Debut or Die - Chapter 327

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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 327
[This Year’s Idol TeSTAR, ToneA’s Artist of the Year Award Winner]
[‘202X ToneA’ TeSTAR’s Grand Prize Performance]
[ToneA’s Joy at the Grand Prize… TeSTAR “We’re launching our own label!”]
Initially, articles covered the news of the award, the acceptance remarks, and discussions about TeSTAR’s future prospects.
I wouldn’t be surprised if many people had already finished their preparations and were just waiting to hit send the moment the award was announced.
With such mundane content, the articles that got published first would naturally rack up more views.
Over the next couple of hours, articles poured out that simply regurgitated what had been said during the acceptance remarks.
But the true flavor of public opinion only emerged after the awards ceremony ended.
[TeSTAR’s Independent Label Launch, A New Strategy in T1’s K-pop Development?]
[T1’s New K-pop Artist Independent Label… TeSTAR Leads the Way]
It was the reaction to TeSTAR’s exceptional acceptance remarks.
‘Why is a label being launched?’
In truth, separating a specialized label for an artist was no longer such a rare occurrence.
But the way it was reported made a difference.
It wasn’t announced as a company business decision—the artist suddenly brought it up directly in their acceptance remarks.
And at an awards ceremony hosted by the Headquarters, no less, like a performance.
‘T1 planned this.’
‘I wonder what they’re trying to do.’
Those who followed the entertainment industry closely caught the scent the moment they clicked on the article.
And the fans’ reactions played a major role too.
-Finally finally finally
-The days of putting our kids in X-small subsidiary companies are over. I’m really proud of them. ㅠㅠ
-I’ve never seen Moon-dae this excited, he’s been keeping that energy even after winning the award, it’s so cute and I’m tearing up
-Am I dreaming
-Wow an independent label before contract renewal season… Please give them proper support with plenty of resources
These were fans who had suffered plenty because of the company’s decisions, and now that they’d heard about the award and the independent label news, they exploded in the best way possible.
As this furnace of enthusiasm and excitement engulfed the comments and posts, even the general public was influenced.
‘Wait? Is this actually a big deal?’ they wondered.
As a result, a secondary movement occurred.
It was the stock market.
=======================
[What does everyone think about TeSTAR’s independent label news this time?]
It could be seen as good news for T1 Entertainment, right?
=======================
-Spacer, a male idol from Ajusa’s new season, could overlap in position with TeSTAR, so they gave TeSTAR an independent label. It looks like a new plan will come out starting next year.
T1 Stars’ revenue this year makes it crystal clear why they became an independent label. It’s definitely good news.
└You’re absolutely right. TeSTAR is top-tier domestically but a bit weak internationally, and internationally usually follows once you secure the domestic market^^ Definitely when overseas grows next year, the revenue scale and brand value will jump several times over
-TeSTAR’s label shares are 100% T1, right?
-This isn’t about buying entertainment stocks.. tsk, looks sweet though
The rumor that “T1 has a big plan” became the dominant narrative, and it even reflected somewhat in the stock price.
Then several analytical articles popped up about it, cementing it as established fact.
[Why did T1 Entertainment’s stock price surge?]
[What are the advantages of an independent label? T1’s new plan]
At this point, T1 as the parent company wouldn’t be eager to immediately announce “no comment” about TeSTAR’s independent label.
It could easily be interpreted as bad news and create unnecessary complications.
And even if we became independent, T1 wouldn’t suffer any particular losses. After all, we’d still be a subsidiary.
In the end, the Agency lost its biggest bargaining chip—the one it used to coax, cajole, and pressure us.
‘The subtle threat of “do you want to damage your relationship with T1?” doesn’t work anymore.’
Thanks to that, things unfolded this way.
Four days after the awards ceremony.
“The company is asking if we could run an article saying ‘there are no concrete developments at this time’?”
“Seriously?”
Just as expected.
Instead of taking a hard line, the company began approaching us more gently, even bowing their heads slightly. They were asking for our input.
‘Perfect.’
Now they’re ready to voluntarily sit down at the negotiation table.
I nodded inwardly satisfied at Chung-woo’s report.
Most of the members found it somewhat absurd, but overall the atmosphere was positive—the fact that these guys panicked and came forward to communicate was a good sign.
Even Bae Sae-jin subtly raised his thumb and mouthed something.
‘Well done…!’
“….”
A fitting comment from the guy who heard this method first and agreed to it. I nodded reluctantly.
But one member’s face flushed red, and he began to bristle.
“Jo, I think that might be going too far…!”
“…?”
…It’s Sun Ah-hyun. Suddenly?
He clenched his fists and even began explaining.
“Back then, you spoke so harshly to Park Moon-dae…!”
Ah. He means the day of the awards ceremony.
That’s right. That day they couldn’t control themselves and even called directly to say a few things.
‘That you were reckless, that you lost our trust, stuff like that, I think.’
I expected as much, and since it was just empty words anyway, I mostly let it go in one ear and out the other.
Still, to avoid giving the company any hooks during future negotiations, I made an apologetic gesture along the lines of “I understand you were flustered. Next time I’ll inform you first before discussing it.”
In the end, it was all just anticipated performance, but apparently he took it to heart.
Sun Ah-hyun spoke with his fists clenched.
“P-Park Moon-dae apologized… but they’re not apologizing, and they’re trying to announce it like Park Moon-dae was lying… I don’t think that’s right.”
“I agree. The company is terrible. They need to taste justice!”
Cha Yu-jin agrees. He must have picked up an idiom after watching a dubbed hero movie recently.
Ryu Chung-woo seemed to be thinking it over, then asked gently.
“So what do you want to do?”
“I’d like to lodge a protest. Maybe we could vote on it by majority… would that work?”
“Sure, I’m fine with it. Let’s put it to a vote then.”
“…??”
Nobody asked me?
They held a majority vote among themselves, excluding the very person being criticized, and reached a conclusion.
The result was a clean approval.
Sun Ah-hyun spoke with resolve.
“Let’s lodge a protest…!”
“….”
I nodded reluctantly.
“Yeah… I appreciate it.”
“Oh, no…! Um, what would you like to say, Park Moon-dae?”
What would I like to say?
Looking around, everyone was implicitly expressing their willingness to defer to my opinion. They were silent, just watching me.
In that case.
I shrugged.
“Then let’s just go with what you said.”
“Huh?”
“Your statement.”
There wasn’t much more to add. I drafted an honest response that reflected Sun Ah-hyun’s position exactly.
Roughly speaking, it boiled down to this:
-We were extremely taken aback by the company’s request this time. The contract is right there in front of us—why are they trying to say “nothing has progressed”? Were they planning not to honor it?
-We apologized at the awards ceremony thinking the company might have been flustered because of the media attention, but now even that feels uncertain.
-We naturally assumed the company would fulfill the contract and mentioned it in our remarks, but we want to believe they weren’t angered by that and are demanding something else instead.
In short: ‘Stop screwing around and show us the plan right now, you bastards.’
“So, I’ll send it like this…!”
“Okay~~”
“It seems to capture our disappointment quite well! Impressive!”
Sun Ah-hyun transmitted the message to the company executives amid the members’ cheers.
And Big Sae-jin bowed his head toward me and whispered.
“It won’t work, right?”
“It won’t work.”
There’s no way the Agency would suddenly come to their senses after reading that and start saying things like “We sincerely apologize! We’ll pursue label independence starting tomorrow!” or whatever.
They’d just feel worse and become more anxious.
‘Nothing’s going our way, so we’re pissed.’
Meanwhile, they have to appease us, which makes them even more irritated, and they can’t afford to neglect our care, so they might subtly show their displeasure.
Suddenly we’ve become the weaker party in every respect.
A dead end where we can’t make a careless move in any direction.
I let out a bitter laugh.
“But in situations like this, people usually make mistakes.”
“….”
Big Sae-jin stared at me silently for a moment, then gave my back a couple of reassuring pats.
“Moon-dae, let’s keep TeSTAR going for a long time. No, we’re TeSTAR for life. Got it?”
“Sure thing.”
I let out a small laugh despite myself.
Being acknowledged felt surprisingly good. And being able to respond so easily to those words was quite pleasant in its own way.
And if things went according to plan, it would only get better.
A few days later, the Agency did exactly what I expected—they caused a massive uproar.
They had clashed with T1 Entertainment, their direct parent company.

* * *
Unable to convince either the parent company or TeSTAR, the Agency lost the power to make an independent statement.
Yet they couldn’t simply stay silent without any official position either. The fans had started chiming in as well.
-Why isn’t the Agency saying anything
-The articles keep saying there’s still no official statement, which is weird
-Once the awards season ends, even if they launch officially, they should at least show some gesture. The members wouldn’t have talked about it in their remarks if nothing was decided yet
The atmosphere suggested that if they dragged things out much longer, fans might actually send protest trucks to the Agency.
And now that I think about it, my own announcement probably contributed to amplifying the buzz among fans.
The underground gossip mongers seemed to have twisted things, speculating about why Park Moon-dae had said all that.
-Seeing that gloomy guy grab the mic, looks like the label got a ton of investment lol
-Is he the CEO or something
-Won’t even yield the mic to the leader, typical greedy bastard
These comments got drowned out by the major public opinion that “Moon-dae was just excited and spoke his mind,” but controversy always amplifies discussion volume.
Moreover, even these negative remarks were premised on the idea that “TeSTAR’s label must be absolutely massive,” so naturally everyone who encountered this news came to think the same way.
‘This is the kind of buzz you can’t buy with money.’
So ultimately, T1 Entertainment itself took the bait.
[T1’s New Vision for K-pop: “Launching an Artist-Focused Label First”]
They released the article themselves.
It was essentially a declaration that T1 Stars had no intention whatsoever of helping the Agency drag things out to keep TeSTAR.
And did our Agency executives give up after seeing this?
No. Word was they got so furious they sent some rather aggressive statement to the parent company.
‘A stupid decision.’
Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t have done something so foolish, but after being consumed by this contract issue for days, they momentarily lost their judgment.
That hastily prepared statement, never properly reviewed, went to the parent company….
The Agency executives got firmly marked as troublesome in the eyes of T1’s higher-ups over this matter.
And the result?
“…So, if things go well, it looks like we’ll be independent by early next year.”
What else would it be. A surrender declaration.
-Insane!!
The figure on the video call screen widened his eyes.
Ever since his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony, he’d been so curious about the situation that I was filling him in.
I’d originally planned to call, but decided to do a video call to check on this bastard’s condition as well.
‘Fortunately, there are still no other signs.’
He was receiving training well and seemed healthy.
-Hyung, isn’t it too cold there? It looks like a Balcony….
I let out a quiet laugh. Now that I thought about it, whenever I did something to avoid the members, I always ended up coming out here.
And honestly, a video call on such a palm-sized screen like this would be fine to do in the Room, but I came out here out of habit.
“It’s fine. The house is expensive, so they’ve sealed off the drafts well here.”
-Wow… that’s a relief. It’s really nice!
“Yeah.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
-And congratulations on the label, as a fan I’m really looking forward to the next album….
Big Dal, using Ryu Gun-woo’s body, began to share his thoughts, and I listened silently.
That’s when it happened.
I heard movement from the side.
Creak.
“Park Moon-dae, the Company called…!”
“Huh?”
As I turned my head, I saw Bae Sae-jin, holding a smartphone in his hand, hastily opening the Balcony door and stepping inside.
‘What.’
The Company called?
I tried to pull out one of the earbuds I had in and talk to him, but Bae Sae-jin moved first.
He suddenly started pointing at my smartphone.
“…?”
“Uh… uh uh??”
As if he’d recognized someone.
“….”
-Hyung? Hyung?
No way.

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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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