Debut or Die - Chapter 109

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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 109
Ryu Chung-woo asked back with an ambiguous expression.
“…You ride horses and shoot arrows…?”
“That’s right!”
“Wow~”
“I like horses!”
“…Was this casting done because of Chung-woo?”
The Manager shook his head at Bae Sae-jin’s question.
“No. It’s something like… KBC created it similar to an idol Olympics that just wrapped, so that’s the format. Probably most idols will be appearing?”
“Ah~”
So if we don’t participate, it’ll affect our music show appearances. Got it.
“But wait, all the holidays are over. Why now?”
“Well, there must’ve been some internal broadcasting reasons.”
“Hmm~”
Most of the members accepted it, but Ryu Chung-woo still had an odd expression.
“Hyung. Is something wrong?”
“Huh? Um… I’m a bit worried.”
Ah, is it aftereffects?
Even without pain, the situation itself could feel unsettling. These kinds of variety shows that call so many people and make them do physical labor always carry injury risks.
But this time, the Manager opened his mouth with an ambiguous expression.
“Um… well, you see.”
“…?”
“Chung-woo is… banned from competing.”
“…!!”
“The broadcast side rejected it saying the game wouldn’t work. Instead, they’re asking him to do a demonstration once.”
“Huh.”
The members were shocked at such an unexpectedly sensible judgment. It was clear they’d been secretly counting on something.
But Ryu Chung-woo’s expression didn’t improve.
“I think it would be better if I did it instead… Hyung, we can’t skip this, right?”
“…Um, if we want to keep appearing on KBC, it’ll be pretty difficult to refuse, won’t it? Why?”
Ryu Chung-woo shook his head.
“It’s too dangerous. Riding horses is already difficult, but shooting arrows from on top of that is even more dangerous. How much training time has been secured?”
“…They said we’d learn once we get there….”
“….”
“…Wait a moment.”
The Manager put us in the car first, then seemed to have quite a long phone call with the Company in the parking lot.
Then he got back in the car with a rather bright expression.
“Ah, don’t worry guys. Everything’s been prepared well.”
“Oh….”
“Besides, KBC is a public broadcaster. They said they won’t make us do anything reckless or dangerous, so let’s give it a try!”
Judging by how boldly he’s making these claims, he must have heard something. The fact that he won’t explain the specifics suggests he wants a reaction from me.
‘Did he call in an equestrian national team member or something?’
Surely Tnet wouldn’t be so shameless as to bring an active national team member in front of an idol who retired from the national team due to aftereffects, and then package it as heartwarming content.
After meeting so many absurdly powerful people from Tnet’s Broadcasting Station, I’ve started second-guessing myself and measuring angles from my own perspective.
“And they do various other sports too, so Chung-woo should be able to shine there!”
“Yes, I understand….”
Ryu Chung-woo still looked uncomfortable, but he eventually agreed.
And on the day of filming, I witnessed something absolutely ridiculous.

* * *
The filming location was none other than Daegwallyeong.
What made it even more absurd was that we showed up in costumes I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams.
“Hwarang warriors?”
“Yeah. This program’s concept is Silla hwarang competing against each other!”
“Wow….”
I never thought they’d go so far as to invoke our ancestors just to differentiate from the Idol Olympics.
Thanks to that, we prepared hwarang costumes in Seoul, got our makeup and hair done, and were transported to Daegwallyeong.
-Don’t lean back too hard or your hair will get messed up!
I thought my neck was going to break.
And when we arrived at the filming location.
A pink carousel was spinning.
“…??”
“That one?”
“That’s the horse you’ll be riding!”
“…!!”
The cameras eagerly captured the bewildered expressions on the members’ faces.
And shortly after, bows were distributed.
Colorful toy bows.
The sight of us holding those bows in historical costumes was the epitome of imbalance.
“….”
“…Are our ancestors angry right now?”
Right?
In any case, thanks to that, the filming proceeded safely as KBC had promised.
Idols dressed in carefully prepared hwarang costumes riding on a glittering carousel and shooting toy bows at animal character dolls was truly a bizarre triple-layered comedy.
‘Why on earth did they bring people all the way to Daegwallyeong?’
They could have done this at any theme park.
Big Sae-jin, who was watching the whole spectacle, giggled and stretched.
“At least they didn’t call the fans here. I heard that’s real suffering for everyone involved.”
“Yeah.”
I remember. I’ve never actually gone to film one because the schedule didn’t work out, but there were quite a few people who filmed and sold those videos anyway.
“Moon-dae, Moon-dae, let’s save some photos for the reviewer content upload.”
“Sure.”
Hmm. That’s actually a pretty good suggestion.
“Ooh, so eager? So you actually liked the Hwarang outfit, didn’t you? Feeling a bit cool about yourself? Is that it?”
This is getting annoying.
“I, I also….”
“Would you like us to take a photo?”
“I want to see that hairstyle!”
Including the ones butting in, we took several group shots, and I felt gazes from around us. Another idol group.
‘It’s just like the music broadcast Corridor.’
Here, everyone waited openly together, which made it easier to build personal connections. Plus, there were no fan seats.
But these guys didn’t seem particularly interested in other groups.
Big Sae-jin was the same. Probably because there wasn’t a single idol group here at Testa’s level, he cleanly withdrew. He greeted everyone politely and then didn’t even look their way afterward.
‘A true results-obsessed person, I’d say.’
I’m not one to talk, but this guy is genuinely impressive in his own way.
Well, thanks to that, it was convenient not having anyone approach us.
After spending that peaceful waiting time.
“This group is~ ah, you know them, the nation’s favorite stock! Testa’s Hwarangs!”
I’m not sure if a public broadcaster should use a cable channel’s extreme capitalist catchphrase, but anyway, our turn was called.
Ryu Chung-woo, excluded due to fairness, and Bae Sae-jin, who voluntarily stepped back to keep the group at five members, remained on standby. They’d participate in the next event.
“Do well out there. Be careful.”
“…Yes.”
I thought it was funny to say “be careful” about that carousel, but then I got hit by Ryu Chung-woo’s earnest gaze and disappeared.
“Let’s go~”
And I climbed onto the carousel.
After putting on the safety belt and hearing the explanation that we could signal to stop the carousel if a problem occurred, it began to spin.
-Tara-rang-tang-tang-tara-ra-rang cha-rr~ tang-tara-rang~
A cute music box melody rang out as the carousel began to spin up and down. I felt self-loathing.
And here, one more rule was added.
“Now Testa’s Hwarangs~ what do you need to do to shoot arrows?”
“A quiz!”
“You have to answer correctly!”
Right. We couldn’t shoot arrows infinitely; we could only shoot for ten seconds after answering a question correctly.
So the structure was that the group that hit all five targets in the shortest time would win.
“Exactly, as Hwarang disciples who possess both literary and martial arts, you must get the answer, the target, and the timing all correct~”
“Timing isn’t something you get right, it’s something you adjust….”
“Ha ha ha! Give us the question!!”
At Big Sae-jin’s remark, the talent serving as MC immediately raised his hand and shouted.
“Now, the first question is identifying a historical figure! One of the most famous Hwarang-born figures, a general who led Silla’s unification of the Three Kingdoms. At the Battle of Hwangsanbeol, he defeated the army led by Gyebaek. What is this general’s name?”
“…??”
Why did the difficulty suddenly spike like this?
It’s not particularly hard, but the group before us only got questions like naming the location where we are now.
‘Are they trying to mess with us because we’re from cable…?’
KBC isn’t stupid enough for that. It’s probably just a matter of luck.
The problem was that Cha Yu-jin was the first to raise his hand, of all people.
“Hwangsanbeol is a field where….”
“Correct! General Kim Yu-shin!”
“Ah, Park Moon-dae the Hwarang~ That’s correct!”
Fortunately, the audio glitched right at “Hwangsanbeol.”
‘I’m saved.’
I sighed and picked up the bow.
“Alright, ten seconds from now! Let’s begin!”
“Huh huh huh??”
And just like that, the carousel suddenly sped up. The carousel that had been moving like a tortoise abruptly went wild like a gym full of people on stationary bikes.
I’d seen it while waiting earlier, but the desire to laugh was overwhelming.
“This is faster than I expected?!”
“Hahaha! Alright, one!”
And just like that, Cha Yu-jin immediately hit a doll.
“One!”
I sighed and aimed the toy bow.
And of course, I missed. Damn.
“Ah, that was fun!”
“Great!”
Big Sae-jin and Cha Yu-jin grinned as they got off the carousel and waved at the camera.
Surprisingly, they finished in 2 minutes and 7 seconds, setting a new record.
What was even more surprising was that Cha Yu-jin got the answer to the second question right.
-Alright, second question~ The WWW you commonly see in the address bar stands for….
-World Wide Web!!
-…? That’s correct!
It was an unexpected save.
By the way, I hit a doll that time too. Getting the hang of it was what mattered.
“You worked hard. You did well?”
“We did well~”
“There were no major difficulties!”
“We’re pretty good at this~”
Next to those guys showing off in front of everyone, Bae Sae-jin quietly asked.
“…Did you have fun?”
I shrugged my shoulders. It meant, how could I have had fun? Bae Sae-jin understood without words.
“W-we did pretty well this time, I think.”
“Right. Let’s do it properly from now on too~”
“Oh~”
Once they tried it, everyone got excited about the immersion. I had an ominous premonition that if I alone held back moderately here, I’d be swept up in subtle accusations of lacking sincerity.
‘I need to focus on my reactions.’
For reference, Ryu Chung-woo, who demonstrated next, burst into laughter and pulled off an insane feat—hitting all five targets within the first ten seconds solo.
I was beginning to lose all sense of what position a national archery representative in this country actually held.

* * *
And as time passed, we moved through events whose purpose I couldn’t fathom—from sheep shearing to a massive game of Yut Nori—until we reached the final event.
“Next up~ is the painting battle!”
“Oh~”
The name sounded impressive, but it was essentially paintball survival conducted with bows. Teams shot paint at each other, and whoever survived until the end won.
This time it was a seven-person team match, so Ryu Chung-woo and Bae Sae-jin were included. Since luck played a major role in this event, Ryu Chung-woo didn’t sit out the demonstration this time.
‘How convenient that it worked out evenly.’
Looking at the other teams, I noticed quite a few had mixed rosters.
“So the plan is for Chung-woo hyung to shoot everyone and win for us~?”
“I’ll shoot too!”
“…I’m counting on you.”
Lacking confidence, Bae Sae-jin spoke to Ryu Chung-woo with a solemn expression. Ryu Chung-woo replied awkwardly, looking flustered.
“Let’s just have fun, guys. We could get eliminated too.”
“That’s weak!”
“I want to win!”
“Come on, let’s go!”
Even Sun Ah-hyun came at him like this, and Ryu Chung-woo was eventually swept up in the momentum.
“Ha ha, yeah. Let’s win!”
“Woo!!”
The camera was busily capturing the scene.
‘Hmm, if we actually win this event, it won’t make for a particularly good image.’
Since Testa had the best performance among the groups appearing here, it might be better to avoid winning any more events.
‘We already came in second place in Yut Nori.’
If we went further, people would definitely start thinking we were stealing the spotlight from other groups who needed it more.
But if I half-assed it, I’d get criticized for that too. The best approach was to throw myself into it with apparent intensity while still failing.
So I nodded as if impressed by Ryu Chung-woo’s words and swung both fists enthusiastically.
‘Time to roll.’
I’d give no actual help—just make it look like I was trying hard.
If I rolled around on the ground in this outfit, they’d have to count it as effort.
And five minutes later, I found myself literally rolling on the ground, exactly as planned.
“Moon-dae, are you okay?!”
“…Yes.”
Everyone else had been eliminated, leaving only Ryu Chung-woo and me.
The five guys, so focused on hitting targets, hadn’t noticed their own misses, which led to this situation.
I’d somehow ended up being the one holding the line.
Ryu Chung-woo, meanwhile, was desperately rolling left and right to keep our last remaining teammate alive, barking out instructions whenever arrows came flying.
Since he was rolling around himself, he couldn’t even aim properly to dodge.
‘Wow….’
Just take the hint and get eliminated already, you bastard.
But Ryu Chung-woo was far more absorbed than I’d anticipated.

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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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