Debut or Die - Chapter 261

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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 261
The moment the live broadcast ended, I called the Entertainment Company and spoke with the on-duty staff at the Management Office.
Apparently, we were going to have a simultaneous release with Young-rin.
And the Company was in complete upheaval. It made sense. To summarize Young-rin’s recent performance in one phrase:
‘Third place annually on the nation’s largest music streaming site.’
For comparison, Testa’s latest track “Call” ranked 37th on the annual chart.
Moreover, on this annual chart, only Young-rin’s songs occupy four spots in the top 50. Two title tracks, one OST, and one variety show collaboration track.
It was a staggering figure.
‘There’s absolutely no way to win.’
Not only did she appeal to the general public, but her core fanbase was remarkably solid—there was no angle to exploit.
In short, a simultaneous music release was nothing short of an honorable death.
Of course, the Company wasn’t the only one thrown into chaos.
“With Young-rin Sunbae?”
“Yes.”
“Ugh….”
An emergency meeting was convened within the group itself as we entered the new year.
We were welcoming the new year with work as our sole focus, but honestly, that was trivial compared to this crisis.
I assessed the situation with perfect composure.
‘He told me on purpose right now.’
With only four days until our comeback, postponing the date was impossible.
Chung-ryeo had informed me this way—giving us mental preparation in a situation where major countermeasures were impossible anyway.
You could call it a courtesy, so there was no need to waste emotions. From a competitive standpoint, this was frustrating, but it was still to our advantage.
…Yeah, frustrating was the right word.
“Moon-dae.”
“What.”
“You’re sure about that information? Where’d you hear it?”
“From VTIC.”
Big Sae-jin looked at me with an enigmatic expression. Roughly translated: ‘You’re not just messing with us, are you?’
Yeah. I’d verified that just in case too.
I tossed my smartphone up and caught it, then continued.
“Just to be safe, I asked Young-rin Sunbae directly. It’s true.”
“Phew.”
With less than four days remaining and our comeback dates overlapping, Young-rin had no reason to lie.
Though she was curious.
-It’s strange that you know about it, Moon-dae, when we only decided recently.
I made up a story about overhearing the staff talking and asking out of curiosity.
The crew we work with would probably face some heat for loose lips, but given our current situation, we didn’t have time to worry about that.
‘This is insane.’
I pressed my temples. Just then, Cha Yu-jin’s hand shot up.
“Hey! I have a question!”
“Yeah, go ahead and tell me, Eugene.”
“Why can’t we do activities alongside Young-rin?”
Ryu Chung-woo answered.
“…Young-rin has such a strong image of being trustworthy and well-received. We’re going to get pushed down significantly on the music charts.”
“We won’t know until we try! Let’s just do it!”
Yes, the ambition was admirable, but… this was a matter of atmosphere.
We’d worked so hard to nail this regular album, and if we couldn’t even hit number one in real-time music chart entries, morale would plummet.
And Young-rin would only gain more users as time passed, so releasing our new song exactly one day after hers was truly the worst possible timing.
Announcing a new song when Young-rin’s music was at peak buzz.
‘There’s no way we hit number one unless it’s some obscure website.’
Our album record was about to crumble.
“….”
And Cha Yu-jin, observing the members still lost in thought and worry, shrugged his shoulders.
“OK. It’s fine if we don’t get number one! We’ll do great. We just need to put on an amazing stage!”
“…!”
“We’ll get number one on stage!”
It was a simple statement. Yet the atmosphere did lighten a bit.
“Yeah, this is our first album in a while, so the important thing is to do well and finish safely.”
“R-right. We’ve p-prepared so hard… if we focus on showing everyone a good performance, wouldn’t that make for an enjoyable promotion…?”
Yeah, that kind of positive thinking was good too.
But… I still preferred winning.
Let me think.
I tapped my fingers against the Living Room floor.
‘How do I beat Young-rin on the music charts?’
For one thing, Young-rin wasn’t promoting this song at all, and it was certain that almost no industry rumors had spread about it.
Both Young-rin’s own reaction and this Company’s reaction confirmed it.
‘No matter what, she’s from T1—I’d know about comebacks from most major artists.’
Since Young-rin herself said she’d only confirmed her New Year’s plans a few days ago, in this case it meant Chung-ryeo had unusually good information, but most people were still in the dark.
‘So if Testa pushed hard on entertainment variety promotions to capitalize on that….’
No, that won’t work. We’ve already done everything scheduled for year-end, and the variety shows booked for early next year are already sufficient. Pushing harder would only increase image consumption.
‘Hmm.’
I rubbed the back of my neck, and my eyes met those of Kim Rae-bin, whose expression was dark.
“…You’re worried about this, aren’t you.”
“Huh? Oh, no, I’m not!”
Yeah. You have every reason to be. Half this album came from your hands.
When I found out you’d worked on it with that barely-hanging-on battery while stranded on the Deserted Island, I was honestly taken aback.
“It’s just… I’m somewhat concerned that listeners might have their desire for new song discovery satisfied by Young-rin’s new track, and might not even attempt to listen to our song.”
Yeah, the fact that he poured out such a long sentence from just one small prod meant he had plenty to worry about.
And he was hitting the exact right point.
“Right. When someone with strong mainstream appeal monopolizes attention, those with relatively stronger fandom than the mainstream tend to end up in their own league.”
It was an unavoidable current.
“….”
I deliberated a moment longer before finally speaking.
“So for now, I think we have to assume that no matter what we do, we can’t win on the charts.”
“…That’s true.”
“Hmm~”
“But I think we can take first place on the Music Broadcast Studio.”
Bae Sae-jin, who had been wearing a serious expression, looked slightly surprised.
“…How?”
“Well, Young-rin only released a digital single, but we have a full album, right? There are album sales points~”
“Ah.”
That’s right. We were releasing our first full album in a while, and Young-rin’s was just a surprise New Year’s single.
‘The fans will do whatever it takes to boost our other scores and give us first place.’
The trophy mattered, after all.
It was both gratifying and regrettable, but the public reaction stemming from this was easy enough to predict.
-Honestly Young-rin should’ve gotten first, but Testa’s fans pushed it through
Hahaha a solo artist with zero promotion vs a male idol with shameless sob story marketing tactics lol aren’t you embarrassed
-Testa ㅊㅋㅊㅋ~ The fans worked hard.
-Wow the distortion is serious, everyone only listens to Young-rin’s song in real life;
This was our first full album since the incident—a critical moment to elevate the group’s narrative.
At a point when we needed to deliver maximum satisfaction to those watching Testa, a hollow victory would dampen the momentum.
So ultimately, a line we couldn’t cross emerged.
‘Even if we lose the charts, we can’t fall behind in buzz.’
We had to maintain the perception that we were ‘worthy of first place,’ the public impact. This was our line in the sand.
“I’d like to suggest that we aim for just average performance on the charts, and instead go all-in on buzz and topicality to make our activities as famous as possible.”
“…!”
“Promotion, publicity, mentions, release order… everything.”
We needed extreme focus and concentration.
I spoke, and the members seemed lost in thought.
Then Big Sae-jin raised his hand first.
“I’m in favor. It’s the most logical approach, right? There’s no other option anyway.”
“Yeah. Strategy is crucial at this point.”
Kim Rae-bin nodded as well.
“If our activities become famous, I believe more people will eventually try listening to the song, even if it’s late.”
He was quite resolute.
I let out a small laugh and nodded.
Bae Sae-jin opened his mouth with a tense expression.
“So, do you have an idea of how to create that buzz?”
“We’ll need to discuss specifics more, but… I think shock is the answer, isn’t it?”
To steal the buzz that Young-rin would monopolize with her surprise announcement, this was the right approach.
“Let’s catch them off guard first.”
“…??”
A twist. The element of surprise.

* * *
Days passed. January 5th arrived.
Testa’s new music video was released smoothly at midnight that day.
The title was ‘Wheel (Daytime)’.
-Turn the wheel for me
So I can fly far away
The melody rings out, beautiful
Touching my heart, let it pop
The music video was beautiful.
An Amusement Park at midday where sunlight shattered into fragments.
With its dreamlike filter and the effect of overlapping time and space, a mysterious atmosphere permeated every frame.
The fixed camera captured an old Amusement Park as beautiful as something from a novel, showcasing exceptional cinematography in that fleeting moment.
And with members appearing prominently in the foreground while also existing in a corner of the same frame, the subtly surreal landscape created an intriguing sensation.
-Tap tap tap
Time and space intertwining.
Before a spinning golden Ferris wheel, a boy standing with arms spread wide and the blue sky.
To anyone watching, it was the spiritual successor to their debut song ‘Magic Boy’. Faithful to its worldview, it was a masterpiece that brought forth subtle emotion.
But… it felt somewhat dull.
-The song is really goodㅠㅠ
-Feels nice to listen to while welcoming the new year
-Has a bit of a carol vibe, so exciting
Even as fans said these things, they couldn’t shake the cold feeling of being tired of it.
Because yesterday, Young-rin’s new song announcement had come suddenly with tremendous momentum.
Wow, Young-rin is crazy lol
-Wow what’s Testa gonna do tomorrow?
-So hilarious (popcorn)
-The Testa sound source is kekeㅠㅠ I express my condolences in advance… Too bad they said it was regular.
It wasn’t a bolt from the blue—it was more like being shattered a day before their comeback, and fans were engulfed in bewilderment and shock.
The music chart category, which had been their target, was essentially marked as unachievable.
-Why of all times
-I prepared for each child, but why is this happening? ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-I was all in on them, but now I’m so upset, feels like I got doused with cold water..
Lolololol T1 X bastards are so fucking incompetent, they can’t even set a comeback date. Ugh, I’m so pissed I need to disconnect from the Internet.
-Please stop the jinx before we even open the door… it’s been so long since Testa’s active, let’s just enjoy it. If we work hard it’ll be fine
Still, they had waited for the music video, and what Testa brought was obviously a track meant to be enjoyed, which only made them sigh.
Moreover, several elements they had anticipated fell short, dampening their spirits even further.
-Park Moon-dae has black hair
-Haha… it was just a reflection, I guess.
-Ahahahaha, yeah
Especially after seeing Park Moon-dae’s year-end photos, the fans who had been excited about the dyed hair being covered in black felt their enthusiasm deflate.
The other members were the same. All natural hair. There was atmosphere, but it lacked impact somehow.
A comeback against an unbeatable music chart powerhouse that we could never win against no matter what we did.
After stumbling a few times with the most important full album, we naturally lost momentum and felt defeated.
-Let’s just focus on streaming
-This time, it’s a new song, so please let’s do it properly. The kids worked so hard, but it’s a bit ㅠㅠ
The fans earnestly streamed the pre-released title track from the album on music sites, but the results were as expected.
[Testa Real-Time Chart Entry Fails for #1]
[Comparing Testa and Young-rin’s Chart Entry Graphs]
[Somewhat Shocking Testa Music Chart Performance]
Testa’s provocative posts flooded all the sites, energized for the first time in a while.
Since many people had hoped for Testa to do better, many were equally interested in their poor performance.
-Testa’s song is good too, but there really are limits to male idols. The user difference is quite significant
Fans are gritting their teeth and streaming like crazy just to keep up with this, but Muggle Pick is definitely Young-rin lolol
-Did you try to concentrate your firepower by pre-releasing the title? If they had just lined up the included songs, they would have been in shape, but they seem to be losing their shape even more.
Despite the comeback, the atmosphere had deflated instead.
It would’ve been nice if fans could just close their eyes and ears and enjoy the content, but while they couldn’t do that and were suffering mentally.
[202X ToneA / 01. 08. Fri]
The day arrived when the ToneA Awards ceremony, where Testa’s first comeback stage would take place, aired.
The fans recovered their anticipation and energy at the thought of finally seeing the stage, and waited for the members’ performance.
Probably expecting it to be a relaxed and light stage, like the ‘Picnic’ performance back then.
But their expectations were shattered.
-????
I can’t provide a meaningful translation for this text. It appears to be random Korean characters and symbols that don’t form coherent words or sentences.
In a good way.
After three hours of long waiting, what emerged from behind the Stage was… seven In-young members wearing giant mascot costumes like those worn by amusement park staff.
But the wistful and clear feeling from the pre-released music video was nowhere to be found.
What took its place was intense glow-in-the-dark paint, punk, and zippers and gloss.
Black gangsters.
Wherever the lights passed, the glow-in-the-dark paint splattered randomly on the costumes glinted brilliantly.
[Whoooosh.]
The ones dressed in delinquent-like stage outfits walked out without hesitation, tilting their adorably-designed mascot heads in a way that created dissonance as they took their positions.
And then came the intro, with dazzling movements like riding a human motorcycle.
Drr, Drr, Drrrrrrrrrr-!
A bass that rumbled like an engine exhaust, rushing forward.
On top of it, the electronic sound mixing snare and bell sounds in applause rhythm heightened the atmosphere.
The lights alternated dazzlingly between warm and cool tones.
The members moved in perfect unison, their choreography a rapid exchange of catches that locked them into exquisite balance in an instant.
Then, as they pulled apart from both sides and split through the massive gap, the member in the puppy costume burst through!
He hurled the mask away.
[Hi?]
It was Park Moon-dae.
His pink hair, permed and swept to the side, whipped through the air.
-Whoa
The double title track of this album, deliberately kept under wraps without advance preview.
‘Drill (Night)’ had begun.

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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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