Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 73
Chapter 73. Guess What? (1)
Only after the table had been completely filled with a lavish Korean set meal did Kang Hajin and Ji Suho finally remember the real reason they’d agreed to meet today.
“Let’s eat first. Talking about that while we’re eating feels a bit….”
“I don’t really care, but—are you seriously going to keep using honorifics with me?”
“I’ll drop them gradually.”
“Sure. Honestly, I’m so hungry I don’t even have the energy to argue.”
“Eat.”
At Suho’s urging, Hajin picked up his chopsticks without hesitation.
Even just looking at the dishes, they screamed expensive. The taste was clean and delicate—light seasoning, high-quality ingredients, a balanced variety of side dishes.
For a second, Hajin thought of his family.
“…What? Is the food bad?”
“No. It’s good.”
How much would a place like this cost?
His appearance fee should come in soon. If the numbers lined up… maybe he could bring his parents here once.
He swallowed.
For some reason, the food felt scratchy going down.
Two grown men eating in earnest made short work of the mountain of dishes.
Eventually, only polished plates and empty bowls remained.
Suho set down his spoon.
“Alright. Now let’s talk about that.”
Apparently, high-end restaurants didn’t rush you out. Even after finishing the main course, you could keep the room—dessert and tea already set.
Hajin nudged the glossy rice cakes aside and leaned forward.
“Did you check what I asked?”
Last night, Hajin had asked Suho to look into the current status of viewer voting, which had opened at 6 p.m.
Suho’s expression turned serious.
“You were right.”
“……”
“Sungwoo’s voting trend is frighteningly fast. And even though online reactions don’t seem overwhelming, he’s staying near the top consistently.”
“In a way, he’s admirably steady.”
Hajin sighed softly.
Suho hesitated.
“When we found out Han Seongwoo was a parachute hire tied to Director Son Hyeonggu—and that his backer now is CP Yoon…”
“……”
“Did you already know then? That they’d try to manipulate the viewer votes?”
The playfulness drained from Hajin’s face.
Back then, when Hajin had exposed Seongwoo’s connections, he’d been strangely calm.
—Let’s leave it for now.
—Leave it?
—Even with proof, what can we actually do?
So how had he suddenly moved this far ahead?
“Well… if they were going to pull something, viewer voting was the easiest point.”
“Why?”
“Mentor evaluations have Seo Tae-il. Company evaluations have you. Viewer votes are softer. Easier to touch. And if done cleanly, it won’t look obvious.”
He spoke as if it were obvious that online mentions of Seongwoo would start rising soon. Manufactured buzz always followed vote manipulation.
“Honestly, I also provoked him on purpose. I wanted him to move. He’s probably furious right now.”
Suho’s patience snapped.
“Do you know what you’re doing? Until recently this was just ‘a trainee with connections.’ But viewer vote manipulation? If that explodes, the entire survival show is finished!”
Even as Suho raised his voice—
Hajin calmly picked up a rice cake and chewed.
Then smiled.
“Who said we’re exposing it?”
“…What?”
“Why would we? That’d destroy the show.”
He was too calm.
“Then what? We just let him win through fraud?”
“Easy. You’re rushing.”
Hajin slid a memo sheet across the table.
<Shin ○○ 010-XXXX-XXXX>
<God’s Choice, 1! 2! 3!>
Then he handed over a USB drive.
Suho stared.
“This is…?”
“That name? He’s taking money from CP Yoon to manipulate votes. The two shows listed under? Same pattern. Prior rigging.”
“And the USB?”
“He saved call recordings and texts with CP Yoon. I copied them.”
“How?”
“…Trade secret.”
He couldn’t exactly say he’d pulled the evidence from a memory.
Last night, using the authority granted by Thirteen had been a gamble.
[System Notice: Normally impossible… but this time only, I will use my authority—first and last!]
[System Notice: Even I do not know what penalty may follow.]
[System Notice: Proceed?]
He had proceeded.
Now the evidence sat on the table.
Suho frowned.
“This isn’t court-level evidence.”
“It doesn’t need to be. It’s enough to force a resignation.”
Suho’s eyes sharpened.
“…You’re planning to blackmail CP Yoon.”
“Yes. And make Han Seongwoo withdraw voluntarily. Before Episode 1 airs. Before Mission 3 filming.”
There was no hesitation.
But Suho’s expression darkened.
“It’s too dangerous. We can’t make an enemy of the network.”
Ntv wasn’t small. Its parent broadcasting group had serious industry weight.
And Miro already had one terrestrial network where they were unofficially blacklisted from the early days of Upia.
They couldn’t afford another war.
Suho was about to shut it down completely when Hajin placed his empty water glass down with a firm tap.
“Don’t worry.”
“How can I not worry?!”
“I’m not holding the knife.”
“…What?”
“I’m handing it to someone who’s actually good at using one.”
Suho blinked.
“I’ll give you a different role. You just pass the handle to the right person.”
“…Who?”
Hajin smiled.
“Now. Calm down and listen to my full picture.”
Suho nodded despite himself.
Meanwhile—
At the outsourced production company racing toward the premiere of Miro Maze, the office atmosphere had shifted.
Silence.
Heavy.
Assistant Director Park stepped inside and froze.
“W-What happened?”
A senior leaned in and whispered.
“The executives watched the Episode 1 rough cut… and Yoon lost it again.”
“Again?”
“Emergency meeting. Everyone except him.”
Episode 1.
Still not finalized.
With three weeks until premiere.
Revisions upon revisions. Vague feedback. Endless “vibe adjustments.”
The entire schedule bottlenecked.
Park clenched her mouse.
If Yoon disappeared, this program would run so much better.
She began rage-editing in Photoshop.
Unaware—
That somewhere else, someone had already begun arranging exactly that outcome.