Chapter 70

No matter how I looked at it, I really should have just gone to Rene back then. Should have muscled Cha Minseok out somehow.

"…no. That's a bit much."

The shock of seeing Cha Minseok in person for the first time came back to me. I had to admit — over there too, anything short of a killer face wouldn't cut it. Setting aside whatever skill or character the bastard actually had.

"Ha, being an idol is rough, seriously."

Either way, I had to do the {monitoring}(#us46yrtyqmlz), so I shook off the shock from the thumbnail and clicked play.

An intro I'd heard hundreds of times — familiar by now — flowed out.

"Came out looking sharp."

Even skimming past the parts where Han Seongwoo was pointlessly hamming up the killer look, the video had clearly come out well.

Smooth camera work, well-timed rhythm edits, and purple-toned lighting brought out the song's dreamy mood nicely.

They were still greenhorns without much experience, so the rough patches definitely showed, but….

'Well, isn't that the whole charm of trainees?'

What matters is buzz. However pretty you make the thumbnail or however slick the video looks, if people don't watch, none of it means anything. I quickly scrolled down to check the comments.

- wtf this place actually knows how to do a thumbnail - heard there's a face genius here to carry on miro's thug-look lineage so i came running > no lie i don't know a single one of these guys' names but i can tell who they mean > same ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ - ♥taehyunie i love you you're doing so well♥ - seo taehyun timeline i'm making for my own use: 0:03 hair-flip = paradise, 0:21 wistful taehyun, 0:54 falsetto is INSANE ㅠㅠㅠ ...see more - the sculpture-face friend was the main vocal?? the betrayal is real - the kid who raps has a nice tone why's he doing idol instead of rapper it's kinda a waste > what are you saying to a kid who came on a survival BECAUSE he wants to be an idol > people still have takes this outdated huh > why?? the answer's on his face, not doing idol with a face like that would be a crime fr - miro's trainee pool has lost its mind

I'd felt it from when the profile photos dropped, but for an in-house survival, the response was good. It had only been about 10 minutes since it went up, but the comments and view count were already solid. Every time I refreshed, the numbers were visibly ticking up.

'Half of them are probably Seo Taehyun fans, though.'

But the other half had A-team trainees' names spread through it pretty evenly. And more Korean comments than English ones was another good sign.

- 2:17 someone please tell me the redhead's name my heart hasn't beat like this in 2000 years > lee yugeon!

"…Lee Yugeon, huh."

As I refreshed and skimmed the comments to monitor the public reaction, one name caught my eye. Right — I'd almost forgotten about this guy.

I scrolled back up and re-watched the video that had just ended, focusing on the scenes with Lee Yugeon.

"……"

He danced fine, and sang when it was his part. But without any parts of his own, given his actual skill level, there were quite a lot of moments where he was noticeably tucked away in the back. Which is really saying something — even Lee Doha ended up on camera more than him.

"But Lee Doha, man — he really can't dance."

Unlike the month-end evaluation, prep time had been tight, so for Lee Doha, memorizing the moves was probably the best he could manage. Even at a glance you could see him creaking through the choreography — the only thing saving it was that his rap was solid and he had the physicals for it.

"…which is what makes it weirder. Right, Thirteen?"

Y-yes?

At my sudden call, Thirteen popped up later than usual.

Maybe another side effect of the System upgrade — the blue window, once strictly businesslike, kept picking up more and more visual effects. Sweating buckets this time.

"Focus up, man. We've got a Selreg to find, don't we?"

Are you suspecting Lee Yugeon-nim?

"No reason not to suspect him. There's something that doesn't sit right."

While we're on it, let me get that organized too.

I activated the notepad feature I'd built myself into one corner of the System UI. Various notes I'd scribbled earlier were arranged like Post-its.

I was about to press the button to create a new memo when Thirteen's dialogue window popped back open, smaller, off to the side.

U-um, but…. Are you not going to monitor the video you're actually in? The System expresses pure curiosity. (・ヘ・?)

At the sheepish question, I somehow had no answer.

Because it was true — I'd been deliberately avoiding even looking at the B-team video.

Wait — is it because you're embarrassed? Σ (･口･)

"Yeah, man. Absolutely dying of embarrassment over here."

Popping up "gasp!" sound effects and whatnot without reading my mood in the slightest — Thirteen was starting to grate on me.

I waved him off with a general 'buzz off' motion and refocused on the memo in front of me.

'Our team's video… I'll watch it later tonight, whatever. Once more reactions have built up.'

Truth was, I just didn't have the nerve to face the public reaction to me.

Rationalization? Fine, call it that. Scared is scared.

—Hajin's voice sticks out on its own. And the volume's too loud.

—Well… kind of iffy.

—You never thought about changing careers? At this rate, when are you going to debut?

Voices that had once left me struggling to breathe surfaced, but I forced myself to shake them off.

I wasn't the clueless, immature Kang Hajin from back then, and I hadn't repeated those old mistakes. So naturally — how I got judged now would be different from back then, too.

Even so — even so, I wanted to put off confirming it for as long as I possibly could.

"Ugh, forget it. Later. I'll watch it later."

Then, so you don't forget, I'll set a reminder for the B-team video monitoring session around 9 PM! The System expresses anticipation for the Fixed Regressor's first performance video. (⸝⸝⍢⸝⸝) ♥

Thirteen — completely oblivious as ever — still wasn't reading me at all, and was now shoving a to-do list under my nose with big fat asterisks slapped all over it. Telling him to knock it off felt wrong when he looked more excited about it than I was, so I let it be.

"All right, let's actually get this organized."

The nice thing about the System notepad is that just thinking about something inscribes the words like they've been typed.

I couldn't exactly scribble things in mid-air or hammer at an invisible keyboard, so the fact that this thing linked directly to my mind was convenient at times like this.

"For starters, it's got to be one of the trainees. If it were a staff member or a debuted sunbae, there'd be more of a hint or a point of contact. So — one of the 17 currently on the survival."

Right on cue, seventeen profiles rolled up onto the memo pad automatically.

Oh damn — this feature is sick.

Going through the trainees' photos slowly, I did a first pass eliminating the ones that didn't look like candidates.

"Not Seo Taehyun. Like you said, he's the guy who made the same choice in every life."

〈Seo Taehyun〉

"Han Seongwoo, off the list too. Park Jaeyoung and Gong Seok too. Kim Wonho probably isn't it either."

〈Han Seongwoo〉

〈Park Jaeyoung〉

〈Gong Seok〉

〈Kim Wonho〉

"Ju Eunchan and Dan Haru… leave those for now. Looking at how the Department Head kept dragging them into things, it doesn't really seem like it — but this time that all got resolved, and maybe that's why the regression didn't happen."

As I racked up reasons to eliminate or keep, before I knew it the seventeen candidates had thinned way down.

〈Lee Doha〉

★★★☆☆

— Way too skilled at rap, composing, and producing

— Never once heard his name or saw him active in any past life

— Sees through too many things (could just be his personality)

— Squatting in the special class on rap as his one trick

〈Jung Siwoo〉

★★☆☆☆

— Overpowered stats (face; vocal + seems to dance decently too)

— Honestly, still not sure what kind of guy he is

— Need more info on him

〈Lee Yugeon〉

★★★★☆

— Stats supposedly high, but what's actually on screen doesn't match

— Has said things along the lines of "not debuting anyway"

— Seems to always keep to himself

— Doesn't seem to have a great rep among the trainees either (see reactions during the month-end evaluation)

— Doesn't look like he cares much about the survival either

〈Ju Eunchan〉

★★★★☆

— Overpowered stats

— But then why did I never see him once in past lives? (could be because of the Department Head, Han Seongwoo)

— With the Department Head handled + the survival happening, high chance the Selreg didn't regress this time

— Ju Eunchan, who was most threatened by the Department Head and Han Seongwoo, benefited the most

〈Dan Haru〉

★★★☆☆

— Suspicious name (way too much like a name out of an internet teen-romance novel)

— Benefited from the Department Head being taken out

— But for a Selreg, isn't the kid a little too sunny?

— Considering how old I was when I first regressed, Dan Haru's too young

— (My first regression was when I was 17, which would make him a 14-year-old baby back then — the timing's a little iffy)

— That said, no certainty he's NOT the Selreg either

"Five, huh…."

Sure, I couldn't let my guard down on the rest — had to keep watching them just as closely — but even trimming the list down this much was a decent haul.

And one of them was already in my pocket.

"Thirteen. There's still one unused reward left from last time, right?"

A quest reward I'd put off and put off — unable to decide — floated up in a new window.

title: Single Quest 03 'Want to Be Special?' The trainers still aren't showing much interest in you, a fledgling trainee. Post outstanding results in the month-end evaluation, stand out, and secure your entry into the special class! Quest completed. Success reward: A clue for tracking regressions & Companion recruitment Would you like to receive your reward? (Select reward) 1. Clue for tracking regressions 2. Companion recruitment 'Lee Doha' (response rate 68.9%) and 'Kim Wonho' (response rate 92.3%) have 'responded' to you. Based on your choice, one of them can be recruited as a companion. ※The unchosen party's response rate accumulates, but the timing of companion recruitment cannot be guaranteed※ Companion recruitment status 2/??

'Kim Wonho's response rate feels like a waste to leave on the table… but at that level, I can recruit him later anyway.'

"I'll go with Lee Doha."

'Lee Doha' 'responds' to you. (response rate 68.9%) 'Lee Doha' is available for recruitment. Confirm recruitment? (Y/N)

"Yeah. Let's do this quick. No time to spare."

Hawon would be getting out of academy soon.

I couldn't be running this crazy-guy solo routine around Hawon, so I'd have to head out to a playground or something…. But a kid who was supposedly sick and out cold just a minute ago suddenly heading to a playground at this hour — no way Mom and Dad would let that slide.

'Lee Doha' has been recruited as a companion. (3/??) You can now check a recruited companion's current state and location, and, if needed, summon them (10 cash charge).

"I want to see Lee Doha's past timeline."

Companion past timelines unlock at a response rate of 70% or higher. A companion's response rate is calculated based on their trust in the Fixed Regressor.

"Ah — so I can't see it because I'm short by 1.1%?"

What a waste.

"But hold on. I carried him through the month-end evaluation, took every last piece of his daylight feedback — why? Why's this all he's giving me? Kim Wonho's at a full 92%?"

I should meet up with him soon. Ask him about Lee Yugeon while I'm at it.

Just then — buzz — a short vibration ran through my phone.

〈Miro Ent_Team Lead Ji Suho ‖ Right, good work on the survival. How does lunch tomorrow sound?〉

From Ji Suho. I replied that it worked, and a time and place came back shortly.

All right — one last task for the day.

"Thirteen."

The System responds to the Fixed Regressor's call.

"Let's see now. What that bastard CP Yoon has been cooking up in cahoots with Han Seongwoo."