Debut or Die - Chapter 280

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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 280
Alone within sealed vision and dulled senses….
Disjointed thoughts scatter through my mind.
‘Alone.’
Living alone means bearing responsibility for everything myself.
Contracts, registrations, payments, overdue notices—every action society demands and every mistake comes down to me.
All the dangers and suffering that arise from my judgment and actions belong entirely to me.
I can’t share the burden with anyone. I have no other options.
‘It’s fine.’
But this sort of thing becomes familiar after a few years.
I’m not the only one living this way. Even when shitty or overwhelming situations arise, people manage to get by.
‘I can handle it.’
But situations I can’t handle… don’t those eventually come up in life too?
‘I can’t guarantee they never will.’
Like what happened to my parents… when sudden disaster strikes, in other words….
If a fire breaks out.
What if I’m asleep at that moment, or injured or sick, utterly helpless and unable to do anything?
‘There are too many gaps.’
If I let my guard down, I die.
Drip.
A single drop of cold sweat fell onto my shoe—and the fact that I could feel something so small so heavily seemed strange.
‘Is this real?’
The air smells acrid.
But even trying to confirm it, I can’t see anything….
“Park Moon-dae!”
Suddenly, a voice cut through the silence.
And something landed on my shoulder. …A hand, it seemed.
Someone else’s hand, not mine.
“Are you okay? Stop for a moment.”
Had I been walking?
“Yes.”
The answer came reflexively.
I took a deep breath and stopped moving.
And I spoke without being asked.
“It felt like there was a fire….”
“Right, the escape time limit is getting close, so the effects must be kicking in.”
Effects.
‘Right.’
To enhance the atmosphere at the end, they can create effects like a building collapse.
I lifted my head.
Light was seeping through the edge of the corridor ahead—the blue glow of an emergency exit.
“Ah.”
I had already walked through the darkest section without realizing it.
I simply hadn’t noticed.
Now that my ears were open, I could hear the blaring sirens, distant zombie sounds, and artificial collapse noises.
“You must have been startled going alone. Good call following me.”
The owner of the hand was Ryu Chung-woo, grinning sheepishly. The one holding the laser gun had caught up to me in an instant.
I let out a small laugh.
“Yes. That’s reassuring.”
My needless worries dissipated.
‘What kind of foolishness is this during filming.’
Nothing bad happened.
And even if it did, I could handle it. I wasn’t alone here.
“Right.”
Ryu Chung-woo checked my face, then lightly patted my back and nodded.
“If we’re moving, it’s better to have a weapon. Let’s go together.”
“Of course. Thank you.”
Time was truly running out.
I recalled the moments I’d wasted lost in thought and mentally cursed myself.
Then I started running again. Ryu Chung-woo followed right behind me.
“Where are we headed?”
“The room with the Ventilation Duct.”
“Ah, the room where we found this laser gun. We’re going back to search there?”
“No.”
I answered quickly.
“I’m trying to return to the starting room with it.”
“…Why there?”
“Because the starting room had no tricks, so there must be another meaning to it.”
I just needed to find the Ventilation Duct and escape.
Even that was clumsily constructed—the Production Team’s way of hiding it. This wasn’t part of the Research Institute’s original curriculum.
‘That space must have a trick too for the structure to make sense.’
Ryu Chung-woo and I passed an actor performing as a zombie corpse and moved up the stairs through the emergency exit.
That room was right above us.
I continued speaking quickly, conscious of the camera.
“When I first saw the word ‘pass’ at the Back Door, my first thought was an ID.”
“An ID?”
“Yes. At a Research Institute like this, it’s easy to think of access cards like ID cards. But everyone we met wasn’t wearing a card around their neck.”
I recalled the group interview.
The Communication Expert conducting the interview had no lanyard around their neck or chest.
“Then wouldn’t they carry it in their clothing pockets?”
“…!”
And during our progression, we spotted one outfit that left a particularly striking impression.
I opened the door, passed the mannequin, and climbed into the ventilation duct.
Thanks to clearing away the cabinet beforehand, I only had to carefully step over the actor who was mid-performance with the corpse.
And it dawned on me.
This was the very first signal—when this content shifted genres from a psychological test to a zombie escape.
-Ugh!
“The counselor who was conducting the session back then tumbled into the corridor, and the white coat got caught on the door.”
And naturally, we had no choice but to witness it with intense, shocking focus.
“The fact that they specifically showed us that coat caught there… wouldn’t that be because the most crucial answer lies there?”
With near certainty, I reached the end of the ventilation duct and lowered myself down.
‘There it is.’
Right across from me, wedged beneath the iron door I’d descended through first—the white coat.
I rushed over immediately, crouched down, and searched through the white coat.
A rectangular piece of plastic pressed against the fabric of the front pocket.
‘Of course.’
I smiled.
“The access pass was here all along.”
And I pulled out an ID card from the pocket, bearing the person’s face and position.
On the back, small text was deliberately printed: “Also serves as access pass.”
“Park Moon-dae really does have a sharp mind.”
I heard Ryu Chung-woo’s voice of admiration.
I pocketed the ID card and turned my head.
“Not really….”
Click.
“…?”
The muzzle of a laser gun thrust into my field of vision.
The one Ryu Chung-woo had been holding—and still was holding.
‘What the hell.’
I moved only my eyes to look up at Ryu Chung-woo.
He spoke to me with a slightly awkward expression.
“I’m gonna need that ID card. Park Moon-dae.”
“….”
I paused for a moment, gathered my thoughts, and opened my mouth.
“Whether I have it or you have it, either way, we’d open the back door the same way, wouldn’t we?”
“No. Our objectives are different.”
Ryu Chung-woo added his explanation kindly.
“You’re escaping. I’m stopping you.”
“…!!”
“In other words… I’m the villain. That’s how it turned out.”
What the hell are you talking about?
‘The one who contributed the most to our escape so far?’
The benefits we gained thanks to that shooting skill… wait.
In an instant, Ryu Chung-woo’s actions flashed through my mind.
-Sorry, could you pull the cabinet out a bit? I’m going to shoot.
That bastard wasted two shots from the laser gun’s battery on the zombies in the ventilation duct.
He volunteered directly and fired at his own arm without asking for any consent whatsoever.
And he always asked whether to shoot even in sections where shooting wasn’t necessary.
‘So he wasted time even in sections where there was no need to shoot….’
From the beginning, this research institute’s escape route was designed to be traversable through covert movement without using weapons….
In other words, the only benefits this bastard got from holding a gun were peace of mind and wasted time.
‘Wow….’
I completely fell for it.
I clicked my tongue at the Production Team and looked at Ryu Chung-woo.
‘Why was he selected, what’s his background story—do I have time to hear about it?’
No. Tell them to put that in the interview.
I got straight to the point.
“That should only work on zombies.”
Ryu Chung-woo answered calmly.
“No. The instruction manual said it was dual-purpose.”
“I see.”
Whether that’s true or not doesn’t matter. The possibility alone was enough to make the gun’s power sufficient.
If it hits, I’m out, and then there’s no more possibility of escape.
If Ryu Chung-woo disappears with the ID card like this, that’s the end of it.
‘This is rough.’
How many minutes are left?
Conveniently, there’s a countdown timer on the large screen here.
[00:05:19]
…What a brilliantly immersive sequence design for the ending.
‘Five minutes.’
It’s cutting it close.
I exhaled and raised my hand.
“…Just a moment. I’ll take out the card.”
“Go ahead.”
I slipped my hand into the largest pocket of my coat.
And the moment I grabbed the object, I pulled it out in a flash and aimed it at Ryu Chung-woo.
“…!”
“Good thing it works on people too.”
It was the laser gun.
The very first laser gun I’d found, which I’d taken from the hand of the security officer who had met his end as a zombie.
Ryu Chung-woo’s face registered a mixture of surprise and confusion as he spoke.
“The battery….”
“I have it.”
Everyone had assumed I didn’t have one since Ryu Chung-woo had grabbed the laser gun with twelve shots remaining, but they were wrong.
No.
I’d checked.
“There was exactly one shot left.”
The charge indicator showed just enough for a single shot.
Even though I’d done alternative military service, I figured someone who’d at least been through basic training would be better equipped to handle it, so I’d kept it on me.
Now that I was holding the fake gun, it didn’t feel all that similar to the real thing, so it probably didn’t matter much anyway.
‘We never needed two guns during the whole scenario.’
Since Ryu Chung-woo alone was sufficient, my interest in it had waned.
“Hmm.”
Ryu Chung-woo let out a bitter smile, as if troubled. His expression screamed that he’d been caught in a trap.
But soon, as if realizing something, he nodded.
“Moon-dae. But even if we just keep standing off like this, we can’t use the ID card anyway, right? We can’t take it to the back door.”
“…!”
“So this doesn’t really matter either, does it….”
He had a point.
‘I should have shot the moment I pulled it out.’
I’d been worried that if his words were a lie, it would turn into a brawl and ruin the idol-appropriate content, but I’d forgotten that Ryu Chung-woo wasn’t the type to lie about something like that.
‘Should I shoot now then?’
I wasn’t sure if I could fire faster than him…. And besides, he still had two shots left.
It was a moment that called for careful consideration.
Bang!
“Moon-dae hyung! Chung-woo hyung!”
“…!”
The ventilation duct across from us burst open with a loud noise.
And cheerful voices rang out.
“I got hit! I’m here!”
“Oh~ really!”
“We, we’re here….”
The members crawling out of the ventilation duct, about to wave brightly, froze when they saw the situation.
“Uh, uh, uh.”
Two members pointing laser guns at each other.
“What is this!”
I found myself speaking without thinking.
“Why are you guys here….”
I’d thought you were supposed to be waiting in front of the door?
“Well, of course we’d chase after you when you ran off alone!”
“That’s right!”
“Yeah, I was worried….”
I found myself staring at them as if I’d taken a hit.
‘I didn’t have time to explain… so I just ran on my own.’
So… would they have followed even if I’d just told them to run without explanation back then?
‘Yeah. And that probably would’ve made for better footage too.’
My inner voice answered on its own. I couldn’t help but laugh.
‘I still need more time to break this habit.’
But there was one person taking this seriously. Kim Rae-bin’s pupils trembled as he looked back and forth between me and Ryu Chung-woo.
“Our team is experiencing internal division right when we need to be a community of shared fate until we escape….”
“….”
I needed to clear up the misunderstanding first.
I opened my mouth immediately.
“I just found a pass in this gown, and Chung-woo hyung tried to steal it from me. Turns out he was actually a spy.”
Then I pulled the ID card from my pocket and waved it around.
“No way!”
“Whoa! Chung-woo hyung!”
“I knew it! It was in the gown… wait, then we need to subdue him right now!”
The atmosphere flipped in an instant.
And with more numbers on our side, we’d essentially already won.
‘Four minutes left is plenty to escape.’
But at that moment, I felt a slight chill.
Did these guys really need to believe me unconditionally? When two people were pointing guns at each other?
And didn’t it look even stranger that I, who hadn’t stepped forward until now, was the one holding a gun?
‘If Ryu Chung-woo claimed instead that I was trying to backstab him and he was stopping me….’
“Ha.”
…that probably wouldn’t happen. Looking at Ryu Chung-woo’s expression, it read ‘caught red-handed.’
Besides, he wasn’t the type to use that kind of tactic.
“Hmm. This won’t work. I surrender.”
Ryu Chung-woo laughed with a slightly impressed expression, lowered his laser gun, and raised his hands.
“Yesss!”
The members rushed over, recovered Ryu Chung-woo’s laser gun, and let out exclamations and screams. The last-minute reversal had been thrilling.
“We’re escaping!”
“No, we need to run first!”
“Right!”
And they playfully threatened Ryu Chung-woo as they began running toward the back door.
And the ID card in question….
-Beep.
“It opens!”
“Yes…!”
It worked. I stepped outside with the guys who had their arms around each other’s shoulders.
The sun was setting.
A gust of wind hit my face.
“Escape successful with 29 seconds to spare!”
“We’re insane!”
I readily joined in their celebration. Honestly, it felt refreshing.
After we’d spent a while chattering about the behind-the-scenes moments and everything we’d experienced.
“Ah~ Everyone worked so hard!”
“Yeah! Really!”
The Production Team members we’d reunited with were grinning ear to ear.
On top of that, the cameras were still rolling, apparently intent on capturing even our irritated reactions. Remarkable people.
“Who made Chung-woo hyung betray us? Wasn’t that too much for our leader hyung~?”
“No, Chung-woo said he had fun too??”
“Haha, that’s not true.”
“Chung-woo, you’re such a traitor!”
A few minutes of playful and amusing accusations followed, and then the main topic emerged.
“So who’s our roommate??”
“Um, yeah. I’m curious how that gets decided?”
Right, that was the original purpose of all this chaos. We waited for an appropriate answer while looking at the Production Team.
“That’s….”
PD broke into a broad smile.
“Please check together while watching the first episode broadcast~”
“Ugh, seriously!!”
And so Testa played right into the Production Team’s hands until the very end.
…Well, it was fun anyway, so I’ll let it slide.

* * *
A few days after Testa finally wrapped up the shoot after all that commotion.
Fans discovered a fan service video that had suddenly been uploaded to YouTube.
But for a roommate series, it was quite extraordinary.
[“Psychological test, you say! Counseling, you say!” Sorry, it’s fake! 【Testa Roommate】 Season 4 Episode 1 gets infected with zombies…☆]
The thumbnail featured Kim Rae-bin and Big Sae-jin screaming.
“…??”
The Graduate Student who had logged into YouTube after seeing the notification was momentarily taken aback, but soon burst out laughing and clicked on the title.
“Haha!!”
My heart swelled with anticipation!

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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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