Debut or Die - Chapter 383

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

A Fatal Illness if I Don’t Debut – Episode 383
The return of LeTi’s internal survival program, 【Wise】, filming day.
The atmosphere had shifted.
‘The outline of the debut roster is starting to take shape.’
Just from the CEO’s greeting before filming, I could read between the lines.
“You’re doing well. Let’s be more daring.”
“Yes!”
The standard wasn’t about positivity.
“Jae-hyun especially—be careful not to overdo your vocal training.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
It was about specificity.
How much attention was being paid.
Trainees who’d started their social lives early could naturally sense this level of scrutiny.
“By the way… your piercings look really cool today.”
“…? Thank you for the kind words!”
Because of that—Kim Rae-bin, who’d essentially received the CEO’s seal of approval with “seems like he’ll adapt really well to this agency in every way”—the other participants began cautiously approaching him.
‘The dynamic is so different from the Ajusa days. This is actually entertaining.’
And then there was me.
“You’re mentally prepared, right? I’ll see you on stage.”
“Yes.”
That was high praise.
They wouldn’t be this cruel to a candidate already marked for elimination. Thanks for letting me know I’ve already passed.
“Starting the recording~”
This filming began by announcing the division from the last evaluation—winners and losers split into the Superior Section and Inferior Section.
“Phew…”
“Thank you!”
Joy and sorrow intertwined.
But the most brutal content was scheduled next.
The elimination announcement.
They called me and one other person—both of us who’d been ‘excluded’—up to the stage.
“Since you’re already excluded, only someone who performs significantly better than those 14 standing there can survive. And that person is…”
The CEO expertly drew out the moment, then spoke with a hardened expression.
“Ryu Gun-woo.”
“…”
“That’s it.”
The participant who lost to Kim Rae-bin was eliminated right then and there.
The atmosphere froze, but the CEO showed no intention of warming it up with consoling words.
He’d said the same thing to me.
“The moment you return to excluded status, you won’t be able to avoid elimination. Give it everything you’ve got.”
In other words, if I end up excluded again, I’m done for.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Welcome.
So he won’t rig another unfavorable round to eliminate me. No matter how I look at it, the CEO doesn’t seem eager to force me out mid-competition.
‘That’s proof the production crew won’t pull any tricks in the next performance mission.’
I’m genuinely grateful for that.
I bowed my head respectfully, then checked the current roster.
Excluding the one guy the CEO personally eliminated for poor conduct on the previous stage….
‘Fifteen people.’
The numbers had actually grown since the beginning, so I expected more eliminations in this performance. They’d need to trim the roster to maintain tension.
That’s when it happened.
“However, all events and performances have a maximum capacity. …No more than 14 participants.”
Wait, what?
“Therefore, if an eliminated participant is revived, one existing member with the lowest achievement so far will be eliminated.”
Right now?
The CEO then called over a few members from the Inferior Section, listing their strengths and weaknesses before announcing:
“Inferior Section participant Park Jong-hoon, you are eliminated.”
“….”
An unexpected additional elimination.
The called participant stumbled at the shocking result, and the surrounding contestants covered their mouths.
That certainly raised the tension.
“Please leave the stage. Ryu Gun-woo, you may return to your position.”
“…Yes.”
That’s why they didn’t create a warm atmosphere—they sent that eliminated guy out in one swift move.
To drive the mood to this razor’s edge.
‘They got some buzz out of the cruelty, so now they’re getting greedy for something even more extreme.’
Since cruelty earned them popularity, they wanted to push it further. It wasn’t exactly wholesome.
‘So survival shows are heading this direction regardless of whether it’s Ajusa or not.’
The formula where ruthlessness that breaks contestants’ spirits becomes synonymous with excitement and intensity.
‘It leaves a bad taste, but… it’s not necessarily bad for me.’
I waited for the guy to vacate his spot, then carefully stepped into the empty space in the Inferior Section.
The guys standing beside me froze with ambiguous expressions—somewhere between welcoming and sorrowful. I kept quiet with a similar face, not giving them anything to grab onto.
‘Cutting off any criticism.’
When I turned my head, all the guys I’d been on a team with before were in the Debut Group. Chae Yul and Shin O’s team won too.
I nodded inwardly.
‘The structure works out fine.’
The interview would probably throw questions like ‘Weren’t you bothered being alone in the Inferior Section?’ One bit of provocation meant extra footage gold.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
With that brutal ranking and elimination announcement finished, the lights on the stage went out. The microphone recording was also cut.
“Hyung, that was close.”
But the cameras were still rolling, and the quick-witted guy immediately started managing his image.
It was Chung-ryeo.
“Hyung!”
“Thanks for your hard work!”
I greeted the others who came running alongside him with apparent warmth, then asked Chung-ryeo in a low voice.
‘The progression is quite brutal. You said it wasn’t like this before.’
‘That’s right. It’s become a bit… cruder in expression than before. The intensity is higher too.’
He grinned and linked arms with me as if to encourage me.
‘People will love it, right?’
‘….’
In any case, he had an exceptional talent for spouting similar ideas in a trashy manner.
Either way, the production crew seemed to think they’d tightened the screws on the participants too much, so they loosened the atmosphere a bit in the next content segment.
A series of events followed to adjust the pacing by shifting the program toward a softer, more exciting tone.
It was that time slot where I’d been excluded as “ineligible” last time and just did housework instead.
‘Last time it was a public service announcement… this time?’
This time it was an album concept photo shoot.
There were seven concepts.
“Alright~ discuss it among yourselves and pick the concept you want!”
A battle of wits, yielding to others, conflicting opinions. Since many of us already knew each other well, there was also plenty of passing the buck disguised as recommendations happening here and there.
Me?
“I’m fine with anything. I haven’t shot all of them before, so I don’t have preferences. They all seem interesting and good to me.”
“Ooh! If hyung says so….”
Park Moon-dae from Testa had already shot several photo concepts—why would I be picky here?
It didn’t matter what I got. I’d graciously yield and just shoot it well.
But then….
“That’s right! Show a bit more of your teeth~”
“….”
I didn’t know the concept with the keyword ‘Tooth’ was going to be a vampire.
Who the hell put such a risky concept in a survival show that hasn’t even debuted yet? Now I understand why VTIC fell apart in the first round.
Still, with some experience under my belt, I managed to pull it off, and the reviews were decent.
I handled the interview well too.
“I’ve only taken photos before. Being the actual subject like this feels different. Still, I recalled my experience from when I was taking photos… and did my best.”
A meta reference to being a college student in the Photography Club.
Well, isn’t this a fresh and good story?
It might come across as a bit annoying, but I couldn’t say something insane like “haha, I’ve shot this stuff so many times I’m sick of it,” so I picked this as the next best option.
“All the photos are going to turn out great, aren’t they? Everyone worked hard. Today’s shoot was fun!”
“Waaah!”
Either way, after the event ended with a handful of warmth recovered, that very night the performance mission struck like a hook.
‘No mercy, huh.’
“【Wise】. This is already your fourth performance. You all need to show more development, and your theme this time is….”
The CEO announced it, leading the participants who now tensed up like they were about to choke every time they were called to the stage.
“It’s the 【Position Conquest Battle】.”
“…!”
“A conquest battle…?”
The overall framework remained unchanged. The main progression I’d heard about from Chung-ryeo hadn’t deviated yet.
So, for instance, here’s what the Position Conquest Battle means.
-For the next content, we’ll perform a group performance of a new song, and you’ll compete in advance to determine which parts you’ll take on.
And the positions to be conquered are revealed on the scoreboard.
[Vocal A, Vocal B]
[Dance A, Dance B, Dance C]
[Rap A, Rap B]
Seven parts divided across different categories.
And the CEO immediately calls for the Superior Section.
“We had a private evaluation panel vote based on the pictorials you took. The Superior Section has priority—you have the right to choose parts in order of the most votes received.”
“Ah….”
The first name is called out amid those whose expressions darken and those whose faces brighten.
A predictable selection, but still.
“Shin Jae-hyun.”
He bows respectfully once, then stands and moves immediately.
[Dance A]
Next is Cha Yu-jin.
Each member called out one by one takes their remaining spot after deliberation.
And as the CEO watches the positions fill up, he nods and says this.
“Now, each of you in the Superior Section has complete authority to create this Position Conquest Battle stage.”
“…!”
“Which song you choose, what performance you’ll do—it’s all your personal choice.”
In other words, ‘go ahead and perform one stage however you want.’
And at this timing, the seven members of the Inferior Section are deployed as challengers against the stages the Superior Section creates.
“Go ahead and try to take the stage.”
So with a total of fourteen people now, it seems like we’d have to pair up one-on-one, doesn’t it?
No.
“You can apply for any part you want, regardless of how many other applicants there are. However….”
No matter how many compete or what happens… there’s only one winner.
-Only the one person who wins gets to perform in the new song performance.
The tense participants look at the parts and glance around at each other.
‘Besides, they haven’t even revealed the specific parts of the new song yet.’
In the end, who you face is what matters most.
Of course, the order here is also determined by the pictorial votes.
“The first participant from the Inferior Section to choose a position is… Ryu Gun-woo.”
And number one is me.
‘Oh.’
Why are you marveling at this, you idiot? A five-year veteran losing to kids who haven’t even debuted yet—that would be the real disgrace.
‘If I’d failed, I should’ve bashed my head in.’
Instead, I bowed my head slightly and looked toward the CEO.
“Come out and pick a part for me.”
Right. I understand.
My mind raced quickly.
‘If they’re assigning parts alphabetically, the criteria would be….’
Volume, difficulty, order of appearance—something like that.
‘But Chung-ryeo picked Dance A… hmm.’
If that’s the case, then Vocal A probably has a slightly higher chance of having impactful parts.
‘Still, though.’
I moved forward without hesitation.
And I stood.
“…!!”
[Vocal B]
There’s no other reason.
There’s a concrete factor I need to consider right in front of me.
‘My competitor.’
Because the guy from the Superior Section who sings best here besides me picked this one.
“Participant Ryu Gun-woo from the Inferior Section will compete with participant Choi Tae-jun from the Superior Section over 【Vocal B】.”
Choi Tae-jun. His stage name when he debuts is Bi-han.
How do I know?
‘Because I’ve sold data on this guy before.’
He’s the former main vocalist of VTIC who went down in the club scandal.
After the contract renewal, he got scrapped due to the incident, but until then he was the main vocalist of a first-tier idol group for seven years—he’s no ordinary guy.
But if I target him….
‘It’ll definitely look like a bold challenge.’
And if I win, that’s when the narrative of survival show participant Ryu Gun-woo gains momentum again.
‘We’re past the midpoint of the program. I need to regain the flow.’
I respectfully bowed to the former main vocalist of VTIC.
“I look forward to it.”
“…Um, yes.”
He nods reluctantly… well, I’ll just call him the club guy or the former main vocalist. Anyway, he manages to smile with effort.
I stood beside him.
And I watched the situation unfold slowly. The Inferior Section members picking their parts one by one.
“I’ll go with Vocal A…!”
It might seem obvious, but despite being able to join any part regardless of capacity, most of them target the remaining team with only one 【Superior Section】 member.
‘Everyone calculates probabilities anyway.’
But despite that, some teams seem like suicide missions, so even with just one person, some don’t target them.
“【Dance A】 currently has no challengers.”
It’s ‘Dance A’, where Shin Jae-hyun is.
‘I know his skills all too well.’
Since we’re trainees from the same Entertainment Agency and know each other well, we have plenty of information on each other—and we’re smart enough to gauge our abilities and hold back accordingly.
‘Hmm.’
I watched Shin Jae-hyun standing alone before the position scoreboard, with no competitor in sight.
And this point is precisely where the flow differs from what Chung-ryeo had informed me about beforehand.
-The original format is like this. One from the Superior Section, one from the Inferior Section. One-on-one matches.
Originally, this was structured as pure one-on-one with no walkovers whatsoever.
And in my opinion, even if one-on-one matches could be abandoned, there’s no way they’d introduce walkovers into a survival show stage.
Then there must be another variable at play.
-There are some changes this time, aren’t there?
What could it be?
“Of course it’s not just this. There’s another competitor.”
“Ah….”
“Don’t tell me.”
“It’s… the Supplementary Class selected by viewers.”
“…!!”
Right. That new participant recruitment they even ran advertisements for at the end of the program.
Watching the participants react quietly without realizing it, the CEO speaks as if pronouncing a verdict.
“Please come out.”
Pop!
With a small burst of confetti and a dramatic BGM, another scoreboard opens on the other side.
‘They’re using it quickly.’
Well, if they waited any longer, the participants would develop a fixed fanbase, making the Supplementary Class feel like nothing but an obstacle.
I nodded inwardly in agreement while pretending to listen intently to the CEO, clasping my hands behind my back.
“Don’t think of the last Supplementary Class. These participants were selected from a much larger pool—the entire nation—after fully confirming the harshness of this program.”
He sure knows how to dress up words for people hired hastily in just a week.
Regardless of what he says, the probability that a truly exceptional person came is infinitesimally low.
‘I should just check their stats and move on.’
Unmoved, I watched the In-young emerging from beyond the dry ice.
Seven again, and there’s no one particularly striking—wait.
“…!”
As the smoke clears and the In-young are revealed, in the very center stands a familiar face I’ve seen for years.
Recently, we’ve even been sharing a place together….
[Ryu Chung-woo!]
Why are you there?
I tried not to open my mouth—wait, the camera is capturing me in close-up. These bastards know we’re relatives.
‘Damn it.’
What the hell is going on?
Ryu Chung-woo is smiling slightly, looking a bit embarrassed. It seems a stage like this is unfamiliar to him.
“The Supplementary Class is holding up a placard with their chosen part.”
I reflexively lowered my head.
The placard he’d selected beforehand was….
[Vocal B]
“….”
My position on stage.
[We’re finished….]
Stay quiet.

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————