Debut or Die - Chapter 175

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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 175
I learned about the Director’s replacement two days ago.
“Again?”
“Exactly! I thought he’d at least finish out the year.”
According to the rumors circulating quietly, the industrial espionage case had apparently escalated to T1 Headquarters, and various discussions had taken place between Approval Bot and the higher-ups.
And from what I gathered, some agreement was reached—Approval Bot retired and moved to a subsidiary, while a New Director was appointed to fill his position.
“This time, they say the new Director isn’t coming from T1. Apparently some famous professional CEO is taking over!”
“That’s exciting.”
I felt no excitement whatsoever, but there was no harm in nodding along with the company employee.
For the record, this meeting was concert-related.
“Then we’ll finalize the solo track direction for Moon-dae like this.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
At that moment, I had no idea that two days later, during the reality show meeting, I’d hear an unexpected proposal about going to America.
“America?”
“I love it! Let’s go to America!”
“Ah, Eugene, wait a moment. America’s great and all, but with the costs and our schedule… we barely tour the American side anyway~”
The moment Big Sae-jin heard the ‘America for this reality show’ announcement, he gently raised the practical concerns.
‘A valid point.’
When we said we were getting some response in America, it really just meant we’d managed to establish the recognition of a first-tier domestic group among KPOP enthusiasts.
We’d gained some subculture recognition from appearing on that game talk show, but it was only modest at best.
It wasn’t enough to justify a major tour scale, and naturally our American concert was merely going through the motions.
“Ah, they said they’re coordinating the flight schedule with the South America tour dates. As for costs, well, Tnet is obviously backing Testa on this—they said they’d invest at this level~”
“Ooh~”
“We’re grateful, but… wouldn’t there be a risk of not recovering the production costs?”
Some of the more naive members looked embarrassed at the employee’s flattery.
‘Something’s off.’
America out of nowhere? The cost-benefit ratio doesn’t add up at all.
To gauge the employee’s reaction, I asked directly on purpose.
“But is there a specific reason it has to be America? Did Tnet propose it first?”
“Ah, well… the Director actually suggested it…”
“…The new Director?”
“Yes.”
I’d only heard about the change two days ago, so when exactly did he make this proposal? Something feels off already.
“What reason did he give when he mentioned it?”
“Well, I wasn’t directly in that meeting myself, so… um, he said that with global simultaneous release in mind, he chose a background that would be familiar worldwide…”
He’s leaving himself an out and giving an abstract answer. Something’s definitely bothering him.
‘Maybe I should dig deeper.’
Before I could open my mouth, Ryu Chung-woo asked the next question first.
“Global simultaneous release?”
“Yes. We’re currently discussing releasing this reality show directly on YouTube in countries outside Korea!”
Cha Yu-jin interjected.
“Do you see a lot of American people?”
“…! Oh, yes. That topic did come up, but….”
Watching the flustered employee, it was clear that Cha Yu-jin had hit the mark.
‘So they were targeting the English-speaking market.’
Well, it wasn’t necessarily a bad idea to attempt something like this for a reality show, but the problem was what the New Director’s tendencies revealed.
Rather than creating content to appease domestic fans during the overseas tour and prevent them from leaving, he was thinking about how to expand the overseas market by any means necessary.
And not even in a country already familiar with K-pop, but in ‘prestigious’ America.
‘Let’s cut this short.’
It would be better to check whether he becomes cautious when the group shows clear reluctance.
I looked around at the members and opened my mouth.
“Could we discuss this among ourselves first and get back to you at the next meeting?”
“Right~ I think that would be better!”
Big Sae-jin provided support fire, but the employee’s response became more drawn out.
“Of course! Well, of course Testa’s opinions will be reflected quite a bit, but ultimately the production team will make the final decision considering various practical factors… I’m really sorry, but I hope you understand that point.”
It meant that even if we said we didn’t want to go to America at the next meeting, they’d send us anyway.
‘Damn it.’
It seemed the decision had already been half-made with strong internal pressure. Still, they were clearly being cautious because of the industrial espionage incident.
“Then we’ll see you next week.”
“Thank you~”
After that, we talked a bit about what content we wanted to do for the reality show and then left the conference room.
“What do you think? America?”
“Let’s go! I want to go! There are lots of delicious restaurants! My mom wants to see my older brothers!”
“Ah, that would be really nice~”
“I… would be grateful if I could pay my respects.”
Cha Yu-jin was an enthusiastic supporter, and the other members seemed to think it was natural too.
‘There’s no helping it.’
He certainly had fewer opportunities to see his family compared to the other members, so if a chance to meet them came up, he’d want to take it.
‘He must miss home too.’
If we were going anyway, visiting Cha Yu-jin’s place would be better content-wise.
‘But I should set the tone before that.’
Given how cautious they were being earlier, I suspected the company would make some kind of gesture before the next meeting.
And sure enough, the very next morning at the company training room, I received a new schedule from the Manager.
“Hey guys, the new Director wants to see you.”
“Oh, the Director.”
“…Now?”
“In about an hour? He said it won’t take long!”
Bae Sae-jin’s face darkened as he asked. It was understandable.
‘Our break time just vanished.’
We had barely carved out time to rest in the training room during our busy schedule.
“Understood….”
“Yes, got it!”
The responses lacked any real enthusiasm.
Still, an hour later, Testa made their way to the Director’s Office for the first time in a while.
Even Sun Ah-hyun, who’d recently switched hobbies to French embroidery or something and was now glancing wistfully at piles of fabric, made it clear the Director had made a solid first impression.
‘Better to use the downtime during the meeting instead.’
All I’d earned by hastily making arrangements was subtle resentment.
I entered the Director’s Office wondering if another incompetent fool had shown up, and I was somewhat surprised by what I found.
“Ah, Testa members. I apologize for calling you on such short notice. Please, have a seat.”
The Director had prepared refreshments and was waiting for us.
It wasn’t just token snacks—he’d brought out an entire spread, from chicken to waffles, arranged by category like it was for some grand event.
It had the vibe of those academy recruitment presentations designed to lure kids in, but at least the message was clear enough.
‘I want to build a good relationship with you all,’ it said.
“Did I interrupt your break time? I felt bad calling you when you’re all so busy lately, so I prepared a little something, haha!”
“Oh, of course it’s fine, Director!”
“Th-thank you.”
“Shall we talk while we eat?”
The Director picked up a piece of chicken first.
Watching him barely touch it to his lips before setting it down, it seemed he didn’t actually want to eat—he just knew that if he didn’t go first, the others would feel awkward about helping themselves.
‘Huh.’
He does seem to have some experience working closely with operational staff. And he’s much younger than the previous Directors.
The Director made some light conversation, waited for everyone to eat a bit, then shifted into business.
“The reason I arranged this meeting was first to see your faces and exchange proper greetings. I look forward to working with you all going forward.”
“We look forward to it as well!”
Light handshakes were exchanged.
“And second… I believe you’ve already heard about this. It’s regarding the reality show American location shoot.”
The Director interlaced his fingers with a serious expression.
“I’m not just thinking about this one project—I’m mapping out a long-term strategy to penetrate the American market going forward.”
“Y-yes…?”
Damn it.
“Before I took this position, I reviewed all of your albums and activity records.”
The Director spoke earnestly, rattling off his analysis of Testa’s activities.
“…And America clearly likes what you do. The underdog narrative, social messaging, pride in your roots, and individuality. What do you think, Eugene? Am I right?”
“Oh, yeah, you’re right!”
“Exactly. And Testa is a team that satisfies all three of these elements. So I’m confident you’ll succeed in larger markets as well.”
“Oh…!”
It’s all bullshit.
First, those three conditions are a huge stretch to begin with, and Cha Yu-jin just got excited because he was eating something delicious—he only agreed because the guy who bought it asked him to.
More than anything, even if a group satisfied all three conditions, there are countless others who’ve failed in America.
Even if someone meets all three of those conditions, there will be countless people in America who still don’t make it.
‘I must be having a bad dream.’
The problem was that this bastard had analyzed the data in his own way and held firm convictions about it. And he seemed to trust his own abilities tremendously.
Ryu Chung-woo barely managed to open his mouth.
“Well, I appreciate the kind words, but rather than targeting any specific country or demographic… we’ve built the team to focus on continuing to produce good albums.”
“Of course! You all just keep making good music. What I meant was that the company will work harder to think about and execute how to promote and manage that good music better.”
His words flowed like water.
“To be honest, I think the support for T1 Stars has been quite lacking up until now. Rather than sharing a vision with you all, we were just scrambling to keep up.”
The Director’s eyes were serious.
“For instance, the scale of this concert’s Japan tour is a case in point. I heard that 【Idol Corporation】 had an excellent response from the first episode in Japan, so we should have quickly expanded the tour scale, booked additional schedules, and analyzed Japanese demand—but we did none of that.”
Oh, this was actually fairly new information.
I’d been too busy lately to even look into foreign reactions, but thinking about it, he was right that the agency should have caught onto this long ago.
‘Still, it’s better that we did nothing than to have carelessly stirred up trouble in some weird direction.’
For instance, if this guy had been here instead of the Approval Bot, we’d probably be randomly doing Japanese music broadcasts right now.
But the Director seemed deeply absorbed in his own analysis, speaking with such fervor he was practically spraying saliva.
“So what’s the result? 【Idol Corporation】 became a massive hit in Japan too, and while Testa’s stock value has been rising steadily, the agency has been neglecting Japan activities.”
“Hmm, is that so.”
“Is the upward trend in Japan really that pronounced?”
At the lukewarm response from Ryu Chung-woo and the curious remark from Kim Rae-bin, the Director—delighted to finally show off his knowledge—pulled out some kind of tablet.
And with a smooth motion, he swiped the screen.
“Have you seen this by any chance?”
A single PowerPoint slide appeared, made with a reasonably contemporary aesthetic template.
And the content was… a screenshot of some Japanese auction product. Apart from the astronomical price, there was nothing particularly noteworthy.
Except that Sun Ah-hyun’s face was plastered right there on the product.
“Gasp.”
It was a photo card that some broadcasting station had given out in extremely limited quantities as a raffle prize during a public service campaign early in the year.
It was probably taken backstage at the broadcasting station after that stage where Sun Ah-hyun did a backflip to cover for an in-ear malfunction, at the request of a station staff member.
‘There’s something oddly specific about the circumstances.’
Moreover, for a photo Sun Ah-hyun had taken himself, it turned out exceptionally well, and with so many requests pouring in, the broadcasting station eventually posted the original photo data on their SNS.
Still, the few copies released in that initial event had acquired a decent premium, but I never expected it to cross over to Japan and command that kind of price.
“Right now this is going for nearly 500,000 won in Korean currency. It’s very compelling evidence that demand for Testa is surging in Japan. Especially Sun Ah-hyun’s response has been particularly strong.”
“Yes, yes….”
Sun Ah-hyun’s face turned bright red. The Director shouted passionately.
“So we need to approach overseas markets more aggressively and actively now. Since we’ve broken through Japan so easily, I’m certain that if we find just the right route in America and commit to it, we can definitely achieve results there too.”
“….”
Now I understand.
‘So that’s why “come to think of it, that makes sense” came back as an A-rank response when dealing with this guy.’
This is how my theory keeps proving itself again.
I suppressed a sigh and opened my mouth.

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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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