Debut or Die - Chapter 270

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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 270
Testa’s individual fandoms were in complete disarray.
To be frank, no beautiful solution would work like magic here.
Were you hoping that the idea of “since the members get along well, let’s fans show solidarity and coexist peacefully” would take hold? That’s a vain hope.
Liking the same subject could be a decent starting point, but what truly matters is direct experience, doesn’t it?
In that sense, this Cha Yu-jin controversy was essentially a direct experience of the implicit trust we’d barely built since Ajusa ended being completely shattered.
‘And I can’t exactly compensate by overtly pushing Cha Yu-jin to the forefront,’
If I did that, Cha Yu-jin’s individual fans might feel better, but those who’d suffered from his toxic antifans at the beginning would explode.
-Honestly, Cha Yu-jin didn’t do anything right, so why are we feeding the haters ammunition?
-I’m exhausted.. I’m so tired I’m losing my mind
Comments like these would pour in.
Ultimately, I couldn’t give either side the impression that they’d “won” over the other.
“…This is difficult.”
A few approaches came to mind, but establishing balanced criteria was challenging, making it hard to narrow down.
‘Maybe I should gather more examples.’
I was about to open the Internet when I stopped.
‘…Maybe I should just ask the people involved.’
Even if I came up with a method, I’d need the group’s approval to implement it. Considering their thoughts would make things progress more smoothly.
I decided to ask the members about the situation.
If I explained the situation in detail, distorted hopes like “our fans will eventually get along!” might creep in, so I’d use a different analogy instead.
“So, how do group members who’ve hurt each other to the extreme limit get along?”
“Yeah.”
Big Sae-jin shrugged.
“Just think of them as people you work with, you know? As long as they look good when you’re working, that’s all that matters.”
It was sound logic.
Crude as it was, it was an answer to just focus on the objective. The problem was that fandom wasn’t a job—it lacked coercive force, so the effect would be weaker.
Given our current fandom atmosphere, it meant people would soon start looking for the exits.
‘So maintaining the status quo won’t work.’
“But why is Park Moon-dae suddenly asking this? Is there some group with bad relations?”
“No, just.”
Explaining it in detail to this guy would only stress him out, so I’d organize my thoughts first before telling him.
I asked the same question to another member.
And lost again.
“Well, I’m not sure. Um… moving forward with a mindset of listening to and respecting each other’s words….”
“….”
Kim Rae-bin, pass.
“…How to get along better?”
“Yes.”
Bae Sae-jin asked back with suspicious eyes.
“…Wait, you’re asking me this?”
“….”
So I lack confidence in my social skills. Let’s move on from this too.
Ryu Chung-woo, sitting beside me, answered as if there was nothing to deliberate over.
“When everyone struggles together, you become close pretty quick.”
“…Um.”
That’s also a bit much.
‘What are you doing to people who’ve already suffered enough.’
Of course, Ryu Chung-woo had answered without knowing who the subject was.
And I added an explanation myself, looking a bit sheepish.
“Ah, I don’t mean you have to suffer no matter what… There’s compensation, and when everyone overcomes the same obstacles together, you naturally become close. That’s what I meant.”
“Ah.”
It seemed to be from his experience as an athlete.
‘It’s not wrong, but…’
Compensation and obstacles.
I decided to remember this and move on for now.
And next came a suggestion similar to Ryu Chung-woo’s, but one that sounded better.
“Hey! I know! Let’s do something fun together! Like, Sports!”
“Sports.”
“Yes! Let’s run and play together. And when we win together, we become close!”
That’s a usable idea.
‘Actually… isn’t fan activity similar to a kind of sport?’
In the sense that it has rules, outcomes are decided, and there’s emotional fulfillment.
The difference would be that it lacks the immersion of actually playing sports.
But it seemed like a decent perspective, so I asked once more.
“But what if they run together and their movements don’t sync, leading to more conflict? What if someone acts selfishly to score themselves, or the other person won’t pass the ball?”
[Hmm… Those people would need someone to encourage them!]
Cha Yu-jin answered without hesitation.
[You know why, right? You make them ashamed of their own actions. Then if they focus more on the game and win, they can’t help but reflect and become close!]
“Mm. Yeah.”
That’s what it comes down to.
If they can’t resolve it among themselves, an authoritative third party needs to intervene.
But Testa can’t do that.
‘We can’t teach our fans.’
It would become a strange dynamic where the company tries to teach its customers. They’d find it absurd. I can already see the backlash coming.
So what’s left… an appeal?
‘They’d have to feel their hearts soften and think they should listen to us.’
I frowned at the solution I’d narrowed down.
…It doesn’t feel quite right. It’s too simplistic.
“Moon-dae?”
“Ah.”
I turned my head to find Sun Ah-hyun hesitating at the Kitchen entrance. It seemed I was blocking the way.
Perfect timing.
“Mind if I ask you something?”
“Y-yes, of course!”
I stepped aside and posed the same question to Sun Ah-hyun once more.
“How do you think a group should function when members have become genuinely hostile toward each other?”
“Huh??”
Sun Ah-hyun seemed taken aback.
Cha Yu-jin watched him with keen interest.
“Hmm….”
Sun Ah-hyun appeared to deliberate quite seriously before offering an unexpected answer.
“I… I think it would be difficult.”
“…!”
Essentially, ‘impossible.’
“Because if the relationship has already deteriorated that badly, there must be a reason. So suddenly becoming close again… it just seems difficult.”
The most realistic and coldly rational answer possible.
“Of course, other people might come up with better solutions…. But that’s what I think.”
“…I see.”
I nodded in agreement.
Sun Ah-hyun laughed awkwardly, while Cha Yu-jin stubbornly raised his hand.
“But I like my method!”
“Ah, um, what method is that…?”
I let the two of them converse and fell into thought.
‘I’ve collected opinions from everyone, and to be honest….’
A conclusion had formed.
‘We can’t immediately resolve the emotional rifts with our own efforts.’
Sun Ah-hyun was right.
This wasn’t something Testa could fix instantly through action alone.
So I’d abandon vague talk of reconciliation and relationship repair, and return to fundamentals.
What drives people?
‘Benefit.’
Victory, reward, achievement. Joy—ultimately, when those are granted, the process itself becomes rationalized.
I recalled Ryu Chung-woo’s words.
-When there’s a reward and you overcome the same obstacles together, you naturally grow closer.
This too, ultimately, is how the joy of results validates the ‘teammates’ who existed in the process.
So we operate by the same principle.
‘I need to show each member the tangible benefits of being in Testa.’
Make them feel instantly that these seven together look the best, perform the best, and seem like first-rate material.
So they understand at an instinctive level that maintaining this group is the most advantageous for each individual.
The stress from hostile individual fanbases must pale in comparison to the genuine joy they feel when Testa remains intact—they need to feel that in their bones.
‘And it gives them an excuse.’
The emotional elements only come in when they help smooth this process along.
‘The members are close with each other, they all work incredibly hard together… and Testa as a group seems precious.’
Instead of fans openly calculating profit and loss, it allows them to cite emotional, human reasons instead.
Pretending to be moved by the heartwarming, passionate atmosphere, making the fandom sentiment appear to have calmed down naturally.
-Those people will need encouragement, won’t they!
In a way, Cha Yu-jin’s words were spot on.
But we can’t lecture the fans directly, so we need to approach it differently.
‘So what we need to do is….’
Show that Testa treasures this group itself deeply, going beyond just working hard at idol activities, and that we’re investing great meaning in it.
And thinking about it, if we appeal too directly like that, it might actually backfire.
‘Don’t mention it explicitly, but make them feel it deeply.’
So after laying that groundwork, we give them that satisfying payoff with Testa.
“Mm.”
[…Once you play a team match like that, it all resolves cleanly, right? Why do you think there are so many sports movies?]
“Y-yeah, that could work…!”
I watched Cha Yu-jin still passionately arguing and Sun Ah-hyun being persuaded, then chuckled and left the Kitchen.
“Hyung, where are you going!?”
“To shower.”
I needed to get my thoughts in order.
There would be plenty to discuss with the team about the content, but priorities had to be set.
‘I should tell them to contact W Live.’
First, we needed to restructure the encore concert format.

* * *
Testa successfully completed their Japan Dome tour and held an encore concert in South Korea!
Naturally, it was news everyone welcomed.
-Finally, life feels worth living
-Please, just let me get a decent seat this time
-They’re coming back to South Korea this soon? Since when does T1 actually work
And there was another piece of good news waiting after this.
The moment ticketing ended, W Live announced something.
[Failed to get Testa concert tickets? Don’t worry! W Live is now offering live streaming♡]
It was a live concert broadcast on the Internet. While the intention was to draw as many people as possible to the venue, those who failed to secure tickets felt relieved regardless.
-Wow they must’ve used it because the donation concert got good reactions lol I’m so happy
-Phew, I was so mad, but it was at least some consolation..ㅠㅠ
“Hmph.”
Kim Rae-bin’s fan scoffed at the post.
‘They didn’t even need to do a broadcast!’
There was a reason she could think that way. She had confidently secured standing room tickets for this concert!
That’s why she could now be at the concert venue, leisurely scrolling through old posts.
‘The atmosphere is nice.’
She lowered her smartphone and glanced around.
The atmosphere among individual fans had been thin ice for a while, but being here offline made everything feel harmonious and wonderful.
‘Is the online world really just their domain??’
She clicked her tongue among the expectant crowd, but soon nodded as she saw posts about the concert popping up on SNS.
-I just gave Chung-woo a cookie earlier and he ignored me? Turns out that fan was one of those lol I can’t even
It was spreading ominously through shares.
‘They’re just not showing it.’
It was a mess. Kim Rae-bin’s fan turned off SNS and decided to just watch the concert. Otherwise, she’d get pulled in and end up saying something herself.
‘Let me just focus on Kim Rae-bin and Park Moon-dae.’
Watching was better than reading.
Based on her previous experience, she waited for the concert to begin from the left block she’d carefully chosen.
Either way, her heart raced seeing her idol in person for the first time in a while.
And moments later.
[Hello Seoul~!]
Waaahhh!!
The Stage erupted with explosive energy.
Opening with ‘Drill’, their latest track, the performance overlapped with memories of the previous Seoul concert and instantly pulled the audience in.
‘Next song, let’s go!!’
Since it was an encore concert, there was almost no change in composition from the previous Seoul concert, but knowing the entire setlist worked to her advantage.
There was a satisfaction to having expectations fulfilled.
Above all, Testa’s concerts had an impact that could only be felt in person, so even with the same content as on screen, the intensity was different.
[Sharp pain
Drink it all in!]
The title track and B-sides, along with solo performances.
“Waaahhhhh!!!”
I pushed them to scream until their voices grew hoarse.
The concert flowed by in an instant as I expertly controlled the tempo and momentum, and soon we reached the finale.
[Bye bye~]
The Stage lights dimmed, returning to their base state.
“Phew!”
Of course, this wasn’t the real ending. I already knew we had three or four more songs for the encore.
Kim Rae-bin’s fan wiped her forehead.
She’d heard “handsome” so many times that she felt like gestalt collapse was setting in!
So she calmly thought about the next song instead.
‘Was the first encore song a medley?’
During the tour, this was typically where they’d insert a local song, but originally we’d do a short arrangement of a medley from the Ajusa days.
‘It’ll probably be the same, whatever.’
With that assumption, Kim Rae-bin’s fan looked around at the people singing the fan song.
Given the current atmosphere, if an Ajusa song came up, she’d probably recall not fond memories but rather the vicious fandom conflicts from back then.
‘Who knows. We just curse each other out and move on anyway.’
Either way, as long as the numbers were good, wasn’t that what mattered? she grumbled to herself, pushing the thought away.
“Today I’m in such a good mood, it feels like something wonderful might happen~”
Meanwhile, people were singing the first fan song while waiting for the encore.
It was tradition, but seeing the SNS situation earlier, she had a strange feeling that about a quarter of these people probably hated each other.
Yet their joy didn’t seem false.
‘There’s definitely a concert high happening.’
Even she was experiencing it vicariously right now, singing along and feeling what it was like to be an all-group fan.
‘Come on out, you guys!’
In that moment, sound and lighting returned to the Stage.
Ahhhhhhhhh!
Amid the cheers, the VCR that usually played before the encore for tour promotion….
“Huh?”
It wasn’t that.
What came from the massive display wasn’t a grand intro, but rather a thin, warm acoustic guitar sound.
The melody of the fan song people had just been singing—”Magic is You.”
And on the screen, the one playing that melody on guitar was… Kim Rae-bin.
“Wha…?”
But Kim Rae-bin’s appearance was strange.
Sleep pants and a t-shirt.
Clearly very comfortable pajamas, with his hair even tied back in a topknot.
“Huh?”
And looking again, the video didn’t have that polished, professional feel—it looked like a phone camera with a filter applied.
It felt like such a private video.
[Mm, mmm~]
Beside Kim Rae-bin lay Cha Yu-jin, humming softly, while Bae Sae-jin sat perched on the sofa with a serious expression, deliberating over snacks.
Behind them, Park Moon-dae brought in drinks, and Lee Sae-jin emerged from washing up, searching for a towel before spotting the camera and waving.
[Hi~ what are we filming?]
[Just a keepsake.]
Ryu Chung-woo’s laughter echoed through. He panned the camera around the room like documenting a memory, then switched it off.
“Huh.”
Then came the black screen, with subtitles appearing at the top.
[Testa Documentary]
[Production: Ryu Chung-woo, Bae Sae-jin, Sun Ah-hyun, Lee Sae-jin, Park Moon-dae, Cha Yu-jin, Kim Rae-bin]
[Sponsored by: Ryu Chung-woo! <-important]
In place of the failed documentary, their tour behind-the-scenes was woven together from photographs and footage Testa had captured while preparing for the concert.

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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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