Debut or Die - Chapter 187

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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 187
“Ugh, this is so annoying.”
Past midnight, Kim Rae-bin’s personal fan tore into her bread while absorbed in the Internet.
The Saturday concert she’d attended before midnight—the midpoint concert of Testa—had concluded successfully and smoothly, just like the first day.
-The guys seemed more relaxed and gave us lots of comments about it, and during the encore they were just smiling, pure happiness 100%
Today’s penalty group: Sun Ah-hyun, Cha Yu-jin, Bae Sae-jin, and also Kim Rae-bin lololol
The Reviewers were really trying hard to get the quiz wrong, isn’t that too much? No. They’re doing well. Tomorrow they all need to do the penalty.
-Kim Rae-bin’s rabbit ears triple combo (photo)
Public opinion remained unquestionably positive about the quality and enjoyment of it all.
In other words, the noise that day stemmed from different sources.
First, unsurprisingly, it came from the Company’s official statement about Park Moon-dae’s stage apparatus.
A statement focused on future countermeasures rather than an apology.
If it had been a company dealing with mass-market consumers, such an approach might have worked, but in the entertainment business, it naturally didn’t.
-They’ve lost their minds
-So the kid really did pass out, you bastards
I haven’t seen such a full-blown excuse-making post in a while. Every other sentence is “the artist~” “the artist’s will~” lol are you crazy or something?
-Device malfunction or whatever, they’re saying they’ll do it up to Seoul, Park Moon-dae really came through, already looking forward to the final concert
-As expected, it wasn’t because of Gommer’s injury, it was because the agency didn’t do their job. Haha. Let’s quickly reinforce the equipment, not even T1’s teeth, so Gommer can do all the stages he wants to do.
I can’t believe the agency finally got them a professional. What were they doing all this time lol
-So they made the kid pass out and now they’re saying they’ll have him perform up to the Seoul concert because the apparatus is too expensive? Wow
From people who seemed ready to send trucks and pitchforks to the Agency building without hesitation, to those who found solace in the fact that they could witness that stage themselves.
Just as when the rumor first spread, diverse reactions emerged again, but this time there was one clear common thread.
Either way, public opinion of the Agency had plummeted to rock bottom.
Whether it was concern for Park Moon-dae or contempt for the Agency’s incompetence and shamelessness, it converged into one sharp atmosphere.
-I thought they had money, but I guess they didn’t have any to spend on their artists’ safety
-T1 die please die
-Just give the company to Moon-dae
And as it reached this point, even cynical people began forming a consensus that “the Agency deserves a beating.”
-Honestly, even a muggle can see this is justified, right?
-Training injury, real accident, statement disaster—three strikes and you’re out, T1 a trash company wearing a mask of an entertainment agency
-Rather than checking every single thing next time, it’s right to beat them properly now
Kim Rae-bin’s fan was on this side too. Though she carried a slight preconception.
‘Agencies are supposed to get beaten to listen.’
In any case, all that public sentiment flowed in one direction, ready to explode into public discourse the moment the concert ended.
The only reason they held back at all was to avoid harm to Park Moon-dae and to prevent conflict with other members’ individual fans.
The atmosphere burned so intensely that even some of Park Moon-dae’s fans who simply wanted to enjoy the concert comfortably felt somewhat uncomfortable.
And within that fire, the second concert began.
“And it’s all over.”
Kim Rae-bin’s fan muttered irritably.
The moment the second day’s concert started and ended, the savage atmosphere noticeably subsided.
There was only one reason.
Park Moon-dae at the concert looked at ease and genuinely happy.
Of course, while being intensely absorbed in the performance.
-Even watching the low-quality stream, Moon-dae’s face looks so good..
-Moon-dae getting the slogan at the encore (photo)
-Mundae was so excited. There is no Tibet, so it’s just a mess.
-Park Moon-dae is in tears with his arms around his shouldersㅠㅠ Our apple rice cake is overflowing with juiceㅠㅠ (photo)
His solo stage was even more powerful than the first night.
Even the fans who had been nervously watching until the stage began found their sharp anxiety melting away by the midpoint, overwhelmed by his composure and momentum.
-Insane insane Park Moon-dae insane
-Visualizing the greatest idol rise
Witnessing an idol who creates an excellent performance and then radiates happiness while looking at the audience had the effect of making hearts resonate with that joy.
It felt like sharing a perfectly successful moment.
The happiness transmitted from him cooled the heated tension just slightly.
So Park Moon-dae’s fans began tempering the intensity of their feedback to the company.
From burning it down to constructive criticism.
-【Park Moon-dae Space】 Representative here. This agency statement is being drafted based on anonymous voting, with emphasis placed on safety. (draft attached)
-If something happens again later, we need to gauge how far boycotts should go
-If we see even the slightest hint of something similar, we’re boycotting T1 Stars entirely for real
T1 Stars, who had been monitoring with the intensity of someone biting their nails, let out a sigh of relief and was already preparing a humble, apologetic response to that feedback.
‘Phew.’
Kim Rae-bin’s fan, who had been searching every conceivable keyword combination related to ‘Park Moon-dae injury’ and ‘Park Moon-dae accident,’ let out a scoff at the calming atmosphere.
‘Ugh, whether Park Moon-dae enjoyed this concert or not, the company deserves to be punished~ Why are they putting their hopes on Park Moon-dae??’
She grumbled that they should have squeezed the company harder while they had the chance, but deep down, she was also relieved.
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FullMoon Baby
: XX1207 ‘Magic is You’ Preview
(photo) (photo) (photo) (photo)
I love you my star
#ParkMoon-dae #TeSTAR #TeSTARCon #Enchanted_ME #Moon-daedaeng #Moondae
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‘…Well, he does look happy.’
The College Student watching Park Moon-dae’s sweat-drenched face singing the fan song at the encore felt her expression cloud over. Her fighting spirit was being drained away by the low-quality photos.
But immediately after, she shifted her stance back.
‘No wait, if he looks happy because of that, then shouldn’t I be punishing the ones who almost kept him from being happy even more?’
The determined College Student refreshed her timeline vigorously, wondering if there was anyone else saying something similar.
And then she suddenly spotted that post.
-There were so many cameras in the best spot in front of the stage, so I thought it was for VOD, but it’s Abyss Season 4 filming lol… (photo)
“…!!”
In the attached photo, a camera clearly bearing the Abyss Season 4 logo was visible.
The true sensation of the day was when news of the Abyss Season 4 participants attending the Testa concert began circulating as a trending post.
It started appearing not only on fans’ social media but across various online communities as well.
[Abyss Season 4 finalists spotted at today’s Testa concert.jpg]
[Testa concert appearance in Abyss Season 4?]
“What?”
The crowning touch came when the Abyss Season 4 production team, as always, drew attention by celebrating how it was “going viral.”
[Idol Corporation Relisting! Season 2> National idol Testa cheers on the finalists☆ Bling Bling concert included! (EP.14 Preview)]
They released this video as a finale preview early the very next morning.

* * *
I took a sip of cold beer.
Since there was another concert tomorrow, I had no intention of drinking heavily—this was simply to ease the tension.
‘So it’s come to this.’
After the concert ended, I checked the public sentiment while lying in the bathtub at the dormitory, and it was in overdrive.
‘At least the announcement went reasonably well.’
We didn’t explicitly mention the aftereffects of the injury, only disclosed the equipment malfunction.
We pushed through with the stage performance until the Seoul concert.
It was all to bridge the unnecessary divide in opinions among concert attendees.
Whether someone was concerned about ‘whether Park Moon-dae had fully recovered’ or worried about ‘whether I could see that particular stage performance,’ both sides were satisfied to a reasonable degree.
‘I essentially prevented the controversy from becoming a topic of discussion at all.’
As expected, that narrative faded.
And to prevent further scandal, I made sure to present myself as stably as possible during the concert.
…However, I never expected so many people would care about my emotional state in such a positive way.
Could Park Moon-dae appearing happy really have such an impact?
“…Hmm.”
It was somewhat bewildering, but not bad. Though it seems I pushed myself a bit too hard during today’s concert because of it.
‘With Bacchus 500, I should be fine.’
If things went according to plan, my stamina would recover well by tomorrow.
Though the direction was somewhat different from my predictions, I managed to make the criticism directed at the agency pause momentarily and settle within expected parameters.
‘Now even if another bomb drops as the final catalyst, the company’s resentment won’t come directly at me.’
Because I’m not the ultimate cause.
‘Since it’s Abyss Season 4 that’s destroying everything, the agency will resent Tnet instead.’
And in fact, that bomb is already detonating.
“Hmm.”
I pulled up the Abyss Season 4 finale preview that Tnet had just posted on my screen.
[Hello, this is Testa!]
Familiar faces in concert attire smiled and bowed in greeting.
Since I was going to die anyway, I might as well die spectacularly—I didn’t refuse to do an interview supporting the Abyss Season 4 finalists.
‘At least they drew the line somewhere by not filming direct confrontations between us and the participants.’
Thanks to that, none of the members felt particularly worried, and even in their exhausted state after the concert, they filmed their words of support and encouragement with smiling faces.
But who would have thought they’d hastily edit that and drop it as the final teaser right at midnight.
‘Under normal circumstances, we’d have weathered the backlash and turned it into buzz. Too bad.’
The timing was terrible.
Because of my situation, the Agency’s image had hit rock bottom even among the other members’ fans.
‘Perfect setup for people to curse out both the Agency and me together.’
There was no way to brush this off with vague excuses like ‘I guess they’re promoting the concert tour.’
The video comments below were already flooded with far more dislikes than likes.
-Wow! A pro who took up 30 center seats in front of the console!^^
-Fed up with Abyss Season 4’s nonsense, please stop
I’m already struggling with no seats, and where did this program I cut ties with ages ago crawl in from to even get to the Concert lolol
-ㅋㅋㅋ I meant to say boycott steamed buns as a joke, but it looks like they ended up doing steamed buns ㅠㅠ
And thanks to Testa’s fans venting their anger at the Agency, the Abyss Season 4 participants actually received less criticism than they normally would have.
Because they were included in the company bashing.
These godly players are suffering again, held hostage by this garbage program. You should all leave T1 too.
-Do you get cheers by sending kids who haven’t even debuted to Namdol Con? Ah, I got caught. I’ll cheer and edit the kid I want to send away. Haha, it’s obvious.
-Just show more of the participants themselves, why would anyone want to watch male idols when every single frame is precious right now?
Abyss Season 4 fans who didn’t want to be attacked began attacking T1 and Tnet together.
The power imbalance aside, it was a somewhat strategic choice since they’d clearly be entangled with them going forward and didn’t want to make enemies.
Of course, the frustration accumulated from watching Abyss Season 4 on Tnet would have been more than enough anyway.
I clicked my tongue.
‘…There’s going to be chaos at the Agency in the middle of the night.’
I could picture exactly what the company was going through.
I felt a brief moment of sympathy for the regular employees, but then I caught myself—no use crying over spilled milk.
‘Still, if I can just get through this tour smoothly, I’ll easily meet the abnormal condition requirements.’
And when that happens, I….
“…Park Moon-dae! You in there?”
“…!”
A voice called from outside the bathroom door, muffled as it passed through the steam.
“Yeah. Coming.”
I’d been sitting here too long. I stood up from the lukewarm water.
I dried off roughly, threw on my clothes, grabbed the empty beer can, and stepped out.
Standing outside was Bae Sae-jin.
‘Did he need the bathroom….’
I’d deliberately waited until the others were asleep, but it looked like someone else was already using one of the other bathrooms.
I nodded politely and tried to move past him toward the trash bin.
But he grabbed my shoulder.
“Hey, you.”
“Yes?”
What’s this about.
Bae Sae-jin swallowed hard, then glanced nervously to one side before speaking.
It was an empty beer can in my hand.
“Aren’t you drinking too much…?”
What was that supposed to mean?

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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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