Debut or Die - Chapter 361

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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 361
Walking through rural rice field paths at night could be genuinely eerie. Unlike the city with its abundance of lights, the streetlamps here flickered sporadically in the darkness.
Still, for someone accustomed to this from the start, it seemed to have little effect.
I asked the one trudging along behind me with a shovel in hand.
“Aren’t you scared?”
“…! Is there perhaps a reason for me to be frightened, sir…?”
Fine. Let’s just continue with what we came to do.
I pulled out my smartphone and switched it to video recording mode.
“Is that a camera, sir?”
“I figured we should record what happens in this situation.”
I waved at the front-facing camera. Kim Rae-bin instinctively bowed his head as well.
“Hello, everyone. It’s currently 3:30 in the morning. We’ve successfully left the house.”
“Y-yes, that’s correct.”
“Let me explain why we’ve come out.”
I declared calmly.
“No more carrot economy scams… We’ve decided to start a revolution.”
“Pardon??”
“A revolution.”
Kim Rae-bin’s pupils began to tremble.
“Sir… hyung, of course obtaining carrot coins is important, but wouldn’t it be disrespectful to carelessly dig up a field that belongs to someone else…?”
“That’s obviously disrespectful.”
“Yes?”
I stopped at the edge of the rice field path, near the ambiguous boundary where the rural area met the city.
This should be far enough.
“Let’s leave the shovel here.”
“Leave the shovel…?”
Kim Rae-bin’s expression went blank for a moment before he regained his composure.
“But sir, wouldn’t it be more convenient to take the shovel with us if we’re going to harvest carrots?”
I chuckled softly.
“Our destination isn’t the carrot field.”
“…!”
“This way, everyone will think we’re heading to the carrot field—that’s why we brought it.”
There are surveillance cameras scattered throughout the house. Naturally, one of the youngest members would be monitoring them on duty tonight.
If that’s the case, they would definitely have reported our sudden departure as well.
‘They’re heading toward the carrot field.’
‘I should have predicted this from the start.’
Coins and carrots—they exchange at a one-to-one rate.
So wouldn’t it be natural for people to sneak out at night to steal actual carrots?
Just look at Kim Rae-bin alone.
“Were you worried we were going to steal crops from someone else’s carrot field?”
“I’m not doubting your moral character in the slightest—I merely thought that since this is entertainment, such behavior patterns might be possible, so I ventured to mention it!”
“Right. You’ve gone through enough trouble worrying about it. Don’t concern yourself further.”
That was bait aimed in reverse.
‘Let’s see you try to follow me while I’m holed up in the Carrot Field.’
I’m even recording this separately for you lot who can’t keep up.
I set the flashlight and hoe on top of the spade. Then I moved forward again.
“Are you… throwing it away?”
“No. I’ll leave it here for now and come back for it later. It’d be awkward to walk into a store carrying a spade.”
“That’s true, but… is there a store open at this hour of the morning?”
“There is.”
I pointed with my finger toward a sign glimmering faintly in the distance.
“A place that operates 24 hours with emergency dispatch service.”
“…?”
Kim Rae-bin followed my finger with his gaze. I captured it on camera.
His bewildered expression filled the screen.
“Why… here?”
“You’ve visited places like this before and made requests, haven’t you?”
I’d heard about it when we were talking about childhood stories last time.
“Yes, that’s true, but…”
“Good. I trust you.”
“…?? Ah, understood!”
Kim Rae-bin’s expression grew even more confused, but he answered promptly regardless. Indeed, a guy who doesn’t ask questions is convenient to work with.
“Good. Let’s go in.”
We entered a dimly lit old building that still had its lights on.
Red letters on an illegal roadside advertisement fluttered in the wind.
[Woori General Hardware Store]
[Emergency Dispatch Construction Available – Open 24 Hours]

* * *
And when morning broke.
“Is everyone awake?”
“Good morning….”
“…Why are you two coming out of the Entrance instead of your Room…?”
We didn’t return to the Dormitory until after 7 o’clock.
There was nothing in our hands—just the tools we’d taken with us when we left.
The PD, who had been setting up camp in the yard, asked in a bewildered voice.
“Where have you two been?”
Still, I’d texted the Production Team last night saying we were “on an adventure,” so they wouldn’t have filed a missing persons report.
I leaned the shovel back against the yard as I answered.
“We tried to go to the Carrot Field but got lost on the way.”
“Ahahaha!”
Are you pleased?
Be very pleased. That makes it all the more fun.
And after the Production Team’s interrogation came a barrage of questions from my groupmate.
“Hyung, what did you do? Did you eat something delicious with Kim Rae-bin? Did you do something fun?”
“No. We starved.”
“Oh… I got it. Hang in there.”
Cha Yu-jin passed through without further comment.
And as I passed the others who were still sleeping or just waking up, one of them put me in a headlock.
Naturally, it was Big Sae-jin.
“No~ Moon-dae, I feel so left out. How could you go on a nighttime shoot without Sae-jin… sniff sniff.”
Let go, you bastard.
“There’s no real shoot to speak of. We used a smartphone since there was no camera.”
“With Park Moon-dae’s filming skills, you must have shot it like a total pro, right? It must have been an important scene, I’m even more upset~”
Good grief.
“I did it because I was worried too many people would blow our cover. Is that enough? I brought Kim Rae-bin because he had a role to play.”
“Oh….”
Big Sae-jin stopped whining and I chuckled.
“I’m getting more and more curious?”
“I’ll tell you all before breakfast, so gather the guys.”
“Huh?”
I let out a quiet laugh.
“We did something good. We should share it.”
And shortly after.
The Production Team heard Testa’s sudden declaration of an outing.
“Everyone, you only have 4 coins—are you really going shopping?”
“Yes. We’re still going to try.”
“Ah, we’re fine with anything~ Whatever Testa’s grandsons want!”
His tongue works as smoothly as oiled machinery. He seemed delighted at the prospect of capturing us anxiously scrambling to buy things on camera.
In any case, we headed to the Mart again early in the morning, accompanied by the Documentary Production Crew.
The moment we stepped through the entrance, Ryu Chung-woo explained in a friendly voice.
“Alright everyone, should we pick out everything we want to eat?”
“Yeaaah! Sounds good!”
“Th-then… I’ll grab some fruit…!”
Watching the members scatter in perfect coordination, the Documentary Production Crew looked bewildered.
“Huh?”
“What’s going on?”
Then the PD spoke to me in a pointed tone.
“You know that stealing from the Carrot Field is theft, right? That’s a double penalty deduction?”
“I didn’t do it.”
He seemed to suspect whether I’d dug up carrots and hidden them in some corner of the field beyond the surveillance cameras’ reach.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“Okay~ so that’s it then?”
“Wait.”
“Wow, Moon-dae’s really generous—one duck per person?”
When we approached the checkout counter with the mountain of items we’d selected from the Mart, the store manager greeted us again.
But what he said was different this time.
“Well, let’s see… for all of this, just one coin.”
“…!!”
“Thank you so much~”
As Big Sae-jin hurriedly tried to complete the transaction, the Documentary Production Crew’s bewildered outcry erupted.
“O-one?”
“Just a moment.”
“This can’t be right…?”
“Huh? It can’t be right? But the manager just said so~ Chung-woo, ring it up!”
“Ha, alright.”
Ryu Chung-woo handed over the coin and completed the transaction.
Cha-ching!
Looking at the amount displayed on the register, it seemed we’d bought about 300,000 won worth. The production budget was really tight.
The PD barely managed to ask.
“…What did you do?”
“What do you mean.”
“No, you definitely did something??”
“Why do you keep asking? Isn’t it natural for the locals to voluntarily offer whatever price they want? Right?”
“….”
Around the PD, whose mouth hung open, I could hear the other staff members stifling their laughter.
I gestured to Kim Rae-bin not to say anything, then nodded.
“It’s nice that they gave us such a good deal.”
“Exactly.”
First verse complete.
After preparing and finishing an elaborate breakfast, I hitched up the cart again to help the elders.
“Hyah!”
“Cha Yu-jin, pick up the pace! Faster!”
And once again, enthusiastic and generous coins came pouring in.
“Take this~ consider it a service for sweeping the yard yesterday~”
“Th-thank you so much…!”
“Oh you young men are working hard~ here! I put in exactly five coins.”
“Wow! Sir, really… gosh, it’s true what they say—handsome people just have a different way of thinking, don’t they?”
In just three hours, we’d earned 36 coins from tips alone.
More than the first day.
The members shrugged their shoulders proudly.
“Oh~ we made as much as a day’s work at the Carrot Farm.”
“That’s enough. Let’s go.”
At this point, the PD self-destructed.
“Um, sir… do you not need a massage chair?”
“Need it? I’d love to have one~”
“Uuugh!”
The PD couldn’t hold back and started spewing alien gibberish made entirely of exclamations.
Translated, it roughly meant ‘these bastards are playing dirty’—excessive praise, really.
I exchanged low-fives with the members.
Second verse success.
And around snack time.
Before I could lose my mind, I prepared the final bombshell revelation.
“Dishes are done~”
“Let’s rest a bit.”
As if to make room for Ryu Chung-woo to lie down comfortably among the others sprawled on the veranda, I casually loosened my money pouch and set it in front of them.
And the Production Crew, who had been confused and asking around about village news, immediately took the bait.
“What on earth….”
The Writer, curious, examined the money pouch and soon discovered something.
“Huh?”
“What?”
She called out urgently to the PD and held up a single coin.
“Th-this one’s different??”
“…!!”
The Production Crew started buzzing with excitement. They frantically made calls and ran around, but only briefly.
Soon, proper information came through.
“Apparently someone scattered dozens of carrot coins at each house this morning! They said it was a special gift….”
“…!”
Oh, I’ve been caught.
Though it’s already too late anyway.
“…Testa’s juniors.”
“Yes.”
“Right now… there are apparently over a thousand carrot coins circulating in this neighborhood?”
“Really?”
That’s right.
If you think your coin holdings are comfortably within the top ten, wouldn’t it be natural for goodwill to come flowing back?
“And at the Mart too… about five hundred of them?”
“Yes.”
That’s right. I negotiated with them as well.
-From now on, whenever the cameras come, please make sure everything can be bought with just one coin.
After all, we’re billing the Production Team for the merchandise anyway, so there’s no loss for them.
“Everyone, what’s going on here??”
“We don’t know either. Right?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The PD shouts out.
“Park Moon-dae! Kim Rae-bin! What were you doing when you went out at dawn?”
What do you mean—I harvested carrots.
I didn’t go to the field at dawn, but I did mine coins.
‘The mining method is just a bit unconventional.’
Who told them to make coins so sloppily, like cheap children’s toy prizes?
Easy to replicate.
“No, this…! This! These are fakes.”
“What’s the problem?”
Watching the Production Team gasp in shock as I hold up the yellow carrot-patterned coins stamped identically from the hardware store, I tilt my head innocently.
“I’m not really sure… the shape is the same, and everything looks identical to me.”
“Yeah, they’re completely identical?”
“…I can’t really tell the difference either.”
With the naturally agreeable support of my namesake members, the Production Team members let out screams.
That’s right.
It’s entertaining when successful people suffer from unexpected chaos on a variety show.
But I didn’t think it had to be Testa specifically.
So… what about that certain variety show production crew that’s been walking down the path of jackpots with their cast members, scamming them the whole way?
Those guys right now.
“Anyway! Park Moon-dae, Kim Rae-bin—you definitely ordered something from the hardware store!”
So they’ve finally figured that out.
“Yes.”
“But now Testa’s juniors can only use carrot coins—how did this happen?”
The PD finally shouts out, excited about the tail he’s caught.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Ah, they did it for free because they’re fans of mine.”
“…!!”
“Who does work out of fandom! They definitely got paid!”
Well, naturally I put it on credit.
This is what’s convenient about being a celebrity with a recognizable face.
They processed it as an emergency rush job at night, so the fee was several times higher, but I didn’t regret it one bit.
However, I answered without changing my expression.
“Do you have proof?”
“Ack!”
If he plays his cards right, he’ll get a headache from this.
And soon the PD changed targets.
“Kim Rae-bin!”
“Y-yes?”
“Kim Rae-bin, you’re such a good person—how can you tolerate such a lie?”
“W-well….”
Ooh, that’s a decent approach.
But I already anticipated you’d do that.
“It’s not a lie.”
“Y-yes…?”
Kim Rae-bin clenched his fists and spoke.
“And the Carrot Coins—it’s the desirable flow for them to be distributed widely to everyone.”
“…!!”
“If any problems arise, I’ll personally provide a massage chair!”
“Huh??”
I’d already spent two hours brainwashing—no, convincing him thoroughly.
“….”
And so the Documentary Production Crew sank.
“Moon-dae, moon-dae, let’s buy everything from our Mart. Just one coin.”
“Wait a moment.”
“Why? The residents said they’d set the price themselves and give one coin.”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
The Writer frantically held up a sketchbook she’d written on.
[We have rabbit-like production budgets and PPL! Please save us!]
Complete surrender.
“We’ll provide healing! Healing!”
“Just this once?”
“Next time too! Next time we’ll send you all to that hot spring with our full healing course, a hot spring!”
And so the economic disruption in the Carrot Coin market came to an end through a crash caused by indiscriminate mass production.
And right at that moment, the preview for Episode 1 was released.

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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
—————