Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 299. Nightmare (3)

The only one who can stop Dan Haru is Dan Haru himself.

And the only one who can fully understand Dan Haru is also Dan Haru.

That was my conclusion.

“I borrowed an extra body for a moment.”

The body of the original personality Dan Haru, who was standing in front of me now, was the humanized body of Thirteen. It was a half-humanized body, so the outer shell borrowed the appearance of 26-year-old Dan Haru, and in reality, it only temporarily housed the original personality of Dan Haru.

I had to pour all the points I had accumulated up until now for this, and when the system reached its limit, they would be merged back into one body again….

But at the very least, I could create enough time for the original personality Dan Haru and the Chosen Regressor personality Dan Haru to talk to each other.

“How about it, Haru?”

“…….”

“For you, the one who turned back time five thousand times and created a new world—a crazy lover.”

The 17-year-old—or now, 18-year-old since the year had changed—Dan Haru in the 26-year-old body, and the 26-year-old Dan Haru in the 18-year-old body stood face to face for a long time.

The 18-year-old seemed unable to handle the sudden revelation of his birth secret, and the 26-year-old appeared unsure of how to deal with the sudden encounter with his own self.

[Will it be okay?]

Before executing the plan.

Thirteen, who had heard of my plan to have the Chosen Regressor Dan Haru face the original personality Dan Haru, asked me that. He said it wouldn’t be difficult to lend the body, but asked if it would really be okay.

-In this situation, what wouldn’t be okay? We have to try something.

[It’s not just the Chosen Regressor personality…. The shock to the original personality Dan Haru will be significant.]

-I know. It’s not going to be easy, as his world is turning upside down in one day.

The face of the 26-year-old Dan Haru, which I hadn’t seen in a long time, still felt a bit unfamiliar to me.

The soft baby fat was gone, replaced by cool, hollow dark circles under his eyes, he was taller, and instead of the well-maintained, shiny blond hair, his natural brown hair was dry and tousled, covering his pretty face.

-But still….

[……?]

-But still, it’ll be okay.

However, the eyes shining like stars through all that were unmistakably those of the courageous and loving Dan Haru I knew.

-Haru will be okay.

-Haru can overcome this.

Because now, he knows the warmth that only comes after the cold winter has passed.

-I believe in Haru.

The original personality Dan Haru, who still had the eyes of a boy despite having the appearance of an adult, was the first to speak to the other Dan Haru, who had the same face as him.

“…Hello.”

“…….”

“So it was you. That voice.”

A very bright and gentle smile bloomed like a flower petal on the lips of the 26-year-old Dan Haru.

Seeing that familiar smile spread on an unfamiliar face so purely and cheerfully, I could finally let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

“It always felt strange.”

The 18-year-old Dan Haru, sitting on the sofa, began to speak in an unusually calm voice.

“I knew something was off, but I didn’t really know how it was off.”

Sometimes, the memories with his hyungs didn’t match up, or he’d experience déjà vu as if he’d gone through similar situations before, or he’d know things that no one had told him, or he’d be overly familiar with things he was learning for the first time….

The things he continued to talk about were probably related to how the original personality Dan Haru subconsciously recognized the reality of regression.

It wasn’t clear whether the separation from the Chosen Regressor personality made the discrepancy even more apparent or whether the original personality Dan Haru experienced some sort of awakening effect as well, but one thing was certain: the original personality Dan Haru was clearly accepting the current situation.

I thought that maybe Dan Haru had been feeling something throughout all the time that had passed. Although it was a bit surprising that he accepted the situation faster than I had expected, when I looked back, the Dan Haru I knew had always been like that.

Even when everyone else was panicking, scared, or shocked, he was always the one who pondered what to do, accepted the situation, and tried to optimistically look forward to the future with a calm heart.

‘He was probably always capable of becoming that strong. If only someone had helped him, even just a little.’

As I watched with those thoughts in mind, the 18-year-old Dan Haru cautiously continued speaking.

“Um…. And the strangest thing was that voice.”

“…….”

“I thought it was kind of like the voice of my unconscious, like in those kids’ movies, you know?”

“…….”

“But now that I know it was just ‘me’…. Um, I, I don’t really know. It feels good, but it’s also kind of weird.”

Come to think of it, was this the first time I was hearing Dan Haru speak informally?

As I stood a step away, watching to make it easier for the two Dan Harus to talk to each other, I suddenly had that thought. Dan Haru had always been in the maknae line in Miro, and even after debuting, he mostly spoke formally to his hyungs.

‘The first conversation with someone his own age, and it’s with himself. How interesting.’

I remembered how disappointed Dan Haru had been when he couldn’t send a friend request to the youngest member of Stormheader due to time constraints during the QBS year-end stage last time.

As I resolved to definitely make sure our maknae made friends his own age after this was over, the 26-year-old Chosen Regressor personality Dan Haru spoke up.

“…Aren’t you scared?”

“Of what?”

“All of it. Everything. The fact that your background, memories, and experiences are all fake. That you’ve been living in a fantasy I created. That I was going to….”

“…….”

“That I was going to trap you in a perfect day and then disappear.”

The 26-year-old Dan Haru, saying this, couldn’t bring himself to look at the 18-year-old Dan Haru who had the same face as him. He probably knew that what he had been doing all this time was utterly insane.

…Even so, he couldn’t turn back or give up.

The 18-year-old Dan Haru responded to the 26-year-old Dan Haru.

“Um…. Honestly, I was really shocked at first. I still can’t fully believe it. It all feels like a bad dream.”

“…….”

“But when I was listening to you and Hajin hyung talk earlier, memories I didn’t know started flooding back. There were so many that I can’t recall all of them…. But there’s one thing I remember clearly.”

The 18-year-old Dan Haru paused for a deep breath. There was a glint of moisture in his eyes, momentarily visible in his quivering pupils.

“…The day Director passed away.”

“…….”

“That day was really hard for us, wasn’t it? …Right?”

The voice of the 18-year-old Dan Haru, as he said this, trembled miserably. His once steady eyes were now swollen and red, and his pale chin wrinkled as he seemed to be holding back tears.

Watching him, I felt tears well up in my own eyes, so I cleared my throat awkwardly and turned away. Behind me, I could still hear the 18-year-old Dan Haru continuing in a tearful voice.

“I understand you.”

The 18-year-old Dan Haru offered comfort to the 26-year-old Dan Haru.

His voice, as if he were trying to sound more courageous on purpose, was filled with sincere truth.

“We had no other choice. We couldn’t do anything but run away like that.”

“…Don’t say that.”

“The reason you decided to regress for the first time was because you wanted to save Director. But no matter how many times we tried, we couldn’t do it…. We couldn’t do it, so we just messed everything up. That’s why we ran away like this.”

“Stop….”

“But it was so hard for us…. Watching other people’s lives get ruined over and over because of us was so painful and terrifying, so… so you took all those memories for me. So I could be happy without knowing anything.”

“I said stop!”

The 26-year-old Dan Haru shouted and sprang to his feet.

When I turned back to look at the two of them, the 18-year-old Dan Haru was already crying without a moment for the tear stains on his face to dry, and the 26-year-old Dan Haru’s eyes were also burning red as he looked down at him.

While preparing to leave the space of the unconscious in case something unexpected happened, I continued to watch the two of them. The 18-year-old Dan Haru spoke again.

“…I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“I was so happy on my own without knowing any of this.”

“…….”

“I really thought I was a lucky kid, that it was a huge blessing to grow up so well without lacking anything.”

“Please, stop….”

“But in reality, you were the one suffering for me, and I didn’t even know that, just looking forward to tomorrow. Not realizing that you were trapped in all the countless yest

erdays that I had abandoned.”

The 18-year-old Dan Haru cautiously reached out to the 26-year-old Dan Haru.

Since their bodies were swapped, from where I stood, it looked like the 26-year-old Dan Haru, who had become an adult, was embracing the still-young 18-year-old Dan Haru. It made me feel like crying again, sentimentally.

I knew well how precious it was to forgive and understand oneself.

“Stop it, stop….”

“Thank you, Haru. I was happy all this time because of you.”

“Let go, I told you to stop. Stop, just stop it!”

“But…. If it means you and the hyungs are suffering because of me…. If this happiness is something I gained by ruining your and the hyungs’ time…. I don’t think I can bear that.”

“Let go of me, Dan Haru! Are you crazy? Do you even know what it means to give this up right now!?”

“Let’s stop now, Haru….”

“…….”

“Let’s stop, and… let’s try living again, Haru. Okay? I want to do that.”

Dan Haru’s final words were almost a plea. The 26-year-old Dan Haru, who had been struggling to break free from the 18-year-old Dan Haru, also froze at those words.

For a moment, just a moment.

Only the sound of someone’s sniffling broke the silence.

The one who shattered that silence was the 26-year-old Dan Haru, with a self-deprecating voice.

“…Stop? Do you even know what that means?”

“…….”

“It means becoming an orphan again. Going back to when you had nothing. Being abandoned by the world, hurt by people. It means living that life again, where no one would care even if someone like you died.”

“That was then. It’s not like that now.”

“No? It’s no different, Haru. Your member hyungs? Your countless fans? Your fame and money? How long do you think all that will last? In the countless timelines we’ve lived through, do you think we’ve never gained that many people and that much love?”

The 26-year-old Dan Haru, holding onto the 18-year-old Dan Haru, spoke in a trembling voice, as if barely holding back his anger.

“But still, you were always disappointed and failed in the end. You struggled, were scared, and ultimately got hurt and fell.”

“…….”

“Sure, this life may look good now. But what about in 10 years? In 20 years? What if you lose everything because of a scam, or if your brilliant hyungs get into trouble and the group splits up? What if Director passes away again? What can you do then?”

“…….”

“Rather than being left miserable and alone, what’s so wrong with wanting to stay in a dream that’s filled with nothing but beauty, even if it’s all fake?”

His near-screaming outburst filled the space of the unconscious.

As I watched the confrontation between the two, ready to break free from the space of the unconscious at any moment, I suddenly noticed something flowing from my nose. When I wiped it away discreetly so that the two Dan Harus wouldn’t notice, dark red blood stained the tip of my fingers.

‘…Seems like I’m reaching my limit.’

Even though Thirteen had promised to somehow eliminate the penalties, it seemed he failed to block all the physical penalties because the tasks I had requested were too large in scale.

If I wasn’t careful, even Jung Siwoo, whom I had put to sleep along with us, could be affected, so it was time to close the space of the unconscious. It also meant there wasn’t much time left to convince the Chosen Regressor Dan Haru.

‘Should I step in now?’

As I briefly considered this, still watching the confrontation between the two, I noticed the 18-year-old Dan Haru, who had been silent for a long time after hearing the 26-year-old’s outburst, start to move. Rubbing the tear marks off his face with one arm, Dan Haru sniffled, his nose as red as Rudolph’s, and spoke.

“No.”

“What do you mean, no? Don’t be stubborn.”

“Don’t you be stubborn! Why would I be alone?”

“…Who else do you have, then?”

“You’re here!”

“…….”

“With you, who cares about me more than anyone else in this world, why would I be alone? You… you idiot!”

If Dan Haru had a companion recruitment system, wouldn’t this have been the historic moment when he recruited himself as a companion?

‘…What a remarkable kid.’

I forgot about the fact that I needed to get out of here as soon as possible, captivated by the touching scene of our brave little rabbit warrior rescuing the world—himself.

Until the system reached its limit, Thirteen’s body vanished, and in the end, only one Dan Haru remained.

For a very, very long time….

I simply watched that long moment when Dan Haru finally learned to love himself.