Debut or Die - Chapter 156

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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 156
Ever since acquiring the ‘Catching Ear’ trait that amplified my ability to recognize good songs, I’ve rarely made a mistake in song selection.
In that sense, the chorus of this track that Gold 1 sent as their title song this time was… genuinely excellent.
I wasn’t speaking in terms of completion or artistic merit. I simply meant it was the kind of song that stuck in your head the moment you heard it.
It possessed extreme mass appeal.
‘Damn.’
Of course, there was still no chance Testa would fall behind in performance metrics.
The problem was that idiots would inevitably emerge with their nonsense.
‘This isn’t a situation where I can afford to tolerate that right now.’
For now… the current atmosphere surrounding Testa’s album this time, ‘Capturing the Armored Warrior’, was like this.
First, the critic rating from the most prestigious music review site in South Korea was four stars.
It was the first four-star rating among all idol releases this year.
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The aesthetics of balance.
To achieve harmony, things must differ from one another. Weaving diverse compositions—from Mumba Ton’s ‘Long and Short’ to synth-pop’s ‘Breath’—using traditional instruments as the foundation, culminating in the title track ‘Procession’ as the focal point, elevated to a complete feast.
Within the recent trend of singles and EPs, the boldness of attempting consecutive full-length albums with intervals of less than half a year was backed by solid structural reasoning.
….
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The only criticism added in the latter half was that ‘the craftsmanship is obsessive and the title track’s structure is conventional’.
The critic had praised it far more than I’d imagined. Naturally, this would benefit the group’s standing.
Moreover, the international response was unmistakable.
With clear results in music video views, album sales, and global streaming platforms, overseas interest came pouring in.
They’d already locked in performance schedules on a semi-major English-language talk show and a Japanese morning broadcast.
Even though it was an extremely performance-heavy track far removed from easy listening, the domestic streaming performance was excellent too.
‘It was at fourth place right now.’
According to what the company had heard, the influx of official fan club members was accelerating compared to the previous album, and we were definitely reaping those benefits.
So when you compiled all these indicators, this promotional cycle was a golden opportunity to secure both commercial success and artistic credibility, launching us into the top tier.
In short, we were on the verge of opening the door to an insane peak period.
But imagine if Gold 1—or rather, Golden Age—came out simultaneously and clung to Testa, and on top of that, they brought an absurdly good song.
‘There’s definitely going to be talk like “Golden Age’s song is actually better, but Testa won because of fan power”.’
In other words, the buzz would drain from both fans and the general public.
The image and reputation Testa was about to secure—’a trending group excelling across all fronts’—risked being reduced to ‘a male idol group with a large fanbase’.
With top-tier status within reach, I wasn’t about to let my ankles get caught here.
‘We’re supposed to do large-scale tours.’
To avoid a sudden collapse from abnormal conditions, Testa’s momentum couldn’t falter until the next comeback.
‘I need to keep public opinion highly evaluating Testa’s album this time.’
I pondered for a moment, then quickly reached a conclusion.
‘The answer is national pride.’
I needed to make Testa’s shared cultural identity with the domestic audience something to be proud of—just artificial and excessive enough to avoid backlash.
I let out a short sigh and belatedly replied to Gold 1’s message. Several others had already posted their responses.
“It’s a pleasant song that’s easy to listen to. Congratulations, hyung.”
I kept the message clean and straightforward, making sure that company couldn’t twist it into something weird.
Gold 1 simply thanked us.
[Ha Iljun (brother): ㅠㅠThank you, guys!]
[Ha Il-jun(hyung): Man, I hope the response is good… I’ll do my best]
Gold 1 seemed a bit anxious and exchanged a few more messages before ending the conversation with a joke.
[Ha Il-jun(hyung): If we run into each other on a music show next week, could you sign a CD for me…? My dongsaeng is trying to kill me]
But an hour or two later, the group chat lit up again.
[Ha Il-jun(hyung): Guys, I’m really sorry, but would it be okay if you mentioned that you praised the song in interviews this week?]
[Ha Il-jun(hyung): No, they keep asking questions trying to start fights and it’s scary]
[Ha Il-jun(hyung): Ah, the weight class difference between us and Godstar is so huge, why do they keep doing this… save me]
Ugh.
‘That’s not happening.’
He might be sincere, but I had no idea how that company would exploit it.
‘Golden Age’s new title song, even recognized by our competitor Testa’—that kind of thing would be perfect for their media play, wouldn’t it?
I typed out a message quickly before the others could respond.
[Would that be okay? Hyung, I’m worried they might spin it as if you leaked the title song to another group through Ajusa connections.]
A private message arrived right after.
Big Sae-jin: Haha, good.
So he was deliberately not responding.
And without Big Sae-jin even needing to chime in to set the mood, Ha Il-jun’s panicked reply came back immediately.
[Ha Il-jun(hyung): Whoa, that could totally happen; thanks Moon-dae, that company is so out of it they almost sold me out]
‘So the company’s advice was right.’
They really weren’t ordinary guys.
Gold 1 seemed to have no sense of rivalry toward Testa in the first place, given how massive the weight class difference was, but it was clear they trusted their company.
‘I’m jealous.’
It really was a different world compared to this one.
I held back a sigh and called the company.
‘I need to ask for the exact date.’
Really, the only way to avoid getting backstabbed by the company was to verify everything one by one.

* * *
A week after Park Moon-dae confirmed Golden Age’s title track.
A reaction video was uploaded to a major YouTube channel.
The channel was famous for creating unique situations to draw out entertaining reactions, so celebrity appearances had become frequent lately.
But this was the first time people from this particular field had appeared.
[Traditional Korean Musicians React to Latest K-POP (feat. Testa) | NAYA]
It was an appearance by people who specialized in Korean traditional music.
The video was shot individually for each guest and then edited together by cutting between them.
[Hello. I’m Baek Ju-bin, a traditional Korean vocalist.]
[Last year I held a gayageum solo recital at the National Gugak Center.]
[The most recent performance I did was… Cheoyongmu?]
The video began by briefly introducing the artists’ backgrounds with supporting materials, then started with simple Q&A.
[NAYA: Do you happen to listen to K-POP?]
[I know the famous ones roughly.]
[No.]
[Yes. I like it.]
They showed varied reactions, but the assessment the video emphasized was this.
[It’s quite different from the music I usually do.]
Then the channel’s production team opened a laptop and had the traditional musicians watch a music video.
More precisely, it was a teaser.
[NAYA: I’m going to show you a K-POP music video that’s currently ranking in the trending videos.]
[Um… do I just watch it?]
[One, ten, hundred, thousand… this is in the tens of millions, wow.]
[3, 2, 1, I’m clicking it.]
Click.
Soon the corresponding video played on the small screen.
It was Testa’s new song teaser.
[Oh, this?]
And the traditional musicians… started laughing from the moment Sun Ah-hyun’s solo came on.
[Ah, so that’s why you showed us this!]
[It’s a gayageum.]
Of course, aside from the main instrument, the elements were quite close to K-POP, but the traditional musicians still found it quite entertaining.
[It’s used really cleverly.]
[There’s also a bit of that in the movements. There’s an arm movement used in Taepyeongmu.]
[Wow, he’s really handsome! Someone like that should have come to our side(?)]
But as soon as Cha Yu-jin’s solo followed next, the reaction became noticeably stronger.
[It’s not over yet??]
[Oh, this person is really cool too! The janggu suits him so well!]
[…wait, the length of this video is… hold on.]
[NAYA: Keep watching. (laughs)]
The traditional music artists watched the first verse of each Testa member’s solo song in its entirety.
Accompanied by visuals overflowing with production value.
[Oh….]
Their initial measured, polite reactions grew stronger as they became increasingly absorbed in the video.
Especially when the traditional instruments from each solo piece layered together to create the title sequence—the most intense reactions erupted.
[Wow!!]
[Oh, this is just a preview!]
[How did you even come up with something like this??]
[These instruments are normally used in completely different contexts, so there’s probably no precedent for using them all together… Oh, it’s incredibly fresh.]
[NAYA : These guys came up with these ideas while making the songs themselves.]
[That’s amazing, seriously!]
And the moment Ryu Chung-woo appeared, they became fully immersed in the story.
[Is that a supernatural creature? Earlier in the book there was a supernatural….]
[Hmm~ I see. Look, this one is a nine-tailed fox.]
[Really? …Ah, then could the one at the very beginning be Cheonryong? It seems right.]
Then the channel’s production team dropped a bombshell announcement.
[NAYA : Why don’t you ask them directly?]
[Huh??]
And the Testa members appeared from off-screen.
[Park Moon-dae : Hello. I’m Park Moon-dae from Testa.]
[Cha Yu-jin : Hello! I’m Cha Yu-jin. I’m from Testa!]
[Oh my!]
The Testa members appeared one or two at a time for each video, sitting across from the traditional music artists.
And they created an amusing and heartwarming atmosphere with the astonished artists.
[Ah, I really enjoyed watching the video!]
[You were completely… like a genius. Amazing.]
[You look even more handsome in person.]
[Um, by any chance… do you really have some difficulty with your eyes….]
[Bae Sae-jin : ???? Oh, no…. I’m, uh, a former child actor….]
[Ah ah ah! Oh no, I’m so sorry! Your eye covering was so realistic in the acting!]
The raw, unfiltered reactions born from their mutual confusion created a sense of intimacy and laughter that lingered.
And finally, it tilted slightly toward something a bit touching and sincere.
[Actually, as we continue doing this work, we sometimes feel like we’re growing distant from the public. Thank you for showing us such a wonderful fusion.]
[Park Moon-dae : We’re the ones who should thank you. Because of you, we were able to discover and use the fact that traditional instruments can produce such beautiful sounds. We’re truly grateful.]
[Let’s both do our best!]
[Cha Yu-jin : Sounds good! Let’s hug!]
And so the situation wrapped up with just a touch of comedy, keeping the lingering feeling from becoming too heavy.
[Cha Yu-jin : But actually, I’m American! I love kkwaenggwari!]
[????]
The traditional music artist’s face became confused.
[G-good…. Foreigners like it too(?)]
The video ended there.
And as expected, the moment it was uploaded, it rapidly accumulated tens and hundreds of millions of views, securing a spot in the domestic trending videos.
And it wasn’t just this one video.
Testa not only performed on stage in full traditional Korean hanbok on a YouTube channel specializing in dance videos, but also appeared on public broadcast variety shows playing their assigned traditional instruments.
We were emphasizing the album’s appeal in a way that suited the content appropriately without overdoing it.
After laying the groundwork so thoroughly with the nuance of ‘Testa introduces Korea’s traditional music to the world.’
The Agency began bombarding portal site homepages with articles about Testa’s overseas schedule.
It was a bomb dropped right as Gold 1’s first week of activities was barely beginning.
The operation was successful.
And honestly, at this level we still hadn’t earned a seat in that terrifying position of ‘Korea’s iconic representative group.’ Because VTIC exists.
However, not everything unfolded as planned.

* * *
Testa’s first overseas schedule shoot of this promotional cycle.
The backstage area, which would normally be bustling with various checks, was in chaos with urgency and worry.
“Kim Rae-bin!”
“Are you okay??”
“I… I don’t know….”
Kim Rae-bin, his face drained of color, reached toward his right foot before hastily pulling his hand away. The pain was clearly severe.
“Rae-bin, don’t touch your foot.”
“Do we have a first aid kit??”
“Let me take a look!”
The staff members hurriedly removed his shoes and carefully examined the condition.
His swollen instep was visibly bleeding.
‘Damn it.’
I nearly bit my tongue.

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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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