Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 20

20. The Most Effective Way to Defuse a Bomb (5) 

A few days earlier.

Dan Haru and Joo Eunchan ultimately failed to persuade me.

And they failed to persuade the company, too.

It was already an emergency that Seo Taehyun had vanished—did they really think the adults would let two rookies skip practice to go bring him back?

If anything, with Taehyun—one of the stronger debut candidates—gone, the director, the company, everyone started cracking down even harder on the trainees.

“Taehyun hyung… we have to go look for him…”

“I don’t even have the strength to move…”

Honestly, I did feel a bit sorry for the two of them, getting hammered by practice and stress.

But it’s not like I had some magical way to fix it.

All I could do was toss a cold wet towel at each of the two lifeforms sprawled on the floor.

“Hyuuung.”

“No.”

“I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“Good posture. Keep not saying anything. Forever.”

“You’re so meaaaan….”

Every chance he got, Haru tried to send me off to Seo Taehyun with those rabbit eyes.

As if.

Just commuting from home to Miro and back had already drained my stamina to zero. I had zero intention of spending my precious HP combing some random Gangwon beach I was never meant to visit.

“I’m back.”

“You’re home? Thought you’d sleep over.”

I didn’t really mind commuting yet, but whenever I barely caught the last train and stumbled home like this, the desire for dorm life would flare up out of nowhere.

Should I just shamelessly ask Eunchan for rent money? His place is still better than the dorms.

But then I imagined a dorm packed with ten-plus guys in a space the size of a shoebox, and my vision went dizzy.

Yeah. Leaving home = suffering.

When I went into the room, Kang Hawon was already dead asleep.

He sleeps like a rock, sure—but if I fussed around next to him, he’d definitely wake up.

So, like always, I chose the living room. I spread the blanket I kept out in the corner and lay down.

“Sleeping in the living room again?”

“Yeah. It’s more comfortable. Mom, go to bed too.”

“…You leaving early again tomorrow? I’ll draw the curtains.”

“I think I’ll eat breakfast before I go.”

I smiled at Mom, who watched me with half worry, half concern. I wanted to tell her something, but I didn’t even have the energy to lift a finger, so I gave up.

Thank god the company has showers.

Being able to come home and pass out immediately—what a sad little “luxury.”

The moment I sank into the soft, slightly warm blanket, it felt like I might just black out. I tried to shove all the complicated thoughts away and finally sleep—

Then—

Flash!

“Seriously. Please….”

That tactless notification window lit up like a beacon in the middle of the night.

[System Alert: You have an unchecked (unreviewed) notification. Would you like to view it?]

“Tomorrow. Do it tomorrow…”

[System Alert: We have no tomorrow!]

“Whoever did your Korean patch… I swear…”

The system’s jokes were getting weirder by the day—and now I was fully awake.

A part of me wanted to slap on an eye mask and hide under the blanket, but I remembered I’d ignored this same alert yesterday, the day before, and three days ago with the same “tomorrow” excuse. My conscience pricked.

So I forced my sleepy eyes open and started reading through the piled-up notifications.

“What is this. I already read all of these.”

[System Alert: Not ‘read’—it’s ‘marked as read.’]

So now it’s throwing in Konglish too?

I had made a “mark as read” function and mass-cleared a whole truckload of alerts. When am I supposed to read all of this? I thought, maybe I should just ignore it and sleep after all—

Then I saw it.

“Ugh— I can’t stand a red ‘1’…!”

[System Alert: The system is proud to have finally identified the (fixed) returner’s habits!]

That sneaky system had changed the UI. There was a little red circle—like a bomb—at the top of the window, and I couldn’t ignore it.

I’m the kind of person who clicks through thousands of emails just to get rid of that.

So, like an idiot, I ended up opening the notifications one by one. A few were actually useful, so I even used the “favorite” function I’d built at the same time and checked them off.

[System Alert: …….]

Now it won’t even react?

Huh…?

Among all the transparent pop-ups, one single window shimmered with an aurora-like glow.

As someone with years of webnovel experience, I can certify this:

this was rare. SS-rank. Top-tier loot.

I have to look.

Heart pounding, I clicked it. The radiant colors spread through the room like a galaxy, and a quest window opened.

[Single Quest 01.]

“To Find the Lost Dream.”

Objective: The fastest way to untangle a knot is to find where the thread begins. Become an idol trainee within the time limit.

Time remaining: 39 days. (Base: 60 days)

Quest completed.

Success reward: Clue access for tracking the regression

Would you like to view the clue? (Y/N)

“Oh—right. I totally forgot.”

It was the first quest. The starting point of all this. But I’d been buried under mission bombs and shoved it to the back of my mind.

I tensed up a little.

Usually the first quest reward isn’t normal… but that last ‘special reward’ was pretty useful.

“Clue access for tracking regression” sounded like something from a detective novel.

“Well, if I don’t check it, it’ll just haunt me again.”

As if anything could be funnier than regressing four times.

My sleep was ruined anyway, so I didn’t hesitate. I click YES.

And immediately regretted it.

“Ah—f—my eyes!”

A blast of light—about a hundred times brighter than the earlier flashing—hit me. I shut my eyes on reflex.

Who throws a flashbang directly into someone’s face?!

When I finally adjusted and opened my eyes again—

I was inside someone’s memory.

“What—am I dreaming?”

“If I bring you in, it's a guaranteed debut. Let’s debut together, Taehyun. Okay?”

I didn’t need to see much to know whose memory it was.

“This was supposed to be a clue for tracking regression. Why is Seo Taehyun here?”

Whether I questioned it or not, the “memory” kept playing—Taehyun’s past leading into his present.

And it wasn’t just visuals. I felt every emotion, every thought, as vividly as if it were happening to me.

But not all of it was from Taehyun’s point of view.

“Here… You’re really letting me go to Rene, right?”

“First, check what you’re holding.”

“……”

“Man, kids these days are scary. Selling their friends and all.”

I saw Cha Minseok deliver the evidence Taehyun had carefully collected straight to the director. The director took the envelope and locked it deep inside a safe in his office.

Only then did I understand why I’d been shown this memory.

“If I had that… it’d be twice as easy to get rid of the director.”

But how?

It was in a safe—inside the director’s office. I couldn’t exactly steal it.

Do I make Eunchan do it?

Right as that thought crossed my mind—

A new alert blinked into view.

[System Alert: Viewing Seo Taehyun’s memory.]

[System Alert: Your relationship with the memory owner is favorable.]

[System Alert: You may borrow an item from the memory owner’s memory (Seo Taehyun’s documents).]

Cost: 1,500 cash (3 days)

If the item belongs to a ‘companion,’ you may keep it permanently.

Borrow? (Y/N)

A ridiculous message.

So… I could pull objects out of memories now?

And it costs 1,500 cash for a rental, not even ownership? What kind of criminal inflation is this?

Still—there was no way I could let this chance go.

I click YES without hesitation.

A bright light swallowed my vision again.

“…Holy moly.”

I woke up.

And in my hand was Taehyun’s evidence.

[System Alert: Borrowed an item from the memory owner’s memory (Seo Taehyun’s documents).]

The item will vanish automatically after 3 days.

If the item belongs to a ‘companion,’ you may keep it permanently.

So if I want to use this evidence properly, I have to recruit Seo Taehyun as a companion.

What a garbage quest.

And now—again.

Gangwon coast.

Me and Seo Taehyun sat at opposite ends of the platform, staring each other down.

“…Kids these days really know how to have a silent conversation.”

Taehyun’s uncle—happy that I’d come all the way from Seoul to look for him—set down fruit and a sweet rice drink between us, then quietly retreated.

“…How did you know I was here?”

“Joo Eunchan and Dan Haru told me.”

“Ah, damn…”

Taehyun clicked his tongue and slapped his thigh like he knew it. He still looked annoyed, but a trace of guilt flashed across his face—probably thinking of Haru, who’d said he wanted to debut with him.

“Then why did you come?”

“The company would never let Dan Haru come.”

“That still doesn’t explain why they’d send you. We’re not even close.”

“You think I told them ‘I’m gonna go bring Seo Taehyun back’ like an idiot?”

“…Then what?”

Where would my old office-worker skills—calling in sick to go to concerts—have gone?

But I couldn’t exactly tell him “I just talked my way out of it.”

So I ignored that question and went straight to the point.

“I came knowing everything. What happened between you and the director.”

“…!”

Taehyun, who’d been grumbling, went completely silent. A lock snapped shut over his mouth.

I saw him trying to bite his lip again, so I reflexively lifted my fork. He noticed and hurriedly let go.

“Hey, Taehyun.”

“…What.”

“Don’t listen to him.”

“…….”

“Whatever that bastard said—every last word is bullshit.”

At that—

Taehyun’s eyes wavered.