Debut or Die - Chapter 330

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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 330
Testa’s global tour.
We couldn’t bring the Seoul concert—the one adapted from a musical—exactly as it was, but we carefully extracted and incorporated all the essential parts and stage setups.
‘The planning and AR teams really do excellent work.’
Now that we’ve launched as a label, the workforce has become even more outstanding. It felt like tasting the flavor of escape.
For reference, the planning team leader took the position of label representative. He’s a conservative type who avoids unnecessary work, but he’s an experienced professional with good instincts—the perfect fit.
‘Since he’s not a celebrity, even if problems arise, there’s no risk of an individual becoming a scapegoat.’
Though I did hear some ridiculous suggestions during this process.
-What if Park Moon-dae became the representative?
-Huh? You’d do it, hyung?
-Ha, sorry.
There was someone who came up with an idea that would need at least ten more years of experience to even consider.
‘An idol as a label representative directly.’
There would be endless things to criticize. They might as well ask me to establish a company and become its CEO. I suppressed a sigh.
Anyway, setting that aside… the first concert of the tour was tremendously successful.
[Let Me Breathe!]
The moment the final encore song ended, cheers continued for quite a while—even as I came down from the stage drenched in sweat and water.
Waaaah!
Thud!
Cha Yu-jin, who had bounded down the metal stairs excitedly, laughed loudly.
“This is so much fun! Concerts are the best!”
“Y-yeah, that’s right…!”
“The stage lights are so bright and pretty. We should do this a lot!”
So swinging the light saber was really fun for him. I chuckled and simply shook the water from my hair.
Instead, Bae Sae-jin, who was wiping his abdomen with a towel, awkwardly opened his mouth.
“Definitely… concerts have their charm.”
“Hyung!”
Before debut, this guy always looked half-dead from exhaustion and nerves, and now he was saying things like that.
‘Did he get influenced after becoming roommates with Cha Yu-jin?’
Cha Yu-jin linked arms with Bae Sae-jin and shouted even more excitedly.
“Don’t take a week off, it’s fine! Let’s do it again! Let’s do lots of rehearsals!”
Is that so?
“We’re not taking a week off.”
“Ah??”
I draped the towel over my shoulders.
“We’re doing a camp.”
“….”
“….”
“Yes! We’ve prepared to make the most of our time!”
Only the workaholic was excited.
Wait, hold on. You all don’t dislike working, do you?
“You don’t want to work?”
“…! Oh, no…!”
Then what is it?
At that moment, following Sun Ah-hyun’s words, Bae Sae-jin turned his head and muttered.
“When you say things like that… usually something impossible happens.”
“….”
“Yeah, because Park Moon-dae’s being all ominous about it, everyone’s scared~ It’s Park Moon-dae’s fault… Ack!”
Noisy.
I smacked Big Sae-jin’s back. And immediately regretted it when moisture clung to my hand.
Ryu Chung-woo, who’d been watching with an amused expression, opened his mouth.
“So, after the Osaka concert tomorrow, we’re doing a camp instead of an after-party?”
“Ah…”
The atmosphere was melting away into something murky.
But no one was voicing opposition to skipping the after-party for a camp.
…Could they actually be scared?
‘Did I come on too strong?’
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t properly gathered their opinions. I rubbed the back of my neck and shook my head.
“We should… have the after-party.”
“…!”
I relaxed and smiled.
“It’s been a while since a concert—we should celebrate. We couldn’t do it properly even after winning the award because we were so busy.”
“Park Moon-dae…”
“Y-yeah, that’s right…!”
If I’m going to keep them working hard… no, working together for a long time, stamina matters.
I nodded, satisfied with the warm atmosphere.
“Come on, let’s move.”
“Yes~”
Soon, Testa began running backstage following the staff and leader’s directions, still hearing the unbroken cheers.
I sent the others ahead first and slowly got up from my seat. Then Big Sae-jin stuck to my side.
“Park Moon-dae, you know I was joking, right? Everyone follows your lead because the results are always good whenever you say something.”
“….”
“It’s not like you’re forcing us, right?”
“I know.”
“Right~”
I looked at Big Sae-jin, who was smiling faintly, with fresh eyes. Certainly… he was someone with deeper insight than just being quick-witted.
That’s what made me even more certain.
‘He’s definitely waiting.’
For me to open up about my situation. He’d probably even analyzed the discomfort he’d been sensing so far.
‘Maybe I should watch for the right timing at the camp.’
I’d let him work until he was completely exhausted, his critical thinking dulled to nothing, and then I’d cite various movies and dramas as examples….
“Let’s make sure our next album is a hit too.”
Yeah. I figured that would be your priority.
‘First, let’s just do well with the work at hand.’
The concert the next day went remarkably smoothly—excellent condition, not a single injury.
And the afterparty wrapped up at just the right level of enjoyment.
It was the perfect foundation.
Thanks to that, everyone showed up at the camp the next day with bright smiles on their faces.
“Should we order room service?”
“The Manager brought the laptops we need for our composition camp!”
They’re in such good spirits from having a great time—their faces are glowing, and their passion is overflowing.
I didn’t stop them from excitedly setting up food and seating. Instead, I helped appropriately, and once they’d relaxed enough, I made my move.
The suite’s living room. I turned on the prompter with them lined up on the sofa in front of me.
[Testa’s Direction Forward]
“Ah-hyun, look at this—I even prepared presentation materials. I’m completely serious.”
“Uh, yeah….”
If it’s work, of course it’s serious. Why would it be a joke?
“First, I’ll share the results of my analysis of our current situation.”
Cha Yu-jin quietly set down the popcorn he’d been eating.
“As you all know, Testa won the Grand Prize at five award ceremonies this year.”
“Ooh.”
“But that’s not what we need to look at right now.”
“Huh?”
I switched the screen.
[Distribution of Reviewers]
[->
Grand Prize
Popularity Award Voting Pool]
“These are the Popularity Award voting results.”
I gestured toward the screen.
“As you can see, we won the Popularity Award at three ceremonies. What’s the common thread?”
“I don’t know! Tell us!”
Bold move.
“The ones that blocked international voting. Our domestic fanbase’s firepower alone puts Testa in the top two among artists who made comebacks this year.”
“Wow.”
“Moon-dae, where did you even get this information?”
“The Internet.”
I continued as they opened their mouths in surprise.
“But the moment international K-pop fans participate in the voting, it flips.”
“…So VTIC’s seniors definitely win no matter what.”
“That’s right.”
I switched the graph to show voting rankings. A couple of screenshots appeared showing Testa placing third or fourth in the voting results.
“We’re even losing out to idols from other major agencies.”
“Hmm.”
“We’re still clearly weak internationally.”
I reached my conclusion.
I’d brought them here to say this.
“So, for our next album, I’d like to properly pursue a global strategy. What do you all think?”
“….”
The members exchanged glances or stared at the presentation screen.
No enthusiastic agreement came. Not even from Cha Yu-jin, whose home base was America.
I laughed inwardly.
‘That’s how it should be.’
I couldn’t have anyone falling for such naive talk.
Instead, a counterargument came.
“If we do well domestically, won’t people overseas recognize us too? We’ve looked into plenty of cases where forced expansion didn’t work out.”
True. That’s actually why we haven’t been desperate about overseas activities until now.
“Since we’ve already won the Grand Prize, I think those who care about the domestic scene have already taken notice. Isn’t this the right time to increase our international exposure and appeal a bit more?”
“Hmm… yeah.”
Ryu Chung-woo seemed convinced. But then the next one jumped in.
“But on the flip side, I don’t think our domestic fans would like it much~”
It was Big Sae-jin.
“Of course we’ll do plenty on W App and show lots of our own content, but honestly there’s a distance to it, right? Right after winning the Grand Prize, it might look like we’re being disloyal!”
I crossed my arms and laughed.
“Right. If the top dogs in Korea suddenly shift toward being international-friendly, it looks like cultural servility.”
“Aw, it probably won’t be that bad, but we should understand and show consideration for their feelings! That’s the thing. Moon-dae knows this already~”
It was a precise observation.
“You’re right.”
I nodded.
“So it would be perfect if we were invited and went.”
“Invited?”
“Yes. America calls us. Then we can go, increase our exposure, and come back.”
“Go, go….”
It’s the feeling of not desperately chasing American expansion, but rather being called over there and thinking, ‘Well, let’s go try some activities.’ That kind of vibe.
Instead of explaining, I just laid out the conditions.
“I’d prefer it wasn’t directly K-pop related. Our seniors at VTIC have already locked that down.”
“And I’d hope it doesn’t look too artificially arranged that we were called.”
“It should have buzz value and be worth using.”
As the words kept flowing, the members’ faces grew increasingly blank. Yeah, since I’m being picky, think it over slowly.
But the moment I closed my mouth, someone’s hand shot up.
‘Oh.’
It was Kim Rae-bin.
“May I share my opinion…?”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
“Yes! I’d like to discuss a field that has recently connected with us and is gaining significant recognition in America!”
I smiled inwardly. I had a feeling the right answer was coming.
“Which one?”
“The company from the 127 Section—’Ruin Factory.'”
“…!”
“Their newly released game is also hitting big in America, and I heard a film is being produced based on that world. I think it would be great for us to challenge ourselves by participating in the film’s OST!”
“A, a movie??”
Of course, objections poured in from all sides.
“Hmm~ wouldn’t it be awkward to work with them again? We didn’t create the ‘Star’s Various Songs’ account separately for nothing.”
Naturally, the point was that getting entangled with that game company again would be completely nonsensical.
And surprisingly, Big Sae-jin’s statement receives support fire from Bae Sae-jin.
“Right! And that company is also owned by T1. It looks like we’re all just colluding within the company…!”
In truth, if it weren’t company collusion, there’d be no way we’d contact them first from our side, but image was certainly the most important factor.
‘If the media judges it as self-promotion, it’ll just become a laughingstock from that point on.’
However, Kim Rae-bin didn’t retract his opinion.
Instead, he revealed more information.
“…! That could be the case. But according to what I’ve confirmed, the film is being produced by a different company, not T1.”
“Which one?”
“It’s a Hollywood production.”
“…!”
“I found out from the comments while operating the Star’s Various Songs account. Gamers were all anticipating that Limestone would be handling it.”
“Limestone??”
Cha Yu-jin whistled.
“They’re a hero film production company! [Insanely famous!]”
Yes. It’s the hero film division under an animation company notorious for IP business.
Completely an American company.
I opened my mouth.
“So… we can make contact quickly through our company T1, but it will appear as if we were actually called by an American company.”
And since the film production company is another major corporation with a famous IP, the fatigue from being too intertwined with the game gets refreshed.
“Yes! Does that work for you?”
Does it work?
It was perfect.
‘He’s caught candidate number one right away.’
As expected, this guy has this kind of instinct separate from his perceptiveness. The instinct to pick interesting things he wants to do well.
“I like it.”
“…!”
“I’m curious what everyone thinks.”
“I’m in favor!”
“Of course, so am I!”
The votes of approval came in quite readily.
Many of the concerns had been resolved, and it seemed like plenty of people felt intrigued by this fresh challenge.
Finally, Big Sae-jin opened his mouth with a smile.
“Yes, let’s give it our all~”
“Well, then we’ve reached a conclusion.”
We decided to aim for participation in a Hollywood hero movie OST—the very essence of subculture.
Scattered applause broke out from various corners.
“So, we contact the person who’ll be the label representative… and tell them we want to work together…?”
“That’s right.”
“Wow.”
“That game wasn’t bad. The movie could be really good if made well.”
Bae Sae-jin muttered half-heartedly.
“But what if they refuse…?”
“So what? Limestone loses out.”
“…I suppose so.”
Cha Yu-jin shrugged his shoulders, questioning why the award-winning artist was so nervous. The atmosphere lightened a bit.
‘Good.’
Perfect timing. I opened my mouth.
“Then I’d like this title track to have a feel that appeals to those drawn in by the game-based hero movie—something they’d find entertaining.”
“Exactly.”
“This is going to be a really fun project.”
“Yeah, I like it.”
I smiled.
“Then let’s start brainstorming a concept that appeals to that audience, doesn’t feel too calculated, and captures Testa’s identity well. Let’s begin.”
“….”
“Begin….”
And so the K-pop hellcamp of brainstorming chaos commenced.
But there was a problem.
Unlike the casual songwriting camp, the gap between the top performers and the struggling ones became starkly apparent.

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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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