Debut or Die - Chapter 341

—————

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 341
“Moon-dae, Moon-dae, the ginseng liqueur kits are sold out.”
“….”
I checked the post from the ginseng liqueur kit seller being shared as a trending post on social media.
-This support came completely out of the blue. I’m truly grateful. I will donate a portion of the proceeds in the name of Testa Park Moon-dae. (bowing emoticon)
That’s right.
The Star of Stars Song incident had become a complete meme on the internet. The effect of handling it gracefully at just the right moment was tremendous.
The situation was absurdly funny without catering to any particular taste, and our response was so appropriate that it spread openly everywhere.
Moreover, the more people looked into it, the funnier elements kept emerging.
-Now that I see it, the account name is screaming that I am a Testa alt character.
-Their past of innocently lying that they couldn’t sign contracts because they were studying.jpg (image)
-The factory guys must have screamed when they contacted these kids too, forced debut through three visits and four invitations
Star of Stars Song’s official arrangement of the 127 Section boss theme song was also being re-examined, and humorous posts reconstructed as image files guessing our feelings at the time were circulating.
‘Everyone’s having a blast.’
Thanks to that, defending against pointless controversies ended in one shot.
Am I the only one who thinks this is like a well-crafted viral video?
└Go watch the video of that idol Testa getting absolutely demolished (link)
If you were planning to make it up and blow it up, why would you bother lying about studying for nothing? Anyone can see it’s just a mistake lol
Don’t ruin the fun.
We’d already done a complete reversal once after getting criticized, and doing another reversal in the opposite direction would just be exhausting and unfunny.
Of course, there were quite a few fans who felt disillusionment or anger toward those who’d hurled insults and then did a complete reversal.
But for now, everyone was greatly relieved by how quickly the mood had flipped, so the atmosphere was more focused on restoring the star ratings that had been attacked on our music.
‘Plagiarism really was a huge deal.’
I deliberated on how far we should encourage the spreading meme before crossing the line.
“Oh~ this is pretty funny. What do you think about having Rae-bin post something mimicking this?”
“That should be fine.”
To make the atmosphere even better, I approved us directly responding to the meme once.
‘I hope it wraps up perfectly at the right point.’
I shrugged my shoulders.
If possible, I was thinking of securing domestic public sentiment like this, then turning it into an episode for when we go to America.
It would be perfect to talk about on a talk show. And it’s even related to the movie.
However, that plan never came to fruition.
Before the person involved could even post, some foreigners got there first.
“…?”
The first was an American gaming YouTuber.
The Star of Stars Song arrangement account had originally been introduced to gamers by this YouTuber, who was a fan of the 127 Section game.
He didn’t miss this opportunity to rake in sweet view counts.
[K-POP BOY BANDS ARE EVERYWHERE… YOU FOOLED ME!]
He drew attention with this title, then ended it with reactions of amazement and cheers that wouldn’t offend the sensibilities of K-pop fans who clicked.
[Oh my god. The owner of this arrangement channel is a K-pop band, and it’s that band from Cosmic Gunner?]
[And, and this game collaboration trailer video—that was them too, right? Not actors?]
[How could they not be actors!]
[They write their own songs? Then they wrote that movie soundtrack too, right? Of course they did! The arrangement channel! It’s theirs!]
Each word spoken while pressing his forehead in feigned shock was precisely calibrated to set the hearts of K-pop fandoms and nationalism enthusiasts aflutter.
And since he had such a massive American subscriber base, the news apparently reached Limestone film fans who’d grown curious about the game’s worldbuilding.
-They plagiarized themselves? That was hilarious lol thanks for letting me know
-I think I got hit by the fandom bug, where should I start? 😀
-Stop attaching K-pop to every explanation. Testa is a unique and cool group that doesn’t fit that mold!
Right. People who’d previously held prejudices or resentment toward conventional K-pop were even coming forward saying this should be recognized as an exception.
‘Not a bad opening.’
If more of those exceptional remarks came out, it could backfire and become aggressive, but we hadn’t reached that level yet, so I let it pass.
If it had ended there, it would’ve laid down some wholesome groundwork that could’ve actually been useful as an episode later.
The problem was the second one.
“Park Moon-dae! Check this out.”
“…?”
I examined the YouTube video Bae Sae-jin had shown me.
Some talk show scene.
[Jason! Could you share a behind-the-scenes anecdote from the filming studio—something rare and unique that you haven’t mentioned anywhere else?]
[Haha!]
[If you don’t, I’ll collapse right here and all the staff will testify that you’re the culprit!]
[Alright! Alright! Let me think… During the additional shooting, there was this really funny incident—a foreign star’s cameo appearance!]
The supporting actor from the movie who’d appeared in the space bar scene had gone on an American broadcast first and spilled the beans.
“Do you remember this person?”
“Nope!”
“No, it’s funny how someone who’s never even spoken before is talking about it so naturally.”
Probably because he’d run out of anecdotes to deflect with on the talk show, and he’d mentioned K-pop on social media before anyway.
[They performed a ‘real’ concert on that tiny stage set like it was some kind of live concert hall. Wow, I was just like, ‘K-pop bands really do kill it with their performance!’]
[But then they start acting, and they’re doing it like they’re some top-tier professional actors?]
[And then it turns out they even have a secret arrangement account they run?]
[What kind of band is this! Did they receive special training or something??]
This guy had never even seen us, but he’d pieced together what he’d heard from the staff and delivered it like the truth.
“Still, he gave us a good introduction.”
“He sure did.”
I wondered if this was also a form of prejudice, but regardless, the way he described us—like some reclusive Eastern master—apparently amused the American audience.
‘The content itself was funny anyway.’
[I should’ve gotten an autograph, but they vanished in an instant. I hope to see them again in the next Cosmic Gunner series.]
This story, coming from the mouth of a cast member of a popular film on American prime-time television, had quite an impact.
People who were vaguely curious about the identity of that crazy band in the movie but hadn’t bothered to look it up found this account quite impressive.
Those people began following the algorithm to Testa’s band performances, the plagiarism incident video, and our game collaboration trailers.
-No way, so you’re telling me they composed that badass black hole in just four days?
-They’re like the embodiment of subculture
-Are there more English songs? 🙁
└They’ve created plenty of great songs in their native language too (link)
-I don’t know how to say this, but it really suits them—a group of Survival Show Program survivors
Thanks to that, we seemed to be gaining acceptance in America with this bizarre, four-dimensional foreign genius image.
‘It doesn’t suit us.’
But I planned to use it well. I nodded in agreement.
Of course, this wasn’t the climax either. There was still the final result that would leave all the members speechless.
A few days later.
“Th-this, this, this…!”
Sun Ah-hyun thrust the Billboard 200 album chart toward me.
[2. <Cosmic Gunner> Special Edition / new!]
“…!”
The movie’s soundtrack had appeared at number two.
Though “Soundtrack” was listed instead of Testa in the artist slot, it was still an incredible achievement.
“Hoo-whew.”
“Wow, uh, wow… I expected this, but it’s huge, right?”
It didn’t end there.
The main theme song for this movie we worked on even charted separately on the Billboard Hot 100.
[9. Black hole / new!]
“Ahhhhh!”
A full nine spots.
I’d heard that movie soundtracks occasionally hit number one on Billboard once every few years, but I never expected a single-digit placement here.
‘This actually worked.’
“Hyung! Kim Rae-bin just fainted!”
“I didn’t… But whether a song that was produced in just four days without careful deliberation and even made the mistake of reusing samples deserves this ranking is…”
“OK Kim Rae-bin’s fine.”
It was chaos. And rightfully so, given the results.
I lowered my voice and asked Ryu Chung-woo amid the screaming madness.
“This wasn’t a Friday release either, was it?”
“Right. It wasn’t.”
The fact that we achieved this ranking without even a full week’s worth of data reflected was absolutely absurd.
I checked the analysis scores.
‘The on-air score is decent too.’
Even though it’s a song from an unknown group, it seems radio stations across the country have been playing it. Truly, long live major films.
The American market, with its lowered barriers to entry, was pure honey—honey itself.
The operation was a success.
“Good.”
“Sh-should we post a thank you message…?”
“Let’s do it~! And share the Billboard post too!”
I nodded again as I watched the excited faces around me.
Before this momentum and atmosphere fades….
“And we need to work on the next album.”
“Right.”
With opportunity flooding in like this, we couldn’t afford to be late with the oars—we needed to capitalize on every moment, not just sit idle in the boat.
‘I’ll strike while the iron’s hot with Limestone’s image still fresh, securing our position with the next album.’
I cracked my neck. Ryu Chung-woo chimed in gently from beside me.
“Right. The results are even better than what we discussed at the last camp. Everyone worked incredibly hard… let’s make our album really well too.”
The guys nodded enthusiastically. Now that actual results were showing, they seemed even more motivated.
“Yes, yes…!”
“We’ll do our best. We’ll work hard so that not just the new listeners interested through the movie OST, but our existing listeners can also enjoy it!”
“Great! Let’s go, Testa~”
“So, should we eat first and then get started right away?”
Riding high on the sense of accomplishment, the guys eagerly mapped out an intense camp schedule like diligent test-takers. A good attitude.
And somehow… I felt grateful too.
I furrowed my brow, thinking of the circumstances only I carried among them.
‘K-pop Industry Record-Breaking’ mission achieved.
‘…The remaining time is shrinking faster than expected.’
According to Big Dal, he could only stay attached to Ryu Gun-woo’s body until August.
Now I had only four months left. I had to complete the mission within that window.
If things went according to plan, it was entirely possible….
[Brother, I’m listening to Black Hole really wellㅠㅠ But did you make this with Cha Yu-jin in mind? I feel like that for no reason because it’s a black hole!]
…Meanwhile, the person in question was living without any urgency or questions, which felt oddly unsatisfying.
Had he given up hope entirely? I clicked my tongue.
‘I’ll make him live no matter what.’
“Alright, let’s eat and then everyone bring your laptops~”
And so, one week before the America tour, I decided to dedicate all seven days entirely to working on the title track and concept.
…The only problem was that plans and execution rarely aligned perfectly.

* * *
Four days passed without any particular incident, the grueling schedule continuing unabated.
“Coffee is banned from now on.”
“Moon-dae, Moon-dae, come on and convince this hyung for me.”
“Give it up.”
The concept was nearly finalized, and the music video synopsis and album design had all been completed. Realistically, we just needed to properly work on the title track.
Around the time we’d even set aside our smartphones and were absorbed in our work.
“Ten-minute break!”
“Yay~”
Weekday morning. As the brief break was granted, I checked my smartphone for the first time in a while.
‘Maybe there’s some other news.’
But instead of news, there were several missed calls displayed.
[VTIC Senior Shin Chung-ryeo]
“…?”
‘What is this.’
The unexpectedness made it feel all the more ominous.
I hesitated for a moment, then called him back.
The call connected instantly. So he was holding his phone too.
“Senior.”
-Junior.
His responding voice was calm without any particular oddness.
But his next words were far from calm in content.
-Could you open the door for me?
What?
“What door are you talking about.”
-The entrance.
“….”
Surely not.
Even as I denied it, I made my way through the living room where the members were scattered on their break and headed toward the dormitory entrance.
I opened the door with the chain still attached, peering out through the gap. The outside was visible.
“…!”
“….”
An expressionless face holding a phone.
It really was Chung-ryeo.
‘Has he lost his mind?’
This bastard had shown up at someone else’s dormitory without warning.

—————

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

—————