Debut or Die - Chapter 169

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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 169
Park Moon-dae’s appearance on 【Calling the Past】 became known only after the teaser dropped. It was because they had hastily scheduled it for the earliest possible broadcast date.
[(Teaser) Testa and Golden Age as Sungkyunkwan Scholars? 〈Calling the Past〉 EP36 | SBC Educational Broadcasting]
And naturally, there was an undercurrent of self-inflicted worry that surged through the fanbase.
It stemmed from concerns about stirring up old grievances and instincts born from past experiences.
-Ugh, not that group again
-Is it just me feeling uneasy?
-Why are you bastards making him do educational content when he’s already so busy? Just stick him on a healing food show or something
Many fans who paid attention to public sentiment had already realized that Golden Age was deliberately antagonizing Testa.
When you connected Park Moon-dae’s past, his family circumstances, and his unfortunate dropout story together, there was no way he’d be comfortable appearing on this “intellectual” program alongside a South Korean college student.
If the editing subtly compared them by academic background, it felt like something that would drive him to despair.
-I think I’ll be too frustrated to watch the live broadcast
-If they drag this up again, I won’t be able to hold back. I’ll definitely make it public
However, not everyone was thinking this deeply about it.
Those who didn’t delve too far into the abyss and enjoyed their fandom lightly and joyfully made up the majority of the sentiment, which looked like this:
-Crazy Park Moon-dae went around wearing a hanbokㅠㅠㅠ It was even said to be a Sungkyunkwan Confucian uniform, so just looking at the preview, it was a masterpiece.
-Thank you so much… overwhelmingly grateful..
-Wait, this suddenly? It’s quite sudden, but I absolutely welcome it
-Seeing the teaser, Moon-dae seems to have a lot of screen time, my heart is racing
A graduate student trudging through a grueling master’s program was watching from this perspective.
‘The joy of my life….’
The graduate student let out a hollow laugh with a dazed expression.
She was truly grateful they aired it late at night. After all, she spent weekend afternoons in the lab too….
‘I’m watching it live!!’
She wanted to jump around on the sofa in excitement, but lacking the energy, she settled down quietly and turned on the television.
“It’s starting now!”
The broadcast began shortly after.
[What past calls to them?]
The graduate student watched with keen interest as the opening sequence unfolded with blindfolds being removed and the MC taking his seat in the monitoring room.
And unable to hide her excitement, she followed Park Moon-dae’s every move.
Watching Park Moon-dae speak and laugh was pure healing.
‘I was disappointed he had black hair for this activity, but I still want to see him in that scholar’s outfit soon!’
However, this composure shattered in the next scene.
[‘Gap’ and ‘Gi’ work at the Jiphyeonjeon.]
[!!]
“Whoa whoa whoa!”
Park Moon-dae had solved the first problem at lightning speed.
“What? Why is he like that? Why is Park Moon-dae like that??”
And this outburst wasn’t just the graduate student’s private thought.
Her hastily created SNS account for fandom was also flooded with similar comments.
-??
-What is this
-Park Moon-dae is insane lol
-Do you even like my man’s hair? Fuck itㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
But it was far too premature an astonishment.
[Well, it seems like three flying beasts, one land beast, two sea beasts, one flying beast… is that right?]
[What if we brought the one from the third shelf?]
Park Moon-dae’s brilliance never ceased throughout the entire broadcast.
“Wow.”
The graduate student stared at the screen, mouth agape.
The broadcast hadn’t employed any special editing magic. True to the Educational Broadcasting Department’s style, it maintained a refined yet refreshingly understated atmosphere throughout.
That’s precisely why Park Moon-dae’s problem-solving felt so real-time, making the experience all the more captivating.
[Wait, wait? Isn’t that not supposed to work that way??]
[That’s supposed to require a full rotation to solve….]
[【The monitoring team stirring with tension】]
Faced with such an absurdly superhuman level of ability, the raw reactions and gasps from the Production Team and MC set the perfect tone.
“Wow….”
The graduate student watched the screen in stunned silence, then suddenly felt her chest swell with emotion.
‘I hate describing this with the bland word “intelligent”!!’
Wouldn’t he be a perfect ace even if he appeared on some quiz show with a bunch of celebrities known for being smart?
The other cast members seemed to share the sentiment, with exclamations and involuntary laughter erupting from all sides.
[Moon-dae, come here. Yeah. Let’s be honest. …You’re a Mensa member, aren’t you? Just tell me!]
[Huh? That can’t be.]
‘But it totally seems like it!!’
The graduate student shook her head back and forth, bewildered at why he would give such a response when it so obviously seemed true.
And just like her, fans who had worried about his appearance were flooding the community with posts about Park Moon-dae’s insane performance far exceeding expectations.
-Crazy Park Moon-dae got it right again
-Is this a dream?
As soon as I heard it, I kept laughing my ass off lol, like “Are you crazy?!” I’m dying!! 😭😭😭
Man, Moon-dae can do anything except drawing, seriously. I worried for nothing;;
-I thought our puppy was only a genius at singing, dancing, looks, and ideas, but turns out he’s actually a real genius
In fact, because Park Moon-dae had blazed through the problems so quickly, there was nothing particularly cut from the problem-solving segment.
Rather, it was expanded.
[The first problem is actually simple if you organize it with logic symbols. Um, could I borrow a pen by any chance… Thank you.]
Park Moon-dae explained his solution method right in the interview, enriching what would have been the standard problem explanation segment with far greater interest.
It was detailed enough that people ready to criticize couldn’t bring themselves to say things like “the script is too obvious” or “didn’t he already give away all the answers.”
[I personally find it easier to organize identical symbols by overlapping them. Then it works like this… and you get these that don’t match and stick out one by one.]
It was obvious to anyone watching that Park Moon-dae had solved it himself and completely understood it.
And as the crowning touch, a background story explaining “why he’s so good at this” had been prepared.
[I really like this program… so I’ve watched it a lot. I’ve studied quite a bit on my own, thinking about how to solve things well.]
I had honestly admitted to Park Moon-dae that I’d thoroughly prepared for this program.
Of course, the truth was merely that I’d narrowed down the Korean history scope for this episode and selected material that was easy to memorize, but by mixing in just enough truth, it sounded far more genuine.
My excuse about losing Korean history skills to the logic quiz also carried just the right amount of truth mixed in.
[Actually… I wondered what it would be like to become a civil servant, so I studied some Korean history before becoming an idol.]
For those who knew my circumstances, it was a statement that could tug at the heartstrings.
And given that anyone with even a passing interest in Park Moon-dae would know about my situation, it was a remarkably well-crafted remark—almost calculatedly so.
As a result, viewer reactions flooded in with emoticons of admiration, sympathy, and tears.
I want to do everything Moon-dae wants to do, except retire.
-My mom keeps saying how admirable you are, she’s about to send a scholarship
-Thank you for being an idol ㅠㅠ Civil servant… Wow, that head would have been put together right away. It was quite creepy to see a stone plate without soft rice cakes.
-It’s truly lamentable that such a bright and purposeful young person doesn’t get the opportunity to receive education!
The nation’s passion for education had been struck right in the heart.
It was, quite literally, an atmosphere where manufactured controversy didn’t even dare open its mouth.
Still, the occasional vague comments like “feels artificial,” “hmm lol,” or “totally calculated” appeared, flailing desperately to become a flashpoint, but they fell flat.
This was because the program itself had always maintained high credibility.
-Not even a T1 subsidiary, why would a public broadcaster bother fabricating to promote Park Moon-dae? lol there’s no reason
-The production team was totally shocked lol this is hilarious lol
-This show’s PD would rather go under than manipulate, they stake their lives on historical accuracy so sometimes when they fail it’s irredeemably boring, but these stubborn education-obsessed guys stick to it lol
Moreover, attempts to shift criticism in the direction of “he’s hogging all the screen time” lacked any real basis.
Park Moon-dae hadn’t particularly stood out except when solving problems.
In situational comedy, action sequences, or heartwarming moments, I’d actually pushed Sun Ah-hyun to the forefront.
[Wow! Wooooow!]
[I want to try something like that too….]
For instance, Sun Ah-hyun gracefully and nimbly completed a mission where he had to extract hints without touching the hanji paper and persimmons hanging from the ceiling—it was quite a sight to behold.
His clean movements made it all the more fitting.
‘Like some kind of immortal.’
The College Student was certain that every slow-motion shot and edit of that scene would flood her timeline within days.
Moreover, Sun Ah-hyun had delivered some subtle witty remarks quite well.
[Would you like me to give you one?]
[Uh, yes. That’s fine… no, I’m fine, thank you.]
Sun Ah-hyun, offering a piece of the rice cake I’d baked to the palace attendant who’d been staring blankly, dipped it in syrup and held it out with his other hand supporting it—it was a picture-perfect moment.
Even during filming, his expression revealed his internal conflict about whether this was appropriate, and it added an extra layer of cuteness.
Even the palace attendant NPC who appeared for atmosphere momentarily forgot his role and nearly broke character as a real person.
‘Now I understand why his nickname is angel….’
The graduate student promoted Sun Ah-hyun in her mental filing system from the “Moon-dae’s Friends” folder to the “Moon-dae’s Cute Friends” folder.
Meanwhile, on screen, the cast members were warmly unraveling the mystery.
[Our atmosphere is pretty good, right?]
[Great, great! So, should we let our maknae give it a try?]
[Yes! I’ll give it a shot!]
Of course, as Park Moon-dae had planned, the Golden Age college student also received screen time in both the problem-solving and situational comedy segments.
However, due to my unfamiliarity with solo appearances and the stiffness that gripped me during the talk segment, the episode lacked real entertainment value.
While I acquitted myself reasonably well during the problem-solving portion, I naturally couldn’t match the impact Park Moon-dae had created by blazing through the questions from the start with zero expectations.
After all, given that they’d emphasized the pre-broadcast information about me being a South Korean college student, that level of performance was what viewers anticipated.
[Oh, good, good!]
[Thank you!]
The broadcast simply continued with these generic, personality-free exchanges.
As a result, the South Korean college student wasn’t ridiculed so harshly as to become a trending topic, but was instead categorized by viewers as ‘bland enough to completely steal the spotlight’—a forgettable presence.
For Park Moon-dae’s fans, it was the perfect outcome.
Their private Online Community forums and SNS accounts erupted in celebration.
-This is something we can only say here, but it feels so satisfying
You look exactly the same as you did back when you were a singer.
Haha, that’s hilarious!
-Next time please check where you’re lying down before stretching your legs lol
Because Golden Age’s Agency, which would normally have subtly stoked the flames with talk of ‘corporate arrogance,’ remained silent as a mouse, this narrative solidified without any pushback.
And the climax erupted at the episode’s finale.
[This book here.]
[This doesn’t quite look like Korean characters, does it?]
It was Park Moon-dae’s moment of showcasing his Korean history knowledge and launching into his deduction sequence.
[The ‘Gap’ and ‘Ki’ of Jiphyeonjeon have come before Your Majesty to present the Hunminjeongeum Haerye Edition.]
This scene, delivered in a calm tone with a faint smile, came across as convincingly as a climactic cut from a drama or film.
The moment it aired, it was clipped and uploaded across every SNS platform and Online Community.
[A masterpiece scene that any viewer of today’s ‘The Past Calls’ would recognize]
[??? : This doesn’t quite look like Korean characters, does it?]
[The chilling final deduction scene of Park Moon-dae from ‘The Past Calls’]
Under normal circumstances, a headline like this would have drawn backlash and exploded into controversy, but instead it garnered overwhelming sympathy and instantly became a trending post.
Because it was the simple truth.
-The difficulty was insane but he nailed it in one shot, genuinely gave me chills
-Guess intelligence really is something you’re born with
This fits perfectly and it’s so cathartic lol
-Yes, I knew it would be like this ever since I took the lead in making Park Moon-dae’s debut song PPT haha.
-It’s such a waste, he’s so smart… my inner Korean high school senior is telling me to take the college entrance exam right now…
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ안돼 문대는 영원히 K돌 해야된다구!ㅠㅠ
It was the moment when Park Moon-dae’s image of ‘unfortunate past circumstances,’ which had been a weakness, evolved into something more three-dimensional by embracing the added dimension of ‘intellectual prowess.’
It meant that my plan had unfolded flawlessly, without a single variable.

* * *
‘Clean and simple.’
I lowered my smartphone. It had been ages since I’d seen results without any unexpected incidents—just pure, straightforward success.
“Hunminjeongeum Haeryebeon! Hunminjeongeum Haeryebeon!”
From the adjacent room, Cha Yu-jin’s voice rang out excitedly, chanting the words like some kind of cheer. The guys with free schedules had gotten bored and decided to monitor 【Echoes of the Past】 together.
‘Is that an American habit?’
His pronunciation was flawless, which meant the scene had left quite an impression on Cha Yu-jin, despite his complete ignorance of Korean history.
“Ahahaha!”
Big Sae-jin, Cha Yu-jin’s roommate, was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. With the roommate reassignment content coming up soon, I really hoped those two wouldn’t get selected together.
“Sigh.”
Still, in any case… it was a rare night without anything to calculate or worry about.
I closed my eyes, dully ignoring the noise from the adjacent room.
The sensation of relaxation was so dominant that I didn’t even think I’d need earplugs. I was planning to get to bed early tonight.
That was when it happened.
Bzzzzzz— bzzzzzz—
My smartphone began vibrating continuously in a steady rhythm.
A phone call.
‘What?’
There shouldn’t be anyone who would call me.
But since I’d set my phone to block any numbers not in my contacts, it wasn’t spam either.
“Ugh…”
I suppressed a sigh and picked up my smartphone again, bringing it to my face. Naturally, the caller’s name was displayed on the screen.
[Ha Il-jun, Golden Age]
“…?”
Why… was Gold 1 calling me in the middle of the night?

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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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