Debut or Die - Chapter 44

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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 44
After finishing their stage, the Moonlit Rabbit team returned to the Group Waiting Room for reaction cuts. It was a space equipped with a large monitor so they could watch the other teams’ performances.
For the record, the moment everyone came down from the stage, they all burst into tears without discrimination, so everyone’s eyes were puffed up like goldfish.
Honestly, they had every right to cry. They’d pushed through without proper rest for over ten days and successfully completed what they’d prepared. If I were twenty, I would’ve been sobbing too.
“Hey Moon-dae, how are you not shedding a single tear? Are you seriously from the National Intelligence Service or something….”
“I’m not.”
I shut down Gold 1’s attempt to recycle a worn-out joke as comedy. The team members around us chuckled.
The atmosphere was comfortable.
‘I know we did well.’
With participants from other teams present, we didn’t say it out loud, but the verdict was already in from the mid-evaluation and rehearsals.
Unless someone from another team suddenly unleashed insane potential and performed some kind of spatial distortion on stage, this was a done deal.
Thanks to that, whenever another team’s stage came on, my reactions were particularly good.
With peace of mind, I could enjoy the other teams’ stages without any ulterior motives.
‘This is fun.’
For once, I settled into the role of spectator and appreciated the stages. Of course, I kept an eye on my surroundings and gave some reactions too.
‘The second and third teams are already out.’
The second team’s arrangement was out of nowhere, and they couldn’t complete the choreography in time, so more than half the members botched their moves during the dance break in the latter half.
The third team seemed to want to push a sexy concept like Big Sae-jin, but it was just overdone without any sense, making people feel awkward.
‘At that level, women would hate it even more.’
The real question was how much editing would fix it on broadcast.
And the fourth team seemed to at least break even.
This team with Gold 2 chose a cute, upbeat song, and while they didn’t do a drastically different arrangement from the original, it suited them well.
“Hee-seung did great!”
Gold 1 shouted excitedly as Gold 2 came out as center. I gave them a round of applause too.
Now there was only one team left.
The hellfire-flavored Ryu Chung-woo team.
‘Poor guy.’
If you didn’t feel sympathy for Ryu Chung-woo in this situation, you’d have to be someone who’d never done a group project.
The rift between Lee Sae-jin and Choi Won-gil was completely obvious to me. Yet he managed to complete a stage while dealing with that, plus a troll and Cha Yu-jin?
That alone deserved compensation as an Achievement.
By the way, Cha Yu-jin was still demoralized, and he’d been dropping by every two or three days to mooch snacks.
I had no idea if he’d actually perform well on stage to match the chocolate he’d eaten, but it didn’t matter either way. It wasn’t my team anyway.
“Fighting!”
Big Sae-jin, who’d been sending encouragement to every team leaving the waiting room for the stage, also cheered on Ryu Chung-woo’s team.
After some time passed, Ryu Chung-woo’s team appeared on the monitor screen.
“Here we go!”
Even a rotten fish is still a fish—since this was a team of high-ranking, high-tier participants, anticipation hung in the air of the waiting room.
Of course, that anticipation might have been hoping they’d fail rather than succeed.
But Ryu Chung-woo’s team didn’t fail.
‘…Why is that bastard flying around.’
Cha Yu-jin had grabbed me by the collar and dragged me along.
Every time I pushed toward center during the chorus, there was an optical illusion that made the stage look more polished.
‘So that’s why he placed first.’
I thought his mental state had collapsed, but once he stepped on stage, he became a different person.
‘Is it because of his trait?’
I recalled Cha Yu-jin’s trait that I’d confirmed during the last team match.
[Trait: Black Hole (A)]
: Gravitational pull that absorbs everything
Stage immersion +150%
With something like that, there’s no way he wouldn’t debut.
“Ooooh!”
As Ryu Chung-woo’s Team finished their stage, the participants in the waiting room gasped and applauded.
“Cha Yu-jin really did well.”
“Right?”
I could hear the Moon Rabbit Team whispering from beside us. But there was no anxiety in their voices.
They probably thought that despite Cha Yu-jin’s brilliance, there was a clear difference in overall completion.
‘The problem is that we went first.’
Impressions naturally faded as time passed. It would’ve been better if we hadn’t botched the mini-game that determined stage order.
I never expected Gold 1 to lose that badly.
I recalled Gold 1’s confident declaration when he went out as the team representative for the mini-game.
-Just trust me!
…But that declaration never came to fruition.
Gold 1, who had poured all his effort into the rock-paper-scissors match within the team, suffered consecutive crushing defeats in the subsequent team representative match.
If we ended up missing first place by a narrow margin because of this order?
Honestly, only Gold 1 would regret it. The rest of the team members were the type who’d make it to the finals even if their rankings dropped significantly.
Gold 1’s ranking was precarious, so winning this team match was crucial for him.
Based on the pattern so far, the production team would definitely give something helpful for survival as the championship prize.
‘They’ll announce it soon.’
Since the last team stage had ended, roughly an hour remained until the team ranking announcement.
There was a high probability they’d pull that bullshit move again, keeping only 1st and 2nd place and postponing the rest to the next ranking announcement, but the general outline would become clear anyway.
And an hour and a half later, the results were exactly as I predicted.
“The remaining finalists for first place are two teams! The Moon Rabbit Team and the Husky Team! Which team will claim the glory of final championship?”
That Husky Team is Ryu Chung-woo’s team name. Everything up to this point was predictable.
“The results will be revealed at the ranking announcement ceremony!”
Yeah, I expected that too.
“But if we keep doing this every time, you all must be exhausted, right? So we’ll announce the championship benefits right now!”
“Huh?”
That… I didn’t see coming.
“The championship benefit is… guaranteed survival at the next ranking announcement!”
“…!”
It was excessively generous. With only thirty people remaining, why offer such a reward?
Just as expected, the MC cut through the moment.
“However, only one person can receive this benefit! Before the next ranking announcement, the top candidate teams must consult internally and select one participant to receive the reward!”
“….”
The Production Team’s ideas grew increasingly outlandish as the program entered its final stages.
Wasn’t this a penalty for everyone else who didn’t receive it?
And the one who did receive it would be bombarded with criticism from their own teammates’ fans.
Though, from what I remembered back when I was studying for the civil service exam, the Production Team never abandoned their provocations even until the finale.
They were absolutely infuriating.
In any case, there was no real problem for Moon Rabbit’s Team. We already knew who would receive it.
‘Gold 1 should get it—it’s the most utilitarian choice.’
The rest of us didn’t seem likely to be eliminated anyway. Rather than cause controversy by accepting it, they’d prefer to give it cleanly and preserve their image.
The only potential issue would be if Sun Ah-hyun, who’d been getting roasted on the internet until just before, got cold feet and said he wanted it himself—but given his personality, that seemed unlikely.
Big Sae-jin’s public opinion had already reversed due to the school violence rumor, so he’d have a good sense of his own ranking.
I glanced across the team members’ faces. Everyone was glancing at Gold 1, and it was clear they’d all reached the same conclusion.
Gold 1 looked embarrassed but didn’t seem inclined to refuse. He’d probably offer a few polite objections out of courtesy.
‘No problem on our end.’
The real issue seemed to be with the other team.
I could practically see the Production Team’s eager anticipation—wondering exactly what kind of chaos Husky’s Team would create.
“Then we’ll wrap up the third team battle of Idol Stock Company! Shareholders, we’ll see you at the ranking announcement~”
With applause, the participants bowed toward the camera, and filming ended.
“Thank you for your hard work~”
“See you at the next shoot!”
As polite greetings echoed from various participants, Moon Rabbit’s Team changed clothes and regrouped.
And we immediately handed the victory benefit to Gold 1.
“Since we all worked hard, how about the oldest member takes it?”
“Yes.”
“I agree.”
“Y-yes, sounds good!”
“Hey, I’m really grateful, but maybe we should discuss it a bit more….”
Big Sae-jin chuckled and wrapped it up.
“Hyung, don’t you know? The more we discuss, the less sleep we’ll get….”
“Ah.”
Once filming ended and the tension completely vanished, the accumulated sleep deprivation from the past ten days came crashing down endlessly.
Everyone was conversing with their eyes half-closed.
“Y-yeah. Thanks, guys. I’ll buy us dinner.”
“Ha. Thanks, hyung! We won’t order anything as shamelessly expensive as beef.”
“….”
That felt like a jab aimed at me, but I’d ignore it. Too tired.
Anyway, Moon Rabbit’s Team disbanded on that warm note.
I stifled a yawn and pulled up the navigation on my smartphone toward the Bus Stop.
“M-Moon-dae.”
“Yeah?”
When I turned my head, Sun Ah-hyun was clenching his fists. Surely he wasn’t planning to hit me.
“What?”
“W-would you like to go home together? M-my parents are coming to pick me up….”
“Oh… yeah. Thanks.”
Given the show’s visibility, taking the bus seemed difficult now, so I’d been planning to call a taxi anyway.
‘At least I’ll save on taxi fare.’
Meeting another participant’s parents was somewhat awkward, but getting a ride was hardly a big deal.
“Oh, n-no! I’m j-just glad!”
Sun Ah-hyun walked ahead eagerly and stopped in front of a black sedan parked on the street.
It was a foreign luxury car.
‘So his family is fairly well-off.’
I’d suspected as much from seeing where Sun Ah-hyun lived.
I followed Sun Ah-hyun into the car and greeted his parents as politely as possible.
“Hello.”
“So you’re Moon-dae! Pleased to meet you.”
“Come on in~ Did our Ah-hyun do well this time too?”
“Oh, D-Dad!”
The family atmosphere was warmer than I’d expected. Sun Ah-hyun’s face flushed crimson as he fumbled about, and I could see his parents beaming with pride.
“Yes. He did very well. You’ll be amazed when you watch the broadcast.”
“That’s our son~”
Sun Ah-hyun buried his face against the back of the front seat, looking mortified. His expressions became far more natural now that he was with his family.
‘So peer relationships really are the root of all evil.’
I politely gave them my One-room apartment address and settled back against the seat, enjoying the comfortable ride. All I had to do was answer the occasional question—it was perfect.
I’d long since moved past the stage of feeling strange watching a harmonious friend’s family. Thanks to that, I could fully savor this comfortable moment.

* * *
“Take care~”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“I’ll, I’ll contact you!”
“Sure.”
I had to say goodbye to Sun Ah-hyun’s family multiple times before I could finally get off at my address.
‘I heard way more personal details than I expected….’
Did I really need to know that Sun Ah-hyun studied abroad in Europe and even took ballet lessons? But I’ll consider it fair payment for the ride.
I passed through the worn stairs and corridor before approaching the One-room apartment I’d rented.
Once I get inside, I’m definitely sleeping first….
‘Ah.’
What the hell….
The door was open.

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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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