Debut or Die - Chapter 406

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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 406
The System holder who had been on the airplane with me evaporated from my mind.
As if they never existed.
But if Chung-ryeo, this bastard, remembered them—
‘There’s no way this son of a bitch didn’t notice that I don’t remember.’
How could he not have felt something off during all that rambling for over half a year?
He deliberately didn’t mention it. His reaction right now proves it.
I spoke through gritted teeth.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Chung-ryeo laughed and replied.
“I thought you’d react that way, Junior.”
“….”
What?
“Right now you’re probably thinking many things, but… well, if we exclude your anger and irritation toward me, there’s only one thing left.”
Chung-ryeo spoke casually.
“You’re worried, aren’t you?”
“…!”
“You’re concerned about someone you don’t know, whose location you don’t know, whose circumstances you don’t know. Isn’t that right?”
“How could I not be concerned?”
A person vanished, so of course—
Wait, hold on.
I recalled his reaction from last time when I brought up the memory error regarding my parents.
‘Memories inherently have errors, so as long as you remember the information necessary for progress correctly, it’s fine….’
Because,
-What you need to be wary of… are the secondary effects created by memory.
-Emotion.
And I realized.
“…Whether that person disappears or not has nothing to do with achieving the goal?”
“Exactly.”
He narrows his eyes.
“You tend to rationalize efficiency whenever something bothers you, Junior.”
What are you saying.
“For example, even though the group is already formed, the reason you keep searching for Testa members isn’t for their benefit, is it?”
“…!”
Chung-ryeo looks at me.
“Today you performed a commemorative stage that meant nothing at an award ceremony with no buzz.”
“….”
“You’re paying attention to so many side branches right now, so how much are you really concerned about the wellbeing of the person you brought in?”
I closed my mouth. He stands up from his seat, smiling.
“The explanation seems sufficient, but if you’re angry right now, you can take it out on me….”
“The guy with the System—he’s not in good shape right now, is he?”
“…!”
That’s it.
I stared at him.
“If the only difference was that I couldn’t remember while you could, we wouldn’t have needed to reach this point at all.”
I could’ve been persuaded with something like, ‘Since you can’t remember, I’ll handle finding him myself.’ And honestly, I can’t remember anyway, so that would’ve worked.
But here’s the thing.
An answer like ‘If you knew the truth, you’d be too distracted to work’ comes out of nowhere?
“The only explanation is that you know something happened to that bastard.”
And something pretty… bad at that.
Bad enough to shake me.
I crossed my arms and glared at him.
“….”
Chung-ryeo didn’t flinch.
“Why would you dig so persistently into someone you don’t even know right now? You two were never that close anyway.”
“Who cares? The problem is you’re trying to deceive me right now.”
“I’m not deceiving you.”
He clicked his tongue. This bastard.
“Senior, you also have information you deliberately didn’t tell me about, don’t you? Because you thought it would be hard for me to understand.”
“….”
I reflexively recalled the status window’s emoji list showing my colleague’s current condition, then closed my mouth.
He laughed.
“It’s the same. I just didn’t want you wasting time and resources on someone you don’t even know.”
What a perfectly executed sophistic argument.
“That sounds like you’re saying I’d call him if I remembered who he is. We do know each other—I just can’t remember.”
“Hm?”
He tilted his head slightly.
“You don’t know right now, though.”
I gritted my teeth.
Getting angry or hitting him would be stupid. Whether I like it or not, he’s in my group right now, and one scandal hitting the media would be a disaster.
‘Then, let’s approach this rationally.’
I have a brain too. Use it.
When the System goes haywire, what’s the worst thing that could happen to someone who possesses it?
That’s when it hit me.
[This guy’s seriously shameless! Hyung, if I had a body, I would’ve beaten him!]
The status window.
I was looking at Big Dal’s popup when the answer spilled out of my mouth without thinking.
“That bastard got consumed by the System.”
“….”
Just like Big Dal ended up that way.
“Right?”
Chung-ryeo didn’t respond. It was a tacit affirmation. I clenched my fists.
Then.
‘There has to be a clue.’
I racked my brain desperately.
If he really was absorbed into the system, then I, who am currently using the system, might be able to notice it.
Some point where something feels off.
Like how Big Dal caused an error and gave me coins—something sudden and with different rules than before.
Something exceptional or that doesn’t flow naturally within the system.
“….”
That was it.
-Why does this useless thing even appear?
A circular golden form like coins… but displayed only as text.
[Consolation reward has arrived….]
+ 10G
+ 10G
Gold.
I thought it was dummy data that appeared when the 【Section 127】 format was applied because I had no idea why it existed.
But what if this was… a kind of signal.
A barely tolerated loophole or bug that could be given within the system.
‘When I think of gold, who comes to mind?’
The answer came immediately.
-Let’s just call them Gold 1 and Gold 2.
The names given at Ajusa.
Two people I’d had connections with recently.
‘Ha Il-jun of Golden Age, and Kwon Hee-seung of Spacer.’
“…!”
I suppressed a curse-tinged exclamation.
Alright, stay calm.
Between the two, whose actions better fit someone who knows the future?
‘This is too obvious.’
I opened my mouth.
“It’s Kwon Hee-seung.”
“….”
The guy who suddenly won the new season of Ajusa. And since he’s from the same Entertainment Agency, he’s the one with more opportunities to contact me.
Chung-ryeo remained expressionless, but I saw his eyes narrow and then widen.
‘I got it right.’
I clenched my fists and walked toward the desk where he stood.
“Now that you know, answer me.”
“….”
“Exactly what happened to that bastard.”
And how the hell do you even know that?
Chung-ryeo’s expression vanished from his face as he slowly opened his mouth.
“Are you willing to wait until the objective is achieved?”
“No.”
“Hmm.”
He cast his eyes downward.
And when he lifted his head again.
————————
[ II ]
————————
Suddenly, the world froze.
‘Ah.’
I looked around.
I’d thought the room was already sufficiently quiet and motionless, but there were actually things moving.
The sound of the television from the living room outside, the ticking of the clock’s second hand, subtle shifts in light and shadow—things like that.
But everything had stopped moving and hardened as if flattened.
A world where all motion ceased and froze.
And in that stillness.
“Ah, surprised? To fully visualize this, I had to pause the progression for a moment.”
Only one being moved with vitality.
Chung-ryeo.
“…You pause it.”
“Yes. Well, it seems like a common thing in ordinary games.”
He raised his hand.
“When you open the settings window, you pause the play, right?”
And countless holograms began to materialize before my eyes.
Ziiiiing—
A frozen world filled with small and large boxes.
But the text orientation was reversed.
In other words… it wasn’t displaying for me to see, but rather for him standing in the opposite direction to see.
Chung-ryeo.
[Mission: Help the character’s smooth game activities!]
[▶Quest in Progress]
[Environment Settings]
Beyond those holographic windows, I confirmed text I could never have imagined—reversed text.
A UI similar to what I possessed.
[Character List]
[Ryu Geon-woo (Park Moon-dae): I am astonished by you (∑//ㅁㅍ;)]
Damn it.
I barely managed to open my mouth.
“What is this.”
“Well, where should I even start explaining.”
He tapped his chin with a finger. Then his gaze grew distant, as if lost in thought.

* * *
A few months ago.
Inside Chung-ryeo’s private jet crossing the Pacific Ocean.
[Brother, this is strange….]
Shin Jae-hyun had seen it on the airplane before consciousness slipped away.
The actual form of what was called the ‘Status Window’.
‘So that’s what it looked like.’
It wasn’t particularly awe-inspiring, but what he saw next was somewhat problematic.
Among all those holograms flickering as if shattered, he witnessed Kwon Hee-seung being absorbed between those windows like his graphics were being decomposed.
‘Hmm.’
That could become rather troublesome.
When his thoughts resumed after that realization, he was already inside the Training Room with Ryu Gun-woo.
-Damn it!
-Haha.
And for a while afterward, he contemplated various possibilities while diversifying his plans, wondering if this might ultimately be another ‘restart’ that had returned.
But in the end, he was persuaded by Ryu Gun-woo—that is, Park Moon-dae.
-Right.
-Let’s go back to you guys and Kongi.
He was an ally without fault. While he harbored some reservations about Park Moon-dae’s choice of companions, such things were acceptable.
However, there was one incident before that.
When he returned home to precisely assess the situation here.
Something occurred that had never happened once among all the countless restarts.
[A mission has arrived!]
“…?”
The Status Window appeared.
Yet he was not a Player.
[GM : Welcome, Shin Jae-hyun.]
Server : Kwon Hee-seung (Stable)
GM : Shin Jae-hyun
Player : ■■■
“Well, well.”
Shin Jae-hyun smiled faintly.
‘A variable.’
And his hand had grown stronger.

* * *
“That’s right. Kwon Hee-seung is currently displayed on the server.”
“….”
“There was no special benefit for me. I could simply monitor your progress more effectively… that’s about it.”
I pressed my brow.
Chung-ryeo tilted his head to the side as if recalling something, then smiled.
“And… perhaps a minor auxiliary ability?”
“You.”
A fleeting memory prompted me to speak.
“Don’t tell me Kim Rae-bin came from the colleague selection too.”
“Well, once experience accumulated, I could temporarily adjust the probability.”
Damn it.
I bit my tongue.
‘I should have suspected this.’
The first companion given in the game tutorial isn’t actually a real account, is it?
Usually a GM.
A Game Master’s account.
“You… hid this?”
I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. His clothes strained as I gripped them tightly.
“I can only give you the same answer.”
“What?”
Yet he didn’t flinch, merely looking down at me.
“I already told you—I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d react like this.”
“…!”
“Server switching and such would be impossible with this hologram.”
“Then,”
“Then the remaining effect is obvious. You’d lose efficiency worrying about what the server means….”
Chung-ryeo murmured flatly.
“Anxious the entire time about what I might do, suspicious, doubting.”
“….”
“It’s better to keep quiet and wait until you receive your target. You could tell me after it’s over and you return—it wouldn’t be too late.”
“So I followed that advice.”
“Or rather, I was persuaded by your words.”
He let out a dry laugh.
“By what you said about seeing the ending once I obtain the target and having the choice to return.”
“….”
“Ah, you told me to say everything.”
I stared at Chung-ryeo. He smiled as if grimacing.
“That’s right. There was one more thing. They said this would be compensation for me—a form of salary.”
He sent a hologram forward, presenting it directly before me.
[GM Ending Reward: Ally Selection]
“…!”
Wait, if this happens like this….
“So, I’ve been thinking about this the whole time.”
I sensed what he was about to say.
“What if we waited here until Kongi is born, and then I could choose with this selection right….”
He narrows his eyes.
“Then I wouldn’t have any regrets. It’s a bit of a roundabout way, but.”
Damn it.
“Think about it too, Junior Member. If you could inherit everything of value, wouldn’t this place be better?”
He gently removed my hand from his neck.
“Originally, I was planning to just follow your opinion, but now that it’s come to this, I want to hear more of what you have to say.”
He sat down, resting his chin in his hand, and asked seriously.
“What do you think about this possibility?”
“…You,”
“Ah, the schedule is fine. We can just keep it paused. I’m using this for the first time too… there’s no time limit marked.”
He smiled and turned his gaze away from the status window.
“So tell me. Until we both completely accept one conclusion, let’s keep going.”
“….”
“We have infinite time left, haha!”
Shit.
A tension like stepping on a landmine settles in. Cold sweat trickles down my spine in a biological response.
‘Still.’
I opened my mouth.

* * *
‘What do I do?!’
Park Moon-dae’s true self, Big Dal who had become the status window, screamed and spun in dizzying circles within the realm of consciousness. This place where that madman had stopped had completely lost its vitality.
And it was right before Season 2 of the kidnapping show was set to air!
‘Ahhhhh, what’s happening…??’
Then he realized something.
Wait?
He, who had been sharing his vision with Ryu Gun-woo, had somehow slipped out of his body like an out-of-body experience.
‘Wh-wh-what?’
He shot straight through the ceiling of the Wishes Dormitory and soared into the Seoul skyline.
‘Wh-what is this?’
Why was this happening? No, more importantly, he had to go back! He couldn’t leave his brother alone.
Just as he was about to force his consciousness back through sheer willpower, something caught his eye.
A glimmer appeared.
‘…Huh?’
Golden circles.
They sparkled like Dorothy’s yellow brick road, forming a path through the empty air.
And what lay at the end of that path was something the status window instinctively understood.
An error marker.
‘Wow.’
So this is what becomes visible when you’re in a ‘progress paused’ state.
He nearly lost himself in the intense shimmer of the error, but then he noticed something.
The only thing here that could be called an error was someone who had recovered their memories in an irregular way, undetected by the system….
‘Sun Ah-hyun!’
The moment that realization struck him, another possibility suddenly bloomed in his mind.
With his abilities expanded like this and that person being an error, could it be…?
‘Who cares! Let’s try it!’
He rushed toward Sun Ah-hyun with his liberated consciousness.
And he simply attempted it!
[Please help my brother!]
“Wh-what…?!”
On the road heading to Incheon International Airport.
Sun Ah-hyun, who had been startled by the suddenly frozen world and was stepping out of the car, was shocked by the hologram that suddenly appeared.

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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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