Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 37

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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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37. Reaching for the Sun (3)
‘Kim Won-ho and Lee Do-ha.’
I paused for a moment, weighing the two candidates—each with their own clear strengths and weaknesses.
I still didn’t fully understand how this ‘recruiting teammates’ system worked. But if I could bring someone in, I might as well choose someone who’d be useful going forward.
And in that regard, one option was overwhelmingly superior.
‘Where else am I going to find a more reliable card than someone already locked in for the debut lineup?’
Lee Do-ha would certainly be convenient to have as a teammate, but the one thing that bothered me was his response rate—it was just too low.
‘If it were even 70%, I could at least convince myself it was worth it.’
“Ha-jin hyung, stop spacing out and look at this already.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Kim Won-ho’s perceptiveness was actually pretty sharp—he’d called me out the moment I got distracted. I almost felt bad for lumping him together with the other two as the “hopeless trio” back then; his situational awareness was quick, and his judgment was solid.
‘This is tricky.’
Why were these guys resonating with me on their own terms? As my deliberation dragged on, a dull ache began creeping across my skull. I wanted to think this through properly and quickly, but this cursed Miro seemed endless.
“….”
“Ha-jin hyung, what are you doing?”
I gazed up at the only open ceiling in this suffocating rectangular space—the lights positioned with obvious filming intent, the surveillance cameras strung between them.
“Think we could climb out from here?”
“Climb what?”
“The wall. With camera angles like that, it’d show up pretty well on film, right?”
“Climb what wall?”
Leaving Kim Won-ho and Lee Do-ha to their confused questions, I walked toward the sturdiest-looking wall. The vegetation covering it provided plenty of handholds.
“Whoa, hyung!”
“If you’re not coming, I’m going ahead.”
A couple of jumps and I cleared the wall easily. It would be the first image viewers saw, so I had to make it count—but honestly, this would probably just be a five-minute montage anyway. Nothing substantial to shoot here.
“Man, sometimes I think that hyung’s even more reckless than I am.”
Kim Won-ho muttered something under his breath before the sound of heavy footsteps followed. Both he and Lee Do-ha vaulted over the wall after me. I could tell from watching Kim Won-ho dance that his athleticism was solid, and Lee Do-ha—while hopeless at dancing—clearly wasn’t completely useless physically either.
This might actually work.
I pointed at the massive time limit mission floating in midair.
“Our goal: clear Miro in five minutes. How? By climbing walls.”
“Sometimes that hyung genuinely scares me.”
Ignoring Lee Do-ha’s protest about the word “sometimes,” we charged forward—toward the exit.
* * *
Back in the Control Room.
“Who are these guys? Kang Ha-jin, Lee Do-ha… they’re all from Wings?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
For a PD, the emergence of such entertaining characters was a gift. Kwon PD’s eyes were already gleaming as he turned to the second writer beside him, asking for the trio’s names. He made a note to check who their assigned writer was so he could flag them during the pre-meeting later.
‘Is this a decent start?’
Su-ho, who’d been watching from behind with cold sweat running down his back, felt a wave of relief wash over him as the situation seemed to be unfolding smoothly. He relaxed his tense posture and returned to comfortable monitoring.
The three of them could be seen scaling walls across Miro, mapping out routes as they went, and it wasn’t long before they reached the exit.
-Lee Do-ha, Kang Ha-jin, and Kim Won-ho have completed their escape. We’ll add audio and put them on standby.
-The trainees in B2 Zone will complete their escape within five minutes.
-C1 Zone will be wrapped up in three minutes as well.
“Got it. Good work. Send the ones with mics fitted to the 5th Floor Practice Room. We’ll do a quick orientation and meeting there while everyone else clears out from the other areas.”
-Yes, sir.
-Roger that.
As the other trainee group that had entered Miro first began making their escape one by one, Kwon PD rose from his seat as well. Su-ho, who had received the filming composition plan in advance, now understood that the opening shoot was nearly complete, but with a lingering sense of caution, he quietly asked another PD who was organizing the schedule next to Kwon PD.
“By any chance, how will the remaining filming schedule be arranged?”
“Well, we’ll do a quick orientation in the practice room. Once the main spots are set up, we’ll film the survival overview with Seo Tae-il, and then… individual interviews and follow-ups, and that’s it. Since this is the first shoot today… ah, would you like to see this?”
Su-ho waved his hand politely at the PD offering a simple filming cue sheet, then stood up alongside Kwon PD.
“Ah, Team Leader Ji. Let’s head over together. I’m about to go meet the trainees now.”
“Yes, of course. I’ll show you the way.”
Kwon PD readily followed Su-ho, holding his composition plan. Su-ho deliberately pretended not to notice the name Kang Ha-jin written clearly and neatly in the top box of that plan as he walked forward.
* * *
“Alright, now we’ll get your mics on and move to the practice room!”
After escaping Miro at lightning speed, what greeted us was the familiar sight of broadcast staff—something I knew all too well in more ways than one. When a short-haired female assistant director led us to the audio director, they approached to fit each of us with a mic pack bearing our names.
“Ah, I’ll do it myself.”
“Pardon?”
Damn. There goes my occupational habit again.
When the assistant director, who seemed to be the youngest, stood fidgeting in front of me with the mic pack, I found myself naturally taking it and fastening it without thinking. My experience from my days as an assistant director—when things got hectic and I’d help fit mics on the cast—hadn’t gone anywhere.
“This mic is on, right? I know how to put it on, so don’t worry about me. Go help those two first—they’re still struggling over there.”
As I pointed my chin toward Lee Do-ha, who was still fumbling around, and Kim Won-ho, who was blankly waiting his turn, the bewildered assistant director seemed somewhat embarrassed and turned his steps toward the two of them.
“All the mics are fitted now.”
“Ah. We’ll move to the 5th Floor Practice Room now.”
“The 5th floor?”
“…Ah. All those walls have been taken down, so they’re not there anymore. Just a moment.”
At the assistant director’s cheerful answer after a moment’s thought, I couldn’t close my mouth. They really set all that up just to film for a brief moment? The same question surfaced in my mind once more.
‘Did Miro win the lottery or something?’
The person who would guide us arrived, and soon Kim Won-ho and Lee Do-ha, both fully mic’d up, fell into step beside me. I adjusted Kim Won-ho’s mic, which was sitting askew on his sweatshirt, and said something.
“When you talk, be careful with that—it’ll rattle against your necklace and make noise. During interviews, that habit of ending sentences with a drawn-out tone might come across as tacky, so filter yourself appropriately.”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
“Everything you say is being recorded, so watch your words. Both of you.”
“…Ha-jin hyung, you really sounded just like Team Leader Ji right then.”
So that’s the problem with this occupational habit. The occupational habit itself is the issue.
Unable to find an appropriate response, I simply followed the staff, and soon we arrived at the 5th floor that had startled us earlier. It seemed they’d only decorated the area right in front of the elevator, because unlike before, a wide, open hallway came into view all at once.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Hyung! You’re here?”
As we entered the 5th Floor Practice Room as directed, familiar faces and voices greeted us. Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru, who had escaped early, had claimed spots in the center of the practice room and welcomed us.
“Where’s Seo Tae-hyun? You said he was coming with you today.”
“Tae-hyun hyung is over there.”
“Where? …Oh.”
When I searched for Seo Tae-hyun, who had supposedly said he’d sleep over at Ju Eun-chan’s place on the last day of vacation before coming together, Dan Ha-ru pointed to a corner of the practice room with his hand. There lay Seo Tae-hyun, drained of all energy, his hoodie pulled down over his head, passed out cold with his hands folded neatly across his chest like a corpse.
‘…I can guess what happened without even looking.’
He must have collapsed trying to keep up with Dan Ha-ru, who had as much reckless determination as I did, and Ju Eun-chan, whose competitive spirit was off the charts.
“Ah, the other guys are here too.”
Following that, the other trainees filed in one by one. Lee Do-ha exchanged a brief nod with Jeong Si-u, who entered leisurely by himself. I’d thought they were close, but it seemed they weren’t the type to always stick together—Jeong Si-u, seeing us clustered together, took a seat at a comfortable distance away.
I glanced over the trainees, who were bustling with chatter about end-of-month evaluations, vacation, and the hottest topic of all—escaping Miro—before opening the system window.
[Ji Su-ho (Awakened)]
Epithets: ‘Burning Passion’, ‘The Deepest Shadow’
Trait: Star Maker☆
-You recognize the qualities of those destined to become stars. (Accuracy: 77%)
-Different colored auras manifest depending on the star’s qualities.
Special: You are affected by ‘past timelines’ through contact with the Chosen Regressor. (Déjà vu)
[Recruited colleagues’ current status and location can be identified, and they can be summoned if needed (10 Cache required).]
‘What is this… is there no control button? If a call comes in right now, I can’t talk because of the microphone.’
When you recruit colleagues, shouldn’t you at least be able to use telepathy? Leaving text records—who does that benefit?
After entertaining such pragmatic thoughts for a moment, I summoned Ji Su-ho, trusting that he’d have the sense to send a text rather than call in this situation.
And this time too, the effect was remarkable!
【Miro_ent_Ji Su-ho Team Leader ‖ Kang Ha-jin?】
‘Nice. This works great.’
I marveled at the satisfaction of spending 10 Cache and feeling my phone vibrate immediately, then quickly sent a reply.
【The scale is incredible.】
【Miro_ent_Ji Su-ho Team Leader ‖ I didn’t think you’d appreciate me giving you advance notice. Yeah, well, this is how it turned out.】
【Did Miro win the lottery?】
【Miro_ent_Ji Su-ho Team Leader ‖ Tae-il did win the lottery once. Third prize, though.】
Ah, so Seo Tae-il invested too? That explains about a third of this scale. Either way, at this point he’s in the top 5 copyright earners in South Korea.
‘The rich really do get richer. Life’s a rigged game for the lucky.’
I felt the bitter reality of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, and etched the reward for Quest 1 into my memory. Young, rich, tall, and handsome. Just wait.
【Miro_ent_Ji Su-ho Team Leader ‖ As for the details… we’ll talk soon.】
【Got it. You’ve worked hard.】
If I kept texting, I’d be mistaken for someone glued to their phone during filming, so I left it at that. I deleted all the messages with Ji Su-ho (after years of reading web novels, I’d learned that not deleting these things causes problems) and shoved my phone deep into my pocket.
And soon after, the practice room door opened and someone entered, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Alright, alright. Hello, everyone~.”
Ji Su-ho entered the practice room with two women. All the trainees’ eyes fixed on the three people occupying the center of the room.
“Quite the surprise, right? I wanted to see some genuine reactions, so I prepared a little surprise initiation. Did you all do well escaping Miro?”
“Yes~.”
“You guys, thanks for your hard work today. Sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance. You were all pretty frazzled, weren’t you?”
Ji Su-ho looked around at the trainees with a smile. But without time to be flustered, the trainees, now aware this was their first broadcast shoot, were flushed with excitement and rushed to answer one after another.
“This is PD Kwon, and this is writer Go Se-hwa. They’re the main PD and writer for our next survival show, so you’ll be seeing them often—make sure to greet them properly.”
“Yes!”
In that warm and cheerful first meeting, there was only one person who couldn’t smile.
Me.
“I saw quite a few impressive trainees today. Now let me briefly explain the broadcast and go over today’s schedule for you.”
‘Why is that senior… why…?’
After four regressions, I became a trainee to debut as an idol, and now the PD in charge of my debut survival show is my former workplace senior from my first life—how does that feel?
‘This is screwed.’
Amid everyone’s applause, I could only clamp my mouth 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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