Debut or Die - Chapter 246

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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 246
The variety show production unfolded more smoothly than anticipated.
I’d planned to simply install unmanned cameras and release episodes on YouTube, but Headquarters contacted me immediately after hearing about it.
-There happens to be an opening at CVN. How would you feel about going there?
After discreet inquiries, it turned out some drama had fallen through for about two weeks due to casting issues. They were offering to slot us into that spot.
Naturally, it wasn’t a typical proposal.
“They seemed more deferential than I expected.”
“Yeah.”
“Right~ They’re being pretty cautious!”
The others’ assessments aligned with mine.
To anyone’s eyes, this was clearly a strategy of concession aimed at smoothing relations with Testa.
However, Bae Sae-jin wasn’t satisfied, calling it a bait-and-switch tactic.
“It feels like they’re saying ‘take this and shut up.’ And it’s not even singing—it’s variety…!”
There was truth to that perspective, but he couldn’t push the argument forcefully.
“Of course… since we decided not to sue, there’s no harm in accepting.”
We’d already concluded not to pursue litigation.
“Ah, hyung. About that.”
“Hm?”
“The materials we each gathered for the lawsuit—would it be okay if I compiled and organized them?”
“Oh, well! I don’t mind… but why?”
“There’s something I want to verify.”
“…?”
Bae Sae-jin looked puzzled but readily handed over the materials.
And I was somewhat surprised.
‘…He found all the precedents.’
From the situation with the Former Manager to legal consultations—the materials bore clear traces of meticulous, realistic compilation.
If I added the call logs and messages I’d recorded, it would make genuinely compelling lawsuit material.
I had to acknowledge it.
‘That’s impressive.’
If Bae Sae-jin had been given the opportunity, he might have actually won.
Though even with victory taking over a year, the industry atmosphere would be the problem—no Agency or mainstream broadcaster would accept us.
If cases like this accumulated as Bae Sae-jin said, the atmosphere would genuinely shift.
“So, what do you think?”
I offered an honest answer. The evidence of this effort and focus deserved it.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking we might achieve a similar effect to a lawsuit through a different approach.”
“…! Is that even possible?”
“I’m still working through it, so I can’t be certain… but the materials you prepared are so solid. Once my thoughts are organized, I’d like to consult with you about it. Would that be alright?”
“Of course it would be!”
After speaking, Bae Sae-jin seemed slightly embarrassed, but his mood had improved somewhat nonetheless.
‘…I need to organize this more thoroughly.’
I saved it to my smartphone for now.
Setting aside the lawsuit discussion, I readily accepted the Headquarters’ proposal. Good TV scheduling.
And the fact that the scale ballooned as professional entertainment staff rapidly joined… whether that’s entirely positive is something I’m uncertain about.
The very first hastily arranged meeting produced this.
“We’ve secured an Island!”
“…Pardon?”
“Come on, there are Testa fans everywhere in the country~ Some of the more passionate ones might even follow us!”
The Production Team displayed materials on screen with a grin.
“So we have this Island that was used in another entertainment show, and we’ve booked the whole thing.”
From what I heard, it’s some wealthy person’s privately owned Island with a rather impressive Villa built on it.
Plus, they apparently ran some escape entertainment show there early this year, so the place has decent broadcast facilities.
I heard that thanks to this, they could save a lot of time that would’ve been lacking.
“Isn’t it perfect? It’ll suit the image of Testa members enjoying themselves comfortably in a natural environment.”
The members were somewhat taken aback as the Production Team expressed satisfaction at having solved it within budget.
‘Will we actually be able to create a relaxing atmosphere?’
The scale had grown so much that it seemed we’d need to work seriously.
But the Production Team was firm.
“Just relax! Enjoy yourselves!”
“Really, is that okay?”
“Of course~ In healing entertainment, we handle the story and broadcast segments through editing!”
They were a remarkably self-directed Production Team.
“Tell us everything you want to do! Yachts? Massages? Yoga?”
“Let’s eat crab!!”
“Crab is great!”
And Cha Yu-jin was the first to jump on it, then before long it became a session where each member voiced what they wanted to do.
Campfires, swimming, meditation, hiking came up, and eventually the question came around to me.
“What about you, Moon-dae?”
“I was thinking… maybe cooking.”
It’s appropriate for public content, and I’m not bad at it in reality, so it should be worth watching.
Though the Production Team probably already planned to include cooking as a natural element anyway.
“That’ll happen naturally~ Is there anything else special you’d like to do while relaxing?”
Cha Yu-jin chimed in.
“Moon-dae hyung takes great photos! The best!”
“Oh~ Then it’d be nice to go around the Island taking photos together!”
My activity level was increasing in earnest.
I abandoned my plans for maximum indoor activity. It seemed I’d end up working properly after all.
And after all the twists and turns, the first day of filming arrived.
“…?”
“Is this really all there is?”
The Production Team released us into a stylish Villa with unmanned cameras installed throughout.
Literally, without any direction or interference whatsoever.
“Uh… um, is there no game or something?”
“I, I thought you’d at least give us a mission….”
There wasn’t.
Seven of us simply entered a large three-story Villa on an Island where the Beach, Mountain, and Wildflower Path formed a stunning landscape.
“….”
“….”
The guys who had been sitting quietly in the Living Room soon understood the situation.
“So we really can just do whatever we want.”
“Wow, this is my first time experiencing something like this?”
And soon, true to form, they excitedly began wandering around the Villa.
“Wow, this Room is nice!”
“Two people per Room is standard… oh, this Room looks like three people can sleep together!”
“It’s really spacious!”
“…what are you doing, Mun-dae?”
“Checking the water pressure.”
The Villa building was excellent. I had no idea how they’d managed to build and maintain this on such a remote Island, but it was fully equipped with gas and water pipes.
‘Maybe there’s a water tank on the Rooftop.’
In any case, except for the fact that individual Rooms weren’t guaranteed because this was a broadcast, it was truly an environment with nothing lacking for recuperation.
[Welcome snacks for Testa *^^*]
In the Kitchen, there was even a snack basket with a flower lei and a card like this placed on top.
When I opened the Refrigerator, the ingredients were fully stocked.
‘It’s impressive, though.’
To be honest, the video seemed like it wouldn’t be fun at all. I quietly closed the Refrigerator containing a large black chicken for samgyetang.
“I want to eat black chicken! Let’s cook it together and eat!”
“Sure.”
“Yeeeees!”
Cha Yu-jin was the most excited.
Anyway, after finishing the house tour, the guys who were now curious about what lay beyond the Villa started peeking outside.
“That… could that be a Chicken Coop?”
“It looks like it.”
“Mun-dae, Mun-dae, look at that! I think that’s the Set from that escape variety show~”
“That’s interesting.”
Whether the container hadn’t been dismantled yet or the owner had asked them to leave it, the wall with the broadcast logo remained intact.
Well, around the third or fourth day, if there’s nothing to do, it might be fine to go in out of curiosity. Since it’s the same broadcast company, it’ll be good publicity too.
‘Honestly, it seems like it’d be surprising if we could just last four days.’
What else is there to do besides three meals a day here? After exploring the Island for a day or two, there won’t be anything left to do….
“Hyung. That?”
“Oh, it looks like a good place to go hiking.”
“….”
I’d better dodge that by taking charge of cooking.
I turned my gaze away from the seven pairs of hiking boots Ryu Chung-woo had brought, conjuring up persuasive arguments about how unmaintained mountain paths like this were dangerous.
“Ch-chicks in the Chicken Coop…!”
“Wow, they’re so cute though?”
After that, it became something like a casual exploration.
The Chicken Coop right next to the Villa we visited first was filled with chickens and chicks. From the look of it, it seemed to have been built recently.
The guys whose eyes went crazy over the chicks, squealing about how adorable they were—I’d already figured out their role.
‘Looks like they put it here so we’d steal eggs.’
Isn’t that the national rule for variety shows?
Then we checked out the Beach for a bit, took a leisurely walk along a nearby Wildflower Path where wildflowers were blooming profusely, and had a simple meal.
The menu was the easiest option: kimchi stew.
“The rice was already cooked. There was canned ham too.”
“…The stew tastes good.”
“Hmm, should we go grab some eggs from the chicken coop?”
By this point, I was starting to get a sense of things.
‘This really isn’t any different from rural recuperation.’
To be honest, I’d almost forgotten the cameras existed. In fact, when we went out for a walk, it was a drone following us instead of a person.
I wondered how natural a shot they were trying to get, but I concluded the content wouldn’t be anything special.
However, after lunch, as the post-meal drowsiness began to set in.
Ding-dong!
The doorbell rang out of nowhere.
“Oh~”
“Finally a mission?”
It wasn’t.
“Hello! You’re the ones who signed up for the meditation class today, right?”
“Huh!”
“Y-yes…!”
The things casually requested in the meeting were now actually pouring into our laps.
From meditation classes to aromatherapy massages.
Experts and equipment arrived at the Villa’s entrance each time.
“Please lie face-down on the sun bed~”
“Yes!”
“Ugh, ahhh.”
Bae Sae-jin making dying sounds while getting a massage probably would’ve been pretty funny.
In any case, the true realization of ‘Testa doing everything they want to do.’
I wondered if viewers wouldn’t get tired of watching others indulge themselves on broadcast, but since it seemed like it would provide vicarious satisfaction, I felt somewhat reassured.
Besides, they seemed to be maintaining at least some standards—we had to do the housework ourselves.
That made sense. No matter what, if the only footage shown was us playing around and then leaving, it wouldn’t look good.
With seven of us, it finished quickly and wasn’t bothersome at all. Even the guys without much domestic sense were trying hard, so it shouldn’t look bad.
“I’m good at cooking!”
“No, you can’t cook, but you’re good at moving things around, so maybe laundry instead….”
“Kim Rae-bin can’t cook.”
“That’s not true! I’ve been recognized in the cooking videos we’ve done the past few times….”
I wasn’t sure if they’d even use this for content, but even if they did, since they’re always like this, there wouldn’t be any rumors about discord.
Four days as sweet as honey slipped away in an instant.
“Phew.”
“Just as you like~ la-di-da….”
When the guys, now thoroughly relaxed, started sleeping in late or running around the house singing—the kind of behavior they’d only do when the cameras weren’t rolling.
A message came from the Production Team.
Whether they were thinking about the broadcast or not, it came as a text rather than a call.
“Huh? Is this the PD?”
“Yeah.”
The text that came to Ryu Chung-woo’s smartphone said this:
[Weather conditions are expected to deteriorate. Please focus on indoor activities and exercise caution for safety!]
Big Sae-jin, reading it aloud, shrugged his shoulders.
“Oh~ That could happen. It’s been sunny for four days straight.”
“Yeah. Should we reinforce the Chicken Coop a bit?”
After searching and seeing it would be heavy rain with strong winds, we spent the morning reinforcing the Chicken Coop as a way to pass the time.
And that night.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-BOOM!!!!
“Holy crap!”
“That sound is really loud.”
When the thunderstorm with lightning actually hit, the guys who were taken aback spent the evening quietly playing board games indoors.
But the next day.
CRACK-BOOM!! CRACK-CRACK-BOOM!!
“….”
“…It’s still going?”
The rain and strong winds hadn’t stopped. If anything, they’d intensified.
“Look at that, look at that.”
Looking out the window, we could see waves crashing wildly at the Beach.
If the Villa had been built just a bit further forward, water would’ve flooded in here.
[Everyone, we’re currently in a situation where we absolutely cannot launch a boat or move on foot from the Island, so please wait a moment. We’ll come up with a plan shortly.]
All humor had drained from the PD’s text.
“Ugh.”
“They said it would clear up today, but the weather forecast must’ve been wrong. Oh no.”
And looking at the revised weather forecast attached, it seemed like this would continue at least until the day after tomorrow.
‘We’re screwed.’
I could already see the future of this broadcast. They’d have to stretch out the footage we shot in daylight as much as possible.
Of course, other worries besides the broadcast popped up too.
“We, we need to feed the chickens….”
At Sun Ah-hyun’s words, Cha Yu-jin asked a question.
“What about our food supplies?”
“…!!”
“Wait.”
I calculated immediately.
The schedule for restocking fresh ingredients was supposed to be today.
In other words, our supplies were running thin.
“We have instant rice and canned goods. We won’t starve.”
“Ugh.”
Cha Yu-jin’s shoulders sagged.
‘But it’s not just about food.’
The staff who occasionally visited to swap out the camera’s recording capacity had stopped coming as well. Everything had essentially come to a complete halt.
I reached a conclusion.
“…For the next two days, we’ll have to stay like this, just the four of us.”
“….”
“Oh….”
Among the speechless group, Kim Rae-bin swallowed hard and spoke.
“Then we’re… essentially stranded on a deserted island, aren’t we?”
“…!”
An unexpected content opportunity had arrived.

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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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