Debut or Die - Chapter 338

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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 338
April.
Kim Rae-bin’s fan had come to the movie theater for the first time in a very long time.
‘I must be out of my mind!’
With graduation just around the corner, she’d somehow managed to enter every preview event during midterm season and actually won—something she herself recognized as absolutely insane.
And all because of an unconfirmed rumor article at that.
A rumor that a K-pop idol would make a cameo appearance in this Limestone film.
And of all things, this movie was based on the game world created by Ruin Factory, the studio behind 【127 Section】—precisely that kind of nationalistic blockbuster.
Naturally, several idol groups had been floated as potential candidates, and by sheer coincidence, her bias group was ranked first.
All the circumstances aligned perfectly.
-They wouldn’t use a group they already collaborated with, obviously
-Wait, are you serious?
-I’m so hyped, what’s happening?
On the surface, a mixture of optimism and anxiety dominated the discourse.
Of course, in the relevant game community, people were criticizing the game company with comments like “abandoning their roots for America” and “destroying their original vision.”
If the “K-pop idol cameo” rumor was true, the consensus was that they’d sold out their game world cheaply for excessive nationalistic marketing.
And interestingly, similar reactions were emerging from underground idol fan communities as well.
-They win a domestic award and immediately ship them off to America lol, it’s so typical of T1 that I’m speechless
-This is sketchy
-Korea’s already in the bag, now we just live off translation drama lol
-Idol cameo lolol I’m already losing my mind, this is insane
Kim Rae-bin’s fan happened to be in this camp.
‘Could the independent label thing have been bait for sending them to America?!’
Fans who’d already harbored suspicions that “there’s no way the company would give them an independent label” were actively preparing to attack the agency.
Yet publicly, they were downplaying and suppressing negative reactions toward Testa.
‘Making us this anxious during an inactive period—is the agency insane?’
But despite this fervent speculation, T1 Stars released no official statement.
For a company that would normally engage in relentless media play or deny everything, this silence only made fans more anxious.
Suspicion had taken root.
‘Is the quality so garbage they can’t even spin it with media play?’
‘Did they sell the kids off with some terrible deal?’
‘Why are they dragging out a simple cameo appearance like this? Is there something else?’
The fact that Testa was on tour made it impossible to distract with other content.
Even when fans flooded W Live with questions in the comments, there were no responses, so it became consensus that Testa had indeed appeared and was maintaining secrecy.
And anxiety intensified.
‘Please don’t appear, just don’t appear!’
That was the college student’s thought, even as she desperately hunted down every preview event listing she could find.
But time moved forward relentlessly.
Yesterday, the film’s first preview screening took place.
And everything flipped upside down.
-Insane
-Limestone always nails it
-Just go see it yourself
“Haha, don’t worry about buying those nationalist jerks—ugh…”
The film was a respectable work with an average critic rating of four stars. It successfully brought the game’s worldview to life in an appealing way, providing excellent material for nationalist content creators.
And Testa’s appearance was….
-I’m seriously shocked our kids were in it
She logged out right there.
‘What kind of idiot posts spoilers where they show up in search results!’
She wanted to avoid any outside influence beforehand. And from that point until she arrived at today’s screening, she hadn’t accessed SNS once.
She hadn’t even checked Testa’s official SNS.
‘I’m going in completely fresh and forming my own opinion.’
Comment bots manipulating movie ratings wasn’t anything new, and fans trying to shape public opinion on day one wasn’t either.
She’d thought it through with that level of caution.
‘The only thing I know for certain is that Testa is actually in this.’
The college student settled into her seat with a clear head.
“Hey, get me popcorn.”
“Shut up.”
She snapped at her younger sister, whom she’d brought along since she had no one else to go with. Soon the emergency exit guide finished playing and the logo appeared.
Limestone’s signature English tagline.
And the title.
[Cosmic Gunner]
A typical title for that kind of film. Scattered cheers erupted throughout the theater, as was customary for a screening.
But the grand spectacle that followed… the visuals were stunning, yet it all felt rather ordinary to her.
She had no real interest in sci-fi. She didn’t even understand what was happening, and the game didn’t particularly interest her either.
‘I knew it would be like this.’
The college student chewed her caramel popcorn with indifference.
‘When does Testa show up.’
But there was definitely entertainment value in watching it as a film.
The biting black humor when explaining Earth’s destruction, the slick scene transitions, the straightforward storytelling—all of it worked.
Overall, it was the kind of movie worth watching even if you had no interest in sci-fi or superheroes and didn’t know much about them.
‘Not bad.’
She felt that familiar Limestone touch. She relaxed her guard for a moment and watched the film absently.
Testa would probably appear in the second half, like typical Hollywood cameos, she figured.
Just then, the screen showed the protagonist arriving at a space station with its decadent, glittering neon signs.
[Wow, this is pretty cool, right?]
-(This was, in fact, a completely mistaken delusion.)
The audience burst into laughter at the protagonist’s words overlapping with a flashback monologue.
Meanwhile, the protagonist caught sight of a bar sign on the station and quietly slipped inside.
An intense, meaningful band performance was partially zoomed in on, and using it as BGM, the protagonist grabbed a table and sat down.
And then came the witty banter between the protagonist and a supporting character playing the role of a helpful guide.
[You’re from Earth? What’s it like there?]
[Well, noisy bars like this one are pretty much the same everywhere.]
In that instant, rough, slangy English erupted from the bizarre band in the background.
[What the hell did you just say?]
[I said this song is amazing, buddy! Yeah! That was the best performance of my life!]
A band member in the distance glared at the protagonist, then nodded and looked away—rendered in a blurred, comedic fashion. The audience erupted in laughter again.
The protagonist muttered.
[Barely out of their teens and they’re already giving me looks.]
[Whoa, careful there! Rookie, you can’t judge people by your home planet’s standards.]
And the small alien supporting character sitting across from the protagonist lowered their voice and introduced what lay ahead.
The world the protagonist was about to face.
[Over 1,200 planets have contracts with this Space Station alone!]
Dazzling, vibrant shots of alien worlds were spliced together and rushed toward the audience in rapid succession.
‘Oh.’
The effect filled the entire movie theater. The College Student let out a brief exclamation of wonder.
Throughout it all, the supporting character’s narration continued.
About the peculiar histories and treasures of the various planetary inhabitants who used this Space Station, their conflicts, and their military factions.
Quite a lot of it contradicted Earth’s common sense.
Even the dangers.
[Most of the smaller ones hide force shooters thanks to protection laws. See that?]
[Like you?]
[Yeah, like me.]
The scene returned to the Space Bar. The supporting character chuckled and showed the force shooter hidden in their pocket before concealing it again. The protagonist watched intently.
[And finally… you’ve got to watch out for the crazy ones who act like maniacs.]
[Crazy ones?]
[Yeah, you know, the ones who stand out and make themselves obvious!]
With the supporting character’s words, the screen cut back once more.
To the teenage band that had spoken a single line to the protagonist earlier, now on the small performance stage of the Space Bar.
As they were packing up their instruments and stepping down, soldiers in intimidating combat gear confronted them.
Visible only from behind and the side, they wore avant-garde outfits that seemed like a fusion of 1970s rock bands and video game characters, though they weren’t as massive in build as the soldiers in combat gear.
The atmosphere suggested the band was about to be beaten down or forced to flee at any moment.
[Oh.]
But when the camera shifted to the soldiers’ perspective and captured the band’s faces head-on.
Those faces were utterly unimpressed.
And they were faces most of the preview audience recognized all too well.
“…!”
“Whoa!”
Testa!
At their unexpected appearance, gasps and reactions burst spontaneously from the Audience Seating.
[I act crazy because I can get away with it!]
As Yeon-ju’s narration continues, the camera pans across the scene.
“…!”
Whoosh!
Soldiers were overwhelmed with exaggerated precision by the bizarre space instrument, their movements rapid and turbulent across the screen.
Crash!
One band member sent the last soldier flying over a table with a laser blast.
Then, brushing off the wrinkles in his own white coat naturally, he carefully yet carelessly adjusted the green stain on it.
With just that single, instantaneous motion, the audience could recognize that the stain on the white coat was an intentional stylistic choice.
As he lifted his head, the young man with makeup and glasses tilted his head expressionlessly.
‘Damn.’
The college student realized it.
This stage outfit was modeled after the “Doctor” from 127 Section!
And only a beat later did she recognize that the person was Bae Sae-jin.
“…!”
Bae Sae-jin hadn’t spoken a single word, yet he appeared to be an entirely different person from the idol Bae Sae-jin she knew. When he had shouted in English earlier, his voice was unrecognizable.
Even though the college student knew Testa so well, or perhaps because of it, he seemed all the more unfamiliar.
In that brief moment, Bae Sae-jin had showcased the character he had created for himself.
‘What the hell.’
Kim Rae-bin’s fan swallowed hard, witnessing the specialized talent of the supporting member who used to be treated like baggage and now like a mascot.
And the screen composition shifted again.
The seven band members briefly appeared walking past the protagonist’s table, ignoring the fallen soldiers.
Bae Sae-jin spoke without turning around.
[Come listen again.]
[That, well, yes, what an honor….]
But before the protagonist could finish speaking, he vanished from the screen, leaving only the sound effect of a door opening and closing in space.
Whoosh!
[….]
The two lead actors, who had been watching with wide eyes on screen, soon bowed their heads and whispered.
[You saw that. This kind of neighborhood.]
[…Yeah.]
The protagonist blinked.
[So I just….]
[Yeah, you almost died. But I have a good plan….]
The movie theater filled with laughter again. It was a joy and delight only those who knew who the cameo was could enjoy.
And Kim Rae-bin’s fan sat there holding popcorn, briefly overwhelmed by shock.
That scene, concluded with laughter, was clearly a method to effectively introduce this world’s setting to both the protagonist and the audience.
Humor, plot twist, and coolness.
A cameo appearance that possessed all three virtues.
‘Holy shit.’
There’s no way T1 could pull off work this well… No, wait. This is ultimately thanks to how well the members delivered. Not thanks to those bastards.
‘Bae Sae-jin….’
Kim Rae-bin’s fan, unusually murmuring the name of the member who had hard-carried the project, experienced a sudden epiphany like being struck by lightning.
Now that she thought about it, could that song Yeon-ju was playing be…?
And the moment the band’s music she’d heard at the Space Bar flowed through the ending credits alongside the vocals, following the climactic battle scene, she realized she hadn’t been wrong.
-Exploding far away
That high note that clung perfectly even to pop songs.
And who on earth could have produced this maddeningly brilliant OST?
‘Kim Rae-bin! Park Moon-dae!’
Her pick had never failed her!!
And on the Internet, which she logged back into the moment the film preview ended, the shockwaves from this brief cameo and OST were already erupting.

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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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