Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 298. Nightmare (2)

Awakening.

-What exactly is an awakening?

Before everything happened, at the moment when Kang Hajin decided to prepare for everything, he first thought that he needed to know everything. If the one who returns would use the past timeline to attack them, he believed that there was a high probability that it would cause mental damage.

-Dolja knows a person’s mind very well. He knows what they fear the most, what they want to avoid the most, and what they need the most…. And that cunning bastard also knows how to use that to make them move the way he wants.

Therefore, Hajin concluded that if Dolja started attacking to take over Dan Haru’s body, it wouldn’t be a simple method.

-Dolja has various ways of utilizing the timeline. He could stimulate trauma by using memories of the past timeline, or he could actually cause incidents by using things that happened in the past timeline.

Recalling the methods Dolja had used, based on the events so far, Hajin’s sharp gaze was fully revealed. When he raised his head, his sight was filled with numerous hypotheses and information he had organized, densely arranged on the empty system screen.

It was a scene that clearly showed that Hajin had prepared for all these things, using every element of the system he had customized himself, like a whiteboard in a university research lab filled with academic zeal, or a detective’s deduction board brimming with passion.

-Now, let’s think about it.

-Who among us would Dolja need to attack to make Dan Haru most afraid?

Hajin clicked on the system and brought up the relationship chart he had organized. It was a method he frequently used when analyzing scripts for acting assignments during his college days, and he couldn’t help but make a self-deprecating remark that he never expected to use it like this.

-Who would be the most shocked if they learned everything that happened in the past timeline?

Hajin began to mark stars next to the names of people on the relationship chart, according to the level of danger he perceived.

-Who would be the most affected if the events of the past timeline repeated?

As one criterion was established after another, the number of stars next to each name began to vary more and more.

When all the calculations were finally finished, only four people remained in Hajin’s Venn diagram.

Hajin stared at the names of those four people for a while. Many thoughts and calculations were going through his mind.

After that long contemplation, Kang Hajin left one last question mark, the answer to which he still did not know.

-…How can we stop the Chosen Regressor Dan Haru?

But in the end, Hajin had to wake up without finding the answer to that last question mark.

He fervently prayed that their time would pass safely.

* * *

“I really thought long and hard about what I should say first when I finally met you.”

In the space of the unconscious, where Kang Hajin finally faced the Chosen Regressor Dan Haru, there was a hint of anger in his voice. Of course, the Chosen Regressor Dan Haru, facing such a Hajin, was also glaring at him with a look of hatred that even the usual Haru wouldn’t have been able to express, not even through acting.

Hajin looked at that ‘Haru’ and twisted one corner of his mouth up forcefully.

“But first, let’s start with this, you bastard.”

With that, Hajin rushed at Haru, who was standing opposite him, and kicked him in the shin before he could even retaliate. Haru instinctively raised his arm to protect his face, but the sharp pain made him grab his leg and crouch down involuntarily.

Haru lifted his head abruptly, and anger flared in his eyes.

“…Are you crazy!?”

“Are you the one who’s crazy? Do you know how many times I’ve had to go to the military because of you? I have to go again this time. Again! If I fail to get into KATUSA this time, I’m taking you with me straight to the front lines, so you better know that, you son of a bitch. If you weren’t Dan Haru, it wouldn’t have been your shin just now, but your face.”

Faced with such realistic(?) anger, the Chosen Regressor Dan Haru, who was about to argue, found his mouth clamping shut involuntarily.

Not out of guilt, but because he was so bewildered. As he furrowed his brow several times, unable to understand the situation, Dan Haru stood back up.

“What the hell… Who the hell are you? What’s this all about?”

“What do you mean? Can’t you see? I’m your mentor, cleaning up the mess you made.”

“So, who the hell are you?”

“How should I know? Our timelines are so damn intertwined that we ended up like this, so I should be the one asking you.”

Hajin, as if irritated, raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. Then ‘Haru’ turned his gaze to look around the space of the unconscious, as if trying to organize his thoughts. Hajin kindly added an explanation for him.

“This is a space inside my unconscious. I figured I had to cut off your connection to reality to prevent you from connecting with that bastard Dolja. When I saw before that Thirteen couldn’t use his power properly in the unconscious space created by that bastard Dolja, I thought I’d try bringing you in here.”

Of course, there were enormous side effects expected from that…. But since Thirteen had taken responsibility and confidently assured that he would handle it, Hajin decided to focus only on the present moment for now.

Leaving Haru, who was still standing on guard against him, Hajin casually moved and sat on the sofa. Then he spoke first, not giving Haru any time to think.

“Haru.”

Even though it was a name so familiar to Hajin, the Chosen Regressor Dan Haru flinched as if hearing something unfamiliar. So Kang Hajin called that name again, this time with more force in his voice.

“Haru. Dan Haru.”

“…Don’t call me that.”

“Why not? It’s your name.”

“…….”

“If you’re not Dan Haru, then who are you?”

When Hajin asked the question, pretending not to know, Dan Haru clenched his jaw tightly and glared at him. But Hajin smirked, as if that kind of gaze didn’t scare him at all, and leaned forward, tapping the table twice with his finger.

“Dan Haru.”

“…….”

“Sit down.”

“…….”

“Sit before I force you to. I need to have a conversation with you.”

Kang Hajin’s Negotiation Rule No. 5.

The start of any negotiation begins with sitting at the table face to face.

Hajin’s sanpaku eyes, which usually weren’t noticeable because he didn’t open his eyes wide or look intently, flashed. His upward-tilted pupils sparkled with the fierce gaze that made his fans call him a wolf.

In his exceptionally black pupils and long, slit eyes, as well as in his tightly closed, straight lips, there was no trace of his usual easygoing demeanor.

Under that intense pressure, even the Chosen Regressor Dan Haru, who was still standing by the window with his fists clenched, could only move slowly towards the table with a deep sigh. With reluctant steps, Dan Haru sat down across from Hajin and spoke in an irritated voice.

“Who the hell… are you? What kind of person are you?”

“Me? I’m… your hyung. A fellow member. You know that too, don’t you? Dan Haru.”

Hajin maintained his leisurely attitude. Dan Haru’s lips twitched as if he wanted to argue with that answer, but he ultimately kept silent, perhaps judging that speaking would only make him more entangled.

Watching Haru, Hajin continued to speak.

“And I’m also the only one who knows that you’re repeating time for the sake of a ‘happy Dan Haru.’”

“…….”

“And I’m one of the few people who can do anything to stop that.”

After saying that, Hajin threw a question at Haru first.

“Are you really planning to give your life over to that Dolja bastard like this?”

“What does that have to do with you?”

“How does it not? Do you think contracts are a joke? Do you think being an idol is a joke? Our group’s youngest member is about to get his life stolen by some psycho inhuman bastard, and you expect me to just stand by and do nothing? Especially when I’m already facing all sorts of obstacles because of that inhuman bastard?”

Kang Hajin lectured like an overprotective police chief scolding a runaway teenager. In response, Dan Haru’s expression twisted even more as if he couldn’t understand, but Hajin continued without caring.

“I don’t want to criticize you for making that deal with Dolja in the first place. I don’t have the right, and back then, it must have been the best choice for you.”

“…….”

“But let’s stop here. Let’s end this. I’ll help you. Honestly, you know what you truly want by now, don’t you?”

Dan Haru’s expression hardened at that moment as he quietly listened to Hajin’s words.

For the first time, a brittle smile formed on Dan Haru’s lips. When he lifted his gaze, there was not even a hint of life in his face.

“…What I want?”

“…….”

“What is that?”

Dan Haru’s eyes, though tinged with a smile, were not

smiling at all.

No, those eyes were filled with a void, as if they were completely empty.

Seeing those eyes, which seemed vaguely familiar, Hajin swallowed and responded.

“Happiness.”

“…….”

“Tomorrow, hope, family, friends, comfort.”

“…….”

“…Life.”

Kang Hajin couldn’t fully understand Dan Haru.

He had never lived a life full of deprivation like Dan Haru.

But there was one thing he could be certain of.

“You wanted to live, didn’t you?”

Kang Hajin remembered something Ji Suho had once told him.

That everyone needs warmth.

“You want to live, but you just don’t have the courage to go on. So, you wanted to die. But even dying seemed too scary, so you chose to run away instead. Isn’t that right?”

“…You.”

“…….”

“What do you know?”

Dan Haru, whose eyes were now bloodshot with intense emotion, glared at Hajin. A slight sneer escaped his lips.

“Yeah. I know you.”

“…….”

“You have a family. You have parents who support you strongly, a younger sibling who follows you, a dream, the ability to achieve that dream, and the talent to attract people. That’s probably why ‘Haru’ likes and follows you so much.”

“…….”

“But so what?”

“…….”

“How does that make you think you understand me? What are you telling me to stop?”

The more Dan Haru spoke, the more agitated he seemed to become. His voice, which had grown louder, echoed loudly through the space.

“Do you know what will happen if I stop here? Do you know what I’ve endured to make it this far?”

“…Because of you, countless people’s time has repeated. Your precious members have been affected by it, and now they’re even being attacked by Dolja. Don’t you feel any responsibility or guilt?”

“If I had any of that, I wouldn’t have been able to start this in the first place!”

Dan Haru’s face, now shouting furiously, was something Hajin had never seen before. There was no trace of Dan Haru’s kindness, courage, consideration, or altruism.

Even so, even so, Hajin still knew that this was Dan Haru.

He knew that he might never fully understand him.

“That’s right.”

“…….”

“I can’t understand you. Maybe never.”

“…….”

“So, I can’t stop you. I’ve thought about it over and over, but I just don’t know. I don’t know how to stop you.”

When Hajin, who had been pushing Dan Haru to the brink as if he were about to push him off a cliff, suddenly raised the white flag, Dan Haru looked at him with suspicion, still not lowering his guard.

Hajin didn’t avoid Dan Haru’s gaze and tapped the table lightly again. An inscrutable expression appeared on his face as he shrugged.

“But you know what? I had a similar experience once.”

“…….”

“I realized that the only one who can truly understand themselves is their own self.”

“…What?”

“You heard it all, didn’t you, Haru?”

“……?”

Hajin’s eyes, as he said that, were not looking at the Haru sitting in front of him.

Following Hajin’s gaze, Dan Haru slowly turned his head. Behind the sofa where they were sitting, illuminated by the setting sun, stood someone who looked at them with a startled expression.

“……Haru?”

Standing stiff as a tree rooted in place, bathed in the red sunlight, was Dan Haru, who had the same face as his own.