Debut or Die - Chapter 363

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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 363
The following week.
The moment we got blindsided by the production team didn’t reveal itself until the second half of episode 2.
‘Of course it would be.’
Since the series was scheduled for 5 episodes, if all the coins disappeared from the beginning of episode 2, the pacing wouldn’t balance out.
Thanks to that, the impact of getting blindsided hit even harder after the peaceful healing content.
The moment Testa opened the penalty note with a cheerful laugh.
[Kim Rae-bin: Early this morning, an unidentified night visitor broke in… and completely cleaned out Testa’s precious carrot coins?]
[!!!!]
…They captured in close-up how the smiles completely vanished from everyone’s faces as the coins disappeared.
Real-time reactions exploded.
Haha, damn it lol
-Look at their expressions
-Don’t put a surprised lump behind Mundae’s faceㅋㅋㅠㅠㅠ
Man, the Production Team seems to be having the time of their lives lol
…And with typing effects, the entire plan is reconstructed from the production team’s perspective.
[The Full Story of the Incident]
[40 Days Earlier]
The production team sits around a table, speaking seriously.
[PD: No, these guys have been through too much! They’re clearly determined not to fall for it again with their eyes (wide open)]
[Writer: That’s right, that’s right.]
[Park Writer: We need to approach this very carefully and structurally, don’t you think?]
[The atmosphere resembles a wildlife capture team]
These guys had planned to film all of this.
“Wow.”
“You went that far?”
Incredulous laughter erupts from various corners. Everyone’s watching simultaneously while moving inside the car right now.
Anyway, the production team on screen continues their briefing, laughing among themselves with thrilling BGM in the background.
[PD: First, let’s look at the members with average vigilance levels.]
And subtitles appear like an instruction manual.
[Difficulty ★★]
[Sun Ah-hyun, Bae Sae-jin]
[Characteristics / Once deceived, they tend to let it slide easily]
“…Me?!”
“Uh. Um….”
“Khe-hehup.”
Gentle laughter spreads at Bae Sae-jin’s bewilderment and Sun Ah-hyun’s embarrassment.
[PD: Here, you just need to convince them logically once and you’re done.]
[Park Writer: Exactly. They’re such good people (it’s possible).]
[Writer: They’re moral. Very moral.]
And then that statement comes out.
[PD: No, let’s just tell them to sue us if we get hit from behind.]
[hahahahahaha]
And at the meeting, the writers’ lawsuit jokes continue.
“…!”
[That worked well.^^]
“Ugh…!”
Before the two of them could even blush with betrayal, the screen swiftly moves to the next person.
[Difficulty ★★★]
[Ryu Chung-woo]
[Characteristic / Doesn’t Show It]
“Haha.”
Watching a compilation of his own gentle expressions pass across the screen, Ryu Chung-woo laughed awkwardly.
[Writer Park: We just need to create an atmosphere where… there’s no need to actually deceive them, right?]
[Writer Lee: Since he doesn’t show it even if you don’t believe him, it’s actually fine(?)]
It was edited as if it were nothing, but surprisingly, it hit the nail on the head.
[Difficulty ★★★★?]
[Cha Yu-jin]
[Characteristic / Unpredictable American Grandson]
[Writer Lee: I honestly have no idea. But wouldn’t he not care about scams or anything here?]
[PD: Okay]
[And indeed, Cha Yu-jin didn’t care…]
The screen flashes through a compilation of Cha Yu-jin’s bright mukbang and driving footage. He simply seems too busy enjoying what he’s doing.
‘Consistent as always.’
I looked at the real-time reaction filled with ‘ㅋ’ again and then looked at the screen again.
Five stars appeared.
[Difficulty ★★★★★]
[Lee Sae-jin]
[Writer Park: It seems like… you already know everything.]
(hahahaha)
[PD: No, isn’t he waiting for us to stab him in the back? He’s someone who understands variety shows.]
[Writer Lee: Still, we should try to deceive him. If we just deny everything, he’ll definitely perform in sync with the healing concept.]
They were right. These guys have surprisingly good analytical skills.
[Characteristic / Serious About Variety Shows]
The screen showed a cut scene of Lee Sae-jin’s face enjoying the healing variety show at 200% capacity.
“He’s handsome~”
‘Hmm.’
I rested my chin in my hand. In my case, I’d already gotten enough material from the dog…
‘Will it just pass like this?’
It wasn’t.
A vivid red star rating flashed across the screen once more.
[Difficulty ★★★★★]
[Difficulty ★★★★★ + ★!]
Then, with a sharp impact effect, text materialized on screen.
No way.
[Park Moon-dae]
“…!”
“Ahahaha!”
I’d rather ignore it.
The screen gleefully spewed out another subtitle.
[AKA Tibet Moon-dae, Moon Puppy]
[Characteristic / Constantly suspects the Production Team’s schemes]
[PD: That seems to be almost instinctive.]
[Writer: Is it because he’s like a puppy? His nose really is dog-like, hehehehe (kkkkk)]
What came next was a montage of me questioning the Production Team’s schemes, edited together seamlessly.
[Park Moon-dae: The bus destination is definitely a Rural House, right?]
[Park Moon-dae: You didn’t lend me those coins, did you?]
[Park Moon-dae: Making a bet over the production budget….]
[Suspicion]
[Doubt]
[I will never trust them…!]
“Kahahaha!”
“Park Moon-dae’s expression…!”
“….”
With all the CG and editing, I probably didn’t look quite that blatantly suspicious in the actual footage.
[I will definitely deceive them, without fail…!]
Either way, the Production Team’s declaration of resolve brought the grand BGM to an end. The screen cut to black momentarily.
Then curious murmurs arose from those around me.
“Hey, where’s Rae-bin?”
“Right? Why is only Rae-bin….”
And with a somewhat trivial BGM, the next scene appeared smoothly.
[Bonus]
[Difficulty ★]
[Kim Rae-bin]
“…!”
[PD: I really like Rae-bin.]
[Writer Park: Me too.]
[Writer Lee: He’s like the dream character type for all variety show producers.]
The screen cycled through countless cuts of Kim Rae-bin, a question mark floating above his head, as he somehow reached his own conclusions.
“Ahahaha!”
“Oh my goodness.”
“….”
I glanced sideways. Kim Rae-bin’s pupils were trembling again. I’d pretend not to notice.
[Thank you, Kim Rae-bin, from the entire Production Team]
In any case, after that, the Production Team reconstructed the content of Episode 1 from their perspective, and thriller-tinged humor erupted in bursts.
[Suspicious glances]
[Senior Writer: This won’t do. Park Moon-dae and Lee Sae-jin are still (suspicious)]
[Junior Writer: !! Director! Director, that dog at your place!]
[Decision made to supply fellow species]
And finally, the moment they caught on, the Production Team embraced each other and cheered like they’d scored a goal in the World Cup.
[Ahhhhhhh!!↗ (Ecstasy)]
[This is how it all unfolded. ^^]
“Man, people really are something.”
Even watching it again, it’s irritating.
After that, Testa suffered from insane prices everywhere and was eventually dragged to a sprawling Carrot Field where he collapsed—pure black comedy.
-This is why fraud is so terrifying
-Don’t invest in coins
Hahahahaha
You could clearly see people sympathizing with the rapid shifts in pace and atmosphere while finding it entertaining.
And here came a perfectly timed preview.
It was Kim Rae-bin wielding a shovel in the dead of night.
-???
-What is this
-Why suddenly thriller
The dialogue was perfectly crafted too.
[Kim Rae-bin: I’m going….]
[Crash!]
With thunder and lightning inserted, the program concluded with an upbeat BGM.
The stark contrast was even more pronounced because of it.
No lol
-Ahhhhhhhhh
“What are you talking about?” lol
-Could he actually be going to the Lord?
-Looks like the Production Team is going
“Kim Rae-bin’s face looks weird!”
“It’s, it’s probably just the lighting, Rae-bin….”
“I’m fine….”
I watched Kim Rae-bin, his face flushed crimson as he buried his head in the sofa, and shook my head.
‘He’s really drawing attention….’
Anyway, for days, people screamed and made funny guesses about Kim Rae-bin’s atmosphere, which seemed like he was about to go bury someone.
It took a few more days before a reasonable theory emerged.
-Overtime work? Carrot-digging overtime lol
-That makes sense, poor kids must’ve had it rough…
But neither was correct.
‘Finally, it’s here.’
[Park Moon-dae : (I can’t hold back.)]
The reconstructed footage of my and Kim Rae-bin’s nighttime escape coin duplication finally aired the following week.
And viewer reactions exploded.
-Park Moon-dae lmaooo
-Thank goodness he’s an idol, thank goodness
-Justice counterfeit punch
-Someone save Rae-bin, the guy totally got fooled lolol
But why did I become the lunatic while Kim Rae-bin became the fraud victim?
-Nah Park Moon-dae really filmed the camera professionally, no shake at all, makes it even funnier, looks like a professional counterfeiter lololol
-Revolution <- When did currency counterfeiting become a revolution, Moon-dae?
-Stop with the Mung-ge edits, seriously lol
That settles it. My variety show image has completely solidified as that of a complete weirdo. In crude terms, a madman.
I suppressed a sigh.
'At least I'm not a bad person, so that's something.'
This had become familiar since the Ajusa days. I decided to accept this distortion calmly.
'The production team made some sacrifices too.'
Image-wise, that is.
The production team had thoroughly edited themselves into an annoying position, so they'd actually taken some flak up until this episode.
And in this episode, Testa flipped the script with an episode that unleashed tremendous catharsis.
'I'm actually grateful for that.'
It was an edit that captured both Testa's buzz factor and image.
'The counterattack succeeded nicely too.'
At this rate, maybe it wouldn't be bad to work together next time either, I nodded to myself.
…And then on SNS, a satirical comedy parody edited like a drama preview titled "The Coin-Printing Animal Farm" went viral.
Skipping over episode 4, which returned to healing content… finally, the last episode.
We gathered in the living room again.
"It's been a while since we all made time to get together like this to watch TV."
"Really~ The time difference makes it a bit tough… but it's so fun?"
"Turn up the volume!"
Episode 5 was being filmed as a reaction video to be used as YouTube content, per the production team's proposal.
There was probably only one reason.
'There's another twist coming.'
There's only one unresolved plot thread, so there's nothing more to think about. Obviously, it's going to reveal who stole the carrot coins, right?
And I already have a hunch about who the culprit is.
"Hm? Moon-dae, Moon-dae, why~?"
"No."
I turned my head back and resumed watching the television.
The early portions showed us performing and clowning around in front of the elderly, edited to look embarrassingly adorable.
We're all in our mid-twenties now, so I'm not sure if this is still appropriate, but anyway, what matters is what comes next.
The moment we boarded the bus to head back.
[PD: By the way, everyone, you couldn't catch the culprit in the end, could you?]
[Ryu Chung-woo: Haha, right? Are you going to reveal who it is now after fooling us this whole time?]
[PD: I apologize.]
Contrary to the PD's exaggeratedly servile tone, a meaningful subtitle appears.
[Could it be…?]
The scene shifts back to the production team's meeting.
I nodded my head.
'It's about time this came out.'
And I waited for Big Sae-jin's entrance….
[PD: First, we're excluding Park Moon-dae and Lee Sae-jin.]
[Writer Park: People who are too perceptive are problematic. There needs to be an element of surprise so people won't suspect. Right?]
"…?"
[Writer Lee: Wait, hold on. Wouldn't no one suspect Kim Rae-bin?]
[!!!!]
And after a brief silence.
The camera angle shifts.
Kim Rae-bin is standing right there with the production team.
[The day the carrot coins were stolen]
[PD: Kim Rae-bin is the culprit.]
[Kim Rae-bin: What??]
[PD: No, you drew the note about the coins disappearing. So naturally, you're the culprit!]
[Kim Rae-bin: …!!]
Behind Kim Rae-bin's face, which looked like his eyes were about to pop out, subtitles flood the screen.
[PD: And think about it. What were you doing last night? You gave us that pouch, didn't you?]
[PD: What does that mean? Simple—you transferred the coins!]
And a flashback scene plays.
A moment just before sleep, when we were exchanging camera data.
[Writer Lee: We need to do a quick props check~ Sorry, Kim Rae-bin, could you show us that too!]
[Kim Rae-bin: Yes!]
And Kim Rae-bin unhesitatingly handed over the pouch containing the carrot coins to the production team.
"…."
They actually used that method.
'It's so convincing I can't even speak.'
It's just a con.
Bae Sae-jin's lips tremble.
"You, you…!"
"I'm so sorry! I didn't know either!"
Yeah, even just looking at him, it was obvious.
'So that's why he was being so hard on himself….'
Right on cue, a montage of Kim Rae-bin's cuts flashed across the screen—each one showing him breaking into a cold sweat and hesitating whenever the stolen carrot coins came up in conversation.
[Park Moon-dae: Once we catch the culprit, we'll have to turn them over to the police.]
[Kim Rae-bin: Y-yes, sir.]
[The Culprit↑]
It was pathetically funny.
Everyone seemed to feel the same way.
-The rabbit who surrendered the carrot coins
-ㅅㅂThe production crew is a bunch of evil peopleㅠㅠWhat are we going to do with our medieval rabbit?
-They've got nothing else to dig into so they're going after Kim Rae-bin!
And in any case, Kim Rae-bin did try to object.
[Kim Rae-bin: I'll turn myself in!]
[PD: Wait!]
Of course, this seemed to be exactly what the production team had anticipated.
[PD: If you get caught now, the coins just vanish!]
[Kim Rae-bin: !!]
[PD: But if you don't get caught until the very end!]
[Kim Rae-bin: Ah, if I don't…?]
The PD cheerfully called out to Kim Rae-bin, who'd already fallen under the spell again.
[PD: We'll double all the coins in this village and donate them to the Village Community Center! As a massage chair!]
[Kim Rae-bin: Huh-whoa.]
[PD: You're a righteous thief, Rae-bin! A gentleman bandit!]
[A Turning Point Statement]
And Kim Rae-bin, whose movements had frozen, slowly zoomed in for a close-up.
"…."
"…Could it be."
Suspicion kills the man.
[Kim Rae-bin: Ah, understood!]
"Arghhhh!"
"As expected!"
"I'm sorry!"
Kim Rae-bin on screen ultimately clenched his fists and answered the production team.
And then a large caption appeared like a sentence being handed down.
[The Phantom Thief Stealing Carrot Coins, Medieval Rabbit Deployed]
[Junior Writer: By giving him a mission to steal coins again, we've totally made him an accomplice.]
[hahahahahaha]
[And so a perfect crime was about to unfold….]
My plan had fallen apart.
Because it was Kim Rae-bin who'd taken me to the hardware store late at night and explained in detail how to use it and how to obtain it.
[????]
[PD: Kim Rae-bin, why are you here?]
[Flustered Production Team]
Ultimately, the Production Team even urgently called Kim Rae-bin over in secret.
[PD: Wait, but why would Kim Rae-bin help with that? You said Kim Rae-bin is a phantom thief?]
Kim Rae-bin answered with eyes shining seriously.
[Kim Rae-bin: Because I'm a phantom thief, I was able to engage in the illegal act of producing coins!]
[PD: Hold on.]
[Kim Rae-bin: If the quantity of coins increases, we'll have more to give to the Village Community Center, so I believe this is the right direction.]
[PD: ….]
A stamp is pressed over the PD's gaping face.
[Conclusion]
[Made someone move who wouldn't have originally]
Hahahahahaha
-Reaping what you sow
-Karma shot hahahaha
Wait, so ultimately Park Moon-dae brainwashed the criminal into reform? That's catching a mouse by walking backwards lol
The viewers enjoy the Production Team's despair.
And I looked down at Kim Rae-bin sitting on the floor.
"I'm sorry, hyung! I wasn't trying to deceive you, but you said if it got discovered all the coins would vanish, so I had no choice…."
"It's fine."
I simply laughed.
'You did well.'
Given his personality, he must have gone through some mental anguish to pull this off. But it turned out entertaining because of it.
There's just one thing that bothers me a bit.
'…It wasn't Big Sae-jin.'
I want to erase what I said to Bae Sae-jin. Damn it.
Anyway, I patted Kim Rae-bin's shoulder.
"You did great."
"…Yes!"
Kim Rae-bin barely relaxed his expression and answered brightly. Bright content was unfolding on screen again.
[Kim Rae-bin, you worked hard~]
But no one besides me reacted to it.
"…?"
Looking around, everyone's faces except Cha Yu-jin's still looked uncomfortable.
No… uncomfortable wasn't quite right. More like bewildered.
'What's going on.'
These guys weren't the type to act like this.
Just as I was about to speak in confusion, the BGM on the screen vanished as if being sucked away.
[Cha Yu-jin : Yes! But….]
[BUT]
[: However]
[Used when the preceding and following content contradict each other]
"…??"
[Did you all enjoy yourselves?]
[It's not over.]
[3]
[2]
[1]
Then the PD's voice echoes from the black screen.
[PD : But does it really have to be just one person?]
"…!!"
What…?
[The Full Story of the Incident 2]
The caption appears, and a close-up fixed camera shot cuts in.
Five different faces caught by the same camera.
[Bae Sae-jin : Ah, I understand.]
[Sun Ah-hyun : …! So I… stole it?]
[Lee Sae-jin : Ooh~ This is fun, so fun!]
[Ryu Chung-woo : So the point is, we can't let anyone find out who stole the coins.]
[Cha Yu-jin : OK.]
Everyone accepted their cards with expressions as though they'd been given a critically important mission.
And the contents of the card.
[You are a master thief spy!]
"…."
Wait, hold on.

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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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