Debut or Die - Chapter 355

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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 355
“Park Moon-dae!”
“You….”
“Are you alright?”
The moment Sun Ah-hyun and I stepped into the Dormitory, our housemates greeted us with warm concern.
The kind of atmosphere where they wanted to shout ‘are you out of your mind?’, but held back cautiously, worried he might actually be losing it.
I beat them to it and came clean.
“I apologize. I went out to think for a bit and didn’t realize I’d left my phone behind.”
“Ah….”
“Yeah, I see.”
My face looked intact enough that relief washed over everyone in an instant.
Cha Yu-jin, who’d been drinking cola, answered cheerfully.
“OK~ Next time, let us know!”
“What do you mean OK?! We were all worried when you suddenly disappeared!”
Thanks for drawing their attention away from me.
Bae Sae-jin turned to Sun Ah-hyun with a flushed face.
“You too! You should’ve at least said something before leaving… Sun Ah-hyun?”
“….”
“Um….”
“…Y-yes! I’m s-sorry. I, I left without saying anything, acted carelessly…. I apologize.”
“Yeah. You… worked hard out there.”
Sun Ah-hyun entered the Living Room in a daze and sat down on the sofa.
He was clearly in shock.
Let me recall his reaction right after I said ‘I’ll explain everything properly’.
-Th-that’s…. Y-you, M-Moon-dae.
-You said you’d listen to anything.
-…Y-yeah, that’s right.
His words agreed, but his face screamed ‘this isn’t what I expected’.
Of course, that’s why I dangled the carrot.
-And no matter how this turns out, you’re going to counseling.
-…!
-I don’t mind recording this.
-N-no…! Y-yeah, th-thank you…. Thank you, Moon-dae…!
The guy who’d been crying out so desperately was now completely bewildered, overthinking and second-guessing everything now that we’d arrived at the Dormitory.
I rubbed my neck.
‘There’s no time to waste.’
I’d cleared the schedule to make room, so we needed to do this now.
I couldn’t afford to cause more damage to the people involved.
‘How much revenue are we losing by cutting four days from the activity period?’
By settlement standards, it was already an amount that would raise eyebrows.
Besides, if we want to shut up all those people who’ll breed more rumors about our situation, we need to move fast.
‘Hmm.’
Right on cue, the person I need speaks up.
“Did you two talk things through?”
I nodded at Ryu Chung-woo.
“Yes. You must have been shocked. I apologize.”
Ryu Chung-woo smiled faintly.
“Yeah. That’s fair.”
“….”
“The alarm went off this morning, but the phone’s owner was nowhere to be found. Everyone was probably three or four times more shocked than when Eugene disappeared.”
“…Yes.”
This is so damn embarrassing.
I fell silent, recalling what I’d said back when Cha Yu-jin had disappeared. Ryu Chung-woo patted my back.
“You worked hard.”
“Yes.”
He’s giving me poison and then the cure. I endured it, thinking of the karma I’d created.
‘And the next one is….’
Big Sae-jin.
He was holding his smartphone next to Ryu Chung-woo, typing something.
He hadn’t said much when I came in earlier, and he still hadn’t looked up.
“…What are you doing?”
He lowered his phone while muttering.
“…Uh, uploading.”
Ah.
I checked SNS. There’s a new post on Testa’s account.
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I’m so sorry for getting sick in this weather… We’ll get better soon and visit you. Reviewer, don’t worry, we’re taking our medicine and fighting through it!
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A swift response.
“…Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Only then did he force a grin and pat my shoulder.
“How’s your body feeling?”
“It’s fine.”
What I really wanted to ask was what happened with Sun Ah-hyun, what exactly I’d done when I went out at dawn.
‘But asking would be shameless.’
This isn’t some Joseon court—why are there so many guys acting like everything’s their fault?
‘Maybe it’s a blessing that I ended up asking for a hand instead.’
I swallowed a sigh and got to the main point.
“Anyway… I need your help with something.”
“Huh?”
“Chung-woo too.”
“What? Me?”
“Yes.”
Let me start by overwhelming them with sheer volume.

* * *
Sun Ah-hyun took a deep breath.
My roommate had shouted “I hope you get some good rest!” while gathering up electronics and heading to Bae Sae-jin and Cha Yu-jin’s room.
But my mind couldn’t rest. It kept repeating the same resolve over and over.
‘This time, I’m going to respond properly.’
Yes. Maybe this was an opportunity. A chance to mitigate the shock Park Moon-dae must have felt from my poor reaction.
“Sigh.”
‘First, I’ll tell him how truly grateful I am that he spoke to me seriously about this….’
I mentally rehearsed my response several times until I was satisfied, then planned to visit Park Moon-dae’s room at the promised time.
But I didn’t get the chance.
Knock knock.
“Coming in.”
“…!”
Park Moon-dae had arrived early, before the scheduled time.
And he got straight to the point.
“I came a bit early because I need to set something up. Let me borrow Kim Rae-bin’s computer for a sec.”
A computer?
“Let’s start. Oh, Kim Rae-bin asked me to give you this.”
“Um, okay,”
“Drink it while you listen.”
Park Moon-dae stepped through the door and handed me the tea he’d been holding, then placed a notebook and pen down in front of me with a soft thud.
‘A notebook…?’
And without giving me a moment to breathe, he began sharing information.
“I’m planning to start with witnesses first.”
“…W, witnesses…?”
Park Moon-dae paused for a moment, then spoke with a slightly strained voice.
“…Before, I didn’t mention it because I was worried you’d get more confused, but the truth is, I’m not the only one who came back from the past.”
“…??”
It was something I could never have imagined.
I froze, the tea still in my hand.
But Park Moon-dae immediately began producing the people he’d contacted.
‘I need to hit them with everything at once.’
The method was video chat.
“I prepared an app that doesn’t record or save video. And I figured it would be easier for you to accept things if you see their faces directly.”
Park Moon-dae openly showed Sun Ah-hyun how he found and installed the app from the store.
Shortly after, a face appeared on Kim Rae-bin’s computer screen.
“…!?”
Sun Ah-hyun nearly jolted up from the bed without realizing it.
[Mm.]
Chung-ryeo from VTIC.
The senior I’d just met moments ago was wearing an obviously insincere smile.
[Wouldn’t it have been easier if you’d done this when we met earlier?]
“Yes. The situation has changed.”
[You’re quite fast.]
Chung-ryeo continued their banter—whether he was mocking or laughing, it was hard to tell—but soon admitted it straightforwardly.
[That’s right. I’m the one who knew the future before you, and you, Moon-dae, or rather Gun-woo, are next.]
“….”
Was this really happening?
[Since my junior is actually older than me, he speaks to me casually. Didn’t you hear that earlier?]
I simply thought it was something that occasionally slipped out because we’d grown quite close. And I felt a little envious, that was all.
[It’s amusing that you’re using formal speech now, despite saying you wouldn’t record anything.]
“Shut up.”
[Haha!]
Chung-ryeo wrapped up his adequate guarantee with an unbothered expression.
[I’m accumulating quite a debt to repay, junior.]
“Get out.”
[My, you can’t even deny it.]
And Chung-ryeo disappeared from the screen.
“Phew.”
Park Moon-dae took a deep breath as if suppressing irritation.
“He’s annoying, but anyway… that’s why I check in occasionally.”
“….”
And while manipulating the computer with a stern expression, he added with a slightly proud tone.
“There’s no manipulation. It’s not even my computer, it’s someone else’s, and you saw that I didn’t touch any storage media.”
“….”
“If you want, we can go check again right now. Hmm, should we?”
“Ah, no.”
Sun Ah-hyun reflexively responded.
But his mind was filled with exclamation marks and question marks.
“Then we’ll move on. Next after me, the one experiencing this strange situation will appear.”
“Um….”
“Oh, if you have any questions, feel free to write them down in a notebook later. Anything’s fine.”
“….”
So… that’s why he brought it.
Sun Ah-hyun reflexively grabbed his notepad, but his limbs creaked as if they were malfunctioning.
When another familiar face appeared on the screen, he screamed internally.
[Wow, hyung, it’s been forever! How have you been?]
Kwon Hee-seung.
It was the face of the junior member Park Moon-dae privately referred to as ‘Gold 2’.
[So you’re telling Ah-hyun hyung about this now… Ah, hyung, hello.]
“Oh, hey.”
Sun Ah-hyun pinched his thigh for a moment, but it only hurt.
Kwon Hee-seung on the screen cheerfully recounted his experience—saved someone and fell into the Han River, then ended up in the past!—and even complained to Park Moon-dae about it.
[Hyung, aren’t you just collecting colleagues everywhere?? Wasn’t our group supposed to be kind of secretive? Like that?]
“If you’re upset about it, then tell them yourself.”
[That… our group isn’t at that stage yet….]
Kwon Hee-seung made a few bitter comments like ‘I even tried to hint at it to my parents, but they hit me on the back and told me to come to my senses’, then ended the call with a sigh.
Notably, Sun Ah-hyun hadn’t written down a single character in his notepad.
“So that guy is the one who came back to the past after me.”
“….”
“Actually, the return on investment from stocks he bought starting from when he came back is about 15 times. He says he’ll even show you proof if you want.”
“…I see.”
“By the way, I’m the only one among these cases whose body changed. There’s a reason for that.”
‘You said you’d answer questions…!’
Sun Ah-hyun, in a rare moment, internally objected to Park Moon-dae, but Park Moon-dae barreled forward like a runaway locomotive.
“So I called the person involved again.”
Wait.
Again?
Sun Ah-hyun gasped mentally.
And he asked himself.
Could one justify one’s mental state by drawing in this many related parties on such a massive scale?
That would be impossible….
‘No, no.’
Someone as smart and capable as Park Moon-dae might actually be able to do it.
‘If I just… believe whatever’s convenient for me, then Moon-dae….’
Wait.
“…Huh?”
Sun Ah-hyun noticed the contradiction.
‘Even if I believe… Moon-dae said he’d definitely get counseling anyway.’
Then… wasn’t that fine?
‘No matter what I think.’
Regardless of what Sun Ah-hyun thought, if Park Moon-dae could see a professional when he needed help, then it was all right.
‘That’s… right.’
As the tightness that had filled his throat slowly subsided, Sun Ah-hyun took a small, deep breath.
The fear of a wrong choice melted away.
The fixed conclusion played its role exactly as Park Moon-dae had intended.
Moreover, all of this was somehow… not the direction Sun Ah-hyun had predicted and prepared for.
‘I thought we’d have a deeper conversation.’
But this felt like collecting data while working at a pure composition camp!
“….”
The amusing part was that even amid confusion and bewilderment, my rationality began to exercise judgment.
At that evidence presented as naturally as flowing water.
This wasn’t counseling—it was work.
[Hello, Ah-hyun…!]
“So, Ryu Gun-woo, who was originally Park Moon-dae. Right now our bodies are swapped.”
“….”
“By the way, Chung-woo hyung was my cousin on my biological family’s side.”
But the situation that unfolded next was… a supernatural proof that even I hadn’t anticipated.
Park Moon-dae arranged a casual greeting, then suddenly posed a sharp question to me.
“I bet what bothered you most was me saying I see holograms. Right?”
“….”
“It’s a hallucination. The most serious kind.”
Park Moon-dae chuckled as he watched my face darken.
“So before we get into the details, let’s prove this isn’t a hallucination first.”
“….”
“You have a question written in your notebook.”
“U-uh, yeah.”
“Show it to me. But before that.”
Park Moon-dae stood up and turned the monitor away.
“This way, the ‘Ryu Gun-woo’ on the screen won’t be able to see your notebook. Right?”
“Y-yeah, that’s right….”
“No, wait.”
Park Moon-dae turned the monitor off entirely.
“…!”
“Now only the speaker is on. No tricks possible. Besides, it’s not even my computer.”
“….”
I couldn’t even guess what Park Moon-dae was doing.
But Park Moon-dae didn’t stop.
“Now show me your notebook.”
“…okay.”
Without resistance, I quietly turned my notebook toward him with trembling hands.
It was written in elegant cursive.
-Why did Moon-dae swap bodies with Ryu Gun-woo?
It was the question Park Moon-dae was about to explain.
To be precise, Park Moon-dae easily guessed it was closer to ‘why on earth would he have changed’.
But Big Dal wasn’t.
[I received so much help from Gun-woo hyung… I wished for his happiness, but it twisted in a bad way!]
“…!!”
Sun Ah-hyun doubted his ears.
The darkened monitor.
The speaker beside it.
[Of course, I think the result turned out fine. When I see hyung doing idol activities, it’s really cool….]
A pleasant, gentle male voice flowed out smoothly.
[Um, but the subject here is hyung, right? Or… is it me? Anyway, the answer doesn’t change much….]
“….”
It was an answer to the question written in the notebook.
Slap.
The notebook fell to the floor.
Sun Ah-hyun looked down at the notebook with blood draining from his face, then lifted his head toward Moon-dae.
Park Moon-dae nodded matter-of-factly.
“It’s connected through a hologram window.”
Chills ran down his spine.
“Just write anything and show me. I’ll relay it through this.”
Sun Ah-hyun gritted his teeth and picked up the notebook.
And he wrote down whatever came to mind.
Something impossible to guess.
A foreign language.
-pas de deux
And the voice rings out.
[Sorry, but… I don’t know what that means. Pas de deux?]
“….”
[Oh, ah~ it’s a ballet term. I see. Ah-hyun must have done ballet originally!]
This… this?
Sun Ah-hyun gripped the table. The room began spinning before his eyes.
Common sense… was being shattered.
This was his own room. He knew there were no devices installed, and Park Moon-dae had no way to install anything separately.
Moreover, Park Moon-dae was speaking ahead of time.
Park Moon-dae, dressed in white short-sleeved pajama pants with no pockets, lightly jumped from his seat.
“It’s impossible to hide a miniature camera in what I’m wearing right now… but let me borrow your camera detector for a moment.”
“….”
He then picked up the camera detector placed in the corner of Sun Ah-hyun’s desk and made a full circle around his body and the table.
Of course, there was no reaction.
‘Ah.’
Sun Ah-hyun blinked.
‘If that’s the case, then….’
But before his mind could draw a logical conclusion.
“Still, one thing doesn’t quite add up.”
“…??”
Sun Ah-hyun looked up.
Park Moon-dae was nodding seriously.
“Let’s try this with someone else too. I’m calling Chung-woo and Lee Sae-jin right now.”
“….”
“And if you notice anything else suspicious, just tell me immediately.”
Park Moon-dae laughed.
“We have plenty of time until tomorrow.”
Before unraveling the story, the first stage of a plan to conduct thorough empirical verification.
And so Park Moon-dae’s demonstration continued until the sun set.

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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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