Debut or Die - Chapter 25

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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 25
Sun Ah-hyun found himself accepting the cheeks Park Moon-dae offered without thinking.
Immediately after, his interview was inserted.
[Sun Ah-hyun: A-actually, I… I can’t really eat instant food…]
Then, like a flashback, footage shot with a fixed camera briefly aired.
Sun Ah-hyun’s figure, apparently feeling unwell, was dimly visible burying his head into the bed under the faint light from a narrow bathroom.
[Park Moon-dae: Are you okay?]
[Sun Ah-hyun: I’m… I’m fine…]
[Park Moon-dae: Just a moment.]
Park Moon-dae left the Dormitory.
And shortly after.
[Participant Park Moon-dae, who brought digestive medicine]
He reappeared with the caption.
In truth, this had happened during the early grading evaluation.
At that time, Park Moon-dae had the trait ‘Sleep is for the dead’ activated, so he wasn’t drowsy even at night and had relatively plenty of time.
Thanks to that, I had the leisure to respond to my conscience and reciprocate the chocolate Sun Ah-hyun had given me.
By the way, by the time Park Moon-dae was preparing for the PR broadcast, he had completely forgotten about this incident.
Sun Ah-hyun, who had no way of knowing that, spoke with an apologetic and grateful expression in his interview.
[Sun Ah-hyun: I… I think you switched it out because I might not be able to eat it…]
[Sun Ah-hyun: Th-thank you, Moon-dae.]
[Park Moon-dae: (nods slightly)]
Of course, Park Moon-dae’s cut was spliced in from a completely unrelated interview.
However, on the surface, it looked quite heartwarming.
-I never imagined this kind of development
-What? Chicken feet guy is just pure goodness
-Was he actually shy the whole time?
-I’m starting to like Moon-dae lolol
If general viewers reacted this way, his fans were even more enthusiastic.
-Moon-dae doesn’t scheme, so he’s easily misunderstood maliciously, but it seems like he’s actually the type who looks after those around him.
-Our puppy really was a puppy…
Oh my gosh, this fool… I mean, he picked good chicken feet, but still, he’s giving away all of his? Oh no…
-So it was the one Moon-dae picked
-Moon-puppy is so kind
With the favorable editing and reactions, Park Moon-dae’s home page was naturally delighted, but also somewhat anxious.
‘What if someone accuses me of character marketing?’
Character appeals were prone to backfiring.
Especially as the program progressed toward its finale.
If that participant is taken down, space opens up for my participant to enter.
Character marketing could be destroyed if someone merely reported even minor unethical behavior from school days.
And among the other participants, there were already quite a few with graduation photos uploaded.
‘Come to think of it, Park Moon-dae doesn’t have much known about him.’
Was it because he was such a quiet student?
Perhaps he was from abroad or the Rural Area. She imagined Park Moon-dae sitting expressionlessly on a pavilion above a rice paddy, wearing a straw hat.
‘It suits him…!’
In the early stages of becoming a fan, there was always a symptom where that person looked like a painting no matter where you placed them.
Meanwhile, the broadcast was showing various participants preparing their PR Live performances.
From Kim Rae-bin, who pulled out an electronic piano to create the Idol Corporation theme song, to Big Sae-jin, who promoted sneakers while showcasing a random play dance of idol hit songs.
There were quite a few entertaining moments.
Focusing mainly on several top-ranked participants, the broadcast also briefly showed the circumstances of those who couldn’t bring collaboration items.
[For those without collaboration items, you can promote our program! 【Idol Stock Company】 instead!]
Of course, most of them failed to rank in the top 33 and barely managed to sustain the broadcast for 10 minutes.
With over a dozen people simultaneously conducting similar content that was already stale, there was no way it could be entertaining.
Then the broadcast briefly featured participants who promoted unique collaboration items, and naturally, Park Moon-dae appeared here.
The scene of Park Moon-dae setting up chicken feet and sitting down had proper subtitles from the start.
[Park Moon-dae (Chicken Feet Enthusiast) A.K.A Mukbang Star]
[Cha Yu-jin: That was truly impressive]
Cha Yu-jin’s reaction of watching with an open mouth passed by briefly.
Her timeline was once again flooded with the word “cute.” Her own posts were included in that flood.
-Mundae is so cute I’m throwing chicken feet ㅠㅠ
The PR broadcast preparation process wrapped up warmly, as if the Live had gone well.
When some participants accidentally revealed other participants’ secrets or expressed sensitive issues that arose during filming, it all passed by as if nothing had happened.
Even though they were ridiculed on the Internet and two people voluntarily withdrew.
Now that the program had gained popularity, there was no need to unnecessarily reproduce controversy about participants in the main broadcast.
Since most viewers had already anticipated this, they either made a snide remark or two, offered some criticism, then focused on the next content.
Now came the highly anticipated announcement of individual matches within each team.
[Everyone! Do you remember the reward for the participant who ranked first in individual voting within their team in the first team match?]
[Ah….]
[In the first ranking announcement, it was automatic advancement!]
The screen captured several participants muttering, “I hope it’s me.”
Then the MC, with flashy skill, added unnecessary commentary to drag out the time before calling one winner from each team.
Of course, most participants tried to at least pretend to congratulate.
[Wow~]
[Congratulations!]
Especially Ryu Chung-woo’s teammates, when his first-place finish was announced, made an effort not to look displeased at all.
But the broadcast aired it with a peculiar atmosphere once again.
[….]
[…Ah.]
[Congratulations.]
[Yeah, thanks. You all worked hard… I’m sorry.]
[…No. Don’t mention it.]
‘That’s too much—I don’t like it.’
Accustomed to this pattern, she’d grown to actively resent the editing. The hardcore survival show viewers probably felt the same way.
Of course, the individual round top-ranked participant from Park Moon-dae’s team, October 31, was also announced.
[The number one from October 31 is… Congratulations! It’s Sun Ah-hyun!]
[…!]
Sun Ah-hyun, startled, was surrounded by his October 31 teammates.
[Ooooh!!]
[I knew Ah-hyun could do it~]
[Congratulations!]
[You worked hard.]
[Th-th-thank you….]
It was appropriately heartwarming editing.
‘Thank goodness!’
She felt relieved, yet somewhat disappointed.
‘Moon-dae could have gotten it too, I think.’
She knew that winning it wouldn’t bring real benefits and might just invite unnecessary attacks, but still—it felt like a missed opportunity.
Similar sentiments quietly surfaced across her SNS timeline.
-Congrats Ah-hyun~
-A bit disappointing but Moon-dae’s reaction was so heartwarming
-I caught a long blonde hair! Ah ㅠㅠ I’m so happy
-Everyone was so good that it wasn’t surprising who got it.
-Moon-dae you worked hard~
If she searched a bit more deliberately, she could probably find comments like these quickly.
He did both the arrangement and mental care, but Sun Ah-hyun is just taking the credit lolol Ah, humanity is ruined~
Of course, that would be from a malicious individual fan.
Fortunately, thanks to Park Moon-dae’s new visual as he offered congratulations on screen, the topic quickly shifted.
She immediately captured a close-up shot of Moon-dae and uploaded it.
-I don’t know who did it but thank you so much for Moon-dae’s blonde hair… (screenshot)
On the broadcast, the MC was saying something meaningful again.
[By the way, what would happen if a participant who originally failed actually passed?]
[Uh…!]
[Oh no.]
[Everyone, the lowest-ranked passer will be eliminated!]
For the record, she watching wasn’t interested at all.
‘Please, Moon-dae, don’t get called early…!’
She could only anxiously hope that Park Moon-dae would be called later in the announcement.
[Then we’ll announce the 47th ranked participant.]
She’d planned to make a YouTube promotional video while the lower rankings were announced, but her hand wouldn’t grip the mouse properly.
‘Why am I getting nervous like this…!’
When she finally grabbed a carbonated drink and sat down, the announcement had at last reached the top 30.
This was after another break and a tedious beverage PPL segment.
‘And Park Moon-dae didn’t even get a single shot…!’
It was because he hadn’t touched the drink since nearly spitting it out, but that was something viewers couldn’t know.
By the time they announced 31st place, a scene appeared that could capture her attention.
[31st place is… Kwon Hee-seung!]
He was an October 31 participant whom Park Moon-dae privately referred to as ‘Gold 2’.
Park Moon-dae was among those who went up to the stage to greet him.
[Congratulations.]
The way he awkwardly gave a high-five with a serious expression was incredibly endearing.
Meanwhile, the MC made a joke that didn’t quite land.
[The first October 31 teammate to advance to the next broadcast! Is that why he’s 31st?]
[That seems to be it!]
Starting with Kwon Hee-seung, the October 31 teammates began to be called up to the stage sporadically.
After Choi Won-gil and Ha Il-jun (Gold 1) were announced in the lower-middle range of the top 20, no more names were called for a while.
Then came 13th place.
[Congratulations. 13th place is… Lee Sae-jin! Oh, there are two of you!]
Both Lee Sae-jin’s reflexively looked up, one laughing awkwardly while the other’s expression hardened and returned to normal.
[Between the two of you… Lee Sae-jin B! Also known as Big Sae-jin! You were the leader of October 31.]
[Aha ha!]
Big Sae-jin laughed cheerfully and offered a handshake to Lee Sae-jin, who accepted it somewhat reluctantly.
Big Sae-jin then climbed onto the stage amid cheers and greetings from various participants.
[Wow! 13th! That’s exactly our team’s ranking. It feels like fate.]
Big Sae-jin made a quip that fit the moment.
Then he delivered sincere and heartfelt words of gratitude and encouragement cleanly before moving up.
At least he made it into the top 12!
She swallowed and waited for the next announcement.
Since Park Moon-dae had virtually no recognition formed before Episode 1 aired, this alone was an enormous achievement.
[The participant who made 11th place is… Seo Hyun-chul!]
And up to 11th place, Park Moon-dae’s name hadn’t been called.
Finally, they were entering single-digit rankings.
10th, 9th….
[The participant who made 8th place is… ah, the one who performed Malang Dalcom’s song in the first team mission.]
‘This is it…!’
She relaxed her shoulders and exhaled.
Park Moon-dae would probably be called next. She thought of it as almost certain.
After all, child actress Lee Sae-jin had overwhelming initial recognition, and Sun Ah-hyun’s metrics were too good thanks to his recent stage.
She thought those two would be called later than Park Moon-dae.
[This participant who showed unexpected charm is….]
After alternating shots of the three remaining October 31 participants for quite a while, the MC continued.
[Lee Sae-jin!]
[…!]
Lee Sae-jin shot to her feet, her expression hardened with resolve.
Sun Ah-hyun and Park Moon-dae, still seated, offered their congratulations out of habit.
[Congratulations.]
[C-congratulations….]
[…Thank you.]
Lee Sae-jin smiled faintly, and her awkward acceptance of their words was broadcast live.
Then she let out a cry from deep within.
“Ahhhhh!”
The related community was erupting with reactions.
-Wow
-Wow Lee Sae-jin
-Didn’t expect her in the top 5
-8th place?
-Even though there’s talk about her personality, she came across as hardworking so I thought she’d maintain her ranking
-She had quite a few fans; this is surprising;;
-Seems like the other contestants rose higher, pushing her ranking down?
Lee Sae-jin bowed her head deeply, left a brief but powerful statement—”Thank you, I’ll give it my all”—and stepped down from the stage.
She gripped her mouse tightly.
‘So what rank did Moon-dae end up with?’

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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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