Debut or Die - Chapter 408

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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 408
Shin Jae-hyun’s memories formed layers upon layers of profound depth.
In the seabed-like strata accumulated through endless repetition and countless lifetimes, I had never deliberately touched the unnecessary parts.
That’s why there was no visible end.
Nothing moved.
My first attempt lay too deep in the abyss to be stirred by the fleeting shock born from the expedient interpretation called ‘awakening’.
Yet there was one layer I had touched.
The topmost one.
The most recent memory.
Reality.
Tap.
A ripple rises.
And coincidentally, the most recent life bore a distinctly unique form, unlike the average.
A life I had believed could never restart.
-Even if something X happens, you’ve made up your mind to live in reality….
Crude as it was, that expression I had just heard would be the right one.
Chung-ryeo had lived in the time after failure.
Tap.
Memories from that time ripple like small waves.
The beginning was an opportunity created by the same person.
-You can’t restart now.
Words spoken by Park Moon-dae, who had subdued me, as he stumbled out of the villa battered and bruised.
And perhaps, what mattered more was what came next.
-What you have now will never disappear.
That statement floated in my mind like a buoy during VTIC’s period of self-reflection, strange in its unfamiliarity.
I wasn’t moved to tears by grasping its specific meaning.
It merely became some vague marker.
If restart was impossible, what choices could I make?
What could I possess?
I first brought a dog home. There would be no more confusion about which dog I was raising.
I wrote new songs. I could no longer monopolize songs that had succeeded at future points in time.
I pursued solo activities. The group’s performance was no longer the standard for all success metrics.
Yet VTIC did not sink.
Failure did not disappear. But neither did the things built upon that failure—a life where nothing vanishes.
Still, throughout all of this, doubt remained.
‘Why am I doing this?’
It was a pure question rather than emptiness.
Because every action felt devoid of purpose as its driving force.
A life without a mission.
An unfamiliar landscape I had to create without answers, with an ignorant mind.
Shin Jae-hyun slowly reconfirms how it settles gently into everyday life.
Tap.
The ripples overlap.
Then the current, without thought, suddenly recalls a single memory bearing a shape remarkably similar to it.
Down there, at the end of the unseen abyss.
The very first restart.
-What is this….
I believed it was the one chance given to me again.
Because of that, there existed a life I believed could never restart. My younger, ignorant self.
I don’t know the exact shape of that memory. It’s invisible. It remains only as information, not the original.
‘That’s right.’
It’s not worth reading. Shin Jae-hyun felt this.
It should have ended there originally.
But the unconscious moves again from there.
…?
In an instant, the ripple rises like roots, creating minute fractures in the strata of memory.
And it resonates faintly throughout the abyss. A tremor without even the force of stimulation.
But between the layers of countless attempts and repetitions, similar shapes appear.
Very rarely, occasionally.
Accidental harmony.
Testimony bleeding through rainwater.
Performance during injury.
What situation it was, what emotion it held, what pain it carried—none of it surfaces.
Because the abyss of experience has already accumulated immensely deep and in layers.
Everything is merely a faint taste.
But sometimes traces alone were enough.
Because they became proof of having existed there.
That feeling that no matter how many times I restart, that one brilliant moment will never come again.
-Please.
Tap.
It wasn’t a life I believed couldn’t restart. I simply didn’t want to.
There were moments when I thought of it not as opportunity but as loss.
‘I knew.’
Afterimages that suddenly came to mind while watching Park Moon-dae desperately struggling not to restart.
-…I think I was like that too.
But as I moved forward, what was already crushed beneath the strata holds no value.
It’s merely useless sentiment.
Whatever that moment felt like, failure meant restart would come anyway.
Because I thought of it as nothing but an inefficient impulse delaying progress to the next stage.
-….
The ripple dissipated. The water grew still once more.
His foundation remained solid, and the depths remained unseen.
Shin Jae-hyun contemplated.
Nothing had changed.
Still, there was no absolute advantage to be gained by returning to the previous reality.
VTIC would never sustain the golden age it had once known.
An indelible stigma now clung to the group’s once-pristine reputation.
The vacant position would have to remain empty forever.
And yet.
Despite all that.
He didn’t want to abandon it.
Just as he had wanted to linger long ago, knowing that everything would disappear if he restarted.
Simply because that’s what he wanted to do.
Was that irrational impulse itself the true driving force of life?
Chung-ryeo opened his eyes.
He met a gaze that observed him, or perhaps worried for him.
“Ah.”
He reflexively ran his fingers beneath his chin.
Naturally, there was no moisture.
The brief ripple had passed like a gentle wave, not a massive surge or impact.
Yet it had left a mark nonetheless.
“….”
Chung-ryeo acknowledged it.
His own impulse to return to reality.
Whether he could do it again here or not, whether it held meaning as Park Moon-dae said—that it happened only once—none of it mattered.
So he opened his mouth.
“There’s no new information.”
“….”
“But I do have something I want to ask.”
And he asked the question he had long pondered but never articulated.
“Why do I want to return to reality?”
Park Moon-dae didn’t snap at him, demanding where his ears had been during everything he’d said so far.
He simply held back a sigh and spoke.
“Your reality is yours to begin with, so of course you don’t want to abandon it. Who wants to just throw away what’s theirs?”
“…!”
Because life was inherently one’s own, the desire to preserve it completely, to possess it entirely, was only natural.
That impulse and longing—Shin Jae-hyun was slowly reclaiming them.
So Park Moon-dae spoke again, roughly.
“Let’s go back, you bastard.”
“….”
I still couldn’t give a rational explanation for why it had to be this way.
But perhaps not knowing was the very essence of impulse.
And now I was allowed to act on impulse.
Chung-ryeo opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
“…!”
“And… I think I need to adjust the plan a bit.”
He brought up the hologram again.
Numerous windows flooded the display, yet no one so much as blinked.
“If you absolutely won’t stay here, I think there might be one more method worth using.”
“….”
“What do you think?”
The person before me didn’t refuse. Instead, he nodded slightly.
“Tell me.”

* * *
Tick.
The clock began moving again.
“Phew.”
I ended the 【Temporal Pause】 state roughly an hour or two later, subjectively speaking, after reaching a dramatic agreement with Chung-ryeo.
‘Damn, I’m exhausted.’
I pressed my temples and returned to my room.
Fortunately, after the agreement, we managed to have quite a productive conversation during the frozen time.
‘And… I’m not entirely clueless about why that bastard ended up like this.’
But that doesn’t erase the fact that the son of a bitch stabbed me in the back. I’m definitely marking this as a debt and making sure he pays it back somehow.
-How is it?
Of course, discovering what that bastard could actually do right now was a good sign.
I reviewed my strategy based on several facts I’d uncovered while analyzing his UI window.
Just as he said, the GM’s status window had some genuinely useful functions. It was an extreme approach by any measure, so I’d need to attach proper safeguards.
‘I’ll need to add a few more steps to the process.’
I set my mind to work.
Meanwhile, popups kept ringing.
[Brother, I’m so glad, really….]
[I mean, you said it wasn’t that dangerous of a situation, but still!]
[I’m going to keep watch on that person from now on! Definitely!]
I said I got it.
The guy who looked like he’d been crying through text for an hour kept rambling on like that, and only after a while did he disappear, saying something about feeling “incredibly tired for some reason.”
‘Good grief.’
After all that fussing, it made sense. I clicked my tongue, recalling the remaining Gold amount and the naturally deactivated ‘Gold Shop.’
‘He’s really trying hard.’
In any case, seeing Gold 2—Kwon Hee-seung—send a signal like this meant I’d chosen the right direction.
“Phew.”
I collapsed onto the bed. Only then did the tension finally drain away.
And instead of the now-silent popup, I picked up my smartphone, which had become a cacophony of notifications.
The culprits were none other than the group chat members.
-Bae Sae-jin: Seriously
The moment time resumed flowing, they unleashed every conceivable reaction and question, so I gave them a proper explanation of this systemic situation.
And I explained that Chung-ryeo was involved and that I’d managed to persuade him.
Everything from “you must have had it rough” to “solving such a supernatural crisis—truly, Moon-dae hyung, your capabilities are exceptional” came pouring in….
And it had finally reached this point.
-Cha Yu-jin: We can use telepathy! LIIIIIIITTTT (sunglasses emoji)
-Keun Se-jin: Wow, is this what Mundae was talking about? Haha, it really is like a cartoon movie!
It was an analysis of the chat function’s capabilities.
Surprisingly, the chat feature hadn’t disappeared and could still be summoned.
However, since Sun Ah-hyun was the room owner, it seemed only he could open the chat room.
-Sun Ah-hyun: I was a bit surprised, but I’m really glad it helped. If anything seems wrong next time, I’ll turn it on right away!
-Sun Ah-hyun: (smiling emoji)
-Ryu Chung-woo hyung: Even if that’s not the case, couldn’t we use it as a distress signal in emergencies? It would be really useful if we could use it in real life too
-Kim Rae-bin: Exactly. Although it does consume Gold as an energy source, the ability to communicate in crisis situations is such a significant merit that we shouldn’t hesitate to use it!
If Gold 2 heard that, he’d probably cry.
I answered their questions about how to use the chat room and where the Gold came from, and didn’t fall asleep until past midnight.
Instead of beating that bastard into submission, I’d gained information and functionality—not a bad trade-off, I thought.
And the next day.
“Actually, I was there too.”
“…??”
“In the chat room, that is.”
Ju Dan muttered expressionlessly. I nearly spat out my water.
‘…So that’s why the room count showed eight members.’
It was him, not Big Dal. He’d brought all his colleagues along.
Ryu Chung-woo asked from the dining table with a slightly bewildered expression.
“Um, did we perhaps make you uncomfortable, which is why you didn’t mention it?”
“Not exactly. It’s just that having an outsider suddenly burst in and disrupt the narrative flow during such a moving climactic moment would be terrorism.”
“…?”
Just drink some water.
But one of them takes the bait.
“…! Could it be because we’re from a different group?”
“Rather, it’s the fact that we don’t share the same narrative. It’s not simply a matter of being divided by organizational affiliation. Context is what matters.”
“Oh….”
This won’t do.
I watched Kim Rae-bin sink into complicated thoughts before opening my mouth.
“That’s why I’m thinking of making you not an outsider.”
“Is there perhaps a past I haven’t remembered yet? A second awakening?”
No, that’s not it.
I pointed my finger at the Chung-ryeo bastard coming out of the room.
“I’m going to have him do it.”
“…??”
I needed to extract payment for working someone like a dog for hours.
A few days later.
I checked the package in the mail tab of the status window I’d received while progressing the main quest.
“Nothing but teammate recruitment tickets come out of here anyway.”
“That’s right.”
He now willingly provided information. I nodded and checked the details inside the mail.
[4-Star Guaranteed Ticket]
[5-Star Guaranteed Ticket]
These are guaranteed tickets for people whose probabilities he manipulated.
I can already guess who that monster is who received five stars despite having no real connection to me, but anyway, now I just need to set things up.
“What if we create a welcoming atmosphere to soften the shock?”
“Yeah Party~”
A good suggestion.
I hit Chung-ryeo.
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
“You do it.”
Do it if you have a conscience.
Of course, this bastard has no conscience. So I’ll make him do it anyway.
And shortly after.
“What’s going on?”
“Huh…?”
Jin Chae-yul and Oh Yoon-shin, returning from a one-night, two-day entertainment shoot, encountered an unexpected sight.
“Hyung…?”
“….”
Chung-ryeo, wearing a party hat and holding a massive sign reading “Welcome VTIC” in both hands, was smiling.
I stuffed a party elephant trumpet into that grin. Chung-ryeo’s smile deepened.
It seemed like a warning that asking questions would get them killed, but fortunately the two of them saw the living room first.
Candles and balloons, confetti.
The party starter pack.
Color rose to Jin Chae-yul’s face.
“A surprise party…? But it’s not my birthday!”
“Right?”
“No.”
I clapped with an expressionless face.
Clap, clap.
The others followed suit, joining in the applause.
“It’s a welcome-back party.”
“…??”
“There might be some shock involved, but it won’t harm your body, so please don’t worry.”
Then I cracked open the two confirmed selection tickets I’d received in the mail.
[★★★★ Oh Yoon-shin / Lead Rapper]
[★★★★★ Jin Chae-yul / Center]
After a brief adjustment period.
“Welcome. We’re honored to have you, senior.”
“…??”
“We’re truly delighted that you’ve joined Wishes.”
Ju Dan waves his hand. Chae Yul, staggering as he pulls himself upright, wears a face full of question marks, while Shin O looks like he might faint.
I spoke solemnly.
“However, I’m afraid we’ll need you to start working right away.”
“Pardon?”
“Our comeback is just around the corner.”
“What…??”
And so the joint K-pop hellfire camp was officially opened.

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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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