Debut or Die - Chapter 357

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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 357
Announcing a schedule we’d already cancelled as if it were happening the same day?
Of course that wouldn’t work.
Setting aside whether it was unreasonable or not, the simple fact was that many circumstances made it impossible.
So the day we resumed activities was uneventful. Articles along the lines of “Testa Resumes Activities in Two Days, Green Light on Recovery Management” naturally circulated.
Thanks to that, the members spent the day performing only the schedules the Company directly arranged, moving at a leisurely pace.
“Mm~ We’re really sorry and grateful to the Company staff.”
“Y-yes. Really, that’s… right.”
True. Even with the penalty fees, an unexpected artist issue would’ve been a headache, so this time the Company came through. I was grateful to the staff.
But I’d anticipated it.
‘There would still be chaos, though.’
-No matter what, having the whole group rest during an active period because of body aches.. isn’t that too unusual?
-Someone caused trouble lol the rumors are already spreading about personal issues
-There was even a rumor that a university event got moved up because of Testa to Wednesday, and then suddenly the next day they announce poor condition? That’s seriously weird
Big Sae-jin had quickly posted on SNS to match the circumstances, but those who’d been bitter since the Star of Stars Song incident would undoubtedly have plenty to say.
‘I need to handle this first.’
As the one who caused this, damage control was an essential step.
I refined a few plans and logged onto the Internet.
‘Hm…?’
But surprisingly, the chaos I’d predicted didn’t unfold.
Instead, the Billboard rankings appeared slightly offset from news of our activity suspension.
“Wow… I’d forgotten about that.”
“Yes, sir. It seems you briefly confused it with the previous film OST and this title track.”
Really.
‘They’re finding a way to think positively about it.’
I could’ve just honestly said my attention got scattered because of the commotion with Sun Ah-hyun.
I shook my head and scrolled down the screen.
First, the album chart. Billboard 200.
[8. 【WEAPON for you】 / new!]
Eighth place.
“Ohhh.”
“S-single digits….”
The members, who’d confirmed it late after the chaos, were delighted, but honestly, this was within predictable range.
It was no longer jaw-droppingly rare for a K-pop boy group that’d gained some recognition in America to chart in the top five on the Billboard album chart during their peak.
‘Still, it’s a satisfying result.’
It signaled that the chronic weakness in overseas markets had been resolved.
The problem was what came next.
The song chart. Commonly known as Hot 100.
[15. Savior / new!]
“…?”
“What?”
It had settled at 15th place.
‘What?’
Some might wonder why I’m surprised when it ranked lower than the album chart, but breaking through the music chart with a foreign-language song is several times harder than with an album.
You need either the kind of mainstream appeal that can offset being in a foreign language, or a fanbase so absurdly massive it can bulldoze past that barrier.
So this is… strange.
‘I was only expecting top 30 at best…?’
Actually, even 30th wouldn’t have been possible without the boost from the movie OST I’d released just before.
‘This is… comparable to Testa’s South Korean weekly music chart ranking from a few years ago when they released a performance-focused track.’
It was almost unsettling.
And thanks to this, the Internet’s reaction to Testa’s activity suspension had crystallized.
Like this.
-The tide’s coming in but the oars are broken~
-If I were a Star, I’d be dying laughing
-They’re putting up with this? They must really be sick lolololol
-Aren’t they trying to rush to America? lol
If anyone had their wits about them in this situation, they wouldn’t rest—so they must genuinely be ill.
Moreover, conspiracy theories like “noise from rushing the American schedule” emerged, and all the underground gossip got absorbed in that direction.
“….”
Things really did work out remarkably well, but I still had no idea what principle was at work.
Whether Bae Sae-jin had done some studying via YouTube or not, he asked the local with eyes full of skepticism.
“Is this… supposed to perform this well normally?”
But the local refused to answer.
“I don’t know! I don’t really watch Billboard.”
“Then what do you watch?”
“Umm, Dotify~”
“Dotify?”
A global music streaming site that’s popular in America.
‘…Streaming, huh.’
That’s when it clicked.
“Ah.”
Right. I should have checked where the points came from first.
I immediately pulled up the Billboard score breakdown.
Sales volume, streaming index, radio airplay….
“Hmm.”
‘The radio airplay score is better than I expected.’
American radio doesn’t usually play foreign-language songs, so considering that, it’s respectable. The Company must have spent money well.
And of course, the sales volume from the fanbase was the highest, but….
“…!”
‘The streaming numbers are pretty solid too?’
That’s right. The streaming numbers are almost identical to songs ranked similarly above and below us.
So this is….
“Cha Yu-jin, do you have a Dotify account?”
“I do!”
“Show me for a second.”
I accessed Cha Yu-jin’s smartphone and checked the rankings.
’26th on the global chart.’
Considering it had been about two weeks since release, that was incredible staying power.
And when I checked the American chart instead of global….
[25. Savior / by TeSTAR]
“Ooh~ 25th, that’s great!”
“…!”
Higher than the global ranking?
This is also abnormal. Usually K-pop has higher global indices than American ones….
“Hyung, are you going to use my phone much longer?”
“Just a moment.”
I monitored fan accounts on my own smartphone while continuing to check Dotify’s streaming rankings on Cha Yu-jin’s phone.
And then I realized it.
“It’s promotion.”
“…Promotion? Advertising?”
“Yes. It seems they recommended this song to people who listened to our movie’s OST.”
To those who heard ‘Black Hole’ from 【Cosmic Gunner】, they’re being introduced to this Testa title.
They commissioned the American promotional algorithm in that direction of connection.
‘…It’s effective.’
Since the same person composed it and the same people sang it, and the sample vibes are similar, it naturally matches their taste.
Maximum effect from natural promotion.
On top of that, the image we’ve established through our movie cameo and variety show appearances created a synergy effect.
‘…That eccentric alien image of mine who enjoys games my own way.’
So even the incomprehensible lyrics ended up working as their own unique charm, softening any resistance.
So to draw a comprehensive conclusion….
“The company did good work.”
“Yes.”
I couldn’t deny what Ryu Chung-woo said.
You could feel the obsession to squeeze every last drop out of the American market….
But there’s only one person who could pull this off.
“Here. You used it well.”
“Yes!”
I returned Cha Yu-jin’s smartphone and smacked my lips.
My mouth tastes bitter.
‘…The Director did good work.’
It seemed he hadn’t acquired his American business acumen for nothing. Or perhaps he’d learned something through trial and error with Miry-nay.
It’s good news, but my mood feels strangely off. Maybe it’s because I’ve been mentally calling that bastard a waste of space.
“Come on, aren’t you coming down?”
“Yeah.”
I descended to the tour concept photo filming studio and finished my thoughts.
First, let me focus on work… I should create a Dotify account for monitoring purposes.
That day, I set up an American account while brushing off Cha Yu-jin’s unsolicited advice.
And the very next day, I realized it had been quite a brilliant idea.
It was a night when the schedule became hectic and I crawled into the dormitory after midnight.
When I sat down in the bathtub to relax a bit.
[Hyung! Did you see this?]
While I was mindlessly checking the status window, I suddenly saw Big Dal frantically typing away in the chat.
[A rookie girl group that appeared like a comet… Powty conquering Billboard?]
[Young-rin’s junior Powty: “Please love both of our double titles!”]
[Powty’s global music chart invasion, the emergence of ‘NEXT Young-rin’]
“….”
After carefully reading through the flood of posts.
I forced my mouth open with difficulty.
“Double titles, they said.”
[Yes….]
And I accessed the Dotify account I’d created for monitoring and checked the rankings.
Newly charted songs were displayed right there.
[14. Love Soul / by Powty]
[17. Underwater / by Powty]
Two songs in the top twenty.
When I clicked, a trendy, well-executed English dance track played.
-Hey goody, do you want a….
The composition felt like commercial music. It stuck in your ears. Despite being conventional, it was a masterpiece with the kind of mass appeal everyone would enjoy.
“….”
I stopped the music playback and pressed my temples.
“Damn it….”
What the hell.
What in the world was this situation?
[A… teaser parody using both titles together went viral on TikTok and apparently got great reactions even in America….]
The supplementary explanation was appreciated, but honestly, the cause wasn’t important right now.
What mattered was the result—that these rookies had achieved an extraordinary, massive hit.
‘This is bad.’
…First, let me check what that ‘K-pop record-breaking’ I’d been aiming for actually was.
[Two Testa songs simultaneously charting in the upper ranks of Billboard Hot 100]
That was it.
As you can see, this choice was made considering that our movie’s OST would definitely be clinging to the Billboard charts by now.
OSTs have long runs as films enter the market and reach a wider audience with continued exposure.
So I thought if we just managed the title track well and maintained momentum, it would be possible.
‘When I looked into it, even VTIC hadn’t aimed for this.’
Their strength lies in albums, and their songs are less commercially friendly.
So with that massive fanbase focusing their purchasing power on just the title track, they never employed such an economically inefficient method.
That’s when I thought it was right.
‘I’d strike at this gap.’
Records, by their nature, are swayed by public perception except for traditional benchmarks.
Depending on how conventionally recognized they are, they either become meaningful records or end up as mere media play by the group itself.
In that sense… seeing the same artist’s name twice within the top 20 has quite an impact, doesn’t it?
Of course, Big Dal had verified it too.
-It looks like it’ll work? Ohhh! First time ever!
That’s what he said.
‘So I proceeded thinking it was almost certain….’
But then a rookie suddenly pulls off something similar?
I immediately started calculating in my head.
‘Unless a bigger upset happens, the rookie’s sales and final streaming score will inevitably be lower than ours.’
In other words, by Billboard’s weekly rankings, we absolutely win.
‘But that’s not what matters.’
Even if their song ranks lower than ours, the public perception always gives the dark horse some adjustment, doesn’t it?
-This is huge, a rookie’s competing with Testa in rankings
-What’s happening with K-pop this year
If they end up getting the decision that way… then this record loses its meaning as a record….
“….”
Damn it… No, let me try to salvage this first.
“…Hmm.”
I suppressed a sigh and asked as casually as possible.
“Anyway, our Billboard ranking came out first, so the mission condition should be a success. First time with 2 songs in the top 20. So there’s no need to worry about it that much.”
Since we did it first, let’s call it the first and mark the mission as successful.
But Big Dal didn’t respond.
And with a creaking sound, letters slowly began etching themselves out, as if making an excuse.
[If it’s like this… uh, it’s hard to see it as an overwhelming record in public perception, since the activity periods overlap and comparisons are being made…. Especially if it’s a rookie group.]
“….”
This bastard…?
[Well, this isn’t my will, it’s my subconscious… ! Because the systematic unconscious makes the decision?!ㅠㅠ]
[I’m sorry, bro, but I really don’t know. It’s like that… Will it work?]
“….”
Yeah, damn it, it’s not your fault.
‘Will it work. It won’t work.’
I let out a sigh.
Young-rin’s company wasn’t stupid either, and now that things had come to this, the media would inevitably latch onto comparisons with Testa, who was active during the same period.
‘It’s perfect for raising the stakes.’
Besides, since it was a group of a different gender, it didn’t feel like a direct confrontation.
Which meant Testa’s chance to be recognized with impact as a solo record holder was slipping away.
Similar minor cases were following in its wake with momentum.
“…Right.”
I cooled my head down.
‘Young-rin… Young-rin’s junior.’
And then it clicked. They were the ones Young-rin had introduced at last year’s awards season.
I smiled bitterly.
This industry had so many variables that competitors just kept popping up like this.
[Brother….]
But now wasn’t the time to accept this as competition.
I had to dismantle it entirely.
To do that… I’d need to get involved artificially on our side too.
“….”
Methods of involvement, then.
I lowered my head, lost in thought.
The opaque water with bath salts rippled. I couldn’t see even an inch ahead—it was exactly like the current situation….
Wait.
“Ah.”
I see.
‘I need to muddy the waters.’
Split the narrative.
“This whole thing stops if these rookies and us aren’t mentioned together.”
[?? Can… that even work?]
Why wouldn’t it?
‘Blur the narrative, throw in a different weight class, and it’s done.’
Give the public a more entertaining story instead.
I sat in the bathtub until the water cooled, continuing to plan.
Strike them down, strike them down.
In the direction that would be most advantageous and certain.
And the next day.
“Manager, just a moment.”
“Yes?”
I requested a meeting with the Director before even leaving for my early morning schedule.
It was my first voluntary contact since the label contract deal, and I was curious how he’d take it.
And one more thing.
I got in the car and picked up my smartphone to send a message.
[Please contact me when you have time after seeing this message.]
The phone rang immediately after I sent it.
-Ah, hello, senior!
“Hello.”
-Yes!
A disciplined voice I hadn’t heard in a while.
“Thank you for calling. I had something I wanted to ask about.”
It was Park Min-ha, a direct junior from the female idol group Miry-nay.
I paused for a moment before getting to the point.
“Are you perhaps having any concerns lately?”
-…Pardon?
“About the group’s direction.”
That’s right.
Since I’d already established the label, I might as well contribute something to the company.

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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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