Debut or Die - Chapter 433

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

A Fatal Illness if I Don’t Debut – Episode 433
“….”
I stopped moving.
Unexpected faces appearing in the collapsed building wasn’t new, but this was the first time it felt so utterly unrealistic.
Chung-ryeo.
I’d assumed he’d already be outside doing interviews by now.
‘I thought he’d escaped smoothly.’
Wasn’t he someone with experience?
Yet no matter how dark the audience seating was, Chung-ryeo standing beneath the emergency lights was no hallucination.
And even if he had stayed behind, how did he get out through the half-blocked emergency exit?
But I had neither the time nor the luxury to dwell on questions.
In an atmosphere frozen as if I’d seen a ghost, he began walking.
Footsteps echoed, and his voice reached me again.
“Senior?”
In that moment, I knew what I had to do.
“What you’re holding.”
I swallowed hard.
“Is it a CCTV?”
“….”
He stopped in front of the stage and looked up.
“So you were looking for something after all.”
“A person.”
I picked up the rope again.
“There’s someone collapsed in this audience seating.”
“….”
“I need to find them.”
Chung-ryeo stopped and turned his gaze toward the audience seating.
I stared at him, cold sweat pooling in my palms, barely noticing as Sun Ah-hyun snatched the rope back from me.
And the answer came back.
“Hmm, looks like I already found them.”
“…!”
He held up the CCTV device.
The infrared camera near the main evacuation route was still running.
“There!”
I frantically swung my flashlight. Beneath the back seat on the left outer edge, a collapsed leg was visible.
Big Sae-jin rushed closer and illuminated the upper body with his own flashlight.
“Wait.”
As he rolled the body sprawled beneath the chair onto its back, a familiar face appeared.
The face of Ryu Gun-woo with his hat knocked off.
Big Dal.
‘Hah.’
I exhaled slowly.
From Chung-ryeo’s CCTV, which had ‘coincidentally’ been monitoring the Audience Seating, I could rewind and confirm the footage of Big Dal suddenly stumbling during the evacuation.
There was plenty I could say about that.
“Let me help you up first.”
“Wait.”
This took priority right now.
While holding Big Dal, I checked my status window first.
[00:15:53]
…No change.
‘Physical contact alone won’t work.’
I’d need direct conversation to piece together any clues about what was happening.
“Big Dal, Park Moon-dae, Ryu Gun-woo!”
I used every name he’d ever gone by, tapping and shaking Big Dal’s shoulders.
But Big Dal didn’t even flinch—he simply swayed with whatever force was applied to him.
‘…Could it be.’
I brought my hand to his nose. Fortunately, he was still breathing. In fact, he seemed quite stable, like someone peacefully asleep.
If that was the case… then he still couldn’t wake up.
‘Something might still be happening inside the status window.’
I decided not to waste any more time. The time limit was pressing.
‘Still, leaving shouldn’t be a problem.’
I’d carry him and move—
“Are you insane?”
“Give him to me…!”
“….”
—or so I’d intended, but ended up moving with the others supporting him instead.
“We need to move in single file.”
“…Right.”
The path down to the basement wasn’t wide enough for all of us to move clustered together anyway.
At least the corridor leading to the Emergency Stairwell that Chung-ryeo had come from was open, so we had time to return.
Sun Ah-hyun, Big Sae-jin, and I lifted Big Dal together. As long as we balanced properly, carrying one person shouldn’t be too difficult.
“I can take him.”
“No need.”
I had no intention of asking anyone else. Yet Chung-ryeo unexpectedly positioned himself at the front, supporting Big Dal’s neck area.
“…!”
‘What’s this bastard scheming?’
I’d save my thoughts on this surprisingly cooperative behavior for later.
“Let’s go.”
Escape came first.
We began moving quickly toward the Emergency Stairwell. The dark Audience Seating blurred past us rapidly.
A voice came from the black silhouette of Big Sae-jin ahead.
“Senior, I never expected to see you here—how did you end up staying behind?”
“Well, I’m not sure.”
Big Sae-jin clenched his teeth before restraining himself through superhuman composure control, visible in the flashlight’s beam. This didn’t feel like someone else’s problem.
‘I should stop asking questions.’
[00:13:06]
Thirteen minutes remained.
The Emergency Stairwell entrance ahead was cluttered with debris, but it was entirely passable if we placed our feet carefully.
I wasn’t sure when it had been cleared,
‘but it’s enough.’
“Let’s go in carefully!”
“Okay.”
We carefully entered the Emergency Exit, making sure Big Dal’s neck and limbs wouldn’t break.
Then a voice suddenly came from right beside my ear.
“You’ve arrived.”
“…??”
I almost threw a punch.
Instead, when I turned my head, I saw the same person I’d spotted earlier with the drone.
Sun Ah-hyun’s flustered voice rang out as he lifted his flashlight.
“S-Senior…?”
“Welcome, Testa members. Based on the circumstances, I figured there would be at least one person you’d be rescuing.”
It was Ju Dan from VTIC.
The guy who’d surveyed the escape route from the basement—why was he here? Could it be…
I looked him over.
Unlike the Chung-ryeo guy who’d been in formal wear for the MC role, Ju Dan was dressed in casual clothes like someone who’d just arrived at the Waiting Room.
In other words, clothes more suited for labor.
‘…So this guy helped clear it too.’
I’d thought it didn’t make sense for Chung-ryeo to have done it alone, and now there was an extra pair of hands.
Ju Dan shook dust from his gloves and shrugged his shoulders.
“I’ve been cooperating quite diligently to ensure perfect timing.”
I had no idea what he was talking about.
“And indeed, you’re heading toward a textbook-perfect happy ending.”
Think whatever you want.
“…Yes, anyway, thank you.”
Meanwhile, my eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, finally confirmed the fans moving behind him with their heads covered.
They’d finished organizing and begun evacuation.
“Ju, Ju Dan??”
People who’d just spotted VTIC unconsciously called out his name, but everyone else kept their mouths shut and moved their feet frantically.
If someone tried to move an unconscious person through this chaos, someone would get hurt.
“We need to send them out and move on.”
“Yeah.”
We let Big Dal lean against us for a moment while we caught our breath.
‘Phew.’
I observed the people descending with careful spacing to avoid falling, then suddenly opened my mouth.
The staff had removed it as a spoiler precaution, so the audience didn’t have it, but I remembered that Chung-ryeo had been holding one.
‘We had called.’
A smartphone.
“Did you happen to call for help?”
“Ah.”
He glanced down at his formal jacket pocket. From the look of it, he hadn’t.
At this point, escaping would be faster than reporting, so it was better to stop complaining and keep moving.
“Hmm, that’s strange.”
“What is.”
“Nothing.”
“….”
Don’t press the issue. Escape comes first.
But instead, he opens his mouth again from over there.
On a different topic.
“You seem quite stable.”
“What do you mean.”
“Your condition, Junior Member.”
“….”
For someone who should be dying soon from a failed condition anomaly, he didn’t seem to be facing an immediate threat to his life, and his mental state appeared reasonably intact.
“What do you know?”
I could have refused to answer, but instead I felt gazes from both sides. Sun Ah-hyun and Big Sae-jin.
‘Damn it.’
It would be better to explain, even roughly.
“…I can see the next collapse time.”
“Yes.”
“…The next one is the final. It says it’s the last.”
Silence fell in an instant.
Those listening understood as well.
“The last?”
“Yeah. It seems like it’s ending.”
“Ah…!”
There were actually multiple ways to interpret it.
But before the people there could consider the meaning, a voice came from above.
“There you are!”
“Ah!!”
“…! They cleared the door!”
The ones who sent the audience out first finally began jumping down from the second floor.
“Is that everyone?!”
“Yeah!”
The other members of Testa spotted us and came rushing over with delight.
“You!! Please, just consult with us first before acting!”
“Yes….”
I’d call that a warm welcome.
Cha Yu-jin, who arrived first, shouted.
“Hyungs, we’re here! Everyone Oka… Who the hell was that?!”
“The person I was looking for. Remember?”
“Oh-”
He drew out a long exclamation, then checked Big Dal’s drooping face and nodded.
“Give him to me! I’ll carry him.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Big Dal’s body passed from hand to hand like a restaurant receipt, eventually settling onto Cha Yu-jin’s back.
“Let’s go!”
The ones who confirmed VTIC seemed surprised by it too, but under an unspoken agreement that getting down was the priority, they began moving.
“So we just need to get out now, right?”
“Yes.”
We’ve done everything we can. The atmosphere was one of imminent escape, with the pressure and tension easing slightly.
Through it all, I heard Chung-ryeo muttering.
“Hmm. It’ll be one of two things. Either the disaster ends with this, or….”
Was he still calculating?
“Or the Junior Member’s opportunity comes to an end.”
“….”
Sigh.
“What does that mean?”
“Park Moon-dae?”
I closed my mouth. Chung-ryeo finished his sentence.
“The building collapses completely.”
Then.
Boom.
Boom-boom-boom-!
“…!”
“A tremor?”
“Hyung, don’t tell me this time too you’ve warped time again….”
“No.”
I hurriedly checked the popup.
[00:09:59]
There was still time left.
“We have time. Definitely.”
At that, Bae Sae-jin muttered with a pale face.
“…Doesn’t a larger collapse mean the warning signs come earlier?”
“….”
A brief silence fell.
Chung-ryeo muttered again.
“Hmm, so it was the latter after all.”
Was this really the time for that?
“If you know, then run!”
I grabbed the others and started sprinting fast.
Crash!
“Aaaahhh!”
A scream echoed from the basement.
I shouted.
“Key! Where’s the key?”
“I gave it to the person in front! Two of them!”
Ryu Chung-woo wouldn’t lie, so it had to be true.
Then people should be escaping right now….
‘Why are they all clustered together?’
The basement corridor I arrived at was packed with dozens of people.
Screech, crash!
“Ughhhh!”
And every time a loud boom sounded from above, people shielded their heads with light sticks or their hands.
‘What is this.’
Why couldn’t they get out?
“Excuse me!”
I pushed through the crowd.
At the very front, a person standing before an iron door marked “Facility Security” immediately shouted urgently the moment our eyes met.
“The door won’t open here!”
“….”
What?
I pushed through the crowd and took the card key from the spectator’s hand, then held it up to the reader myself.
Beep—!
[Unauthorized card.]
Rejected.
‘Damn it.’
I tried another card.
Beep—!
The next one too.
Beep—!
“….”
It won’t work.
“…!!”
“W-why isn’t this working??”
“Huff, huff, huff,”
Surrounded by people on the verge of hyperventilating from panic and fear, I racked my brain.
There had to be a reason.
‘The reason it won’t work is….’
Think. Just think.
‘No authorization?’
I frantically examined the keypad where the security card was being swiped and the iron door.
Then I looked again—at the text written on the door.
[Facility Security Use Only]
“….”
Damn it.
“Moon-dae?!”
“Just a moment!”
I practically shouted, pushing through the cluster of people.
“What are you doing?!”
“We need a facility manager’s card!!”
I yelled.
“The ones we brought belong to office staff—we need a security team card!”
“…!”
Since this was a security team area, it made perfect sense that the access permissions were configured that way.
I clenched my teeth.
‘Is there any chance we left one of them behind?’
If I went to the adjacent room and searched now… yeah, damn it. I already knew the answer.
‘Ju Dan, who arrived first, didn’t find anything either.’
Still, I had to try. I told the others to disperse in an organized manner and prepare to search.
That was when it happened.
“Junior Member.”
Tap.
A rectangular plastic badge with a golden logo gleamed before my eyes.
Chung-ryeo had just pulled it from his suit jacket pocket and held it out.
“Here.”
“….”
[Setom Security]
“It was in the drawer where the CCTV was.”
I immediately snatched it and rushed forward.
And I held it up to the reader.
Beep!
A short, bright major chord sounded.
Click.
“It’s open!”
The door swung open.
Shouts and screams mixed with the sound of cracking concrete as people poured through the open doorway in a rush.
Fresh air hit my face.
“Hah.”
I covered my face with one hand.
That was close.
‘So that’s why he wasn’t trying to escape.’
He clearly had a way out and was using it as leverage.
“If it’s Chung-ryeo, he probably didn’t share this with me in case I betrayed him in an extreme situation.”
“No. You were right there when we disabled the CCTV security.”
“….”
Did Ju Dan really not recognize the badge-shaped employee ID card?
‘Anyway, it doesn’t matter now that it’s open.’
I deliberately held the door and stepped aside, pretending to direct people out smoothly while buying time.
[00:06:16]
Time was on my side.
“Everyone, hurry out!”
“We will!”
The fans leaving behind called back one by one—they would’ve done so anyway.
“Is everyone out?”
“Let’s go now!”
But some unnecessarily conscientious bastards insisted on waiting until the end, so I opened the door again as if telling them to go first.
Several of them narrowed their eyes.
“You’re not planning to….”
“I’m not.”
There’s no way I’d voluntarily stay in a collapsing building.
Crack, crash!
Another heavy cracking sound came from above. I quickly opened my mouth.
“I just want to be the last one out. Now go! The more we delay, the worse it gets.”
“….”
But Sun Ah-hyun took a deep breath and stopped moving.
“…!”
“I-if you don’t leave together, I won’t leave either.”
Damn it.
‘I was just trying to put some distance between us in case something crazy happens again.’
I glanced at Chung-ryeo, but he just stared at me without responding.
And not just Sun Ah-hyun—the others also grabbed the door frame and stared at me intently. Were they trying to intimidate me?
‘I’m going to lose my mind.’
Five minutes left, you crazy bastards.
“….”
I alternated my gaze between the outside and them, then finally suppressed a sigh and opened my mouth.
‘Whether I push or do something else, the score will come out regardless.’
“…Yeah. Let’s go out together.”
“…!! Okay!”
I pushed Sun Ah-hyun’s back and stepped outside.
That moment.
The outdoor air poured in.
The crisp air of early autumn.
The backyard-like space hidden behind the Container Set walls was dark, but the moment I turned the corner at that wall, sunlight descended.
“…!”
…It was sunset.
In that instant, the anxiety, impatience, the sharp warning of survival instinct, and cold fear all vanished at once.
All of it was sucked away as if being pulled out, leaving only tranquility behind.
“Ah….”
I drew in a deep breath and exhaled. My mind felt refreshed.
And as if on cue, the popup changed.
[00:04:47]
[00:04:47]
[Objective Lost]
[Deactivated]
A sense of stability returned.
I turned around to look at the building we’d just exited. The roaring sound had already ceased.
I opened my mouth unconsciously.
“…It’s over.”
“Huh?”
“It seems to be over. The collapse.”
The others also turned to look at the building, then let out long sighs or finally burst into small laughter.
It couldn’t have felt more refreshing.

* * *
My body felt heavy, yet the atmosphere was surprisingly familiar and hopeful.
“Phew.”
“Everyone worked hard.”
“W-we all made it out safely, thank goodness….”
“Still, I think we should move quickly now. If this collapses, we could get swept away.”
“Y-you’re right.”
At Big Sae-jin’s words, everyone quickened their pace. Yet their mouths never stopped moving.
“Where is this place?”
“I suspect it’s a hidden entrance behind the building that most people don’t know about.”
“Ah, then the front must be packed with media.”
That much was certain.
‘There’s no better bait than this.’
The delay in rescue teams might well be because the media had already seized all the positions and caused chaos.
Well, in any case, since I’ve come out and the collapse seems to have stopped… even if there were employees trapped above the third floor, they’d be rescued soon.
Hadn’t all the people the media was hunting for already emerged?
“The aftermath… hmm.”
First-tier idols trapped in a building at a first-tier idol charity concert, then emerging?
Honestly, I expected hell.
“Moon-dae, forget about damage control and let’s get you to the hospital first.”
“….”
Anyone watching would think I was someone who rejected modern medicine.
“…Yes. Anyway. This seems to be the front, so if we go back….”
“Right.”
In any case, we trudged forward in quite a shabby state, circled around the overgrown back alley, and emerged in front of the building.
‘I should be hearing screams from people soon….’
But.
“Why is there no one here?”
There was nothing in front of the building.
“…??”
Cars, pedestrians, sirens, reporters, onlookers.
Everything I thought would surely exist had vanished without a trace.
Only silence flowed.
Not a single car traveled on the road.
What is this?
“Wait. …What about the fans who came out earlier?”
“…!!”
Bae Sae-jin cried out urgently.
“Even without the media, those people should be visible!”
Yet the building bathed in sunset remained empty.
As if everyone had simply left for somewhere else.
“Ah, so that’s what it was.”
I turned my head.
Chung-ryeo was staring down at his jacket with an odd expression.
The pocket where his smartphone rested.
“I found it strange that not a single call came through.”
“…!”
That’s right.
If the building had collapsed, calls should naturally have flooded the smartphone of someone presumed trapped.
But the fact that he hadn’t received a single call meant….
‘…he’d been cut off from the outside world.’
Or perhaps, from some point onward, the connection had been severed.
And then,
“…Hup!”
“Hup!”
Big Dal, who had been riding on Cha Yu-jin’s back, opened his eyes. Shouting like this.
“W-we won!”
“…??”
Along with a new popup.
[Mission Failure Scenario Complete]
Victory : Player Park Moon-dae(Ryu Gun-woo)
Reward : Fragment of ■■■ 1 (1/4)

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————