Debut or Die - Chapter 435

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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 435
Hospitalized without a single injury?
Those days of having to deceive people with my superhuman recovery thanks to traits like ‘Bacchus’ or ‘Nectar’ were supposed to be over, but I never imagined I’d end up doing something this ridiculous.
‘This won’t do.’
At this rate, my brain is going to atrophy. I set down the e-reader that Bae Sae-jin had brought as a “gift” and spoke my mind.
This was four days after I’d been admitted.
“With the shortage of hospital beds, isn’t it wasteful to use them like this?”
“Ah~ Since this is a private room, it’s actually rarer for it to be fully occupied.”
“Still, it’d be better if I just got discharged.”
“Moon-dae, Moon-dae, even if you tell me this, I’m not a medical professional. You understand this is a situation beyond my control, right?”
“….”
This infuriating… wait. Is this bastard copying what I did during the building collapse?
I stared at Big Sae-jin in disbelief, but he just grinned and left the room.
“Rest up~”
“….”
Let me try the next one.
Remarkably, Kim Rae-bin showed up in the evening with a turntable capable of playing vinyl records in tow.
“Classical music is said to help with mental and physical stability!”
So he’s deliberately avoiding modern music.
I approached the guy—who clearly seemed to be consciously blocking any mention of ‘albums’ or ‘activities’ from his mind—with logic.
“I don’t have any injuries, so it’s strange that I’m still hospitalized.”
“Since you’ve been through such a dangerous situation, they say we need to monitor your condition for a few more days.”
Kim Rae-bin seemed to genuinely believe it. It looked like several of them had conspired to create a convincing excuse.
“That’s something that could be done at the Dormitory too. Honestly, it’s a waste of money.”
“You don’t need to worry about that! The Company is covering the costs!”
“If the Company covers the costs, that reduces net profit, which ultimately means our settlement payments get cut.”
“…??”
Question marks and exclamation points flashed across Kim Rae-bin’s face for a moment, but then he nodded as if he understood.
Did it work?
“It’s fine! I believe all the members won’t mind that level of expense for your peaceful rest, hyung.”
“….”
The guy’s face, as he said he’d pay for it himself if it really bothered me, seemed to glow with the halo of a copyright holder.
I suppressed a long sigh and lay back down on the bed.
Next batter.
“All my muscles are going to disappear. I need to get back to my routine soon.”
“Yeah?”
Ryu Chung-woo, who visited in the morning, responded quite positively. I was thinking of building up gradually from here, but….
He reserved a private gym next to the Hospital’s Rehabilitation Center for me.
“….”
Come to think of it, if the Company covered the hospital room costs, this leader must have been the one who persuaded them.
I’d been trying to build him up, essentially the mastermind behind this whole disaster. As if that would work.
“The facilities are nice. Oh, if you want to use it longer, just let me know.”
Forget it.
I gave up and approached the exercise equipment.
Let me work on my lower body….
“You reap what you sow.”
“You get what you deserve.”
“Whatever.”
Cha Yu-jin, sitting in the caregiver’s chair, shrugged and bit into an apple whole. I clenched my teeth and spoke quietly.
“Either way, give me a smartphone.”
“I don’t have one. You can watch on the smart TV, hyung.”
“….”
I felt my frustration boil over at this private hospital room with four different streaming services installed for no reason.
The Wi-Fi signal was so strong it barely had any lag. Yet here I was, unable to actually use that perfectly strong Wi-Fi for internet purposes.
‘This is crossing the line.’
I’d asked the Manager for a smartphone two days ago, but his excuse was predictable.
-The doctor advised that it could negatively affect your mental health, so we’d appreciate it if you’d refrain for now.
‘They’re messing with me.’
It was excessive, to say the least.
“But you have to be patient, hyung.”
“….”
[You already know, right? You’re in a situation where you need to regain the most important thing right now. Trust.]
Yeah.
I pressed my temples.
To be honest, in this absurd situation, it wouldn’t be that difficult to find a reason to discharge myself.
The hard part is convincing everyone around me that I should be discharged.
But this time, I couldn’t brush it aside. After all, these guys had been trapped in a collapsing building because of me.
‘…They must have been anxious about whether I’d die.’
Since everything had been erased and I had no one to confide in, I figured I could consider this their way of getting even.
…But.
“How long is ‘a while’ supposed to be?”
How long do they plan to keep me locked up here anyway? When am I releasing the album, preparing for year-end, planning next year’s activities?
There’s a limit to how much patience I can show based on the atmosphere.
Still, I decided to exercise my last bit of patience.
“Hey.”
“What.”
“At least tell me how things are going outside.”
I could endure a few more days just gathering information. Cha Yu-jin shrugged.
“Nothing much. No terrorism, no big news. I think I mostly saw routine traffic accidents in the headlines? Oh, and bank fraud too.”
“…Not that kind of stuff.”
Who asked you about current events and social commentary?
“I’m asking what the online sentiment is like right now for our group and VTIC.”
“I don’t know about that stuff. It’s not something I care about.”
I nearly clenched my fist, but instead I calmly imagined Cha Yu-jin browsing internet communities and SNS.
And I had to admit it was disgustingly out of character.
‘Damn it.’
Time to find the next candidate.
That afternoon, I spent hours listening to jazz on vinyl and drowning my stress in detective novels.
Then in the evening, when Bae Sae-jin visited….
“No.”
“….”
Bae Sae-jin avoided my gaze.
“…I can recommend more books.”
Not necessary.
I held back from pressing him to accidentally slip up, and instead shoved the mung bean and ginseng chicken soup he’d brought into my mouth.
It felt like receiving a care package from a lawyer during prison visitation hours.
The last remaining candidate… I’d already written off as hopeless.
Sun Ah-hyun visited fairly often.
But since that first day, I’d never actually asked him to help me get discharged.
Not only was it remarkably ineffective, but his expression made it clear he found these conversations absolutely unbearable.
“Moon-dae, your body… are you okay?”
“You know as well as I do that I shouldn’t be this fine.”
Look at him, avoiding eye contact again while peeling a tangerine.
But now it was time to say something.
“Staying hospitalized is getting harder. I want to practice too.”
“Mm.”
Sun Ah-hyun avoided my eyes. Unlike Big Sae-jin, he didn’t have the shameless social skills to pull off an “I don’t know~” kind of response.
So I went straight for the jugular.
“I’m being serious—I shouldn’t be this fine, so let’s get me out of the hospital now.”
“…But.”
Sun Ah-hyun’s lips trembled.
“You lied. About… bigger things too.”
“….”
He peeled the tangerine and set it down in front of me. His hands were trembling slightly.
I held back a sigh.
‘It really was a shock for him.’
When I’d lied about my remaining time and bolted up above the second floor.
And then the building collapsed with a roar, cutting off all contact—there was no helping that.
If I’m being honest about it all…
“I was scared too.”
“…!”
“How could I not be terrified when I’m told I’ll die suddenly? And on top of that, other people could get caught up in my death.”
“….”
“But it seems like there’s nothing I can do. And there was no situation where anyone could help me.”
This was my first time experiencing something where no matter what I did, it felt like I’d die.
“That’s why I couldn’t explain things properly. …But if you felt deceived, I’ll say it again—I’m sorry.”
I meant it sincerely.
Sun Ah-hyun’s lips trembled, but soon he managed to piece together his words with difficulty.
“Ah, no. I’m, I’m sorry…. For being rash, ah, for not believing you….”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
Honestly, for getting stabbed in the back like that, it was a fairly mild reaction.
I chose my words carefully.
“I don’t mind resting, but with so much on my mind right now, it doesn’t really feel like I’m resting at all.”
“…!”
“I don’t want to stay in the hospital anymore.”
He seemed to be holding back tears, but soon his expression became quite resolute and he nodded.
“I’ll, I’ll talk to them about it…!”
“…Thank you.”
Signs of resolution appeared.
And that evening.
“Did you pack everything?”
“Yes.”
I could finally go through the discharge procedures.
It had been well over a week since I was admitted.
‘Done.’
I felt light, but there was much to do. First, I needed to check public opinion, then carefully map out my activity plans and head to the Company.
I also planned to make time to have a proper conversation with the others once I returned to the Dormitory.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Ryu Chung-woo eagerly volunteered to drive and helped with the discharge procedures.
But the car he was driving didn’t head toward the Dormitory.
Instead, it sped off in the opposite direction with enthusiasm.
“…?”
Wait a minute.
“Where are we going?”
“Ah, we’re not going to the Hospital.”
“Then where are we going?”
“Haha.”
Just answer the question.
The car climbed onto the Highway and soon headed toward the Outskirts of Gyeonggi Province, eventually arriving at an isolated rural house with a striking white stone wall.
Ryu Chung-woo spoke brightly.
“We’re here. You can get out now.”
“….”
These bastards… they’d locked me away in a Pension.
‘Sun Ah-hyun!’
How was this any different from being hospitalized? It wasn’t as if I could just be discharged and leave!
But my escape route was already cut off.
“Besides, the Dormitory is undergoing some remodeling anyway, so we were planning to stay here the whole time.”
“….”
“We decided to avoid going out. It would be problematic if any sightings got posted online.”
When did these bastards become so meticulous?
And the moment I stepped inside, Kim Rae-bin and the other members, holding a cake that read “Congratulations on Your Discharge,” burst party poppers with smiles on their faces.
Pop!
“Congratulations on your discharge!”
“….”
So that’s why only Ryu Chung-woo came to pick me up—this whole thing was planned from the start.
I’ll admit it.
‘…I’ve been defeated.’
I silently brushed the confetti from my hair.
Though I had to say, it turned out that my efforts hadn’t been entirely fruitless, as I discovered shortly after.
“Over here!”
After an infuriating celebration meal.
Cha Yu-jin called me to his room and handed me a smartphone with a pale dog’s head drawn on it.
It was my smartphone.
“…!! Thank you.”
All those persistent demands for outside information during my hospitalization had finally paid off.
“Hyung, you have to buy me delicious food. I’m a traitor right now.”
Cha Yu-jin shrugged, saying it had taken effort to convince everyone, and that he still hadn’t told Bae Sae-jin the truth.
[Let’s rephrase that—you’ve been loyal to me.]
I gladly replied in English.
[It’s fine, really. To be honest, everyone’s being a bit much. I don’t think forcing someone to rest actually guarantees they’ll achieve true “recovery.”]
He explained while emphasizing “recovery” with one hand.
[But if hyung overexerts yourself, then I’ve failed. Promise me that won’t happen.]
“I promise.”
I readily made that promise with him, then returned to my assigned room and plugged my drained smartphone into the charger.
And as I powered it on, I spoke.
‘Can you hear me?’
To Big Dal.
A popup appeared like lightning.
[Hyung, you’ve been discharged now?]
‘…Yeah.’
I replied grimly. The popup flinched.
This bastard had also kept his mouth shut during my hospitalization, refusing to breathe a single word about what was happening outside.
‘Who the hell put a gag order on him?’
Of course, in exchange, we did have quite a useful conversation.
I recalled the conversation I’d had with him on the day I was admitted.
Specifically about this state anomaly failure and the reward popup that appeared at the end.
[Mission Failure Scenario Complete]
Victor: Player Park Moon-dae (Ryu Gun-woo)
Reward: Fragment of ■■■ 1 (1/4)
-What exactly is this ‘fragment’ reward?
By that point, I’d roughly figured out the phrasing that treated the mission failure as a scenario.
It seemed that once the building collapse was undone, reality was being treated as a scenario rather than actual events.
But the ‘fragment of ■■■’ in the reward… honestly, it painted a rather bleak picture.
[I’m not entirely sure either. Since we were trying to create a mission failure, the status window naturally formed this shape on its own!]
Is that so.
[Yes!]
So I answered like this.
-Then what if we interpret it this way: the System actually remains fragmented, and I defeated those fragments and received the thing itself as spoils of war?
[]
The popup froze as if petrified.
Then a trembling, garbled message appeared.
[Actually… I’ve been thinking… could it be that the System only left fragments behind, and that’s why I didn’t notice…?]
Just as I thought.
[Sorryㅜㅜ]
-What do you have to apologize for? I was the one who mistakenly thought I’d destroyed it.
My mouth turned bitter.
‘I thought I’d completely eliminated it.’
Who would’ve thought it would remain in a fragmented state like some marble or pizza?
And the notation (1/4) attached to the description was particularly unsettling.
One quarter.
“Since I’m being discharged, I might as well ask.”
[Yes!]
“Don’t tell me this is going to happen three more times.”
A brief, dizzying silence fell.
[No, no, that shouldn’t happen. Since the System was fragmented and I missed it this time, I separately analyzed this wave and thoroughly scanned your status window!]
[You’re clean right now!]
Yeah.
That’s quite the positive feedback.
But I decided not to fully believe those words. I’d been backstabbed too many times after thinking that way.
In that sense, let me think ahead now to make sure a second abnormal state failure doesn’t occur.
‘Let’s see.’
They said the abnormal state symptom manifests when the strongest desire emerges.
Just like how I was obsessed with the album before.
Yeah, looking back now that it’s all over, I do seem to have wanted to release an album unusually badly—I must have been influenced by it.
‘So what do I want to do most right now….’
What else? Right now I’m desperate to understand the situation, so that’s all I can think about.
So before searching on my smartphone, I decided to get a quick summary of information I could hear right away.
First, to prove that I’d been discharged from the hospital, I sent Big Dal a text message on my smartphone, then asked this.
‘What happened with the VTIC charity concert?’
Was it cancelled? Scaled back?
With all that chaos, it had to be one or the other.
I was planning to take a stance from here and search SNS, but….
[Uh, it’s being promoted successfully though…?]
“….”
What kind of magic did I pull off?

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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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