Debut or Die - Chapter 204

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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 204
Testa’s Walking Holiday had garnered positive reception on YouTube and gained considerable recognition among overseas K-pop fans.
-So you’re saying if you shout “hotteok,” you can buy Testa’s smile at that shop? (crying emoji)
-The Reviewer keeps shouting “Of course!” whenever a customer calls him a handsome young man
-Anonymous: Asian precision is all about chopstick skills lol
Rabin: Adjusting 30g by hand
Anonymous:
-Nobody mentions Chung-woo’s kindness, everyone’s only talking about how ‘hot’ he is (laughing while crying emoji)
Following the game collaboration track and making an impression at the parade, Testa had opened wide the gates for overseas fans to flood in through this reality show, according to many assessments.
However, as expected, they hadn’t quite broken into the international mainstream.
They’d simply gained recognition among people who already enjoyed this genre.
So when I heard they’d appeared on an American program, I wondered what that was about, thinking maybe the hotteok had gone viral… but.
Upon checking, it turned out an entirely unexpected minor detail had drawn attention.
“This! This one!”
The moment we arrived at the Dormitory, Cha Yu-jin thrust a short video at me—one circulating on SNS with English subtitles.
It was the scene from Reality Season 2 where Cha Yu-jin had gone out to eat with his mother.
Since we’d divided into teams and distributed roles, Cha Yu-jin, myself, and Ryu Chung-woo had accompanied them to that meal… and the meal composition had been quite unique.
[I was selected in the lottery! I’d love it if you all came along.]
It was a meal provided by an American chef survival program.
Our Production Team had been excited and managed to capture a few shots through on-site negotiations, but honestly, it wasn’t a comfortable situation.
[Wait, hyung, that’s not cooked.]
[Really?]
[Oh my, let’s ask them to cook it more!]
When Ryu Chung-woo sent back the white fish dish because it was undercooked, we heard an absolutely tremendous shout from the kitchen.
[This fish is so cold my hands will get frostbite from touching it!]
[….]
It seemed survival programs followed similar patterns wherever they went.
It was a wonderful experience that brought back memories of those days at Ajusa when we’d fail and get scolded by the trainers.
Apparently, this scene had been broadcast on the chef program’s side as well.
However, there had been a misunderstanding.
They’d thought the members were brothers.
It was because when Cha Yu-jin’s Mother had submitted the request, she’d used phrasing like “Eating with my son who’s returned after a long time :)”
Thanks to that, the scolding gained a narrative.
[Those guests! They say they’ve been working overseas and are eating with their mother in their hometown for the first time in a year!]
[You’re ruining their precious time!]
[Enough! Everyone out of my kitchen, now!]
The judge delivered such lines.
Moreover, whenever the kitchen commotion was filmed, our composed faces were also broadcast as the perfect finishing touch.
[Brings back old memories.]
[Indeed it does.]
The dialogue came with subtitles, thoughtfully provided.
Contrasted against the kitchen’s frenzied atmosphere, it apparently struck quite the comedic chord.
As a sort of East Asian meme, it briefly trended across American internet spaces.
-A isn’t just some random Asian C, right? lol
Comments like that circulated, spawning satirical memes along the lines of ‘for hardworking East Asians, American survival shows are just daily life lol’.
Which meant it quickly caught the attention of K-pop fans who already knew about Testa.
-Oh my god, it’s Testa
-You idiots, they actually won a ‘real’ survival show lol
-‘It reminds me of the old days’ refers to the similar survival show they experienced! I can’t believe this misunderstanding happened (laughing emoji)
-That scene already aired in their reality show (link)
-Park Moon-dae is such an excellent cook that the scene where he catches the undercooked fish first never gets old
-Their survival show had absolutely insane rules, and I’m so proud of Testa for overcoming it ♡
This commotion became fairly well-known across American internet communities and such, becoming an amusing plot twist that turned into a trending issue.
And it didn’t end there—the climax was that it nearly escalated into controversy.
-Am I the only one who finds it somewhat discriminatory to mistake people of the same age and ethnicity as brothers?
The misunderstanding that arose from Cha Yu-jin’s Mother’s story was later clarified well, but in any case, the issue rode the wave from humor straight through to controversy, so it apparently went viral.
[This is a corner where we introduce stories that have recently become famous on the internet!]
It ultimately got a brief mention on American news-style broadcasts that cover internet gossip.
That was exactly what Cha Yu-jin showed me.
“That’s wild!”
“Right?”
It’s strange how people can go viral over the smallest coincidences.
Though I’m not sure if it’s something to get this excited about—though I suppose watching it in your native language might make it even funnier.
Cha Yu-jin hummed along casually to “That’s Me” and browsed through the English-language pages. I shook my head and headed toward the kitchen.
“Moon-dae, Moon-dae, there’s more barley tea~ I’m being generous and sharing it, go ahead and drink!”
He’s talking like he’s my hyung now.
“No thanks.”
“Seriously? You’re disrespecting our mom’s goodwill?”
….
I eventually gritted my teeth and pulled out the barley tea. Big Sae-jin burst out laughing.
‘That’s really something.’
It was annoying, but this situation was only possible because we were all lounging around the dormitory on this afternoon.
‘…It’s been a while since I’ve had this kind of leisure.’
With that damned ‘truth’ verification postponed, this felt good. Starting the day after tomorrow, if I just focused on the final stages of the comeback single, everything should be fine.
‘The song’s almost done, I just need to do some final touch-ups.’
It was a single I was releasing lightly as fan service and a form check on the reality show, before the full-length album, after pushing the conceptual direction hard.
If things went as planned, the latter half of the promotional period would overlap with university festival season, so I could pull a decent amount of abnormal state allocation.
‘Good.’
Except for this damn game system where nothing was ever certain, the near future looked peaceful.
…Though I had no idea that a variable would pop up the very next day, making all that thinking seem pointless.
The news was that the Director’s eyes had gone wild.

* * *
The problem was that damned American meme.
Naturally, it wasn’t the kind of thing that would spark tremendous resonance, so the meme faded quickly, but some people continued to take interest in it.
-I’m really only a VTIC fan, but I’m finding myself getting interested in Testa too.
-I was curious how 【Burning Chefs】 would be received overseas, so I looked up their program, and it’s got over ten million views! (Testa Working Holiday Episode 1 screenshot)
-Their name is Testa? Interesting, never thought I’d be searching KPOP these days (lol)
-What kind of survival show did they appear on that made you think of ‘the old days’ from that commentary?
From people who were already interested in KPOP to those just looking for something different to watch, some dug deeper into it.
And eventually they discovered 【Idol Stock Company】 on Netplus.
-Found the survival program these guys appeared in, and it has a negative voting system! My god (shocked GIF)
And so, in a modest way centered around online communities, American viewers belatedly attached themselves to 【Idol Stock Company】.
The emotional tone might not suit American tastes, but the shock value alone guaranteed word-of-mouth, it seems.
-They even publicize the hate vote rankings, that’s insane
-Only one member gets guaranteed survival voting from the team? We should adopt this in America right now XD
└Psychopath bastard
└No need to import it. Guess you don’t know, but we already have plenty of survival programs like that in this country….
Of course, it wasn’t the kind of achievement that would immediately crack Netplus’s daily American viewership rankings.
It was merely a modest success—Ajusa being recommended by algorithm to Americans who had watched Korean dramas or variety shows at least once.
However, it seemed to register differently with the Director.
Because it would appear that the ‘appealing to America through reality’ he’d pushed so hard for had actually succeeded.
In truth, the reality program itself hadn’t taken off, and he’d probably forgotten that the planning had been modified differently from his original vision.
‘No. If we hadn’t modified it, it probably would’ve blown up even bigger,’ he’d probably think.
The executive, intoxicated with the strong conviction and sense of achievement that ‘he was right,’ was no different from a runaway locomotive.
It was even worse because the junior idol group Miry-nay’s debut had also been quite successful.
‘Damn it.’
The fortunate thing was that the Management Director seemed to be actively tearing into the Director’s behavior.
It was worth the scheming I’d set up beforehand.
“My brother says a person who steals artists’ achievements shouldn’t be running a company.”
“Wow.”
This was the content of a text that had come to the Third Manager—the Management Director’s cousin—which he read with an indifferent expression.
‘Looks like they’ve really had a falling out.’
If they keep tearing into each other and fighting as planned so nothing progresses, that’d be perfect. Once we release the single and start activities, it’ll all fizzle out anyway.
‘Just keep butting heads for four more weeks.’
“Thank you for taking such good care of us.”
“Yeah, well.”
The Third Manager let the words trail off in a tone of indifference, then turned his smartphone game back on.
‘This guy really has no interest in this work.’
Still, this one didn’t shirk from tasks or favors and did them reliably, making him more useful than the First Manager.
Besides, since he’d never worked in society, he didn’t understand the boundaries of such messages and just showed them as they were.
“…Alright, everyone. Let’s move.”
“Yes.”
Meanwhile, the First Manager seemed to be experiencing considerable stress from the changed ecosystem, as his whiny attitude had diminished noticeably.
That was convenient too. And the newly arrived Chief Manager worked with impressive efficiency.
‘Still, Ryu Chung-woo is doing far too much work.’
Since the two road managers who accompanied us directly only did what they were told, Ryu Chung-woo ended up taking the lead in checking management details.
Ideally, the managers should verify everything individually, and Ryu Chung-woo should simply provide good feedback.
‘I think I need to fill Testa’s dedicated team with someone who’s competent at their job.’
I’d need to plan this out more carefully. For now, preparing for the next activity came first.
The current schedule was a styling coordination meeting.
“I want red hair!”
“Sure. Do whatever you want, Eugene.”
“Hehe.”
“By the way, Sae-jin… Bae Sae-jin, have you considered dyeing your hair a brighter color? We think it would suit you really well.”
“…! It might look strange… No, if it’s necessary, I’ll do it…”
“We’re not forcing you! We just thought an image transformation might be nice.”
“Image transformation sounds great~ Park Moon-dae, what about piercings?”
“You should get plenty.”
“W-wait, Park Moon-dae doesn’t like piercings…?”
“It’s just how it is. Do you like them?”
“Oh, no! I’ve just never had them done before…”
“Wow, Park Moon-dae discrimination right there.”
Thanks to his increased voice in these matters, the members’ opinions were now being reflected quite substantially in hair and makeup decisions.
“Thank you for your hard work~”
“See you again the day after tomorrow!”
‘Hmm, piercings, huh.’
After the meeting ended, I was reviewing the undecided details and heading to the recording studio when it happened.
“Um, I’m really sorry, but if you have time, could you stop by the Management Office for a moment?”
“Oh, sure.”
A cautious summons had come from the Management Office.
‘What’s this about.’
An unexpected call like this gave me a bad feeling, and it seemed my instinct was right.
“Testa, everyone, don’t worry!”
“…??”
The Management Director who had called us said this with an energetic smile the moment we met.
‘Why does this guy look so happy.’
“This comeback, the Director keeps insisting we target America, so I imagine you’ve all been under considerable mental strain.”
“N-no, it’s fine.”
Besides, the Director’s orders hadn’t come down directly to me anyway. And it felt awkward to laugh while badmouthing my superior right in front of him.
At Ryu Chung-woo’s lukewarm response, the Manager spoke with greater conviction.
“No, sir. We must respect the artist’s abilities and wishes! That’s why I secured a definitive answer through this meeting.”
“Pardon?”
I realized he’d called us here to boast and make his pitch, which was infuriating, but what terrified me far more was discovering what this “definitive answer” actually was.
And then came the damned statement.
“Regarding Testa’s upcoming activities, the Director said there’s absolutely no need to send Testa to America—they’ll be more than sufficient to succeed in the global market as is!”
“….”
“So Testa doesn’t need to worry about debuting in America. You can simply continue creating the albums you want, just as you’ve been doing.”
This bastard.
Suddenly, I’d become responsible for making a single fan-service track into a global hit.

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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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