Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 75

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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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75. Someone’s Night
I arrived home late in the evening.
‘The sun was still up when I boarded the subway.’
Next time I run into Ji Su-ho, I’ll make sure he comes closer to my place.
With that small resolve, I dragged my exhausted body—drained from crying so much—through the entrance.
“I’m home.”
“Hey, bro?”
“Where are Mom and Dad?”
“Out for a walk.”
“Did you eat?”
“Yeah.”
Kang Ha-won, sprawled on a blanket in the living room watching AiTube on his phone, greeted me with a flat voice. I started to pass by him and head straight to my room, but then I stopped and bent down in front of where he lay.
“…? What are you doing?”
“Observing my younger sibling.”
“…Is something wrong?”
“No? Why would you ask?”
“Hyung, you always act like this when something’s bothering you.”
Ha-won’s words caught me off guard—after living together for nearly twenty years, he knew everything about me.
Worried he might notice I’d been crying, I started to pull back slightly. Fortunately, Ha-won only glanced up at me from where he lay, then quickly turned his attention back to his phone screen.
“Never mind then.”
“What? There’s nothing wrong. Really, nothing like that. I’m going to shower.”
“Mm.”
Sharp kid.
I quickly got to my feet. As I grabbed clean clothes and headed toward the restroom, I heard Ha-won’s voice again from where he still lay watching AiTube.
“Oh, hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“…Never mind, it’s nothing.”
“There are two things that really irritate people, and one of them is leaving your sentence unfinished….”
“No, seriously, it’s nothing. Just go shower already.”
Ha-won even rolled over completely to signal he didn’t want to talk anymore. I pouted in protest and headed back to the restroom.
As soon as I turned on the water to wash, Ha-won—who had rolled over—peeked and turned his head. After confirming the bathroom door was closed, he picked up his phone again.
On the screen was a paused video of my performance that had been uploaded to AiTube.
“….”
Ha-won stared intently at his older brother in the frozen frame.
Lately, my brother seemed a bit melancholic, unlike his usual self, but seeing him in the video—still so cool and intense—gave me some reassurance.
‘…I can’t just tell him I watched it, so….’
Ha-won quietly tapped the like button on the video. He subscribed to the channel and turned on notifications. He scrolled down a bit, sorted the comments by popularity, and liked some of the comments praising his brother.
‘I need to work hard too.’
It was his own way of cheering on the brother who always stayed ahead of him.
* * *
“…What’s this? Kang Ha-won, seriously?”
When I returned from washing up, Ha-won was already asleep in the living room without even properly covering himself with a blanket.
“How can he sleep like this?”
With a towel draped over my head, I strode over and straightened Ha-won’s blanket properly. I also tossed his phone aside—it had been rolling around on his chest.
After turning off the living room lights while leaving only the entrance light on, I finally entered my room and Ha-won’s.
“Well then. I have my own work to do.”
I sat on the bed and opened the problematic system window.
The reason I’d rushed home in such a panic just hours ago—the fact that I’d been crying in the middle of the street—all of it came flooding back before my eyes.
[System Alert: ‘Wandering and Drifting’ mode has been deactivated as it remains below 50%. (Current: 48%)]
“Yeah, I get it roughly. Pass.”
Since coming home, I’d noticed something: my breathing felt easier, and my thoughts seemed to flow with renewed clarity.
It felt like a stone that had been weighing down my heart had shattered.
This was probably the reason.
“But this is the problem.”
[System Alert: ‘Kang Ha-jin’ is responding to you. (Response Rate: 100%)]
[‘Kang Ha-jin’ can be recruited.]
[Will you recruit? (Y/N)]
“Wait, so I’ve been running a Kang Ha-jin team without Kang Ha-jin this whole time?”
My voice rose in bewilderment. I quickly closed my mouth, worried Ha-won might wake up, but the confusion didn’t fade.
Thirteen, who should have been explaining something like ‘it’s all about authority and such~’ by now, had maintained silence since this notification appeared.
‘Going back into the Unconscious Space to ask would be risky with potential side effects…’
What should I do?
Then, as if understanding my dilemma completely, a new system window materialized.
[System Alert: Sudden Quest!]
[Content: The greatest ally in this world is none other than me.
Trusting myself begins with knowing myself!
Let’s get to know ‘Kang Ha-jin’.]
[Success Reward: Distributed according to completion level.]
[-‘Kang Ha-jin’ Ally Recruitment: Designated 1 Person Trait Viewing Right]
[-‘Kang Ha-jin’ Trait Confirmation: Skill Upgrade Free Usage Ticket]
[-‘Kang Ha-jin’ Stat Confirmation: Unexpected Fortune]
There was no failure penalty, and the rewards were all interconnected. No matter how I looked at it, this quest seemed far removed from finding the Chosen Regressor.
So probably, this was a quest that Thirteen had created independently—like the cat’s repayment from last time.
“Fine, whatever. Let’s see.”
And in that moment, I felt like my limits didn’t matter anymore.
[System Alert: ‘Kang Ha-jin’ has been recruited as an ally. (4/??)]
[You can now grasp the current status and location of recruited allies, and summon them if needed (10 Cache payment).]
“Though I doubt I’ll ever need to summon myself.”
[Sudden Quest Special Reward]
[Content: You can use the Designated 1 Person Trait Viewing Right (self excluded).]
[View the traits of colleague Kang Ha-jin? (Y/N)]
From the start, this system wasn’t Ha-jin’s own ability—I’d been told it was a temporary grant of authority from the Time Manager. And reasoning it through, the system seemed to recognize me not as ‘Kang Ha-jin’ but as the ‘Chosen Regressor’.
‘It keeps calling me the Chosen Regressor every time anyway. So that’s why ‘Kang Ha-jin’ could be recruited as a colleague, and why I can use the trait viewing right that says I’m excluded.’
Feeling my understanding of this ‘system’ deepen bit by bit, I drew in a sharp breath like steeling myself.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
As I nodded, the familiar blue window I’d first encountered materialized before my eyes.
[Kang Ha-jin (Chosen Regressor)]
Epithet: Undetermined (Insufficient Achievements to obtain an epithet)
Trait: Chosen Regressor
-Follows the timeline of the Chosen Regressor
-Remembers ‘past timelines’
-Experience from ‘past timelines’ accumulates
Special: ‘Wandering and Drifting’ mode OFF
Contact with the Chosen Regressor causes influence from ‘past timelines’. (Déjà vu)
※Currently, the Mental Care System is operating temporarily.※
My trait window, finally revealed, was far less impressive than I’d feared.
‘What was I so scared of?’
The only noteworthy part was the last sentence—the same one I’d seen in Ji Su-ho’s trait window.
“…So I did meet them after all. That Chosen Regressor bastard.”
Who on earth could it be?
I quickly dismissed the several candidates that came to mind. For now, I’d focus on myself alone.
I opened the next reward.
[Sudden Quest Special Reward]
[Content: You may upgrade one of your current skills once without penalty.]
[Please select the skill to use.]
-As I Say It (LV.10)
-How Much Will It Cost?
-Dragon’s Eye (LV.3)
-What Makes Me, Me? (LV.4)
“Damn, look at this naming sense.”
Seeing them all laid out like this, the passage of time really shows in these names. The system said skill names are determined by whatever makes the most sense to me… Well, there’s nothing to be done about it.
Regardless, I’d already decided which skill to use this upgrade voucher on.
“Upgrade the Dragon’s Eye skill. Right now it’s too hard to understand objective stats, so make it more intuitive.”
[System Alert: All skills are constructed based on the skill user’s database.]
[System Alert: Do you consent to quantifying ‘human ability’?]
[System Alert: Upon consent, the displayed values of skill 【Dragon’s Eye】 will be modified.]
“What? So all this time those damn hard-to-read percentages were because of me? Because I hate being evaluated?”
[System Alert: Understanding of skill 【Dragon’s Eye】 (LV.3) increases!]
“Wow, I’m ridiculous again.”
Pressing my forehead at this unexpected secret of the skill, I realized my melancholy had infiltrated far deeper into my mind than I’d thought.
Certainly, assessing people’s abilities by tier felt less restrictive than before—seeing how much further their inherent talents could be developed. Yet now I needed something more concrete.
‘I need a clearer metric going forward.’
To find the Chosen Regressor’s offspring, I required something simpler and more intuitive. Having made my decision, I nodded without hesitation.
[System Alert: The skill 【Gaze of the Dragon】 is being upgraded….]
“Hey, but can’t we change that skill name? No matter how much I think about it, it’s just….”
[System Alert: …Skill renaming is available for 100,000 Cash, dear customer ^♡^]
“…Good grief, our penny-pinching Thirteen is back.”
Despite the outrageous price of one hundred thousand Cash, I couldn’t help but smile warmly. Even as I grumbled, I understood that this Quest had been crafted entirely for me.
[System Alert: The skill 【Gaze of the Dragon】 has been upgraded.]
[System Alert: Changes apply immediately.]
[System Alert: Will you use the skill 【Gaze of the Dragon】? (Target: Kang Ha-jin)]
“Phew. So this is the final boss, huh?”
I straightened my posture, brushed off my wrists, and even gave my neck a quick stretch before nodding.
“Show me. My stats.”
A blue window materialized as if it had been waiting. I stared at the characters inscribed on the system interface without blinking once.
[Kang Ha-jin (Affiliation: Miro)]
-Debuff: Certain stats are reduced due to the Mental Care System’s influence
Vocals: A
Rap: A-
Dance: B+
Expression: C+ (S)
Charm: A-
Special: Stage Constitution (S)
-During actual performance, all stats temporarily improve at a certain probability.
Appeal Points:
‘Nevertheless’
-Leadership, Positive Thinking, Synergy
More than I’d expected—more than I’d ever imagined.
I stared blankly at my stats, unable to hide my bewilderment, and quickly searched for the stat windows of the others.
“The strongest one, the strongest one….”
The stat windows of the most “ideal idol” and the most “talented idol” by my standards opened before me.
[Seo Tae-il (Group Affiliation: Upia)]
Vocals: S-
Dance: SS
Expression: A-
Charm: S
Special: Melody (S)
-Composition and producing abilities increase significantly
Appeal Points:
‘Everything is in my hands!’
-Leadership, charisma, stage presence
[Seo Tae-hyun (Affiliation: Miro)]
Vocals: B+
Dance: A-
Expression: A
Charm: A
Special: Enchantment (A)
-Charm stat temporarily increases at a certain probability
Appeal Points:
‘Eyes drawn, eyes drawn!’
-Vocal tone, dance lines, stage expressiveness
Next came the stats of ‘the least idol-like idol’.
[Lee Do-ha (Affiliation: Miro)]
Vocals: F
Rap: S
Dance: C
Expression: B
Charm: B+
Special: Melody (SS)
-Composition and producing abilities are greatly enhanced
Appeal Points:
‘Strong heart’
-Delivery, stage adaptability, performance realization (80%)
Finally, I checked the stats of ‘the unbelievable idol’.
[Lee Yu-gun (Affiliation: Miro)]
-Debuff: All stats decrease due to the influence of unique trait
Vocals: D (C+)
Dance: B+ (S)
Expression: C- (A-)
Charm: D+ (B+)
Special: Copy & Paste (B)
-At a certain probability, completely makes the focused target your own
Appeal Points:
‘Still, twelve ships remain’
-Sense of responsibility, perseverance, strong immersion
As I examined the comparison groups visible before my eyes, I muttered with an oddly hollow feeling.
“…I’m not so bad?”
With a laugh tinged with relief, I collapsed onto the bed and closed my eyes.
“I’m not so bad.”
That night, I dreamed. Memories of the past, as always, stained like paint.
Yet in the dream, I no longer wept.

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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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