Debut or Die - Chapter 247

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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 247
Day 1 stranded on the Deserted Island.
Crash! Bang!!
Outside the Villa, the wind and rain continued to assault the structure with relentless fury.
‘Whoever built this place must have possessed an extraordinarily meticulous regard for safety.’
At least the Villa remained intact—a small mercy.
I suppressed a sigh and sprawled across the Living Room floor.
Cha Yu-jin stretched out beside me in the same manner.
[Think of it this way! The outside has been destroyed by a zombie apocalypse! So we’re just staying in this comfortable shelter together!]
“Right. That’s incredibly reassuring.”
“Hehe!”
Don’t laugh, you fool.
A hollow chuckle escaped me, though my mind remained tangled with worry.
‘What about filming?’
If we lost several days’ worth of content like this, it would truly be a disaster.
[Hyung, we can’t film right now anyway. Just relax~ and take it easy.]
“…!”
[There’s no point worrying about things you can’t control.]
He spoke with such definitive certainty.
I closed my mouth for a moment, then glanced at the rain battering outside and conceded the point.
‘What can I do about the weather anyway?’
It was just filler programming anyway—losing one variety show wouldn’t be catastrophic. I’d simply perform better next time.
“You’re right. Your logic is sound.”
“Exactly!”
I lay in the Living Room watching the rain, my mind blank, and passed the time until mealtime.
Then came lunch.
Watching all seven of us eat preserved rations together truly felt like stepping into a disaster film.
“Hmm, should we head to the Chicken Coop and see if there are any eggs?”
“Sae-jin, you’re going to get drenched.”
“Okay.”
After finishing two rather uninspiring meals, time seemed to hang suspended.
Moreover, the already sluggish smartphone data service began to lag even more severely.
‘This really feels isolating….’
As a result, there was genuinely nothing to do.
Exempt from cleanup duty since I’d handled meal preparation, I settled into the Living Room where the weather was most visible and sank into contemplation.
The board games had all been exhausted, and there was no way to venture outside and forage for supplies….
Whirrrr. Thunk.
“…!!”
Then.
Suddenly, everything went dark.
“Huh??”
“Is everyone alright?”
The power had gone out.
On a deserted island, there were no other light sources at night—just absolute, suffocating darkness.
I immediately pushed myself upright.
In that instant, someone grabbed my shoulder.
“…!”
“Hyung!”
“Yeah.”
…It was Cha Yu-jin. He’d been carrying laundry to the living room.
I confirmed his voice, then identified the others.
“Everyone, don’t move yet. Let’s let our eyes adjust first.”
That was Ryu Chung-woo.
“Y-yes…!”
“Wow, if the power had cut just five seconds earlier, I would’ve been doing dishes when it happened.”
That was Sun Ah-hyun and Big Sae-jin.
Cha Yu-jin was beside me, and Kim Rae-bin was on the sofa.
That left….
‘Where’s Bae Sae-jin?’
At that moment, I heard the sound of something tumbling from below, followed by a stifled cry.
Nngh!
“…!”
“Hyung!”
Fortunately, the voice that came back sounded intact.
“…I’m fine!”
Though it was trembling slightly. I shouted toward the direction of the sound.
“What happened?”
“I-I saw something strange… No, don’t come! I’ll go.”
“No. Stay there.”
You shouldn’t be moving around.
I activated the flashlight function on my smartphone and stood up.
“Let’s go together!”
Going together was fine, but not if you’re strangling my neck.
With Cha Yu-jin clinging to me, I moved quickly to join the others who’d rushed toward the light.
“Sae-jin hyung, are you there?”
Bae Sae-jin was sprawled on the floor in an awkward position. When the smartphone flashlight illuminated him, his expression brightened—clearly the blackout had frightened him.
“Is your leg okay?”
“…It’s fine. No problem.”
Bae Sae-jin grasped Ryu Chung-woo’s hand and got up without issue, though he seemed somewhat tense.
“Um… I think I knocked something over when I fell.”
Bae Sae-jin swallowed hard.
“Something like that… came out.”
I immediately swept my smartphone’s light in the direction he was pointing.
A cabinet pushed halfway closed.
And behind it, …a door?
What the light revealed was indeed a drab-colored fire door.
“Whoa.”
“What is this.”
Bae Sae-jin had been able to spot it thanks to the faint phosphorescent glow emanating from the floor. It seemed they’d used some kind of luminous paint.
“Wow, is this like some kind of secret room?”
“I believe it’s meant for evacuation purposes!”
“That makes sense.”
The guys who had been murmuring soon arrived at a very sensible conclusion: it was private property, so it was better not to enter carelessly.
‘…It seems to lead underground.’
Based on the structure, the area beyond that door appeared to be near the Wildflower Path.
Big Sae-jin muttered ominously from behind.
“Doesn’t this remind you of that? Why is it that we’re isolated in a snowy mountain lodge, and then an incident happens at a hidden door… ugh!”
“Don’t.”
Don’t say such horrifying—no, absurd things.
I smacked Big Sae-jin on the back and returned to the Living Room.
The others followed in quick steps, each stopping by their rooms to retrieve their smartphones.
“Phew.”
“Should we use this to find a flashlight?”
“There’s one in the pantry next to the Entrance. I’ll grab it.”
“Ooh~”
Once we secured a flashlight thanks to Ryu Chung-woo’s efforts, things felt a bit better.
The problem was that there was no way to recharge our smartphones at this rate.
‘I’ll have to use them sparingly.’
With the power out, there was nothing to be done. I clicked my tongue.
“Um, it could be dangerous, so should we all sleep together?”
“I’m all for it~”
“No scary stories!”
That night, we all gathered in the Living Room to sleep.
I exhausted myself further dealing with Cha Yu-jin insisting he’d tell a scary story in English and asking me to translate it.
And the next morning.
The situation spiraled into something even more maddening.
“The, the Chicken Coop…!”
“Huh? It’s being swept away??”
Water had flooded the front yard due to two days of continuous rain.
As a result, chicks that had flowed out through the open Chicken Coop door in the strong wind were bobbing along, on the verge of being swept down below the yard.
Over the murky floodwaters, yellow clumps drifted further and further away….
Caw-caw-caw!!
The chickens cried out pitifully.
“This can’t happen!!”
“W-we have to save them…!”
In the end, driven by urgency, we all bolted toward the Chicken Coop in our pajamas without even grabbing an umbrella or raincoat.
‘I’m going crazy.’
“Grab them! Grab them!”
“Everyone, be careful not to fall! Keep your bodies low!”
The saving grace was that these guys trained regularly, so none of them ended up face-first in the mud.
And in the end, all the chicks were rescued.
I’ll just mention that Cha Yu-jin and Ryu Chung-woo were the ones who really came through.
“Thank goodness!”
“Phew….”
The ones holding wet yellow clumps in both hands waddled back to the Chicken Coop and attempted to restore order.
“Phew, what a relief.”
“While we’re at it, let’s grab some eggs!”
They were getting drenched by the rain, so wringing out their clothes seemed pointless, but regardless, they tidied themselves up and looked satisfied.
And… eggs.
‘Hmm.’
I shook my head and spoke.
“Should we eat one?”
“Pardon?”
“Huh??”
“There are five hens, so I figured we could take one.”
“…!!”
Seven adults shouldn’t have trouble catching one chicken.
Kim Rae-bin nodded.
“An excellent idea. Consuming too many preserved foods is detrimental to one’s health….”
“No!! No! That won’t do!!”
“How could you even say such a thing about these tiny chicks we just saved, Moon-dae?!”
“They can’t understand what you’re saying. Besides, we were always going to eat them anyway.”
And it’s funny how the ones who’d be happiest eating chicken are the ones protesting the hardest.
Cha Yu-jin’s opposition was the most intense.
“We’re not eating them!! We’re raising them well!”
He even mixed in English as he passionately explained the metaphor of ‘The Little Prince and the Rose’.
[Just as the Little Prince’s rose is special, these chickens are special to us, you see?!]
Fine, I got it.
“Ha ha, alright. Let’s just take the eggs.”
After Ryu Chung-woo settled the matter, Kim Rae-bin whispered something to me discreetly.
“I strongly recommend that if we catch a chicken, we do not distribute it to Cha Yu-jin.”
“….”
In any case, it meant I had endured that chaos and returned indoors clutching eggs.
But another ambush awaited.
“…The water was cold.”
“Tell me about it.”
The power outage had cut off the hot water, so I found myself doing an impromptu cold water rinse. Bae Sae-jin, who insisted on showering with scalding water even in the height of summer, seemed to have had quite the shocking experience.
‘This won’t do.’
Fortunately, the kitchen ran on gas rather than induction, so at least I could heat the rice properly, though even that had its limits.
So after the meal, I broached the subject with those who had filled their bellies with white rice, half-cooked fried eggs, and spicy tuna.
“First, we need to figure out the electricity.”
“…That’s true.”
“You’re right, but… I don’t have any specialized knowledge on the matter.”
Right. The problem was that our professions all overlapped. An awkward silence fell among those who had devoted their lives to the arts.
Then Bae Sae-jin spoke up with an uncertain expression.
“Wouldn’t we just need to flip the breaker back on?”
“Oh.”
“Ah, that could be it!”
Right. There was a good chance this was the kind of problem where the circuit breaker had simply tripped.
I had been entertaining a rather pessimistic theory—’We’ve been getting electricity from solar panels, but since the sun hasn’t come out these past few days, the power’s been cut off too…’—when I paused.
‘If that’s the case, it might be solved more simply than I thought.’
Ryu Chung-woo folded his arms.
“Hmm, where could it be? I didn’t see it near the entrance or on the outer wall.”
“S-Should we ask…?”
I tried texting PD as suggested, but kept getting failures. The signal didn’t seem to be coming through well.
“Did the strong winds damage the equipment?”
“It’s such a remote location that it’s possible. We’ve had poor reception several times already.”
“Hmm.”
I pondered briefly, but we quickly reached a consensus.
“We don’t have anything else to do anyway, so why don’t we just search for the breaker?”
“Let’s do that~”
And so, divided into groups of two or three, we each grabbed a flashlight and began exploring every corner of the house.
Well, we’d find it before sunset.

* * *
“Hmm, it’s not here?”
“….”
Why can’t I see it?
-We’re more likely to find it, right?
-Yeah.
I was searching the first floor with Big Sae-jin and Kim Rae-bin.
And things like this were usually tucked away in some corner on the first floor.
But even after wandering around for quite a while, the circuit breaker panel was nowhere to be found.
“It’s possible it could be on another floor, right?”
“That could be, but….”
Wouldn’t a house normally have it on a lower level?
Then Kim Rae-bin suddenly raised his hand.
“Could it possibly be inside that secret door Bae Sae-jin hyung discovered last time?”
“…!”
“Oh~ that could be it.”
I recalled the drab-colored fire door hidden behind the cabinet.
‘Certainly… it’s possible.’
Since it seemed to lead underground, there could be a boiler room down there, and the circuit breaker panel might be installed there.
“Should we check it out?”
“…Yeah.”
I headed toward the corner of the corridor where the cabinet was located with them.
The further we went in that direction, the darker it became without windows. Even in broad daylight, I had to turn on the flashlight.
“Good thing we brought this~ we almost got scared!”
“Securing visibility is indeed important.”
We reached the cabinet quickly. As I pushed the half-open cabinet all the way, a fairly large fire door revealed itself under the flashlight’s beam.
‘…It seems a bit excessive for a boiler room entrance.’
“Should I open it?”
“…It’s fine.”
It would be better if the person holding the flashlight opens it.
I grasped the fire door’s handle and turned it.
The door wasn’t locked.
Creeeeak.
As if it hadn’t been opened in a long time, the door opened with an unsettling sound.
Inside was pitch black and silent, devoid of light.
When I shone the flashlight inside, a staircase descending downward faintly came into view.
“….”
“….”
“…It’s a bit scary, isn’t it?”
No, it’s just my imagination.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait!”
“What if we regroup with the others searching the other areas and move together?”
“Moon-dae, you’re scared too~ it’s written all over your face.”
Because those two cowards were pushing the idea so enthusiastically, I waited a moment and regrouped with the second-floor search team.
“Ah, here.”
“WOW, it’s so dark!”
It was Bae Sae-jin and Cha Yu-jin.
I doubted whether that pair had even finished searching the second floor properly, but since we’d regrouped anyway, we might as well head down.
Now five strong, we propped the fire door open and descended the stairs, relying on the beam of our flashlights.
Being underground, the temperature was low, and there was a faint smell of rust and something fishy in the air.
Thud.
“Why would anyone design a place like this?”
“It must be the owner’s taste.”
“I suppose so.”
Thud.
“…I was just thinking about something.”
“Yes?”
Bae Sae-jin stopped in his tracks.
“Why would this person go out of their way to build a villa like this on a deserted island…?”
“….”
In that instant, the atmosphere grew tense.
“…Well, maybe they just liked the quiet~”
“But they offered it for a variety show.”
Bae Sae-jin spoke as if cold sweat were breaking out on his brow.
“If they liked the quiet, I wouldn’t do it that way.”
“….”
Everyone fell silent again, but soon desperate justifications flew from all directions.
“They must love variety shows!”
“They could have had a close acquaintance at the Broadcasting Station!”
“…Right. Sorry.”
Bae Sae-jin quietly closed his mouth.
I turned my stiffened neck and pointed ahead.
“Looks like we’ve reached the bottom.”
“Ah.”
The stairs had ended and we’d reached the floor.
The massive cavern seemed to have wooden boxes stacked on all sides.
“Oh, is this a warehouse?”
“It appears so.”
The others’ voices brightened slightly, as if they’d felt some relief.
‘A circuit breaker….’
I continued sweeping the flashlight across the walls, searching, when I discovered something unexpected.
“…!”
“Huh?”
It was another door. A double door, no less.
Nothing particularly unusual about it. However, what was seeping out from beneath that door was….
Big Sae-jin spoke in a trembling voice.
“…That’s not blood, is it?”
Blood?
Indeed, a dark crimson liquid was oozing sluggishly across the floor beneath the door.
“….”
The moment I recognized it, I understood what I’d been mistaking for a rusty smell all this time.
‘Iron.’
Blood.
“…!!”
“Aaaahhhhh!!”
“Ugghhhhh!!”
Panicked screams filled the cavern.
I stumbled backward, reeling.
‘Call someone….’
Who the hell do I call? What is this?
[What the hell is this?! It’s blood!!]
“I told you something was wrong!! Ahhh!!”
“Get up, get up right now…!”
Then.
Click.
Suddenly, the lights came back on.
My vision cleared in an instant.
“…??”
“Huh?”
It was a very subtle, ambient lighting. The atmosphere transformed completely.
What I’d thought was a sinister warehouse was actually… a rather tastefully designed cellar.
“…?!”
The wooden boxes I’d seen earlier appeared to be stacked purely for aesthetic effect.
A storage space with impeccable interior design, by any measure.
And the door I’d seen was….
“…a freezer?”
That’s right.
What I’d mistaken for a door was a sleek, glossy freezer in modern gray.
“….”
I strode forward and opened the freezer door.
Cold air still lingered inside, and my nose felt refreshed by it.
I could see various sausages and meat thawing, their blood dripping downward in rivulets.
This was the source of that fishy stench.
“….”
“….”
A long, heavy silence fell over us.
“Ah, so it was here after all.”
“M-Moon-dae. I found the circuit breaker…!”
“…You guys?”
“O-Over there…?”
While the third-floor search team who had found the circuit breaker made their way down here, the rest of us stood there uselessly, dwelling on our own stupidity.
I won’t deny the fact that I was included among those fools….

* * *
“Still, there’s plenty of meat.”
“Right, the problem was mistaking it for human flesh.”
Keep quiet.
After regaining my composure, I retrieved the meat from the freezer that hadn’t thawed yet and was still edible.
I’d need to apologize to the villa owner later, but given that it was due to a natural disaster, I could probably earn some understanding.
“Look! We made the right call not catching it!”
“…I suppose so.”
I silently agreed as I watched Cha Yu-jin hoist up the frozen native chicken.
“Since the refrigerator upstairs is running again, let’s move some of the food up there.”
“Yes~”
‘At least that foolish expression didn’t get recorded….’
I felt relieved inwardly, but I soon realized that comfort was premature.
…These cameras nowadays have surprisingly long battery life.

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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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