Debut or Die - Chapter 313

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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 313
A sudden situation where I’m ejected from Park Moon-dae’s body and return to my original one?
Of course I’d considered and anticipated it. After all, I’d initially tried to find a way back.
The problem is… I never thought about returning together with the original body’s owner.
[….]
“….”
[…I,]
“Be quiet. I’m thinking.”
[Y-yes….]
I pressed my forehead with both hands, listening to a voice that trembled like a whimper.
My head throbbed dully.
‘Damn it.’
I couldn’t make sense of anything… No, first things first—I need to gather information.
“You’re… Park Moon-dae.”
[Y-yes, yes…!]
The voice lacked any distinct color, but I could grasp something from the tone itself.
It seemed like a somewhat intimidated child, that much was clear.
‘Damn it.’
Could this really be the “conversation with Park Moon-dae” reward I got for clearing the mission?
This was absurd beyond measure. To suddenly grant a reward like this, dragging a person onto the stage… wait.
“…!”
I was… right before the awards acceptance speech. During a live broadcast music awards ceremony.
In that instant, my blood ran cold.
[Gun-woo hyung…?]
I ignored his words and immediately got up from my seat. Then I began searching the surroundings.
[W-what are you doing?]
“My phone.”
I threw the blanket aside and asked in a low voice.
“Where’s my phone.”
[I don’t know either… I don’t even know why I’m here…!]
As I rummaged through the room, I finally discovered a small Television on the dining table-cum-desk beside the sink.
‘A Television?’
I’d never bought something like this… Never mind, let me turn it on.
I quickly switched to the news channel. I wondered if any breaking news had aired.
And… I saw it.
The date displayed small at the bottom of the news channel.
“…!”
[December 15th, 202X]
Four years ago.
Not today in the life I’d been living, nor the late November awards ceremony when Testa received their first award that year.
…December 15th. Park Moon-dae’s birthday.
The very day I had collapsed in the Motel after taking a sedative, and my consciousness entered Park Moon-dae’s body.
The day everything happened.
“…Sigh.”
I stumbled backward and caught myself against a chair.
[Are you okay??]
Had I returned again?
‘No.’
That couldn’t be right.
So this is… eerily similar to when I fell into a coma, and back then too, I was certain….
Yes. I understand now.
“Another dream.”
[Huh? Hyung!]
I settled into the chair and interlaced my fingers. The trembling subsided.
“Right. Let’s talk.”
If this is supposedly some kind of compensation, there must be meaning to it.
I spoke without hesitation.
“Park Moon-dae. You said you didn’t understand why you’re here.”
[Yes? …Yes.]
Whether that’s a lie or not, it means he’s not in a state where he can honestly explain why I ended up in his body.
Then I’ll press from a different angle.
“So what were you doing right before all this chaos broke loose.”
[I, I was…]
His voice wavered slightly with unease. I waited patiently for his answer.
[…I was visiting my hyung at the hospital.]
“Hyung?”
I had no idea Park Moon-dae even had an older brother.
But an entirely unexpected answer came back.
[Gun-woo hyung. …My hyung.]
“…!”
Me.
Visiting me at the hospital? What is this… though I had felt something from the start.
‘This guy knows me.’
From the beginning, without any hesitation, he called me “Gun-woo hyung.” It meant he was certain of our connection.
I felt like I’d grasped a thread. I continued questioning.
“When.”
[That’s…! I find that strange too, I was definitely living in 202X, but the broadcast just now had a weird year….]
“….”
I had to accept it. This guy was… the Park Moon-dae from that situation I saw in my last confirmation of ‘truth.’
The future Park Moon-dae from my memories—the one who had bummed a meal off me once and kept in contact, except I have no recollection of him.
A faint resonance trembles softly, echoing once more.
[Could it be… you don’t know me, hyung?]
“I can’t be certain.”
[Huh??]
I meant that I don’t even know if I know you.
“Tell me about the last situation you remember. My memories seem all jumbled right now.”
[Well, then….]
Park Moon-dae hesitated for a moment, but soon began to obediently recount his memories.
[You… were hospitalized, so I got worried and came to visit. But after that, when I came to my senses, it was like this….]
“Why were you hospitalized?”
[…Oh, from overwork.]
I shook my head.
“Don’t lie to me.”
[…!]
There’s no way I was hospitalized for overwork. And this guy—his tone changes whenever he lies.
“It wasn’t overwork. There was another reason.”
And an answer flickered through my mind.
“…You attempted something extreme.”
[…Yes. You… were hurting deeply and exhausted…. It seems you do remember that.]
As I thought.
So at the final truth verification, I tried to die, but couldn’t quite manage it and conveniently ended up in the hospital. Well, my bad luck seems to have its limits. The situation was absurd, but I nodded first.
“Roughly, yes. So, what conversation did we have when you visited?”
[We couldn’t talk. You hadn’t woken up yet….]
“….”
So I was in a coma.
I pressed further, but apparently there was nothing special done during the visit. From the nuance, it doesn’t seem like a lie.
Then there’s only one more thing to check.
“What were you thinking?”
[Pardon?]
From the last cross-verification results, I’d formed a hypothesis that those who returned to the past were sent back based on their final thoughts and desires at that moment.
If that’s the case, I need to verify this ‘Park Moon-dae’s’ final memory as well. I never wanted to inhabit Park Moon-dae’s body.
“I’m curious what you were thinking at that very last moment in your memory.”
For instance, you might have seen my pathetic state and thought you wanted to escape if that was my future.
[….]
The resonance trembled more intensely, but he spoke without hesitation.
[It wasn’t anything special. I just… hoped you would live long and healthy….]
“…!”
It was an answer I hadn’t expected.
I fell silent, somewhat dazed. Because I felt rather… petty about myself.
I fell silent, feeling somewhat bewildered. It was because I felt rather petty about myself.
‘Damn it.’
After a moment, I finally spoke.
“First… I’m sorry.”
[…What??]
“I’m sorry for suddenly interrogating you like that. You must have been shocked too.”
No, considering my body had just vanished and only my voice remained, it was a miracle I hadn’t panicked completely.
Suddenly pressing him about dreams and all that nonsense was stupid. I should have handled it more rationally.
“Anyway, when you came to visit me in the hospital… thank you for thinking of me that way.”
[Ah….]
There’s a hint of bewilderment and hesitation in his voice.
[No! I’m the one who should be grateful—you’ve been helping me all along, and I haven’t repaid you at all….]
Repaid? What nonsense.
As I suspected, he hasn’t had much experience receiving help from others. I’ve heard this same line several times over just one bowl of soup.
Gratitude is fine, but let’s move on to something more productive.
“That’s okay. More importantly, what exactly is your current state?”
[Ah! Well, I can’t move my body, but… when you move, I can feel it to some degree…?]
“I see.”
So we’re sharing the same body, but I have control over it.
Either way, I’m having a “conversation with Park Moon-dae”—though it’s an absurd way to do it, sharing the same body like this.
‘Why would it be done this way?’
If they’re going to construct a dream like this anyway, wouldn’t it be simpler for us to just have separate bodies and talk?
Perhaps… in the reality where I lived, the “real Park Moon-dae’s consciousness” no longer exists, so it was implemented this way instead.
“Hmm.”
It’s not a particularly pleasant hypothesis, and I’m not reaching any conclusions. I need to examine how this dream is structured.
I got up from my seat and resumed searching for the phone. That’s when it happened.
[Um, are you looking for your phone?]
“Yeah.”
[Could it be… in your back pocket?]
He added hesitantly.
[From what I can feel right now, there seems to be something in your back pocket….]
Ah.
I immediately reached into my jeans pocket and found a familiar rectangular shape.
I let out a long sigh.
“Thanks.”
I wasn’t in my right mind to consider that. I clicked my tongue and opened the phone.
Then a popup appeared.
[Network registration failed.]
“…?”
This is the kind of popup that only appears on a phone without service. One without a phone number….
‘…Could it be.’
Seized by an inexplicable premonition, I immediately turned my head and surveyed my surroundings.
I’d been living with the default settings all this time and hadn’t noticed much until now, but there was definitely something off.
And I found the cause.
[Brother?]
It was a family photo sitting on top of the system unit.
A photograph of four unfamiliar people. People I would never have taken a picture of, purchased, or arranged.
Traces of someone else.
“….”
Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.
When I first entered Park Moon-dae’s body, I had checked Ryu Gun-woo’s active accounts, phone numbers, and website IDs.
They had all vanished.
At first, I thought it was a parallel world, but after verifying that “old accounts and records that were discarded in the past still remain,” I concluded it was a supernatural disappearance.
-‘Ryu Gun-woo’ had… disappeared from every place, both the Internet and the real world, from the moment I entered Park Moon-dae’s body.
And what if, right now… I suddenly “appeared” four years ago out of nowhere?
With no connection to reality whatsoever.
To verify, I casually slapped my own face.
[Brother!]
“….”
It hurt.
‘Damn it.’
I immediately got up from the bed. And I examined my surroundings more carefully.
And I reached a conclusion.
‘This isn’t where I lived.’
And judging by the pain, this wasn’t a dream either. This is damn reality.
So realistically, the first thing I need to do is….
“Get out of here.”
[Get out??]
Yeah. If the monthly rent contract has been reset, that means I’m in someone else’s house right now!

* * *
I hurried out of my Studio Apartment, which had become someone else’s space.
Since I hadn’t touched anything in particular, they wouldn’t notice an intruder had been here.
The real problem comes next.
‘What I have right now….’
A flip phone that’s become a brick—not even a smartphone. And roughly 140,000 won in my wallet.
“….”
Of course, I wouldn’t have a bank account either.
‘I could kill someone.’
I ground my teeth. Then I called out.
“Status window.”
Something did appear.
[Receiving Reward]
“….”
Stay calm.
I could interpret this positively. Once the reward reception is complete, everything will be restored to normal.
I quickly suppressed the situation from just before my award acceptance speech that was surfacing in my mind. There was no point dwelling on it now.
“Sigh.”
Park Moon-dae, who had grasped the situation roughly, also lowered his voice and let out a low groan.
[Hyung, um… are you okay? What on earth is this situation….]
“I’m fine.”
That wasn’t true. But complaining wouldn’t change anything, so I shut my mouth and sat still.
The most urgent thing right now.
‘I have no home.’
No, it’s not just the home—I have no foundation at all. All my connections to society have been reset.
I don’t know how long this damned situation will last, but I can’t go without at least one working phone right now.
…So there’s only one thing I need to do.
After reaching my conclusion, I moved my feet again.
[Um… where are we going right now?]
“Convenience Store.”
I added casually.
“I’m going to buy lottery tickets.”
[Lottery… tickets? Um, I think I’ve come to the past, but I don’t know the lottery numbers….]
There’s a misunderstanding here.
“I know the numbers.”
[…!]
I opened the phone again.
Though it was a brick that couldn’t make calls or anything, I could at least check the day of the week.
-Friday
And tomorrow, Saturday, is the day the lottery winners are announced.
Think about it.
The moment I entered Park Moon-dae’s body, my first thought was that I wouldn’t know any stocks or lottery numbers in advance—so do you really think I could have just ignored the numbers announced the very next day without looking?
Even out of regret, I would have ended up checking them at least once.
And such a memorable experience naturally etches itself into memory.
‘I still remember it clearly.’
The moment I stepped into the Convenience Store, I bought about twenty lottery tickets, including every single number I could vaguely recall.
“One of these has to be a winner.”
Gong-myeong’s gulp sounded like a resonant echo.
[Brother… you really are sharp, aren’t you?]
It wasn’t a matter of intelligence—it was a matter of circumstance. To make him understand that, I’d probably need to explain what I experienced after entering my own body first.
‘Right now… this guy seems completely exhausted too.’
Anxiety had been creeping into Gong-myeong’s voice for a while now. He was starting to feel the weight of this situation, and it was frightening him.
‘For now, I’ll let him rest.’
I secured a reasonably priced Dormitory for the night. All I needed to do was make it until Monday morning, and the cash situation was manageable enough.
‘Rest first, clear my head, then we talk.’
After I woke up, I’d explain everything I’d experienced and lay out the exact situation for him.
I spoke as I lay down on the Bed.
“If you can’t sleep after I’m out, wake me up.”
[Huh? No! It’s fine….]
“Wake me up.”
I checked my status window one more time—still showing only ‘Reward Collection in Progress’—and then sleep claimed me instantly.

* * *
Light pours in from beyond my eyelids.
[Gun-woo hyung…?]
“Hah.”
I inhale sharply and open my eyes. I must have slept deeper than expected—my mind feels clear.
And I hear a voice that sounds almost like crying.
[Hyung! Ah, I thought you’d still be here…!]
Why is he so thrilled to see me? I push myself upright.
And I’m startled.
“…?”
This isn’t a Motel—it’s the interior of an Officetel. And through the window, I see verdant trees and sunlight glinting.
“….”
It’s definitely not December.
“What?”
But Gong-myung speaks first.
[Ah, hyung! That lottery ticket won! We got 1.2 billion won!]
That’s good news. But what that means is that enough time has passed to collect the winnings and buy a house.
I ask him directly about this.
“It seems like quite a bit of time has passed since we bought the lottery ticket.”
His voice becomes much quieter from that point on.
[Yes. I, I bought the ticket back then. The next day when I woke up… you disappeared, and I became hyung instead…?]
What?
[S-so, for now, I just… went along with it….]
The room spins—absolute nonsense.
‘…Stay calm.’
Still, the lottery seems to have won properly—there don’t appear to be any financial problems.
Looking at the interior of this place, far more respectable than my old Studio Apartment, I manage to ease one worry.
But the most infuriating part came next.
[And… hyung. After you disappeared, something strange appeared….]
“What?”
[L-look at this….]
A moment later.
[!Status Abnormality: Pass or Die! (1)
If you fail to receive a perfect score on the first written exam of the ‘Grade 7 Civil Service Examination’, death will occur.
“….”
These bastards really….

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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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