Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 28

Chapter 28. Do You Want to Become Special? (6)

The world is unfair.

Unbelievably unfair.

Sure, people love to say the arts are a realm where talent beats effort.

But this?

Isn’t this a little too extreme?

Hajin stared at the absurd numbers again and felt something close to despair creeping in.

“Lee Doha composing at thirty-four percent? Thirty-four? Three–four?!”

Those insane tracks were only thirty-four percent of his total potential?

So that’s why people say art belongs to the chosen.

“What is this, some luck-based gacha trash game?”

<System: Life isn’t easy.>

“Why does it sound so reasonable when you say it? That just makes me angrier.”

Competing against monsters like that and still trying to break Top 10?

His head throbbed just thinking about it.

He pressed his fingers into his temples.

He needed sugar.

But the chocolate bars he’d hidden for emergencies had been devoured during late-night practice by Seo Taehyun and Dan Haru.

So he grabbed a box of tangerines Joo Eunchan had bought and retreated to the living room.

Group Chat — Miro February Evaluation Team

The chat was on fire.

Gong Seok: I’m technically the oldest… this is kind of embarrassing though.

Yoon Taehee: Nooo hyung lol

Yoon Taehee: You sing well though 👍

Kim Wonho: Are we seriously just trusting Hajin hyung??

Anxiety. Everywhere.

Hajin typed one clean message.

Notice

• Team meeting tomorrow 4PM
• Bring references (songs you like, styles you’re confident in, stages you want to try)
• Decide your desired position
※ Reply “confirmed” or I’m calling you personally ※

Replies flooded in immediately.

Even Lee Doha responded.

Lee Doha: Confirmed.

Hajin muted the chat.

Later — The Officetel

Seo Taehyun and Dan Haru came back from practice.

They stopped dead at the sight of the mountain of tangerine peels.

“Hyung… did you eat all of that?”

“Want one?”

“Did you fight the tangerines or something?”

Hajin puffed up proudly.

“Kang Hajin. Twenty years old. Growing boy. Our mom’s son.”

Haru instantly joined the nonsense.

Joo Eunchan, the homeowner, spoke calmly:

“Please throw the peels away properly.”

Immediate obedience.

The Real Problem — Team Meeting

Hajin didn’t hate teamwork.

He could carry a project alone if necessary.

But he was better at assigning roles.

That’s why, in his first life after quitting as a trainee, he moved toward production and planning.

He knew how to evaluate people.

But—

When teammates weren’t chosen voluntarily, weren’t close, and all had different working styles?

That was exhausting.

Like right now.

The Suggestions

“Let’s do double tumbling!”

“What about a ballad?”

“Should we reuse ‘Love Affair’?”

“What about covering Sphere’s new song ‘Hush’?”

Hajin’s internal screaming was deafening.

Ballad?
You want to get erased by Jung Siwoo and Dan Haru?

Reuse an old stage?
Are you suicidal?

Outperform Sphere?
With what? Audacity?

But he held it in.

You don’t crush morale on day one.

He turned calmly.

“Doha. What do you think?”

All eyes shifted.

Lee Doha answered flatly.

“They’re all bad.”

…You nuclear missile.

The room froze.

Doha continued without blinking.

Ballads would be directly compared to Jung Siwoo’s team.

Acrobatics risked looking sloppy.

Reused songs invited automatic comparison.

Covering Sphere’s comeback? Don’t even try.

The trio’s morale collapsed in three different ways:

• Defensive: “It wasn’t that terrible…”

• Self-doubting: “Maybe our taste just sucks…”

• Rebellious: “Then what did you bring?”

Fair.

Doha nodded and pulled out his phone.

“I wrote something.”

“…You mean something you had lying around?”

“No. I wrote it last night.”

…Excuse me?

A whole track overnight?

He played the instrumental.

Dark electronic bass.

Layered strings.

Melody-forward pop structure.

Moderate difficulty.

Perfectly balanced for average vocals and controlled choreography.

It was clean.

Safe.

Calculated.

Designed so no one would fall behind.

The trio’s faces lit up.

“This is amazing!”

“Hyung, you’re a genius!”

“We can totally do this!”

Yes.

With this song—

They would pass.

Safely.

And that was the problem.

Hajin spoke.

“Sorry.”

Everyone looked at him.

“We’re not using this.”

Silence.

Shock.

He met their eyes calmly.

“My life’s on the line here.”

“You think I came to play it safe?”