Debut or Die - Chapter 112

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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 112
When the BETTER ME music video played, the first thing that appeared was Park Moon-dae’s face staring directly into the camera.
Black hoodie, purple sunglasses—the Trailer aesthetic.
[….]
Park Moon-dae silently reached his hand toward the camera.
Then he manipulated it.
Click.
Whirrrr.
The footage rewound, and the Trailer scenes began playing backward.
Water tanks. Sewers. Mannequins, falling guns. Biohazard marks.
And finally, the screen began showing an old, tattered cloth doll with gears attached to it.
It was Cha Yu-jin’s hand. The opening scene of the Trailer—that’s where the rewind stopped.
And the song began.
-Do not trust it
There no justice
Oooohh….
In that moment, the cut shifted to Cha Yu-jin holding a pristine, new doll instead of the worn cloth one.
The camera pulled back, capturing the entire surroundings in a wide shot.
It was an ordinary classroom where students were attending class. And TeSTAR members were visible sitting throughout the room.
Everyday expressions and appearances of those attending class were captured on camera.
But the moment a rhythmic mumba-ton accompaniment began flowing, the atmosphere of the classroom transformed completely.
Whirrrr.
All students except TeSTAR disappeared, and X marks were drawn on each desk with flowing fluorescent graffiti paint.
And against the backdrop of a darkened classroom, an intense group choreography cut began.
-No matter how much I look back, I can’t understand
Umm
What happened
Between the choreography scenes, cuts of each member alone in distinctive locations of the school—the Music Room, the Gymnasium—were inserted during their respective parts.
However, each space had transformed into an eerie atmosphere connected to each TeSTAR member’s unique ability, revealed since “Magical Boy.”
So TeSTAR, dressed in techware outfits similar to what was seen in the concept photos, appeared as if they had each created their own domain like a mid-boss chamber in a game.
-Target Target Target
GOT IT
Seizing whatever comes running
They sang, woven into their own spaces, appearing conceptual and world-weary.
However, the moment the Trailer’s thunderous riff melody dropped, the atmosphere shifted entirely.
DDVVViiiii-!!
TeSTAR fleeing or rushing toward monsters in school uniforms flashed by in rapid cuts with urgency, then the screen froze on the chalk writing on the blackboard.
Rough red graffiti was painted over the conventional black letters.
[WINNER-TAKE-ALL :)]
[LOSER? Good bye :(]
Blood splattered across the English word meaning “goodbye.”
And the chorus began to flow.
-BUT,
It’s just confusing
Since when
I’m just confused
Umm
How far does it go
A brutal survival game that clashed with the melancholic chorus continued relentlessly.
Within that music video, the lyrics began to take on completely concrete meaning.
And as the song progressed, Testa’s actions grew increasingly violent.
Fighting scenes became more frequent than coordinated movements, and when the final monster fell, the tension reached its peak.
[….]
The moment Kim Rae-bin turned back and raised the awl, Ryu Chung-woo shot him in the back.
-Umm
After that, the music video shifted to a composition centered on intensified performance cuts, with hunting scenes interspersed in an unsettlingly indirect manner.
And the song’s bridge.
During the second verse, Bae Sae-jin, who hadn’t received many cuts, was given a close-up.
As Bae Sae-jin sang his part, he suddenly stood and stepped beyond the School Entrance, his designated space.
-Our Paradox we can’t handle
When we cross the line
A louder Payback
Breaking free from the contradictions we created
Bae Sae-jin ran down the Corridor and stood before the door at the far end.
When he opened it, a pristine Classroom appeared.
But as the camera panned, red graffiti paint falling from above the school motto was caught on film.
The moment Bae Sae-jin threw something in his hand, the final chorus exploded.
-BUT,
It’s NOT confusing!
Who I am
I’m NOT confused
Oh!
Finding the BETTER ME
What Bae Sae-jin held in his hand was a heavy metal padlock.
The padlock flew in a parabolic arc and crashed through the school motto frame, shattering it. The fragments fell in slow motion.
And the moment the frame hit the ground, a mumba ton beat began to flow.
Bae Sae-jin smirked.
-BETTER ME
With flashy choreography, the timeline in the video began to correct itself.
After the final monster fell, Kim Rae-bin’s raised awl was stopped by Park Moon-dae’s smartphone camera shutter barrage, and Testa disbanded in irritation with each other.
Their faces looked relieved.
And the screen cut back to Cha Yu-jin holding the worn cloth doll.
[….]
But this time, Cha Yu-jin didn’t turn the gear.
[♬♪~]
Cha Yu-jin whistled and hurled the doll into the corner, then began trudging down the shattered corridor.
A fixed camera captured that cheerful gait from behind, and “BETTER ME” appeared on screen in white subtitles.
-BETTER ME
The video ended with that final hook.
And the Testa fandom entered an unexpected era of MV deep analysis.

* * *
“What are you watching, hyung?”
“Our music video analysis.”
“Why analyze it?”
“…Hmm. Want to watch?”
“Yeah!”
It was better to include Cha Yu-jin than get trapped in endless back-and-forth. I connected the YouTube I’d been watching on TV and pulled it up.
A somewhat chubby duck character appeared on screen.
[Hello, YouTube friends! I’m Hae-ori Gamja, the duck who analyzes music videos.]
[Today, that hot topic game, that hot topic group! I’ve prepared an analysis of Testa’s newly released ‘BETTER ME’ music video.]
[Actually, I was sobbing while playing the game, so I may have some personal opinions in this interpretation. I ask for your understanding in advance.]
[※ Section 127 spoiler warning!]
[Well then, let’s begin!]
The duck introduced the simple plot of the ‘BETTER ME’ music video and explained the overall story.
[The monsters wearing school uniforms that appear in the middle of the music video seem to be the transformed versions of students who were in the same classroom as Testa.]
[All of these monsters’ uniforms have name tags attached. You can confirm name tags of the same color and same names in the peaceful classroom cut.]
It was mostly like this.
‘Good observation skills.’
I listened to the duck’s explanation with considerable interest.
But the moment the duck finished summarizing the music video content, it dropped something absolutely bombshell.
[Actually, I’ve had a theory about Testa’s worldview that I’ve been suspecting since ‘Airplane’, and after watching this ‘BETTER ME’ music video, I’ve become so convinced that I wanted to share it.]
[In Testa’s worldview, Park Moon-dae and Bae Sae-jin are likely the same person.]
“Pfft.”
Bae Sae-jin, who was leaving the kitchen while drinking coffee, choked. Cha Yu-jin’s eyes widened as he waited for the duck’s next words.
[Since ‘Magic Boy’, the two have shown opposite trajectories. Park Moon-dae locks the school entrance door with a padlock, while Bae Sae-jin destroys that door.]
[And in this ‘BETTER ME’ music video as well, Park Moon-dae turns the camera to close time, while Bae Sae-jin destroys the class motto frame that symbolizes this terrible time.]
[So they have completely opposite abilities—why would they be the same person? That’s because these two abilities are actually on the same axis.]
[Both deal with the constraints of time and space, but Park Moon-dae uses his ability to impose constraints, while Bae Sae-jin uses his to destroy them.]
“What’s Seong-sang?”
“On the same line. They’re on the same line.”
Bae Sae-jin answered and flopped down beside the sofa. He seemed to have become interested in the analysis video.
[As I mentioned in the previous video, Park Moon-dae’s magical prop appears to be a book for consistency, but it’s actually ‘sleep’. Park Moon-dae returns to the past through sleeping or acts that symbolize obscuring his vision, such as sleep.]
On the screen, a hand covering and uncovering the camera appeared, along with Park Moon-dae standing at the School Entrance, and me.
The video continued through opening the door and running into the school.
It was a scene from the Airplane music video.
[But doesn’t this cut look familiar? That’s right. It appeared in this BETTER ME music video too.]
[But it’s not Park Moon-dae—it’s Bae Sae-jin.]
The cut of Bae Sae-jin running through the School Hallway was repeated in the video. The composition was definitely identical.
[And next, what was the object that Bae Sae-jin threw to break the class motto frame? It’s the very lock that Park Moon-dae placed at the entrance in ‘Magic Boy’.]
That was a detail I’d intentionally included to be noticed.
[Based on these elements, I’ve formed a hypothesis that these two are actually different personalities of the same person.]
And the evidence continued.
[Did you see just now? In the Airplane music video, there are only 6 beds in the Dormitory. And in the BETTER ME music video, Park Moon-dae sits alone in the very back corner. It’s actually a position where it wouldn’t be strange if there were no students.]
[And there hasn’t been a single cut where anyone other than Bae Sae-jin directly speaks to Park Moon-dae.]
The members expressed admiration.
“Ooh.”
“…That’s pretty convincing.”
It was a valid point.
But the problem was that it was just a misunderstanding.
The lock was taken from the entrance door, but it got cut out due to time constraints, and the hallway composition was identical simply because the director happened to like it that way.
The reason there’s no cut of me talking with other members is… actually, I don’t think Sun Ah-hyun was even there to begin with?
But the fans found this theory quite entertaining—the view count and comments were impressive.
‘…Should I suggest keeping that setting for the next album?’
After all, shouldn’t you release what the consumers want rather than what the seller thinks is good?
Anyway, the music video wrapped up the ‘Park Moon-dae and Bae Sae-jin are the same person’ theory and returned to explaining the universe connections.
[Considering the timeline through Park Moon-dae’s time slip via dreams, it flows as: ‘Airplane’ → ‘Magic Boy’ → ‘BETTER ME’, and then the trailer video ‘BONUS BOOK’.]
[However, it seems the trailer video isn’t being included in the official flow, as in this ‘BETTER ME’ music video, Bae Sae-jin prevents the incident and wraps it up as ‘something that doesn’t happen’.]
The screen showed a split view of the trailer video where Cha Yu-jin detonates the doll and this music video where it doesn’t detonate.
‘I predicted that exactly.’
It was a device created to avoid being too entangled with the game.
We didn’t want to be dragged along by the game story, and the game side probably didn’t want to completely follow our universe either.
‘We handled it as an IF version.’
Looking at people’s current game reactions, it seems like it was a good choice. …There were already quite a few people who seemed dazed; we couldn’t give them an even bigger shock.
[Considering the ending they got in 【Section 127】, it could be said to be a good thing… It’s really sad that there’s no way to see the future of our first colleagues in the futureㅠㅠ]
And below, a subtitle appeared: [Hae-ori Gamja sobbing when B11 dies.]
“….”
It seemed to have had more impact than expected.
[However, the abilities of the members used in the trailer might be reflected in future universe settings, so this Hae-ori Gamja is looking forward to it too! Quack quack!]
[Well then, everyone, I’ll see you in the next music video analysis~]
“See you~”
“Gamja’s quite clever.”
I handed the remote to Cha Yu-jin and checked the video comments on my smartphone.
-Wow TeSTAR really went crazy with the worldbuilding
-They’re definitely the same person lol gives me chills
-Thank you Hae-ori Gamja for always providing quality analysis~ Thanks to you I can watch the music video without thinking too hard!
-I had a battle royale feeling from the start with Bae-rumi, but seeing it this way makes it even more interesting. Enjoyed it^^
It seemed this person’s interpretation had solidified as the official canon. Even sorting by newest comments, there was no one criticizing or nitpicking.
‘This is fun.’
Watching unintended details align perfectly and get reinterpreted in new ways was genuinely fascinating.
And I noticed game enthusiasts had trickled in between the comments too.
-So what do I need to do to see Bi-il?
└I come to Mundae’s SNS frequently, so it would be good if you follow me~ haha
└No, I’m a gamer, but I posted a comment to see if Moon Dae-nim has done anything else with B11. Anyway, thank you for your reply.
└Oh yes ㅠㅠ
“Hmm.”
This reminded me of something. Now that I thought about it, there was additional content releasing this week.
It was just fan service content being released, but I wondered if there’d be unexpected reactions from this side too.
‘It might be a bit embarrassing though.’
I touched the back of my neck and turned off my smartphone.
And the next evening at 10:31 PM, a new video was uploaded to TeSTAR’s official YouTube channel.
[TeSTAR ‘BETTER ME’ Choreography Video Late Halloween Ver]
It was a TeSTAR choreography video where they were dressed in the initial Section 127 costumes for a Halloween version.

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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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