Debut or Die - Chapter 47

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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 47
First, the top negative vote recipient was… predictable.
[1st Place: Choi Won-gil]
‘It’s over.’
After seeing the Episode 9 edit, unless something unexpected happened, that bastard would be gone by the next ranking announcement.
The problem started from second place.
[2nd Place: Sun Ah-hyun]
This ranking was also predictable, honestly. The voting period and the peak of public criticism directed at Sun Ah-hyun had aligned perfectly.
So in a way, it was fortunate. Unlike Choi Won-gil, Sun Ah-hyun had been attacked so suddenly and excessively that sympathy was already rising among the public.
Comments like ‘Sun Ah-hyun shouldn’t be in second place for negative votes’ were becoming widespread, making it highly likely the atmosphere would completely flip.
Plus, he performed well in this team mission too, so things were stable.
‘He’ll ride the momentum well at the end.’
But there was no way this analysis would land on the person who’d just received second place right in front of everyone. As a result, only the TV sound echoed through the Living Room for several dozen seconds.
“….”
‘If one more person suggests we watch the broadcast together live, I’m cutting ties with them, dammit.’
The atmosphere was suffocating.
Moreover, just below second place was fourth: Lee Sae-jin B. In other words, Big Sae-jin.
It seemed he’d lost votes from people who felt betrayed on the night the controversy erupted.
‘Since it was resolved quickly, people will probably start voting for him out of concern instead.’
Sure enough, Big Sae-jin was the first to open his mouth with a smile.
“Ah, once our team mission airs, it’ll flip right away, right?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”
“It seems unlikely to flip.”
“…?”
Kim Rae-bin, who suddenly spoke up, muttered something absurd with a serious expression.
‘Is he insane?’
Big Sae-jin looked at him with that kind of expression, but Kim Rae-bin continued steadily.
“Since we completed this team mission well too, I don’t think there will be a significant drop in the vote rate.”
“…??”
“…Hey, you…. Um, Rae-bin. You know this is negative voting, right?”
“Yes. …Ah!”
Kim Rae-bin answered Gold 1 with wide, innocent eyes, then let out an exclamation as if he’d realized something and added an explanation.
“Negative votes also tend to increase proportionally with general vote rates.”
Excluding special cases like Choi Won-gil, it was statistically accurate. It became a matter of the scale of votes for that participant.
“…Huh?”
“That’s true.”
The atmosphere suddenly eased. The participants, recalling the last ranking announcement, realized Kim Rae-bin’s statement was reasonable.
‘Not a bad perspective.’
Though his communication skills were a bit lacking, he was definitely useful.
Sun Ah-hyun had also relaxed his tension by now, responding appropriately to Gold 1’s banter.
“Wait, does that mean I’m eliminated? I’m ranked 21st!”
“Hyung! You don’t have antis, so that’s why!”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Instead of watching the TV screen that had already switched to commercials, I checked my rankings again on the Website.
[8th Place Park Moon-dae ▼3]
Cha Yu-jin was ahead of me, and Ryu Chung-woo was behind me.
Comparing it to the minus figures from the last ranking announcement, it seemed my ranking had dropped three places.
‘Should I be happy about this?’
It was hard to analyze.
In truth, compared to Cha Yu-jin and Ryu Chung-woo, who had never been controversial, the broadcast version of Park Moon-dae had stirred up some gossip.
So it was ambiguous. Whether this was evidence that Park Moon-dae’s negative public opinion was finally subsiding, or whether Park Moon-dae’s overall voting scale had simply shrunk.
‘I hope it’s not a downward trend.’
I thought I’d picked decent stages each time. Direct camera views and mentions had been steadily increasing. The problem was that most of the guys sitting around me also had good metrics.
‘…If they’d just picked about thirteen people, I’d definitely be in the safe zone.’
Since I already knew how many people would be picked, I couldn’t indulge in such wishful thinking.
I grimaced and checked the reactions to this episode instead. Park Moon-dae didn’t have much screen time, so there wasn’t much buzz.
It was roughly like this.
-Moon-dae.. he’s good at trot too? What can’t this guy do?
-(Just screaming that he’s incredibly cute)
-Dog climbing on a kimchi refrigerator with eyes twice as big [short video]
-Everyone, let’s be grateful that Moon-puppy didn’t go on the trot survival show, we almost lost him
I let out a hollow laugh. It was such an absurd idea that it was kind of… cute.
‘If I don’t debut, it’s sudden death—what’s this about trot?’
But the moment I chuckled and read the next popular post, I felt a light chill run down my spine.
-Park Moon-dae is actually on his second life, right? Reasonable suspicion anyway
“…”
They nailed it.
Anyway, aside from that, there were scattered comments about how people liked the Moon Rabbit Team.
And when I dug a bit deeper, I found quite a few reactions saying it was fortunate that I didn’t end up in Cha Yu-jin’s team, the Dog Team.
-Since we’re already dogs anyway, it would’ve been nice to follow the nickname, but I’m deleting my post from 20 minutes ago
-Honestly, when they mentioned that big data algorithm thing, I thought they were pulling nonsense, but I’m just relieved our kid’s head is safe…
Lol I saw they posted that big data stuff on the Website and they edited it so damn meticulously. Production Team, are there any contestants in that group you wanted to kill?
Overall, the tone of posts from people who liked Park Moon-dae was all like this.
Relief and anticipation that this stage would be fine too.
A slight sense of ease that I’d probably debut if things went well.
It was nice that people seemed to be enjoying themselves, but I actually had less confidence than during the first team battle. Probably because the finals were right around the corner.
‘I don’t think I’ll get much screen time in this team battle.’
The stage seemed well-executed. But no matter how I thought about it, the Moon Rabbit Team had more than half the contestants with storylines easier to cut than mine.
‘Maybe I should be satisfied that I maintained my position.’
After all, from the middle of the broadcast onward, getting too much screen time only earned me criticism.
When one member of a team stands out like the protagonist, fans increase, but so does resentment—it spreads easily.
Broadcast time is limited, so when that one person gets screen time, the members I like don’t get their moments.
Park Moon-dae had never failed to secure his share of screen time, but he’d never monopolized it all either.
I supposed I should be satisfied that he gave no opening for criticism. I closed the Internet window with a lingering sense of disappointment.
And a week later.
That disappointment proved to be premature speculation.
“…??”
Why did he have screen time?

* * *
Park Moon-dae’s largest anonymous fan community was brimming with anticipation before Episode 10 aired.
The preview had shown a brief shot of the Moon Rabbit Team’s stage, and Park Moon-dae’s upper body was visible in the frame.
Everyone was in an extremely excited state over the high-definition footage that had appeared after ten days.
-Moon-dae’s face in the preview is insane
-Lolol just looking at his face shows such intensity, gonna stream direct cam right after broadcast ends today, let’s hit 10 million views
-Hanbok? Rabbit mask? He’s lost it, how does he nail the concept this well every team stage? This feels like Moon-dae’s idea again.
└Seems right, the way he picks stages, there’s no one like him, he just destroys fan hearts with concepts lolol
└He was definitely born under an idol’s star
└This is it
They continued chattering excitedly about Park Moon-dae even after Episode 10 started.
For forty minutes, only occasional major updates appeared about other unrelated participants’ teams.
Finally, the Moon Rabbit Team’s screen time began.
-The production team really crammed this at the very end
-According to audience spoilers it was the opening!! The opening! Why! Here!
-Being used as a hostage once or twice is fine, but this is ridiculous lolol
-Mundaeng is finally coming outㅜㅜ
People’s attention finally concentrated on the live broadcast.
The Moon Rabbit Team’s song selection process aired without special editing, maintaining the same atmosphere as a group assignment hope edition.
-Moon-dae: Hehe, your opinion’s good and theirs is good too, let’s use everything
-Moon-dae’s still wise lolol
-Did you see Moon-dae’s face when Big Sae-jin was doing the sexy round song lolol, now I get why he mentioned the Tibetan fox, he was so cute lolol
-Since everyone talks gently without any harsh words, it’s like chemotherapy on its own
In fact, the Moon Rabbit Team’s broadcast time had to be heartwarming. There was simply no conflict material to extract.
It was thanks to participants who had no particular grievances with each other and knew how to hold back for various reasons.
Even if there had been dormitory footage from the night of Big Sae-jin’s school violence controversy, things might have been different, but unfortunately all the dormitory cameras were removed that day due to equipment issues, so there was no material.
So the production team had no choice but to broadcast the Moon Rabbit Team’s continued success, albeit reluctantly.
This approach could at least provide viewing pleasure by contrasting with the Husky Team from the group assignment despair edition.
Thanks to this, fans of the Moon Rabbit Team participants could enjoy a pleasant viewing experience.
The Moon Rabbit Team was the only one that had carefully and normally secured all elements in the production process.
However, it wasn’t without its drawbacks.
As the scene warmed, the sharp edge dissolved. In its place, an ambiguous warmth settled comfortably.
-Dude, I’ve never seen Park Moon-dae sprawled out like that
-They’re all familiar with each other so it looks comfortable right
-It’s heartwarming
For instance, the Moon Rabbit Team, exhausted from their relentless push, appeared as though they were simply comfortable with one another, unburdened by formality.
The zombie-like state they’d endured without proper sleep to meet the deadline never made it to air. It didn’t fit the narrative.
Fortunately, the stage itself aired with its full polish intact.
-They killed it
-Sexy traditional rabbit, well done. This combination actually works—Park Moon-dae, what’s your eye for aesthetics…
-I heard it through earbuds and Park Moon-dae basically layered double vocals on every chorus from start to finish
└Insane
└Is that even possible?
└And the humming at the end is an octave higher too lmaooo. If you try to criticize based on skill now, you’re just admitting you’re an idiot
Because the production process rather than team narrative received substantial screen time, viewers could intuitively grasp the various elements of the stage—an unexpected synergy that emerged.
-Dude, I got actual chills when Park Moon-dae turned around and the earth appeared
-The flow from hanbok to Western dress to hanbok was great. Like the Moon Rabbit falling in love with a modern person and imagining in between…
-The scholar tree appearing as a stump and the stage ending there was nice too. It felt a bit lonely and like a lot of time had passed, so you end up imagining the story yourself lol
└As a 2D enthusiast, I loved this stage
└The fact that I’m not cursing at this cheesy comment? That means the stage high is hitting
-Park Moon-dae, thanks for pulling out a legendary stage every time. Makes it easy to support
True to the overwhelming reaction at the venue, fans watching naturally poured out comments without needing to force the narrative.
Yet there remained a subtle sense of regret—no one received a personal narrative, and it ended as a stage by model students.
The fact that every team member except Park Moon-dae had wept the moment they came off stage was also cut.
Park Moon-dae’s prediction about not receiving screen time proved correct.
Only, contrary to the expectation that another team member would claim the narrative, no one equally received the spotlight.
As a result, when the final Husky Team aired immediately after, the flood of comments from Park Moon-dae’s fans quickly subsided.
-That was good
-Let’s debut like this
-I want to see more of Moon Dae’s faceㅠㅠ Is this the end of the story?
-Show the kids playing around more. The documentary-style editing was boring. The Production Team has no sense lol
Park Moon-dae appeared on screen again unexpectedly at that exact moment.

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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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