Debut or Die - Chapter 174

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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 174
Let me break down the current situation simply.
Some fans from Cha Yu-jin’s and my individual fanbases have started clashing, and it’s on the verge of exploding into public discourse.
‘This is driving me insane.’
…Okay, calm down.
I could pretend I don’t know and let it slide, but if this rises any higher, we risk being branded as a “troublesome group” in the public’s mind again, so I’m thinking of at least attempting some light damage control.
‘That’s why I’m turning on W App.’
Since we’ve become roommates and the situation hasn’t blown up yet, if I play ignorant, it won’t be too obvious.
But there are precautions to consider.
If I’m going to broadcast anything with Cha Yu-jin in a situation like this, there are several things I need to keep in mind.
-First, we can’t fall into a dynamic where one person is teaching the other.
In that case, an implicit hierarchy forms because of the situation, and people will find fault no matter what.
Examples would be things like “he barely teaches but expects gratitude” or “he teaches in a coercive manner.”
‘So something like 【Fun Cooking Class with Cha Yu-jin】 or 【Fun English Class with Park Moon-dae】 is rejected.’
-Second, we don’t choose anything work-related.
The moment we pick a topic involving dance or singing, comparisons start: “who’s better and who’s worse.”
It’s the perfect setup for the conflict to explode again.
And… the final third point.
-We don’t choose competitive content.
People invested in one side might feel hurt toward the other.
‘So betting games or card games are out. Deleted.’
So what’s actually recommended?
Simple.
‘Showing the two of us working together as a team on something is best.’
The nuance is subtle enough that it doesn’t feel forced, and it’s best if people can just watch and laugh.
If we fail but it’s funny, even better.
So I chose this.
“Waaaaaah!!”
A horror-themed escape room, that’s what.
‘Damn it.’
I never thought I’d waste money like this of my own volition, but I hunted down a room at an escape room cafe that’s going into remodeling soon and quickly sealed the contract online for a decent sum.
…I think I got a bad deal since there was no time to negotiate.
‘At least the company said they’d cover the costs.’
Of course, that just means the expense comes out of my settlement amount.
Anyway, that’s why I’m here doing an escape room with Cha Yu-jin during a late-night slot when our schedule was free.
Of course, the staff member holding the smartphone camera followed along with sad eyes.
‘I’m sorry.’
I didn’t expect this either.
“Whoa! Hyung, your head! Watch out!”
But Cha Yu-jin seems absolutely thrilled. It’s ridiculous.
“Weren’t you scared of this kind of thing too…?”
“It’s so fake! I’m not scared! There are no ghosts!”
Compared to that house we visited during the debut reality show last time, this was child’s play.
‘It’s definitely… pretty shabby.’
Whether it was a labor cost issue, there weren’t even any staff members playing the role of ghosts. On top of that, the props and wallpaper all had a faint smell of budget constraints.
‘No wonder they’re planning a remodel.’
Since there weren’t many sections that required much thinking, there was no room for nitpicking like “can’t even solve that?” or anything.
Occasionally turning off the lights to scare us a bit—if you had decent nerve and quick reflexes, it would be fine….
“Hyung! There’s blood here!”
“…Crayon, it’s a crayon. It melted.”
“Ah!”
I couldn’t let my urge to smack him once slip out. Let’s forget about it.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, thanks to the increasingly eerie composition as we progressed, I was able to forget the shoddiness and become immersed.
Even when a mannequin appeared in the red lighting near the end, Cha Yu-jin got scared too, so the footage turned out decent.
“What the…!”
He even held back his curse words. Well done.
As a result, when we escaped and came out, the atmosphere felt as solid as if we’d overcome some great ordeal.
“You two successfully escaped with 6 minutes and 21 seconds remaining~”
“WOOOW!! Look, we escaped!”
“On the way back… we’re going to eat something delicious.”
Hahaha, you scaredy-cats!
-aren’t they unexpectedly soulmates
Hahahahaha escape lol
-(clapping emoji)
The live reactions the staff showed us briefly were excellent. The viewer count was also massive, on the level of W App’s usual numbers.
‘That’s enough.’
It seems like we’ve succeeded as content.
“Thank you for watching.”
“Thank you! Thank you guys~”
And so W Live ended just before midnight.
“Then we’ll collect the cameras.”
We agreed that today’s broadcast would be edited together with footage shot from different angles by cameras installed in the room and uploaded separately to W App.
…However, I nearly gasped when I heard the title would be [Puppy and Kitty’s Fear Conquest Journey], but I accepted it.
It was better for the attention to be drawn that way instead.
‘Actually, it’s good….’
I sighed and checked my smartphone again.
“They’re letting both of them escape from fear like this? The DubApp manager is so evil lolololol”
-the return of reality horror experience
-both of them must have missed Sae-jin
Shivering doggies and kitties lol (screenshot)
-Park Moon-dae briefly looking sharp before instantly shrinking (screenshot comparison)
“What are you looking at??”
“Fan reactions.”
“Ah, I see.”
Cha Yu-jin nodded in understanding.
I’d actually explained the purpose of this W Live broadcast while preparing—roughly that there were some fans among ours who didn’t get along well with each other.
‘He probably grasped the situation well enough.’
His attitude of proceeding through the game with keen awareness during that previous clash between Lee Sae-jin and Bae Sae-jin was no accident. It was convenient that he’d completely shed any unnecessary competitive spirit.
“Does everyone like it??”
“Yeah. It’s decent.”
In any case, the response was quite satisfactory.
Everyone was too busy enjoying the content itself, so related posts were already flooding real-time trends and popular threads, pushing the undercurrent drama completely off the radar.
Except for those directly involved in the fight, it was nearly impossible for anyone to care.
‘Especially since Cha Yu-jin and Park Moon-dae’s fans both have pretty strong firepower in the moment.’
A few days later, when someone inevitably tried to stir things up again, a newly edited version would be uploaded. That would essentially wrap everything up.
“Should we eat something delicious now?”
“Tomorrow. It’s late today, so just drink a zero-calorie cola.”
“Ugh….”
…However, after getting in the car to head back to the Dormitory, I discovered something rather uncomfortable.
Specifically, posts uploaded to anonymous sites by a few of Cha Yu-jin’s malicious fans who were involved in the fight.
-Wow~ interesting, look at that timing lol
-He’s so obviously concerned about public opinion, disgusting bastard
-Moon-dae being Moon-dae, let go of Yu-jin
-ㅋㅋㅋ It looks like Park Moon-dae is going to make me spy on him while searching.
‘Here it comes.’
I’d had a premonition that someone would say something like this.
‘I handled several situations too perfectly.’
Because I’d smoothly defused each controversy that erupted, connecting the dots would naturally lead some people to wonder: ‘Could this bastard know everything and be doing this intentionally?’
But whether now or before, there’s not a shred of circumstantial evidence.
I prefer taking the initiative, so I often stepped out first or simultaneously to crush things before they spread.
This kind of thing would be hard to view as ‘responded after the controversy erupted.’ People would just think the timing was fortunate.
Moreover, since I never comment on such matters directly, even if someone suspects, they’d easily assume the Company orchestrated it.
So my evaluation always ended at something like: the response was appropriate, the luck was good.
So it’s actually… kind of amusing.
‘They won’t believe it even as they write it themselves.’
They’re just frustrated, so they grab one detail and insist on it.
But if they keep fabricating connections, eventually samples will accumulate and become a plausible narrative… that’s my concern.
‘Well, it’s actually true anyway.’
I shrugged. Still, I didn’t want to give those bastards even one win.
So I thought about it.
‘So how do I get rid of this one too?’
Since I’d already started, I wanted to uproot everything completely so there wouldn’t be any noise left.
‘Making them fight each other is the best way to dismantle them. Or I could make them switch to some other fresh group.’
From Cha Yu-jin’s perspective, it would actually be better in the long run if my influence weakened. So….
“Hyung! Would you like some cola??”
“…Huh? What?”
I turned my head to find Cha Yu-jin, who had apparently bought zero-calorie cola, sitting in the car with a small plastic bottle in hand.
“Um, would you drink it? Would you have some…? Want some?”
Cha Yu-jin kept switching his words. It seemed he thought my lack of response meant his words hadn’t gotten through properly.
“It’s fine. You drink it.”
[Oh, okay. But hyung, do you have something on your mind?]
“…!”
“You look tired, hyung. That’s how you seem.”
“It’s late at night.”
[Not that kind of thing! Um… like, psychological reasons?]
“….”
This guy… he picks up on things like this?
I scanned Cha Yu-jin with suspicious eyes, then finally let out a sigh.
I should give him a reasonable answer.
“I’ve been preoccupied checking reactions. It’s nothing serious.”
“Oh, lots of people saying they dislike it?”
“No, just… it’s not like there aren’t any.”
“I see.”
Cha Yu-jin gulped down his zero-calorie cola and spoke seriously.
[But don’t worry too much about it, hyung. How could you possibly change everyone else’s hearts the way you want?]
“…!”
Cha Yu-jin shrugged.
[Mom told me that there will always be someone who dislikes you appearing throughout your life! But you just ignore them, and boom! You keep going. Don’t stress about it!]
“….”
Huh. That was surprisingly common sense advice I never would have expected.
It’s… cooling my head a bit.
I thought about it again.
If I don’t immediately deal with these guys who’ve fled to anonymous forums, will a problem actually arise?
‘It might, or it might not.’
Then, if that ‘problem’ does occur, would it seem difficult to handle?
“….”
‘No.’
Even if I dealt with it when it came, it doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult.
Besides, even if it becomes known that I’m monitoring things intensively, what’s the big deal? At worst, a few people would just complain.
In fact, the probability of the problem growing larger was higher if I made a mistake while trying to root out all of these guys.
I finally admitted it to myself.
‘I was being a bit… oversensitive.’
Under normal circumstances, I would have brushed it off and forgotten about it by now, but it seemed I disliked the idea of someone trying to figure me out.
‘Did I develop some kind of control complex?’
Having entered someone else’s body and working in an industry where I had to deal with countless people in various ways, my mind had apparently grown rigid without me realizing it.
“Sigh.”
I closed the anonymous forum that had been displayed on my screen and tossed my phone carelessly onto the seat beside me.
Then I spoke.
“You’re right. I need to step back from this.”
“Awesome! I was right!”
He was brimming with confidence.
[Oh, hyung. One more thing! Don’t forget that you always have the option to sue!]
That was quite the American piece of advice.
“Yeah.”
“Good!”
I never thought I’d hear words like these.
I let out a quiet laugh and leaned back against the seat.
‘Maybe I should get some rest.’
As a bonus, Cha Yu-jin could freely finish my Zero Cola without worry.
And the moment I closed my eyes, someone slapped my shoulder forcefully.
“Oh hyung! The director said something today! Our unit’s doing a circus performance on stage!”
“….”
Six months as roommates… I’m not sure I can endure this.

* * *
After suffering from intermittent sleep deprivation for several days, I finally managed to silence Cha Yu-jin by bribing and coaxing him with snacks.
Then the Company brought up the Concert, and naturally, talk of new content followed.
For the record, I was positive about it. If there were plenty of things to enjoy, it would be easier to drown out any unnecessary nonsense that might slip out.
However, what the Company had in mind was… somewhat different from what I expected.
“We’re planning a new reality show.”
Reality shows are good. I would have preferred it during the album release, but using it to fill gaps during the tour wasn’t bad either….
“We’re thinking of making it an America special!”
“…?”
That’s when I should have realized it.
The outgoing Director and the new Director coming in… had caught America fever.

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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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