Debut or Die - Chapter 427

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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 427
VTIC’s charity concert was rapidly taking shape.
The lineup was spectacular.
-Wow, Maximate is performing too
-Wasn’t VTIC supposed to just do their own thing? How’d they get everyone?
Wait, the person I just recruited is recruiting someone else too—isn’t this a pyramid scheme? Like a chain letter guest recruitment lolololol
Famous idols, solo ballad singers and rappers, trot singers—everyone was there.
I even heard that Malang Dalcom was reuniting after a long time to perform. The public appeal had skyrocketed to the level of a general variety show.
[So you’re going to see Testa and end up watching all these other guests too?]
Not exactly.
‘The guests were planned purely for broadcast purposes.’
They’d divided it into Part 1 with only VTIC and Part 2 with the guests.
Only Part 1 would be enjoyed offline with fans, and Part 2, pre-recorded with the guests, would be mixed in and broadcast together on the Internet and CVN.
‘Smart planning.’
Fans who’d reserved tickets to see VTIC’s complete lineup before their hiatus would definitely be annoyed if the guests took up half the show.
By avoiding that while keeping each guest’s name value high, the event’s prestige rose, and VTIC’s position as the host became even more solidified in the public eye.
‘This design has Chung-ryeo’s fingerprints all over it.’
Thanks to that, the broadcasting company was already excited and running advertisements everywhere.
Seeing how this was playing out, I had no regrets about deciding to perform.
‘If I’d turned this down, it would’ve been awkward.’
Since the format was similar, there would definitely be YouTube critics comparing it to that awkward bundled broadcast concert we did.
-Is this the difference in planning? The class and dignity of Retti’s VTIC VS Testa who fell into the abyss with T1 Stars
Something like that.
Yeah, when you get involved with VTIC, you have to watch out for traps first. I nodded at the landmine I’d avoided.
Anyway, time passed, and it was Sunday afternoon of the second week of October.
Testa was changing into costumes in the Broadcasting Station’s waiting room.
“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since all of us did something together as Testa.”
“That’s right, hyung~ It’s been quite a while since we appeared on a music broadcast.”
Today we were scheduled to take the stage for the pre-recording of this charity concert, 【VTIC’s Save the World】.
In other words, the audience seating would only have Testa fans recruited for broadcast purposes.
‘This is going to be exactly like a music broadcast.’
I suddenly laughed at the memory of my first pre-recording back when I debuted. I’d set off SNS notifications at dawn trying to prove I’d received a lunch box and scared everyone.
“Malang Dalcom’s senior was right before us… yeah, and VTIC’s seniors are doing their pre-recording right after us.”
“Ah~ Is it today?”
“Then we should contact them to say we’ll come greet them after our stage!”
We finished preparing while chatting and headed to the stage.
Cameras were lined up across the stage before us.
‘There’s even a drone.’
Even for a broadcasting station without music broadcasts, they’d put in quite a bit of effort.
The staff seemed a bit short-handed, but since it wasn’t live, post-production editing would probably cover it.
First things first.
“Hello, everyone!”
“Is anyone hungry? Oh, you’re fine? Okay!”
Lights and cheers blazed before my eyes.
The audience seating, spacious enough to hold around a thousand people, was completely packed. Big Dal was probably somewhere out there, but true to form, he wasn’t popping up any messages to give himself away.
I chuckled and waved my hand. The harness belt attached to my costume swayed along with it.
‘We’re allocated sixteen minutes, right?’
Perfect timing for exactly four songs plus a bit of special performance.
-So we’re going with ‘Savior’, ‘Promise’, ‘Black Hole’, and ‘Wheel’?
And in the final arrangement of Wheel, we’d layer in Drill, culminating in a spectacular transition to daybreak.
I thought we’d struck the best balance between our latest tracks and crowd appeal.
‘Recording time should take about two hours.’
“Then we’ll get started.”
Like any other pre-recorded broadcast, I finished light banter and fan service toward the audience seating, then took formation with the group.
From my position on the right flank, I bent forward and thought it through.
‘I’ll be behind the dancers, then burst out into the camera’s view. So I need to watch the angle carefully….’
Then.
Thud.
Suddenly.
My breath caught.
“Gasp.”
My head spun. The lights and backing track warped, my ears rang with a muffled sensation, and colors blurred across my vision.
Something was wrong.
“…Moon-dae?”
My body felt abnormal, like sleep paralysis—something wasn’t right….
‘Intoxication?’
A strange chemical reaction seemed to be happening inside my body. My heart raced, my hair stood on end,
What had I done?
“Park Moon-dae!”
I staggered, then braced myself with my arm.
My elbow was cold. The dusty texture of the stage floor pressed against my cheek.
Wait—was my face planted on the ground?
“…!”
Suddenly, my hearing cleared.
“Over here!”
“Move him, we need to move him.”
Whoosh.
Tension surged from my head to my fingertips. As my mind cleared, I realized I’d been lying backstage covered in a blanket or something.
A hand gripped my shoulder in front of me.
“Park Moon-dae! Park Moon-dae, look at me. Where are you right now?”
Lee Sae-jin.
I gasped for breath.
“…Broadcasting Station.”
“What were you doing?”
“Stage, cough!”
I can’t breathe again, damn it.
I cough as if I’ve inhaled something wrong. It wasn’t from pain.
It was from shock.
‘Suddenly.’
As if I were being chased by a murderer in the dead of night, or precariously standing on one foot at the edge of a rooftop railing, an overwhelming pressure crashes down on me.
My vision spins.
“Call 911! Get an ambulance, quickly!”
“Let’s observe the situation a bit more first….”
“Park Moon-dae can’t breathe and you want to observe?!”
I raised my hand.
And I slapped my own face.
Smack.
The sound is pathetic since I couldn’t clench my fist properly, but at least the pain snaps my head back into focus.
“…Wait.”
“…!”
“If you get up…!”
I didn’t refuse Sun Ah-hyun’s attempt to support me, and I swallowed hard before speaking.
“If I rest a bit, I think it’ll be okay.”
This is a mental issue. My body is fine.
The problem is I don’t understand the cause….
“…I have no idea.”
There are plenty of people in this industry with panic disorder, and everyone will probably think that’s what this is… but doesn’t there need to be a trigger for it to happen in the first place?
‘There wasn’t one.’
Damn it, I was just looking at the audience seating without thinking about anything, or wait, if that’s the case….
‘…I collapsed on stage right now.’
Shit.
“How’s the atmosphere up there?”
“Is this really what you should be worrying about right now?!”
“Hyung, just a moment.”
Lee Sae-jin spoke calmly.
“You probably didn’t notice. You were in a spot where you weren’t very visible.”
“….”
“Right? They’ll probably just think you stumbled.”
I understand. But….
“Hyung, are you feeling cold by any chance? Does it feel like your body temperature is dropping?”
“Hold on a second.”
I must have been trembling. I heard a few people around me rushing off to fetch blankets.
Then I heard Ryu Chung-woo speaking to a staff member.
“Please. I’ll call an ambulance.”
“No, wait.”
My brain isn’t working. Don’t call one.
“Please.”
Ryu Chung-woo snatched the smartphone from the staff member’s hand and rushed over in an instant.
Then he asked in a low voice so no one else could hear.
“…Hyung, did you see something uncomfortable up there? Tell me and I’ll have it removed. I’ll relay it properly.”
“No, it’s not that.”
That’s not it.
No, my head feels like it’s about to split. No, it’s not my brain—it’s my spine or heart….
‘What is this.’
My thoughts are a mess. Never in my life have I encountered such illogical, incomprehensible circumstances.
My heartbeat echoes through my skull. The hair on my head stands on end.
Meanwhile, I hear bickering beside me. The Manager seems to be arguing with someone else….
“Why is he taking a call right now, come on…!”
A call?
“Yes. I’ll try to cut it off on my end first….”
“Who is it.”
“…!”
The voices stopped. Finally, some quiet.
The Manager looked flustered, but soon he reflexively opened his mouth and answered, looking at me.
‘That’s….’
I read his lips.
Damn.
“…Give it to me.”
“Hey!”
I snatched the smartphone from the Manager with trembling hands.
And brought it to my ear.
-Junior Member.
Chung-ryeo.
Apparently word of my breakdown had spread to the waiting room where he’d just arrived, but I need to think. I have to think about this.
‘The fact that this bastard went out of his way to call….’
It’s definitely not out of concern.
-What are your symptoms like.
…This was when I realized something.
-Excessive alertness beyond what’s necessary.
-Contextless pressure. If this is your first time… hyperventilation, fear, a sense of crisis. Everything feels out of place.
—So it’s this kind of situation.
Yeah.
How did you know?
—….
A brief silence stretched across the smartphone connection, but soon a voice filtered through.
A voice so low it seemed drained of all color.
—That’s a mission failure symptom.
“….”
What?

—You called it ‘Abnormal State’, didn’t you, Junior Member?
What are you talking about?
It’s been ages since we got rid of it—no, it’s been even longer since it transferred from me to Gold 2. So what could possibly….
Wait.
‘…Abnormal State.’
Abnormal State. Suddenly, I remembered it.
That strange afterimage I’d seen at the beach after visiting the grave.
[Sudden Event!]
Abnormal State: ‘Either ■■ or ■■’ occurs!
It’s absurd, truly nonsensical, but….
If that wasn’t a hallucination, that is.
“….”
“Park Moon-dae, what are you hearing?”
The voice on the other end of the smartphone rang out again.
—Junior Member, haven’t you felt recently like there’s something you absolutely must accomplish?
The moment I realize it.
It appears.
Piercing through the crackling static, finally rising up… the notification.
[!Abnormal State: ‘Success or Death’]
Failure to sell one million albums within the designated period results in death.
It doesn’t end there.
There’s an additional note attached below.
[※■■■’s Penalty]
: Time reduced (1/4)
And naturally, it comes to mind.
The date I checked on my smartphone the moment I regained consciousness on the airplane.
—Saturday, July 9th
And I recall today’s date.
Sunday of the second week in October.
—Sunday, October 9th
Exactly three months. One quarter.
‘…One-fourth of a year.’
It had all passed.
Then, if I looked further down at this additional message….
[Time Remaining: D-1]
Damn it.
Chills raced down my spine before I could even process it, and I asked myself again.
‘One day left.’
So that’s why I was so anxious? My survival instinct kicked in and screamed at me to do something, anything, right now?
My mind answered.
‘No.’
Let me calculate this coldly. The dates had indeed passed.
Then.
It wasn’t that one day remained—it was that less than a day remained, so it was displayed as one day.
And this was,
-Junior Member.
not a rush, but a warning alarm that everything had fallen apart.
[Time Remaining: D-1]
[Time Remaining: D-0]
-Get up right now.
-Because impossible things are about to happen from this moment on.
Beeeeeep!
[!FAILURE]
Abnormal Status: Success or Death
Deadline
My heart pounded violently.
-Right now.
I jolted awake.
“Moon-dae?”
And I bolted down the corridor. My head was ringing.
“Moon-dae, that way—!”
I heard voices.
Crrrrrack.
Boom.
And stage equipment began crashing down above me.
I rolled my body and started running toward the edge of the stage.

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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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