Debut or Die - Chapter 211

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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 211
The smartphone advertisement wasn’t a full joint endorsement with the junior idol group. If it had been, I would’ve known about it long ago.
There were simply a few shots where we’d be filming together.
“Alright… come in together here, and show us what you’re holding!”
“Yes.”
“Ah, please hold the tablet with just one hand too~ lightly!”
“Got it!”
The junior idol group was advertising a tablet from the same brand line, and it seemed they were planning to insert a few shots of both groups appearing simultaneously for added promotional effect.
Since we had the advantage in both experience and recognition, Miry-nay ended up waiting on set during Testa’s shoot before coming in for their part.
‘Still, not telling me until the day of was crossing a line.’
Whether the First Manager had forgotten due to the shock of being cut off by Ryu Chung-woo, or whether the company had deliberately withheld the information, I couldn’t say for certain.
Though my suspicion leaned toward the latter.
‘They’ve figured out how to handle things after I’ve rejected the Director’s opinions a few times lately.’
The possibility that affiliated artists would request edits because they didn’t want to be associated with each other.
And if I’d known beforehand, that’s exactly what would’ve happened.
‘It just creates unnecessary talk.’
We were already dealing with the aftermath of the “Magical Boy” controversy.
In the worst-case scenario, it could’ve gone like this.
-Ugh, another bundled deal, what’s going on
-Obviously it was supposed to be Testa’s solo but they made a deal to throw in the juniors lolololol they got greedy
-If they’d pushed Miry-nay as the main since they appeal to everyone regardless of age or gender, it would’ve been better. The agency’s judgment is really disappointing.
-Those fans really don’t know their place, you need to win with music releases to have any say lololololol
-Yeah we hate it too don’t pair our goddesses with those old male idols
-lolol usually when eyes meet like that, they’ve already started dating and then they drop an album lololol
From comparisons to dating speculation.
It was unnecessarily annoying.
The fortunate part was that the company seemed conscious of this too—when I arrived, there were surprisingly few shots that looked suspicious.
Instead, it was more of an arrangement emphasizing the premium electronics line “Cosmic” featuring artists from the entertainment agency T1 Stars.
“My identity shining like a star.”
“The star’s choice, Cosmic!”
But this also rubbed me the wrong way, honestly.
‘They didn’t even develop us, yet they’re acting like there’s some grand shared vision and future.’
Probably the company had concluded internally that they needed brand value beyond just being a subsidiary agency under Ajusa, since they wanted to develop other rookies soon.
The existing groups that came in already successful from audition programs might be grumbling that we’re cocky for rookies.
‘They might even be aiming for a separate listing.’
Either way, it was probably an idea that came from the current Director’s head.
And once I’d thought this far, I saw an angle I could use.
‘Let me start by collecting examples.’
The opportunity came around the time my shoot wrapped up.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
After today’s individual cut shoot, I was wrapping up a brief joint shoot with Miry-nay.
I finished my own shoot and approached the guy who was examining the monitor.
A perfect ninety-degree bow came right back at me.
“Oh, senior! Thank you so much for today’s shoot!”
“We should be thanking you.”
This was that junior who’d placed second at Ajusa last season.
“Was the shoot alright for you?”
“Yes! Ah, um, senior, you were truly amazing! As expected of an idol selected as first place with national support….”
“Let’s stop there.”
“Yes.”
The junior’s expression grew solemn, as if he too felt this wasn’t quite right.
“How are things these days?”
“Pardon?”
“At your company.”
“Well….”
The fact that he didn’t immediately launch into something like “We’re so grateful!” suggested he’d picked up on my meaning.
The junior lowered his voice with a somewhat resigned expression.
“Still the same…!”
“….”
There was a lot packed into those words.
“Did they confirm your self-produced tracks for the next album too?”
“…Well, they’re saying we should go with a double title….”
“Hmm.”
Since Testa had been doing this since debut, they must be pushing it as a hit formula.
“They want one of them to be in English.”
“…!”
The junior continued with the face of a disillusioned office worker.
“Still… since it looks like they’ll at least include one of our songs, everyone’s decided to just be satisfied with this much….”
“….”
Well. I’d expected as much, but it seems they’re going through their own hardships too.
“What about support?”
“Support? Well, it’s good! They take good care of the salon and styling too….”
He was dodging the question. I steered us back on track.
“One of the managers who was originally with us transferred to your company, right?”
“…! Right…! Phew, we’re really grateful and sorry about that….”
“No, there’s no need for that. I’m asking because I’m curious about what kind of support you receive in that regard.”
I brought the junior back to reality—his face had practically screamed “Is this workplace harassment…!”
“Like whether the management office briefs schedules properly, whether they check on members’ health… that sort of thing.”
“Ah, yes.”
The junior’s expression grew contemplative. Whether he was recalling something or choosing his words carefully, I couldn’t tell, but his next response sounded genuinely sincere.
“I’m not entirely sure. You seem so busy and overwhelmed… I think it’s because our group has so many members. I feel sorry seeing how hard you work.”
As expected.
Things weren’t running smoothly on their end either.
‘Nine members, was it?’
That’s 1.5 times the size of Testa, so they should definitely have more managers assigned, but from what I could see, they were still operating with just two.
‘The Production Team seems to be flip-flopping too, listening to the Director one moment and then to their own people the next.’
Since the Director was trying to tighten his grip, the Management Director’s influence seemed to be weakening.
Hmm… at this rate, something would have to give.
“I see. You must be working hard. Let’s stay strong.”
“Oh no! We’re enjoying our activities and working hard. Thank you for your concern!”
“Yes.”
I was about to end the conversation there when something occurred to me, and I continued.
“Oh, that’s right.”
“…?”
“I was wondering if you’d be interested in establishing a dedicated team.”
This was the real purpose of the conversation.
A solution I’d been thinking about since the manager incident.
“A dedicated team…?”
The junior member looked momentarily stunned, then quickly regained composure and seized on the proposal.
“Oh, you mean a team would be created to exclusively manage our group?”
“It’s not confirmed yet… but I’m thinking of pushing it forward this time. If it’s necessary, I’ll also relay your members’ circumstances.”
“…!”
“Of course, not as if you told me directly… I’m planning to say I heard it from the company’s inner circle. How does that sound?”
The junior member swallowed hard, then answered with brightened eyes.
“We’d really appreciate that.”
A wise choice.
Since I’d already discussed their situation, they seemed to have realized that if I had intended to set a trap or deceive them, there would have been no need to ask for their input in the first place.
“Well then, I’ll bring it up with them.”
“Yes! Thank you so much!”
At that moment, I heard someone calling the junior member from behind. It seemed the filming had completely wrapped up.
“Min-ha! Hey, come quick! This chocolate is insane, it tastes amazing!”
“Okay, unnie~ Oh, senior, then I’ll head over there!”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
The junior member dashed off to join their groupmate. The one waving around that massive chocolate box that looked like a fan gift… must be a first-place finisher.
Truly… so bright and cheerful.
‘…Is this type of personality naturally popular?’
Or was it something specific to audition programs?
“Hyung!! Look at this! So Cool!”
“Oh, that’s impressive.”
I responded to Cha Yu-jin, who had appeared from somewhere, as he thrust a filming prop—a surfboard—in front of me, and I nearly found myself lost in strange contemplation about the mysterious dynamics of this industry.
But there was no time for that. There were places I needed to contact during the day’s schedule.
‘I should start moving forward with the dedicated team discussion.’
For reference, I’d already finished talking with the others.
The very week Ryu Chung-woo’s condition recovered.
-A dedicated team, huh….
-I have doubts about whether the company would willingly bear such expenses.
-I’m in favor! Moon-dae must have had a good reason for suggesting it~
-…I’m for it too.
-Oh!
-The company keeps having management issues anyway.
What was interesting was that Bae Sae-jin unexpectedly agreed without hesitation and actively pushed the idea.
-It seems like this will keep happening here… it’s better to do it while we can now.
-Sae-jin, that’s cool.
-…! I, I wasn’t trying to look cool… anyway! Let’s, let’s just put it to a vote or something!
-Sure.
So we ended up proceeding with unanimous agreement, swept along by that momentum.
And here’s how we’re doing it.
“A, are you revising the email content?”
“Yeah. You got anything else to add?”
“Oh, no! S, since we all worked so hard on this together, I hope it gets delivered well…!”
“Right.”
We’re sending the message directly to T1 Culture, the parent company of this agency among T1’s subsidiaries.
With the Manager and Director already at odds, it’ll be hard for anyone at the company to unilaterally control Testa now.
So it’s time to abandon the whole ‘we don’t know about rookie artists’ approach and stop playing dumb.
‘The time has come when looking difficult is more advantageous than looking easy.’
It’s better when the group itself becomes a force and pushes up directly within the company.
With this self-produced activity even being a hit, now they’re the ones in need.
The global performance was pretty decent too… but let’s talk about that later.
‘I already got the contact info by loosening the Manager’s tongue.’
He’s under the misunderstanding that Testa might give him ammunition about the Director’s downfall.
But instead, I’m planning to target this company’s chronic problems.
‘Personnel acquisition is failing.’
With constant parachute hires, shuffling people around, and bringing in inexperienced staff, the gears don’t mesh and nothing runs smoothly.
The easiest way to frame this is… there are serious problems with risk management.
‘Security issues, schedule communication problems….’
Most recently, I’ll connect the data-selling attack incident that Ryu Chung-woo experienced with the schedule communication failures and my stalker incident during vacation.
And if I tie it well to the ‘schedule leak industrial espionage’ incident that these people already know about, I can make this argument.
‘It’s because there aren’t enough dedicated personnel!’
And I’ll note that since our company is a newly established subsidiary, it can’t easily make the major decision to operate an independent dedicated team on its own.
Most importantly, I’ll emphasize that if someone gets hurt or can’t perform activities because of this, it’ll cause major controversy and losses….
-Moon-dae, don’t you think we might be overthinking this?
-I don’t mind if you think that way. It’s actually better when I get the sense that those bastards are struggling and acting out.
-Hmm, fair point.
Now that we’ve entered the first division, this level of disruption is acceptable.
Since we haven’t done anything particularly strange in the industry before, it’ll just be some unreliable rumors circulating among insiders for a while.
Most importantly, as long as I’m polite to the other party, that’s all that matters.
Whether they’re dissatisfied with their agency or not, if they’re respectful and deferential to me when I listen, then that’s the end of it, right?
‘I gave them advance notice, and there’s nothing that violates the format.’
It wasn’t some childish demand made on a whim, but rather something cleanly put together like a formal proposal.
I lifted my hands from the keyboard.
“Done.”
“Oh~”
“Now we just need to send it!”
“Send it! Send it!”
And so the proposal regarding ‘the establishment of a dedicated artist project team’ was sent directly to T1 Culture.
Once the parent company’s pressure comes in under the guise of ‘brand value,’ even the Director won’t be able to resist and will eventually agree.
‘Of course, I don’t think anyone will just comply willingly.’
In fact, I’m fully anticipating the possibility of a response like ‘I understand your position, but it’s impossible due to cost and principle concerns.’
‘Then we just move to the next phase.’
My mind was spinning rapidly. Somehow, it felt rather entertaining.
‘Bring it on, whatever comes.’
However, the call that came around 7:30 that evening pulled the situation in a direction I hadn’t quite anticipated.
“…A survival show appearance?”
-That’s right.
The person on the other end of the line answered cleanly.
-You know how all the production staff from Idol Corporation came into our studio under this company? It’s a new program they’re producing.
“I see.”
-Of course, this time Testa will be appearing as a mentor, not as a contestant.
‘Only in my third year?’
It was a deal I’d never even imagined.

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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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