Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 67

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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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67. System Update (2)
[System Notification: Your entry keyword has been designated.]
[System Notification: Entry Keyword (I hate mint chocolate)]
[System Notification: The entry keyword can be changed later, but please note that complex procedures are required due to security concerns.]
“Well, let’s try it for now.”
If it doesn’t work out, I’ll change it then. Simple as that.
I nodded with straightforward thinking. I had far too much ground to cover to waste time bickering over something as trivial as an entry keyword.
“Alright, let’s move quickly. Updates 1, 3, and 4—give me a simple explanation covering all of them.”
[System Notification: How is that supposed to be simple yet complex?]
“Just try. When you outsource something like this, the client is supposed to brief you properly from the start. Don’t you know that?”
Bullshit. That’s a lie.
A client who briefs you kindly is the same as something refined yet tacky and beautiful yet ugly—a contradiction.
It makes no sense.
[System Notification: …This is incredibly difficult, but since I’d lose anyway if we argued, I’ll just give it a try!]
“Wow, your expression of intent has become quite detailed?”
[System Notification: This too is a result of the authority update!]
[System Notification: In the Unconscious Space, I can communicate much more freely! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ]
“Good, impressive. Then I’d appreciate it if you could explain freely now.”
As I leaned back on the sofa and nodded, the system window vanished with a whoosh, and then the lights in the space went out with a series of bangs.
“What, what is this? Scary.”
With a pop, a spotlight illuminated directly in front of me. A large monitor had materialized there, displaying what looked like a PowerPoint presentation.
The first text visible on the monitor was….

“…Ah, I’m getting PTSD. I can’t look at this.”
[System Notification: Bear with it. (＃｀д´)ﾉ]
Then, completely against my will, the slide flipped forward with a snap.
[System Notification: First, to understand this authority update, you need to understand the system as it has been.]
[System Notification: As I explained before, you should not be able to interfere with the human timeline for any reason whatsoever.]
“I know. Unlike the Chosen Regressor, I just happened to become aware of my regression.”
[System Notification: Correct. However, as the search for the Chosen Regressor dragged on, we at the Time Management Department determined that we could not continue as we were.]
[System Notification: We concluded that we needed the help of a human living in the same timeline.]
“And that was me.”
[System Notification: I believe you already understand the reason without my explanation.]
The distant memory of that time naturally surfaced in my mind. The memory of that day when I’d experienced regression repeatedly and first encountered this system.
-Ah, please. I can’t live like this.
The emotions from back then, when I was so sick of regression, remained vivid even now.
“There’s no one more sincere about stopping regression than me.”
[System Notification: Correct. In fact, ‘preventing regression’ is…far more difficult than you might think, for a human.]
“Well, reversing time is an incredible ability after all.”
Even I didn’t think my first regression was an opportunity to rebuild my life.
So I understood why I was chosen. But I’m still just an ordinary person with no abilities whatsoever, and if I’m supposed to find the Chosen Regressor….
As my thoughts progressed, everything suddenly clicked into place.
“That’s why you gave me Quests. So I could uncover the clues.”
[System Alert: It was a bit of a shortcut, yes.]
“What’s the criteria for Quests and rewards? You said you still don’t know who the Chosen Regressor is.”
[System Alert: There is a temporal energy that only emanates from the Chosen Regressor. We’ve been tracking based on that so far.]
[System Alert: Among the events and individuals in the current timeline where the Chosen Regressor’s temporal energy manifests, Quests were provided based on information we could share with you.]
I nodded, recalling all the Quests I’d received so far.
“So there are two types, then? Quests that occur because I need to resolve incidents related to the Chosen Regressor, and Quests created to share information or clues you’ve discovered with me.”
[System Alert: Correct.]
“But what about that cat’s gratitude from last time? That doesn’t fit either category.”
[System Alert: ….]
What? This awkward silence?
“You’re going to tell me eventually anyway, so you might as well come clean and take less heat for it.”
[System Alert: That was a device to inject a bit of vitality into the mundane daily life of a fixed regressor, and for idols, various anecdotes and heartwarming stories before debut are very important, so….]
“Your real reason?”
[System Alert: I just wanted to mess with you a bit…! Experience some hardship! Go through some struggles!! Keep rolling and working hard!!!]
“I appreciate your honesty.”
I wasn’t planning to hold it against them, but hearing that made me annoyed.
Next time they slip up, I’ll pretend to be hurt by this and use it against them.
“Okay, I understand up to this point. Now explain this system update.”
[System Alert: It’s simple. We’ve granted you the rank of Time Manager Zero (0).]
[System Alert: This is a temporarily granted authority that will disappear the moment you find the Chosen Regressor, complete the investigation, and their regression ability is stripped away.]
[System Alert: Of course, not all permissions have been granted, so for now the current reward system through Quests will remain unchanged!]
“That’s possible? Then why didn’t you do this from the start?”
[System Alert: Security reasons.]
Click—as the presentation slid forward, a faceless profile appeared. The moment I saw “Former Time Manager” written among the rambling credentials, I immediately knew whose profile it was.
[System Alert: Among ourselves, we call them ‘the Returner.’]
“You mean that red bastard?”
[System Alert: Until now, we Time Managers have repeatedly been obstructed by this individual in our search for the Chosen Regressor.]
[System Alert: The reason you weren’t given any authority was also to prevent your exposure to them.]
[System Alert: But since they’ve already noticed your existence, I strongly advocated that granting you this special rank is the right call for your safety!]
All I could see were white letters on a blue window, yet somehow I could vividly picture a passionate new employee waving their fist enthusiastically before my eyes.
That brat—my scolding from last time actually had some effect.
[System Alert: From now on, direct communication regarding human timelines and clues about the Chosen Regressor will be possible.]
[System Alert: However, please note that you must use this current space for such communication!]
“That’s it? Can’t you remove skill penalties or anything like that?”
[System Alert: That’s impossible. (-∧-；)]
“Tch.”
Well, that’s settled then.
Still, it means we can communicate more directly now, which I welcome. I didn’t want to be caught off-guard again like last time, fumbling in the dark.
[System Alert: Explaining every detail of human timelines would be far too vast and expansive in scope.]
[System Alert: Therefore, responding to Ha-jin’s questions is deemed the most efficient approach.]
With a soft click, the white screen blazed with enormous letters: 【Q&A】.
“What, you’re already doing a Q&A after showing me just three slides?”
[System Alert: If you’d prefer, I can force you awake immediately….]
“Why does everything have to escalate so rapidly? Wait, hold on—I’ve got a mountain of questions anyway.”
Where should I even start?
There’s so much I want to ask, but absorbing too much information at once is exhausting. Besides, this isn’t all I need to accomplish today.
“Then… first, tell me about fixed events.”
This is the most urgent matter.
Until now, I’d assumed the family’s financial stability was something that would inevitably happen, but you’re saying it could be deleted or altered?
‘That absolutely cannot happen.’
“You said Sarin’s fixed event was deleted and her timeline was rewritten. Is that possible? Can fixed events actually disappear?”
[System Alert: Hmm, how do I explain this simply… ( •́ ̯•̀ )]
The monitor fills with 【Very Perplexed;;】 in large letters. Is this thing now stimulating my vision beyond the system window and onto the monitor itself?
[System Alert: Do you believe in destiny, Ha-jin?]
“Not particularly.”
[System Alert: If someone returned to ten years ago without realizing they’d regressed, would they truly make different choices than before?]
“…I’m not sure.”
[System Alert: Most people make the same choices even across hundreds of repeated timelines.]
[System Alert: Every moment of life is a series of choices, and those choices are the result of everything that person has accumulated.]
[System Alert: Shall I give you a simpler example?]
Another profile appeared on the monitor.
This time, it was easier to recognize—it was Seo Tae-hyun’s profile photo from Boy’s Supremacy.
[System Alert: Across all timelines where the Chosen Regressor has returned, including the five lives you remember, Seo Tae-hyun made identical choices.]
“Well, that would be his idol debut.”
[System Alert: Correct.]
[System Alert: However, he did not debut the same way each time.]
The screen advanced. Five divided sections displayed different versions of Seo Tae-hyun.
[System Alert: In the timeline you call the first cycle, Seo Tae-hyun signed with the Small Entertainment Agency that offered the largest contract fee after Boy’s Supremacy ended.]
[System Alert: But as you know, it did not end well.]
The first screen moved, showing the version of Seo Tae-hyun I knew all too well—articles of him bouncing between small companies, eventually debuting as a solo artist in his mid-twenties, only to fade into obscurity.
[System Alert: In the second cycle, pressured by Executive Director Son Hyung-gu and burdened by the need to debut, he signed with a foreign Entertainment Agency.]
[System Alert: In the third cycle, he fled Miro to escape the Executive Director, lived as an ordinary person, and after reaching adulthood, coincidentally signed with a newly established company.]
As the system continued its explanation, Seo Tae-hyun moved across the monitor.
I suspected this was possible because Seo Tae-hyun was my ‘colleague.’ The system had said I could influence colleagues’ timelines more directly.
‘If I convert other people into colleagues, I could see their past lives too. And through that, I might uncover clues about the Chosen Regressor.’
The ‘colleague’ system seemed like it could be a more important key than I’d initially thought.
Before long, Seo Tae-hyun’s tear-stained life story was drawing to a close on the monitor. The system window flickered once more.
[System Notification: Thus, there exist choices within a human life that never change.]
[System Notification: Beyond that, there are also conditions that must necessarily be fulfilled due to the world’s principles and rules.]
[System Notification: Such as human death, failure, and despair.]
[System Notification: For no human can succeed at every moment, remain safe at every moment, or be happy at every moment.]
Diverse human figures appeared and vanished before my eyes as effective audiovisual material.
[System Notification: These are what you call fixed events, Ha-jin.]
Soon all the images faded like candle flames. In the darkness that remained, a single question mark materialized above the monitor.
[System Notification: But what if, among the repetitions of countless timelines, a human appeared who made different choices each time?]
[System Notification: For example, someone like you, Ha-jin.]
[System Notification: What if there existed someone who remembered all previous timelines and sought never to repeat the past?]
My face reflected on the black monitor.
“…Keep going.”
This story didn’t seem like it would end easily.

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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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