Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 562

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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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562. In the Chaos (15)
Up or down. That was the question.
In this critical moment where one path was clearly a trap, I first looked up and asked Ha Tae-jin.
“Where’s Sara? Why are you alone?”
“Sara? She’s waiting at the Restaurant right now. I just heard a strange noise and came to check it out. …Huh? What, Esther’s here too?”
Ha Tae-jin answered with the innocent face of someone who knew absolutely nothing. He even spotted Esther far below and gestured for her to come up, asking why everyone was acting so strange.
Normally, this would be the kind of situation where you’d say “if that were acting, he’d have won a Palme d’Or”…
‘But he actually did win a Palme d’Or. For acting.’
Yet trusting the other side felt equally wrong, since they had almost no information.
‘And both people who were with them have already been eliminated.’
There was no solid evidence, but my instincts were screaming.
Ji Ye seemed to share my thoughts—I could feel her hesitation and the way she was watching my expression.
That’s when it happened.
“What are you two doing!?”
“…?”
Just as silence was about to settle in, someone grabbed my wrist. Then they bolted up the Emergency Staircase toward Ha Tae-jin without hesitation.
It was Son Je-u, finally snapping out of his shame and regaining his senses.
“Hey, hey, you…!”
“Senior! Shoot her! Shoot!”
“What?”
“Hurry…!”
Before Ji Ye and I could even process what was happening, Son Je-u was screaming at Ha Tae-jin to shoot Yoon Esther.
“The traitor is the woman!”
Bang!
The moment those words left his mouth, the sound of a laser gun firing echoed through the Emergency Staircase.
The shot came from below.
“Hey, hey, Ji Ye! Run, run!”
“Damn it, really…!”
Esther, her cover blown, pulled out a laser rifle she’d been hiding and aimed it at us.
In that same instant, Ha Tae-jin moved like lightning, shielding us and turning his laser gun on Esther.
Ji Ye spun around and took a firing stance just in time. Realizing she was outnumbered, Esther’s expression shifted to regret before she vanished swiftly into the darkness.
We quickly moved our bodies into the 2nd Floor Gate for safety, just in case.
“What? What is all this? A traitor? Esther’s the traitor?”
Ha Tae-jin, who’d followed us without understanding anything, was covered in question marks. His bewildered expression was so genuine that if it were an act, I’d honestly prefer to just believe it for my own sanity.
I sighed in relief and patted Ha Tae-jin’s shoulder.
“Yes, thanks for not turning this into a real Mafia game where the actual Mafia massacres the townspeople.”
“Huh? Mafia? Is this a Mafia game?”
“Something like that.”
“What on earth happened…?”
Taking the information-deprived Ha Tae-jin with us, we headed to the Restaurant where Nam Sa-ra was waiting. Just as Ha Tae-jin had said, Nam Sa-ra greeted us warmly while snacking there.
“…In any case, the most ideal route in our current situation seems to be ‘blocking Void and escaping through the Emergency Staircase.'”
“Unless we have concrete evidence that Void is definitely on our side, that’s the right call.”
“Once the traitor appeared, I figured any chance of being on the same boat as Void was already over.”
Huddled in a corner of the Restaurant, we explained everything that had happened so far to Nam Sa-ra and Ha Tae-jin.
Nam Sa-ra, who’d been shouting “Down with Void” from the start, cheered at the prospect of a third option, while Ha Tae-jin, wanting a clear picture of the situation, wore a serious expression as he processed the sudden influx of information.
Ha Tae-jin, who’d been resting his chin on the stock of the laser gun while listening, asked in a deeply subdued voice.
“So, you’re certain the traitor is Esther, right?”
At that question, both Ji Ye’s and my gaze naturally shifted toward Son Je-u.
Son Je-u, who held the crucial information that ‘the traitor is female,’ flinched in surprise and stammered as he opened his mouth.
“I’m certain the traitor is a female member. When we were being chased by the Dropouts early on, I heard them communicating over their radios. Lia was transmitting, and the voice on the other end was also female—they even called her ‘older sister.'”
The current gender ratio of the Dropout Team was two males and one female.
If Lim Ria, the only female on that team, was communicating with another female member, then the traitor’s identity was circumstantially certain.
Nodding at the reasonably sound deduction, Ji Ye’s eyes lit up with newfound understanding as she turned back to Son Je-u.
“Ah, so that’s why you were so wary when you saw me earlier? Because I’m also a suspect?”
“Among the female members, only you and Esther could call Lia ‘older sister’….”
“Well, Lia and I are the same age, so we’re comfortable calling each other casually.”
Nam Sa-ra also nodded in agreement with Son Je-u’s reasoning.
Sensing that the situation had been sufficiently clarified, Ha Tae-jin unwrapped a chocolate bar and looked at me.
“So, what now? We don’t have much time left.”
“…? Why are you asking me that?”
“Something tells me you’ve got a plan for everything.”
“You certainly have high expectations of me.”
A plan? What’s that?
I’m the type of person who writes “play it by ear” on my summer vacation schedule, so planning isn’t exactly my forte.
I calmly opened a chocolate milk, inserted the straw, and took a sip. After using my body and mind so intensely all day, I could feel my blood sugar dropping in real time.
“Shouldn’t we hear what Zeus has to say first? You said he’s the one who knows about the Secret Passage key and how to use it.”
As I tossed the conversational ball to Son Je-u while sipping the chocolate milk, he suddenly became the center of everyone’s attention and his lips began to quiver again.
He’s supposedly some rising hot young actor in his twenties these days, but I’m not sure how he keeps getting away with looking so vacant on broadcasts.
Well, not that it’s any of my concern.
“Ah, well… I only know two things.”
“What are they?”
“The method to stop Void and the way to escape through the Secret Passage.”
Son Je-u’s eyes finally (for the first time in eight hours since filming started!) grew serious.
True to his profession as an actor, his tone of voice and expression carried decent weight. Though it was somewhat overshadowed by Ha Tae-jin’s overwhelming aura sitting right next to him.
“First, the escape method is simple. There’s a separate gate next to the space where the Hidden Room is located. You unlock the gate’s mechanism and use this key to get out.”
Son Je-u pulled out a necklace from inside his clothes. At the end of the necklace hung a single, crude-looking key.
“That’s it? But from what I heard from the Dropouts earlier, they said only you could use that key….”
“More or less. When I obtained this key, I set myself as the owner, so my fingerprint is required to use it. If I die, someone would have to go to the Basement and re-register it.”
That’s quite an inconvenient method.
Realizing I was now bound to protect Son Je-u’s life as if it were my own, I felt an unexpected pang of regret. Ha Tae-jin, noticing my expression, quietly kicked my leg beneath the table.
Son Je-u, delighted by the realization that he was quite an important figure, continued with renewed enthusiasm.
“And… to completely eliminate Void, we’d need to destroy every system in this Research Facility. Not just cutting the power—completely obliterate it.”
“How?”
“According to what Void mentioned, if we enter the Hidden Room, there’s a device that can format the system, separate from the emergency escape button.”
“….”
“It’s a device that wipes all data existing in this Research Facility, so both Void and the Security System would be completely erased.”
System format.
Everyone’s eyes gleamed at what was clearly the final crucial element of today’s broadcast.
I took a large bite of the cream bun I’d just unwrapped and spoke.
“But wait, isn’t this Research Facility supposed to explode in four hours anyway? Do we really need to go that far? Wouldn’t it be better to just escape immediately?”
“Actually, it doesn’t really matter. The passage I found has nothing to do with Void….”
“Then why risk it unnecessarily? Let’s just escape right away.”
“Still, just in case, wouldn’t it be better to eliminate Void if we can?”
“I agree with Sara. If Void exists, it will definitely interfere with our escape.”
“We won’t know that until we actually try to escape….”
Bzzzzzzt—!
“…?”
Just as we were about to engage in a heated discussion about our escape method, an unidentifiable noise poured through the speakers. Glancing around the Restaurant, every monitor hanging on the walls suddenly turned on in unison, displaying a single image.
It was Void’s symbol—the exclusive emoticon that had followed us all day long.
-Congratulations, survivors!
-You now have only the final test remaining.
Void’s voice and a mechanical voice intermingled.
The white text appearing above the monitors felt unnervingly eerie in sync with that grotesque voice.
-You’re all so busy moving according to your own objectives, aren’t you?
-So I, your guide, thought I’d make this situation a bit simpler for you.
“Huh…?”
“…?”
At that moment, the digital watch Nam Sa-ra was wearing glimmered and shifted.
The numbers on the digital watch, which had been showing approximately four hours remaining until the broadcast ended, rapidly decreased.
【02:00:00】
-In approximately two hours from now, this Research Facility will explode.
-Survivors, escape.
-Hunters, hunt.
-Traitors, achieve your objectives.
Along with the grotesque voice, the alarm signaling the start of the test rang throughout the building once more.
-So, who will be the final victor to survive in this chaos?
-Good luck! That’s all then. 🙂
As Void’s irritating announcement ended, the two-hour timer began counting down rapidly. Before we could even stand up in panic and properly prepare ourselves, a single line of text appeared on the monitors.
<
TEST
04. Proof
'Two hours until I clock out….'
The final test had begun—the one that would catapult me into superstardom across this timeline in a single, breathtaking moment.

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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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