Debut or Die - Chapter 441

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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 441
“Hah.”
I drew in a deep breath and exhaled. The haggard face of Ryu Gun-woo reflected on my smartphone screen moved in sync with me.
…This is a situation where composure is impossible, but let me organize it as calmly as I can.
1. Park Moon-dae (me) and Ryu Gun-woo (Big Dal) have switched bodies.
2. Park Moon-dae is the main vocalist of a top-tier idol group, and a comeback is imminent.
But.
3. Ryu Gun-woo (Big Dal) in Park Moon-dae’s body has zero idol experience—comeback or otherwise.
And here comes the final nail in the coffin.
4. Park Moon-dae’s radio live broadcast starts in 10 minutes.
“….”
I’ve lost it. I’ve been through absurd situations before, but this is genuinely insane.
‘Live broadcast standby in 10 minutes—is this real?’
The only silver lining is that I can share Park Moon-dae’s vision the way Big Dal could before.
Regardless of status abnormalities or whatever, I have to get through this broadcast somehow… wait.
‘…Park Moon-dae’s vision is getting blurry?’
The radio waiting room is hazy.
This feels wrong. What if the problem arose because I, an outsider, connected instead of Big Dal, who was originally in sync?
‘Damn it.’
I can hear the broadcast going down the drain. I frantically opened the chat.
“Are you okay? There’s a connection issue with your vision….”
[T-These are tears….]
“….”
[I’m sorry.]
I understand.
But those tears welled up, piercing through the hazy vision, and several people appeared walking briskly from in front of the radio booth.
…The writers!
[Hyung!! Hyung! People are coming in!]
“Wait.”
This is no time to get sentimental.
“Tell me your phone’s unlock pattern!”
[Uh-uh-uh, debut day! Testa’s debut day!]
A male idol debut day as the pattern? Damn, that’s unintuitive!
Regardless, I quickly put my mind to work.
‘The keypad has no ‘0’ marking, so exclude that. But if the pattern is only three digits, that’s too few, so if I add the year….’
Five digits!
I connected the positions of five numbers and lifted my finger, and the screen unlocked with a swipe.
‘That’s it!’
I immediately started downloading the broadcasting company’s radio app. I planned to use it to substitute for Park Moon-dae’s hearing.
‘Better to do this than risk making a mistake during the broadcast by trying to share Park Moon-dae’s body and hearing simultaneously.’
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure how to share my perspective at this point.
Let’s get to work right now.
I opened the radio app that had finished downloading. In those brief seconds, I simultaneously planned, discarded, and reviewed strategies.
Then I got out of bed.
“Listen carefully.”
[Yes!]
“It’s a surprise radio appearance right before the comeback. The script is at most five or six lines, and you can check it in real-time. Since there are many people, you only need to answer when Park Moon-dae gets a direct question.”
Otherwise, only open your mouth when everyone answers together, and speak slowly only when I give you a signal through chat.
At that point, while I’m sending you the answer, you mix in exclamations and drag it out slightly to fill the silence.
But one thing is crucial.
“Don’t put any nuance—positive or negative—in your exclamations before answering. You need to control that carefully.”
One careless moment of sarcasm or an inappropriate tone and you’re done for.
Once a broadcast airs, it’s over. Tension is essential.
[Uuuugh….]
Big Dal posted something like a death cry in the chat popup. I held back a sigh.
‘I can’t push him too hard either.’
Putting too much pressure on him will just make it worse.
“You don’t need to overthink reflexive reactions. It’s not like you have an aggressive personality anyway.”
But the chat erupted.
[Please! Just control me! I’ll do whatever reaction you tell me to! Just whatever you write, hyung! Okay!?]
He couldn’t have been more desperate.
But I couldn’t adopt that convenient solution.
“That won’t work.”
[Yes…?]
I leaned back on the sofa and lowered my head.
“It’s a video radio show.”
[….]
Which means you have to control your facial muscles too. Every single reaction.
[Save me.]
Isn’t that exactly what I’m trying to do here?
I sighed.
“If you really can’t do it, there is one way to avoid the broadcast altogether,”
[What is it!?]
“Just collapse on the floor right now.”
The most certain way to cancel a schedule.
Getting loaded into an ambulance.
“….”
A brief silence followed.
[I’m sorry, I can’t do that….]
Yeah, I knew he’d say that.
Testa is already receiving the final briefing in front of the booth door. If that shameless bastard had collapsed with a clear mind to save me, I wouldn’t have come all this way.
“There’s nothing to apologize for. Anyway, this will be tough for you to handle alone.”
[…Yes.]
“Good.”
I’d already been thinking about it.
An amateur who’s never broadcast before gets thrown into a live broadcast out of nowhere? If I stumble awkwardly alone, the tempo will break and it’ll stand out.
‘And it’ll be even worse compared to the broadcast version of Park Moon-dae I used to show.’
I needed someone to support him, someone on-site to play off of.
But if I told all seven of them right now, it would cause a massive uproar. So… there’s really only one answer.
I pressed my cheek and opened my mouth.
“I’m only telling one person.”

* * *
The area in front of the SBC Late Night Radio booth was taut with an appropriate, not excessive tension. It was only natural—Testa had been doing broadcast activities for well over five years now.
Still, even members who frequently appeared on variety shows didn’t loosen up any more than usual.
For instance… like Lee Sae-jin.
He had already run through the script repeatedly in his head and checked his own parts.
And the next sequence mattered too.
‘Hmm, this works fine too.’
He had memorized the parts he hadn’t been explicitly assigned but could ‘pick up’.
It was a habit that hadn’t disappeared since the debut survival show.
Securing his own share.
Testa had already grown to an undeniable scale as a group. But the culture of comparing and ranking individual members within the group hadn’t vanished—true to their survival show origins.
And besides….
‘Why wouldn’t I do it?’
On stage, in photo shoots, in producing, in interviews… there were always members who stood out. Without question, in this team, there’s always a member ‘scoring points’ no matter what activity happens.
But walking while others run? That was no different from resting.
Lee Sae-jin would never commit the pathetic act of missing a point he could claim. Not until retirement.
“Is there anything else you might need?”
“Oh, we’re fine~”
Still, by now the other members besides Lee Sae-jin were also quite accustomed to this kind of talk-show format. They had to do better.
‘Well, it’s good that the members are reliable.’
Lee Sae-jin recalled the waiting room from just before. Everyone was managing their tension and waiting skillfully on their own….
Then, a small whisper crawled into Lee Sae-jin’s ear.
“Um, um there.”
A desperate sound, tinged with something like crying.
Notably, it came from a person to whom those two descriptors absolutely didn’t fit.
Because of that, Lee Sae-jin turned his head almost reflexively.
“…?”
And he found himself face to face with someone whose eyes were glistening with tears.
It was Park Moon-dae.
Lee Sae-jin nearly jumped out of her seat in horror, but managed to restrain herself. She almost lost it at the next words.
“I’m not Moon-dae hyung…”
“…!?”
“My body suddenly switched. I’m, um, Big Dal.”
“….”
What?
“You know, the one in Gun-woo hyung’s body….”
He briefly entertained the possibility that Park Moon-dae would pull such a prank just four minutes and fifty seconds before going live, then immediately discarded the thought as garbage.
Meanwhile, the person claiming to be someone else despite wearing Park Moon-dae’s body continued earnestly explaining the situation.
The explanation ended with the assertion that he was currently communicating with ‘Moon-dae hyung’ through some sort of magical method.
“Um, as for how to speak on the radio, well, Moon-dae hyung is supposedly teaching me…”
‘Telepathy…’
A few childish movies and dramas flashed rapidly through his mind.
Still, the surreal experiences from the past few times had helped absorb the shock somewhat—before questions about this absurd situation could surface, something else emerged first.
Concern.
The last ‘impossible incident’ had been a building collapse.
Lee Sae-jin, a chill running down her spine, opened her mouth.
“Is he okay?”
“Yes, he should be! I was in bed trying to sleep…”
A brief wave of relief washed over her.
“And… ah, he’s asking me to tell you this…”
“…?”
A sentence that sounded like it came from a Korean textbook followed.
“First, don’t tell anyone else. Only you know. You know what’ll happen if the broadcast goes south, right…?”
“….”
He’s perfectly fine.
‘That’s definitely Park Moon-dae.’
The world tilted before her eyes.
And Big Dal’s desperate, mosquito-like speech ended like this.
“Please save me. Moon-dae hyung says on the radio that you’re the only one he can trust…”
…Park Moon-dae!!
Lee Sae-jin screamed internally without changing her expression.
At that moment, Ryu Chung-woo turned his head from the front door.
“Is something wrong?”
Lee Sae-jin hesitated briefly. But…
“…Ah~ No! We should get in! Come on, let’s do this radio show properly~”
Park Moon-dae was right. If she shared this and the conversation rhythm got thrown off, it would be hell.
She gritted her teeth and smiled. Then, grabbing the back of Park Moon-dae’s neck, she cheerfully entered the booth.
However, there was one thing both Lee Sae-jin and Park Moon-dae had overlooked.
Sun Ah-hyun had been waiting right next to them. Close enough to catch snatches of their conversation.
It was a gap created by the collision of live broadcast and inexplicable phenomena.
“….”
“Ah-hyun? It’s time to enter the booth.”
“Oh!”
Sun Ah-hyun swallowed hard.
And with a pale complexion, yet resolute steps, I followed into the booth.
…Thus, Monday, January 9th, 11:47 PM.
That night when people were frantically wrapping up the new year and the start of the week, busy living their reality.
“Song DJ’s Late Night Radio. A Monday staple, isn’t it? We’re back with the 【Weekly Lucky】 segment.”
The SBC Late Night Radio had just entered its final Monday segment.
“Today we have some very special invited guests.”
The middle-aged radio host smiled as seven tall, handsome idols filed in.
Her radio, which had earned praise for gently comforting listeners through each day with a soft voice, hadn’t experienced such commotion in a long time.
‘So young.’
Testa was entering while actively and warmly reciprocating greetings from the producers outside the booth.
Still, befitting top stars who had been thriving for years, they all skillfully and naturally found their seats and smiled pleasantly.
“I think the listeners will be quite surprised.”
She carefully examined the table and confirmed the faces.
Of course, she had already memorized the guests’ names. Remarkably, all seven of them were famous enough that she didn’t need to study them separately.
‘The blonde young man over there is Cha Yu-jin, the sharp-featured youth with the ponytail is Kim Rae-bin, the pretty young man in the hoodie is Bae Sae-jin….’
And this cute friend sitting right to my right is Park Moon-dae, famous for his composure…but.
For some reason, my hand was trembling like a motorboat.
‘…??’
The host almost rubbed her eyes in that moment. But her practiced mouth delivered the prepared introduction.
“The undisputed king of K-pop, who won the Singer of the Year award at the Golden Disc Awards just days ago—Testa!”
And when she looked at her hand again, it had already disappeared beneath the table.
‘Did I see wrong?’
Naturally, Lee Sae-jin nudged me with her elbow.
And so the nerve-wracking live radio broadcast began.

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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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