Debut or Die - Chapter 382

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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 382
To understand Bae Sae-jin’s current situation… surprisingly, a single internet search is all it takes.
‘Lee Sae-jin.’
His profile already appears at the very top.
-Lee Sae-jin (Film Actor)
Latest Filmography: Seahorse (20XX. 12. 15.)
This guy is currently a film actor whose stock is riding high.
Checking his complete filmography reveals nothing below 2 million views—he’s connected to impressive works across the board.
At this level, anyone who watches films has probably heard his name at least once.
[Oh, but he hasn’t done any dramas?]
Intentional, no doubt. He’s been meticulous with his project selection ever since his child actor days.
Naturally, his name carries significant weight. Considering the current climate that values actors over idols, he’s practically at Testa’s level.
It seems like a situation without any shortcomings… but the next item in his filmography is the problem.
-Agency: Dream K Company
Still his old agency. The same outfit that exploited him as a child actor and spread rumors during contract renewal season to tank his market value.
‘How infuriating.’
Instead of protesting the agency and taking a break, he apparently regrouped briefly after his child actor phase and immediately started accepting work again.
A solid career built without lengthy gaps.
And while the actor maintains mystique, the agency eagerly peddles the name ‘Lee Sae-jin’ across media and social networks.
I stroked my chin.
‘Easy.’
[Pardon?]
Which means his schedule security is sloppy.
Unlike idols, he’s not the type to camp outside the dormitory or agency building, so the information barrier is low.
‘A sitting duck.’
I scrolled through Dream K Company’s official social media accounts.
Using keywords extracted from there, I found an employee’s personal Instagram account, compared and searched chronologically, then reached my conclusion.
‘Right now, Bae Sae-jin is filming some upcoming project.’
And though anonymized, judging by how frequently an individual presumed to be Bae Sae-jin is mentioned indirectly in employee SNS posts…
[Ah, it seems he’s at the company quite often.]
Correct. Especially when Bae Sae-jin is active, mentions pop up here and there. It’s almost like he commutes back to the company right after finishing his schedule.
Which means even now, when he’s not filming, the probability of him being at the company is extraordinarily high.
“Hmm.”
So the morning right after awakening Bae Sae-jin, I simply washed up, grabbed a hat and mask, and left the officetel.
Of course, I wasn’t relying on probability alone.
[Bae Se-jin: Looking at the boss who is pointing (ˋㅅ´+)]
I checked his status once more.
That gave me a rough trajectory like this.
‘He finished dawn filming, got in a car, moved, entered the building, and met the CEO?’
Where else would the CEO be? At the company building, obviously.
Based on this, the probability he’s at the company is quite high.
[Then… shall we go check it out?]
“Yeah.”
Let me verify it myself.
His company was tucked away in a corner of Gangnam.
Unlike the grand headquarters of major idol entertainment agencies, it was a shabby four-story building with no signboard.
Which meant the security on the first floor wasn’t particularly tight.
The back door where building maintenance staff came and went would probably just have a single sign saying “No Entry Without Authorization” or something similar.
‘That must be it.’
Sure enough, as I waited at a reasonable vantage point, a truck stopped and uniformed workers began moving through the back door.
I timed my moment and naturally shifted my steps in that direction, moving like someone who might be mistaken for a delivery worker.
Then Big Dal’s popup flickered slightly into view.
[Um, hyung. If we get caught trespassing like this… won’t that cause problems?]
‘As long as it only reaches Bae Sae-jin’s ears, it’s fine. And it’ll definitely reach him anyway, so it doesn’t matter.’
This was to avoid being stopped at the entrance or having an LeTi rookie’s visit to this agency treated as an official visit.
It’s not even a different company building—it’s my own agency’s building. Getting caught would actually be fine.
‘I’m half-public figure anyway.’
I was reaping the benefits of becoming famous through that idol survival broadcast.
No entry without authorization? Just say you’re authorized.
As someone with a recognizable face in a similar industry, if I said I’d arranged to quietly meet with an acquaintance of Lee Sae-jin, most people would believe it.
‘Or rather, whether they believe it or not doesn’t matter—as long as it reaches Bae Sae-jin’s ears.’
The fact that his name changed to Bae Sae-jin when he awakened definitely meant he’d recovered his memories from the Testa days.
So even if he was bewildered by this strange situation, he’d want to meet this unexpected stranger who’d appeared out of nowhere.
‘The worst case would be… if the agency completely blocks the message from reaching him.’
Given that I couldn’t find Bae Sae-jin’s contact information, that possibility wasn’t entirely unlikely, which was the problem.
Thud.
I slipped through the emergency exit on the first floor’s outer wall and ducked into a bathroom stall to hide.
I was planning to check whether Bae Sae-jin had left the company in the meantime, then map out my route….
Bang!
Just then, the bathroom door swung open forcefully, and I heard the sound of footsteps clacking across the floor.
‘The security team couldn’t have arrived this fast.’
Sure enough, I just heard the sound of someone using the sink. I shrugged and checked the status window again….
[Bae Se-jin: Washing face with cold water (#ㅅ#)=3]
“….”
No way.
I carefully opened the stall door.
Creak.
A man standing at the sink came into view.
The man in formal attire had his head bowed, splashing cold water on his face.
And the moment he lifted his head, his face reflected in the mirror.
“…!”
It was Bae Sae-jin.
Without any hair dye or contact lenses, just a single suit—his style was unmistakably that of an actor.
‘Of all people, it had to be this way.’
A memory surfaced immediately.
Somehow, whenever I’m in Ryu Gun-woo’s body, I always seem to run into this guy in front of the washroom sink.
-You’re Lee Sae-jin, aren’t you? I’m sorry. I was startled because I’m a fan.
It was an odd coincidence. But I had no time to dwell on sentiment.
After confirming no one else was in the bathroom, I spoke to Bae Sae-jin.
“Hello.”
“…Yes.”
The moment I stepped out of the stall, his enigmatic expression shifted instantly into a carefully managed one. True actor indeed.
“I’m a fan.”
“…Ah, thank you. Are you a new employee?”
Watching his tension ease, I delivered the decisive blow.
“Not exactly. I’m a fan of Testa’s Bae Sae-jin.”
“…!”
His reaction came immediately.
“Who are you?”
Bae Sae-jin’s demeanor sharpened at once.
He looked ready to grab my collar any second. Or perhaps seal off the bathroom just as quickly.
So a direct approach was the answer after all.
I opened my mouth without hesitation.
“I’m Park Moon-dae. Hyung.”
“…!?”
Thud.
Something fell from behind Bae Sae-jin’s back.
Looking down, it had the shape of a pen. It was probably a voice recorder.
“P-Park Moon….”
“Yes. This is how it happened.”
I needed to get to the main point before he lost his mind completely.

* * *
Unfortunately, taking this guy anywhere decent—a restaurant or cafe—was out of the question.
Both our faces were too recognizable, and his current situation was… well, complicated.
“It’s hard to leave this building.”
“What exactly is going on?”
“…There’s a reason. Anyway, you—where’s your original body supposed to be, and why are you here…!”
Whether Bae Sae-jin truly believed me or was just pretending to believe, at least he was taking the bait and interrogating me, which I counted as a win.
“Actually.”
“Actually?”
“I was born in this body originally. Park Moon-dae is the new body I acquired.”
It was nonsense, but given the circumstances, Bae Sae-jin’s face went pale and wavered.
“You… you’re not a ghost, are you…?”
“No.”
Wait.
The fact that I died and then attached myself to someone else’s body—there wasn’t really a logical difference there.
[There is! There’s a huge difference!]
“Actually, now that I think about it, it does seem similar….”
“Ugh.”
If I wasn’t careful, he’d grab the back of his neck and collapse. I corrected myself.
“Anyway, I’ve been living as Park Moon-dae since just before joining Ajusa. It wasn’t a choice I made willingly, though.”
“…So you were in a situation like this? Where suddenly the whole world changed like that….”
“It might be similar. In any case, the Park Moon-dae you know has always been me from the start. …I understand if you can’t believe it, though.”
Yet Bae Sae-jin, whose face had been cycling through various colors, gave a surprising response to this.
He opened his mouth, then let out several deep sighs before answering like this.
“…I know. You’ve never changed once.”
“…Thank you.”
Even if it was an act, it didn’t feel bad.
“But we’re not getting past this! This situation is already completely insane, and now you too…. Explain in detail!”
Even if I wanted to explain in more detail.
“…In the company bathroom?”
….
He sighed and gestured for me to follow.
“Come with me.”
And where Bae Sae-jin took me was the 3rd Floor Emergency Exit Storage.
‘It seems like the kind of place he comes to often when he wants to be alone.’
His movements looked practiced.
Click.
After closing the door, he hardened his expression and spoke seriously.
“…No one’s coming here for a while. Now tell me.”
“Yes.”
I nodded, then began explaining the situation so far as concisely as possible.
“So basically….”
‘No matter how many times I do this, I never get used to it.’
Still, since I’d done this once before with Cha Yu-jin, the story flowed rather smoothly.
Bae Sae-jin’s face turned ashen, then pale, then took on a yellowish hue.
But in the end, it flushed crimson red.
I understood the first part, but why the last reaction?
“So, so you’re… that person?”
“Pardon?”
“That… Ryu Gun-woo. The one I cheered for!”
Ah, that.
‘So that mysterious expression earlier wasn’t for nothing.’
Though there was some confusion with Park Moon-dae mixed in, it seemed this guy had recognized Ryu Gun-woo from back then in this face. I scratched the back of my neck and opened my mouth.
“…Well, yes. But I wasn’t trying to deceive you on purpose. It was genuine support.”
Bae Sae-jin frantically waved his hand.
“No, no, thank you…. …Wait. But you were Park Moon-dae back then, so the timeline doesn’t match up, does it…??”
“That’s also gotten tangled up in a complicated way.”
I hadn’t expected to have to explain this too. I briefly recounted the story of the real Park Moon-dae and Big Dal.
Big Dal surprisingly interjected enthusiastically throughout.
[And hyung, tell him how I passed that civil service exam thanks to you!]
And surprisingly, Bae Sae-jin wasn’t overwhelmed by this surreal situation. But he didn’t accept it casually like Cha Yu-jin either.
Rather, his expression grew increasingly serious as he offered various analyses.
His humanistic sensibility was quite evident.
“You know about time paradoxes? Your situation seems similar to that….”
“Then doesn’t this current situation feel like a kind of practice test? Similar to reality but a bit less difficult?”
“Maybe it could be something like virtual reality. You know, like that movie. Like The Matrix….”
I answered all of these as sincerely as I could.
But the conclusion was ultimately this.
“I don’t know. It’s all speculation on my part too.”
An unknown variable.
“In any case, I’ve been betting on the possibility that I can return based on the structure so far… and proceeding with that.”
“…As an idol, all the way to the Grand Prize.”
“Yes.”
“…Yeah. That makes sense.”
Bae Sae-jin took a short, deep breath. It seemed his capacity was running low from hearing too much insane talk.
And perhaps because of that, similar words came from Bae Sae-jin.
“Then since we’re going to return to reality anyway, this place is like… a dream or something.”
“Yes.”
“Alright.”
“…?”
What?
“Wait and see. I’m going to tear this place apart.”
“Excuse me?”
“This Entertainment Agency!”
Bae Sae-jin spoke with eyes blazing with fury.
“Since this isn’t even reality anyway, fine. I’m going to handle this properly through legal channels—no more of this nonsense.”
“Well…”
Not that I was planning to stop him anyway.
“Still, if you’re enjoying acting here, wouldn’t it be fine to have some fun with it?”
When I was Testa, my individual activities kept getting postponed, and I barely built any acting career at all.
Before going back, it seemed worthwhile to practice here, experience the environment, and review my future solo activity plans.
But Bae Sae-jin was relentless.
“Acting is great! But not this.”
“Why not?”
He clenched his fists tightly.
“These bastards keep forcing me into the same character every single time…!”
“…”
“I’ve been stuck playing similar psychopath roles for four years now. Even I can see it’s completely worn out!”
“I see.”
Yeah, I could understand his frustration.
Lee Sae-jin is now a genuinely famous actor—it’s absurd that he can’t even choose his own scripts.
‘A normal actor should be able to throw scripts around and act like a diva.’
This was pure mistreatment.
So it suddenly occurred to me.
“Hyung, don’t tell me you don’t have a contact…”
“…! How did you know…? Yeah. These bastards won’t even let me use a personal smartphone, talking about mental management and all that crap.”
Bae Sae-jin muttered coldly.
“What am I, some kind of person with restricted rights?”
Civil law terminology—so even after becoming Testa, he’d been dwelling on the past and defining things precisely.
“That must have been really difficult.”
“Honestly, as long as I could act, it wasn’t a big deal. Since I had to watch public opinion, the schedule wasn’t as brutal as when I was younger, and Mom gets enough from the settlements…”
His expression darkened, then his eyes ignited with intensity.
And he clenched his fists.
“But as long as I’m myself, no matter how unreal this is, I don’t need to put up with this anymore.”
“That’s right.”
He declared it decisively.
“I’m going to blow this whole thing up and get out! You’re preparing to be an idol right now, aren’t you?”
“Well, yes.”
I gave him a reasonable overview of LeTi’s survival show. Bae Sae-jin nodded, then cried out with determination.
“I’m going to participate in that too!”
Mm.
“Wouldn’t that be difficult?”
“Why?”
“You’re 25 years old, hyung.”
“….”
He was right.
Among everyone I’d checked so far, Bae Sae-jin—distinctly the oldest at 25—turned crimson and lowered his head.
‘Perhaps it was unavoidable. To succeed as an actor rather than a child actor, you need to reach a certain age.’
The brief thought passed.
“…Is being an idol really incompatible with that age? We had participants of similar age when we did Ajusa….”
“No, that’s not the issue.”
I explained slowly.
“It’s because hyung has accumulated so much as an actor by that age, the public will develop unnecessary resistance to seeing hyung on an idol program.”
The problem was being a 25-year-old actor with too many accomplishments.
Right in his prime. Unless Bae Sae-jin overwhelmingly excelled at being an idol compared to acting, it would only bring suffering.
If he was going to return to reality anyway, there was no need to endure such pain here.
Bae Sae-jin, who had been groaning, finally sighed and conceded.
“…You’re right.”
Mm.
But it seemed he hadn’t given up on providing support.
He clenched his fist tightly.
“Then I’ll back you up properly.”
“Pardon?”
An ambitious smile bloomed across his face, then faded.
“If your hypothesis is correct, then there’s no need to worry about long-term futures here or my influence, right?”
“Y-yes, that’s true.”
He chuckled lowly.
“In reality, I’ve already discovered more than one or two instances of misconduct at this agency.”
Surely not.
“I’ll hire a lawyer and push hard. Let’s see if they can still act shameless even after their weaknesses are exposed. Since I’m not leaving, I’ll make sure to fix things properly!”
“….”
His eyes gleamed with yearning for cathartic justice.
Right… not as an idol but as an actor, and rather than fighting openly in public opinion, it’s more about correcting the CEO’s habits.
“I’ll support that.”
“Great!”
He looked satisfied, then shifted to pure excitement and even made a proposal.
“Once that’s done… I’ll have a say in your activities, right? Then should I set up SNS and ask people to vote for you?”
“No.”
That’s a scary suggestion.
After discussing fairness concerns at length, he agreed to postpone this matter until after my debut.
‘A runaway locomotive has nothing on this guy.’
Bae Sae-jin, unconcerned about the future, had become like the protagonist of some soda commercial.
“So you….”
And just as the conversation was about to shift to recent updates.
Buzz—
My smartphone rang.
“Ah, I need to get one too.”
“Let me give you my number first.”
And it was when I opened my smartphone.
A text message had arrived.
-Hello. This is Lee Sae-jin from Zairop! Are you Ryu Gun-woo from Wise? (laughing emoji)
“….”
Right.
The guy I’d promised to contact after filming ended.
Bae Sae-jin, watching from beside me, perked up.
“…! Lee Sae-jin found you too? So he remembers?”
I opened my mouth slowly.
“No.”
“…!”
“We happened to meet, but there’s still no way to restore his memories.”
“….”
Bae Sae-jin’s momentum deflated. He stood quietly beside me, as if to offer comfort.
“You were closest with him. That, Lee Sae-jin and Sun Ah-hyun….”
And as he spoke, he seemed to realize something, asking carefully.
“Have you heard anything about Sun Ah-hyun?”
I nodded slowly. Bae Sae-jin seemed restless, but soon patted my back with a generous, sweeping gesture.
Thump, thump!
“No… we just need to win the prize and come back soon! You’re good at planning things like this. …We can do this!”
“…Yes.”
Bae Sae-jin and I sat quietly in the storage a while longer. It was funny, but somehow my heart felt lighter.
And not long after.
“They’ll probably come looking soon… I’ll contact you as soon as I get a number. I’m getting one today.”
“Will you be alright?”
Bae Sae-jin let out a scoff.
“I’m getting one anyway—what are they going to do about it?”
And that afternoon.
A new group chat room was created.
[Testa / 3 members]
The first message wasn’t from me—it was from Cha Yu-jin.
-Cha Yu-jin: Hyung Bae Sae-jin, you there? WOOOOW
-Bae Sae-jin: (hamster greeting emoticon)
-Bae Sae-jin: You seem to be doing well. Rabin says you’re doing great
-Cha Yu-jin: YEEESSS (sunglasses emoticon)
It felt like we’d returned to how things used to be.
-Cha Yu-jin: Let’s grow our members quickly!
He even posted an announcement.
[Take your 7 STAR! Cheer up!]
I stared at that phrase, which felt like I hadn’t seen in ages, before slowly typing on the keyboard.
-Then (dog raising both paws emoticon)
Though we were still short of a full roster, there was something oddly satisfying about finally having taken shape.
Not long after, 【Wise】 aired its fourth episode to great success, and new filming was just around the corner.
“You’re filming starting today, right hyung?”
“Yeah.”
“Go well, take care of yourself… see you soon.”
I left the Officetel again and headed to the Filming Studio.
And through this entire Survival Show Program, I was about to encounter the most competitive rules yet.

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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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