Debut or Die - Chapter 227

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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 227
The moment Kim Rae-bin’s personal fans caught sight of the thumbnail, they froze.
Kim Rae-bin, adorned with ornate chains draped across his ears and wrists, stared directly into the camera with an enigmatic gaze, dressed in a black knit that hung loosely off his shoulder.
“Oh my god!!”
The aura and expression were absolutely striking, but there was something even more exhilarating beneath it all….
Because Kim Rae-bin’s fans had been waiting for this moment for quite some time.
A comeback where Kim Rae-bin was the center!
‘They’ve been hogging it among themselves for way too long! Honestly, even guys less popular than Kim Rae-bin got center positions for the chorus!’
Every time a new song dropped, when the member line distribution charts came out, Kim Rae-bin consistently hovered between fourth and fifth place.
And every time those statistics surfaced, his personal fans would unleash a torrent of curses.
‘Isn’t it the unwritten rule that producing members get criticized for hogging screen time….’
Why was this the exception to that rule? The frustration gnawed at them relentlessly.
They’d always believed that Kim Rae-bin’s lack of talent for politics was actually his charm, but it was infuriating nonetheless.
But finally, this moment had arrived!
‘Looking like that, they should’ve made him center ages ago. Let’s go.’
The fan didn’t hesitate for a second—they clicked the video immediately. It was almost an involuntary reflex.
“….”
A dark, monochromatic screen.
Testa’s new song teaser began with a hazy, billowing smoke—like smog slowly rising into view.
Black text appeared.
-CALL it.
Beyond the smoke, hanging lights suspended from black wires swayed, manipulated by skeletal white hands with prominent knuckles.
The moving lights left blurred afterimages and trails of smoke in their wake.
But there was no sound.
“…??”
Between these ethereal, silent-film-like scenes, black cuts appeared with only text—like dialogue—inserted throughout.
A paradoxical situation: a song preview with no audio.
-Sometimes,
It will CALL you back.
Then suddenly, color flooded the screen.
Cyan and violet hues flickered, painting the smoke with the pallid, brilliant glow of neon lights.
And within that luminescence, the members gradually revealed themselves one by one.
Each wore enigmatic accessories fashioned from chains wound around their bodies, as if bound in restraint.
Loose tops and dark hair framed eyes that gleamed with vivid primary colors—bright yellow or electric blue.
Brief, expressionless cuts of each member in different poses flashed by intensely, accompanied by cunning, symbolic imagery.
And the final shot was none other than the one from the thumbnail.
Kim Rae-bin, his violet eyes fixed directly on the screen.
But then, suddenly, six hands burst from off-screen and seized Kim Rae-bin’s body with a violent grip.
“Hup.”
Yet Kim Rae-bin remained utterly composed.
Instead of responding, I parted my lips slightly and whispered something.
[….]
But the video remained silent. It was styled like a silent film.
In its place, the silent film dialogue cards appeared again in rapid succession.
“…!”
And the sound came from here instead.
A deep, resonant voice and a falsetto an octave higher, both emerging from the black screen.
-Welcome, welcome
This is the sound calling you
The melody line, whisper-like and layered with breath, carried a subtly ominous undertone.
And there was definitely an element designed to captivate.
‘Sexy!!’
Kim Rae-bin’s fan threw down the mouse.
The short teaser had already ended, but that was enough. This was unmistakably a decadent sexy concept!!
From the blatant hand close-ups at the beginning to every member’s outfit, everything screamed that this concept was languid, decadent sexiness!
‘So that’s why Kim Rae-bin was the center…!’
Faced with such an undeniably brilliant choice, Kim Rae-bin’s fan buried their head in the desk.
And in that moment, reactions began spreading like a volcano erupting across fan communities.
-Insane, that teaser just now
-What’s with the teaser
-【Celebration】 Finally a sexy concept from Testa three years after debut 【Celebration】
-Early summer vibes with a little horror mixed in, my sister’s a scaredy-cat but it’s fine, I’ll enjoy it
-No, it’s a costume ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Rae-bin grabbing the members’ hands, that’s six hands right, has to be, I’m choosing to believe it guys
-Is this… the taste of sexy?
Just as Park Moon-dae had thought during Ajusa’s third team competition preparation, if executed properly, few concepts were as striking and effective as this one.
Moreover, the teaser, which blended artistic references to avoid being too explicit, even softened the hearts of those who wanted to seem refined.
As a result, the teaser became a hot topic not just in fan communities but across all entertainment-related online communities in an instant.
[Testa’s new song teaser causing chaos the moment it dropped]
[Compilation of reactions to Testa’s new song ‘Nightmare’ teaser]
[Testa’s teaser that seems intentionally going for a sexy concept this time]
[Testa members’ reactions exploding over black hair and body chains]
There were even YouTube review videos analyzing why the reaction was so strong.
This level of explosive response from just a teaser was the first time since the ‘Procession’ teaser.
And even that had been essentially an eight-minute solo song introduction music video made with careful deliberation, so comparing them felt embarrassing.
But as always, opinions diverged once you stepped outside fan communities.
-Too explicit, lost interest
-Ugh, this time they might get consumed by the concept
Even VTIC didn’t do something like this until their 5th year lolol Um, maybe because it’s a 5-year contract, they were in a rush…
-Worried it might become too serious
-They really can’t drop the concept. Just a black suit with a sexy concept would get them halfway there, but this feels like they’re crossing the line.
Half of that was a lie.
With excited international K-pop fans frantically clicking through the teaser, signs of unprecedented buzz were emerging, so there were factions mixed in trying to diminish it by any means necessary.
Of course, there were people who genuinely didn’t like it.
For a third-year group, the concept was excessively heavy and mature—those were the main criticisms.
-That’s a total double-edged sword. If they can’t pull it off, it becomes mockery and meme material.
It was the kind of situation where fans would naturally voice concerns. But most fans had something to believe in.
It was Testa’s track record so far.
-‘If the company puts in the money, our kids will always nail it!’
That belief, bordering on inductive reasoning, was subtly woven through the fanbase like a shared pride.
Thanks to that, Testa released various pre-comeback content according to schedule, absorbing expectations without backlash or noticeable concern.
-The concept photos dropped.
-ㅠㅠㅠThe white confetti taken with dried flowers is really the best. Park Moon-dae is such a beautiful flower, but I can’t even think of the groom in May.
-Wow, what do I do? I’m getting too hyped. I need to calm down.
-An idol who pulls off even black nails. The comeback is here. Best time to become a fan.
If it succeeded, it would be a massive hit, but if it failed, the damage would be worse than anyone expected.
And on the day the music video dropped.
-Come on, hurry up.
-Show it now.
Before fans whose expectations were already sky-high, a short but impactful five-minute music video was released.
Whirrrr.
The video began in a CCTV-like format, with Park Moon-dae dragging a white bed into the frame.
The moment he let out a small sigh and lay down on it.
[Sigh.]
The bed sank deeply.
Then, without warning, the screen’s color inverted to black and flipped upside down.
Thud.
Park Moon-dae, with dark hair, fell from the black bed against the bronze ceiling and landed gently on the cracked floor.
The moment he tilted his head in confusion, a silent-film-style classical dialogue card appeared, just like in the teaser.
[…Dream?]
Park Moon-dae smiled and fell backward.
Diiing-
Diiing-
Didididididididi-
As if a bell were ringing, an eerie riff melody filled the screen, and the song began.
[Bite well,
With a hint of sweetness,
Your last thought]
There was no particular storyline.
The camera slowly panned through this bizarre space like an amusement park attraction, simply capturing each member as they suddenly appeared.
And the members simply appeared in captivating or intense forms, delivering their parts.
But the way the focus shifted was subtle and mysterious.
Whoosh.
A member visible in the camera was dragged away by a white hand that emerged from nowhere and disappeared.
And as if in a connected motion, from within the smog, the shot cut sharply to a new member who seemed to be the owner of that white hand.
When that dreamlike, disorienting composition harmonized with the members’ dark and flowing appearance, it came across as somewhat dizzying and subtly provocative.
[Dreams can be horrible
But not right now
Call me, can you hear
My voice]
And the choreography that incorporated many lines in between, the bold costume pieces, and even the vocal direction.
True to everyone’s expectations, it was a concept aiming for sensuality. Yet it wasn’t overly heavy, contrary to some people’s worries.
[Call it
Call that name right now
Sticking like honey, never letting go
Nananananana name.]
This was because charm was mixed in at just the right moments.
The vocal technique might have made it sound slightly languid, but because the beat and bass stood out, the sticky feeling wasn’t excessive.
Based on that, the members’ character traits popped out here and there in each cut, so the strangeness from the inverted reality wasn’t overdone.
Yet it didn’t completely ignore the eerie and languid heaviness that came from the teaser.
Those elements were packed short and dense into the latter bridge.
To satisfy those who anticipated that kind of enjoyment.
[Welcome, welcome
This is the sound of calling you]
The mysterious, whispered chorus remained the same.
And suddenly, a bridge section styled like the intense teaser footage—collapsing and suffocating within black and white smoke blown directly at the camera.
Thud.
A large hand grasping the face in a rough tone like a beast or ghost. And eyes gleaming between those fingers.
It was decadence that bordered on sensual.
Moreover, at the climax, as if telling viewers to forget the bridge, it relentlessly poured in visually stunning, elaborate choreography cuts.
As if trying to hold the gaze.
By the time the viewer was completely captivated by that generously powerful, bewitching spectacle, their heart was stolen.
The choreography stopped, and the song ended abruptly.
And as if interrupted, everyone simultaneously stared directly at the camera, like a painting.
Whoosh.
In that instant, without any lingering resonance, the screen suddenly turned black.
In the silence, the sound of breathing.
[Gasp.]
Bae Sae-jin, dressed in a white round-neck shirt, opened his eyes on a white bed. And he breathed heavily as if shocked by a nightmare.
But soon, that close-up expression faded away, transforming into a faint smile.
As if I were captivated by something.
And the video ended with me slowly tapping my sweat-dampened ear with one finger.
[Call me]
While it could be interpreted symbolically, if you accepted it intuitively, the meaning was remarkably straightforward.
It was a music video constructed like a set of primal stimuli.
-What the hell did I just watch
-These crazy bastards
-Testaaaaaa!
-I can’t believe how good this is no seriously hahahahahaha
And fans whose high expectations had been thoroughly satisfied began flooding the comments with posts.

* * *
“Testa, your comeback activity is already making quite an impact!”
“Oh, thank you so much!”
This interviewer was quite an energetic person. Thanks to them, even the voices of those of us dying from sleep deprivation naturally rose in pitch.
And their kind words actually came true.
‘…I didn’t expect the response to be this good.’
Just half a day after the music video dropped.
Seeing all sorts of edited GIF files being shared one after another and climbing the trending posts, I could feel the power of this concept. The song itself was taking a backseat, which wasn’t entirely satisfying, but we could address that when we hit the stage.
Anyway, with the current schedule, I should focus on keeping this enthusiastic interviewer happy.
“…So, do the piercings you’re wearing now and those in the music video have any special meaning?”
“There’s no particular meaning, but having more piercings gives us more options when adapting to different concepts, so I’ve been maintaining them consistently!”
“I see~”
I glanced at Kim Rae-bin participating enthusiastically in the interview, then smiled without complaint and nodded.
‘They said they’d film this.’
Since this was a modest media interview that would primarily be released as Internet articles, managing the behind-the-scenes content wouldn’t hurt either.
Well, the questions being asked were only at the level of ‘You all had a lot of piercings in this album—are they real?’ anyway.
Ah, it was my turn now.
“So, how about you, Moon-dae?”
“Mine were all clip-ons.”
“I see. Any personal beliefs behind that…?”
“No, I was just scared of the pain.”
“Really? Hahahaha!”
In truth, I’d given up because they were troublesome to maintain and I felt awkward about piercing someone else’s body, but this was the more appropriate answer.
“Moon-dae is surprisingly timid~ He can’t even watch horror movies!”
“Really? But this music video is pretty eerie, how did you manage monitoring it…?”
“Yes. I watched it with my eyes covered.”
“Hahahaha!”
Having given up on everything, I just went along with it, and laughter erupted from all around.
Let’s just accept it all half-heartedly, having given up on everything, and laugh it off refreshingly here and there.
Yeah, I wish the people watching the interview felt the same way.
To be honest, I’ve grown so accustomed to these minor schedules that they don’t require much effort anymore.
People tend to ask questions that have become standardized like routines.
What really takes effort is the Stage and variety shows.
And… there’s something special I need to do only during this activity.
‘It’s time to put it into action now.’
I smiled faintly as I recalled the ‘Testa Dedicated Team Composition Official Notice’ I’d confirmed this morning.
I’d find a way to slip in and take control of it.

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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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