Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 390

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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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390. Idol Weight Class Clash (9)
After lunch concluded, the second half of the Idol Athletic Games officially commenced.
The opening event of part two was none other than….
-Now then, we’ll begin the men’s archery semifinals.
The crown jewel of the Idol Athletic Games, its raison d’être, its sole value and significance.
Archery.
-Among today’s participating teams, who do you think has the highest chance of winning, Lim Hae-won?
-I’d say Endway athletes, who haven’t relinquished the archery gold medal until last year, are the strongest championship contenders. After all, Sphere team, which competed fiercely alongside them, couldn’t participate this year due to player shortages, correct?
-That’s right. However, the fact that their ace Lim Ga-ram is currently unable to compete due to a finger injury presents another variable. Can Luke, making his archery debut this year, fill the gap left by Lim Ga-ram? That’s the key perspective here.
This cash cow event, which posed no serious injury risk and looked stylish when executed well—even delivering one-shot perfection—was the only popular event within the Idol Athletic Games.
Since most groups expressed interest in archery, preliminaries and quarterfinals were conducted using non-broadcast match records, allowing only the top four teams to compete in the semifinals on air.
Because of this, I’d actually resigned myself to the possibility that our team might be eliminated quickly….
-I see. Then how do you evaluate the other participating teams?
-If there’s a team among the other three that could rival Endway, I’d say Believer has the highest probability. Competition ultimately hinges on experience, and Believer athletes have prior experience competing as B-light team.
-The performance of the two teams making their debut this year also deserves attention—Lanion and Kairos, specifically. Just as their entertainment agency seniors were formidable championship rivals, it remains to be seen whether these two will emerge as new rivals.
We were matched.
We were actually matched.
And our opponents were Endway (senior from our agency), Believer (Seo Tae-hyun’s nemesis #1), and Lanion (Seo Tae-hyun’s nemesis #2).
Why am I suddenly emphasizing that our opponents are Seo Tae-hyun’s nemeses?
-So which individual players are you looking forward to watching?
-I’m keeping my eye on Cha Min-seok from Lanion. I’ve heard he’s shown such talent that Johan, the ace of Sphere, personally coached him.
-Then I’d like to point out Seo Tae-hyun from Kairos. From the preliminaries through the quarterfinals held recently, Seo Tae-hyun has been recording scores nearly perfect. That’s quite remarkable.
Seo Tae-hyun was the one who achieved Kairos’s semifinal miracle.
I’d sent him out thinking he’d look good as our team’s visual representative of the Three Kingdoms era, but who could have predicted he’d return as an actual warrior?
Moreover, with our opponents being Believer and Lanion, Seo Tae-hyun would undoubtedly channel that warrior spirit and shoot X10s today.
“Fine, fine. Just win them all. Since it’s come to this, let’s just go for the championship.”
“But Ha-jin, you lost the 60-meter dash earlier, so winning the championship will be tough.”
“…Are you really going to hit me with facts like that without a shred of humor?”
Lee Do-ha, whose main profession was hip-hop yet had been shining his eyes all day checking other athletes’ physical abilities throughout today’s recording, silently averted his gaze.
Lee Do-ha, who had competed in futsal conducted through individual recording days ago, had secured considerable screen time with assists and headers, but his team ultimately lost 3:2.
-Now, as I speak, the match begins! The first men’s archery semifinal will be between Believer and Kairos.
My gaze and Lee Do-ha’s, both seated in the white chairs designated for archery participants, turned simultaneously. Lee Do-ha, assuming the same arms-crossed spectator posture as me, slightly lowered his head and asked.
“What do you think? About this match?”
“What?”
“Think they’ll win?”
“Well, I guess it depends on the circumstances. Luck matters a lot in these things.”
The scoreboard was introducing today’s competing athletes one by one. As we passed the utterly unappetizing Believer members and our team’s players appeared, an enormous wave of admiration erupted from the audience seating.
-We present the Kairos athletes. Jeong Si-u, whose strength lies in consistent performance; Ju Eun-chan, who shows some fluctuation but impressive potential; and Seo Tae-hyun, who has emerged as the new rising star of archery this year.
-Notably, these three athletes are said to carry the nickname “Visual Three Kingdoms” within the group. Let’s see whether their archery skills can truly live up to that Three Kingdoms legacy.
-Wow, but they’re genuinely strikingly handsome…. Idols really are something else.
“Anyway, visually speaking, we completely dominated, so I’m feeling pretty proud about it.”
Who cares if someone shoots X10 or not—that’s not what matters right now.
Our group has Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje.
Do you guys have that?
Gold medals in archery and all that nonsense—this matters way more to me.
-Kairos athlete Seo Tae-hyun. He exhales slowly and takes aim. His posture and balance are excellent right now….
After a moment of silence, the arrow flew with a sharp whistle.
Seo Tae-hyun, who by now was picturing that target not as a target but as the smug faces of those unlucky Believer bastards, didn’t even bother watching the result—he was already certain of his score, his lips curling into a fresh, confident smile.
-Ten!!! It’s a ten!!!! Seo Tae-hyun scores a perfect ten right from the start!!!
Seo Tae-hyun, blinded by the thirst for revenge, was apparently about to unleash the Hwarang upon this Idol Athletic Games.
‘Why did we even bother planning a strategy if this is how it’s going to be?’
I quickly decided to scrap the ‘Keep the Idol Athletic Games Low-Key’ master plan that seemed to have already failed in my mind. Then, channeling my breath deep into my abdomen, I cheered for Seo Tae-hyun with a resounding voice.
“Our Robin Hood, Seo Tae-hyun!!! If you can’t shoot a perfect ten, then your roommate tonight is Dan Ha-ru and Ju Eun-chan!!!!”
“…Is that encouragement?”
“Honestly, punishments hit harder than rewards.”
No matter how I think about it, I can’t accept coming back after losing to that greenhorn punk, Tae-hyun. Since it’s come to this, you’d better win it all and come back victorious.
A refreshed smile leaked from my face as I made my decision.
* * *
-Men’s archery runner-up…!
-Kairos! Congratulations!
“It’s unfortunate. If I’d just performed a bit better, we would’ve won….”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. The other team just played exceptionally well.”
“Still….”
Our first medal at the Idol Athletic Games was silver—the exact same shade as Jeong Si-u’s hair color.
Seo Tae-hyun, awakened as a Hwarang, shot perfect tens over three times and hard-carried us to crush Believer and advance to the finals, but we fell short against the opposing team’s overwhelming average score.
But I wasn’t particularly bitter about it.
-Men’s archery champion!
-Endway! Congratulations!
Because the opponent was Endway.
If we’d lost to Lanion or Believer, it would’ve stung differently, but losing to Endway on a skill gap didn’t feel so bad. In the semifinals, Seo Tae-hyun had displayed almost god-sent concentration, but the moment the opponent changed to Endway, he rapidly lost his competitive fire.
“Besides, we already got all the good reaction shots….”
“Pardon?”
“Yeah, your face did great, so you’re fine.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Ju Eun-chan had apparently grown accustomed to face compliments by now, nodding gratefully at the comment that his face had done well. As I patted his shoulder and chuckled, someone walked over to us and spoke.
“Good match~ That was fun today.”
It was Choi Yeon-woo and Park Woong from Endway with their gold medals around their necks, and Luke with his bleached yellow hair.
I immediately bowed respectfully in greeting.
“Yes, thank you for your hard work. Wow, the trajectory of those arrows was on a completely different level.”
“…Hmm. For some reason, I feel like a company executive who just finished a round of hospitality golf, which is a bit odd.”
“That’s not it.”
Tsk. Sharp kid.
How did he figure out I was about to switch into flattery mode?
Still, since I genuinely hadn’t intended to deliberately lose like some businessmen throwing a golf match and shouting “nice shot,” I quickly waved my hand in denial.
At that, Choi Yeon-woo smiled as if this wasn’t his original purpose anyway and got to the real point.
“Ah, it’s not that. Where’s Tae-hyun?”
“Tae-hyun? He just went inside for a moment to change clothes. Is something the matter?”
“I wanted to ask him something, but it’s fine if he’s not here. It’s not urgent. Oh, does Kairos compete in the 400m too?”
“Yes. We’re running the full schedule today.”
“We’re done after this event, so we’re heading out now. Good luck~ Tell Si-woo I’ll send him a message.”
“Will do. See you.”
Ju Eun-chan and I bowed our heads respectfully to the Endway members. I watched as Choi Yeon-woo and the others turned back toward the waiting room to leave.
And on his way back, Choi Yeon-woo greeted Cha Min-seok, who was with the Lanion members, quite warmly. The other Endway members also followed suit, acknowledging Cha Min-seok as if they knew him.
“….”
Knowing that Cha Min-seok had been part of Endway’s debut class, it was somewhat irritating, but not something I needed to dwell on—though the fact that Choi Yeon-woo had just been looking for Seo Tae-hyun did nag at me a little.
Now that I thought about it, during the Miro Maze event, Choi Yeon-woo seemed to have said something to Seo Tae-hyun once as well.
‘…I really can’t figure out what that guy is thinking.’
It might be worth asking Jeong Si-u about Endway’s debut period at some point.
After all, Seo Tae-hyun, the person directly involved, would probably just be frustrated, and Jeong Si-u had joined Miro around the time Cha Min-seok was eliminated from the debut class, and he said he was close with Choi Yeon-woo too. He might know some behind-the-scenes story I wasn’t aware of.
“Hyung, we have a wrestling match coming up soon! Let’s go cheer for Ha-ru!”
“Yeah, let’s go. Did Do-ha and Ha-ru go ahead?”
“Yes. They’re waiting there now.”
At Ju Eun-chan’s call, I stopped my wandering thoughts and moved my feet. Then I slowly recalled in my mind what the next event was.
‘Wrestling… Lee Do-ha or Dan Ha-ru will almost certainly win with a 99% probability. After that is rhythmic gymnastics and shot put… and then after that….’
After that was the 400m run.
The final event of the Idol Athletic Games and Kairos’s final event of participation.
“….”
Should I win, or should I lose?
My heart, having already made its decision, was calmer than ever.

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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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