Debut or Die - Chapter 431

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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 431
I took a deep breath.
…Let me think this through.
On the announcement broadcast, Bae Sae-jin has the microphone, and on the drone feed, I can see Ju Dan from VTIC.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
Twelve minutes until the collapse, and there’s one person in the basement, another somewhere doing the announcement broadcast—and somehow all the managers and staff evacuated except for the affiliated entertainers?
That made no sense.
[DING- DING-]
“The broadcast has ended….”
Bae Sae-jin’s voice disappeared in the process.
‘If that’s the case.’
First, I’d lure out whoever I could still confirm. If I hesitated here, everyone could die.
I clenched my teeth and stared at the laptop screen.
Ju Dan was there—why wasn’t he showing up now?
“Where the hell did this guy go again?”
“…! That, perhaps he went into a room…?”
Fortunately, he appeared on screen again.
Holding an A4 sheet of paper with writing on it.
“…?”
-Are there survivors inside the building?
An attempt at communication.
“Gasp!”
“This drone doesn’t have a voice transmission function, so how should we….”
“Control the drone up and down.”
“Oh.”
As Kim Rae-bin manipulated it, the drone’s view bobbed. Then Ju Dan wrote new text on the A4 and showed it.
-Are you looking for an escape route?
Kim Rae-bin nodded.
“Well, since we’re looking for people, technically speaking, it would be more accurate to say no, but….”
“Wait.”
That wouldn’t work.
“It’s stranger if a trapped person isn’t looking for an escape route. Let’s just say we are.”
“Exactly!”
I needed to start there and drive the conversation forward quickly.
‘He’ll either ask if we’ve made any progress, or try to guess our identities.’
I anticipated his next response and mapped out the conversation in my mind.
While I did, the drone moved up and down again, and Ju Dan, seeing this, scribbled more text on the A4 before holding up the completed sentence.
…A sentence I hadn’t expected at all.
-There is an escape route in the employee area of the basement here.
“…?!”
“U-uh, uh.”
The sentence wasn’t finished.
-There’s a door leading outside, and it operates on emergency power.
“Then… then….”
“Preventing the collapse is important, but we don’t have much time left, so securing an escape route seems critical!”
“Right, yeah!”
He was right. If things went south, I’d need to get the remaining people out.
The problem was….
‘I need to ask when it started operating.’
For a building this size, even emergency power wouldn’t last more than an hour, but I had no idea how much time was actually left.
‘And why isn’t this guy going out if there’s a door?’
One more thing.
…Normally doors just open—they shouldn’t need power at all.
The one who’d been watching the swaying drone added another line to the paper in real time.
-However, a staff access card is required.
‘Of course.’
There had to be a catch.
It seemed he’d found a staff-only door that required a security key to open.
-Please find a staff access card and come down to the basement.
The stairwell is blocked, you bastard.
I had no idea how I’d ended up separated and going down to the basement alone, but ultimately the mission had just been updated.
‘…Find a staff access card and go to the basement.’
And…
[00:10:34]
within this time.
“….”
“The staff card… it didn’t seem to be in the Editing Room earlier… but still, let me search once more and come back…!”
“Then I’ll find a way to get to the basement… Park Moon-dae?”
I set the laptop down on the floor.
“Ten minutes left. Both plans won’t work.”
“….”
“We need a different approach.”
“Pardon?”
At this point, there was no choice.
I stood up and gripped the curtain rope I’d prepared earlier.

* * *
“Hm.”
Ju Dan lifted his head.
A bright beam of light swept across him from the far end of the darkened corridor.
[Whiiiing—]
A drone—now a familiar element in modern disaster apocalypse content.
‘Interesting.’
He rested his chin on his hand and nodded. It seemed survivors trapped in the building were beginning to find their way out through various means.
In that case, I should respond in the traditional fashion.
He quickly turned around and entered the room.
“Could I possibly borrow your smartphone, hyung…?”
“….”
No answer.
Of course. What was I expecting?
He swiftly changed plans and grabbed a sheet of A4 paper.
-Are you a survivor inside the building?
The drone moved up and down earnestly.
Oh, this person knew how to respond. Ju Dan engaged with interest and shared the information he knew quite earnestly.
‘What I’m looking for… well, that’s asking too much.’
One had to live within reason. Ju Dan shrugged his shoulders, then staggered at the surprising information before suddenly spotting the drone that had fallen to the ground.
‘There’s more than a fifty percent chance they’re searching for staff members in shock.’
This was enough to fulfill his human duty.
“Hyung. A drone just came by and we had a brief conversation. It’s not a rescue team—it’s another survivor trapped in this building.”
“I see.”
And there was someone in his group who showed no interest even in such peculiarities.
In the basement Facility Management Room.
Chung-ryeo stood there, manipulating equipment with an expressionless face.
He had thought the power outage meant he couldn’t view the CCTV, but somehow he had managed to use a wirelessly charged portable security device to cycle through several CCTV feeds from just before on a small screen.
Most idols had never done such a thing and wouldn’t even know how.
‘That’s all experience accumulated through regression.’
Among countless lives, there might have been one where he lived as a murderer, crushed under pressure. Ju Dan concluded he should treat him with respect going forward.
Regardless of what he thought, Chung-ryeo flipped through the CCTV feeds with mechanical precision.
Dark screens where no light shone through, and then more screens.
“….”
Then,
“Ah.”
There.
Chung-ryeo found Park Moon-dae—the In-young he’d been searching for—beyond the broken wall of the 2nd Floor Emergency Stairwell, illuminated by the glow of a light stick.
Park Moon-dae.
He watched without flinching as the Storage Room where Park Moon-dae had been collapsed entirely right after.
“….”
My deduction, grounded in experience, had proven remarkably accurate.
There was no particular joy in it.
I was simply confirming what I already knew.
The Storage Room had collapsed onto the Stage above. Since it was normally occupied by broadcasting equipment, there were no CCTV cameras. So verification was impossible here.
Though I saw no blood traces when I checked visually earlier… it could be buried beneath the rubble.
“….”
Chung-ryeo lowered his hand.
He realized the remaining battery could let him check the surrounding Audience Seating.
But he felt resistance.
Because…,
‘It’s quiet.’
If Park Moon-dae were alive, the irrational disasters should still be pouring down.
But quietness meant… it was over.
“….”
‘Why do I need to confirm that this guess was also correct.’
Chung-ryeo stared expressionlessly at the equipment.
And Ju Dan was watching him too. Rather blankly.
“…?”
Was that guy lost in memories or something?
That’s when it happened.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeecrash!
“…!!”
From somewhere above—no, much higher, somewhere on an upper floor—a tremendous vibration and noise came crashing down, striking all the way to the Basement.
A third collapse.
“Ugh!”
Objects fell, everything shook.
Ju Dan immediately ducked under a desk to protect his head, thinking.
‘Is this foreshadowing?’
Giving good information to the drone-launching protagonists, then ending up dead in the Basement.
‘That won’t do.’
He resolved to be fully prepared and, in good conscience, lifted his head to check on his companions.
And he was startled.
“…!”
Chung-ryeo was… smiling faintly.
Standing quietly amid the trembling equipment and flickering lights, smiling—it was almost surreal.
‘…Could he be feeling the thrill of surviving danger?’
It was speculation.
And through the roar and collapse, Chung-ryeo’s murmur was heard.
“Should we go find him.”

* * *
Eight minutes before the collapse.
“P-Park Moon-dae?”
“Wait.”
I returned to the collapsed stage and carefully climbed back up onto it.
‘Where we came down from earlier.’
And I surveyed the structure of this place once more, including the stage.
The second floor area has a ‘ㄷ’ shape due to the stage occupying the center space, and is divided into right and left halves.
‘We descended using the curtain as a rope from the right side Waiting Room area.’
On the right, I could see the collapsed wall.
And on the opposite side of the second floor was the Office Area used by Broadcasting Station staff and personnel.
A place where one could ascend to the upper level. But a place one couldn’t reach.
‘Exhale.’
I steadied my breathing and turned my head toward the two of them.
“I need a favor.”
“W-what…?”
“I need to climb back up there. Can you support me?”
“…!”
Their bewilderment was evident at my mention of returning to the Waiting Room corridor.
“Are you looking for… a staff pass?”
“Something like that. But there’s no time to explain.”
I spoke rapidly.
“I-I’ll go…”
“There’s no time to explain how to find it. Hurry!”
Sun Ah-hyun bit his lip. He looked ready to protest at any moment, but soon he nodded with a hardened expression.
“Yeah, okay. I’m… trusting you on this.”
“…Right.”
Damn it.
I turned my head to avoid dwelling on unnecessary guilt, tying the curtain rope around my waist.
If I secured it midway and climbed, even if my foot slipped, I wouldn’t die, and once I reached the top and tied one end to the wall, they could grab it and climb up later.
“Brace yourself…!”
“Plant your feet firmly!”
“Got it.”
I stepped on both of their thighs and shoulders, then leaped with my hand reaching toward empty space.
‘Caught it…!’
Done.
After grasping the rebar, I used my arm strength and momentum to place my other hand on the second floor.
My stomach struck the broken concrete roughly.
Thud.
‘Damn it.’
It hurts like hell. But what matters is….
‘I made it…!’
“Gasp.”
I rolled onto the 2nd Floor, then unwound the curtain rope from my waist. I heard shouting from below.
“A-are you okay?!”
“Yeah! It’s sharp and dangerous, so stay away from the Stage now and go to the center pillar. I’ll call you when it’s over!”
“Understood! How many minutes are left?”
[00:04:31]
“…Eight minutes!”
At this rate, even after four minutes subjectively, I won’t panic.
I confirmed they heard me and moved my feet.
Then, with my flashlight on, I searched several rooms for an employee ID, but it’s nowhere to be found.
That makes sense. This is a space used by outsiders.
[00:01:57]
‘There was no employee ID in the Backstage either.’
Right, to get one, I needed to go where the staff were. The opposite side of the 2nd Floor, the Office Area.
But what if there’s no path?
‘…I’ll have to make one.’
I gauged the Stage’s position, then turned and moved toward the end of the Corridor.
“…Phew.”
Here.
Beyond this small Waiting Room’s wall is the opposite section. Probably.
“….”
Of course, I don’t have the ability to destroy this wall. Clearing the area in front of the Emergency Stairwell below might be more realistic, but… there’s no time.
‘So then.’
Doesn’t this thought occur to me?
Think about it.
It’s certain that before long, the Building will collapse targeting me.
But if the Building collapses again, the rubble already piled up in collapsed areas won’t disappear.
‘However, an intact wall could be brought down…!’
[00:01:03]
I started moving heavy objects from around the Waiting Room toward the wall.
‘Earlier, the wall definitely fell targeting me precisely.’
If so, there’s a high probability that Big Dal (presumed) discovered the contradiction and renamed this disaster to ‘Mission Failed,’ making it more localized and moderate there.
It even kindly tells us it’s a collapse.
‘I’ll use it in reverse.’
I’ve survived twice by sheer luck, so I’ll do better this time.
I take a deep breath, clear my mind, and prepare.
The countdown begins.
[00:00:03]
[00:00:02]
[00:00:01]
Thud.
The sound of something severing.
I was leaning against the wall when
[00:00:00]
I rolled my body to the side.
“…!”
At the same moment, a deafening explosion shook the room. Heavy furniture and metal props that had been stacked in front of me came crashing down where I’d been standing.
Screeeech-crash-bang!
Even the heavy ceiling light fixture.
‘Damn it.’
For a moment, regret at my reckless action flashed through me—no, shut up. This is all that matters. This is right!
Move!
“Gasp.”
I rolled to the side.
And sliding my body, I slipped under the vanity.
Sharp debris scattered against my cheek, stinging.
Screeeee—
And when the thunderous collapse and trembling finally began to subside.
…an unexpected sound began to ring out loudly.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Mom!”
Screams and cries.
“….”
I staggered out from under the vanity.
All manner of objects lay shattered across the floor. And beyond the half-collapsed wall, light and sound were seeping through.
I walked slowly forward.
Treading over debris, beyond the wall I saw….
“Gasp!”
“Uh, there’s a person here… w-Park Moon-dae??”
In front of the Elevator, over ten people were sitting.
That wasn’t the end of it.
In the Corridor beyond, dimly visible by the flickering emergency lights, sounds came from various places.
“Who is that?”
“What’s happening right now?”
“….”
Everyone who wasn’t in the Audience Seating was here.
‘What is this.’
I blinked.
And in that moment of impact, a beat too late… I saw it.
[Facility Management Room]
The nameplate on the open door, where I could see the announcement broadcast equipment with its microphone.
And the figure who came stumbling out from within.
“…Park Moon-dae?”
It was Big Sae-jin, dressed in stage costume.
He looked at me in disbelief, then rushed over and grabbed my head with both hands.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“Moon-dae??”
“What?”
One by one, others emerged from beyond the door.
“Moon-dae hyung!!”
“You…, you…!!”
Cha Yu-jin with his harness torn, Ryu Chung-woo with his sleeves rolled up.
And even Bae Sae-jin, who had been broadcasting earlier.
‘…This can’t be happening.’
It was the worst-case scenario. The fact that all of them had stayed here was nothing short of a nightmare.
And yet,
damn it all, I was glad to see them.
I forced my lips open.
“…I’m sorry.”
“You crazy, crazy bastard…!”
“….”
This was the first time I’d heard Big Sae-jin curse like that. And in front of the fans, no less.
But I wasn’t angry. Even the pain in my ribs from the embrace was bearable.
‘You’re heavy, you bastard.’
I set aside all my questions and things to verify, and accepted the reunion.
But the popup was updating again.
[Sudden Event!]
Mission Failed: Building Collapse
– Building Disaster in Collapse (Completed)
: Until Final Disaster 00:29:59

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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
—————