Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 571

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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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571. Even in the Worst Timeline, There’s Work to Be Done (1)
[Inquiry ‖ Product Misdirected Shipment]
ID: stuck_regressor
I ordered cherries but received raisins instead.
I request immediate action.
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└[Re: Inquiry ‖ Product Misdirected Shipment]
Hello, valued customer.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
Upon verification, the product you ordered is correct.
State changes due to timeline fluctuations during shipping
are pre-disclosed terms, so refunds are not available.
We wish you an agile day.
-Time Management Authority-
∥
└[Re: Re: Inquiry ‖ Product Misdirected Shipment]
What the hell.
Are you messing with me right now?
My cherries arrived completely burst open.
They’re so destroyed I can’t even make cherry smoothies anymore.
“….”
“….”
Before I could even process the shock, Yoo Gun and I found ourselves already inside the Dormitory we’d booked for the night. Seo Tae-hyun, who’d kindly carried our luggage—well, actually his own gift for us!—delivered the final blow with an awkward smile.
“Sometimes the air conditioning in this room doesn’t work properly. If that happens, just call me on the intercom. I’ll fix it for you. I’d really appreciate a good review.”
Who.
Who in the world had transformed our professional idol Seo Che-ri into a nerdy Gangwon Province Pension manager?
‘No, fine. A successor to the guesthouse business? That’s good, really, but….’
Before the words even left my mouth, Seo Tae-hyun, who’d been trying to bring in the barbecue equipment from the entrance, dropped everything with a loud crash. His frantic scrambling to gather the grill and skewers back into the box was clumsy at best.
‘…Even someone on their third day of guesthouse work would be more skilled than that.’
Seo Tae-hyun was meticulous, refined, and thorough—but only as an idol.
He’d stepped into the entertainment industry from childhood, and even as an adult, he’d never held a proper part-time job.
There was a reason Seo Ju-dan was Seo Ju-dan.
When Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru cheerfully broke frying pans and snapped curtain rods in half, Seo Tae-hyun had always been right there beside them.
“…Here.”
“Oh, thanks.”
Unable to watch any longer, Yoo Gun crouched down beside him and gathered the items instead.
Seo Tae-hyun, offering an awkward greeting to Yoo Gun, quickly stood up and brushed the dust from his hands.
“Well then…. Rest well before you go.”
With that, Seo Tae-hyun turned and left without hesitation.
Before Yoo Gun could even bend those infinitely flexible knees of his (when money was involved).
Before my endlessly frivolous mouth could babble about anything,
“…the situation is serious, isn’t it?”
“The fact that those words came from your mouth is the most serious part.”
Even Yoo Gun, the fantasy maladapted one, threw up his hands in surrender with an “okay, this is too much,” while I, the fantasy super-adapted one, kept all four limbs glued to the ground and wailed.
‘This has to be a dream.’
I wanted to think that, but it was actually a dream, which made it even worse.
Yoo Gun, perched on the armrest of the sofa, crossed his arms and stared at me.
“So what do we do now? It looks like he’s really planning to quit being an idol, right? I can’t even tempt him with money like I did….”
“…it absolutely won’t work.”
Seo Tae-hyun had wanted to become an idol singer for one simple reason: it was his dream.
Because it was a dream. Shining on stage while singing and dancing.
Usually, there was no reason why people dreamed.
But generally, there was always a clear reason why people stopped dreaming.
‘Think, Kang Ha-jin.’
Why did Seo Tae-hyun give up being an idol?
Simple. He never made it.
‘Here, he even debuted with Kairos, but still never made it, and because he didn’t make it, that Executive Director tormented him, and the fandom turned into a mudslinging pit because of him.’
At this point, I recalled again the catastrophic flop narrative of Kairos (courtesy of The Returner).
1. Ji Su-ho, who suffered a political defeat at Miro, transferred to a small company without even a sign, bringing some trainees with him.
2. They scraped together what little capital they had and haphazardly debuted, but the members had no teamwork, their skills were a mess, and their character was even worse.
3. Meanwhile, the Former Executive Director was scheming behind the scenes to completely bury Ji Su-ho.
4. And in the midst of all that, the young members barely surviving created a million discord rumors among themselves.
5. And in the midst of all that, Seo Tae-hyun’s fanbase—the most popular and recognizable member—staged truck protests saying “if our Tae-hyun is going to be wasted like this, just let him go.”
6. And in the midst of all that, the few other member fanbases who hated the sight of it cyberbullied Seo Tae-hyun’s fanbase.
7. And in the midst of all that….
‘Let’s stop looking into this.’
How could any idol group collapse this smoothly without a single legal scandal?
At this point, it felt like the entire universe had performed a ritual for us to fail.
What infuriated me most was that this wasn’t some childish novel The Returner had made up—it might actually be something that really happened in some timeline.
“How the hell did we succeed in the original timeline?”
I couldn’t tell if we were originally destined to collapse like this and the original timeline hit the lottery at sixty-million-to-one odds, or if this timeline was the one that hit the collapse jackpot among countless timelines.
Genuinely unable to understand, I muttered without thinking, but there was no response coming back.
“…?”
“….”
[System Notification: ( ⚆ _ ⚆ )]
“…why. What?”
“You’re asking because you don’t know right now?”
Sensing something odd about the atmosphere, I lifted my head to find Yoo Gun and Kim Thirteen staring at me from a distance away.
Wondering what they were trying to say, I asked back, but instead Yoo Gun wore a bewildered expression and let out a hollow laugh, pointing at me with his chin.
“It’s because of you, hyung.”
“What is?”
“That we didn’t fall apart. Because of you, hyung. …Or should I say, thanks to you?”
Yoo Gun’s attitude was like that of an elementary school teacher explaining “one plus two equals three.”
With a face that seemed to ask why anyone wouldn’t know something so obvious, Yoo Gun shrugged and continued matter-of-factly.
“Whether it’s before or now, we’re all the same. The only thing that changed is you.”
“….”
“Don’t you understand? Between the ‘original Kairos’ and the current Kairos, the only difference is you.”
Thanks to the twenty-nine-year-old Kang Ha-jin who had returned, Ji Su-ho won the political struggle,
and thanks to Kang Ha-jin helping Ji Su-ho drive out the Executive Director, Ju Eun-chan escaped from that grasp.
Thanks to Kang Ha-jin creating the Miro Maze, Seo Tae-hyun withdrew his early retirement announcement,
and thanks to Kang Ha-jin breathing inspiration into him, Lee Do-ha overcame his slump and his abilities flourished,
thanks to Kang Ha-jin pushing him off the cliff, Yoo Gun began to dream,
and thanks to Kang Ha-jin finally crossing the line, Jeong Si-u was able to open his heart,
and thanks to Kang Ha-jin accomplishing all of this, Dan Ha-ru no longer had to repeat time.
“….”
For the first time, I attached the word “I” to the beginning of all these sentences.
Not speaking of “Kang Ha-jin” as if talking about someone else, but just as it was….
“Thanks to me accomplishing all this….”
Because of me.
No, thanks to me.
As I thought this way, everything I had worked toward to stop regression in the previous timeline suddenly felt unbearably heavy. The realization that all these changes had started from me alone felt fresh and bewildering.
So this is, exactly like….
“Like some regression story protagonist….”
[System Alert: Did you think you weren’t?]
Something felt strange.
Not knowing how to respond, I kept my mouth shut and stood frozen, when Yoo Gun slowly rose from his seat and approached me.
Then, as if kneeling before me, he sat down and met my eyes, opening his mouth. It was the first time I’d seen such a serious expression from Yoo Gun since I’d known him.
“Honestly, even I think it’s shameless to say this, so I really didn’t want to mention it….”
“…?”
“…So just help me one more time, hyung.”
“….”
“How can I change Seo Tae-hyun’s mind? I’m definitely bringing him back to Seoul.”
Yoo Gun, who once felt that even dreaming was a luxury, now knows how to dream.
Because of that, he understands how precious the sensation of dreaming is, and because of that, he absolutely cannot abandon Seo Tae-hyun, who has now lost his dream.
“If it were the old me, honestly I would’ve muttered that a risky comeback was uncertain, so stable pension income would be far more economical and practical….”
That Yoo Gun, now burns with determination in his eyes and asks me how to bring his friend back to Seoul.
As if he knows just as well as I do that Seo Tae-hyun is the one who shines brightest on stage.
“….”
My mind cleared.
The thoughts that had obscured my vision like cumulus clouds seemed to dissolve and disappear as if melted by rain.
I slowly lifted my despairing body from the ground. As my mind cleared, new thoughts flooded in like waves of inspiration.
“What am I going to do?”
Then, toward Yoo Gun, who still gazed at me like I was his savior, I smiled.
Pure and refreshing, without a single speck of doubt.
“If Seo Tae-hyun doesn’t understand, then we’ll have to show him ourselves.”
Seo Che-ri had completely burst forth?
Then pour milk over the kernels and freeze them.
“Just how incompatible he is with the shadows beneath the stage.”
The curtain rose on Kang Ha-jin’s third Seo Che-ri comeback show.

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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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