Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 84

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

84. MIRO MAZE (2)
At last, the premiere of MIRO MAZE was upon us.
Having maintained considerable buzz even before the broadcast, the internet was ablaze with anticipation as the first episode drew near.
[MIRO MAZE Episode 1 Comments (157)]
[Where can I watch MIRO Survival…? (2)]
[Stop spamming and just post comments (14)]
[Here comes my dopamine (3)]
“Wow, it’s already causing a stir.”
Bluebird username: Windy.
She was Dan Ha-ru’s ultimate bias and Kang Ha-jin’s second favorite—though in the community, she was known by a different name altogether.
Affectionately called “that cat person.”
“That’s right, everyone. Please support our Ha-ru and Ha-jin. They’re seriously talented.”
Windy was the very person who had doubled the buzz around MIRO MAZE by posting eyewitness accounts of Tae-hyun and Ha-jin helping her friend find their lost cat.
Today, she had planned to watch this historic premiere alongside her friend, who had somehow become a celebrity in her own right because of that cat incident.
But when her friend mentioned that the baby wasn’t feeling well and needed to stay home, Windy found herself watching the broadcast alone instead.
‘But I’m not lonely at all.’
With the comment section open and Bluebird’s Tamla feed running, she could enjoy the premiere just as richly and joyfully as anyone else!
So who does your teaser ending guy look like? lol
└ KHJ
“He was like Kang Ha-jin lol”
└ That’s him, someone screenshotted it on Bluebird
But seriously, what the heck did he do to get kicked out of Miro lol
Ah, no way lolololol why isn’t anyone questioning this?
– I’m curious how they divided the teams too…sigh…isn’t it 9 PM yet?
– My clock at home is being inconsiderate, can’t it at least pretend it’s 9 PM;
From late-night snack recommendations to personal favorite endorsements.
As she watched the comments roll in sequentially, it was suddenly 9 PM.
– It’s starting, it’s starting
– Finally the truth of the great maze will be revealed
– If Endway people show up, someone give us a heads up…
Okay, okay.
– Wow the ad actress is so pretty, is this real
“The ads are crazy… what’s up with Shin Ye-ram”
Wow, they put up some expensive ads this year lol
As the tedious commercial faded, the MIRO MAZE title card appeared. After the age rating disclaimer, what emerged was a lavish yet eerily empty stage.
-When I first debuted.
A cavernous, low voice layered over the scene as it transitioned. Naturally, everyone watching the premiere together already recognized the face that appeared.
– Whoa, Yoon Ji-nu
– It’s Yoon Ji-nu
– Ji-nu’s face looks even better…looks like he enjoyed an amazing vacation…
└ I went on a volunteer trip to Africa and apparently applied body lotion all over thinking it was sunscreen. I’m losing it.
-Back then, I just trusted my members, you know?
Starting with Yoon Ji-nu speaking with an embarrassed smile, interviews from Upia and Endway members rapidly cross-cut across the screen.
-There’s this Underground Practice Room, right? We called it “the swamp” among ourselves. It was so humid, and once you went in, you couldn’t escape.
-Just being able to release our next album felt amazing. Getting to showcase our music one more time.
-When I get juniors, I’m really going to take good care of them. Really, really take good care of them.
Upia and Endway’s touching growth story cross-cut with both groups’ fan songs as BGM, passing by in rapid succession.
Once the audience had soaked in enough emotional moments, the production team threw out a question.
【Q. A message for the juniors challenging Miro Maze?】
Then Choi Yeon-woo, the center of Endway, gazed at the camera with a smile that seemed somewhat sinister.
‘He does look decent, I’ll admit. Got that arrogant crown prince vibe.’
And so the arrogant crown prince spoke.
-Well. Juniors.
-I’m not sure who will ultimately debut.
-But prepare yourselves.
-Surviving as a male idol at Miro is… not easy.
Not easy, not easy, not easy….
As his final remark ended with slow-motion and echo effects, the screen that had been serious and touching until moments ago flipped dramatically.
Boom, boom, boooom―.
With unnecessarily grand BGM, a trainee’s dumbfounded expression zoomed in for a close-up.
– Whoa, it’s Seo Tae-hyun lol
– Seo Tae-hyun lol
– Why does Tae-hyun’s expression look like that lol
– Oh no way lol
Seo Tae-hyun, whose expression of dismay would soon be screenshotted and used by fans as a “troll-repelling meme,” spoke in an absurd tone.
-What is this…?
Zooming out in a long, sweeping motion, an aerial view appears.
The enormous MIRO Set that had been teased in the preview was revealed in its entirety on screen.
With a bang! sound effect, an unnecessarily beautiful caption slammed onto the screen.
【So we prepared this】
【The first gateway to surviving as a male idol at Miro】
【Escape the Maze!】
– Is that the actual maze lol
– The production team is insane lol
– Maze…maze…maze…maze maze…the Miro fandom is collapsing
– Why did Miro make it so huge lol
– They said debut at Miro, not escape lol
The screen transitions as comments explode.
With bright weather and an insert of Miro’s new building, a caption reading 【20XX Year, March 1st, 14:00 / Miro ENT】 appeared with a typing effect.
-They’re coming, they’re coming.
-The trainees are coming. Hide! Hide!
The camera watching the entrance shook urgently. Soon, cameras from various angles appeared like CCTV feeds, and trainees entered within those frames. Simple profiles of the trainees were displayed as CG introductions.
‘Oh. It’s Ha-jin.’
Windy held her breath upon spotting her dear friend on screen.
‘Thank goodness. So the camera does capture him reasonably well after all.’
Because Windy knew Ha-jin’s true appearance, she’d been shocked when his concept photo appeared earlier. Fortunately, she was relieved to see that Ha-jin looked much the same on broadcast as he did in person.
– Did they really not know they were filming the kids lol
└ No it’s all scripted lol they’re buying it
└ But looking at how there’s no mic, it seems like they really just filmed it raw?
└ Nowadays they hide all the mics inside clothes lol
– Wow Jogak oppa’s casual outfit is so good he dresses just like me, sweater and coat is the vibe
On screen, the trainees who’d been directed to the 5th Floor exited the elevator and looked bewildered.
When a monitor suddenly commanded them to open a door despite all sides being sealed off, the startled trainees’ reactions were priceless.
True to the Entertainment Agency Survival Program format, the production team focused less on sensationalized editing for shock value and more on imprinting each trainee’s individual character and charm.
【Types of Miro trainees encountering the Broadcasting Station’s reckless missions for the first time】
【Type 1. Sweating profusely, green rookie chicks】
Where… where am I going…
-Um, hello, hello everyone. Is anyone here?
Hmm. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
【Type 2. I came, I saw, I conquered! Charge-ahead type】
-Hyung, could it be this?
-Whoa, I think this is it! This is it!
-No! (Urgent!!) That’s just a set!! That’s not it!!!! Get down!!!!!!
Each trainee’s reaction, deliberately filled with cute sound effects and CG effects, was quite popular.
– Wait why are they all trying to open monitors when they were told to open a door lol
Ha, it’s so funny watching Seo Tae-hyun stop his younger siblings from trying to tear down the set walls.
– But seriously where do you even exit lol there’s no door
– The kids are so cute after seeing Upia and Endway I really wanna see these chicks
However, the reaction truly exploded at the next scene.
【Type 3.】
-They’re starting without even putting on a mic…?
-No script reading, no pre-meeting, no debriefing at all, and they’re just jumping in like this?
【Suspiciously knowledgeable about the Broadcasting Station people…! (Who are you?)】
Kang Ha-jin’s expression—bewildered and even exasperated as he stared at the monitor—was thrown into even sharper relief standing next to Lee Do-ha, who calmly read the text with an unfazed demeanor.
Hahahahahahaha
Hahahahaha finally hahahahahahahahahaha
– Where’s that guy who said it was all scripted earlier…
– No, it looked so unfair and absurd that I was in tears. Why did the production staff do that?
– Lee Do-ha’s reaction is so funny too ah when Kang Ha-jin rapid-fires at him his eyes are blinking watching lol ah
– The Ha-jin and Do-ha combo is good lol
“What’s with this guy? He’s got a pretty cheeky personality, doesn’t he?”
The atmosphere was slightly different from when they’d first met, but this version had its own charm. If anything, the unexpected remarks and speaking style felt even more endearing.
Windy watched the live broadcast on TV while simultaneously scrolling through her phone, catching clips of Ha-ru and Do-ha tearing down the set wall—and she found herself thinking.
“But where exactly is the door?”
As if reading the minds of viewers, Ha-jin and Do-ha’s gazes on screen shifted toward something.
-…Could it be?
Cuts of the other trainees noticing the elevator’s existence were interspersed throughout. Then came brief scenes of the trainees boarding the elevator again and deducing their next destination.
Once again, the final angle shown was Do-ha and Ha-jin’s perspective.
And finally, the line everyone had been waiting for appeared.
-But we don’t even know which floor we’re supposed to go to.
-Should we go back down to the first floor?
When Do-ha asked Ha-jin for his opinion, the screen meaningfully captured Ha-jin’s expression as he pondered the instructions on the monitor.
-No, we have to go up.
-It said to reach the sun.
– Oh please, that’s definitely Kang Ha-jin
– What? Why did Do-ha and Ha-jin suddenly turn this into a noir film?
“Please get me a clip of Kang Ha-jin smiling just now, seriously.”
– Why are you suddenly giving off that heroic, refreshing smile like you’d see in a hero movie?! Did you just seduce me right now?!
– So is Kang Ha-jin confirmed as the ending guy?????
└ Nah we still don’t know
└ No that’s just an image cut they filmed separately for the teaser lolol
└ ??? : They didn’t even do a script reading or pre-meeting??????
└ That was the situation earlier, the teaser ending is definitely an image cut;;;
└ It could actually be real though, why have they been pushing the script and image cut narrative since earlier… let’s just watch and see
└ Hahahaha, I’m just trying to make it up, but the gangsters keep insisting that it’s all ㄱㅎㅈ to make the bastard fly, so it’s annoying.
└ Yeah exactly, looking at the wording I can tell where this came from. Just report them guys, they’re just trolling
└ What kind of aggro hahaha you got involved with gangsters a few times and pretended to be a real company haha ​​whatever you do, it’s all ㄱㅎㅈ? There is no trainees other than ㄱㅎㅈ in the maze??? And when you tell them to, they don’t make you do ㅅㅌㅎ, so they make you do ㄱㅎㅈ haha.
└ These bastards are pretending to be fans and making trouble for the Celiac Association… Their speech is at the level of a fingerprint. Please go and hang out at the place you usually hang out;;; Wording level really
But is the production team really pushing that actor hard? Look at the screen time.
└ Look at those gem-like lines. If I were producing, I’d give him screen time too
– Wow but the production team really used their heads well. It’s like an escape room lolol I never would’ve thought of an elevator
‘Ah, the trolls are already swarming.’
Because there had been an unusual amount of speculation about Ha-jin even before the broadcast aired, rival trainees’ malicious fans and those who disliked Ha-jin had taken to attacking him in this manner.
Their recent tactic was to insist that anything Ha-jin said or did in the teaser or pre-release clips—anything that became a topic of discussion—was either scripted or a predetermined line, using it to tear him down.
‘Honestly, I do think the teaser ending was probably filmed separately by the production team…’
In truth, she didn’t care whether the teaser ending was an image cut or not, and she didn’t care if it was a different trainee instead of Ha-jin. But she did want to deflate the arrogance of these trolls who pretended to know everything.
‘But who in their right mind would climb over the Miro Set wall during a broadcast?’
Windy watched with skepticism, continuing to view the broadcast.
If no one scaled the Miro Set wall today during the broadcast….
‘My head’s already spinning, seriously,’
A small worry took root in my heart—that I might soon face considerable ridicule from trolls and anti-fans alike.

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————