Debut or Die - Chapter 238

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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 238
I’m somewhat taken aback.
“Park Moon-dae, now that the tour’s been cancelled, you’re scheduling a solo concert by yourself? You’re hospitalized right now. You know why the tour got cancelled.”
“I apologize for bringing this up, but you really need to reconsider your work-life balance!”
“…Did it never occur to you to at least consult with us before doing something like this on your own?”
But that’s the thing—you’re the ones not giving me the chance to consult.
I suppressed a sigh and reflected on how the situation had spiraled into this mess.
-…Moon-dae, Eugene heard something from the company….
The moment they showed up and started talking without even sitting down, I knew the information had leaked.
‘So I was planning to let them vent and then get to the real discussion once they calmed down.’
This is like listening to grievances before a tyrant—the more I hear, the worse I feel.
‘…They could be upset, I suppose.’
Yeah, I’ll admit that.
All activities came to a complete halt because of me falling into a coma, and here I am planning my own solo concert—it’s enough to make anyone’s blood boil.
And on top of that… they seem worried too.
“C-couldn’t you wait until your body’s fully recovered? It’s not like you have to rush…!”
“Yeah!”
….
So for the past eighteen days, considering how complicated their feelings must have been—wondering if I’d even wake up—I listened quietly….
‘It’s been about thirty minutes now.’
I think that’s enough. Now they’re just repeating the same things. I let out a sigh and started to wrap things up.
“Look… I was planning to bring this up today anyway.”
“Oh, after everything’s already been decided?”
Big Sae-jin’s doing this again.
“No, nothing’s been decided yet. What I told the company was just an idea.”
I pressed my temples.
“I wasn’t planning to do it right away. I was thinking it would be nice to do it as a commemoration after Testa resumes official activities.”
….
This sounded reasonable enough that the hospital room fell quiet, everyone lost in thought.
I hesitated for a moment before adding more.
“…Still, I probably came across as suddenly bringing up a solo project to the company. I’m sorry. And I apologize.”
“…!”
I was about to explain that this was actually a misunderstanding, but Ryu Chung-woo spoke first.
“…Moon-dae. You must be eager to get back to performing.”
….
Right. Because if I don’t, I’ll die….
Ryu Chung-woo nodded readily.
“If you want to do a solo concert, go ahead. As for suing the company… if you don’t really want to, you can just focus on performing.”
“…!”
“…!”
“You don’t need to apologize for something like that.”
Bae Sae-jin’s face flushed, but surprisingly, he didn’t argue back against Ryu Chung-woo and simply nodded quietly.
“But you need to take care of your health. Everything we’ve discussed so far is because of that.”
“….”
“You’re pushing yourself too hard right now. I just… hope you understand that. I keep saying it every time.”
Ryu Chung-woo’s complexion wasn’t good as he spoke.
It seemed the scene of iron embedding itself in my solar plexus had left quite a trauma on him.
‘Sigh.’
We’re back to square one. I interlaced my fingers.
I’m in perfect health, and full recovery is right around the corner.
How could I possibly convince them of this inexplicable recovery rate…?
“I’m taking my health seriously. I’m following all the medical staff’s instructions, and I hear I’m recovering at an impossibly fast rate.”
“…So you want to return as soon as you’re fully recovered?”
“Well, if the experts say I can, then I’m considering it.”
Big Sae-jin chuckled softly.
“Man, the fans are going to love that.”
“…!”
“You think the reaction will be good, but the fans know you’re human too. They’ll probably send trucks to the company saying you’re exploiting someone who was in a coma.”
“….”
“Oh, is this the bigger picture for a lawsuit? Then wow, Moon-dae’s really something~”
This bastard, seriously.
I clenched my teeth.
“Do you have to say it like that?”
“…!”
“Stop being sarcastic. I’m being honest.”
The guy looks like he’s about to drop dead suddenly, and he keeps poking at it, so I’m getting pissed. No matter what, there’s a limit to how far you should go.
Lee Sae-jin opened her mouth to speak, then closed it without saying anything. I focused silently on my thoughts to calm down.
And my namesake suddenly accelerated.
“He, he’s…! He’s worried about you!”
Bae Sae-jin jumped up with his fists clenched.
“That’s just how he talks!”
“….”
Is he… defending him?
“W-well, that’s right… S-Sae-jin probably wants to apologize too, r-right…?”
Seeing Sun Ah-hyun provide supporting fire, it seemed he wasn’t defending him after all.
Big Sae-jin sat with his gaze fixed on the floor, his expression devoid of humor.
“…I’m sorry.”
“….”
I nodded my head.
Yeah, I was being a bit oversensitive.
I’d managed to come up with a way to clear the Abnormal State, but by the time we’d finished discussing it, we’d run out of time.
‘He wasn’t trying to pick a fight.’
He probably just thought that since he was frustrated with the situation too, a bit of sarcasm would snap me back to my senses.
‘…There’s nothing I can do about it.’
Yeah, it wasn’t just Big Sae-jin—the other members felt the same way.
As long as I was contributing something to this team, and as long as a car accident had happened, they couldn’t help but worry about my health.
Well, after two years of living together in the dorms, they’d naturally grown attached.
So really, it all came down to information asymmetry.
‘They don’t know that I’ll die if I can’t mobilize 400,000 people.’
So their priorities had to shift.
‘…I didn’t want to go this far.’
I swallowed my sigh and finally opened my mouth.
“…Actually, I’ve been wanting to see the fans.”
“….”
“I suddenly wake up and it’s next month already. The Internet’s going crazy, and I thought doing something—anything—would ease the anxiety… so I brought up the Concert idea.”
“…I see.”
“Park… Moon-dae….”
It was a bit cringey to say, but apparently it had enough persuasive power because the atmosphere grew heavy.
‘…It’s not wrong either.’
Except for the Abnormal State part, that might be exactly what I’m feeling right now.
I continued speaking with a somewhat resigned tone.
“I’m not planning to push myself like before, staying up all night doing things.”
I couldn’t anyway without Bacchus.
“But I’d like to resume activities as soon as possible, without overdoing it… that’s what I think.”
This time, a flat refusal didn’t come out immediately.
This was good enough.
“The Concert we were planning wasn’t that grand anyway.”
“Huh?”
“Just a simple talk concert. To show that I’ve recovered too. We’d minimize the dancing.”
“So… that’s why it’s a solo concert…?”
“No, it’s because of the W App contract. Group concerts can’t be broadcast for free on it.”
“Oh….”
Now we were starting to understand each other.
I finished explaining the parts I’d agreed on with Chung-ryeo.
Then I paused for a beat before speaking.
“But honestly… a solo is just smoke and mirrors.”
“…?”
I let out a small laugh.
“I was planning to invite all of Testa as guests. Wouldn’t that be fine?”
“…!!”
Honestly, it’s a pretty obvious trick.
If someone refuses to come, it might make things look a bit odd, but I was confident I could convince most of them.
However, one of them turned pale and shouted.
“Wait, isn’t that a breach of contract??”
“No, it isn’t. The organizer is me, after all.”
“But… that’s fraud!”
“I’m just making good use of the contract terms.”
….
Bae Sae-jin slumped into his chair.
He seemed to be muttering something like “I’m going to get criticized for this…” but he didn’t actually object.
‘I must have looked pretty desperate.’
Since I’d already laid out my case in front of him, he was probably trying to exercise some restraint.
Or perhaps Bae Sae-jin was making an effort to keep his language from becoming too aggressive.
Of course, what he said had a point.
‘If I do this, the industry’s going to talk about me.’
Not just the industry either—W App is operated by a pretty massive search engine company. There would definitely be retaliation.
‘That’s why I need to choose the format carefully.’
And I’d already chosen the concert format.
With this approach, retaliation would be awkward… it would probably just be treated as a ‘different kind’ of performance.
I smiled and spoke.
“And there’s one more thing.”
“…?”
“I’d like to create a separate purpose for the concert.”
“A purpose?”
I explained my idea.
“Oh.”
“Park Moon-dae, you always come up with good ideas….”
“Really, that’s impressive!”
The reaction was quite positive.
You could say Bae Sae-jin, who had been sitting there looking drained, recovered his color.
“…That part’s actually fine!”
“Right?”
‘I’d say I’ve won them over halfway.’
I don’t think I need to convince them any further. I’ll just build up the momentum and confirm everything around the time I’m discharged.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Now, Park Moon-dae, get some rest…!”
“No, I’ve rested enough….”
“Rest, rest!”
….
And only then did I hear some trivial updates from them as the atmosphere shifted back to a hospital visit.
“The AR Team created a commemorative audio file for Park Moon-dae’s comfortable sleep… but it was lost before saving due to a program error….”
“Really?!”
“…Tell him I appreciate the gesture.”
Quite a while passed.
As time drifted on, it soon became time for the hospital meal to arrive.
“Let’s go eat.”
“Yeah, …it’s already that time.”
“I ate early, so I’ll stay behind and keep you company!”
“Me too! Let’s have some fruit!”
No, it’s fine… well, never mind.
I just shrugged.
However, Big Sae-jin hesitated as he filed out with the others, never quite meeting my eyes.
Ever since the atmosphere got tense during our earlier conversation, he’s been like this the whole time.
“…I’ll be back~”
“Yeah.”
His mouth was still chattering away.
…It should be fine.
And then the next one.
“Hyung! Eat well….”
“Come here.”
“Ow!”
This guy was trying to sneak away after receiving a tangerine and tattling on me.
I flicked Cha Yu-jin’s forehead and let go.
“Ow!”
Then I handed Kim Rae-bin a large peach right in front of him.
It was a bit funny since I was feeding him his own fruit that he’d brought, but since I ate a little of it too, it should be fine.
“The taste is excellent!”
“Right?”
Cha Yu-jin drooped.
“Hyung, that’s not fair!”
“What?”
“I didn’t say anything else!”
“What.”
Cha Yu-jin mouthed something silently.
‘VTIC senior!’
“…!!”
A brief silence followed.
“Eat.”
“Yes!”
I fed him a piece of peach.
It was a form of bribery. A message to keep your mouth shut going forward.

* * *
After that, Park Moon-dae recovered smoothly and was discharged from the hospital faster than the medical staff had anticipated.
And then, a few weeks later.
After the Agency took a brutal beating and received recommendations from the Human Rights Commission, Testa began small group activities.
Specifically, they appeared at TaKon, a K-pop industry joint concert.
Of course, they didn’t appear in person at the venue—instead, a separately filmed video was broadcast.
Still, it was their first activity since the accident, so Testa’s appearance became quite a hot topic.
Amid Internet responses plastered with phrases like “We love Testa, our magic forever,” several blunt and disrespectful comments also circulated rapidly.
-Their form didn’t drop at all
-Idols really do need to lose weight, coma diet is the best lol, bulking is death
-Wow, every move is perfect, they must have practiced insanely hard; insane
-The leader looks totally fine lol, other failing groups should learn from them, someone literally died and woke up but still performs like that, you guys can’t even manage your eyes lol
-People say boycott T1, but why not boycott Testa? Stan logic is hilarious~
└Testa’s an exception because they got in a car accident anyway lol
One thing was certain: Testa hadn’t lost the star power to turn even sympathetic attention into favor.
Questions like “Will Testa continue their next activities?”, “When will they make a comeback?”, and “Will they stay with the same Agency?” swept across the Internet.
And quite unexpectedly, a notice appeared on a performance booking platform’s SNS.
-Wait, is this Testa?? (link)
A platform from a different company that Testa had never used and had no connection to T1.
However, what appeared on SNS was attention-grabbing enough.
[What? The nation’s stock is doing a ☆FREE☆ concert?]
The nation’s stock.
A slang term from a few years ago.
A few people quickly latched on and started talking about it.
-“Nation’s stock” is such an outdated descriptor; seems like pure bait
-Isn’t this just the start of Ajusa’s next season concert lol
-Is it hacked?
It was none of those.
A few days later, the next upload on that SNS was this.
[Watch the nation’s stock’s ☆FREE☆ concert and give strength to sick children!]
[Host: Park Moon-dae, Guest: Testa]
That’s right.
What Park Moon-dae had planned was a charity concert to help those in need.

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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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