Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 4

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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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04. Finding the Lost Dream (2)
‘Right… I didn’t exactly fail to anticipate this, did I?’
Crouched at the Playground in Front of House, I massaged my throbbing head and organized my thoughts. Since this was an unexpected outing, I’d thrown on slippers, and now my feet were so numb with cold that frostbite seemed imminent.
I’d pulled down my long padded coat as far as it would go to cover my toes, but the biting chill still crept upward relentlessly. After wearing this thing for four years, maybe it was finally time to retire it.
Given the circumstances, I had ten minutes to devise a strategy.
“System window. Sudden Quest.”
My pronunciation slurred from the cold numbing my lips, but since I was alone anyway, I’d let it slide. I zipped my collar up tighter and examined the stat window that materialized with a soft pop.
[System Alert: Sudden Quest!]
Content: A child’s wound becomes a parent’s scar. Win back Mother’s heart and gain recognition for the dream you’ve rediscovered.
Time Limit: Linked to SQ 01 (D-53)
Penalty for Failure: 75% increased likelihood of triggering 5th regression
“?”
A penalty had materialized in that brief moment. I stared silently at the system window, but since glaring wouldn’t change anything, I gave up.
“What kind of life are you even living, you regressor bastard….”
At this point, I was genuinely concerned about the regressor’s fragile mental state. Right, there’s no way they’d regress four times without reason. Even with my mental fortification, the thought of regressing again made everything go dark—so what must it be like for them? The system must have been equally frustrated to pair me with them as a ‘mentor’ or whatever.
“But still, isn’t that probability rate absurdly high?”
Since I was already irritated, I kept muttering complaints, and before I knew it, two minutes had passed. Damn it, I was running out of time. I had eight minutes to figure out how to convince Mother.
‘Academics would be the easiest route.’
Having lived as our Mother’s son for nineteen years (roughly three decades if you count my past life), I knew that just saying something like ‘I’ll pursue being a trainee while also attending Seoul’ would give me decent negotiating leverage. I could even cite specific numbers like mock exam scores.
But the problem was….
‘That takes too long. It’s too slow.’
The college entrance exam was already over, and I needed to become a trainee within two months. On top of that, balancing academics with trainee life wasn’t just difficult—it was essentially mortgaging my youth to shorten my lifespan. Though that’s true of all aspiring entertainers anyway.
[System Alert: 5 minutes remaining!]
“…Damn it.”
I was losing sensation in my nose and cheeks. Think, Kang Ha-jin. I’m going to freeze to death out here.
I racked my brain, drawing on every experience from all my lives to find the most effective way to convince Mother.
A hunger strike? Our Mother’s cooking was too delicious—disqualified.
Running away? Look at my current state. If I left the house, I’d be in hell. Disqualified.
Crying and throwing a tantrum? That hadn’t worked since I was five years old, obsessing over transformer robots. Long disqualified.
“…No, I can’t do this. I can’t.”
Maybe I should just regress? Honestly, spending the next two months memorizing ten years’ worth of lottery numbers seems less exhausting. I’ve got the mental fortification boost anyway—why not just push through?
[System Alert: 3 minutes remaining!]
[System Alert: The Mental Care System is not invincible!]
“Now you’re just meddling. Fine, do whatever you want. Do it all.”
[System Alert: Your request has been registered.]
This system doesn’t even understand Korean irony. The Korean language patch is clearly incomplete.
“Hyung. Mom says if you’re done with your teenage angst phase, come inside and eat.”
Just as I was having a staring contest with the useless system window, my still-small, still-unfamiliar eighteen-year-old Younger Sibling called me over, making it abundantly clear they were annoyed.
Seeing my still-soft Younger Sibling reignited a will I thought I’d lost. Right, I can’t give up. If I do, you’ll end up going to the Military three times.
“Angst? I’m serious about this.”
“A serious person just storms out like that?”
“Why would I? I poured my heart into every single step.”
“If that pathetic acting—crying about ‘Mom doesn’t understand anything~!’—counts as sincerity, then you’re hopeless too, hyung.”
Watching my Younger Sibling clumsily mimic me, a wave of reality crashed over me. I never expected it would look so much like some melodramatic eighteen-year-old drama protagonist.
And “pathetic acting”? I was completely sincere in that moment.
“You don’t understand anything….”
“Hyung, what kind of battle are you fighting all by yourself?”
“It’s a war.”
An enormous war fought over re-enlisting, retaking entrance exams, and finding a new job.
“Hyung, try to understand. Mom seems to have a lot on her mind lately too.”
“….”
The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant at my Younger Sibling’s hesitant words. Only then did I suddenly remember—it was winter of my nineteenth year.
“And Dad’s situation too….”
Father’s unemployment.
Knowing the future as I did, I understood that Father would interview at a company in early next year and settle in well there, turning what seemed like hardship into a blessing that would actually improve our family’s fortunes.
It was also why I could open my eyes every morning in a semi-basement with perpetual dampness instead of a sun-filled Apartment after regressing, and never once despair.
“It’s just that lately, the whole family’s atmosphere is… you know? But then you suddenly said you wanted to be a trainee again….”
Yet before that future arrived, our family truly lived through an endless, bitter winter.
Seeing my Younger Sibling standing there in nothing but hand-me-downs, looking ready to cry at any moment, made it suddenly real. This was one of those freezing winter days.
“I want to work part-time and contribute to living expenses, but you won’t even let me do that.”
I looked up at my Younger Sibling, who was pouring out their frustration. Something inside me began to boil.
“Ha-won.”
“What.”
“Work hard at what you want to do, man.”
“….”
“Right now, that’s how you help Mom and Dad.”
My Younger Sibling said nothing.
I forced strength into legs that felt like they might freeze and shatter. It was as if someone had suddenly yanked tight a rope that had been hanging loose.
I absolutely had to stop this regression. I couldn’t leave my family trapped in this winter forever.
“Ha-won.”
“…Why do you keep calling me?”
“This time around, I’m going to become an idol.”
“How are you going to get Mom’s permission?”
[System Alert: 10 minutes have elapsed!]
“There’s always a way, man.”
Didn’t I say I’d come up with a plan in 10 minutes?
* * *
Young-in, Kang Ha-jin’s Mother, had been watching him with suspicious eyes for days now.
‘Why is he being so quiet?’
It had been several days since he’d dropped that bombshell about wanting to prepare as an idol trainee again. Young-in had braced herself when she saw him return that day with his Younger Sibling, but instead, Kang Ha-jin had devoured two bowls of rice and even volunteered to do the dishes as if nothing had happened.
‘…Was that the plan?’
Now that I thought about it, I’d noticed that Ha-jin had been doing housework with increasing frequency lately.
The family had always shared household chores, but recently I hadn’t gotten a single drop of soapy water on my hands except when bathing. Something about it felt off, but since my body was comfortable, my thoughts kept stopping there. Instinct always triumphed over reason.
“Ha-jin.”
“Hmm?”
“…Never mind.”
Still suspicious, I called out to Ha-jin anyway, but his face remained as serene as always.
If I could have, I would have told him to do whatever he wanted in this one life we get.
It was my own regret for not living that way, and my resentment toward my parents for not teaching me to live like that. In truth, I supported my sons’ dreams more than anyone, and I still did.
I had simply learned that vague encouragement sometimes drove children down dead ends.
-Stop talking about that possibility.
I still hadn’t forgotten Ha-jin that day.
That was the day he first expressed his intention to end his five years as a trainee.
-Why, Ha-jin? Mom believes in you. You can do it.
-Mom, sometimes I…
-….
-I’m scared of my unremarkable future. I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.
That day, I first realized that blind faith in one’s child could sometimes frighten them.
-You believe in me so much that if I don’t achieve something, it’s all my fault, isn’t it?
-….
-So I’ll just do something else. Something I’m good at, not something with potential.
So when Ha-jin brought up the dream of becoming an idol again, fear seized me.
The unstable family finances and Ha-jin’s status as a student crossed my mind, but what weighed heavier on my heart was that memory.
I couldn’t bear to watch Ha-jin, who had always shone so brightly, break his own wings again. In that tightrope life where every moment was scrutinized, I couldn’t speak only of baseless hope that things would work out. Especially not when this was just a trainee audition, not even a debut.
“Mom.”
Lost in these thoughts, my chest ached and my throat tightened as I looked at Ha-won, who called me with an awkward voice.
“What is it, son? Do you need something?”
“Ah. Well….”
Ha-won glanced at my expression, then hesitantly pointed toward the Master Bedroom.
“Your brother wants you to come in. Dad’s in the room too.”
“Ha-jin? Why?”
“That’s….”
Sensing something odd in Ha-won’s trailing words, I quickly headed to the Master Bedroom. My husband, seated in a pre-arranged chair, greeted me.
“Ha-jin?”
“Honey, come quick. He’s doing something.”
Ha-jin, who had changed back into his school uniform despite coming home from school long ago, stood in perfect posture before the computer.
Bewildered, I was led by Ha-won to my seat. With two chairs already prepared, Ha-won crouched beside me, ready to witness his brother’s one-man show unfold.
“Mother. Father.”
“Since when did you call us like that….”
Look at him. My husband’s eyes gleamed as Ha-jin, brushing past the comment with a confident smile, turned on the monitor.
“I shall now begin my life plan presentation for Kang Ha-jin.”
A neatly designed PowerPoint slide filled the small monitor, announcing its beginning with flashy transitions.
* * *
“Before explaining this plan, I believed it was necessary to first gain a clear understanding of what I currently possess and what I have accomplished thus far.”
Had I mentioned that I’d picked up some experience organizing materials during group projects back in the day?
“This is a document where I’ve organized my current strengths and weaknesses using SWOT analysis.”
Let me add to that: I’d actually poured my soul into these PowerPoint slides before.
The presentation moved forward with clean, polished designs that carefully considered my parents’ tastes and readability.
The fonts were easy to read and pleasing to the eye, with text strategically placed to highlight only the key concepts essential to the presentation—the result of meticulous work I’d done while monopolizing the computer under the pretense of needing to watch online lectures.
I can say with certainty that I hadn’t prepared my major subject final presentations with this much dedication.
“Ha-won, do they teach things like that in school these days?”
“It’s just my brother being weird.”
I heard Father marveling and chatting with Ha-won, but I calmly continued with the next section of my presentation.
By the time I was explaining my early admission strategy, considering the current admission requirements of my target universities based on analysis from actual meetings with my homeroom teacher, along with my grades and extracurricular activities, I could see Kang Ha-won shaking his head with a bored expression.
“Next, I will introduce Miro Entertainment and explain my vision and reasons for choosing this company.”
Already more than halfway through, Kang Ha-won, sitting beside Father who was clapping and saying our son was impressive, muttered under his breath.
“…That guy’s using cheat codes.”
I heard every word, you punk.

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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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