Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 304. Phantom Pain (3)

Hajin slowly walked toward Siwoo. Siwoo was still in a panic, as if he was seeing the illusion of his father. Hajin placed his hand over Siwoo’s eyes, blocking his view.

“It’s okay, hyung. It’s just a nightmare.”

Even though the words he spoke felt dry on his lips, Hajin tried his best not to show it.

But it was okay. For now, it was okay.

These were all events he had anticipated.

“You were just feeling unwell for two days and three nights. You took some medicine and fell asleep, but you had a nightmare because of the medication. That’s all.”

Saying this, Hajin opened the system window.

Though he had resolved not to rely on the power of skills or the system, this time, he had no choice but to prepare for this situation in advance with Thirteen.

[System Alert: Would you like to use the authority of Time Manager Zero (0)? (Y/N)]

[System Alert: Warning. The manager’s authority is incomplete. Penalties will be incurred upon use of authority.]

[System Alert: Warning. The current timeline (Jung Siwoo) is not within the range of the manager’s authority. Penalties will be incurred upon use of authority.]

[System Alert: Higher interference system for this authority (“How Much Does It Cost?”) detected. Penalties will be substituted.]

[System Alert: Penalties can be substituted with coins.]

[System Alert: Would you like to use all remaining coins to substitute the penalties? (Y/N)]

Just for this, he had set aside a small amount of coins like emergency funds when designing the unconscious space.

Without hesitation, Hajin selected YES. The system began to run quickly, displaying various types of notification windows. After skipping through the unnecessary ones, the system window containing the desired information finally appeared.

[System Alert: The timeline and memories of the current timeline (Jung Siwoo) will be adjusted.]

[System Alert: Memories of the past timeline will be deleted.]

[System Alert: Loading….]

“Don’t worry, just get a good sleep, hyung.”

As the system window indicated that the memory deletion was complete, Siwoo’s empty eyes slowly closed, and his body gradually lost strength. It seemed that, as the tension eased, he had willingly shut down his consciousness.

Hajin carefully supported Siwoo’s collapsing body, gently seating him against one side of the wall. After confirming that Siwoo had indeed fallen asleep, Hajin stood up. However, even after standing, Hajin remained there, his mouth firmly closed, staring blankly.

In his mind, tangled threads were rapidly unraveling one by one.

‘Think. Think, Kang Hajin.’

There was still a chance.

Nothing had been lost yet.

Reflecting on the words Suho had once told him, Hajin exhaled sharply as if to gather his resolve.

It was at that very moment that someone came up the stairs behind Hajin, making a loud noise.

“…?”

When Hajin turned around, he saw Yugeon awkwardly gripping the floor, as if he had tripped while rushing up the stairs. As Hajin took a step forward in surprise, Yugeon quickly waved his hand, indicating that he was okay, and approached Hajin.

Glancing sideways at Siwoo, who was asleep against the wall, Yugeon, trying to calm his surprised heart, awkwardly pointed at Siwoo and asked Hajin.

“Is this hyung okay?”

“…I put him to sleep so he could be okay. Why did you come up? You said Wook-hyung wouldn’t be here for another two hours.”

“Oh, right. I just got a call from Doha-hyung….”

As if remembering why he had come upstairs, Yugeon wet his lips with his tongue and trailed off. Seeing Yugeon’s hesitation, Hajin’s gaze sharpened, prompting Yugeon to exhale like a sigh and finally speak.

“Joo Eunchan and the Director got into an accident, and they’re at the hospital now. It doesn’t seem too serious for Eunchan, but the Director—”

From the moment he heard those words, Hajin felt as if water had filled his ears, and he couldn’t hear the rest clearly. The often-used expression, “It felt like my heart dropped to the ground,” was something he now understood. With a strange ringing in his ears, Hajin recalled the timeline he had previously checked for Ji Suho.

[Blindness]

[Cause: Traffic Accident]

He might lose the world today.

As the nightmare he feared most became a reality, Hajin squeezed his eyes shut.

* * *

The reason he couldn’t bring himself to even mention Ji Suho’s “accident” was because it was an event that was more likely not to happen.

[System Alert: Fortunately, this “accident” is not a fixed event!]

In most timelines, Ji Suho ends up leaving his position without ever getting a proper chance to showcase his abilities, due to being pushed out of the company by political infighting with the former director of Miro. However, even after leaving, the former director continued to hinder him by using every connection he had, eventually forcing Ji Suho to move to an obscure, small company.

[System Alert: It only happened once. In the timeline where the Chosen Regressor turned twenty-six.]

[System Alert: It happened in the timeline where Kang Hajin was twenty-nine.]

His traffic accident happened only once.

It occurred in the year when Dan Haru, after repeatedly regressing, finally survived until he was twenty-six. In a small company, where he handled all sorts of tasks by himself, he was involved in an accident when he was hit by a drunk driver while returning from a provincial business trip early in the morning. Although he survived, Ji Suho lost his sight due to the accident and eventually had to retire.

This was the reason why, despite all his years in the industry, Hajin had never heard the name Ji Suho.

—Then… then what should we do? You can’t just tell Ji Suho never to drive again. Car accidents don’t happen just because you’re not the one driving.

[System Alert: The regressor is extremely cunning.]

[System Alert: If the regressor realizes that Kang Hajin is aware of and afraid of this accident, he will definitely use it against you.]

—So, what, are we just supposed to sit back and take it? If Ji Suho really gets into an accident, it’ll be too late then.

[System Alert: The current timelines are in complete disarray due to the regressor.]

[System Alert: Since this incident is not a “fixed event,” the regressor might not have noticed it yet.]

[System Alert: I will do my best to hide this incident!]

[System Alert: But if… if this accident does happen….]

Even as he failed to hide his anxiety and nervousness, Thirteen had assured Hajin with a slight sense of solemnity.

[System Alert: I’ll handle it somehow.]

[System Alert: Kang Hajin, please just endure.]

—What are you planning to do? Do you have a way? Or should I just take a penalty or something instead…?

[System Alert: No. Even with the current plan, you are already in enough danger.]

[System Alert: As your system, I can’t allow any further self-sacrifice.]

—…….

[System Alert: Please trust me! I will definitely find a way to protect Ji Suho.]

[System Alert: This is a promise from me as the Time Manager.]

[System Alert: ( •̀ω•́ )و✧]

He didn’t think that nodding his head in agreement to those words was a mistake.

It was only now that Hajin was starting to grasp the weight of Thirteen’s repeated pleas to “endure,” and perhaps also the sense of being on the edge of a cliff that the Chosen Regressor, Dan Haru, must have felt every moment.

“Ah.”

…How satisfying would it be to crush this bastard?

Sitting in the car heading from Namhae to Seoul, Hajin watched the rapidly changing scenery and had to suppress the rage welling up in his throat.

However, at the same time, he was well aware that this wasn’t the time to just be angry. Forcing himself to regain his composure, Hajin, sitting in the passenger seat, asked Kwon Wook, who was driving with a haggard face.

“What happened with the accident? Wasn’t Eunchan supposed to stay at home?”

Then, Kwon Wook, clearly still furious, exhaled a deep breath that seemed to bubble up from within him and answered in an unpleasant tone Hajin had never heard from him before.

“It’s all because of those damn reporters. Honestly, this isn’t something I should say in front of you guys, but… Ah, I really don’t get how people who are supposed to be grown adults can live their lives in such a despicable way, really.”

“Reporters?”

“Eunchan had a family gathering, right? It seems some rumors about Eunchan’s family were circulating among the reporters. They probably stumbled upon it while digging into Taehyun’s So-nyun Cheon-ha controversy. We went to such lengths to hide it, but those damn scumbags….”

Everything that happens in this world is interconnected.

Taehyun, So-nyun Cheon-ha, reporters, Eunchan, family.

Listing these keywords in order, Hajin quickly grasped the connection between them.

With the controversy surrounding Taehyun, suspicions had also been raised about his

appearance on Miro Maze. In Miro Maze, there were traces of Eunchan’s family business, Judiz Furniture, albeit faint. Moreover, after Eunchan’s debut, Judiz Furniture had started producing a web variety show in collaboration with the studio that produced Miro Maze, as Hajin had suggested.

‘The surname Joo isn’t exactly common, so they must have caught the scent.’

If they had even picked up on the bait that Han Seong-woo’s side had deliberately thrown to shift the parachute controversy onto Eunchan….

There was no way the reporters would leave Kairos, the most buzzworthy and popular rookie idol group, alone.

“After Eunchan had dinner with his family and was leaving, a reporter disguised as a fan approached him. At first, Eunchan didn’t even think the person was a reporter and couldn’t handle it properly because they claimed to be a Desti. He ended up giving them an autograph.”

“…He’s always been more attentive to fan service.”

“Luckily, he refused to take a picture and only gave the autograph, but the person wouldn’t let go. When Eunseok finally noticed something was off and pulled Eunchan away, it was already too late.”

Eunseok was already in the process of being introduced as the new leader of Judiz Furniture through extensive publicity. If Eunseok was seen taking care of Eunchan, it would be easy to confirm the connection between Judiz Furniture and Eunchan as fact.

As Hajin nodded in understanding, Kwon Wook, checking the side mirror several times and changing lanes, continued speaking.

“But these crazy reporters didn’t stop there. They actually followed him. Fine, let’s say tailing someone is something reporters do all the time, so we can overlook that. But these people went so far as to cause an accident on purpose just because Eunchan stayed holed up at home with tight security and didn’t step out! Isn’t that insane?”

“……?”

How selfish can humans be in their pursuit of their own greed and desires?

Watching Kwon Wook suppress his emotions as he spoke, only to finally slam his hand down on the steering wheel, Hajin suddenly wondered.

Kwon Wook then erupted, his words filled with frustration.

“They deliberately caused an accident, deliberately! Isn’t that crazy? The Director had gone to pick up Eunchan separately after noticing the reporters, but they still went ahead and rammed the car just to get an interview! Are they even human? They’re scumbags, completely blinded by the idea of a scoop!”

This grotesque tragedy, born of someone’s selfishness, made Hajin feel like he was going to be sick.