
Like Ha-jin said, grateful that there’s at least one easy thing, the wish once spoken swelled up effortlessly like cotton candy.
-…Okay, then let’s make our first family trip to Jeju Island!
“Yeah, let’s do that. For sure.”
-Oh, hyung. I gotta fold the laundry now. Lee Yu-rang said he’d kill me if I don’t get it done. I’m hanging up!
“Got it. I’m prepping for a comeback for a while, so I won’t be able to go home. Just call me right away if anything comes up.”
-Yeah yeah, work hard! Bye!
The call ended with that urgent voice, and on the monitor in front of Yoo Gun, a notification flickered indicating that the plane he and Ha-jin would be boarding was beginning boarding preparations.
“Yo, brother.”
Yet Yoo Gun continued staring blankly at his phone for a long while until someone approached him. When he lifted his head, Ha-jin—who had supposedly gone to the restroom—stood before him with shopping bags overflowing in both hands.
“…?”
“Here, take these. They’re killing my arms.”
“What is all this? I thought you said you were just going to the restroom?”
Ha-jin unceremoniously shoved the shopping bags into Yoo Gun’s arms. Yoo Gun accepted them bewilderedly and checked what was inside.
“Right? I don’t know what they’re selling these days on the way to the restroom. It’s crazy.”
Inside the white paper bag was a single, unremarkable box.
That 26,000-won chocolate box that Yoo Gun had ultimately left behind yesterday evening.
“….”
Yoo Gun stood frozen in place, staring at the box for a long moment. Then he barely managed to open his mouth and ask Ha-jin.
“…You said you can buy stuff like this online, though.”
Ha-jin slung his bag over one shoulder and answered.
“If you buy it online, is that a souvenir? That’s just mass-produced merchandise.”
“That’s not….”
“Besides, I bought this for you this time, so next time you come back, get something better than this. Honestly, it tastes good, but 26,000 won for twelve pieces of chocolate is a bit much….”
Foolishly, Yoo Gun only then understood everything.
What the true meaning of this sudden Jeju Island trip had been, why Ha-jin had rattled off so many travel tips like a guide, and why he’d needed to quickly and thoroughly tour attractions across every category.
“So how was taking a trip? It’s not as big a deal as you thought, right?”
“….”
“Next time, will you be able to bring Grandfather and the tigers?”
He’d been trying to teach me.
How to book accommodations, how to find flight deals, which transportation options were best, which routes were most efficient—everything.
So that when the day came for Yoo Gun to travel alone or with family, he could handle it all without panic, one step at a time. Ha-jin had taught him everything.
And for Lee Yu-gun, this was the first time in his entire life.
That someone would lay down steps ahead of me first, so I wouldn’t get hurt, wouldn’t panic, wouldn’t stumble or fall….
This was truly the first time it had ever happened to Yoo Gun.
“…What exactly are you, hyung?”
Yoo Gun asked sincerely. He had no idea how to even define this type of person he was meeting for the first time in his life.
Even his biological parents had abandoned him and disappeared, so he couldn’t understand why this stranger, bound only by a contract, would go to such lengths and make such efforts for him.
“Look at this kid’s manners. Asking what someone is like that.”
Yet this time too, Kang Ha-jin simply laughed lightly and answered Yoo Gun’s question.
“I’m your hyung. What else?”
I’ll be the first existence you’ve ever had in your entire life.
At that unchanging answer, Yoo Gun silently bit the inside of his cheek. His grip tightened on the shopping bag.
[System Alert: ‘Lee Yu-gun’ is responding to you. (Response Rate: 81%)]
[You can now recruit ‘Lee Yu-gun’.]
[Will you proceed with recruitment? (Y/N)]
Kang Ha-jin noticed the subtle shift in Yu-gun’s inner world faster than anyone else, yet he turned away with a knowing smile, pretending not to see.
“Let’s go. It’s time for our flight.”
“….”
“You’re not coming?”
“…I am.”
Ha-jin led the way with a backpack slung over his shoulder and shopping bags filling both hands. Yu-gun followed slowly behind. The airport path, once so foreign and uncomfortable, no longer felt difficult.
“Let’s go home.”
Now, it was time to return.
* * *
This place existed where time froze and flowed simultaneously, where existence and non-existence coexisted.
The one designated as Manager Number 13 advanced into that space neither dark nor bright.
[….]
He contemplated.
Or rather, he did not contemplate.
A Time Manager was not an entity easily explained. Yet within him existed only one small question.
[…There is something I wish to ask.]
That which was named ‘System’ yet could never truly be defined as such finally posed a question. By the very nature of his existence, such a thing should have been impossible.
A Time Manager asking questions? Harboring doubts?
He was merely like the gears of a clock—a mere auxiliary mechanism ensuring time flowed properly.
And yet, he harbored doubt.
He suspected this emergence of self-awareness stemmed from that person.
Kang Ha-jin.
His charge, his partner, and the one who had called him—a Time Manager—a ‘friend’.
[‘The One Who Returns’—I have questions about this entity.]
A friend of a Time Manager.
Even upon reflection, it was a remarkably novel concept. With that thought, Time Manager 13 posed his question to the Entity.
[‘The One Who Returns’ has breached the timeline’s security and approached both Dan Ha-ru and Ju Eun-chan.]
[The unconscious space of Kang Ha-jin, which I manage, has been threatened multiple times.]
[And I cannot comprehend any of this.]
[…Why could I not detect his intrusions?]
He recalled the previous ‘incident’.
At the theme park, when Ju Eun-chan had fallen into danger of attack and Dan Ha-ru had been dragged into the Unconscious Space by The One Who Returns.
Both had certainly been recruited as Ha-jin’s allies, and based on that, he had established a powerful security system for them. Yet even so, he had failed to detect the intrusion swiftly until Ha-jin discovered Ha-ru in the restroom.
And there was only one circumstance where an outsider could breach a Time Manager’s security system without detection.
[Why does the System classify ‘him’ as an entity equivalent to you?]
Either as a fellow Manager, or as something of a higher order.
[‘The One Who Returns’… or rather, ‘Time Manager 12’—what exactly is he?]
Solely to protect his ‘friend’, the Time Manager posed a question to The Entity.
[What is your relationship with ‘him’?]
A question about ‘The Entity’s purpose’—one that might very well crumble his entire world.

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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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