Debut or Die - Chapter 210

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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 210
Ryu Chung-woo continued speaking in a tone that wasn’t particularly heavy.
“When I first learned about the aftereffects, I thought it could be managed. Everyone said I’d be fine if I did rehabilitation.”
“….”
“The doctor said there was potential too, so I kept at it consistently… but it didn’t really help.”
Ryu Chung-woo habitually clenched and unclenched one of his fists.
“Potential is just potential… I either couldn’t escape it, or the situation became irreversible….”
“….”
“Anyway, that’s why I got angry at the company for no good reason. I wondered how they didn’t know what could happen if someone got injured, and then I thought, well, maybe I was just doing something pointless.”
So that was the source of his lethargy.
Overlapping with those rehabilitation days that yielded no results, he must have started thinking things like ‘what am I even doing right now.’
‘…That would make sense.’
Since he was someone with an already heavy workload, the sense of futility would have been even more intense.
I hesitated for a moment before answering only after finishing my drink.
“You’ve never done anything pointless, hyung.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Everyone received a lot of help from you. …Including me.”
“…! Really? Haha, I don’t think I did anything particularly special for you.”
No, the fact that you didn’t get angry with me when I was acting like an asshole is already remarkable character in itself.
If the situation had gotten worse back then… I might have developed an abnormal condition and dropped dead by now.
“Oh, you mean back then? Hmm, no. You were fine. I said it then too. I was like that when my recovery was confirmed as impossible.”
Ryu Chung-woo chuckled softly.
“It was really serious. I got angry at the doctor… and on the day of the preliminary selection, honestly, I’m embarrassed just thinking about it.”
I’m not particularly curious, but it’s obviously the right timing for anyone to ask, so I should ask.
“What did you do?”
“I broke a bow.”
“…!!”
Wow, this bastard… his temper is no joke.
A typical archery bow shouldn’t be something that breaks easily, so he must have really lost it.
Of course, responding with what I actually think would be stupid.
“Well, at least you didn’t hit anyone, so that’s good.”
“I guess? Haha! Yeah, it was just a practice bow I broke.”
Ryu Chung-woo laughed with a much more relieved expression.
I’m not sure if it’s okay to feel relieved about something like this… but let it be.
Still, as if he’d regained his senses, he added something with overflowing social grace.
“Oh, I’m sorry. That might have been an uncomfortable story for you to hear….”
It seemed like he was saying he didn’t want to remind me of that time when I’d acted out toward Ryu Chung-woo.
“It’s fine. I don’t really mind anymore. I’m the one who should apologize.”
“I said it’s fine.”
They say to cure a big worry with an even bigger worry.
After seeing the messed-up status window, confirming the ‘truth’ that had already passed felt trivial.
However, Ryu Chung-woo fidgeted with his plastic bottle, then casually let slip a comment as if it had escaped without his knowledge.
“Um, Moon-dae.”
“Yes.”
“Actually, there’s something that’s been bothering me for a while….”
“…? Yes.”
Ryu Chung-woo furrowed his brow.
“Your memory is fine, right?”
“…!!”
“I think it would be good to see a specialist about that, just to be sure.”
This was something I never could have anticipated.
To be honest, I’d almost completely forgotten that I was using the premise of ‘my past memories aren’t clear, but they’re gradually coming back.’
There have been so many incidents, after all.
‘…Looking at it this way, it’s like some melodramatic drama trope.’
In any case, I never expected that excuse I’d carelessly thrown out before would suddenly come back to haunt me like this.
And Ryu Chung-woo continued with words that sent a chill down my spine.
“You’ve never gone to see your parents, and you’ve never shown photos or brought them up in conversation, it seems.”
“….”
“We’ve been living in the Dormitory for over a year and a half now, so you should have mentioned it casually at some point.”
“…Right.”
I quickly ran through my mind.
“I have almost no memories related to family. I’m not particularly desperate to find them either.”
“I see.”
“Yes. I’m satisfied with how things are now.”
“Mm, okay.”
Ryu Chung-woo crumpled his plastic bottle neatly, then took a long, deep breath.
“Right. I like how things are now too.”
I pictured Ryu Chung-woo contradicting himself and asked.
“But you said you were exhausted?”
“It seems like you can’t avoid getting tired no matter what you do. What matters is managing it well.”
That’s right. That’s the truth.
“Honestly, when we left Ajusa, I was skeptical, but it’s gone far better than I imagined, and I’m grateful for that.”
“That’s true.”
Separate from the stress, Testa’s trajectory has been a remarkable success.
Of course, I already knew Ajusa would do well.
“I’m trying not to get too comfortable with it.”
“….”
Wow. That’s a healthy way of thinking.
I let out a soft laugh.
“Still, for the next few days, you should just focus on what idols are supposed to do. There’s no need to do the Company’s work as well.”
“Haha, well… since I took on the leader role, I figured I’d give it my best shot.”
At that moment, I heard Cha Yu-jin’s triumphant shout from across the room—he’d finally broken his personal record.
“WOOOOOW!!”
“Quiet, you idiot! It’s practically midnight—do you have any consideration for noise pollution?”
“It’s not noise! There’s nobody around here!”
“There are residents near the building….”
“There aren’t!”
“There are!”
I found myself muttering with genuine sincerity.
“…Honestly, just managing those guys seems like more than enough to fulfill the leader’s role.”
“Mm.”
He couldn’t deny it.
“I think that’s plenty. If things continue like this, our manager hyung might forget why he even gets paid.”
The moment I added that remark like some demanding celebrity, Ryu Chung-woo burst out laughing.
“Haha! Yeah, got it.”
Then he extended his clenched fist to the side.
“Let’s keep doing our best together from here on.”
“Yes.”
I lightly bumped my knuckles against his.
It was a bit cringeworthy, but there was something genuinely heartwarming about it.
“We’ve finished cleaning up~”
“Got it! We’ll head to the Testa car!”
That day, Ryu Chung-woo returned to the dormitory having regained his usual composure.
“Eugene, get inside and get some sleep. We have a music broadcast tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
Even Cha Yu-jin was so moved that he obediently followed orders.
The members all wore expressions that screamed “the shooting range was truly a brilliant idea,” giving thumbs up and congratulating themselves.
“Of course it was you, Moon-dae. That gaze of the Tibetan fox that sees through everyone’s psychology is just….”
“Go to sleep.”
And apparently everyone slept soundly, even if only for a short time.
The real payoff came the next day.
The First Manager immediately seized the moment when he sensed Ryu Chung-woo’s mood had completely lifted.
“Chung-woo, do any of the guys have anything special they want to tell me?”
Ryu Chung-woo responded with a faint smile.
“I’m not sure?”
“…!?”
“I don’t really know either. You should probably ask the members directly.”
That was it.
Ryu Chung-woo stretched and climbed into the car, while the manager followed hesitantly, looking like he’d been hit.
Since the Chief Manager had just been put in his place a few days ago, he couldn’t very well complain to Ryu Chung-woo about it.
‘That should do it.’
I’d bought myself time until I could find someone competent.
And when I checked the Internet for the first time in a while, all the nonsense about Ryu Chung-woo hitting someone had vanished, replaced instead by buzz about the shooting scene.
-Of course, a male idol raised by Taenung
-Can he actually do that
-Maybe archery national team members aren’t human after all
-Wow, if he shoots like that, he must’ve cried tears of blood when he quit archery;
-Just grateful he found a new path as an idol
“Ooh~ Chung-woo hyung’s shooting is all the rage!”
Big Sae-jin craned his neck to peek at the screen and deliberately praised Ryu Chung-woo. Ryu Chung-woo laughed with an embarrassed expression.
“I just did it for fun, really.”
“No, that’s not it! Yesterday while watching you shoot, I naturally predicted your status would rise, and sure enough, it did.”
“It was… incredibly cool…!”
Relieved that Ryu Chung-woo’s mood had lightened, the guys showered him with praise like a waterfall.
And Big Sae-jin seemed to have noticed something in some of the comments. A question came up.
“By the way, hyung, how did you end up choosing idol as your career path~?”
“Oh, me?”
Ryu Chung-woo laughed awkwardly.
“Well, actually my parents recommended it.”
“Wow!”
“Your parents?”
“Yeah, they kept saying I was pretty good at dancing and singing since I was young… so I just started it as a hobby.”
It seemed his parents had encouraged him to get out of the house after he quit archery and was stuck at home feeling depressed, and that encouragement had become his new career path.
“What about you guys? I’m especially curious how Eugene ended up becoming an idol.”
“A stranger talked to me!”
“The beat I submitted to a competition got selected, and when I went to Seoul, a contract appeared…”
The conversation in the car had somehow shifted to ‘why did you become an idol.’
And eventually the question came around to me.
“So what about Moon-dae?”
Me?
I could honestly answer this, but… it’s a bit embarrassing.
“…I got cast by the Writer from Ajusa at a Noraebang.”
“Really??”
“Wow, I thought that was just a rumor, but it was true~!”
The car got noisy for a moment. The topic seemed to be ‘just how talented is Park Moon-dae anyway.’
“So Moon-dae didn’t even start as a trainee, just as a regular person on his birthday and ended up like this?”
“H-he seems incredibly talented…! O-of course, Moon-dae also worked really hard!”
“…That’s impressive.”
“Um, thank you.”
If I brought up the status window, I’d probably get beaten to death.
Anyway, recalling that moment when I first entered this body brings a strangely fresh sense of emotion.
Truth be told, without the stat increases from the status window or the trait draws, I wouldn’t have grown this much to match my class, so to speak.
‘If only there hadn’t been the threat of dying from an unresolved status ailment, these past few years would’ve been quite fulfilling.’
…No, let me correct myself.
Even including the status ailment, it’s been quite fulfilling.
These past few years, having returned to the past in someone else’s body, have been so densely packed that I’m bewildered by it.
‘Maybe I’ve been struggling so hard to survive because one wrong move means a death sentence.’
Hmm, that’s fairly convincing.
“…So you didn’t really want to do this in the first place. You sure you’re okay?”
“Huh?”
“The activities… you’re really okay with them?”
Bae Sae-jin asked with a serious expression.
I answered without hesitation.
“Yeah. It’s fun.”
“Right~”
“No regrets?”
I let out a short laugh.
“None.”
“Ooh~”
The members responded enthusiastically with applause.
Kim Rae-bin quietly started playing a track.
“I don’t know what I was thinking, but one day inspiration just struck and I made a magical boy EDM version….”
“Let’s go!”
And the car filled with members bobbing their heads, brimming with passionate idol energy.
‘What a sight.’
Out of loyalty, I decided not to post that scene on the group’s SNS.

* * *
After that, my domestic activities seemed to flow smoothly without any further complications.
“Testa, standby!”
The second week’s Music Broadcast Studio pre-recording went off without a hitch, and the variety shows we’d filmed during comeback week and the first week began airing one after another.
Of course, my schedule wasn’t filled entirely with Music Broadcast Studios and variety shows.
“Look here~ and lift your chin a bit more!”
I did a few events, but after moving up to the first division, the travel distances became impractical, so I focused on higher-paying gigs rather than inefficient events.
Specifically, commercials.
“Could you adjust your collar for me?”
I’d been doing commercials consistently since my debut, but lately the scale was entirely different.
Amid the flood of commercial offers, my Agency had been remarkably skilled at selecting the cream of the crop—picking ones that didn’t consume my image heavily and offered substantial fees.
‘Nothing reckless like that artificial intelligence Curious nonsense.’
But I hadn’t realized the Agency was also securing solid profits for itself in the process.
Not for the parent company T1, but for T1 Stars, my Agency itself.
Just look at today’s commercial shoot.
“Oh, hello, senior!”
I ran into Miry-nay, a junior idol from the same Agency, at a smartphone commercial shoot.
‘Interesting.’
It was a bundle deal that reeked of the Agency’s ambitions to leverage its own brand value.
And there was plenty of room to exploit that.

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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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