Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 60
Chapter 60. Shouting to You (2)
Hajin stormed out of the dorm and headed straight for the practice room.
Unless he was eating or filming, Seo Taehyun practically lived there.
Bang!
He threw the door open—and, of course, Taehyun was inside.
Taehyun had been belting high-note ad-libs over the “Shouting to You” MR at full volume. Hajin’s sudden entrance startled him mid-run and cracked his note clean in half.
“H-hyung? What are you—”
“No matter how I think about it, doing it like the original is insane.”
“…I know. You told me.”
Taehyun smiled bitterly. Even if that expression made him look like some tragic, sickly male lead out of a romance comic, nonsense was still nonsense.
“But… let’s do it.”
“…What?”
Hajin couldn’t ignore Taehyun’s greed—especially if it was about proving something to himself.
For some reason, this stage felt like one of those turning points where everyone had to be satisfied. And the weight of that kept pressing down on him.
It’s because you idiots went ‘sorry’ and dumped the burden back on me!
The mistake had clearly been Hajin’s—but the team had apologized for “making him feel pressured.” That twisted something inside him. It made him want to deliver a result that fulfilled everything they wanted.
“Fine. But we’re changing the center. You’re not center.”
“Ah—y-yeah! I don’t care about that!”
“You can’t do it like your usual stages. We’re going to deliberately kill your presence. You won’t even get the parts you’re good at.”
“I don’t care. I just want people to hear my singing.”
“…Haah. Seriously.”
Hajin dragged both hands down his face and dropped into a squat in the middle of the practice room.
“Go call the others. We’re starting.”
Taehyun’s expression brightened instantly. He ran out to gather the team.
<System Alert: Companion ‘Seo Taehyun’ current status… ‘Very Excited.’>
We haven’t even started and you’re that excited?
Hajin folded his arms. A second later, the red warning icon beside Taehyun’s status finally disappeared.
Good.
One day, he swore, he’d change that system UI to grayscale.
He’d really done it.
He’d chosen this insane route.
“…Now I have to make it work.”
He called up the System.
<System Alert: Current cash balance ∥ 10,320 Cash>
“Oh. That’s… decent.”
Ten thousand cash.
Guess he’d gained more traction in the first mission than he thought.
Not bad.
But the number was about to vanish.
I saved that with blood and sweat!
Still—once Hajin decided, backing out wasn’t an option.
<System Alert: Skill <What Even Is ‘Me’?> (Lv.1) → (Lv.2) Level Up!>
<System Alert: Skill <What Even Is ‘Me’?> (Lv.2) → (Lv.3) Level Up!>
<System Alert: Skill <What Even Is ‘Me’?> (Lv.3) → (Lv.4) Level Up!>
<System Alert: <What Even Is ‘Me’?> increases caster’s ‘Vocal’ ability by 24%.>
<System Alert: Skill (Lv.6) → (Lv.10) Level Up!>
<System Alert: Passive effect of (Lv.10): caster’s ‘Emotional Pull’ deepens.>
<(Next passive skill — ‘Allure’ (Lv.20))>
<System Alert: Current cash balance ∥ 1,320 Cash>
“Hah… my cash… my precious blood…”
<System Alert: Expression error detected. Cash is unrelated to your blood!>
Even now it had to correct him.
Someday he was flicking this thing in the forehead.
The door opened again. Taehyun returned with the rest of the team.
“We’re here.”
“Good. Sit.”
While they were gone, Hajin had propped his phone on a speaker and turned on the front camera, capturing the entire room in a wide frame.
“Hyung, what are you doing?” Haru asked.
“Securing screen time.”
From now on, every rehearsal would be recorded and handed to the writers. Even if they only used two seconds, it was worth it.
Once everyone was seated in a circle, Hajin looked around.
“Ready to pull an all-nighter?”
“I mean… we braced ourselves. But we don’t even have a proper arrangement yet.”
“I do. That’s why I called you.”
“….”
“If you’re okay with it, trust me one more time.”
The room fell quiet.
Then Hajin began outlining the new concept and performance structure.
At first, their expressions were doubtful. But as he spoke—breaking down dynamics, vocal layering, emotional build—heads slowly began to nod.
“…So this time, we’re going to—”
He planted his palm on the floor.
“We’re making at least one person cry.”
The way he said it—serious, almost solemn—made everyone swallow.
Two Days Later — Filming Day
The second mission shoot wasn’t at Miro’s building.
It was at an Ntv set in the greater Seoul area.
There was no live audience yet—the show hadn’t aired—but the scale was noticeably bigger. And there were special guests.
“Ah, Sarin. Long time no see.”
“PD-nim, hello.”
In her waiting room, Sarin—wearing a burgundy suit—stood quickly as Kwon PD entered.
They’d worked together years ago on a music program.
“You’ve been well? I heard you arrived and ran over.”
“I’ve just been busy raising my child.”
“We’re so grateful you agreed to appear.”
“I was more surprised you used my song in an idol survival show.”
After childbirth, Sarin had stepped away from albums and concerts to focus on family. So when she allowed “Shouting to You” to be used—and even agreed to appear as a special mentor—the staff had been stunned.
The OST Queen returning through Miro Maze?
PR gold.
It was likely loyalty to Seo Taeil—and the fact it was a one-off appearance.
“Any album plans?” Kwon PD asked carefully.
“…Not yet. Just raising my kid is already a lot.”
Her smile faltered for half a second.
Kwon PD caught it and shifted the topic smoothly.
“You’ll enjoy today. They’re trainees, but their skills are solid.”
“Oh? I can look forward to it?”
“You can.”
After he left, Sarin looked down at her evaluation sheet.
Her signature song.
The one she might never sing again.
Meanwhile — Trainees’ Waiting Room
“If you draw wrong, you’re doing laundry for a week!”
“Aaah! Please let us go third!”
Chaos.
“Alright! We’ll decide performance order now!”
Because all three team leaders were Wings-tier, they had to draw randomly.
Han Seongwoo stood calmly, though inside he was relaxed.
He already knew which card was which.
The information had been delivered.
All he had to do was draw first.
“Mentor-nim. May I suggest something?”
…Of course.
“Yes, Kang Hajin?”
“A card draw feels lacking in tension. How about we decide with a small game?”
“A game?”
The room stirred.
“Hyungs,” Hajin said smoothly, “are we really leaving our fate to Schrödinger’s card? Let’s seize our destiny—and our screen time—with skill.”
The trainees erupted.
“Battle! Battle!”
Taehil looked amused.
“If the other leaders agree, we’ll do it.”
Han Seongwoo glanced at Jung Siwoo.
Surely Siwoo wouldn’t agree to something loud and stupid—
“Hyung.”
“…?”
“Scared?”
Siwoo smirked. “Fine. I’m in.”
The room exploded.
Seongwoo’s jaw tightened.
If he backed out now, he’d look like a coward.
“…I’m in too.”
“Great! Cleopatra game!”
All three lined up.
Seongwoo assessed Hajin calmly.
He’s not a high-note monster type.
Didn’t he struggle with high notes last time?
That was the old me.
Hajin smiled faintly.
“Seongwoo… sorry. That was before.”
Because to pull off this insanity—
He’d just burned 9,000 cash upgrading his vocals.
He wasn’t the same anymore.