Debut or Die - Chapter 31

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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 31
“What? Third place?”
“But we performed so well?”
“We had the highest ranking from the start….”
“The audience reaction was insane.”
The moment our team placed third, participants from other teams around us began whispering among themselves.
I appreciated the sentiment, but honestly, this outcome had been predictable from the moment they announced that each audience member could cast two votes.
‘They all threw their votes as blocking votes.’
Anyone who came to watch in person was mostly a heavy viewer with a favorite contestant they were pushing.
Those audience members would first vote for the team containing their most favored contestant.
Then they’d cast their second vote for a team that was ‘ranked lower but skilled’.
They would never waste a vote on a team that could become a rival to their main contestant.
When I thought about it that way, placing third was actually a solid result.
It meant we’d swept up votes not just from audience members who had a contestant they were pushing on our team, but also from the few people who came just to watch.
But my teammates seemed genuinely shocked.
“…Thank you!”
Ryu Chung-woo, who answered a beat late, bowed deeply with vigor.
The teammates followed suit with their thanks, though I could clearly see them struggling to maintain composed expressions.
“Thank you.”
I nodded along as well.
The announcements for first and second place had been postponed to a separate ranking ceremony. Among those teams was one that resembled the team Choi Won-gil had assembled in the first round.
“Then, shareholders! We’ll return with the first-place team announcement for 【Idol Stock Company】 and the ranking ceremony!”
After the MC’s closing remarks, I caught what seemed to be Choi Won-gil glancing over at us with a smug expression.
‘Is he an idiot….’
He does this every time.
Is it because he hasn’t experienced the harsh bite of editing yet?
Regardless, our team was in no mental state to notice such things. Ryu Chung-woo patted each teammate on the shoulder as they applauded with deflated spirits.
“You all worked hard. We gave it our best and looked great. Don’t worry.”
“Yes….”
“That’s right. We did well!”
Well, Cha Yu-jin was right—we definitely performed the Stage well.
So unless we got sympathy votes, we wouldn’t face backlash.
Besides, unless someone on this team looked like they’d be eliminated at the next ranking ceremony, this was actually the best possible outcome.
The issue was the editing. As long as they didn’t do an edit that only saved Ryu Chung-woo and buried everyone else, we’d do fine. The Stage performance was solid.
Everyone on the team already had fanbases, so any harsh editing would be neutralized in the court of public opinion.
Kim Rae-bin was a perfect example—even though the first-round team broadcast had been a disaster, his fans fought relentlessly online and got him back into the rankings.
Ah, speak of the devil.
“Um… Park Moon-dae hyung.”
“Yeah, what’s up.”
Kim Rae-bin gave a slight nod.
“I’m really grateful for everything. Could we exchange contact information?”
“Sure.”
I readily gave him my number.
He was a contestant it wouldn’t hurt to stay connected with. Thanks to his shameless composition style, I’d even gotten free arrangements out of it.
Besides, unlike Big Sae-jin who contacted me at all hours without fail, he seemed like the type who’d keep calls brief and business-focused when necessary.
Kim Rae-bin accepted the number and bowed his head again respectfully.
“I’ll reach out occasionally to say hello.”
“…Sounds good.”
I couldn’t tell if I was having a conversation with an idol hopeful or a junior colleague.
‘Wait, now that I think about it…’
Was this an opportunity to switch out of the so-called “tied contestant group”?
Since this team round had wrapped up successfully, if I leaked a few anecdotes about our connection to coincide with the next episode’s airing, there was a real possibility the fanbase would reorganize itself.
The ones tied to Park Moon-dae early on carried serious risk factors—everything from drug scandals to final rankings. Plus…
‘Wouldn’t survival rates be higher if I aligned myself with someone who’d rank higher in the end?’
If I connected with Kim Rae-bin, my reputation among those pushing Cha Yu-jin might become less antagonistic—a factor I couldn’t ignore.
‘Damn.’
Doing these calculations made me feel the weight of reality, but what kind of person worries about dignity when they’re supposedly dying young?
“Good work today~”
“You worked hard!”
As I gathered my things to head out, my mind kept turning over possibilities, when someone tapped my shoulder from behind.
“Hey, um.”
“Hm?”
I turned around to find Sun Ah-hyun wearing a determined expression.
This guy had been too busy the past week to do more than exchange greetings, and now he was approaching me with a resolved look?
‘Did some bad rumor get out?’
Sun Ah-hyun glanced around, confirmed no one was watching, then leaned in with wide eyes and whispered.
“About Choi Won-gil, you know,”
“…? What, why Choi Won-gil?”
Why was Choi Won-gil suddenly coming up?
‘Did he come to complain because Choi Won-gil’s whining about getting a part again?’
Surprisingly, this hastily formed thought was half right.
“You’re… you’re such a terrible person…!”
Sun Ah-hyun was practically seething.
“…”
What kind of character flaw would it take to piss off this pushover this badly?
“What, did something happen?”
“Y-yes!!”
Sun Ah-hyun nodded vigorously, then carefully began explaining what had happened during the last team round.
“At first, he just… he asked for your part,”
Oh, my prediction was spot on.
“Stop, stop bringing up your own stuff! You’re just twisting things around….”
To summarize the explanation that followed regarding Choi Won-gil’s actions, it was roughly this.
‘Since I didn’t get camera time in the first round, I should get some this time. I even formed the team, so shouldn’t they be grateful?’
‘Why did you give all the parts to Park Moon-dae hyung, but now that I’m a main vocalist too, you won’t give me any? It feels like you’re discriminating based on personal connections.’
Apparently, he’d even told the Production Team this while crying during an interview.
‘So he learned that striking first leads to victory from the last team match.’
While the other team members were left floundering from the sudden blindside, Big Sae-jin had tactfully coaxed Choi Won-gil and smoothed things over, or so I heard.
‘A wise choice when you think about the broadcast.’
But as a result, the frustration of the team members who couldn’t properly voice their thoughts had nowhere to go.
Sun Ah-hyun’s cautious demeanor had completely transformed into seething anger by the time he finished speaking.
His stammering looked like he was doing it out of sheer irritation.
“Y-you have to be careful…! I was w-worried you might t-tell it wrong… N-no, I was trying to let you know.”
Sun Ah-hyun, his cheeks flushed red, had still been mindful of Park Moon-dae, and his words eventually circled back to concern.
This was probably his real intention all along.
The situation was funny, but… yeah, that’s right.
‘I’m actually grateful for this.’
In this Survival Audition where everyone’s busy looking out for themselves, here was someone treating me like a real friend instead of just a networking connection.
I felt like an idiot for dividing the kids into group hierarchies.
‘This isn’t some middle school class assignment.’
My future knowledge was already being erased as my team skyrocketed in the first team match, so maybe I was being paranoid.
I laughed softly and answered.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Oh, n-no….”
Sun Ah-hyun jumped in surprise, then hurriedly waved his hands and reverted to his usual timid self.
Big Sae-jin appeared out of nowhere and threw an arm around my shoulder.
The guy seemed to have some strange ability to insert himself into any conversation happening anywhere.
“Yup~ What’re you guys up to?”
“W-we were just… letting him know.”
“What? Oh… that guy.”
Big Sae-jin shrugged.
Choi Won-gil seemed to have earned the distinction of being referred to by pronouns instead of his name—a certified troll.
“Just don’t team up with him next time, simple as that~ Whoever gets stressed loses. Look at this. We’re too busy seeing good things in this world.”
“Uh, u-uh?”
Big Sae-jin smoothly changed the subject and pulled up something on his smartphone screen, turning it toward Sun Ah-hyun and me.
It was an SNS post with photos of subway station advertisement boards.
Ah, so it’s already that time.
Putting up ads in public facilities is one of the most typical ways idol fans show support. I remember seeing my own photos on boards a few times.
‘Though they were posted under fan account names I’d bought data from, of course.’
I thought he was just showing us that his own advertisement board had been put up, but that wasn’t all.
“Ta-da! This is the three of us, right?”
“Huh?”
Looking again, I could see they were photos of three nearby billboards facing each other, each shot separately.
Below the photos was a caption posted alongside them.
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[It was at Hongik University Station, and I was caught by a friend of the same age as Aktober. I came with a post-it note attached!]
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Big Sae-jin grinned and spoke.
“Hey, isn’t this crazy? How did they manage to line up ads like this? Did you guys coordinate it?”
“….”
No.
They must have fought tooth and nail for these spots.
Thinking about how much money and time they’d spent to secure prime billboard real estate at a major transfer station made me feel apologetic.
‘Well, thank you for investing in Park Moon-dae’s survival prospects.’
A new concern emerged—even if I debuted and avoided sudden death, I’d need to fulfill my contract diligently to escape damnation.
As I wrestled with this strange sense of debt, Big Sae-jin got to the main point.
“Should we go check it out? Fans apparently left messages there too, so shouldn’t we go see them out of courtesy?”
“….”
Couldn’t everyone just fulfill that courtesy separately?
But Sun Ah-hyun’s eyes lit up instantly, and he shouted his approval without hesitation.
“Y-yeah, let’s go!”
“Nice. Moon-dae’s coming too, right? When should we set it for?”
The way he assumed I was going from the start felt identical to how I’d been tricked during the group viewing in episode three.
Still, what could I do… Big Sae-jin was right—I should go see the billboards out of courtesy anyway. It would be easier to handle if people recognized me with others rather than alone.
I glanced back and forth between the two of them for a moment, then simply nodded.
“If we’re going, we should do it within this week.”
“The sooner the better!”
“Y-yeah, let’s go!”
As I listened to the two of them happily settling on a date, I gathered my things back up.
Well, I wasn’t in a bad mood about it.

* * *
Two days later.
I pulled out the black cotton mask I’d bought from the convenience store before and put it back on.
My destination was Hongdae Entrance Station.
Since I wasn’t filming, I’d been cooped up at home, so going out felt like it had been forever.
[Sun Ah-hyun: Want to grab lunch after we see our billboard? I found a few restaurants that look delicious. If you guys are okay with it… (see more)]
A message came through from Sun Ah-hyun.
‘Still writing essays, I see.’
While checking Big Sae-jin’s response—which was nothing but emojis—I headed outside and caught a bus.
The room I’d rented on the cheap didn’t have a subway station within a twenty-minute walk.
‘If I just move quietly from the bus stop near Hongdae Entrance Station, it should be fine.’
That was a miscalculation.
“Gasp.”
“Isn’t that Park Moon-dae?”
“Oh my… Hey, hey, over there!”
This happened the moment I got off the bus and crossed the crosswalk.
I hadn’t even reached the meeting spot yet, and people were already gathering.
Only a few people recognized me immediately, but the crowded area was drawing more crowds.
“Who is it?”
“Is it a celebrity? An idol?”
‘This isn’t good.’
I hesitated for a moment, then bowed politely and ran.
I would have liked to respond more, but the atmosphere felt off. The impact of the hottest Audition Program at this moment was remarkable.
After all, whenever I opened the entertainment news section, there was always at least one article about Idol Corporation in the rankings. I’d just been careless staying indoors.
‘At this point, I need to quickly check the billboard and disappear.’
As I rushed down into the subway station, my phone vibrated, but I decided to check it after I’d shaken off the crowd.
And the moment I arrived at the location where the three billboards were hung, I understood the situation.
The two people who’d already arrived at the billboard were surrounded by smartphones.
‘So that message was because they’d already arrived and things had gotten like this.’
These idiots hadn’t even worn masks.
Meanwhile, the people who recognized Park Moon-dae cheered.
“Moon-dae!”
“Moon-dae’s here too!”
It was awkward, but I was grateful. What a situation.

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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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