Debut or Die - Chapter 296

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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 296
On the very day the Agency announced the concert schedule and ticket reservation dates, a joint performance rehearsal happened to be scheduled.
Thanks to that, I got to see some reactions during the latter half of practice.
To sum it up roughly… it’s as expected.
-Lol this is gonna be insane, when’s the broadcast?
-T1 really pushes Ajusa artists hard, what’s with the TV scheduling;;-
-Please tell me they’re not deluding themselves thinking the kids are doing well because they’re doing well, ugh please
-Ajusa pushing their debut group lmaooo stop already, it’s been forever since our kids left the agency ugh annoying
-The joy of concert TV broadcast vs the frustration of being overshadowed
Anticipation, worry, irritation, and interest swirled together.
It couldn’t be helped. An Agency concert TV broadcast was an unusual case, and it carried both risk factors and reasons for excitement.
Moreover, with three teams from the Audition Program, the public appeal was solid.
With the Tnet channel slot providing good accessibility, anyone interested could simply turn on the channel and watch.
And it was rare to find someone who liked all three of this Agency’s teams equally.
‘So there’s really only one thing certain.’
Whichever of these three Ajusa teams performed worst could get absolutely demolished by universal ridicule.
Since fans didn’t have pride or love-hate feelings toward the Agency itself, they wouldn’t cover for each other at all.
‘Then resentment builds and everyone gets tired.’
There was no need to add fuel to that fire, so this joint stage with Miry-nay was the same approach.
Beyond it being mixed-gender, one more factor had to be considered.
‘I had to avoid a stage structured for direct comparison.’
And the stage was already formatted that way.
…Though I didn’t expect it to get this intense.
-Here, here! If we nail this step right at the landing, don’t you think it’ll look amazing?
-If you don’t mind, I was thinking what if we emphasized the freeze at the end of our first chorus more…!
-Ah~ should we all check this part once more? We’re already doing really well, but if the heights line up perfectly when we enter the bridge, wouldn’t it look ten times cooler? So clean~
Since the other side was hungry for stage presence too, in this dynamic where we refused to lose, the difficulty kept escalating for everyone.
Ultimately, the stamina drain kept climbing up like an escalator.
‘Should I level up my dance this time?’
I hesitated while looking at my remaining points, but I didn’t allocate them because I was conscious that system-based leveling was no longer possible for me.
The moment of natural growth will definitely come. Even with just my current stats, this much is more than enough.
“Hah, should we go once more?”
“…Yes!”
So in the end, the conclusion is that we’re rolling around like we received some battle cry to create one special stage when people probably expect us to just go through the motions…
I checked my teammates’ condition and acknowledged it.
‘At this level, I think we could even release practice behind-the-scenes footage.’
With so many dancers regardless of gender or anything else, it’s basically no different from extreme training. I wiped the sweat-soaked area around my temples.
‘Still, the visuals will look great.’
“Oh~ it’s matching well now.”
“Wow, it really feels rewarding!”
I just hope the Agency doesn’t get any wild ideas after seeing the Stage.
“Should we finish up today and head out?”
“Yes!”
I shrugged my shoulders and resumed practice without complaint.
The remaining time flew by in an instant.

* * *
The Backstage echoed with roaring applause and thundering music.
‘I have to do well.’
Park Min-ha, the unofficial leader of Miry-nay who debuted in second place, swallowed hard.
Performances were enjoyable. But performances where failure meant the end—the real problem came right before the start.
An overwhelming sense of pressure crashed over her mind, making the world spin before her eyes.
‘If I didn’t have that herbal remedy… I don’t know what I would’ve done.’
What were the others doing?
She glanced to her side.
There was Park Moon-dae, letting a staff member work on his face.
Sweat dripped steadily from his pale, angular face. He pointed to his waist with one finger.
“Here. The microphone mount came loose.”
“Got it!”
‘Wow….’
Park Min-ha started to admire him, then immediately snapped back to reality.
He certainly had a handsome face, but she’d seen and heard too much to feel butterflies now.
It was still playing on repeat in her head.
-Have you heard anything about America from the Company recently?
-The victim didn’t have a high rank. They probably weren’t the type to have many friends either.
Every time something happened with the Company or Testa and people talked about it, it felt like she was having a conversation with a ghost.
‘Just how much does he know….’
A strategically minded person whose full picture was impossible to grasp—it was hard to even guess what kind of vision he operated from.
‘How does a person even grow up to live like that?’
Remembering how she’d thought Park Moon-dae was cute while watching Ajusa’s relisting season, Park Min-ha felt like banging her head against the wall.
Past me, that’s not it!
Then, a pleasant voice came from right beside her.
“Let’s go up~”
“…! Yes!”
At Lee Sae-jin’s words, Park Min-ha snapped back to reality.
‘The Stage!’
Meanwhile, Lee Sae-jin, smiling, gestured once and started running while talking with Park Moon-dae.
“….”
Honestly, that senior scared her too. Park Min-ha recalled the recent practice.
‘Before I knew it, I was doing exactly what that senior said….’
Looking back on it now, I realized that even the elements we seemed to have discussed and decided together were actually things we got swept up into.
Is this how all Audition Program contestants are? Then why is our group so innocent about everything…?
“Sigh.”
“Min-ha, let’s go!!”
“Y-yes!”
Park Min-ha trotted along, keeping pace with Yul-gi’s enthusiastic tempo as she pushed her from behind. There was a lot on her mind.
But right behind the Stage.
Roooaaarrr!
“….”
The smell of dry ice, the metallic scent of the Stage framework, the feel of costumes and contact lenses.
The air of the Stage possessed a magic that awakened people.
So Park Min-ha thought to herself.
‘At least I’m confident on the Stage.’
I could do this well.
‘I won’t fall behind.’
When I turned my head, I could see the faces of three others clearly harboring similar thoughts.
That’s where the countdown ended.
“1!”
And so the four of us took the Stage.
First, filling the Concert Hall was a vast electronic bass drawn from piano sounds.
The accompanying melody was a song the audience already knew well.
‘It’s Attack.’
A powerful OST from an action film series that had dominated theaters in the latter half of the year, performed by a mixed-gender band.
-Woa-Woah Woa-Woah….
And whenever K-pop idols happened to perform a special mixed-gender Stage, covering famous pop songs wasn’t uncommon.
It might sound odd, but there was less resistance to it than when idols performed mixed-gender Stages with idol songs.
Perhaps the distance created by differences in language and sensibility actually strengthened the feeling of ‘performance’.
So the audience reacted plainly, thinking it was ‘a reasonable choice’.
Until the singers took the Stage.
Whoosh.
The first to take the Stage were a group of dancers.
Dancers dressed in strange, colorless clothing that covered their entire bodies performed synchronized movements based on repetitive choreography.
‘Oh.’
At first it’s grand. But repeating short routines throughout the interlude gradually grows tedious.
Even the lighting was monotonous.
-Is this cool..?
-??
-What are they trying to do lolol
The moment people became familiar with everything in just 15 seconds of the intro.
Screeeeeech-
A sharp, tearing sound suddenly cuts through the air, and the black mass halts.
Then, from the very center, four unmistakably striking figures burst forward in a single line—their movements as trained and fluid as dancers could be.
Pinpoint spotlights follow their trajectory.
They wear sleek jump suits with a silver-toned oversized rider jacket draped casually across their shoulders.
Behind them, the black crowd stares intently.
Thud.
At the very front of the stage, the four of them sling something black from their shoulders to the side, then plant themselves in a solid stance, chins raised.
[Ooh]
And then, a song with expansive spatial depth crashes back in.
This time, all the colors and accompaniment arrive at once.
[Sometimes it doesn’t matter]
Amid vibrant lighting and electronic sounds bursting brilliantly, Park Moon-dae’s pristine vocals cut cleanly into the track.
Behind sharp, staccato choreography comes a shadow of black dancers, moving in perfect synchronization.
[if the world comes to an end]
[or not.]
They maintained formation with mixed genders balanced by body type, but there were no paired choreography sections.
Instead, parts distributed according to vocal tone and the clean lines of the choreography drove relentlessly forward without pause.
[Wherever I go
This feeling survives
The mood is all right]
Behind Lee Sae-jin, who executes the intricate, extended-reach choreography with flawless precision, a high note explodes once more.
[Then I’m gonna jump into the fire]
Electronic sounds and beats five times more elaborate than the original, paired with equally dazzling yet raw group choreography, unfold across the stage.
White noise swallows the accompaniment, and the moment the song snaps back into focus—
[Like a bomb]
Lasers burst with the drop.
[Yeah-ahahahah]
Jung Yul-gi surges to the front, sweeping across the floor and seizing the black object.
The very thing they had thrown down upon their entrance.
An ambiguous staff with no particular definition.
But when Lee Sae-jin bursts forward again and assumes a firing stance with this empty staff as though it were a gun, lasers suddenly erupt from that point like fireworks.
-??
-What is that
Precisely, it was choreographed to appear that way through perfectly timed angles.
Movements that resemble swords, bazookas, or guns follow in rapid succession, linking the choreography seamlessly.
And colorful lasers burst as though reacting to the recoil of weapons.
-Wow
The choreography angles subtly to match the lasers and LEDs as reactions to each movement.
Black dancers fall to the colored lasers, and all manner of sci-fi effects cascade through the space.
Moreover, thanks to camera work calibrated to flow seamlessly with the choreography, viewers watching on television experienced something entirely fresh.
The person at the center shifted with each movement, rotating through the formation—it resembled a masterfully executed one-take shot from an action film.
They discovered the most effective movements for each other based on their physical differences, and with every new center position, they amplified the impact.
[Like a bomb
Light up tonight.]
The moment that frenzied 1 minute 55 second sequence concluded.
“Hah—”
Park Min-ha understood instinctively.
Mirinai Junior hadn’t won, but this stage had succeeded.
[Yeah-ahahahah]
In the center of the collapsed mass of black, four figures with objects slung across their shoulders sang the final note in different tones, and the song ended.

* * *
‘Insane.’
Park Min-ha stumbled down to the Backstage, her mind blank.
A stage where she poured everything out like this, to the point of nausea, felt strangely exhilarating. The quality was so good that even on stage she could feel it—her heart felt like it would burst.
‘Plus, using the props… the body size differences were so stark that the choreography lacked unity before, but now it’s completely alive….’
Park Moon-dae’s idea was brilliant.
She couldn’t suppress the urge to praise him and whipped her head around.
Jung Yul-gi and Lee Sae-jin had already rushed off with staff due to makeup issues.
Then at least Park Moon-dae sunbae…!
“Mm.”
But Park Moon-dae was drinking water, his eyes distant as he looked elsewhere.
‘D-does he feel no excitement?’
Could he create a stage of this caliber routinely?
Park Min-ha felt somewhat shocked, but soon realized that wasn’t it.
‘Ah, he’s watching the next stage.’
He was looking at the monitor. The stage coming up next was Testa’s song, covered by Ajusa’s Debut Group.
And the stage currently performing was….
[Go on picnic~]
‘That’s pretty good?’
They did better than expected.
Park Min-ha had thought the same during rehearsal, but she nodded, acknowledging that the arrangement choice played a major role.
-We prepared a stage with “Picnic” by our respected senior Testa!
They had chosen “Picnic” over all of Testa’s conceptually impressive and striking titles.
Excluding this “Promise,” selecting that song—the most accessible in Testa’s discography—to induce group singing seemed like a wise choice.
Their abilities weren’t being directly compared.
Curious about what the person himself thought, she casually turned to look beside her.
‘What would he think….’
“…!”
“Hmm.”
Park Moon-dae gazed at the monitor with a faint smile playing at his lips.
Yet his eyes held neither admiration nor the calculating gaze of a rival.
Instead, something like a flash of triumph seemed to cross his face.
Or perhaps certainty.
‘What…?’
But there was no time to dwell on it.
“I’ll head out now!”
“…! Yes, yes! Let’s go!”
Park Min-ha, still somewhat bewildered, bowed politely before rushing off to prepare for the next stage.
‘What was that…. No, never mind! Don’t overthink it.’
She resolved not to pry into Park Moon-dae any more than necessary.
And several minutes later.
The Ajusa Debut Group and Park Moon-dae crossed paths in the Corridor.

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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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