Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 495

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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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495. A Strong Heart
Everything begins the moment Lee Do-ha takes his first step.
Hide, hide well
Hide, hide well
Hide, hide well
An instrumental riff—a rephrased version of the main motif from “Hide and Seek”—drifts across the stage like mist, and all the lights that had been sweeping across the entire stage in search of an escaped prisoner suddenly converge on a single point.
Like a spy. Like an intruder.
The moment Lee Do-ha rises at center stage and takes his first step―
Bbbbbbbbiii―
A grand drum sound crashes in, launching the urgent intro.
Faced with masked dancers rushing at him in unison, Lee Do-ha drops low and moves his long arms and legs with fluid grace. The movements blur the line between dance and action.
-Hyung.
-Hm?
Do-ha recalled the day Yoo Gun had first proposed this choreography.
Since his debut, Yoo Gun had been involved in every creative choreography project for Kairos.
But it wasn’t entirely his own choice—the choreography team and A&R team had essentially forced him into it, unwilling to let his instinctive sense and talent go to waste.
-Would you… want to work on something with me?
For Yoo Gun to take the initiative and propose collaborating with someone was a genuinely historic moment.
He was already stretched thin reviewing Do-ha’s fundamentals every night, yet Yoo Gun approached him with passionate eyes like a coach taking over a struggling team, asking if he’d like to practice a creative solo version he’d choreographed.
Bad―!
Lee Do-ha’s long legs swept nimbly over the bent form of the dancer.
All those days of showing up at the practice room after declaring his composition strike had paid off—movements that once felt impossible to follow now made sense, as if he could feel which muscles to engage and what trajectory to trace.
Bad,
Bad Ending Story
Krumping movements flowed in succession—bouncing, colliding, and cutting through the air with powerful core strength.
Because it was music he’d arranged himself, Lee Do-ha didn’t let a single beat scatter.
His movements, stacking precisely on beat, gradually began to feel increasingly rhythmic.
-Hyung, do you know how to kick?
-Kick?
-Yes.
Once Yoo Gun discovered that Do-ha had trained in various martial arts—particularly taekwondo at nearly a competitive level—he wove martial techniques throughout the choreography.
Lee Do-ha sprinted up the angled ramp at full speed, launched into the air, and swiftly spun his right leg in a sharp kick. Sparks erupted with a sound timed perfectly to the beat.
In the same motion, Lee Do-ha rolled across the stage floor with expert precision and smoothly evaded the arms and legs of the approaching dancer.
Hide, hide it well
Or your shadow will show
Only about fifteen seconds had passed since the song began, yet Lee Do-ha’s body was already drenched in sweat as if he’d just run forty straight minutes of a soccer match.
Unaware that even those beads of perspiration gleamed beneath the lights, making him shine all the brighter, Lee Do-ha immediately lifted himself to hit the next sequence without catching his breath.
In that place he turned to face,
Already… (Shhhhh―)
His sharp gaze pierced directly into the camera.
* * *
“That’s it…!”
Waiting at his entrance position, Yu Gun let out a small cheer as he watched Do-ha’s solo performance, tensing as if he were the one on stage.
Realizing belatedly that the microphone might still be on, he clapped his hand over his mouth, but it was already too late—all the group members around him had already turned to look at him.
Ha-jin glanced at Yu Gun as well.
That aerial kick Do-ha had just executed was among the most difficult choreography in his solo, so it was understandable to be thrilled by the perfect execution.
However, there were still two more difficult movements that Do-ha needed to succeed at, including that section he’d been continuously failing until just now.
“….”
Ha-jin opened the System window just in case.
Entering the Character tab and opening the file labeled “Lee Do-ha,” a window containing Do-ha’s personal information unfolded before his eyes. Ha-jin scrolled down while maintaining his focus, checking Do-ha’s stats.
[Lee Do-ha (Affiliation: Kairos)]
Vocals: F
Rap: S
Dance: C+
Expression: A(▲)
Charm: A(▲)
Special: Melody (SS)
-Composition and producing abilities are significantly enhanced.
Appeal Point: Strong Heart
-Delivery power, stage adaptability, performance realization (85%)
I wondered if there might be a miracle like Yu Gun’s mid-performance rank-up, but there were no signs of any changes whatsoever.
The one consolation was that his Expression stat had risen from B+ to A, likely thanks to his recent return to basic choreography training.
Since he was generally competent in all other abilities except for his stage stumbles, his Charm rating had risen accordingly as his Expression improved.
‘…Ah. Did this just come from building up his physique?’
During his break from composing, Do-ha had been eating well, sleeping well, and consistently going back and forth between the gym and the practice room. His body looked better than ever. That wasn’t something you could build in just a few days of gym visits.
Since his debut—or perhaps even before that.
It was the result of sincere, consistent effort, maintained without missing a single day, if I’m being honest.
‘Some people might sneer and say he should’ve spent that time practicing dance instead….’
But it was precisely because of that physicality that Do-ha on stage now possessed even more overwhelming persuasiveness.
Ha-jin’s gaze turned toward the backstage monitor. The long LED backdrop screen displaying the entire stage was decorated with a single large English word engulfed in flames.
[REVOLUTION]
Kairos’s stage theme this time was revolution.
The opening solo was a performance that opened the beginning of that revolution, with the core storytelling being how the solo member alone occupies an enemy base.
“Please, please, please….”
Along with Yu Gun’s earnest prayer, Do-ha on the monitor simultaneously weaves through five or six backup dancers rushing at him. It was the second difficult section.
Matching his movements with the dancers who moved with precision as if trying to restrain Do-ha with black fabric, he instead subdued them one by one. The sight of him pulling back the fabric wrapped around his neck and waist, then throwing the dancers over his shoulder, looked more like a hero from an action movie than an idol.
And now, the problematic section was coming.
“Ah, this is killing me. I can’t watch.”
“Hey, you… be quiet.”
After having the staff confirm once more that the microphone was off, Yu Gun openly covered his eyes while muttering to himself. Tae-hyun, who was similarly concentrating on monitoring the stage beside him, furrowed his brow and slapped Yu Gun’s forearm with an audible smack.
Under normal circumstances, Ha-jin would have laughed and joked at the sight, but not this time.
Ha-jin was just as tense as Yoo Gun, watching the stage intently.
Match it up
Truth, or lies
Now Lee Do-ha was seized by the dancers, handcuffed on both wrists, and had to act as though being dragged away by them before breaking free and sprinting toward the back of the stage where container boxes were stacked, moving in sync with the music building toward the climax.
Throughout this sequence, he had to evade the dancers constantly pursuing him, overpower them, and vault over them—and the vault was the part Lee Do-ha struggled with most.
When the dancer crouched their back as Lee Do-ha approached, all he had to do was press his own back against theirs and roll smoothly over.
Yet despite being relatively simple compared to the preceding movements, Lee Do-ha always mistimed the leap, stopping short just before the dancer’s face.
The story I’m about to tell you
Truth? No, a lie
As promised, handcuffs were fastened around Lee Do-ha’s wrists.
Hide, hide away
Hide, hide away
Hide, hide,
Hide,
With both hands bound, Lee Do-ha’s steps, which had been moving obediently offstage with the dancers, began to slow. The grand and solemn beat that Do-ha and Ha-jin had painstakingly rearranged crescendoed, building toward the climax.
And then, in an instant, all sound vanished from the stage—
Hide, hide away, huh?
Your voice rang out
Finally, the climax.
With the explosive beat, Lee Do-ha shook off the dancers, spun around, and began sprinting at full speed. The expansive camera angle captured his charge without missing a single moment.
“….”
Evade, overpower, now it was time to vault.
In that moment when all eyes were focused.
“Huh…?”
A confused voice burst out from someone.
Ha-jin, who had squeezed his eyes shut unable to bear watching, reflexively opened them at that sound. Everyone, including Yoo Gun and Seo Tae-hyun, stared at the monitor in shock.
Ha-jin’s eyes automatically turned toward the monitor.
“…?”
Lee Do-ha’s feet, which should have already stopped half a beat earlier to land before the dancer and vault over his back, were heading in the exact opposite direction instead.
“What?”
Like a long jumper preparing for their approach run.
Lee Do-ha’s feet began rapidly backing away.
* * *
‘Will it work?’
In the moment he was safely handcuffed as promised and sprinted backward in time with the music’s explosion.
Lee Do-ha’s entire focus was on whether he could nail that final movement he’d been struggling with.
‘If I jump by my body’s instinct, I’ll collide.’
Everything came down to a matter of bodily awareness.
To safely press their backs together and roll over them, the critical factor was matching the takeoff distance so he could land perfectly on the other’s back without breaking Do-ha’s full-speed momentum.
Adjusting my running speed wasn’t particularly difficult. The real challenge lay in matching the spacing.
For Do-ha, whose body had internalized the sensation of vaulting over obstacles without making contact, that half-step gap proved far more troublesome than anticipated.
Evade, suppress….
Everything up to this point flows smoothly.
Uncertain footsteps trampled the blue stage lights with fierce intensity.
‘Will it work?’
But the moment I stepped forward for the final movement.
Do-ha realized it through instinctive sensation.
‘I’ll collide.’
If I continued at this pace, I’d either fail to decelerate in time and crash into the dancer, or I’d have to awkwardly halt to force my back against theirs.
‘What do I do?’
And the moment I recognized this, my body reflexively moved to find a solution.
It was the instinct of an athlete who constantly faced unpredictable variables in competition.
‘…Will it work?’
That movement suddenly surfacing in my mind was one I’d never attempted since joining Miro.
After awakening the ‘past timeline’ through that chance incident, it felt even more distant, and after my landing mistake last time that injured my back, I’d never even considered attempting it again.
‘Let’s just try it.’
But there was no time to stand here deliberating over ‘can I do this?’
My feet began backing up to secure the approach distance.
-Do-ha.
-Tomorrow, if you think you might mess up the choreography at that part.
-Just don’t do it. Standing still is fine.
-…I think it’ll still be okay.
Though Ha-jin said ‘it’ll still be okay,’ honestly, I couldn’t agree with that assessment.
In any sport, an athlete standing motionless during a performance was unthinkable.
‘If a player gave up taking a shot because they weren’t confident in scoring, they’d have no business being on the field.’
With sufficient approach distance secured, Do-ha surges forward again.
Before the stage began, Yu Gun had warned the dancer team multiple times: ‘Even if Do-ha doesn’t attempt that problematic move, proceed with the routine as planned,’ so the dancer in front of me would lower their back at the right timing.
The original intention was probably to account for Do-ha abandoning the move as Ha-jin suggested and sidestepping instead, but it didn’t matter.
[Appeal Point: Strong Heart]
Do-ha’s greatest strength—one he himself didn’t recognize, and perhaps would never know—shone brilliantly.
[Delivery, On-stage Adaptability, Performance Realization (85%)]
Do-ha takes a new first step.
As the dancer lowers their back in perfect timing, my body launches from a much greater distance, soaring through the air. Careful not to injure them, I spin through the empty space with breathtaking precision before landing safely on the other side.
Maintaining my center of gravity with both shackled hands, my long legs slice through the air with grace before touching down securely.
Biiiiiippppp!!
And in that same motion of landing, I drop to a kneel as a massive explosion effect erupts across the stage—as if a bomb had detonated. The entire stage flashes with red psychedelic lighting, and as the smoke billows outward, the dancers and I vanish in an instant.
It was an extravagant special effect that Su-ho had extracted by leveraging sending Kairos to the first-day lineup—money dripping with spectacle.
Shhhhh….
A brief pause.
In this moment, everyone holds their breath, their eyes fixed on the stage.
Through the billowing smog spreading across the stage, a silhouetted figure steps forward once more, advancing toward the audience.
A revolutionary with a physique so striking that the silhouette alone seems enough to reveal their identity, facing the camera beneath the spotlight.
“….”
Lee Do-ha, bound in handcuffs, slowly raises both hands toward his face. Over his perpetually composed expression, the faintest smile blooms.
Soon, something glimmers between his violet lips.
Through the broadcast, the audience recognizes what it is and loses all words in their excitement.
– A key? Is that a key? A KEY?? Did he just put a key in his mouth??????
– Guys, Kairos is giving us everything… they really are giving us everything… all the AUs we’ve only imagined, they’re acting them out themselves
– This is the feeling, Kairos first team
– Wait, I’m supposed to be wearing the silver bracelet, so why do you have it, Do-ha?
– Yeah, Do-ha, just flip everything over and build your own nation
Though Do-ha on stage couldn’t hear these comments, they weren’t meant for his ears anyway—they were words that simply had to pour out, unable to be contained.
Lee Do-ha, silently holding what appeared to be the key to the handcuffs in his mouth, casually raises one eyebrow.
‘Should I try it?’
Normally, the sequence would be to use the key held in his mouth to unlock the handcuffs, but Lee Do-ha, having just successfully landed a backflip after so long, was riding high with exhilaration.
The thrill and racing heartbeat of performing on stage—sensations he’d forgotten for so long—had returned.
Whhhhiiiiii-
Dduududddduuu―
As the music signaling the timing of the next move returns, Lee Do-ha carelessly spits out the key from his mouth onto the stage floor. He then kicks it away with his foot so it doesn’t interfere with the performance, letting it fall below the stage, and swiftly pulls both arms back with the handcuffs still attached, moving with powerful force.
The chain of the stage prop handcuffs, not particularly sturdy, snaps easily from the recoil.
– This guy Lee Do-ha is seriously insane
Lee Do-ha, now freed, uses both hands to easily shatter the remaining handcuffs still on his wrists and removes them. He tosses the broken cuffs off stage as planned, then slowly climbs the incline leading to the container graveyard.
“….”
Reaching the top of the highest container structure, he grasps the flag planted there, fluttering in the wind.
Then, pulling the flag up with one hand and raising it high, a heavy thud sounds as all the black curtains installed throughout the stage simultaneously drop downward.
Who else.
Who could possibly convince the audience of the ‘revolutionary army’ stage concept more perfectly than this.
It was the moment when the single image Kang Ha-jin had envisioned came to completion.
Roaring cheers erupt
Holding that fluttering flag
Ju Eun-chan’s low, husky voice rings out, transforming the atmosphere of the concert hall.
As red lights flood the stage once more, six members of Kairos can be seen slowly ascending the stage on lifts, with Lee Do-ha standing confidently in the background, still holding the fluttering flag.
And―,
Burn brighter, flames
Endless questions
A piercing, crystalline high note bursts through the speakers with such force that everyone in the concert hall feels their skin prickle.
The members of Kairos, dressed similarly to Lee Do-ha in tight black leather outfits complete with harnesses and gloves, fully reveal themselves on stage.
Kang Ha-jin, holding the custom blue hand microphone that fans had coordinated for Kairos’s first anniversary celebration just recently, delivers the high melody stably, his smile electrifying to behold.
Toward the fallen fortress walls, cry out!
Lee Yu-gun slowly lifted his head, his tri-colored eyes meeting the camera’s gaze.
Then, the killing part of “Black Paradise,” a track from Kairos’s album “In Praise of Youth,” flowed from Lee Yu-gun’s languidly drowsy voice.
Destroy that paradise.
Beneath the strobing lights cascading down, it was a dazzling crescendo.

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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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