Debut or Die - Chapter 254

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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 254
Sparkles and pollen continued to fall from the popup before my eyes.
But no matter how surreal the sight was, the content within the popup was the problem. This is how it ends?
‘What is this.’
It felt like I’d been struck from behind.
Of course, I wanted to stop this insanity—being threatened that if I didn’t become an idol within a year, I’d suddenly drop dead.
But this method, this timing… are you serious right now.
“What the hell are you doing.”
First, it showed me a friendship with Park Moon-dae that I had no memory of, then a life after failing the civil service exam that I had no memory of, and finally it showed me committing something completely unhinged.
And now it’s ending everything arbitrarily, like cutting ties, without any explanation or process.
“Then why did you show me in the first place.”
If it weren’t for that damned ‘Verify Truth’, I would have gladly accepted my success and continued living.
What, is it saying that since Ryu Gun-woo already gave up on life once, I shouldn’t worry about that life?
Just live well as Park Moon-dae?
“Then where did the original one go.”
Where exactly did the original Park Moon-dae go. And what about the Ryu Gun-woo in the video I saw from Ryu Chung-woo.
‘Verify Truth’ or whatever—nothing has been clarified. And nothing makes sense.
But the popup showed no change.
“…Sigh.”
Right.
Don’t stupidly yell at a hologram. First, let me assess the situation.
I took a deep breath and examined the popup’s contents more carefully.
First, the title that appeared initially.
[Title: The Successful One (Idol)]
-You have succeeded.
: Permanent removal of abnormal status occurrence
“….”
So it meant it wouldn’t suddenly display ‘abnormal status’ again and drive me insane.
But I can’t exactly trust something guaranteed by the very system that displays that ‘abnormal status’. Pass.
And… in the rewards tab, there’s one more thing besides the title.
Permanent Status Window
It meant I could continue to quantify and check the status of myself and others.
“…Hmm.”
I crossed my arms.
After seeing this much, my head cooled down again.
Because something was off.
‘Isn’t this too advantageous for me.’
There was nothing bad for me. There’s no ability this useful in the industry. It’s a guaranteed winning ability—I could even start my own Entertainment Agency and never fail.
And it’s leaving me with such a supernatural reward and calling it done.
Without any prior notice?
“….”
I’d been frustrated enough to consider cutting ties, but this felt less like a clean break and more like the system shutting down service entirely.
The system had simply unloaded itself now that I’d exhausted all the abnormal conditions it had allocated to me.
There was no reason for it to explain my curiosity or the cause of this situation.
“…Damn it.”
I had no idea what to think.
I stared blankly at the popup for a while, then just lay down.
Yeah, hell, the abnormal conditions were done either way. I could live however I wanted now without the risk of sudden death—what could be better than that?
Even as I tried to convince myself of that, the bitter aftertaste wouldn’t fade.
It took quite a while before I could finally fall asleep.
That damned congratulations popup remained on screen until morning.

* * *
With my mind in turmoil, keeping my hands busy was the only relief.
“I’m telling you, it’s fine!”
“It’s fine with me too.”
I fried up seafood pajeon and meatballs. And on top of that, I even made marinated short ribs that weren’t on the original plan. I happened to have raw ribs among the meat I’d brought.
The landlord and his wife fidgeted nervously, but once they actually tasted the food, their resistance crumbled.
“How is it? Does it taste good?”
“…Yeah.”
“It really is delicious, but still, having a guest do this….”
A guest.
Now that I thought about it, unlike Bae Sae-jin, I’d never actually purchased any real estate outside the Dormitory.
The other members didn’t need to buy anything since they already had homes, but now I… might need to start looking at houses. Since I have to keep living in this body.
Even as I recognized it as a rational plan, I felt no enthusiasm for it.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
It was even more frustrating knowing how ungrateful that sounded.
“Thanks. That was delicious.”
“Don’t worry about the dishes—just go watch Television~”
At least the meal itself had been nice. It was fitting enough for a holiday dinner.
And as I was sitting blankly watching Television, my smartphone rang.
[Ryu Chung-woo hyung]
“…!”
He’d said he’d look into things about Ryu Gun-woo through connections.
‘That was fast.’
I answered immediately.
“Hyung.”
-Ah, Moon-dae. You picked up quick.
Behind Ryu Chung-woo’s voice, I could faintly hear a dog barking.
Of course, that wasn’t important. What mattered was the main point of the call.
—That person named Ryu Gun-woo you saw back then.
“Yes.”
—Well, there’s been no particular contact since university.
“….”
Oh.
Ryu Chung-woo seemed apologetic about not being able to share contact information, but it was already a substantial clue.
‘So Ryu Gun-woo made it at least through university.’
I crossed my arms.
This was… actually consistent with my original history.
After high school, when I’d been staying at various relatives’ places, I’d completely cut ties with this side of things. There was no point in contacting them—it only brought back unwanted memories.
“I see. Thank you for telling me.”
—Isn’t it a shame?
“No. Actually, it’s reassuring to know he’s a real person. Thank you for looking into it.”
—It was just one phone call.
Ryu Chung-woo added with a slight joking tone.
—If you want to repay me for saving your life, you’ll have to do better.
“….”
Yeah, well… if that’s what makes him feel better about it.
I decided not to correct him and just talked about the holiday before ending the call.
And I immediately set my next course of action.
“What are you doing?”
“I need to use the laptop for a bit.”
I’d have to approach this from a different angle now.
The moment I entered this body, I’d already thoroughly verified everything about Ryu Gun-woo.
All the portal site accounts I used, phone numbers, school accounts—I’d checked them all.
So this time, I’d go the opposite direction.
‘Not traces of someone living, but traces of dead accounts.’
I’d look for accounts and remnants I’d already deleted or put into dormancy.
‘The data and videos from my deleted fancam account were still there.’
The videos from ‘gun1234’.
Like Young-rin’s legendary fancam on a rainy day.
That’s what gave me the idea.
I immediately activated the advanced search function on the search engine and adjusted the date parameters.
To the past.
“…Hmm.”
After more than two or three hours of searching and exploring.
I reached a conclusion.
‘It’s there.’
All the accounts and records Ryu Gun-woo had used in the past remained.
For instance, questions he’d posted on photography-related cafes back when he was a freshman.
Since I’d never preferred leaving traces or posts on the Internet, the search took some time, but once I knew it existed, finding it was certain.
What had disappeared were only the real-time active Internet accounts, phone numbers, and traces.
In other words, Ryu Gun-woo had vanished from every place—both the Internet and the real world—from the moment I entered Park Moon-dae’s body.
‘He’d evaporated.’
Yes. It was a supernatural evaporation.
“…Sigh.”
I closed the laptop.
And I organized the story again.
In truth, I’d made this kind of speculation from the very moment I first entered this body.
That this wasn’t the world I’d lived in, and that Ryu Gun-woo didn’t exist.
But I was wrong.
‘My past was real.’
The Ryu Gun-woo I’d seen in Ryu Chung-woo’s video, the one I’d found on the Internet—that was me.
So… in the process of returning to the past, through some inexplicable mechanism, I became Park Moon-dae instead of Ryu Gun-woo, and ‘Ryu Gun-woo’ disappeared.
‘Why it happened that way….’
I don’t know. I don’t even understand the mechanism of why people return to the past in the first place.
Even Chung-ryeo, who’d returned to the past before me, didn’t know the reason.
“….”
‘Is there no way?’
Should I really just buy a house and prepare to settle down without properly understanding anything?
As I stared at the closed laptop with a strange sense of helplessness, it happened.
Buzz—
My smartphone rang. Without thinking, I picked it up and checked it.
Dozens of messages had piled up.
‘Quite a lot accumulated.’
And I’d only not checked it for about three hours. I checked the newest message first, above the group chat that had become active during the holiday season.
It was from Sun Ah-hyun.
[Sun Ah-hyun: Moon-dae, how are you doing? My parents wanted to contact you, but they thought it might be burdensome, so I’m reaching out on behalf of everyone.]
Sun Ah-hyun’s long message began with holiday greetings and circled around to the group’s future activities.
It was typical of Sun Ah-hyun.
[I really think you’re an amazing person. If you just keep doing what you were doing, I’m sure you’d make a great album….]
But somehow, this part caught my attention.
“What I was originally doing….”
I knew it was just a phrase attached to a well-wishing comment, but I found myself reading it again for no reason.
As if it were a clue to something I might remember….
“…!!”
Yes. I understood.
[Thanks for caring. You have a good Chuseok too, and I’ll see you at the Dormitory.]
I checked the reply coming back, then immediately turned off the smartphone screen.
And I sat on the Bed, looked at the wall, and thought.
—the way I’ve always done it.
Casting aside all the unnecessary thoughts cluttering my mind.
Calmly. Let me combine only the knowledge I’ve gained from experiencing this damned status window.
First, the daydream I experienced in the coma.
‘The system and status window didn’t function properly there.’
—Enjoy your daydream :)—
Only that message appeared, and everything else was silent. Achievements weren’t being recorded at all.
‘Yet… the gacha was still possible.’
It must have been because the popup was obtained beforehand and never deleted.
And now, just like in that daydream where the system shows no response.
The one popup I’d kept in reserve for emergencies still hasn’t disappeared.
[Legendary Trait Gacha ☜ Click!]
This one.
The gacha I obtained after finishing the online charity concert and updating my performance Achievement.
I have exactly one.
And since the gacha worked in the daydream too, I already know it’ll work now.
‘Second is….’
This status window that only appears to me has been favorable toward my success.
Chung-ryeo didn’t have a status window. The elderly man he met—the one from the future—probably didn’t either.
It seems only I possess this. I don’t know why.
‘And… this point is especially evident in the gacha.’
Whatever probability manipulation it does, it always gives me what I need.
Though there are exceptions.
‘I drew Indulgence Time and Bacchus differently.’
Those were obtained after I understood this ‘necessity’ mechanism, staring intensely at the gacha before pulling.
In other words, if I desire something specific and intensely enough, I can receive what I want.
I focused on this point.
Whirrrrr—
The roulette wheel’s image spins.
I wished for it.
‘What I need is….’
One thing.
‘An effect similar to the reward for abnormal status!’
Fanfare erupted from the roulette.
This is probably the last roulette effect I’ll ever see.
A slot shimmering with rainbow light.
[Trait Acquired: ‘Mission Constitution (S)’!]
[Trait: Mission Constitution (S)]
—Equivalent exchange for those who challenge
: ‘Mission’ execution enabled
Done.
I slammed my head against the wall.
A new popup materialized before my eyes.
[Mission Generated!]
Objective: Target
Mission Deadline: D-___
Reward: ______
Penalty: ______
I lifted my head to examine the hologram.
Unlike ‘Abnormal Status’, the ‘Trait’ system offered far greater flexibility.
“Good.”
I filled in the deadline first. Five hundred days.
[Penalty intensifies if D-365 is exceeded.]
With only three months left in the year, was I really going to toy with this? Next.
‘The reward is what matters.’
Vague entries like ‘truth’ or ‘reason’ wouldn’t work—I’d been blindsided enough times to know better.
But concrete specifics like ‘an explanation of why and how I entered this body’ also wouldn’t fit. The character limit rejected it.
‘Ridiculous.’
I laughed quietly and crossed my arms.
Then I’d have to approach this from a different angle.
A candidate capable of answering questions about all of this.
Someone whose whereabouts remain unknown.
“A conversation with Park Moon-dae.”
How would that work?
Reward: Conversation with Park Moon-dae
The entry registered successfully.
And the penalty filled in automatically.
Penalty: Status Window Deleted
“Oh.”
It’s betting the status window?
I deleted the reward entry and tried inserting something like ‘Dance EX’ instead.
The penalty was a Dance stat decrease.
‘It really does demand equivalence.’
Which meant ‘a conversation with Park Moon-dae’ was a reward potent enough to demand ‘status window deletion’ as its penalty upon failure.
“That settles it.”
There’s no other evidence.
I reset the reward back to ‘conversation with Park Moon-dae’.
When I pressed confirm, an unfamiliar popup appeared.
[Do you accept?]
[Y / N]
“Yeah.”
I’ll take it with me.

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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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