Debut or Die - Chapter 429

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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 429
Direct conversations with fans were rare.
In truth, they were uncommon. Most interactions happened indirectly—through the glow of light sticks swaying on stage, or through posts on the Internet.
Even at fan signing events, conversations were brief, conducted in crowded spaces while standing in line with others.
So moments like this, speaking one-on-one, were extraordinarily rare.
“….”
Even though I was trapped in a tilted room hanging precariously above a collapsed stage.
Even though I could die at any moment.
“Why are you here? Why are you here?!”
A voice called out from beyond the wall. Panic-stricken.
Not quite fear or hysteria—just shock at the stage collapse itself.
‘…They don’t know.’
I slowly regained my composure and assessed the situation.
The light stick the fan was holding was bright enough, but it shone forward rather than illuminating the space beyond, so its effect was limited.
It only made me visible to them.
So the fan could only make out my silhouette and general outline.
My actual condition and situation remained obscured.
I swallowed and opened my mouth.
“…I came to get something, and got trapped. I’m fine.”
Was I fine?
The wall was blocking the way anyway. In such an unstable situation, there was no way something this bizarre and insane would spiral to involve this person too….
‘Idiot.’
I should have just let them go. Why was I creating variables?
“What do I do, wait, just a moment. I’ll call people….”
“No, please. If it gets too chaotic, that won’t be good.”
Letting them go would be a problem now. They’d call others.
The strange thing was that this actually felt reassuring.
“Oh, um, right…. Sorry, sorry! Then… should I go around to the other side and try opening the door?”
“It could be dangerous. How about we wait for rescue like this?”
“Uh….”
I needed to keep talking to buy time. My eyes burned hot.
I never thought I’d feel this way. It was almost funny enough to laugh.
‘Stupid bastard.’
I stepped further back, leaning against the door as if against the wall, and gripped the metal shelf again. With more distance secured, I felt calmer.
I wouldn’t let them get involved.
And I opened my mouth without thinking.
“Are the others okay?”
“I’m not sure, but… the members probably all got out. After the announcement came and everyone evacuated with the audience….”
That was at least a relief. To keep myself from growing complacent with false reassurance, I bit my tongue and asked.
“…What about you?”
“Me, me? I’m… oh, it’s fine! I’m not hurt or anything, and the building seems to have mostly stopped shaking.”
Apparently, this person had been searching for where the Production Team had gathered the phones they’d confiscated to prevent spoilers.
And while carefully climbing the Emergency Stairwell, they’d spotted me beyond the collapsed wall.
“I got trapped because I was slow getting out. I was sitting in the front row.”
I laughed weakly. My mouth tasted bitter from being drawn into conversation.
“Yes, I saw you.”
“…You saw me?!”
“Yes. You were sitting in the front left. So from your perspective, it would be the right.”
“Huh.”
Truth be told, I think I’d seen them occasionally since my debut, but there was no need to bring that up.
I just needed to keep the conversation going.
“How did you come here? Did you have time because it’s the weekend?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m not working—I’m a Graduate Student.”
Majoring in bioengineering, raising a dog….
It seemed they were quite anxious too, because they were sharing personal details they probably wouldn’t normally tell a stranger.
And why they liked me, which of my performances and broadcast moments made them feel affection and want to support me.
There was a warmth in the familiar yet strange story that didn’t match the situation.
Maybe that’s why we kept talking. To forget the situation.
“…I see.”
I listened quietly to it all.
This wasn’t so bad.
And as the other person’s tension gradually eased, they seemed to realize again that they were trapped in the building, and now they asked a question.
“Hey… did you stop the performance earlier because something felt off?”
“Something like that.”
They probably didn’t see me collapse.
Moreover, thinking about it, the fact that they weren’t surprised I was alive suggested they also didn’t see me burst out of there.
They wouldn’t mention someone who seemed to have been crushed to death by stage equipment, worried it might upset me.
“…Thank you. For worrying about me.”
“…!! What are you saying? Of course… ah. This is the middle of Seoul, so they’ll be here to rescue us soon. Don’t worry… let’s just wait a little longer!”
Their voice was deliberately pitched higher, bright and spirited.
I laughed.
“Yes.”
I’d made my decision.
At the same time,
Crack, crack, crack.
A sound came from the door behind me.
And a premonition.
Cold sweat and unease, the precarious sensation of complete failure.
It had returned.
‘…It’s over.’
In that instant, sharp judgment returned to me.
What if I lunged forward right now and somehow vaulted over that open wall where the fan was standing?
Just like how I’d thrown myself into this storage room.
‘If I time it just right….’
“….”
“…Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?”
The probability of getting caught up with that fan was… extremely high.
“No, I’m fine.”
That’s right.
I released the metal shelf.
At the same moment, an ominous crushing sound erupted from behind.
The sound of the door being obliterated.
“…!”
“Ah.”
Screeeeeech—
Concrete scraped against concrete, fracturing.
The small storage room descended with an eerie sound, plummeting downward.
“…!!”
At that same instant, I leaped through the shattered doorway.
Thud.
But the corridor was already completely destroyed. Moreover, because the storage room had tilted, my hands barely reached the corridor floor—not my feet.
All that remained was black void.
“Gasp!”
Grab.
I barely managed to catch the edge of the destroyed corridor and hang on.
‘…This won’t work.’
But my cursed hands lacked the strength.
My limbs, already exhausted from repeated use, couldn’t output enough power—one hand alone couldn’t support my entire body weight.
‘I’m going to fall soon.’
Behind the roar, I thought I heard screams and someone calling out to me.
“….”
But it’s fine.
This choice was right, not the other way.
If I can’t escape no matter what, then at least I should choose how I go out.
Clinging to a concrete fragment with protruding rebar, I thought what would probably be my final thought.
-Hyun!
“….”
Given this situation, there was one last attempt I could make.
‘Status window.’
Open the status window and contact Big Dal….
[Settlement in Progress]
In that instant, as if a cruel joke, the blood-stained hand slipped away.
“…!!”
I plummeted into the void.
A brief, dizzying sensation.
Then came the moment when a cool darkness would envelop my entire body with a tremendous impact and searing pain.
…
[Search Request from ??! (101)]
[Search Request from ??! (102)]
[Search Request from ??! (103)]
[Confirmed]
The world stopped.
As if time had slowed infinitely, as if watching a lantern show of my life, my consciousness accelerated.
And the status window before my eyes became suddenly, starkly transparent. Hundreds of pop-ups overlapped, shimmering with light.
New pop-ups appearing above them.
[Search Complete!]
[Result: ‘Title’ Confirmed]
What is this.
[Title: The Successful One (Idol)]
-You have succeeded.
: Permanent Removal of Status Abnormalities
‘Ah.’
Now I remember.
This was the reward I received after clearing my last status abnormality and finishing the truth verification at Bae Sae-jin’s House.
The law that Big Dal received from the System and expressed in language.
…The status window’s guarantee that I would never suffer from status abnormalities again.
Then.
‘This damn situation right now is… contradicting the title,’
That was when.
Whoosh.
Pain.
Gripping my wrist, I halted mid-air, caught by an immense pressure and a force that felt like it would tear me apart.
Time flowed again.
I heard a voice.
“Moon-dae…!”
I lifted my head.
On the concrete. A deathly pale face and hands gripping my arm came into view.
It was Sun Ah-hyun.
“…!”
I had no idea why he was here or what this situation was.
Yet pain screamed that reality was undeniable.
“Wait, hold on,”
Sun Ah-hyun pulled me toward him with surprising strength.
And beyond the status window, words materialized across his desperate face.
[Error!]
[Error Detected: Abnormal Status Occurred]
[Recovery Attempt]
I gasped for breath.
[Correcting…]
[‘Abnormal Status Failed’ → ‘Mission Failed’]
[Penalty Recovery….]
The status window transformed.
More stable now.
[Sudden!]
Mission Failed: Building Collapse
– Disaster of a collapsing structure
: Time until next disaster 00:59:59
One hour.
“Hah.”
“It’s, it’s okay, it’s okay….”
My breathing gradually steadied.
The tension that had filled me to my fingertips and the irrational pressure drained away like a receding tide, leaving behind fatigue, pain, and rational anxiety as I slowly melted.
“It’s okay….”
Leaning almost entirely against Sun Ah-hyun, I slowly accepted it.
“….”
That I was still alive.

* * *
“H-here’s some water.”
“…Thanks.”
I accepted the plastic water bottle Sun Ah-hyun offered. My teeth were chattering, making it difficult to drink, but I managed to consume what I could and wipe my mouth clean—revealing the label.
‘This is…’
It wasn’t something prepared with cameras in mind.
‘…It couldn’t have come from a vending machine without coins.’
Fundamentally, we were all in our Stage costumes with nothing else—it would be absurd to bring anything in our pockets onto the Stage.
This mystery was solved moments later.
“…!! Hyung! Are you alright??”
As I shifted slightly with Sun Ah-hyun’s support, I encountered Kim Rae-bin, who had methodically gathered an emergency flashlight and was carrying plenty of water.
It turned out these two had bolted to the Waiting Room like arrows the moment they thought I looked cold, searching for a blanket, only to be separated from the other members by the collapse.
‘They don’t know the Stage equipment collapsed on top of me.’
There was no need to tell them.
“…Your wounds are severe. There should be a first aid kit in the Waiting Room, so let’s disinfect them first….”
“Got it.”
I soothed the nearly tearful Kim Rae-bin as calmly as I could and asked the essential question.
“So this is the second floor where the Waiting Room is.”
“That’s correct….”
The water came from the Waiting Room. The path down to the first floor Backstage had been blocked when the Stage ceiling collapsed.
Which meant…
“What about the other staff?”
“During evacuation, we got separated… I don’t know where they went.”
“….”
I narrowed my eyes, studying the two of them. Now that I looked closer, they were both covered in dust as if they’d rolled through a dirt pit.
Don’t tell me these bastards picked up some strange noise during evacuation and decided to stay here looking for me.
But that’s a conversation for after we escape, so let’s move on.
‘Right.’
Escape.
I checked the status window popup that had appeared earlier again.
I hadn’t actually closed it.
…I was afraid it would disappear.
[Mission Failed: Building Collapse]
– A catastrophic disaster of collapsing death
: Until next accident 00:55:37
It had changed from an abnormal state failure to a mission failure, with a narrower scope and slightly more considerate wording.
‘Is it because I have the “Mission Constitution” trait that it connected to that?’
It seemed to have forced the explanation to fit somehow.
Still, if I’d seen that message in the status window before this disaster struck, I would’ve wanted to lose my mind.
But now that it’s come to this, I’m actually reassured. What’s an hour anyway.
‘At least I can try.’
If your favorite idol collapsed and died right in front of you during a conversation, that would be genuine trauma. At minimum, I wanted to leave some trace that I’d survived even after that.
I headed to the Waiting Room and accepted the emergency first aid that Kim Rae-bin insisted on.
“My back….”
“You can get proper treatment once we’re out of here.”
The hand treating my back trembled.
“What… what exactly were you doing upstairs all this time…?”
“….”
I hesitated for a moment, then changed the subject.
To what I needed to do going forward.
“Actually, I was looking for Big Dal.”
“Big Dal…?”
“You saw him on that Gold Chat before, remember?”
“Oh!”
The one who’d attempted countless searches on my status window just now was definitely that bastard. Only he could access the status window.
‘And it looks like he twisted my title and mission constitution together to create some loophole in the interpretation.’
It resembled the kind of work I’d had him do many times before.
…He’d done everything he could to keep me alive.
If that’s the case.
‘…I need to meet him directly and confirm whether Big Dal knows something more, and whether he can handle this in a similar way.’
But communication was impossible right now.
[‘Mission Failed’ Penalty: Status window auxiliary functions are restricted.]
This message appeared every time I tried to initiate a popup chat with Big Dal.
‘I have no choice but to meet him in person.’
So let me be honest up to this point for cooperation’s sake.
“This situation appeared on my status window like a warning.”
I explained the general situation, then swallowed hard and spoke.
“So I need to find Big Dal somehow and ask if he knows anything….”
“No, you can’t.”
“…!?”
“You’re too badly hurt right now. Until rescue arrives, I’ll… I’ll check on things.”
“I want to do that too.”
Not really, but let me say it that way at least.
Regardless.
“If I just stay still… this building collapses again in 49 minutes and 31 seconds, supposedly.”
“…!!”
“There might be a way to stop it, so I have to try everything.”
I pushed myself up. Some strength seemed to be returning.
I had to move.
Given his nature, that bastard would definitely still be in the building, even seeing it in this state.

* * *
“….”
Chung-ryeo pressed the call button on his smartphone.
The customer’s phone is turned off. Connecting to voicemail…
Beep.
Still the same sound echoed.
No answer.
But the evidence before his eyes didn’t lie.
He opened the emergency stairwell door and gazed upon the collapsed third-floor corridor.
He must have rushed through here. And….
‘He was alive.’
At least, up to this point.
He looked down and activated the flashlight function on his smartphone. Concrete and metal fragments lay scattered chaotically.
No blood.
“Perhaps we should find where the announcement broadcast is coming from….”
“Be quiet.”
“….”
Ju Dan closed his mouth.
‘Did I follow for nothing.’
He’d seen the leader leave the waiting room and followed on a premonition of trouble, only to find himself trapped in a collapsed building.
‘There was a game like this once….’
Ju Dan squinted his eyes and followed Chung-ryeo down the emergency stairwell.

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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
—————