Debut or Die - Chapter 407

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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 407
Inside the Dormitory room where the sun still hadn’t risen.
Sitting on a cushion, I voiced my thirtieth analysis in a low tone.
Why was reality the better option?
“VTIC barely does individual activities, so their image consumption hasn’t peaked yet. It’d be far more advantageous long-term. But that’s already spent value here.”
“Well, you could argue the opposite—here, they’ve already proven their recognition and capabilities through solo work.”
“…The group’s fanbase is in ruins.”
This bastard. I swallowed my sigh while he grinned smugly.
“That stabilizes once we focus on group activities next year. We can refine the image and concept from that point on.”
“…So why pull that stunt in the first place? Go back and there’s already a well-established fanbase and a group with a solid concept.”
“That’s true.”
He conceded readily. But I wasn’t fooled.
“However, if we only consider growth potential, this side could scale even larger. We already have verified members and songs.”
Damn it.
I pressed my brow. This conversation had been like this from the start.
This bastard wasn’t fanatically insisting on staying here.
He simply kept countering my logic about needing to return, and I kept countering him back in turn.
Group potential, market distribution, personal achievement, image, performance….
Literally, a debate to the bitter end.
‘Damn it.’
I had no idea how many hours we’d been nitpicking. My head was throbbing.
Without hunger or bodily needs, it was downright eerie.
“Um, would you like some water? Though I’m not sure if you can drink it.”
“Never mind.”
I pressed my forehead.
And suddenly, a fundamental question occurred to me.
‘…Why am I doing this?’
This was essentially a problem that couldn’t be resolved rationally.
Were we both supposed to accept one conclusion?
We’d need some logically flawless, absolute value to emerge, but that was impossible.
Once comparisons enter the realm of performance careers, everything becomes mere possibility.
In fact, this world had… a slight edge.
‘…That’s not it.’
I’d been foolish.
I’d gotten swept up in this bastard’s momentum and done something pointless trying not to lose ground.
I lifted my head. Chung-ryeo sat in the same posture as before, in the chair by the desk.
I shifted my position.
“You know this as well as I do. This isn’t a problem that reaches a conclusion. I never even said we should compare which side could succeed as idols and then return.”
“….”
This bastard knew everything all along, yet he actively participated in my disposable, futureless group plan.
He had bet on the path of returning.
And now he was saying this.
I recalled the words that bastard had spoken earlier.
-Originally, I was planning to just follow your opinion, Junior Member. But now that things have come to this, I’d like to hear more about what you have to say.
After several hours had passed, my cooled mind arrived at a conclusion.
“You’re trying to say that you’ve been cooperating with me unilaterally all this time, aren’t you.”
Despite having other options, he cooperated, and now he was upset because I interrogated him about hiding something.
‘So cooperation has lost its reason to exist.’
Even as I said it, I found it absurd. A GM handed down directly by the system was no ordinary secret, and this was the ultimate case of blaming the victim.
‘What kind of bastard does this.’
But he didn’t deny it.
“Well, it seemed like you cared more about looking after people than achieving your goal, Junior Member, so I thought about it too.”
He tilted his head to the side.
“And then… I said it, didn’t I? There’s no particular reason to return.”
“From that perspective, there wouldn’t be.”
I took a deep breath. My head cleared a bit.
This bastard was misunderstanding something.
I’d almost fallen into the same trap just moments ago.
“I misspoke.”
“Hm?”
“Think about it without the career aspect.”
It wasn’t even comparable, and besides, I wasn’t trying to say he should return to that reality just because his career as a first-tier idol was perfect.
I recalled something I’d said to this bastard back when he was urging me toward suicide.
-Doesn’t VTIC face some decline sometimes?
That’s the point.
I needed to speak of values other than simple numerical social success.
For instance.
“Even if something X-like happened, you made up your mind to live in reality… and the album and experiences you created after one member left.”
“….”
“Aren’t those worth regretting?”
In reality, is there truly nothing else besides those four that holds meaning for you?
The experiences you had after deciding not to scrap your life the moment you failed, but to just keep living.
An album filled with new songs you’d never used before, your first solo activities, a situation with no answer key.
A group that ultimately rises from failure. A sense of achievement.
New acceptance speeches.
“You actually made up your mind to return to reality including all of that. It wasn’t unilateral cooperation with me. You regretted it and missed it, didn’t you?”
Chung-ryeo showed emotion for the first time. I watched him interlock his fingers and place them on his knee.
But the answer becomes distorted.
“Come to think of it, I could just do all that again here.”
X damn it.
I ran my hand through my hair in frustration.
“It only has meaning because we can’t do it again…!”
“….”
“No, I mean… listen, this world is literally something the system created. Get it?”
Today, I had conveyed to him the conclusions I’d deduced from Sun Ah-hyun’s process of recovering his memories.
That this world was merely a kind of abnormality, a distortion.
That reality almost certainly existed separately, just as we’d initially hypothesized.
“…So basically, this is a world that runs exactly according to the system’s rules.”
I struck the bed roughly.
“Are you seriously planning to live here with the system attached? Because you can suck it dry as a GM or whatever?”
“….”
“Don’t you feel even a shred of sympathy for that bastard who suffered like hell because of the damn system?”
“….”
Chung-ryeo remained silent for a long time. I took a deep breath.
And the voice that slowly emerged was….
“Suffered like hell?”
He sounded genuinely puzzled.
Chills ran down my spine.
“That’s… difficult for me to agree with.”
“…!”
“In the end, because he could restart, he got the chance to succeed, didn’t he?”
Damn it.
“Eliminating the system was about preventing this benefit from falling into the hands of others who couldn’t control it. Because it’s impossible to weaponize the system.”
“….”
“Of course, displeasure was one of the reasons too… but I don’t think he acted on that alone.”
I fell silent. This bastard—that was where the problem started.
‘He’s someone whose mind has been conditioned to see restart as an advantage in the first place.’
How was I supposed to convince him?
“….”
Silence flowed again. I leaned my head back against the bed, feeling all my resolve drain away.
If time is infinite like you say, I should probably just shut my mouth and accept it.
But what was surprising came shortly after.
This bastard opened his mouth first.
In a slightly subdued voice.
“But if it’s only an emotional reason, I understand why you’d want to go back, Junior Member.”
“…!”
“Right. There was the issue with your parents back then too.”
I clenched my teeth.
“And you didn’t say anything back then either.”
Even when I pointed out that I seemed to have memory errors.
“That’s….”
His tone lost some of its flatness. It wavered slightly.
“…I’m sorry.”
“….”
I held back a sigh and closed my eyes.
“You thought that if you’d told me you had a status window, I’d definitely suspect you and our efficiency would’ve tanked, didn’t you?”
What an idiot.
“I would’ve just believed you.”
“…!”
“Of course, I would’ve kept closer watch to make sure you weren’t doing anything pointless. But I think I would’ve been more focused on researching how to put it to better use instead.”
Our efficiency wouldn’t have tanked, you bastard.
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
I shifted in my seat.
“I told you everything honestly from the start—even when my status window first appeared. The only thing I didn’t mention was privacy concerns.”
“….”
You’re the one who stabbed me in the back.
Soon, a quiet voice came through.
“I understand.”
Phew.
I rubbed my face.
That bastard had finally calmed down.
‘There’s still the Gold 2 issue though….’
I know it.
Appeals to pity about Kwon Hee-seung won’t work on this guy. He doesn’t operate that way. He sees people as resources.
But if you asked whether he’d changed at all from that Reset Syndrome or that insane version of himself back then….
-I brought him. (photo)
-Kongi is sick.
That wouldn’t be the case.
But we’d reached an impasse. If this bastard doesn’t properly understand why he wants to go back….
‘He might sabotage things again.’
That I couldn’t allow.
‘I’ll straighten out his head before he leaves.’
I made my decision and opened my eyes.
And then, out of nowhere, I saw it.
A popup.
[Error : Moon-dae…?]
“…!!”
I nearly jumped to my feet.
[Error : !]
[Error : Park Moon-dae seems to have figured it out!]
The popup refreshes with what sounds like relief.
Up until then, I thought it was Big Dal.
Before these messages appeared.
[RAB : You’ve finally checked it. I was terribly worried it might be an emergency.]
[Sejini : Park Moon-dae, are you okay? Do I need to call you Moon-dae Moon-dae like this for you to notice?]
[BaeSJ : Give us an answer]
What is this?

* * *
Big Dal put on quite a show in front of Sun Ah-hyun.
Time had frozen, and he’d spilled out everything about how Moon-dae hyung was being threatened (?), while simultaneously talking Sun Ah-hyun’s ear off about who he was.
Of course, Sun Ah-hyun’s confusion didn’t make him stupid.
He calmly made a request.
“…Show me proof so I can believe you.”
[Damn!]
Big Dal racked his brain desperately, but deep down he already knew the truth.
There was no proof….
‘Ugh….’
I’d never felt the absence of a body so acutely.
As the game progression halted, Big Dal—blissfully unaware that he was gradually regaining human sensations—racked his brain earnestly.
And then he remembered someone.
[Rae-bin knows about me!]
Ryu Gun-woo, exhausted from the hellish cycle of questions, had authenticated Big Dal’s existence with detailed explanations.
“But… can I meet Rae-bin right now?”
[Ah….]
The problem was that Kim Rae-bin was frozen too….
‘Is there anything else?’
Big Dal racked his brain. He spun through the status window, rummaging through the UI.
And then, he peered into that mental world—like the detailed code of a complex algorithm….
‘Huh?’
That’s when he discovered something he could touch because they were currently in ‘Settings’.
One line at the bottom, a feature that seemed hastily added.
[Gold Shop]
Gold?
‘…Access!’
Big Dal, having already witnessed Ryu Gun-woo’s deduction show, immediately opened it.
A simple list appeared.
[Create Chat Room – 5000G]
[Invite – 1000G]
He realized it immediately.
This was it.
‘Brother, I’m sorry for using it without permission, but I’m still trying to help you…!’
He purchased both items right away.
A new function unlocks.
He manipulated the popup.
[Will you enter the chat room?]
“…!”
[I’ll summon Kim Rae-bin for you!]
The moment Sun Ah-hyun accepted entry from that popup after deliberation, he flew madly to Seoul.
And he finally made contact with Kim Rae-bin, who was receiving touch-up makeup at the Photo Shoot Studio.
Naturally, Kim Rae-bin was in a frozen state, not an error.
‘But!’
He already knew who had entered the chat room.
The person who offset the system’s abnormality.
[Will you enter the chat room?]
A golden circle was absorbed into Kim Rae-bin’s access account, and the error spreads.
‘It works!’
Connected through Sun Ah-hyun and the chat room—Big Dal’s mental status window—the error is shared.
And a new message.
[RAB : …??]
[RAB : Is this perhaps a dream?]
Big Dal suppressed his cheer.

* * *
[Error : That’s how I was able to send messages to Park Moon-dae]
‘…Right.’
I nodded, watching the chaotic conversation flowing through the chat room.
I understood roughly what happened—Big Dal had managed to capitalize on Kwon Hee-seung’s desperate SOS.
But here’s the thing.
‘…Is this actually useful?’
Honestly, I had no idea what kind of help I could get from these guys through mere chat.
‘I mean, even if it weren’t just chat, beating this bastard senseless wouldn’t solve anything either.’
No matter how I thought about it, Big Dal seemed to have panicked and accelerated after witnessing Chung-ryeo’s antics. I scrolled through the chat window with mild reluctance.
[Tiger : Hyung, what’s going on? Are you fighting?]
[BaeSJ : Did you seriously run into the guy who threw us in here?]
Besides, they hadn’t heard a detailed explanation, so they only seemed to know that I was in some kind of predicament.
I hesitated for a moment, then sent a message.
Thinking works, apparently.
[Apple : It’s not that. I need to persuade someone]
[BaeSJ : Who!]
At that moment, a popup suddenly appeared at the top.
[Members: 8]
[※!Remaining Gold: 5000G※]
Huh?
[Leader : Everyone, it looks like energy gets consumed every time we chat. Let’s have Park Moon-dae do the talking and just offer advice from our end]
They all seemed to understand the situation—no responses of agreement came back.
“….”
I thought for a moment, then typed.
I had no idea if this would mean anything, but
[Apple : When do you all feel the desire to return to reality?]
Maybe I’d get a hint. It was better than doing nothing.
After a moment, the chat window refreshed, filled with responses.
[Tiger : When we want to perform on stage!]
[RAB : There have been various instances, but the most frequent occurrence is when we desperately want to listen to the albums we released.]
[Error : I went to the airport alone today, and memories of the time we spent together came back. I think it’s moments like that.]
Performances, albums, activities, the Dormitory—diverse answers filled the screen.
Ryu Chung-woo, who recalled Testa’s chants, and Bae Sae-jin, who felt it when idol stage videos appeared in YouTube’s algorithm.
And the final response.
[Sejini : When I miss who I was back then]
The common thread was….
Powerful longing, moments that stirred nostalgia.
Emotional memories.
“….”
I typed out a message in the chat.
[Apple : That helped. Thanks.]
The moment another notification appeared saying Gold had decreased.
I heard a voice.
“What are you looking at?”
I wasn’t surprised. I’d done it deliberately and openly anyway.
I opened my mouth to him.
“A chat window just popped up on my end showing a colleague I’ve recruited.”
“Hm?”
“Just in case—don’t try to check it yourself. It looks like a loophole.”
The GM shouldn’t see it. The system might block it, after all.
At that, he let out a dry chuckle.
“Thorough.”
“Yeah.”
I fell silent for a moment, then asked him a question.
“Can I use my status window function here?”
“If you have admin permission.”
“I want to try.”
….
Chung-ryeo didn’t refuse.
I pulled up the colleague list again.
[Shin Jae-hyun : Thinking about what a colleague said (//~^)]
I slowly opened my mouth.
“You were in the colleague list from the very beginning.”
“That’s right. I’m a GM.”
“And you had your memories from the start.”
I lifted my head. Chung-ryeo was standing there.
“You’ve never experienced an awakening.”
….
Let me think about that function.
The feature that returns memories upon awakening was actually a loophole function that Big Dal and I extracted from the description text of 【127 Section】.
It wasn’t something the system officially implemented.
‘Then.’
I could understand why it was such a rough method. It was a function that was never intended in the first place.
‘A wave of emotions and memories crashing down like that… is what they said.’
I opened my mouth.
“Don’t you want to try it once?”
“Why?”
“Because it might give you new information.”
….
He seemed lost in thought for a moment.
But soon, he nodded with a peculiar expression in his eyes.
‘That’s right.’
I pressed the awakening button for my colleague Shin Jae-hyun.

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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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