Debut or Die - Chapter 288

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

A Fatal Illness if I Don’t Debut – Episode 288
Testa’s music video began with a blue ocean, just like the thumbnail.
But the perspective was different.
Not outside the ocean, but inside it.
Continuing from the teaser that rose from the deep sea, the blue waters near the surface.
‘Ah, so that’s why the teaser was…?’
People realized it only briefly.
Soon, the view bursting through the glimmering water’s surface emerges, a face breaking through to the outside.
[Ah-hyun!]
I heard someone calling out a name.
As the screen turned, I could see someone running toward me from the sandy beach where waves crashed.
It was Lee Sae-jin, grinning widely in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts.
[Here!]
Soon, In-young, soaked and submerged up to the waist in the ocean, extended a hand.
[….]
A pale hand stretched out from behind the screen and grasped that hand.
[Take your STAR
On a day when stars pour down
Kicking through the waves and running
To the sky, Run and Fly]
After the clear, high-pitched vocals rang out alone.
The accompaniment rushes in as if dancing.
Hi-hats like applause mixed with crisp drums and accordion synth created a refreshing sound.
Then the cut changed, showing Testa spending a summer season in daily life.
Cha Yu-jin’s rhythmic vocals cut through.
[Yeah, I like today
Even if the sunlight reddens my face
The wind cools it down
Want to go meet up today?]
Park Moon-dae sitting in the office, Kim Rae-bin doing assignments with a laptop, Cha Yu-jin serving, Lee Sae-jin as an amusement park staff….
The early story was about members passing by one frame at a time, gathering together and heading to the beach.
It was a classic summer song concept.
‘Typical, but there’s a reason it works.’
Twin Home Manager, who had anxiously awaited the video, felt slightly deflated by the cliché, but also relieved.
It didn’t seem like they would be directly compared to VTIC.
[My heart rushes in like the ocean
Memories pile up like sand, I
Am fine with that
Dip it in the Ocean]
In the video, Testa set out on their journey one by one, finally abducting Park Moon-dae from the office and taking him along.
Park Moon-dae, who had seemed listless, offered a faint smile as the yellow bus raced toward the beach.
[Take your STAR
A day when stars pour down
An island sailing through the sky
We Fly so far]
And as the group burst from the car upon arriving at the beach and met Sun Ah-hyun, the chorus returned.
A key choreography segment at the beach—barefoot, denim jeans, white t-shirt.
Clean and sharp, an elegant application of locking movements.
Easy to listen to and delightful to watch.
‘This really is a summer song.’
Everyone watching nodded in agreement.
The members on screen wore the familiar hair colors they’d had at debut.
Those evocative choices stirred a peculiar nostalgia, capturing the exhilarating yet wistful feeling of summer.
Moreover, with light clothing and the beach backdrop, it seemed more than capable of satisfying those seeking sensuality…
‘Healthy and refreshing sensuality.’
Like an ion drink advertisement, the office worker nodded with genuine satisfaction this time.
And on screen, evening had arrived with the sunset.
Cuts of the members dancing intercut with scenes of them sitting on the beach around a campfire.
[Life is short and songs are long
In the mirror that reflects us
I reaffirm once more
Today is good as today]
The moment the pleasant rap section concluded with syncopated timing, the instrumental faded.
And instead of music, the recorded sound from the video played through the speakers.
[….]
Sparks crackling. Ocean waves. Fabric rustling.
Testa, gathered around the campfire, exchanged glances with quiet snickers, then glanced around cautiously to confirm no one else was nearby.
And then.
[Yaaaaaah~!]
[Whoosh!]
They plunged into the ocean.
“…??”
An entry so abrupt it bordered on aggressive.
Splash.
Laughter filled the screen along with the sound of water spraying.
‘What is this.’
Just as the office worker was about to grow skeptical, wondering if this was a manufactured emotional moment.
As Sun Ah-hyun, laughing while swimming, lay back as if doing a backstroke, something pale violet erupted from beneath the water, scattering droplets.
Split in two…
“…!!”
-What???
-A tail?
-What is this
Real-time comments flooded the screen, and the office worker looked back at it.
Another curved silhouette appeared briefly above the water’s surface, then vanished….
A mermaid?
“Ah.”
In the darkening underwater depths, scales glimmered and reflected the sunset’s glow.
The members ventured deeper into the ocean. Arms splashed water at each other, and tails above the surface sent sprays cascading outward.
[Haha!]

Thanks to the film color and camera work that felt more like an indie film than a Hollywood children’s movie, the scene somehow resembled a kind of human documentary.
And the moment they suddenly dove underwater.
[Whoooosh—]
The screen transformed fantastically in an instant.
Luminous tails, colorful hair that changed the moment they entered the water—flashing across the screen in rapid succession. Transparent underwater, small schools of fish and seaweed drifted past.
An ocean enchantment.
Splash!
And back above water.
Against the backdrop of the dark beach at the seaside, the soaking wet members laughed and pointed toward the sky.
Whoosh—!
Fireworks burst into the air.
Yellow sparks exploding into the violet sky as the sunset faded completely.
And the members cheering in the ocean.
The song returned at precisely that moment.
[Sparkling like a star, Mood
Promise you’ll come with me
Make you fly
Beyond the horizon to the island’s end
Today will shine bright]
The members, now adorned with more stage-like costumes and accessories, filled the final chorus with an elaborate synchronized dance on the beach.
The fabric of their robes and bracelet ornaments reflected off the miniature string lights scattered across the seaside.
It was a magnificent ending.
[….]
The music video concluded after summer had ended, with Sun Ah-hyun placing a group photo into his suitcase and leaving the beach with a smiling face.
Yet the office worker remained seated in place.
“….”
The office worker initially tried to anticipate various scenarios—comparisons with VTIC’s performance trends, fan reactions to the stage, and so on—but instinct won out.
She rewound the video with a somewhat dazed expression.
‘There seemed to be… a lot of foreshadowing.’
It was a reflexive action.
Even as she did, her SNS timeline was updating at a frightening pace.

* * *
Testa’s music video bounced back with a reflexive surge, having flopped in its teaser response.
[Fresh boy group lineage returns—yeah, we’re talking about Testa]
[Testa’s mermaid concept is insane]
[An idol whose music video views are skyrocketing in real time]
[Light’s Testa, darkness’s VTIC—the contrast is established lol]
The concept was entirely different from expectations, and people who watched the music video cheered at this pleasant exception, twisted once more.
There was a sense that ‘the quality doesn’t lose to VTIC,’ and the contrasting rather than directly comparable concepts of the two were entertaining.
It was the effect of positioning.
-Ah, this summer’s K-pop is so fun lol
-The best time for multi-fans
-Wow, how did they both pick such great songs? K-pop rush hits different
-Can’t this be nostalgia-baited for like ten years later? lol
And fans were busy digesting the music video details right away.
-Abs… this is real
-No, seriously the best summer ever, truly the best summer of my life
-When they dive into the ocean, wow the silhouette wow the shoulders wow (GIF file)
-They must’ve all worked out, they’re overflowing with confidence lol
-Yes, overwhelming gratitude. Complaints? Drop dead
The cinematography, exposure, and visual elements were consumed frantically, but beyond that, the story played its part too.
As if showing only one crucial frame of a massive narrative, upon closer inspection there were quite a few meaningful details.
-Ahhhh, so that’s what the teaser was like, it was from a mermaid’s point of viewㅠㅠㅠ
└Whoa
└Right, so the mermaid came up from the deep sea, and Ah-hyun was the only one who hadn’t experienced land life and appeared for the first time
└Insane, so that’s why the oldest came to greet them lol so this setting you perverts!
Moreover, the concept photos Testa released the day after the music video dropped hinted at the behind-the-scenes story of the music video, making fans even more excited.
-This concept shoot the members look like they have jobs on land, but Ah-hyun is a tourist—looks like the whirlwind potato theory was right (popcorn
-A librarian mermaid living on land? Absolutely perfect for Bae Sae-jin, stop the hamster edits and look at the glasses (screenshot)
-Chung-woo, did you personally pick the police outfit? It was such an excellent choice, thank you…
-Crazy, crazy, this is a mermaid conformation. If you look at it like this with jewelry on your hand, it looks like webbed feet. (Concept photo with a red line added)
Fans had no complaints, so the majority was in a state of complete satisfaction. And they understood why Testa couldn’t postpone their schedule.
-This absolutely has to be done in midsummer
Because it’s a summer mermaid concept!
Of course, for non-fans, there were quite a few who showed resistance to the mermaid concept itself of the music video, which was the starting point of these elements.
Because it was an aesthetic that could easily become childish and niche if even slightly off.
And no matter how perfectly the content was executed, the standard of ‘slightly’ differed for everyone, so some level of preference variation was unavoidable.
Especially in a situation where they released simultaneously with Testa, their biggest competitor.
Compared to VTIC’s refined horror, Testa’s mermaid concept felt raw, and people deliberately stirred up controversy every hour.
-Seriously, that went way too far
-We don’t want male mermaids
I bet you must have gotten hit with reality while filming, like you’re updating your embarrassing history or something lol
-The moment the mermaid appears, my blood runs cold
-Reactions are great both overseas and domestically, but only here are people acting like total losers about it ugh
Multiple times a day, arguments erupted over the ‘mermaid concept’ and whether people liked it or not.
But in reality, it had little bearing on the actual performance metrics.
After all, the general public encountered the song once or saw a Stage performance far more often than they watched the music video.
And Testa’s latest track was armed with refreshing easy-listening appeal that anyone could enjoy, along with choreography that wasn’t overly complex—just energetic enough to make people want to follow along.
‘Dig deep and it becomes niche; enjoy it casually and it becomes mainstream.’
The structure was completed through meticulous calculation designed to maximize both advantages simultaneously.
And with no flaws in this formula, Testa’s numbers climbed steadily.
Wow, 500,000 copies sold in just half a day lol that’s a new record for us haha
Entering at 24 hits, 72nd place… almost similar to VTIC. Did the domestic fanbase actually catch up? lol
-Testa has better streaming power though? They’ll shoot up fast and overtake them
└Shut up and be quiet
Lol, Tica’s having a meltdown.
└Yeah I’m a Reviewer, don’t use our artists in your arguments
Chaos and excitement mixed together, turning the Internet and SNS into something resembling a speculative market.
And Thursday—before the first music broadcast, Testa was already chasing VTIC several positions behind on the streaming charts.
-When they appear on the broadcast, things could really flip
-Isn’t it possible to get compared and go to hell?ㅠ Either way is fun.
-V-Tik’s initial release was 2 million copies, so it would be very unfair if this unprecedented situation were to be overturned. I’m sure the two will fight, right?
-Ignore these vulgar people, I just hope both groups keep thriving. Fighting for our country’s idols
The good news for both was that their genres didn’t overlap, so it was rare for the public to choose one over the other based on comparative advantage.
They didn’t openly steal each other’s market share—outwardly both appeared as winners with ease, but beneath the surface they competed fiercely, accumulating results while keeping each other in check.
Of course, VTIC had absurdly good numbers from the first week, but Testa’s momentum was so strong and the challenger’s image advantage was so pronounced that the dynamic subtly solidified.
-Testa’s appearing on the broadcast right after, right?
-Both groups’ activities overlap starting this week
-Grab your popcorn everyone
-I love both of them♡ Gotta watch it live
And finally, the first music program broadcast featuring both groups together began.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————