Chapter 130. A Small Trigger (2)
“Uh-oh. It’s starting, it’s starting.”
Episode 6 had begun.
The noisy chatter among the trainees instantly ceased, as if on cue.
However, there was one guy who hadn’t spoken for quite some time, even before Episode 6 had started.
“…Hey, did I do something wrong to Kang Ha-hyung?”
“No idea.”
“Or maybe Kang Ha-hyung’s in a bad mood today?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why does he keep glaring at me…?”
“Beats me.”
“…You bastard!”
“Ah! Are you crazy?”
The guy who elbowed Lee Yugeon in the ribs, who was casually answering while eating chicken, was none other than Kim Wonho, age 19.
He had asked Kang Hajin to pass him a slice of potato pizza, and for the past 10 minutes, he had been feeling an intense stare!
‘He’s staring at me so much that I can’t even ask him why.’
Wonho felt a bead of sweat trickle down his back.
He slightly turned his head to check on Hajin.
‘…?’
Hajin, who had been staring at him earlier, was now laughing and joking around with Taehyun, who was sitting on the sofa with him.
Feeling both relieved to be free from that blatant glare and slightly embarrassed, Wonho wondered if he had been overthinking things.
‘…Was I just being too self-conscious?’
Come to think of it, why would that hyung even glare at me?
Scratching his neck awkwardly, Wonho picked up his chopsticks again.
* * *
But contrary to Wonho’s wish.
The moment Wonho turned his head, Hajin’s eyes narrowed into a glare as he stared at him again.
Hajin had a perfectly valid reason to stare daggers at the back of Wonho’s head.
‘Why? The response rate was over 90% back then, and our relationship is pretty good now, right?’
The truth was, Hajin hardly suspected Wonho as a candidate for the Precursor.
If you asked why, well.
He just had a feeling.
[System Alert: Are you seriously trying to guess the Precursor based on a hunch now?]
‘Why not? I have a good intuition, you know.’
In any case, unless he had a strong suspicion about Wonho, recruiting him as an ally wasn’t necessarily a priority.
The purpose of recruiting allies was to identify the Chosen Regressor through past timelines.
‘But! Still!’
It just felt wrong!
There’s still Lee Doha, who hasn’t even crossed that 70% threshold!
Why! Why is there no news after trying to recruit Kim Wonho as an ally?!
Given the patterns of ally recruitment so far, it seemed like Hajin got a notification whenever he reached a moment where it felt like he was ‘destined to be intricately entangled’ with someone.
When mutual trust had solidified into a complete ‘relationship.’
From that perspective, it was extremely annoying for Hajin that Kim Wonho’s ally recruitment event hadn’t triggered!
It felt like thinking you were best friends with someone, only to find out they avoided sitting next to you on the school trip bus.
[System Alert: What’s that supposed to mean…?]
[System Alert: The system is baffled by the unnecessary detailed description….]
[System Alert: (๑•̌.•̑๑)ˀ̣]
‘It’s a thing, you idiot.’
While munching on an ice cream he had brought for dessert, Hajin mulled over the situation.
Once the thought crossed his mind, he felt a strange determination to recruit Wonho as an ally.
‘It seems that, based on the vibe, ally recruitment tends to happen at a ‘this is the moment’ kind of time.’
Like those scenes in dramas or movies, where the emotional music swells, stops suddenly, and the protagonist flashes a bright smile while delivering a famous line.
In web novels, it would be that poignant, emotional last sentence right before the scene transition…
[System Alert: Stop it, you geek….]
‘You’re speaking informally now, huh.’
Anyway, the conclusion was.
‘Mood’ was important.
‘Looks like I need to have another meal with him soon.’
There’s no way you won’t end up as my ally.
Hajin’s eyes sparkled as he glared at the back of Wonho’s head.
* * *
While Hajin was scheming how to reel in Wonho, the sixth episode of MiroMaze continued its steady progression.
As the mission was revealed and the teams were randomly assigned to rooms, the trainees resumed their chatter, sharing their thoughts.
“Hey, didn’t you all feel a bit nervous when you were doing that?”
“I mean, you had no clue who was inside.”
“And the Wings rank got all the hints. But the Feathers rank had nothing, so it was a complete gamble.”
The trainees naturally continued their conversation with laughter, something that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago when they had drawn lines between the special class and the regular class, engaging in power struggles.
It was hard to believe that these were the same guys who had been so divided, but now they were naturally mingling and chatting without regard to who was a Wing or who was a Feather.
Someone watching them….
No, the Chosen Regressor thought.
‘…This was possible after all.’
The unity and reconciliation among the trainees that once seemed impossible.
And the countless timelines that had changed because of it.
‘…So this could happen.’
At the end of the Chosen Regressor’s gaze was a single person who had brought about all these changes.
Kang Hajin.
The person who had effortlessly accomplished the things the Chosen Regressor had thought impossible, even after countless repeated lives.
The one who had suddenly appeared one day, and now was a figure with an immense presence.
The Chosen Regressor quietly stared at Hajin, then, recalling his own situation, he thought.
‘It’s still okay. …For now.’
Reassuring himself with these thoughts, the Chosen Regressor’s consciousness slowly drifted off to sleep.
Staying awake for too long might put a great strain on the body.
He had already been separated from the core personality for such a long time that he no longer felt this body was even his own.
But that didn’t matter.
“Siwoo-hyung, but how did you know about Hanes?”
“The fact that hyung even knew that going in is more shocking.”
By the time the Blue Flare team’s truth game was being broadcasted, the Chosen Regressor’s persona had completely fallen asleep, disappearing.
“Is it so shocking that I knew? Haru knew what Hanes was too.”
“I saw it on Boy’s World where Taehyun-hyung appeared before!”
“Haru, you knew what Hanes was…?”
“Our Juttomori is shocked again.”
“…I’m not shocked!”
“Grandpa, stop teasing Eunchan already.”
“You’re taking away this old man’s only joy….”
The conversation flowed naturally from Siwoo’s comment to Haru, Eunchan, Taehyun, and Hajin.
The person who ‘used to be’ the Chosen Regressor seamlessly blended into the conversation.
As if nothing had happened.
“Oh, the stage is starting now.”
“But they’re actually showing all the third round performances at once. I thought they’d split it over two weeks like the previous missions.”
“Maybe it’s because the voting ends the day after tomorrow.”
With the mention of the voting deadline, the lively atmosphere suddenly turned a bit somber.
The looming specter of ‘elimination,’ which they had managed to forget, returned to their thoughts.
In the suddenly cold atmosphere, Hajin covered his eyes with his hand and spoke in a solemn tone.
“…Who just made ‘that statement’?”
“It was Hyungnim Gong Seok, Your Highness.”
“Uh? W-why me…?”
“Hah. Our eldest hyung made ‘that statement,’ how mournful…. Immediately, sentence Hyungnim to the Chicken Leg Punishment.”
“Aye.”
“…No, no, why! Mmph!”
At Hajin’s command, Parang and Jaeyoung grabbed Gong Seok’s arms, and Wonho, saying, ‘Hyungnim, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to do this either!’ stuffed a chicken drumstick smeared with sauce into Gong Seok’s mouth.
Yugeon, watching this, asked Taehyun in disbelief.
“…Why are they even doing this?”
“Leave them be, they always play like that.”
“Isn’t a chicken drumstick more of a reward than a punishment?”
“Because it’s high in calories, it’s a punishment for trainees who need to watch their weight.”
“Ah.”
“…Why do you seem convinced after hearing that?”
Taehyun asked incredulously, seeing Yugeon nodding along after his explanation.
Then, as if something had just occurred to him, Taehyun cautiously asked Yugeon.
“So, what about you? Do you feel like you want to debut now?”
“Out of the blue?”
“I mean, well… Can’t I ask as a friend?”
Yugeon glanced at Taehyun’s somewhat sheepish expression, then turned his eyes back to the TV where they were watching themselves.
He thought for a moment.
During the whole ‘exit incident,’ he had decided to stay and give it another shot with Hajin and the Blue Flare team for various reasons….
‘…Debut? Me?’
That still seemed a bit far-fetched.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Yugeon shrugged and shook his head.
“I don’t know, I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”
“Hey, what if you actually debut without realizing it?”
“I don’t know. But, considering 10 people will be eliminated…. I
think I can save that kind of fortunate worry for later if I make it.”
Yugeon, habitually tidying up the trash from the delivery food, cut off the conversation.
For now, just for now.
At least until the results came out.
He wanted to close his eyes to the harsh reality and live in the dream a little longer.
“…I see.”
Whether Taehyun understood Yugeon’s feelings or not, he nodded with a complicated expression, his eyes clouded with a hint of melancholy.
* * *
The sixth episode of MiroMaze, packed full with the third round performances, ended without a hitch.
The trainees, with the elimination announcement looming, began to prepare themselves mentally in their own ways.
Destis also threw their full support into voting for their favorite trainees, hoping for a last-minute turnaround.
Cherry Blossom @ch_blossom
★MiroMaze #SeoTaehyun VOTE EVENT★
RT this tweet and
If you verify your vote through a quote tweet,
Three winners will be selected
And receive
Chicken, perfume, and a film camera!
Participation period: Until the day after tomorrow 23:59
(Unreleased high-quality photos of Seo Taehyun from Boy’s World)
(High-quality fan-taken photos of Seo Taehyun from ‘I’ll Say It’)
(Photos of chicken gift certificates with barcodes and numbers completely covered)
(Photos of perfume and film camera)
[Which group did we ally with?]
I’m about to vote now, so who should I vote for besides Haru??
– Eunchan!
– You should vote for Eunchan!
– Vote for Eunchan, Jaeyoung, or Taehyun! We all agreed to help each other
ReasonGunn @2uuu_gunn2
Starting today’s voting verification thread!
Mention me with your verified votes for Yugeon~~
Whether it was due to the high quality of all the performances in the third round, or the growing sense of urgency as the possibility of eliminations loomed, the names of trainees who were usually not mentioned often started appearing more frequently in communities and on social media.
Park Jaeyoung, who showcased the charm of a cute younger guy in the ‘I’ll Say It’ performance,
Or Gong Seok, who was praised for single-handedly carrying the main vocal role in the Silver Chain team, were representative examples.
And amidst the intense battle among the Destis to save their favorites, there was one particularly noticeable fandom.
– Hey, what are the KangFans up to?
It was Hajin’s fandom.
– Did those guys wake up after getting beaten…?
└ They have good reason to.
└ ?? Why? What happened this time?
└ ???? Did you not watch yesterday’s episode?
The reason was simple.
– Kang Hajin cried, you know, thanking them for letting him perform on stage.
It was because of the most powerful thing in the world: their precious one’s tears.