Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 450

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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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450. The Household Setup Project (1)
Rewinding time—
The filming day of this absolutely insane mega-scale project.
Upon discovering the endless lineup of products sprawled across the ridiculously spacious studio, I could sum up my feelings in roughly three words.
‘Is this real?’
To reiterate (though honestly, this is almost always the case), I never intended to scale things up this far.
I simply thought I needed to decide on a roommate, which meant cleaning the place, which meant I’d need to carve out time using filming as an excuse.
At most, I was thinking of a roommate selection roulette game or a massive cleaning deathmatch, but these insane production staff actually went ahead and secured full sponsorships to set up this entire spectacle.
I should have realized it from the moment they actually built a Miro structure at the company when the survival show was named Miro Maze.
“Kwon PD really is… quite the force of nature, isn’t he?”
Seo Tae-hyun, who had been warming up beside me while waiting for the recording to begin, muttered with a hollow expression. Knowing full well that this was Tae-hyun’s way of saying ‘these extreme and formidable production staff members,’ I nodded absently in agreement.
“Tell me about it. Though back in the day, he used to be the type to put 60% into challenges and keep 40% as insurance. Lately, I wonder where he suddenly removed his limits… Is it money? The production budget?”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Oh, no. It’s just that you’re talking about him like you’ve known him for ages.”
Oh no.
Realizing my slip of the tongue, I hastily closed my mouth.
With someone like Tae-hyun, whose perceptiveness was on par with Jeong Si-u’s, I couldn’t afford to have my words twisted. I forced an easy smile and shrugged as if I had no idea what he meant.
“At this point, we have known each other for ages. Come on, how many years has it been since Miro Maze? Just counting the shoots we’ve done together, we’ve already racked up quite a few.”
“‘Racked up quite a few’—what kind of expression is that? …Well, I suppose since we’ve been together since trainee days, we have been seeing each other for quite a while by industry standards.”
“Now that we’ve done so much, there’s nothing left to do, so I’m thinking maybe that’s why he’s gradually scaling things up, you know?”
“Hmm… The scale has always been pretty massive, but…”
Seo Tae-hyun was sharp and perceptive in many ways, just like Jeong Si-u, but he also had an unexpectedly easygoing side—once he understood the other person’s context, he wouldn’t dig deeper into that particular subject.
Still, I felt uncomfortable continuing this conversation, so I naturally steered the wheel and brought up a different topic.
“Oh, how’s the situation with Boy’s Supremacy? Isn’t the final episode coming up soon?”
“Yeah. The broadcast schedule got pushed back a bit due to production company issues, so it should have aired earlier, but it got delayed. It’s at the end of this month. Are you coming, hyung? The writer actually asked me about it.”
“I’ll come if I can stand there holding a banner that says ‘The eternal cherry boy, the personification of youth, only one pick Director Seo Tae-hyun I love you.'”
“Don’t you dare show up without it. You know I only accept handmade ones, right?”
“…Factory orders aren’t allowed?”
“No, I don’t accept those. Like when the Upia hyungs won the first-place award, I’m asking for handmade work, stitch by stitch.”
“Man, building the image of a younger sibling fool isn’t easy.”
Tae-hyun shook his head firmly, but then, realizing even he found this pointless conversation amusing, his stern expression softened and he began to chuckle quietly. I, who had actually been tapping away at a calculator wondering ‘how much would a custom slogan order cost?’, also burst into laughter at Tae-hyun’s reaction.
The laughter between us two fools died down faster than expected.
A familiar shadow suddenly crossed Tae-hyun’s face, which had been laughing in bewilderment just moments before.
“…? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“…Oh. No, it’s not that…”
“Ha-jin hyung! Tae-hyun hyung! We’re recording in 5 minutes! Come on!”
Just as I was growing suspicious of Tae-hyun’s trailing words, Eun-chan, who had been checking audio with the other members in the distance, raised his hand and called us over.
At the mention of ‘recording starts,’ Tae-hyun instinctively stood up, but I grabbed his arm. Then, moving slowly toward where the members were, I pressed him again to tell me what was going on.
If it concerned Boy’s Supremacy, where we’d buried a bomb, I couldn’t afford to overlook even the smallest detail.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“No, really. It’s not like anything serious happened, it’s just… how do I put it…”
“…”
“Just, there’s a participant who’s been on my mind.”
“What? Is someone bothering you? Which insensitive jerk is it? Tell me their name.”
“No, I’m telling you it’s not that. They’re nice, and their skills are decent too. It’s not because of anything like that, it’s just… um…”
“Then what is it?”
“Well, just. Whenever I see them, I keep thinking about the old days, I guess.”
The way Tae-hyun spoke didn’t make it seem like he was being harassed or dealing with something unbearable.
After confirming that the parachute PTSD that had developed from Han Sung-woo and the Former Executive Director running amok wasn’t the issue, Ha-jin opened the system window to check Tae-hyun’s condition, feeling inwardly relieved.
Fortunately, Tae-hyun’s status window, which always displayed a red “1” and showed things like “very depressed” whenever there was a problem, now showed no abnormalities, proving that what Tae-hyun said was the truth.
Only then did Ha-jin relax and nod.
“If you need help with anything, just tell me.”
“Yeah. But really, it’s not a big deal right now.”
“Right now” meant it could become one someday.
Ha-jin thought that once he finished his schedule and returned, he should at least skim through Boy’s Supremacy 2, which had been wrapping up without much noise or major controversy so far and hadn’t really been on his radar.
“Members, please line up along the centerline~”
“Yes!”
As recording began, the conversation between the two stopped there.
Moving from behind the camera to become the subject in front of the camera under the lights was something that never became easy no matter how many times he did it.
Kwon PD and Go Writer, still more familiar to Ha-jin from the other side of the camera, checked the angles and scripts with satisfied expressions. Soon, camera directors from various positions began sending “Roll” signals indicating the start of video recording.
“Ah, Ha-jin, could you do a slate for us?”
“Sure.”
At Kwon PD’s words, Ha-jin instinctively threw both arms up. Numerous cameras instantly focused on his two hands.
Then, with a loud, crisp clap! sound, Ha-jin shouted in a resonant voice.
“Today’s Kairos – Household Regeneration Project, Team Matching Part, recording begins!”
* * *
Today’s Kairos – Household War Edition was divided into three parts total.
【Today’s Match Explanation!】
– Members are divided into three teams through “a certain process.”
– Through team competitions, they acquire rooms of their choice and various products usable in those rooms according to their rankings.
– Finally, in a “Kairos VS Production Team” format, they compete to acquire large-scale products that can be used communally in the Kairos Dormitory.
It sounded grandiose, but ultimately it was about choosing roommates, picking rooms, and organizing the dormitory.
However, the prizes on the line were quite useful and practical.
For example, among the prizes for the final team competition was something like “calling in a professional cleaning and organization company on the production budget.” It was the moment when Yoo Gun’s eyes, which had said this dormitory was hopeless, shone with a glimmer of hope.
“I thought it would just be some rough-and-tumble reality show with rock-paper-scissors and games… but it’s more serious than I expected?”
Professor Task, who was eating snacks at home after finishing his part-time job and watching Today’s Kairos, let out a small sound of interest.
Sometimes he missed the taste of cost-effective content that new artists competed with on ultra-low budgets, but still, it seemed like the real capabilities of this production team truly showed when they committed to setting up a proper stage like this.
“I wonder how the members’ roommate pairings turned out… Personally, I’d like to see some of the awkward pairs get closer through this opportunity…”
As for Kairos’s representative awkward pairs, there were Si-u and Yoo Gun, who were known from before their debut to be in a long-standing relationship of genuine awkwardness mixed with business dealings.
Beyond that, while not exactly awkward, Lee Do-ha and Ju Eun-chan didn’t have as many points of connection as one might expect. Even Kang Ha-jin, who seemed close with everyone, had recently been acting somewhat distant from Dan Ha-ru, whom he’d been inseparable from—a development that made the hearts of those rooting for Rimakz skip a beat.
“Si-woo and Ha-jin clashing would be funny, sure… but that feels kind of predictable, you know? Plus, they actually fought for real back in the day, so I’m a bit worried about putting them together again.”
The story of Jeong Si-u and Kang Ha-jin having a massive fight and coming to blows early in their debut had already reached Desty through the members’ mouths (after going through considerable filtering).
While they never revealed what the fight was about, many speculated that it was Ha-jin’s leadership as the leader clashing with Si-u’s pride as the eldest member.
“Anyway, I hope we get something that isn’t so predictable.”
Nowadays, there were idols who didn’t live in dormitories, but in the idol industry where relationship-building and family-like image-making were defaults, “roommates” remained one of the most convenient and easily-manufactured relationship hooks.
For Kairos, which had been riding a proper upswing lately, to solidify the group’s barely-established all-fan appeal, showcasing the members’ diverse relationships and intimacy was paramount.
Professor Task, who hadn’t read a single spoiler on SNS or community forums because he wanted to experience the catharsis when the results were revealed, nervously crunched on potato chips with relish.
【PD: Then first, let me introduce the team composition method for the teams that will be sharing rooms going forward.】
【Part 01. Know Yourself and Your Enemy—Victory in Every Battle】
With a whoosh and a thud, the title of Part One appeared on the massive monitor behind the members. Simultaneously, the curtain hanging below what they’d thought was a wall slowly rose, revealing two hidden doors.
Those two doors, which somehow looked familiar, had large letters written above them alongside punctuation marks that also seemed oddly familiar.
~〚Choose your way!〛~
The most important thing for living together
is understanding and knowing what kind of person the other is!
What kind of person am I, and what kind of person are they?
Trust your instincts!
Left? VS Right?
【Ha-jin: Uh, this…?】
【Eun-chan: Why do I feel this psychological pressure like I need to take an elevator…?】
【Si-woo: Shouldn’t Ha-jin be the one saying that line?】
【Ha-jin: Me?】
【Do-ha: We have to go up, reach for the sun, so… uh….】
【Ha-jin: If you want to live, De-on, be quiet.】
The scene where Ha-jin urgently stopped Do-ha from reciting “that” famous line—the one that could arguably be said to have first imprinted Ha-jin on the public consciousness—was played out amusingly. Afterward, Tae-hyun and Yoo Gun continued the bit, playfully repeating “reach for the sun” as a joke.
The PD explained the next rule only after the members’ skit had settled down somewhat.
【PD: Before you now are numerous questions designed to help us understand what kind of people you are. When each of you arrives at your final destination following your own choices, those who end up at the same result will form one team.】
【Ha-ru: So it’s like a psychological test?】
【PD: Yes, no matter what choices you make, you’ll ultimately arrive at one of three endpoints.】
The PD, who had been smoothly explaining the rules, paused briefly for a breath.
The members and Desty beyond the screen, who knew all too well that a twist rule always appeared at moments like this, held their breath together.
【PD: However, since these are your autonomous choices, there are no restrictions on the number of people at each of the three endpoints.】
【Tae-hyun: What do you mean by that…?】
【PD: If you’re unlucky, one person could end up alone while all six others share the same room.】
【Ha-jin: Are you serious?】
【PD: It’s a rule that reflects Eun-chan’s opinion that seven people living in one room would be fine! (^♡^)】
Six pairs of eyes instantly snapped toward the group’s second-youngest member, who stood there blankly.
Ju Eun-chan, suddenly the center of attention, took a moment (as usual) to grasp the situation, then cheerfully shouted at the members who seemed to be demanding an explanation.
【Eun-chan: Oh! Wow! I’m all for it!】
【Kairos (except Eun-chan): (Absolute despair)】
Ju Eun-chan’s small gesture of love for the group members returned as a tremendously chaotic random room assignment.

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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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