Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 253. Touch High! (5)

The first thing I checked was the system.

Because unless the system was playing tricks on me, there was no way a ridiculous variety show god had descended upon me.

[The system confirms that it has not exerted any influence on the Chosen Regressor.]

‘…It wasn’t you?’

Then what is this? Is my luck really so bad that it’s gone negative?

‘No, wait. The amount of screen time I got exploded, so I guess that’s actually pretty good?’

While I was puzzled, someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

“Hajin!!!”

“Ugh↗Aaah!”

“Let’s do variety shows!!!!”

It was Sanchez, thrilled at discovering a huge talent.

As Sanchez, who was excited about finding a new blue chip in the entertainment world, rejoiced, Ji Suho, who had been monitoring from beyond the filming set, rubbed his forehead once again.

“A-aren’t you saying some scary things to a rookie idol who’s making a comeback next week…?”

“No, I mean, you didn’t even sing! You didn’t even dance! All you’ve done is variety shows! You’re a variety show star now, this is!”

Well, when he put it that way, I had nothing to say.

The fact that this trolling, which couldn’t be explained unless I was a destroyer, was purely due to my luck, was a problem in itself.

I explained to the team members who were looking at me suspiciously.

“Everyone, please listen to me. I understand if you think I’m the destroyer. I really do. But if I were truly the destroyer, would I have messed up the mission so pathetically? I’m really not. Don’t be fooled by me.”

Then, Dan Haru, who was preparing to kick the shuttlecock instead of me, nodded and agreed with me.

“But Hajin-hyung is right about this.”

“Really? Haru, you tell us. Does Hajin usually suck this much at games?”

“If Hyung was the real destroyer, he would have devised a far more cunning and meticulous plan. I think what just happened was simply because Hyung’s luck is so, so bad… Hajin-hyung does tend to have terrible luck…”

“Then what about the shuttlecock? You guys are idols, but you can’t even kick a shuttlecock once? Does that make sense?”

To the comedian who asked in disbelief, Dan Haru nodded confidently.

“Oh, yes. That’s definitely his usual skill level. We’re always amazed every time we see it.”

He was clearly defending me, but why did I not feel good about it…?

Anyway, thanks to Dan Haru’s defense, the suspicion towards me subsided a bit, but now we had only one chance left.

If we failed again, we might end up in last place.

In that situation, the team leader made a decision.

“Okay, Hajin, you handle the pedometer. Since it’s just about counting steps, you do that, and Haru will take the knife again. The rest of us will keep our positions. Noona, you handle the shuttlecock. If you mess this up again, Hajin, then you really are the destroyer.”

“If I troll again, just bury me here.”

After reallocating the tasks for the last mission, we stood in our positions with determined resolve.

Lee Doha still hadn’t even touched the soccer ball at the far end.

“……?”

While I was tense, I happened to meet Lee Doha’s gaze, and his expression was strange.

It was as if he had realized something or felt a sense of crisis, but before I could observe it closely, the whistle signaling the start of the mission rang out.

“Hurry! Hurry!”

“We have to succeed this time! We can do it!”

The mission, which began quickly from the first turn, actually seemed likely to succeed this time.

We spun around ten times with the elephant trunk, threw the shoe into the ring,

Racked up 100 steps on the pedometer while shaking all over,

Easily stuck five knives into the wooden barrel toy in a row,

And flawlessly kicked the shuttlecock ten times!

Although we failed a few times and had to go back, we still had time.

All that was left was Lee Doha’s soccer ball mission and the group jump rope.

“Let’s go, Doha!”

“Doha-hyung! You can do it!”

Lee Doha’s mission was to kick the ball from a designated line and burst the balloon attached to the wall.

Although he used to practice Taekwondo, he was also great at kicking the ball, so he should easily succeed…

Bang―!

“……?”

Lee Doha kicked the ball with fierce momentum.

The ball, which should have flown straight, suddenly shot up at a right angle.

Drawing an unnecessary, incredible arc, the ball soared and landed right in the arms of a rival team’s idol member who had been watching us.

“…What the hell was that?”

There was no way Lee Doha, who had the foot of a god, would mess up a kick, right?

While we were dumbfounded, the whistle signaling the end of the 100 seconds blew.

Finally, Lee Doha, who had donned a comfortably fitting shirt, turned his large frame towards us and calmly said,

“I am the destroyer.”

“…Huh?”

“Vote for me.”

The true rule-breaking had begun.

* * *

This was Lee Doha’s position.

-I am the destroyer, but I felt uncomfortable because Hajin kept performing the role of the destroyer.

-Since I am the destroyer, I couldn’t let the mission succeed and ended up ruining it, but that, too, felt like betraying my team, so it didn’t sit right with me.

-Therefore, I decided to reveal that I’m the destroyer and take the vote after the mission ends, thus turning my personal badge into a negative to bear the consequences of this failure.

Lee Doha’s bombshell confession threw the filming site into chaos.

“No, how could you reveal that? Are you even allowed to say that?”

“Well, they didn’t say the destroyer’s identity had to be kept secret….”

Sanchez, who was standing next to him, nodded seriously, understanding the reasoning behind the disruption.

“Now that I think about it, that’s true…. Right, they didn’t say it was a secret. We’ve always had this pressure to hide our identities when we thought about spies, but maybe we’ve been doing the show under too big of a misconception.”

“I want to be an honest destroyer to my team.”

“Doha has introduced a new paradigm to the spy entertainment world. Thank you so much, really.”

“It’s an honor.”

Just to be clear, Lee Doha is Kairos.

Which means I don’t understand that bastard at all.

‘Is it really okay to just go with the flow like this in the broadcast?’

It seemed like the team leader wanted to discuss Lee Doha’s bombshell a bit more, but due to time constraints, we had to move on to the next team’s mission challenge. So, we returned to the waiting area without further conversation.

As soon as we sat down, Dan Haru grabbed Lee Doha and asked,

“Hyung, are you really the destroyer?”

“Yeah.”

With a truthful answer, Dan Haru quietly fell into thought.

While he was lost in thought, the relay missions for the other two teams proceeded one after another.

Seeing the games progress so smoothly and quickly compared to our team, I felt a bit embarrassed.

“Was the difficulty level originally supposed to be that easy…?”

The team leader muttered, and I quietly averted my gaze.

“Hey, Hyian, be careful!”

“Ah, sorry…!”

Turning to the loud voice, I saw the youngest member of Storm Header, who had been enthusiastic since the opening, covering his mouth and repeatedly apologizing to the production crew.

It seemed that he had kicked the ball a bit too hard in his eagerness, causing it to fly toward the crew by mistake.

‘He doesn’t need to be that scared.’

Given that the production team had set up a mission involving kicking a ball in a wide gymnasium, they must have anticipated this kind of action.

However, it seemed that Hyian, the member in question, was struggling to read the room, likely due to the pressure of appearing on public TV and the burden of wanting to do well. I could even see Sanchez, from the same team, doing his best to help him establish his character and relax.

‘I think he’s the same age as Eun-chan, maybe the same age as the third years….’

Being young, it was natural for him to be eager but clumsy. Honestly, our members were abnormally good at adapting.

“Okay, okay. Let’s give a round of applause for Hyian!”

“Fighting~!”

“You can do it, you can do it!”

In an effort to lighten the mood, Sanchez led a round of applause. Since reactions like this were a direct route to getting a close-up, I cheered and clapped as energetically as I could.

“……?”

But, unusually, Dan Haru, who would normally be making a fuss beside me, was quiet.

When I looked over to see what he was doing, I found him lightly clapping his hands with a thoughtful expression. Then, he quickly returned to his usual self and forced a smile.

‘There’s definitely something going on.’

Did the youngest member of Storm Header step on his foot while changing clothes earlier?

In any case, bringing something that happened off-camera into the broadcast was never the right attitude.

I naturally reacted to the situation while lowering my head and whispered to Dan Haru,

“Dan Haru.”

“…Yes?”

“Whatever you’re thinking about, I’ll listen to it all when we’re heading home, so focus on the recording now

.”

“…Ah. Yes. Sorry.”

Luckily, it didn’t seem like a big deal that would shake his mental state, and Dan Haru quickly returned to his usual self.

As the turns passed swiftly, our team ended up in last place in the first game, and the time for each team to identify the ‘destroyer’ approached.

“So, we’re voting for Doha, right?”

“He openly failed the mission and volunteered to be voted for. We have to vote for Doha.”

“I humbly accept my fate.”

Our team unanimously voted for Lee Doha. It was the obvious choice.

This allowed us to each gain a total of three mission badges.

The mission badges were awarded as follows: 9 for the 1st place team, 6 for the 2nd place team, and 3 for the 3rd place team. In the case of the destroyer, they would receive the exact opposite of their team’s ranking. The person who received the most votes as the destroyer would automatically receive a -3 penalty.

‘I feel like there must be a reason why the game rules reward individual badges instead of team points….’

While I lightly pondered the game rules, the second game had already begun.

This mission was also a ‘Sports Day’ mission, where one person from each team had to put on a tube connected by rubber bands and grab the flag in front of them as quickly as possible in a typical test of strength.

The problem was the composition of our team.

‘The only ones with any strength are Doha and me.’

The two regular panelists were already known for being as thin as paper, and although Dan Haru was average, the problem was that the idol members on the other teams seemed unusually robust.

If we ended up last in this mission as well, it would put us at a significant disadvantage, regardless of screen time.

‘Winning isn’t the goal, but it’s a matter of pride, so it would be annoying to get completely destroyed.’

For various reasons, Lee Doha’s cooperation as the destroyer was absolutely necessary.

The team leader grabbed Lee Doha’s shoulder.

“Doha. If you make us lose again, we’re definitely voting for you. That means you’ll definitely get -3. Do well, okay?”

It was a good attempt, but not a great threat.

Because….

“No. I’m going to do my best to lose this time as well.”

“…What?”

“It’s far more beneficial for me if our team comes in last, and I get voted for.”

…Because that guy had already finished his calculations.

It was Lee Doha’s GG declaration as the destroyer.