Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 453

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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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453. The Household Setup Project (4)
Kwon Myung-eun, a PD whose career had crossed the decade mark this year.
‘I….’
She’d thought she’d weathered this industry long enough to have encountered all manner of celebrities and cast members, but currently….
‘I never imagined I’d be conceptualizing something this ambitious….’
…she was seriously questioning her own content planning abilities.
“Writer, how many items have our kids cleared so far?”
“Oh, wait a moment. …Ha-na, how many did they clear?”
In response to Kwon PD’s question, Go Writer, the main writer who’d been tapping away at her laptop, tossed the question to the junior writer behind her. The junior writer, who’d been monitoring intently alongside Assistant Director Ha-na, startled and answered immediately.
“RED Team 7, BLUE Team 9, GREEN Team 6.”
“That’s 22 total…? How much time have we used so far?”
“Well, including the time added from items, we still have 8 minutes remaining.”
“…They’ve already found all the time-extension items?”
“The first-place team’s score has already exceeded 1,000 points….”
Is this real?
While running simulations during content preparation, I’d considered the possibility of something like this happening, but still—I never actually expected it to go this far!
I’d assumed these spirited young men would just have fun with it enthusiastically, but I never imagined they’d throw themselves into it with such genuine intensity.
“This… is going to make our volume much bigger than planned….”
Did I miscalculate the scoring?
Did I scatter too many items?
Did I hide them in places that were too easy!?
Or was this survival format always meant to be such a ruthlessly strategic point-farming battle game!??
Kwon PD, retracing where exactly this had spiraled into such uncontrollable proportions (though truthfully, it was from the planning stage), tapped the table lightly.
‘Is that not it? Is this just Kairos’s inherent characteristic…?’
Now that she thought about it, filming with them always tended to go like this.
I’d asked them to escape a maze, and they’d vault over the set walls, slip through staff corridors, charge full-speed without looking back, and smash through the exit door….
“Oh, Ha-jin’s running.”
Look at that.
Right now, he’s casually vaulting over the dummy stacks—which were only piled there for cover—like he’s clearing a pommel horse during gym class.
They were finding items so efficiently that more than half had already been used, making my earlier worries about not using them all seem pointless.
“That guy seems to be good at everything except ball sports involving his feet.”
“How can someone with that kind of athletic coordination be so bad at footvolley and soccer? It almost seems like a talent in itself….”
“Si-woo made a good call early on. If Ha-jin and Yoo Gun had stayed on the same team the whole time, they never would’ve lost.”
“Since each team has such distinct colors, it’ll be easier to establish character dynamics with that.”
The members’ play styles could be roughly divided into three categories.
The physical powerhouses like Do-ha, Yoo Gun, and Ha-ru—who tank to some degree while pushing forward with raw physicality,
The strategists like Ha-jin and Si-woo—who corner opponents with precise commands and flawless tactics, knowing how to use items and sacrifices appropriately,
And the survival specialists—who, despite being physically weaker and less accurate with weapons compared to the others, display remarkable survival instincts, sweeping up items and showing an almost genius-level talent for concealment.
“But I was surprised by Eun-chan. Since he’s always enjoyed being active, I honestly thought he’d be the type to run around constantly and die quickly.”
“Maybe it’s because of his peaceful nature? But honestly, if I were in his position with all those hyungs running around with guns, I’d probably hide desperately like that too.”
What struck me was that Eun-chan, alongside Tae-hyun, also displayed survival-oriented tendencies.
“He’s tall and handsome, so you’d think his presence would be hard to suppress, yet somehow that massive frame hides itself so skillfully everywhere….”
As a result, the BLUE Team’s strategy typically involved Ju Eun-chan positioning himself in some well-fortified location, while Lee Do-ha solo-tanked and racked up points, then returned to where Eun-chan was stationed like someone drinking an HP potion to recharge the gauge before heading back into battle.
Meanwhile, Ju Eun-chan would hide elsewhere, quietly recovering until his gauge was fully charged, and whenever Lee Do-ha got eliminated, Eun-chan would somehow sense it and come sprinting over to share his gauge before vanishing again—a cycle that repeated endlessly.
‘Like some kind of walking auxiliary battery….’
A colossal auxiliary battery with elite hide-and-seek mastery, paired with the team’s strongest physical specimen who refused to go down no matter how many times he got shot.
This was character imagery worth using later when creating the BLUE Team’s highlight reel.
Kwon PD scanned the score standings, remaining time, and item counts per team with his eyes, then opened his mouth while glancing down at his production notes where he’d jotted down interesting talking points.
“What about the RED and GREEN kids? Their teams are completely flipped right now, right? Any chance of another reversal happening here?”

Unlike the BLUE Team, whose composition remained unchanged from start to finish, the RED and GREEN Teams had undergone such dramatic shifts that it was fair to say the teams themselves had been completely restructured.
Ha-jin, who had been considered a championship contender until the early stages, had suddenly found himself paired with Tae-hyun, the weakest member—a situation with very dramatic circumstances behind it.
-Let’s split the RED Team. Ha-jin and Yoo Gun together would be too strong.
The catalyst was the RED Team’s overwhelming early rush.
While the BLUE and GREEN Teams each had weak members like Eun-chan and Tae-hyun respectively, both Yoo Gun and Ha-jin, with their solid shooting skills and athletic prowess, began racking up points at an alarming pace from the start.
Generally, the faster Ha-jin would drive the bait while Yoo Gun shot, and this tactic proved devastatingly effective against the two teams that had either slow runners like Tae-hyun or members like Eun-chan who were finished once discovered after hiding.
-Fortunately, Tae-hyun has collected some items on our side. If we combine them with what Eun-chan gathered and completely reorganize the teams, what do you think?
Jeong Si-u’s point was simple.
Since the GREEN Team currently had the lowest score, they could either pull Ha-jin and Yoo Gun into the GREEN Team and have themselves enter the RED Team to swap scores, or tear apart at least one of the two.
In response to Si-u’s proposal, Lee Do-ha, who had been quietly hiding in the concealment spot Eun-chan had taught him, voiced his opinion.
-Completely changing teams wouldn’t really make much sense. At Ha-jin or Yoo Gun’s current speed, they’d catch up to that score gap quickly. To balance things, you’d need to completely separate the two.
-Then which team? I’m against either of them joining your team. The balance breaks either way once either of them pairs with you.
-Since the GREEN Team made the proposal, you should sacrifice someone from your side. I also think it’s risky if Ha-jin or Yoo Gun join your team and we end up with a 1v1v4 situation.
Sacrifice one person.
That meant leaving at least one person on the GREEN Team, which currently had the lowest score.
Jeong Si-u, who had actually been quite satisfied with his current roommate combination, showed a moment of hesitation at that instant, but judging that splitting the RED Team was the priority for now, he quickly accepted the proposal.
-…Okay. Then I’ll use the exchange right first and swap teams with Ha-jin. In exchange, give me the forced recruitment right that Eun-chan found. So I can bring either Ha-ru or Tae-hyun.
-If you’re going to the RED Team directly, don’t you not really need the recruitment right? I think the balance would work with just you and Yoo Gun.
-We’re gambling to gain an advantage, so we can’t throw away the numerical superiority. Besides, wouldn’t you find it burdensome if Ha-jin brings both Ha-ru and Tae-hyun? Right now our team lacks charging power, so our score is struggling, but the moment Ha-jin enters, that combination could be unstoppable.
-…Okay. I’ll tell Eun-chan to hand over the items to you.
-Right. But where exactly is Eun-chan hiding? I haven’t seen a single strand of his hair since earlier.
-Section B slide, in the roof compartment.
-…A person fits in there?
“Is this even idol content dialogue, or is it combat survival dialogue….”
Kwon PD shook his head, recalling that earlier ‘Blue-Green Alliance’ scene that had looked like an espionage thriller at first glance.
Yoo Gun’s prone position was remarkably sharp, Do-ha’s rope skills were textbook perfect for an idol, and even the youngest member Ha-ru was barking orders using professional terminology.
His nimble way of raising the gun barrel while exploring suspicious zones looked like the handiwork of someone who’d spent years in military service—there was no way around it.
Kwon PD turned his head toward Jung Kwon-uk, Kairos’s manager, who was watching the monitors from a distance.
“Manager. You didn’t send these kids to some training camp or something, right? No matter how I look at them, they don’t have the faces of people who’ve never served, and yet…?”
“Ha ha, what are you saying? I wish their military service records would just disappear so I wouldn’t have to worry about discharge dates….”
Oops—I’d tried to make a joke and ended up awakening the manager’s sorrow instead.
Kwon PD, noticing Kwon Wook’s gloomy expression as if he were already imagining the distant future, hurriedly pressed the assistant director.
“S-Sang-hyuk. Did you check? Is there any room left to swap teams?”
“…Ah, well, we’ve already used all the team-swap items we found so far. There is one we haven’t used yet, but the RED team doesn’t have it, so… it looks like there won’t be major changes until the race ends.”
“I see. Then the roommate pairings are confirmed as is. Well, the composition looks fresh, which is good.”
The kids would have to actually live together, so there were many factors to consider, but from a viewer’s perspective, the more new combinations that emerged, the more entertaining it became.
I was somewhat disappointed that Si-woo and Tae-hyun ended up in the same room again, but the decision to deliberately send Yoo Gun with Ha-jin to tease Tae-hyun in the middle turned out to create quite a compelling dynamic.
The chemistry between Si-woo and Yoo Gun, which I’d been somewhat worried about, was working out surprisingly well with Ha-ru acting as a buffer in the middle.
‘…These aren’t even my dedicated kids, but somehow I find myself caring about them.’
Was it because I’d been watching them since their debut?
Their debut survival show, Miro Maze, had become one of my representative works alongside Today’s Kairos, so it was only natural to feel a certain affection for them.
Though lately I’d been hearing worried nagging from the CEO about how long I’d keep clinging to just this one idol content, it still seemed like there were more pictures I wanted to paint with these kids.
‘Especially Kang Ha-jin—I’m curious how much higher he can climb….’
Kwon PD’s gaze shifted to Ha-jin, who had joined Tae-hyun and was flashing a refreshing smile.
Watching the two of them bicker despite being on the same team, I suddenly recalled the time Ha-jin had called me with what wasn’t quite a threat.
-I’m currently begging the PD for help.
-Please help us, PD.
Ha-jin now made no further mention of that day, but the heavy impact from that moment occasionally surfaced unexpectedly in Kwon PD’s memory.
‘What was I afraid of…?’
Kwon PD recalled the ‘uncomfortable’ story circulating among fellow PDs lately.
Internal politics at the broadcasting station, power struggles between external entertainment companies, and the unfortunate children caught up in these adults’ affairs—there were even ominous rumors that a storm of blood might blow between them soon.
Her gaze turned toward another person smiling on the monitor.
‘…Does Tae-hyun know?’
No, he probably doesn’t.
If he did, he wouldn’t be able to smile so carelessly like that.
Then, does Ha-jin know?
‘…I probably don’t know. Even if I did, there’s nothing a mere idol can do about it.’
At best, it would be controlling people’s mouths and conducting myself properly so the members wouldn’t suffer damage if things exploded. Since I wasn’t directly involved, the agency would handle any problematic matters on their own.
“….”
A deep sigh escaped Kwon PD’s lips.
Then and now.
In every situation, I was merely a third party—there was absolutely no reason for me to step forward in such matters.
“One minute remaining! The race will end soon!”
And yet.
And yet Kwon PD’s heart had become unsettled.
“30 seconds!”
Then and now.
I was nothing more than a PD from an outsourced production company, too busy worrying about my own rice bowl.
No one could blame me for staying silent about all of this.
“15 seconds…!”
-Please help me, senior.
And yet, for some reason….
“5 seconds…!”
-You were the only one I could ask, please.
“3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second…!”
-…I’m sorry.
-There’s nothing I can do to help.
-What could you possibly do against a corporation?
“Race concluded! Everyone gather at the center!”
-That’s just how this industry works.
-There’s a reason people say it’s better to let things slide smoothly.
And yet, for some reason.
It felt as though I had once lost someone to a silence of similar weight.
“Senior, aren’t you coming?”
“…Ah, yeah. Let’s go.”
-I’m sorry,
Ha-jin.
A memory that existed in no recollection brushed past her consciousness like an act, then vanished.

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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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