Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 85
Chapter 85 – MIRO MAZE (3)
Whether Kang Hajin’s fans were drowning in anxiety or not, the broadcast continued.
“What… is this?”
“Wait—they’re telling us to escape the maze!”
“But are we actually supposed to escape? If we do… doesn’t that mean we’re quitting the company?”
— The “quitting the company” joke ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
— Quitㅋㅋㅋtingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
— Why is Joo Eunchan so funny when he says things with that face
└ Honestly we should’ve known the moment he and Dan Haru tried to tear down the wall earlier…
— Seo-Taehyun has probably survived hell as a small-agency trainee, but his debut survival show being ultra-hard mode is killing meㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The trainees’ near-collapse reactions to the massive maze set were priceless.
As they moved through the winding structure, they had to complete missions and solve problems along the way.
But since this wasn’t a deduction show, the broadcast focused less on the puzzles themselves—and more on how the trainees approached them.
[Current Miro Maze status]
(Clip of Jung Siwoo doing mental math and unlocking a mechanism)
(Clip of Park Jaeyoung and Gong Seok acting out a romance-drama confession scene)
This is supposed to be an idol survival show, but it’s been over 20 minutes and there’s still no stage—just trainees escaping a literal maze (Not agency, Yes maze)ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
— For real?
— What even is thisㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
— The only singing so far was Jayden doing one line for a mission
└ And he’s a rapper… we haven’t even heard actual rappers yet
Lee Yugeon clip started trending.
There exists a universe where a 183cm handsome guy is trapped in a giant maze
and if he fails a girl group relay dance, he can’t escape
And somehow—
Lee Yugeon actually clears it.
Meanwhile—
“What I expected vs what I got”
(Clip of Seo Taehyun performing seriously)
→ (Clip of Seo Taehyun blankly staring at a maze wall)
Then a quieter post appeared:
[Negative] Question about Miro Maze]
(Han Seongwoo screencap)
“Why does this guy have no screen time…?ㅠ He appears but has no lines.”
— He dropped out
— Yeah, he left recently
— That’s why
“Seriously, the worst are people stirring things up without even watching properly.”
The older sister—Yoon Jaehee, assistant manager at Rene’s rookie development team, and Kang Hajin’s #1 fan—was watching with her younger sister while eating spicy chicken feet.
She set her phone down, half satisfied, half on edge.
“Why?”
“People were already saying the producers were favoritizing Hajin and giving him all the screen time.”
“Oh… but he showed up earlier and now he’s barely on.”
“Exactly. Earlier, he stood out because he made his moment work. Now others are doing that, so they’re getting the screen time.”
Her younger sister nodded.
“Honestly, he didn’t even have that much screen time earlier. He just left a strong impression.”
“That’s the thing. Now people will say the opposite—like the producers are hiding him to make it less obvious. Just watch.”
“People like that always twist things anyway.”
Jaehee snorted.
“They already decided he’s the PD pick. Now they’re forcing everything to fit that story.”
Meanwhile—
Hajin had practically disappeared from the broadcast.
After briefly appearing with Lee Doha and later linking up with Kim Wonho, there had been nothing.
“But now they’re really not showing him.”
“If they’re last in escape speed, they probably messed up or just weren’t interesting.”
The mini-map appeared again.
Current rankings:
Seo Taehyun – Joo Eunchan – Dan Haru (Seo-Joo-Dan alliance)
Jung Siwoo (solo)
Large group (Jaeyoung + Gong Seok, etc.)
Last place:
→ Just-Win-Guys (Hajin – Doha – Wonho)
“They’re dead last??”
“Yeah… they’ve been stuck near the entrance forever.”
“Even if they were boring, they should show them. The visuals alone are worth it.”
“Still… I really thought the teaser ending guy was Hajin.”
“They probably filmed that separately.”
Just then—
“FIRST PLACE!!!!!”
(CG: elementary school sports day energy)
Seo-Joo-Dan escaped.
“They’re cute.”
“But hearing people call Seo Taehyun ‘hyung’ still feels weird.”
“To me he’s still the maknae… like a little cherry blossom.”
“…At least say rose.”
“Unnie, read the room.”
They bickered—
then froze.
“Wait… second place??”
“Is Doha a monster??”
Because the next group to escape—
was Just-Win-Guys.
“They were last!!!”
“Was that a fake edit??”
The show rewound.
This time—
overhead camera.
Fast-forward.
No cuts.
“…They really were stuck.”
“Yeah. Siwoo solved that way earlier.”
And then—
it happened.
“Holy shit, hyung!”
Kang Hajin vaulted over the maze wall in one clean jump.
Slow motion.
Multiple angles.
Teaser shot confirmed.
“Our goal is to break through in under five minutes.”
“How?”
“By climbing walls.”
“Sometimes that hyung scares me.”
(Wonho, genuinely shaken)
After that—
they moved fast.
Not just climbing—
but mapping routes.
Avoiding other trainees.
Planning.
Even staff panicked.
“PD-nim… a trainee is climbing the wallsㅠㅠ”
“Is this cheating?”
“But we never told them how to escape.”
Debate.
Tension.
Possible disqualification—
Then—
another twist.
“Siwoo? Why are you coming from there?”
Jung Siwoo had taken a staff shortcut.
“I reread it. It never said we had to complete missions.”
“So I chose a shortcut.”
“…How did you even find that?”
“I saw the director moving back and forth.”
“…Ah.”
Final result:
The producers lost.
Completely.
The rankings appeared.
Both sisters dropped their chopsticks—
and grabbed their phones.
— Kids these days are insane
— I’m crying from laughingㅋㅋㅋㅋ
— The funniest part is always the staff getting destroyed
— Where did the “scripted” crowd go?
└ Too embarrassed, they logged off
Even complaints about fairness appeared—
“But isn’t it unfair to win through loopholes?”
— Everyone was already helping each other anyway
The narrative was clear:
Clever trainees > helpless production team
— Let variety shows be variety shows
— This show is FUN
— Everyone cheated except first placeㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Buzz exploded.
Then—
a message popped up on Jaehee’s phone.
Senior Kim Hyun:
“That kid from #71, right?”
“Your eye for talent is insane”
“Guess I can’t tease you anymore”
Jaehee barely held back a grin.
<Oh really? I haven’t watched yetㅋㅋㅋ
He was good thoughㅎㅎ>
Finally—
her Monolid Supremacy Theory had been proven correct.
But then—
reality hit.
Her actual trainees.
New Rene.
They’ll debut around the same time…
Between:
the idols she loved
and the idols she was paid to raise
Her future was already splitting in two.
Yoon Jaehee sighed.
“…Should I just quit my job?”
As always—
that felt like the correct answer.