Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 9

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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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09. I’m the Crazy One in This District (4)
Ji Su-ho said he’d been staking out the convenience store in front of my house like his life depended on it.
“But it seemed Ha-jin didn’t go outside as much as I expected.”
Well, it was winter break. With only the graduation ceremony left, there was nowhere to wander around to anyway.
But there was no need to say such things, so I simply nodded. I only added one more thing.
“You could have called.”
“….”
For a moment, it seemed like an expression of “I didn’t think of that” flickered across his face, but I must have been mistaken.
“Anyway, the reason I came today is something you’ve probably already guessed, Ha-jin.”
Ji Su-ho opened his mouth in a composed tone.
“I came because I really wanted you to debut with us at Miro. It would be such a waste to give up now.”
Nice.
But I couldn’t reel in the fishing line just because I’d bitten the bait. I responded with the most cautious and worried expression I could muster.
“Are you serious?”
Ji Su-ho nodded emphatically.
“Seo Tae-il agreed to this as well. The other staff members who watched your audition video feel the same way. Ha-jin, you really have potential. You fit well with our company’s vision, and I’m sure you’ll like it too.”
Kim Director was one thing, but there was a conspicuous omission regarding the Executive Director. I’d suspected it, but so it was the Executive Director who opposed me after all?
Thinking that I needed to quickly grasp Miro’s internal politics, I neatly folded the empty milk carton.
“We really hope you’ll trust us—no, trust me—and go forward together with us.”
“Ah…. Yes.”
‘Trust you?’
There was a time when I fell for words like that.
Trust only me, follow only me, I’ll promise you a rosy future—but I didn’t understand that in the end, we’re all just salary workers, laborers swayed by commercial value in this capitalist system.
‘The moment someone better than me appears, I’ll be out anyway.’
The words that had risen to the tip of my chin, I swallowed with an appropriate smile. There was no need to push back here. By my own logic, someone like me could be found anywhere in the country, so if I played hard to get just a bit more, the door to Miro might really close for good.
‘But I can’t just let this slide either.’
It’s not like I spent the last three days just playing around. I looked at the man before me, who seemed to think I was deliberating and was laying out various persuasive words. Information I’d gathered in my mind came rushing back.
Name: Ji Su-ho. Age: mid-thirties. And.
Successfully launched Endway, Miro’s successor company (there was an article about it), has a long-standing relationship with Seo Tae-il, who’s known for being difficult with people (I saw it on Onestar), and in recent years has emerged as the new wind at Miro Entertainment—Miro’s guardian deity (according to Kim Director).
It’s an industry where geniuses who fly and crawl abound. This guy could just be a manager who rode the times well and does his job, but….
‘I need to verify.’
I don’t know if the reason he could build such impressive credentials in such a short time is truly due to his own ability, or because he knows the future.
So I absolutely must confirm this guy’s identity. If he’s a Chosen Regressor, I need to grab him by the collar immediately, and if not, I must make him my ally by any means.
I might even need to control an entire entertainment company, and it’s hard to find another candidate with such qualifications as my first collaborator.
But how? As I was pondering this, the system window blinked as if it knew everything in my heart and sent a new message.
[Sudden Quest Special Reward]
Content: You can use a designated single-person trait viewing right (self excluded).
[‘View Ji Su-ho’s traits? (Y/N)’]
This was the reward I’d obtained after that tearful presentation last time. Right, I had this. There’s no point in saving it now—it’s like holding onto an unscratched lottery ticket. I selected YES without hesitation.
Who are you? Blue light scans Ji Su-ho as if probing him. Soon a popup appeared beside him.
[Ji Su-ho (Awakened)]
Descriptors: ‘Burning Passion’, ‘Deepest Shadow’
Trait: Star Maker☆
-Recognizes those with the qualities to become stars ‘by destiny’. (Accuracy: 77%)
-Different colored auras manifest depending on the star’s qualities.
Peculiarity: Affected by ‘past timelines’ through contact with the Chosen Regressor. (Déjà vu)
“What?”
“Yes, huh?”
“…Oh, ah. That, I’m sorry. The conditions you mentioned are just so extraordinary.”
I’d been so shocked that I’d spoken casually to someone over a decade my senior—a crazy move. I quickly recovered, but my eyes refused to leave his trait window.
“I’m confident you’ll do really well, Ha-jin. I guarantee it.”
After seeing his trait, every word spilling from his mouth felt deeply suspicious.
In any case, now that I’d confirmed this guy had made contact with the Chosen Regressor, I had no choice but to bring him to my side. I deliberated, watching Ji Su-ho launch into another passionate speech before me.
1. Lay everything bare and request (threaten) cooperation.
2. Observe him a bit longer first and determine if he’s trustworthy.
The former was high-risk, high-reward; the latter was low-risk, low-reward. As for me, I’m the type who needs to shout “I choose!” even if I can’t eat, just to satisfy myself—someone who’s never touched stocks, gambling, alcohol, or cigarettes, a true non-stop human.
“I’m truly certain….”
“Team Leader Ji Su-ho.”
“Ah, yes.”
“What color am I?”
“Pardon?”
At my blunt question, Ji Su-ho’s already large eyes widened further, his mouth hanging open.
“Huh? Ji, what did you just….”
While he fumbled for words, I threw a fastball without hesitation.
“What color was Seo Tae-il? Wouldn’t someone of his caliber be quite high-tier?”
“That, that is, how could you….”
As Ji Su-ho trembled like he’d seen a ghost, I pulled a chocolate bar from my pocket and offered it to him as a sign not to be alarmed.
“I can see status windows. Crazy, right?”
“No….”
“So that’s why I’m asking.”
I crossed my legs and stared at Ji Su-ho intently. He gazed at the empty space I’d indicated with trembling pupils, unable to close his mouth, eyes fixed on me. I watched him with a gentle expression, clasping my hands and resting my chin on them. As prettily as possible.
“Am I destined to become an idol?”
“Huh?”
“It seems like in this life, I’m fated to become an idol no matter what.”
Come on. Tell me—what’s my destiny, guardian spirit?
* * *
Ji Su-ho kneaded the chocolate bar I’d given him until it melted completely before finally opening his mouth.
“I can’t remember exactly when it started. It just began appearing at some point.”
He said everything arrived purely by chance.
In a bookstore he suddenly felt like visiting, in a restaurant where he’d happened to take shelter from rain, in a travel destination where he’d taken vacation—Ji Su-ho had encountered those destined to become stars as if by fate itself.
“How did you know those were people who could become stars?”
“I just could tell. The redder the aura, the greater the potential. When I saw a minor actor with a red glow land a major supporting role in a weekend drama a few months later, I was certain. I’d developed some kind of ability.”
He explained that this ability was largely how he’d become Miro’s guardian angel. He added that the aura would turn black or disappear before controversies or crises could strike.
For a management team leader, that’s basically a cheat-level skill, isn’t it?
“That’s also how I recognized you immediately on the subway.”
Huh? What did you say?
“On the subway?”
“Yes. Don’t you remember? I was so flustered at being treated like a spiritual master that I couldn’t follow you.”
At the mention of being treated like a spiritual master, a scene from not long ago flashed through my mind.
-Excuse me, hello.
-Yes. I believe in the Way.
-Pardon?
-Since we’re both practitioners of the Way, please go ahead.
…It was the day I was heading to the Rene Entertainment audition. The memory came back late, and I closed my mouth awkwardly. I’d thought he was a charlatan back then. So it was this guy.
“I was disappointed at having lost you when Manager Jang contacted me. I literally shouted that this had to be fate.”
So Miro welcoming me with open arms was because of this guy? I nodded at the timeline that was starting to make sense.
But questions still lingered.
“So, I’m curious what color Ji Su-ho saw in my aura.”
“Ah, that….”
Ji Su-ho brought his hands together and hesitated slightly, his lips moving before he tilted his head.
“It’s white. A very bright white.”
“You said it would be blue or red. So I’m a dud?”
“I was a bit flustered since I’d never seen that color before…. But I definitely felt something. The conviction that I had to bring you in was intense.”
“So it turns out to be nothing?”
“If there’s no potential to become an entertainer, no light appears at all. The fact that light appeared means there’s something there.”
If it were red, it would be red, and if it were blue, it would be blue—but this ambiguous white glow had tangled my thoughts. There was no reason for Ji Su-ho to lie to me now. Regardless of the color, it was clear this guy could be useful in various ways.
So now the important question was how much of my hand to reveal.
‘Can Ji Su-ho really be trusted?’
I instinctively felt he wasn’t dangerous, but how could I possibly understand someone completely at a glance? Making this person my ally was different from laying all my information bare.
After a moment of deliberation, I decided to share only enough information to keep Ji Su-ho from feeling wronged.
Getting someone to believe we’re in the same boat doesn’t require a full exchange of secrets.
“…As I mentioned, I can see a status window, and I’m currently completing Quests from it. That’s also why I wanted to become a trainee at Miro.”
Perhaps because I’d already taken one bomb to the face, Ji Su-ho seemed less shaken by this absurd otaku nonsense.
He looked blank for a moment, seeming to organize his thoughts, then apparently decided it was his turn to ask questions and immediately unleashed a barrage of them.
“Can I ask what this ‘Quest’ is?”
“If I don’t clear these Quests in time, I face penalties. And these penalties are worse than you’d think.”
“Is just becoming a trainee enough?”
“I need to find someone, actually…. But I do have to debut. Like I said, this life seems to be my destiny as an idol.”
After hearing my answer, Ji Su-ho fell silent in thought, his expression showing some hesitation as he studied my face. I’d lived through this four times already, but from his perspective, I was just nineteen years old. Wasn’t he being too formal? Just as that thought crossed my mind, Ji Su-ho carefully spoke.
“Then.”
“?”
“Is becoming an idol really just because of that Quest?”
Huh. That’s a question I didn’t anticipate.
“…Does that matter?”
“At least to me, it matters quite a lot.”
‘Why does this person seem more sincere about my idol career than I am?’
[System Alert: Awakener ‘Ji Su-ho’s’ ‘Star Maker☆’ mode is now active.]
As I was deliberating how to answer, the system window gleamed. Ah, so this is a manager’s instinct at work.
“To gamble on a white aura I’m seeing for the first time, I need to know exactly what cards I’m holding.”
“…You’re saying you’ll help me?”
“I’ve ended up with my own circumstances requiring Ha-jin to debut. Well, it’s just complicated adult business.”
Ji Su-ho spoke with a bitter tone and changed the subject, but I caught the drift well enough. I’d already suspected he was in conflict with the Executive Director over me. The fact that he’d come this far to find me meant he’d already made some kind of stand.
“So it matters to me.”
“….”
“If Ha-jin just completes the Quest and disappears, I’d be in trouble too.”
[System Alert: ‘Ji Su-ho’ responds to you. Your recruitment of allies will be determined by ‘Ji Su-ho’s’ response rate in future conversations.]
[Ally Recruitment Status ?/??]
A new system window appeared above Ji Su-ho’s head. Whatever it meant, this “ally” probably referred to the ally mentioned in the Quest.
I met Ji Su-ho’s gaze. They say his defining characteristic is burning passion. Already his eyes gleamed with vitality, and there was a careful intensity about him that felt almost burdensome. For some time now, I’d come to dislike such pure passion. It made it impossible to hide my hollow insides behind plausible words.
Do I want to become an idol? That question was still difficult to answer. But,
‘This person won’t abandon me.’
At least this person doesn’t need someone to replace me. The white aura this person sees belongs only to me, and I’m the only lunatic who can see the system window.
After much deliberation, I revealed only the sincerity that Ji Su-ho could accept.
“It is the most fundamental reason.”
“Then….”
“But I have no intention of challenging it half-heartedly.”
To decide on an idol debut solely for the reason of stopping regression would be naive. Being an idol was a profession with far more to bear than one might think. I knew that better than anyone.
Suddenly, the gift Manager Jang had given me came to mind. I would probably never be able to measure the weight of that gift for the rest of my life. So at least I could speak these words with complete sincerity.
“Whatever happens, I don’t intend to disappoint anyone.”
[System Alert: ‘Ji Su-ho’ responds to you. (Response Rate 73%)
‘Ji Su-ho’ can now be recruited.]
[Will you recruit? (Y/N)]
“I look forward to working with you going forward, Team Leader Ji Su-ho.”
That was how I became a trainee at Miro Entertainment. Betting my fifth regression on it.
* * *
[Single Quest 01.]
‘Finding the Lost Dream.’
Description: The fastest way to untangle a knotted thread is to find where it begins. Become an idol trainee within the time limit.
Remaining Time: 39 days. (Default: 60 days)
Quest has been completed.
Success Reward: Access to clues for tracking regression
* * *
After finalizing my trainee contract and sorting through various circumstances, several days had passed. In that time, the year changed and I turned twenty, while Father received a job offer from a new company.
“Apparently I’ll need to work as a temporary employee for about a year first….”
“Go for it, Dad.”
“Really? …You’ll be okay with it? Not embarrassed having a temporary employee father?”
“Aren’t you embarrassed having a son who’s a repeat test-taker and half-unemployed?”
“Who could be embarrassed of our accomplished son.”
“Neither could I.”
I gently grasped Father’s hand, heavy with worry. Without a word, he squeezed mine in return.
“You’re starting next week, right? That… the singing thing.”
“Yeah. It’s nothing special. I’ve done it before anyway.”
“Right. If it gets tough, tell me anytime.”
I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.
“Come on, it’s nothing special.”
And on my first day at Miro Entertainment.
I sensed something had gone terribly wrong.
“…So Rene and Miro fought over casting me, Miro won, but then I got into a huge fight with Seo Tae-il and left, and Team Leader Ji had to beg me on his knees to come back?”
“Isn’t that right?”
This is driving me insane, seriously.

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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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