Debut or Die - Chapter 107

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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A Fatal Illness if I Don’t Debut – Episode 107
Several days had passed since the song dropped last Monday. The first Stage performance was now just around the corner.
However, it seemed the Company was still conscious of the accident from the last debut showcase, so they decided not to hold a showcase for this comeback.
Instead, they had secured one new piece of content.
“They’re doing a separate comeback show.”
“That’s really exciting!”
Cha Yu-jin completed Ryu Chung-woo’s slightly hesitant remark and completely shifted the tone.
In any case, it was exactly as stated. Testa had secured an exclusive comeback show slot the following Thursday right after Music Bomb.
Part of it was thanks to our last album’s performance, but the fact that we came from Tnet probably had some influence as well.
‘Having debuted under Ajusa, we’re definitely established now.’
In any case, all the related VCR filming was already complete.
“Isn’t it nice that we have our own songs now and don’t have to do ‘Just Me’ anymore? It feels like we’ve really established ourselves as a group, you know? Haha!”
Big Sae-jin looked openly delighted. This comeback show was probably one of the milestone goals he had set for himself.
‘That’s good.’
I shrugged and continued with what I’d been doing—something I’d wanted to check on for a while but hadn’t had time for.
“Hey, checking out the album?”
“Yeah.”
It was checking the physical album itself.
The Company had given me some copies, but I’d also placed a pre-order on my own.
Since we’d prepared our debut album in such a rush, I’d discovered that there were quite a few cases where the physical albums had incomplete finishing or defective insert printing.
‘Hopefully that won’t happen this time.’
If I got unlucky with the lottery, there was nothing I could do about it, but I still wanted to order one myself and check it personally.
“Hey, Moon-dae, are you unboxing the album? Can you film a video for us?”
“No, it’s fine.”
I declined Big Sae-jin’s suggestion while tearing off the bubble wrap.
A massive album set box was revealed before my eyes.
“Wow….”
“…Can you even call this an album?”
Bae Sae-jin muttered. Oh, by the way, he’d completely gotten rid of his ankle brace last week.
In any case, the box was indeed drawer-sized.
And there was a good reason for that.
“Ah, is this the set that includes the light stick?”
“Yeah.”
It was because the light stick had finally been released and was included with the pre-order.
‘Then let me check out the light stick first.’
I opened the box. And I was taken aback.
“…!”
The light stick nestled between the protective padding on the left was far more dazzling than I’d expected.
Especially the massive cubic crystal in the center that sparkled with aurora light was overwhelming.
‘It’s even more elaborate than the final design…?’
I could feel the madness of a working professional who had decided to throw everything they could possibly make into this project.
The others watching from the side also seemed somewhat taken aback.
“Oh…, oh~”
“Wow, it’s… really big.”
“It’s so shiny!”
Cha Yu-jin’s vocabulary had expanded a bit.
“Ah, is that thing on the side meant to go over the light stick?”
“Probably.”
I removed the black cylinder fixed beside the light stick.
Ah, the baseball bat design had been rejected because it would be difficult to ensure stable attachment and detachment within the time and cost constraints.
‘This is honestly better than I expected.’
I fitted the cylinder over it to change the light stick’s shape, confirmed it was securely fixed, then removed it again.
‘Now for the albums.’
On the right side of the box, two albums—each as thick as a hardcover textbook—stood proudly in place.
“…They’re really big, huh?”
“It seems the photographs take up a significant portion of the composition.”
“You could use those as weapons.”
I picked up each album in turn and examined them carefully.
One had a white background with a watercolor summer landscape, while the other featured glow-in-the-dark graffiti on a black background. However, thanks to the matching base design, they maintained a sense of unity.
Fortunately, both had clean finishes and the print quality looked excellent.
“Oh, the photo cards are falling~”
“…! I-I caught it…!”
By the way, the photo cards were Sun Ah-hyun’s selfie with a classroom background and Ryu Chung-woo removing a gas mask. I gave the cards to them and finished checking the albums.
“Man, Ah-hyun is really handsome. How does he take such bad selfies when he’s this good-looking?”
“Th-thanks…?”
Since his stats had recently hit S-, it was only fitting.
And just like that, it was time to prepare for the comeback show pre-recording.
“Since we’re not just doing one song, let’s manage our stamina well.”
“Yes!”
After finishing a few checks, we headed to the Stage for the first song recording.
And we confirmed the physical reality of 500 light sticks from a distance.
“Waaaaaaah!!”
“…!”
I had expected it, but… no, it was even brighter than expected.
It was as if each person was holding a disco ball.
‘…Doesn’t this interfere with watching their own performance?’
With light sources that close, it would definitely be distracting.
While it looked stunning from the Stage, if the people holding them found it uncomfortable, what was the point?
After exchanging a few words with the fans, I followed the members and raised the microphone.
“…How do you like the light sticks….”
“So pretty!!”
“I love it!!”
“…Understood.”
Good, they’re satisfied.

* * *
The morning after Testa spent all day filming their comeback showcase with fans. Naturally, reviews started pouring in.
Among them was Park Moon-dae’s anonymous fan community.
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[Comeback Showcase Pre-Recording Review]
: Gom went blonde again you crazy bastard X this is insane like a reflex shock this guy needs to stay blonde forever
Stage was good yeah idk what it is watch the broadcast~
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-Gasp
-He’s blonde again?
-Blonde!! (Park Moon-dae dog landing meme)
-Wait his scalp is gonna melt at this rate just go back to black hair… wouldn’t black hair suit the song concept better anyway
└Nope Park Gom is only blonde
-How many songs?
-Is this fake?
└Doesn’t seem like it similar posts keep popping up on other sites
-Park Gom really knows what he’s doing lol but when you search don’t come here if you’re reading this hit back and never return
└That’s what we call fan obsession
-They scheduled the pre-recording on a weekday so these kinds of people show up
Since the first comeback stage hadn’t aired yet, even the detailed reviews fans could write were mostly just descriptions of the visual changes.
And since the first comeback stage was scheduled to air Thursday evening that same day, the Music Bomb pre-recording happened in the early morning.
Naturally, the early morning of mid-to-late October was bitterly cold.
“Don’t push!”
‘…It’s freezing!’
Kim Rae-bin’s fan grumbled as she entered the pre-recording venue. The post she’d checked earlier still lingered in her mind.
‘…Park Moon-dae went blonde again?’
It looked so good… no, Park Moon-dae just looked better as a blonde.
Ever since the second team match, she’d found herself increasingly curious about Park Moon-dae, occasionally visiting his fan site to check for updates.
She’d even been subtly defending Park Moon-dae when Kim Rae-bin’s personal fans on SNS made snide remarks about him.
-Did you see Gom giving Rae-bin a hint? Selling stories to the elders to get 1st place that’s where his skills came from right young punk lol
└But Gom at least feeds him well with Big Bird you only get politics
…It was mostly like this. For reference, Big Bird was an extremely distorted search-blocking nickname for Big Sae-jin.
Regardless, she was still denying that her feelings toward Park Moon-dae were anything more than favorability.
‘…Just watch the stage!’
She quickly shook off the thought and pulled out her light stick. The design where you peel off this black cylinder to reveal a magical wand was honestly funny and entertaining.
‘It’s the light stick. The light stick is what matters.’
As the fans waited with their light sticks in hand, Testa emerged from beyond the stage.
“Hello everyone~”
“Hey Testa!”
A roar loud enough to burst eardrums echoed through the recording venue.
“You must be tired, right? Thank you so much for coming.”
“No!!”
“Not tired at all!”
A chaotic mix of honest responses and kind words, but the atmosphere itself was so entertaining that everyone laughed.
Testa showed signs of nervousness, but overall spoke quite well, and…
Most importantly, their styling was truly impressive.
‘What is that…!’
Testa wore a winter school uniform, but instead of a jacket, they had on techware costume accessories.
Over the student shirt and pants, the silhouette of equipment made from black leather, plastic, and metal rose up—not excessive, but perfectly fitted.
‘I knew the concept would differ from the title track, but…’
Still, I hadn’t expected it to be this elaborate compared to the concept photos, so it was shocking.
Moreover, Kim Rae-bin had grown their hair slightly longer, letting it fall to reveal only half of their forehead.
‘Half exposed!!’
I loved how it leaned more toward a precarious, dangerous vibe rather than delinquency!
I wanted to express this excitement by hitting something with the light stick, but since there was no convenient target, I held back.
And around that moment, Park Moon-dae, standing slightly apart from Kim Rae-bin, caught my eye.
“…!!”
He’s handsome?!
Why does he look so handsome? I doubted my own eyes as I looked at Park Moon-dae.
Park Moon-dae was certainly trendy and attractive, and objectively quite handsome, but… he wasn’t the type to make you gasp in admiration at first sight.
But today, for some reason, he looked that way!!
‘Is it because of that platinum blonde hair?!’
Park Moon-dae had platinum blonde hair so bleached it was almost colorless. And for some reason, it seemed to suit him incredibly well.
‘…Did he get work done?’
I briefly suspected this, but I couldn’t pinpoint any specific differences in his facial features.
Then I heard someone next to me whispering softly.
“I heard they changed salons…”
“They did a good job. The members look even more handsome now.”
“…”
‘Ah, so that’s what happened.’
I quickly understood the situation. Whoever it was, they clearly had a great professional working with them.
Meanwhile, Testa finished their brief greetings and small talk with fans and lined up to prepare for the stage.
The moment Testa turned around and each member took their starting positions, I gently waved the light stick in my hand with excitement. And I realized something.
‘Ah, the light stick cover…’
Now that I thought about it, I had heard them say not to remove this black cylinder when I picked it up.
‘Should I just cheer like this?’
As she regarded the black stick with mild reluctance, the central control connected via Bluetooth illuminated the cheering baton.
Then familiar luminescent graffiti cascaded across the cylindrical surface and blazed to life.
“…!”
It seemed the inner light was transmitting through, leaking outward—and somehow, that made her think even more of neon signs.
“Wow.”
Since she had little interest in this cylindrical device and knew nothing about it, she was momentarily startled.
But most of the fans had already tested theirs at home, so they simply kept their eyes fixed on the Stage.
‘Right!’
She quickly locked her gaze on the Stage. She couldn’t waste time on this.
In that moment, the lights in the recording venue dimmed.
And a powerful intro began to flow across the Stage.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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