Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 528

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

528. Special Mission! Become a Comet (5)
The approaching horde of zombies, time running out, the cramped elevator.
Kang Ha-jin lowered his gaze from the ceiling and exhaled deeply.
His thoughts were brief, his judgment swift.
“I’m sorry, noona.”
“What? …Ugh!”
Ha-jin crouched down quickly. Then, with meticulous care to avoid jostling Nam Sa-ra’s injured ankle, yet without hesitation, he scooped her into his arms. After offering her a quiet apology for the sudden shock, Kang Ha-jin bolted forward without a backward glance.
“Hey, hey! Ha-jin! What are you doing, what are you doing!?”
Though he felt sorry for Nam Sa-ra’s urgent protests, Ha-jin had no time to answer. Where exactly had Kwon Myung-eun recruited these actors from? Their zombie performance was disturbingly committed—they were already moving with alarming speed and terror toward the elevator carrying his group.
‘Some might argue that no one would force such a horrific wipe-out ending when escape was within reach, but…!’
Kang Ha-jin knew better.
They would recommend resignation. These people were more than capable of it.
Already, his mind’s eye painted the scene: a wide shot of the zombie horde overwhelming them in the elevator, followed by the CG graphic ‘TEST FAILED’ crashing down—a complete cut, as the broadcast industry called it!
“No, Ha-jin, no! Put me down, this is really not it!”
Nam Sa-ra, suddenly hoisted into Ha-jin’s arms, seemed to intuitively grasp what he was about to do. Ha-jin noticed tears welling in her eyes as she struggled with conflicting emotions, but again, he offered no explanation.
“Hurry, hurry…!”
“We’ve got the door! Come on!”
The others already in the elevator seemed to have caught on to Ha-jin’s plan as well. For a moment, he felt countless thoughts and emotions flicker across their faces, yet he offered no commentary on that either.
Rather, he couldn’t.
To reiterate: he was far too busy running like hell. Genuinely.
“Please take her! Quickly!”
“Uh, uh…!”
Having reached the elevator just ahead of the zombie horde, Kang Ha-jin safely transferred Nam Sa-ra to the waiting hands of his group. Before anyone could speak, Ha-jin checked the zombies’ position and unleashed a rapid-fire stream of instructions.
“When you press the up button, it goes straight to the rooftop, right? If you accidentally press any other button, you might stop at a floor crawling with zombies, so don’t touch anything else. Once the doors open, make absolutely sure you’re on the rooftop—there’s ‘TOP’ written right there. Check that there are no zombies first, and once you confirm it’s safe, run straight to the test completion button in the middle. Got it? Sa-ra noona and Tae-jin hyung are injured, so be extra careful. Oh, Ji Ye. Can I borrow that watch?”
“Ah, ah…! Yes, yes. Here, oppa!”
“Thanks.”
True to his reputation as Kairos’s third rap member—coveted by Lee Do-ha, admired by Lee Yu-gun, and acknowledged by Seo Tae-il—Kang Ha-jin delivered this dialogue-heavy monologue flawlessly with remarkable diction.
The clarity was impeccable, his tone so professional it rivaled seasoned actors. No one could muster a counterargument; they could only nod in agreement.
“What are you doing? Press the button! They’re almost here!”
“No… you, you, Ha-jin, what about you? You should get on instead—I’m already hurt and can’t run fast anyway…! Or I’ll take the next one!”
Only after Ha-jin finished speaking did Nam Sa-ra, her eyes already flushed red, snap back to awareness and protest urgently.
In truth, even with a capacity limit on the elevator, there was no restriction on how many trips it could make. As Nam Sa-ra suggested, the group could ride up first, and those left behind could take the next one—problem solved.
But Ha-jin shook his head.
“…There’s no time. If you don’t get on this one, noona, you’re really done for.”
The real issue was time.
Ha-jin had already reached the rooftop entrance via the hidden passage once before, and he’d already clocked the elevator’s timing then. Just getting to the rooftop consumed precious seconds, and the distance from the doors to the test completion button was considerable.
There was another elevator beside this one, but the advance team had already disabled its call button to prevent the zombie horde from following them up, rendering it unusable.
“Noona.”
Ha-jin stepped into the elevator. Then, pressing the button marked ‘Up’ on behalf of the still-hesitant group, he nimbly withdrew before the doors could close.
“I won’t die.”
“….”
“It was wonderful meeting all of you!”
The last thing those left behind saw through the closing door’s gap was me sprinting at full speed back in the direction I’d been running, with a terrifying horde of zombies chasing relentlessly behind me.
“….”
This was, after all, a broadcast.
No matter how realistically it was designed, it was a rigged game of cards that would end the moment someone shouted ‘cut’.
“…sigh.”
Yet the group of celebrities left in the elevator couldn’t bring themselves to utter a single word in that moment.
Some were struck by the instinct that they’d been cut from the broadcast footage,
others were overwhelmed by how far more vivid this situation felt than expected,
some were anxious about their image on the final broadcast,
and still others were reeling from the sheer impact of Ha-jin’s actions….
-The elevator is ascending. Please refrain from pressing any other buttons until reaching your destination.
The elevator doors sealed shut, and it began rising slowly, just as I’d said.
Yet still, not a single voice could be heard inside the elevator.
They simply thought to themselves.
‘If this makes it into the broadcast….’
If it did, the protagonist of this episode would undoubtedly be Kang Ha-jin.
As a bonus, they all resolved to somehow get my contact information on the way back after filming wrapped.
* * *
I bolted from the elevator and ran headlong toward the shortcut passage I’d discovered early on.
[System Alert: !!!]
[System Alert: So that method existed!?]
[System Alert: Σ(・Д・)!?]
[System Alert: The System was so worried you’d meet a heroic demise that it’s relieved now.]
‘What the hell is a heroic demise?’
[System Alert: A ‘heroic demise’ is commonly seen in apocalypse-genre narratives when someone sacrifices themselves for others, typically fitting the archetype of bright, dependable characters like the fixed regressor, but sometimes it’s also used as a narrative subversion tool for unexpected villainous types….]
‘Hey, hey. That’s enough. I wouldn’t have asked if I already knew.’
The more I look at it, the more Thirteen seems to be becoming like me.
With a slight concern for Thirteen, who’d been saying increasingly strange things lately, I headed toward the side door that led into the shortcut passage.
Less than ten minutes remained.
If I hesitated even once, I’d be locked into retirement.
[System Alert: But still… saving Nam Sa-ra in that situation was a rational decision.]
[System Alert: If the fixed regressor had survived alone while leaving Nam Sa-ra behind, the narrative and image you’ve built would have collapsed, risking character destruction.]
‘You know about character destruction too?’
[System Alert: I studied it! ( •̀ ▽ •́ )✎]
So why would you—
The logic was utterly incomprehensible, but I didn’t press further. Well, it’s my system, so maybe it’s picking up my habits.
“Here it is.”
As I ran breathlessly, I came to a stop before a door on the third floor.
The rooftop shortcut I’d discovered started from each waiting room on the second floor, but hidden side doors like this one allowed entry at various levels throughout the building.
I checked the time. The rooftop was far, but if I ran without stopping or hesitating, it seemed doable.
“Kreeeek! Uuuaaagh…!”
“Please, seriously….”
I could feel the diligent extra actors closing in, nearly at my heels.
With makeup like that and chasing the cast all day, shouldn’t they be getting tired? And with testing nearly complete, did they really need to show such professional dedication? Were they being paid well?
[System Alert: You know it’s just makeup, so why do you always get so scared?]
[System Alert: 「(°ヘ°) ?]
‘That’s one thing, but fear is fear.’
I didn’t even look back and rushed into the stairwell connected to the door.
Honestly, nothing that had happened so far was outside my mental script. I’d discovered this shortcut and come down to rescue people with this exact situation in mind from the start.
‘The only variable is… people are being more cautious than I expected?’
Honestly, if anyone in that situation had wanted to escalate things more dramatically, they would’ve just abandoned both Nam Sa-ra and me and hit the ascent button right away.
Sure, I’d catch some flak once the footage aired, but in the interview
‘Ha-jin and Sa-ra were both too far away, and the zombies were approaching. It was a decision to save everyone, and I’m only sorry toward them both. But if I went back, I’d make the same choice.’
…something like that would’ve sparked decent debate and made things interesting.
The fact that my co-cast members were being more cautious than expected was genuinely problematic.
For someone like me who needed to become a breakout star from this broadcast, honestly, people with the guts to become villains and save the show were far more valuable than those with noble intentions about everyone surviving together.
‘Wow, how much fun must Kwon Myung-eun be having right now?’
For a PD, having your own concept unfold so smoothly, and even having the editing angles set up naturally, was tremendous fortune.
Kwon Myung-eun, who lacked the nerve to challenge but not the sense to succeed, couldn’t possibly miss that today’s flow was going well—and that was entirely thanks to me.
‘After filming wraps, I should ask her to buy me dinner at the gamjatang place in front of the company.’
After we finish, I’ll even get her to treat me to shaved ice cream for dessert.
With that resolve, I reached the entrance to the direct passage. From here, if I just ran without stopping, without rest….
Click―.
“Wow, please seriously.”
A despairing sound came from the door connected to the ‘real passage’ at the top of the stairs. With a sinking feeling, I carefully looked down at the side with the door handle.
[The door is locked. Password entry required.]
I quickly tried to recall the password I’d unlocked earlier and entered it. But whether my memory was wrong or the password had been reset in the meantime, the locked door showed no signs of opening again.
“Krueee…! Kyiek!”
“Damn! I got it, I got it!”
I checked the time.
About five minutes remained.
It wasn’t a difficult problem, so even if I solved this puzzle quickly now, there was no guarantee the other puzzles ahead hadn’t been reset during the process.
“….”
Think, Kang Ha-jin.
Think.
Even if I retire now, it wouldn’t matter, but if I know that advisory dismissal duo at all, they’ve definitely calculated hundreds of scenarios and set up various mechanisms.
[System Alert: Aaaah! So the heroic death ending approaches after all…!]
‘Be quiet.’
I had made my decision.
Without looking back, I bolted forward.
Not upward toward the Rooftop, but downward toward the Second Floor where the Waiting Room was located.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————