Debut or Die - Chapter 336

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

A Fatal Illness if I Don’t Debut – Episode 336
The film production company summoned Testa to America within ten days of accepting the offer.
Filming was already well underway.
‘It seems we’re jumping into a project that’s already progressed quite far.’
But they even offered a cameo role?
I’d initially interpreted it as a gesture of reconciliation and ambition, but I should keep other possibilities open as well.
‘It could also be a way to test the waters.’
I considered mentioning it to prepare them mentally, but there was no real need.
“Even if it’s just a brief scene, you never know how the schedule will play out, so you might end up waiting for hours. We didn’t block out the entire day for nothing.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Of course, Hollywood might operate differently, but we’ll definitely be lower priority, so keep that in mind….”
Bae Sae-jin was already unleashing a barrage of on-set concerns without prompting.
The atmosphere of ‘taking a film cameo for refreshment during the tour~’ evaporated entirely. Everyone approached this new assignment with the mindset of fresh recruits heading into a business meeting.
Meanwhile, Bae Sae-jin was now trying to salvage the situation.
“…But it could be great! Film acting definitely has its own charm!”
The effect was minimal.
“I’m sure it does.”
“Though whether we can execute it well seems like a separate issue entirely.”
“…I was an idol too! You can do it!”
“Since that’s a single case, it’s difficult to generalize….”
“Right~ Let’s do our best!”
“…??”
Big Sae-jin cut off Kim Rae-bin and salvaged the atmosphere.
‘Well handled.’
Bae Sae-jin looked like he wanted to keep persuading, but that was enough.
I spent the flight reviewing the OST materials they’d sent me.
It was in English, of course.
‘I knew they wouldn’t provide translations.’
Given the tight schedule.
The agency did provide a summary translation, but the quality was poor. Once the label independence is finalized, I’ll need to hire a full-time professional interpreter first.
At least Cha Yu-jin and Sun Ah-hyun had briefed everyone, so they all understood the film’s content well.
To summarize, it’s this:
[After Earth is half-destroyed, a delivery driver accidentally ventures into space through a naturally occurring warp gate and embarks on a thrilling and exhilarating adventure!]
It borrows the SF format, but the actual style seems to blend Western and superhero films.
‘And this destroyed Earth story has a space system based on the Ruin Factory game series universe.’
I cross-referenced words I’d seen while monitoring the 127 Section and titles from the new game release.
‘It’s a bit confusing since it’s in English….’
“If you need any word explanations, I can explain them….”
“Then thanks.”
“Okay!”
I listened to Sun Ah-hyun’s explanation from the seat next to me on the airplane, piecing together the structure of the scene.
I confirmed once more what roles we’d be playing as cameos.
‘Hmm… are they asking us to pay homage to the starting characters from the game we collaborated on before?’
It seemed we’d appear briefly in a battle scene. There wasn’t anything special they asked us to prepare. I only had one line of dialogue.
The film production company had purchased the intellectual property rights to the universe, so there were no copyright issues—I’d anticipated this scenario. Since it was the expected proposal, I could easily map out the pros and cons in my mind.
“…Hmm.”
And I made a prediction.
‘This could easily become a laughingstock.’
It was an excessively one-dimensional interpretation and involvement. And I was worried about the makeup too.
‘There aren’t any East Asian characters among the main cast.’
Even if all seven of us appeared at once, it would be difficult to create a strong impact, and it seemed like we’d be in a position where it would be hard to avoid feeling out of place.
“Hmm.”
“Moon-dae, what are you doing?”
“Oh, I wanted to look at the screenplay.”
I set aside the documents related to our appearance and pulled out the screenplay summary again.
My mind was working at full capacity.
We were twelve hours away from arriving in America.

* * *
And finally, we arrived in America.
We entered quietly and discreetly. Fortunately, T1 hadn’t jumped the gun with premature publicity, so there were no issues.
After that, the first place we went to was… the film studio itself.
Interesting.
“Uh… we’re not doing the OST meeting first?”
“They said they can’t change the filming schedule. Apparently, the entire schedule is broken down into hourly slots.”
Indeed, regardless of the scale, the set was running quietly and smoothly, operated by people who knew their jobs and did them.
“….”
“…I thought it would be chaotic.”
Even Bae Sae-jin seemed somewhat taken aback. The person who had been assigned as our on-set guide smiled and spoke in Korean.
“This kind of professional specialization is Hollywood’s unique advantage.”
“Ah, yes.”
After hearing a few explanations and greeting the assistant director, we… simply started waiting in the trailer.
“….”
“Mm.”
By this point, everyone seemed to sense the atmosphere, and bitter smiles were exchanged among the members.
“We’re being left alone.”
“Yeah.”
They were quite good about providing blankets and snacks, but they hadn’t even started makeup yet.
Only our Manager and the staff seemed to be running around busily.
‘It’s unfolding as expected.’
It seemed the coordination hadn’t been properly checked. Since joining the majors, this was the first time I’d received such negligible treatment back in South Korea. This is rather amusing.
“The Manager must be having a rough time~”
“Communication doesn’t seem to be working well. Should I step out and handle it?”
As I listened to a few of them discussing in their own way, I was formulating my own plan.
Cha Yu-jin beside me poked me in the ribs.
“…?”
What is it.
When I looked over, he muttered irritably.
“This isn’t normal!”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s something bad.”
Cha Yu-jin then mouthed the words silently.
‘Pretending not to hear.’
“…!”
[It’s quite a classic method.]
Ah… so that’s it.
‘They’re deliberately ignoring our staff as if it’s unintentional.’
This has crossed the line of mere amusement.
I folded my arms.
“What’s your evidence?”
[In Hollywood, actors are fundamentally at the top. But look at how we’re being treated. They’re not treating us as actors at all—we’re being handled like complete extras or props.]
“….”
That’s plausible.
Earlier they were so meticulous about time schedules, but since our contract has no special clauses and we gave them plenty of leeway, they figure this level of neglect is acceptable.
“Why, what’s wrong, Eugene?”
“Hmm.”
Cha Yu-jin shrugged and looked at me. So he wanted me to translate, then.
I stated the situation briefly.
“It seems these people deliberately pushed our final scenes to the very end so they can film us last.”
“…Ah.”
“Ugh.”
Everyone sighed first, apparently catching on from the atmosphere.
Ryu Chung-woo gave a bitter smile.
“Just like Bae Sae-jin said.”
“…No, that’s not it. I was speaking based on what we experienced filming in South Korea, but here… the circumstances seem different.”
Bae Sae-jin continued with a hardened expression.
“If they’re doing this intentionally… that’s harassment.”
And Kim Rae-bin was taken aback.
“…! Is this that racial discrimination?”
Yeah. That’s it.
“Well, there’s the fact that we rushed in suddenly… and being a foreigner with a certain race and recognition probably helped too.”
When a job suddenly pops up on a fully scheduled slate, how it gets treated depends entirely on power, after all.
And in their perception, we don’t seem to have much power.
“….”
I craned my neck to check the others.
No one looked particularly upset.
Well, we hadn’t exactly been treated well before selling a million copies either.
“Reminds me of the Ajusa days.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Ultimately, most experiences pale compared to what we went through during our debut program.
Like guys who’d navigated a battlefield before debuting, they remained composed. I shrugged my shoulders.
“Since there’s a meeting tonight anyway, should we just do the meeting first and talk about this again?”
I asked the one who’d brought it up.
“What do you think?”
[If we skip this, they’ll say we refused because the schedule was too tight—it’ll end as a breach of contract, right?]
“Yeah, that would happen.”
“Yes!”
Sun Ah-hyun understood immediately. If that’s the case, then the two guys with foreign experience reached the same conclusion.
“Hmm.”
“This is tricky.”
Apart from being annoyed, they showed allergic reactions to cancellations like guys who loved work.
“What does Moon-dae think?”
As for me.
I crossed my arms.
“I think… it might be okay to breach the contract.”
“…!”
“I mean, it’s not like I’m dying to do a cameo.”
I looked at Bae Sae-jin, whose expression had hardened.
“You’d be really disappointed if your Hollywood debut fell through, hyung….”
“Hey!”
Bae Sae-jin bristled. The atmosphere lightened for a moment, but he quickly composed himself.
“Even so, I don’t want to film in a situation like this. It’s not just my name—it’s the group’s name on the line.”
“Hyung….”
Automatic reactions burst from those who knew he’d been excited while pretending not to be, despite not holding back on advice these past few days.
“Right. The role is too small for Sae-jin anyway.”
“That’s not it!”
I let out a snort of laughter.
“Just kidding. Actually, I don’t think it’ll come to a breach of contract.”
“…?”
“Why? Why?”
“They won’t give up the OST easily.”
“…!”
“I’m planning to come across quite favorably at tonight’s meeting so we don’t have to dig into that.”
If they hear the finished version and still want to back out, those bastards are insane.
Even though the on-set crew and their crew are completely separated and my treatment here reflects that, the OST team absolutely can’t mess around now.
We’ve already been bitten hard once….
“Kim Rae-bin made it so well, after all.”
Regardless of what political maneuvering I did in my explanation, the truth is it went through because the finished product was good.
“Ooh….”
“Rae-bin really is a genius, as expected.”
“You’re too kind. I’ll do my best.”
Right. Breathe and speak.
The atmosphere settled that way. In fact, it was as good as a conclusion.
Big Sae-jin shrugged his shoulders.
“So… shall we head out?”
The members exchanged glances a few times, and soon even Sun Ah-hyun nodded.
“Let’s go.”
“OK~”
In that moment, Cha Yu-jin bolted out of the Trailer as if he’d been waiting for this.
“…!?”
I ignore those who turn around wondering what’s happening.
“Let’s find the Manager first.”
“Yes.”
And we cut off any further discussion by saying we’d talk about everything after the meeting, then actually gathered the Company staff and left the Filming Studio.
The staff only made a show of stopping us before following along.
‘They must have had it rough.’
“If things get bad, we’ll say we suffered emotional trauma that’s causing problems with our tour schedule and demand compensation.”
“Good.”
Thanks to that, everyone’s fighting spirit rose.
Bae Sae-jin even snorted as we entered the Hotel.
“We don’t need to tolerate such… rudeness. Right?”
“That’s right.”
Besides.
Actually, from the moment we first arrived at the Filming Studio until the meeting, I’d been planning to drag things out without filming.
‘They’re helping us instead.’
I shrugged my shoulders.
The plan is proceeding smoothly without me even having to execute it.
‘Thanks, territorial instinct.’
That’s how we ditched the first day’s cameo shoot.
It was Testa’s first schedule cancellation as a group.

* * *
That night, at the meeting.
Surprisingly, the overall producer from the film production company showed up.
‘That’s rare.’
The top executive actually came out for OST work.
“Shouldn’t the director be the one coming?”
“In this industry, the director’s authority isn’t that significant. Everything’s compartmentalized, as you’ve seen.”
“I see.”
Thank goodness the interpreter didn’t translate our quiet exchange.
After that, with an employee dispatched from T1 in tow, we exchanged the usual pleasantries and brief opening remarks.
The interpreter then carefully relayed the producer’s words.
“He’s asking if there was some problem during filming, and why you didn’t shoot.”
Ah, so that’s why the producer came.
It seemed a report had been filed with T1 after we left the filming studio, and there must have been something between the higher-ups as well.
I nodded.
“We were told nothing and left waiting indefinitely. The trailer was freezing, and I couldn’t risk damaging my throat and missing the tour.”
If I used English here, my vocabulary would be limited and it would feel like I’m accommodating them. I have no intention of doing that.
When the interpreter translated this, the producer nodded as if he understood.
And what came next was this.
“He says he’s very sorry things turned out this way, but rescheduling the filming is nearly impossible, and he wishes you had shown more respect for their time.”
“…!”
Seriously?
Bae Sae-jin bristled first.
“No, that’s not what we—”
“Hyung, hyung, wait.”
Right. They seem to think we got angry over being toyed with by a few keywords in the request, and took it out on this innocent cameo shoot.
The atmosphere was turning cold.
Suddenly, polite English came pouring out.
[Waiting indefinitely without any instructions is absolutely not a normal situation. And our staff’s words weren’t properly conveyed to the assistant director either. Isn’t respect supposed to be mutual?]
“…!”
Sun Ah-hyun had just unleashed a lengthy string of English.
His face was pale, but his gaze was resolute.
And nothing had been agreed upon with anyone.
Big Sae-jin was impressed.
‘Ah-hyun’s really pissed.’
‘Right?’
I kept my mouth shut. The producer seemed somewhat taken aback, but he didn’t appear angry at Sun Ah-hyun’s words.
Rather, it seemed his mind was finally turning toward a proper understanding of the situation.
And shortly after, the interpreter spoke again.
“It seems there was some mutual misunderstanding. They’ve also said they’ll be more respectful of your time on set.”
“…Yes.”
Sun Ah-hyun closed his mouth. His expression wasn’t entirely satisfied, but I gave his shoulder a light pat.
‘Well done.’
That was enough to set the right atmosphere. Sun Ah-hyun offered a faint smile.
Then I opened my mouth again.
“So, shall we reschedule the cameo shoot for a different day and scene?”
“…!”
I’d milk every last concession out of them, even if it meant playing the magnanimous one.

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————