Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 93

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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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93. Bomb? (4)
The method for forming teams was nothing particularly special.
Trainees selected rooms in order from highest to lowest rank. If the highest-ranked trainee in a given room declared “we’re closing this room,” the remaining trainees could not select it.
-Each room has a minimum of 4 members.
-If two rooms both reach their capacity of 4 members, the remaining room will automatically have 9 members.
It was an audacious gamble indeed. An explicit gesture to witness a numbers game among the Wings Rank trainees.
The rules didn’t end there.
-Additionally, each room has specific special effects and items that must be used.
-We’ll be sharing that information exclusively with the Wings Rank trainees.
-Then, let’s begin with Wings Rank trainee Seo Tae-hyun.
One by one, trainees left the Filming Studio and selected their rooms over quite some time.
-Now, the Feather Class trainees will depart one at a time.
For reference, rankings were announced up through Wings Rank, but Feather Class had no separate rankings. Since they were all outside the debut lineup anyway, it seemed they weren’t being publicly disclosed.
That’s why Feather Class determined the order of room selection by drawing lots.
And what that meant was….
-Ah. So the Wings Rank trainees inside the rooms won’t know who’s coming in from now on. Ha, this is fun.
…that’s what it meant.
Anyway, I was sixth among the Feather Class trainees, and when I went out, the status of each room was like this:
【Room 1 (5)】
【Room 2 (5)】
【Room 3 (2)】
First, I ruled out Room 3 as a candidate. Whatever two people were in there, there had to be a reason for the low numbers.
Besides, among those lined up behind me, there wasn’t anyone particularly worth having.
So it was either Room 1 or 2, but that’s when my choice disappeared.
-Room 2 is now at capacity by the authority of Wings Rank trainee Seo Tae-hyun.
Therefore, I had no choice but to enter Room 1.
The moment I walked in, Jeong Si-u, who caught sight of my face, urgently shouted toward the production staff.
-Room 1. We’re closing. We’re closing. Closing.
He shouted it three times no less. I’d never seen Jeong Si-u panic like that before.
Of course, after seeing my teammates’ faces, I would’ve said I’d quit if I hadn’t shouted closure right then.
And back to the present.
“Well then.”
Kang Ha-jin’s voice broke the awkward silence that had filled the Practice Room. Everyone had been watching each other’s reactions for a full ten minutes without saying a word. Having borne the sharp gazes of everyone, Kang Ha-jin smiled brightly at his third mission teammates.
“How about we do some introductions? Since we have some combinations meeting for the first time as a team.”
“….”
‘I miss Seo Tae-hyun and Dan Ha-ru.’
I longed for the remarkably chaotic atmosphere of my previous team, but Kang Ha-jin endured it. Anyway, once the mood loosened up a bit, these guys would all do their part well. It was just because the combination was like this.
‘Jeong Si-u and Lee Yu-gun were fighting like that just recently on broadcast. Now we have the pro-Jeong Si-u faction and the pro-Lee Yu-gun faction in one group….’
But who am I?
Former youth training center assistant instructor experience: Yes. (A senior asked me to do it as a part-time job. But that was when I was 29, so it doesn’t apply now.)
Recreation instructor and youth instructor certifications. (Of course, that was when I was 29, so I don’t have them now).
Extensive experience running recreation activities at numerous church retreats. (Naturally, that was also back when I was 29, so none of that has actually happened).
During my grueling days as an assistant director, abundant experience guiding audiences and inducing reactions. (And so on).
An awkward atmosphere wherever Kang Ha-jin is? That’s impossible.
It doesn’t exist. It just doesn’t. Anyway, it doesn’t.
“But didn’t we receive special training from Namti Joo senior this time?”
“…?”
“Following that variety show spirit, I’m going to give my introduction something special starting now.”
Everyone in the Practice Room, including the team members, focused on Ha-jin. Their eyes gleamed with curiosity about what he was building up to this time.
Ha-jin, fully prepared at 200% to meet those expectations, deliberately struck a dramatic pose with his voice.
“I call it the ‘I know all your secrets you don’t know I know’ game. In other words, ‘truth or death.'”
“Never heard of it?”
“I just made it up.”
Ha-jin shot Kim Won-ho a look telling him to shut up and explained the game.
“Anyway, we already know names, ages, positions—all that stuff, right? So from now on, we’ll take turns sharing one secret about ourselves that others probably don’t know. But since you might not want to share, lying is allowed.”
“If lying is allowed, then it’s not really an introduction, is it?”
“Good point, Eun-chan. That’s why if you think someone’s lying, you just call out ‘Lie!’ If it actually was a lie, that person gets one penalty mark. We’ll do about three rounds like this.”
As Ha-jin finished explaining, Kim Won-ho’s hand shot up.
“Question.”
“Yes, trainee Kim Won-ho. Go ahead.”
“What happens if you accumulate penalties?”
“Oh, that’s a good question too.”
Even those uninterested in the game were curious about that, so everyone’s attention turned back to Ha-jin. Without hesitation, he dragged over a nearby box and dumped its contents out.
“…This, this is…”
“What we commonly call a harness. Very hot. Ouch, it’s burning.”
The items Ha-jin had dumped out were harnesses combining leather and silver chains. They were items this team was “required to wear.”
Among those harnesses, one particular type stood out distinctly. When Ha-jin silently picked “that” up, Eun-chan swallowed hard and answered.
“A, a leash….”
“Leash? It’s a choker.”
“….”
“The person who receives the most penalties gets the special privilege of wearing this leash… I mean, choker. Wow, exciting, right?”
* * *
Inside the darkened Practice Room.
Only one light illuminated the center of the room. The expressions of the trainees sitting in a semicircle were serious and grave.
Ju Eun-chan, holding a pink foam microphone (hastily procured by an assistant director) as the speaker, opened his mouth with visible tension.
“My secret is….”
“….”
“Um, so, I….”
“If you don’t speak within three seconds, you get one penalty mark.”
“I’ve been ordering gamjatang at home lately.”
“Hmm….”
At the mention of a penalty, Ju Eun-chan blurted out the first thing that came to mind. The older members immediately narrowed their eyes, suspicious of his true intentions.
“Okay, pass.”
“Wait, hold on. Shouldn’t we decide this by majority vote? Why is Kang Ha-jin deciding on his own?”
“Eun-chan lives alone. But ordering gamjatang, which has a lot of bones and is hard to finish, is probably a lie. We should consider the possibility it’s actually bone soup….”
“No, pass.”
Despite Won-ho and Do-ha’s objections, I called out the pass without hesitation. Then I gazed at Eun-chan with a satisfied expression and smiled benevolently.
My face conveyed the meaning: ‘Kid, you’ve developed a taste for the finer things.’
“Okay. Now it’s Eun-chan’s turn. True or false? If it’s false, you know I get the penalty, right?”
“Ah, well. It can’t possibly be false.”
“It’s false.”
“…?”
“Gamjatang doesn’t come in single servings for delivery. I order bone soup instead.”
“…!”
“Okay! Kang Ha-jin takes the penalty~.”
I stared at Eun-chan as if my world had crumbled. The betrayal was indescribable, and even the camera directors burst into laughter at my expression.
Under my leadership, this game had progressed all the way to the final round more entertainingly than expected.
For trainees whose idol mentality hadn’t fully solidified yet, the burden imposed by the choker carried considerable impact.
-No, if everyone just tells the truth, who gets the penalty!
-And even if someone lies and says it’s true, we wouldn’t know anyway, right? It’s a secret!
-Okay. Then we add a rule.
Additional rules had even been added.
What started as an icebreaker game had everyone completely invested.
The current score was like this.
【Jeong Si-u, Ju Eun-chan – 0】
【Kim Won-ho, Lee Do-ha – 1】
【Kang Ha-jin, Lee Yu-gun – 2】
“At this rate, it looks like it’ll be either Lee Yu-gun or Kang Ha-jin.”
“Kang Ha-jin does everything right himself but keeps getting others’ answers wrong. That’s a skill too.”
“Lee Yu-gun gets everyone else’s right but keeps getting caught lying about his own. It’s the opposite.”
Still, Won-ho and Eun-chan’s lack of suspicion toward Yu-gun played a big role.
As they casually mentioned Yu-gun and drew him into the conversation, he, who had seemed somewhat uncomfortable because of Si-u, was now participating quite actively in the game.
“Alright, this is the final round.”
The final match of the choker championship began.
Without anyone receiving a penalty yet, the turns quickly cycled through me, Won-ho, Eun-chan, and Do-ha.
Next was Si-u’s turn.
“Hmm…. I chose this room because I didn’t know what a ‘harness’ was.”
“True.”
“True.”
“Pass.”
Everyone immediately shouted “True.” Even if Si-woo had been steadily building an image as a schemer and intellectual, no one genuinely believed he would have personally chosen the harness.
“False.”
“Huh? Really? Ha-jin, think carefully. Getting another penalty is dangerous.”
With everyone else having chosen True, Ha-jin alone selected False. Though they all tried to dissuade him, Ha-jin stubbornly held his ground.
He then provided the reasoning behind his deduction, adopting the posture of a detective from a mystery manga.
“Si-woo, you majored in classical piano, right? I think they sometimes called the belt for tying instruments a harness there too.”
“….”
“And honestly, I don’t think he would’ve thrown out the first gambling move on something he didn’t know.”
At Ha-jin’s sharp observation, Si-woo let out a soft laugh. He then raised both arms in surrender.
“It’s false. Not because I’m a classical performer, though.”
“Wow, this is insane. This is a betrayal.”
“I… came in because I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, I figured Eun-chan would’ve done the same.”
In the end, everyone except Ha-jin had one penalty added.
【Si-woo, Eun-chan – 1】
【Won-ho, Do-ha, Ha-jin – 2】
【Yu-gun – 3】
At this rate, Yu-gun was definitely going to be wearing the choker.
“So, depending on this final result, we’ll either have a tie or confirm who the seeker is.”
“I-I’m so nervous.”
With everyone’s attention focused on him, Yu-gun’s final turn arrived. He looked genuinely troubled, glancing once at the choker around his neck and once at the trainees watching him.
“Can I think about this for a moment?”
“Y-yeah.”
“What, you really don’t want to do it?”
“Then Si-woo hyung, would you do it instead?”
“…I only have one penalty.”
While this pointless exchange continued, Yu-gun’s deliberation went on. After a brief moment—about one or two minutes—Yu-gun seemed to have made up his mind and straightened his posture.
“My parents are coming to this competition, so I can’t do anything that shameful.”
“Then… I think we should exclude him.”
“No wait, this is a game right now. True or False.”
“…Oh!”
“Wow, Yu-gun bringing up your parents here? I say True.”
“Me too, True.”
Faced with Yu-gun’s utterly unconvincing demeanor, the trainees hesitated briefly before ultimately shouting True. His argument had been persuasive enough, after all. The production team had even announced that each trainee would receive invitations for this competition.
“Ha-jin hyung too? Wow, if this is false, things are gonna get crazy…”
Won-ho asked with an intrigued expression, naturally expecting Ha-jin to shout True as well.
And in that very brief moment,
Won-ho caught Ha-jin’s eyes turning sharp and cold. No one else noticed Ha-jin like that.
“False.”
“R-really?”
I quickly returned to my usual expression, and with a voice that had somehow grown quieter, I delivered the lie. My gaze remained fixed on Lee Yu-gun.
A chill seemed to settle over the Practice Room. I waited silently for Lee Yu-gun’s answer.
It might be a leap, but depending on the situation, this could become a very crucial clue. Because….
“Ah….”
Because in the past I had witnessed, the Chosen Regressor was.
“A lie. So does that mean I won the collar lottery?”
…an orphan who didn’t know who his parents were.

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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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