Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 73

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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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73. Guess What? (1)
It wasn’t until the elaborate Korean set meal had been fully arranged on the table that I recalled the “real reason” we’d agreed to meet today.
“Let’s eat first, shall we? It’s a bit awkward to discuss ‘that’ while eating.”
“That doesn’t really matter. But are you really going to keep speaking formally like this?”
“I’ll drop it gradually.”
“Please do. Honestly, I’m so hungry right now I don’t even have the energy to respond.”
“Eat up then.”
At Su-ho’s urging, I quickly picked up my chopsticks.
The dishes looked expensive at first glance, and they tasted refined with a nice variety.
I found myself thinking of my family back home.
“…Why? Is the food not good?”
“Oh, no. It’s delicious.”
How much would a place like this cost? My appearance fee should be coming in soon—I should do some quick math and if it checks out, bring my parents here sometime.
With that thought, I shoved food down my throat, which felt oddly parched. The mountain of dishes disappeared in an instant once two grown men set their minds to eating.
“Well then, shall we discuss ‘that’ now?”
True to its upscale reputation, the restaurant allowed us to use our reserved time freely even after the meal, enjoying desserts and other treats.
I pushed the glossy rice cakes and candies to the side and broached the main topic.
“Did you check on what I asked you to look into?”
Last night, I’d told Su-ho in advance what we’d discuss today and made one request of him.
Specifically, to check on the status of the viewer voting that had started at 6 PM yesterday.
Su-ho’s expression grew serious. He gave a small nod.
“Just as you said.”
“…”
“Sung-woo’s voting numbers are climbing at a terrifying pace. Even though online feedback about him isn’t particularly strong, he’s consistently maintained a top position.”
“He really is honest in his own way. I never expected him to be so predictable.”
I sighed quietly and shook my head.
Su-ho hesitated, his lips trembling slightly. He couldn’t even guess what kind of ripples this conversation would create.
“When I first found out that Sung-woo was a parachute hire brought in by the Executive Director, and that his backing was Yoon CP…”
“…”
“Did you know from then on that those two would manipulate the viewer voting?”
At Su-ho’s words, even the hint of playfulness vanished from my expression.
Su-ho recalled our previous conversation—back when I’d first exposed that Sung-woo was a parachute hire.
-Well, let’s leave it alone for now.
-Leave it alone?
-We don’t have evidence right now anyway, and even if we did, there’s nothing we could really do about it. It’s not exactly clear-cut wrongdoing.
For someone who seemed ready to expose the parachute hire immediately and taint the program’s reputation, I’d been remarkably composed back then.
After that, there was no further talk, no gestures—and now suddenly I was catching their misconduct?
“Well, I figured if they were going to do something, it would be the viewer voting.”
“Why?”
“Because Seo Tae-il is on the mentor evaluation and the Team Leader is on the agency evaluation. The viewer voting is relatively easy to manipulate in comparison. If done right, it barely shows.”
Ha-jin spoke with certainty that mentions of Sung-woo would gradually increase on the internet soon. After all, this kind of promotional viral marketing inevitably followed such incidents.
“Actually, that’s partly why I deliberately provoked Han Sung-woo to get him to do something. By now, he’s probably absolutely seething, right?”
Ha-jin’s tone remained light, as if he’d merely gotten back at a friend he didn’t quite approve of. Su-ho couldn’t understand it.
Deliberately causing misconduct to gather evidence? This was like burning down your house to catch a flea.
“What are you thinking? Until last time, it could have ended as just one trainee’s connection, but viewer voting is different. If this comes to light, our Survival Program will take a massive hit!”
Su-ho’s voice rose from frustration.
Even at this very moment, Han Sung-woo’s negative votes were accumulating.
And yet, even as he heard this outburst, Ha-jin laughed while popping a candy into his mouth.
“Who’s going to reveal it?”
“What?”
“Why would we reveal this? To whom would we reveal it? If we do, we’re in serious trouble.”
Ha-jin was composed. So composed that Su-ho wondered if he’d eaten something that disagreed with him.
Ha-jin leaned forward, wrinkled his nose, and flashed a cheerful expression.
“There’s no way I’d let those bastards taint this program. Multiple people’s futures depend on this one show.”
“….”
“Creating a rigged program just because Han Sung-woo is annoying? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Then you’re just going to leave it? At this rate, Han Sung-woo will win with the negative votes?”
“Hehe, you’re quite impatient, Team Leader.”
Ha-jin gestured soothingly, waving his hand. Then he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a memo, sliding it across to Su-ho.
【Shin OO 010-XXXX-XXXX】
【God’s Choice, 1! 2! 3!】
【Find My Self】
As Su-ho finished reading the memo, Ha-jin produced a small USB drive. Staring at these mysterious items, Su-ho looked at Ha-jin and asked.
“What is this…?”
“That person’s name is someone who’s been manipulating votes in exchange for money from Yoon CP, and those two below are programs that Yoon CP similarly rigged after receiving bribes.”
“And this USB?”
“Shin is actually a pretty suspicious guy. He kept records of calls and messages with Yoon CP. I quietly made copies.”
“How on earth did you…?”
“…That’s a trade secret. You’ll get hurt if you know.”
Ha-jin brushed it off vaguely and coughed.
No matter how much he’d come clean to Su-ho, and no matter that Su-ho believed him, he couldn’t exactly say he’d pulled evidence out of his memories.
‘One cursed bastard is enough to suddenly slap a hashtag on my life….’
In truth, last night, retrieving that evidence from Yoon CP’s memory had been pure luck.
If Yoon CP hadn’t discovered that USB when he visited Shin’s office, it would never have ended up in Ha-jin’s hands.
In the past, Yoon CP had destroyed all the files on that USB the moment he found it, but Ha-jin possessed the ability to safely bring objects from a memory into reality at that specific point in time.
‘Though there was a penalty attached….’
Bringing objects from memories into reality was only possible with a ‘colleague,’ so in exchange for obtaining this item, Ha-jin had to incur another penalty.
[System Notification: Normally this would be absolutely impossible…. But just this once, I will use my authority for the first and last time!]
[System Notification: However, I myself cannot predict what penalty will be imposed for this.]
[System Notification: Still, do you wish to take possession of the item?]
‘I’ll just cry once more in front of Seo Tae-il, and whine a bit in front of the kids. That should be enough.’
Since I’d already done the worst things imaginable, there was nothing left to fear.
Ha-jin held out the evidence once more to Su-ho, whose eyes still brimmed with distrust.
Only after Ha-jin insisted at least five more times that this was absolutely nothing illegal did Ji Su-ho finally accept the memo and USB drive.
“Still, this won’t be enough to do anything with. It won’t hold up as evidence in court.”
“It won’t work as legal evidence, but it’s more than enough to blackmail someone into stepping down.”
Ha-jin’s words caused Su-ho’s eyes to shift. Now he was beginning to see the full picture Ha-jin was painting.
“…Don’t tell me you’re planning to blackmail Yoon CP?”
“Yes. I’m going to blackmail him into making Han Sung-woo withdraw voluntarily. Before the first broadcast and the third mission recording begin.”
There was no wavering in those eyes. Confidence and conviction filled every inch of his steady, unwavering gaze.
Now I understood Ha-jin’s indifference to Sung-woo’s negative vote.
Ha-jin intended to erase Sung-woo completely from this program.
‘This won’t work.’
And for Su-ho, that was an impossible choice to make.
“It’s difficult. I can’t go against the broadcasting station. Blackmailing someone of Yoon CP’s caliber isn’t something simple.”
Even though Ntv itself was primarily a music broadcast cable channel, their flagship network channel had recently been evaluated as having more credibility and influence than the terrestrial networks.
Moreover, what about the festivals, events, and award ceremonies they produced backed by their solid parent company’s financial power?
‘Considering Upia, who just renewed their contract and reignited their activities, and Endway, for whom this is the most critical period before their next contract… I can’t afford to make an enemy of the broadcasting station.’
On top of that, I’d already burned bridges with one terrestrial network due to an incident from Upia’s debut days. I couldn’t afford to make any more enemies in the broadcasting world.
As these calculations settled in, the color drained from Su-ho’s face. Just as the pallid Su-ho was about to open his mouth and try to dissuade Ha-jin, Ha-jin, as if he’d anticipated even this, continued speaking without erasing the smile from his lips.
“Don’t worry, Team Leader.”
“How can I not worry when you keep showing up with bombs like this every time!”
“Still. Don’t worry.”
Ha-jin set down the empty cup with a soft tap onto the table.
The gesture resembled that of a master placing a stone on a Go board, and Su-ho found himself momentarily speechless.
“I’m going to put this blade in someone else’s hands. You won’t be able to do it even if you wanted to. Looking at you, you don’t exactly have the face of someone who’d be good at wielding a knife.”
“….”
“Instead, I have a different role for you. The role of handing this blade to someone with a real talent for blackmail.”
“….”
“Now, would you listen calmly to my grand design?”
Ha-jin was still smiling.
Su-ho could only nod, as if entranced.
* * *
And still.
Three weeks before the first broadcast, a certain Outsourced Production Company was bustling about in its usual chaos.
Yet unlike usual, the production company was filled not with the loud chatter of producers and writers, but only with quiet silence.
“―I’m b-back?”
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Yes, yes.”
Park, the assistant director who had stepped out briefly to purchase office supplies that had completely run out, found herself hiccupping at the unusual atmosphere of the office.
“What, what’s going on? Why is the office atmosphere like this?”
She glanced around nervously and whispered quietly to a senior colleague one year ahead of me. The senior, who had been organizing a list of props needed for the next recording, leaned in and murmured in her ear.
“The executives had a rough-cut screening for Episode 1*(watching the rough edit together before final editing and music work are completed, then giving feedback)… and it looks like Yoon CP went off again.”
When people said “the executives,” they meant the representative, the main PD, the main writer—senior staff members who had been asked to resign—and then the secondary directors and writers, and finally Yoon CP, who was the ultimate authority on this program.
Among them, “Yoon” would be that Yoon CP. And “went off again” meant….
“Huh, another revision order? Is he seriously insane?”
“Tell me about it. I’ve lost count of how many times now. Anyway, that’s why the other executives are in an emergency meeting without Yoon right now.”
“He’s lost it…. I seriously don’t understand why he’s like this.”
“No clue. The atmosphere earlier was really tense. The Team Leader was shouting that he can’t keep doing this if it continues like this.”
Most survival shows space out the first recording and first broadcast because the “live feel” of the broadcast becomes increasingly important as the series progresses.
Especially with idol survival shows like this one. Since viewers become fans and fans become viewers, the importance of their reactions and voting results being reflected in real-time broadcasts was crucial.
In other words, no matter how early you record the first episode compared to its air date, once a certain point is reached, the schedule becomes almost like a live broadcast—an endless cycle of recording, editing, and airing that was nothing short of hell.
‘That’s why survival shows like this usually try to wrap up the early episodes as quickly as possible!’
Miro Maze was in much the same situation.
Since it was already the second week of April, more than a month had passed since the first mission recording ended. By now, at least episodes 1 and 2 should have been fairly complete, and episodes 3 and 4 should be taking shape.
‘But with three weeks left until the first broadcast, Episode 1 is still being revised in rough-cut form? How does that even make sense!’
Assistant Director Park’s silent scream echoed only within my mind.
The first teaser going up in just a few days, the second and third teasers—all finished. Even yesterday, the performance video had been uploaded.
Soon I’d need to prepare preview clips for Episodes 1 and 2, but since Episode 1 editing showed no signs of finishing, everything else automatically came to a halt.
Of course it did. Episode 1 had to be done before moving on to the next one!
‘This is all because of Yoon.’
Assistant Director Park mentally chewed out Yoon CP, who was apparently a CP at headquarters. I’d long since given up trying to count how many revisions this was.
I wished that if he had something he wanted, he’d just say it clearly, but Yoon’s feedback was always abstract and vague—just “it doesn’t feel right” kind of stuff!
Of course, broadcasting was a crazy business where you could revise things right up to five minutes before airing and then chop it up into ten-minute segments for live broadcast…!
‘At this rate, the entire back-half schedule is going to be completely messed up…. Ugh, I’m so frustrated. If Yoon just wasn’t here, our program would run so much better!’
Who would get rid of that bastard?
Park clicked her mouse irritably, channeling her rage into Photoshop.
Unaware that her petulant wish was actually coming true.

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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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