Debut or Die - Chapter 43

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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 43
Outside the MusicBomb stage where the third team competition would take place, the crowd was absolutely packed.
And the majority of that crowd weren’t even spectators—they were people who’d come hoping to catch at least some sound from outside.
One university student squeezing through the throng to get in line was thoroughly annoyed by this fact.
‘They can’t even get in, so why are they swarming around like this?’
She couldn’t understand how they could get so excited about something they couldn’t even see.
‘It was the same during the second round last time, but the crowd’s gotten even bigger.’
She grimaced and took her place in the entry line. Judging by its length, it would take forever to get inside.
‘This is so annoying.’
The people in front and behind her held distributed slogans and snacks. Coincidentally, the names written on those slogans were all the same.
[Park Moon-dae ♡ Debut]
‘…He’s really gotten popular.’
She recalled the second round team competition and pouted.
The person sitting next to her had been a Park Moon-dae fan, which had annoyed her, but of all things, Kim Rae-bin—who she liked—had been on the same team as Park Moon-dae.
‘Why do people like that concept-obsessed guy?’
She grumbled.
However, she was still in denial about how she’d gone absolutely wild with enthusiasm the moment the stage ended at the last team competition.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to mock Park Moon-dae on the Internet anymore.
‘…Well, he was decent on stage anyway, so I’m just giving him credit for that.’
She tried to convince herself as she looked away from Park Moon-dae’s slogan. Whoever had designed it, it was pretty—which only irritated her more.
“Please maintain order!”
“Don’t push!”
They’d entered in order according to the numbers they’d received beforehand, but from the middle onward, people started running. Since there were no assigned seats and it was all standing room, getting in first gave you an advantage.
She grabbed the fence right in front of the stage.
‘Yes!!’
She couldn’t help but praise herself for successfully getting her viewing application approved on the eighteenth try.
It had been possible thanks to the Production Team switching back to first-come-first-served applications after the surge in viewing requests.
‘I’ll be able to see everything up close.’
Her heart raced. But it was only after time dragged on until that anticipation began turning into discomfort that the MC finally entered.
“Welcome to the third team competition stage of 【Idol Stock Company】!”
Relief, joy, and irritation mixed together and erupted in explosive cheers.
‘Just start already!!’
She shouted internally while gripping the fence tightly.
“This team competition’s theme is 【Self-Produced】! From song selection to stage design, every element of the performance was directly chosen and created by the participants!”
‘Kim Rae-bin definitely did well with this!’
Thinking of her own stock—the only thing she was bad at was politics—she cheered along with the other spectators in her excitement.
“Furthermore, by analyzing the shareholders’ previous purchasing trends through big data algorithms, the participants who the shareholders collectively favor have been placed on the same team!”
At the MC’s words, spectators throughout the venue muttered about what nonsense this was.
It wasn’t that they didn’t understand the words—the point was simply why they’d gone through with such a pointless scheme instead of just holding a separate vote.
In any case, the MC nonchalantly finished the opening.
“Your expectations seem quite high, so let’s reveal the opening stage right now!”
“Kyaaaaaah!!”
“The song chosen by the participants is… ‘I Love the Waiting’ by Sensibility Dol Maximize!”
The audience immediately turned their focus toward the Stage.
Hopeful eyes gleamed in anticipation—perhaps their favorite participant would appear now—as they fixed their gaze on the darkened Stage.
‘It would be nice if I came out a bit later… ah, never mind! Come out now!!’
As if answering that wish, light erupted from the Stage.
Whiiiing.
‘Gasp!’
Yet it wasn’t completely bright.
Thick yellow beam lights shot up from beneath the Stage, their rays still dancing chaotically across the dim platform above.
At first glance, the Stage held only a single massive tree stump.
And then came the sound of wind instruments.
Woooong-. Wooooong-. Woo- Woooong-.
It was the opening notes of a traditional Korean wind instrument piece—the daegeum’s elegant and sorrowful melody wandered alone across the Stage.
And then a figure burst from the left corner of the Stage.
A startlingly clean aerial cartwheel.
The tall man wearing a wooden rabbit mask came running out, slashing through the air before spinning backward.
“…!!”
The daegeum’s sound ended.
As the figure landed on one leg, the durumagi draped over his body fluttered, revealing the Western-style clothing worn beneath.
In that instant, the beam lights cutting across the Stage vanished completely.
In the now pitch-black Stage, a voice rang out instead of the daegeum.
-My waiting is long
And always brings me joy
Without any accompaniment, not a single note was off—it was perfect, as if recorded in a studio.
And now the audience knew whose voice it was.
‘Park Moon-dae….’
Light returned to the Stage along with deep drum sounds.
Boom- boom-boom-boom! Boom- boom-boom-boom!
Five figures wearing wooden rabbit masks now stood in a circle on the Stage.
Behind them, a brilliant Milky Way poured across the black backdrop.
And then the group choreography.
Shhhhk.
Movements that began slowly and sensually started breaking down the beat, growing increasingly complex and rapid.
It was as if witnessing some natural phenomenon.
Though the tempo shifted continuously and the timing seemed like it shouldn’t align, not a single person was out of sync or missing a beat.
Following that dance, the heavy drum sound’s edges sharpened, and behind it, a modern bass line anchored the balance with weight.
And then the daegeum and corrected piano notes began playing on the upper register.
Uhwi- Wiwiwi-
Uhwiuhwi— Wi~~
The drum sound completely melted into the musical composition, and in that suspended moment, all five of them lifted their rabbit masks to the sides of their heads in perfect synchronization with the choreography.
At the same moment, the person on the far right began to sing. It was Park Moon-dae.
-At every crossroads where you wait for me
There’s always an excited me
Big Sae-jin, who had turned his entire body toward the stage from the far left in time with the choreography, broke into a bright smile.
-There’s no room for anxiety to approach
Because I already know that you’ll
The formation split like a magic trick, and Kim Rae-bin burst out from behind.
-Appear right here
That we’ll meet
My conviction about it
Overflows in every place like this, ah!
‘Rae-bin!!’
The college student gripping the fence wailed silently inside. She wanted to scream but somehow held it back.
And by the time they reached this rap section, not just she but most of the audience had definitely noticed something.
‘They changed all the lyrics to Korean….’
That’s right. They’d replaced all the English words that had been mixed in with Korean, matching the stage atmosphere perfectly.
‘Our kid really is a genius!’
She wept silently inside, amazed at how perfectly it had been adapted. She couldn’t even imagine that another team member might have made the change.
But swept up in the stage, that admiration too vanished to the back of her mind in an instant.
-It’s such an obvious thing
I know you
You’ll come to know me
Gold 1 and Ha Il-jun’s voice led into Big Sae-jin completing the pre-chorus.
-The answer’s already been decided
An inescapable fate will come~
Sun Ah-hyun moved to center. His rabbit mask had rotated slightly awkwardly, covering his temples.
Yet his face still gleamed.
‘…He really is handsome.’
The college student, seeing Sun Ah-hyun up close, couldn’t bring herself to have a negative impression and felt frustrated instead.
Sun Ah-hyun stood straight and elegant as he began to sing.
-I love waiting
My waiting is long
And always joyful
‘Huh?’
Right in that chorus, a familiar movement began to blend in.
It was the signature hand gesture from the original song.
But they’d added a new footwork in syncopation to that hand movement, creating an intense feeling.
Whish!
The choreography used far more expansive body movements than the original, and paired with the billowing hanbok, it was absolutely breathtaking.
‘Ah….’
Rather than the emotional and understated original, the stage was coming together with a romantic, sweeping historical drama aesthetic.
-When this waiting ends
I’ll recognize you
My heart already shines
Park Moon-dae hit the high note in the latter part of the chorus.
Whether the water had drained during filming or not, the hair that had grown closer to blonde was swept back along with the mask, falling in the same direction.
‘…Even with the hair like that… it works.’
I suppressed my admiration, attributing it to the stylist’s masterpiece-level stage makeup today.
And the moment the note ended, Park Moon-dae turned completely around.
‘What?’
The audience, who had been focused on the participant’s movements and expressions, reflexively turned their gaze backward.
A massive blue-black arc was being drawn across the starlight behind the stage.
“…!”
By then, only strings and woodwinds remained in the accompaniment.
Using that as background music, the blue-black arc traced an enormous circle.
Like ink painting, the circle completed in brushstroke-like traces soon glowed blue.
A round blue light source among the stars. The Earth as seen from the moon.
Uhuuu- Uhuuu- Uhu, Uuu–
The participants gently collapsed to the floor in rhythm, then rose, naturally slipping off their hanbok and letting it flow away.
-A light daydream
The path to meet you
The participants now stood in complete Western dress.
Their bodies created a short, intense group choreography.
With full-body movements almost like dance, their bodies traced curves sharply and smoothly. The feeling was remarkably subtle.
The accompaniment without percussion had become somewhat sensual.
‘Kim Rae-bin is insane….’
“Ugh….”
“…!”
The college student was startled, wondering if that sound had come from her, but realized it was coming from all around.
-You were waiting for me too
A vivid sense of déjà vu
Changing the lyric ‘déjà vu’ to ‘sense of déjà vu’, the sound became even more nuanced, as if swallowed.
-Face the moment of destiny
Never hesitate!
Bang!
At that moment, percussion returned to the accompaniment.
The slightly overt sensuality vanished in an instant.
-I love this waiting
My waiting is long
And always joyful
The chorus returned, and Big Sae-jin stepped to center, anchoring the intricate formation.
The choreography grew even more elaborate.
-When this waiting ends
I’ll recognize you
My heart is already brightening
Then a soft humming continued.
-Hum hu hu hum- huhu
DDu-ru Du-ru Du Du
It was the melody of the chorus.
With the footwork choreography, it felt like singing in anticipation while waiting for someone.
The drum beat in the accompaniment sounded like a heartbeat.
The college student belatedly realized that Park Moon-dae was layering his voice an octave higher over this humming, singing alone.
Chills ran down my spine.
‘…I thought it was bad.’
She swallowed hard. On stage, the opening choreography was being reinterpreted once more.
The formations shifted ceaselessly, and naturally the five of them positioned themselves around a single prop on stage.
‘Huh?’
A massive tree stump.
It was the stump of a cinnamon tree.
Settling naturally around the stump, they immediately removed the double-breasted blazers they wore and threw them down.
“…!”
Revealing the male jeogori designed like a shirt, Big Sae-jin faced forward and smiled.
He turned the rabbit mask back to his face and sang the final verse.
-Wait for me.
As the blue light of Earth descended upon the moon rabbits sleeping leaned against each other on the cinnamon tree stump, the stage came to an end.
And a roar massive enough to shatter the Filming Studio roof erupted.
“Waaaaaah!!!”
“Kyaaaaaaah!!”
“Uuuuh!!”
Below the stage, all manner of screams and reactions flooded out, some covering their mouths.
From the opening, the combination of unexpectedly high-ranking participants, followed by witnessing such a polished stage, had everyone excited.
Moreover, this incredibly conceptual stage had something that stirred the hearts of devoted fans.
Because it couldn’t all be interpreted at once, it made people want to watch it multiple times and uncover the hidden elements.
Surely many audience members were already counting down the days until broadcast, eager with anticipation.
‘It’s all done.’
The college student released her grip on the fence and muttered contentedly. She had only come to her senses after screaming and the stage lights went out.
With the opening cut off like this, the next performers had essentially had their stage ruined before they even started.
She hesitated for a moment, then finally acknowledged the excitement welling up inside her.
‘…Well, the October kids are pretty good too.’
As she murmured, ‘They could debut just fine with Ryu Chung-woo and Cha Yu-jin mixed in there,’ the irritation that had marked her expression upon entering had completely vanished.

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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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