Debut or Die - Chapter 472

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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 472
Cha Yu-jin, who had collapsed in the conference room, was rushed to the emergency room in an instant.
“Cha Yu-jin? Eugene!”
“Can you hear me?”
….
Throughout the entire drive to the hospital, Cha Yu-jin remained completely motionless.
The body that normally radiated such vitality and energy, pulsing with vigor from head to toe, showed no response whatsoever.
He looked like an object.
It was strange.
“How did this happen?!”
“…Just, he just suddenly collapsed… There were no other symptoms. None at all.”
Was everything that went wrong in my life destined to happen suddenly like this?
What good was all that damn analysis and preparation? No matter how hard I tried to prepare, when the situation actually arrived, it all turned out to be useless effort….
‘No.’
I pressed my thigh.
We haven’t even done a proper examination yet, and here I am doing what I do best—catastrophizing. Damn it.
Let’s do something productive.
‘Check the symptoms first.’
I reached my hand toward Cha Yu-jin’s face and checked his breathing and heartbeat.
….
“Park Moon-dae?”
I exhaled.
“…His breathing seems stable, at least.”
“Ah…!”
I’m no expert, but at least he wasn’t gasping for breath, his heartbeat wasn’t erratic, and his breathing wasn’t shallow.
In that moment, Big Sae-jin likewise began checking by massaging Cha Yu-jin’s limbs.
“His complexion doesn’t look that bad either. He’s a bit pale, but his body temperature seems fine, right?”
“Yeah.”
His temperature wasn’t noticeably low either, at least not from what I could tell.
Hearing our words, the Manager, who was driving, muttered frantically.
“Then it could be that, um, vasovagal… what was it called, anyway it’s fainting.”
Ah.
“Vasovagal syncope.”
“Ah! Yes, that….”
….
That’s usually caused by extreme stress or tension.
And the reason I know this is the same reason this company employee knows it.
“It happens quite often among idols. Since we’re in an active period, the Testa members can experience it too. We just moved companies and the environment changed….”
….
Right. It’s true that our situation is complicated in many ways.
But.
‘Cha Yu-jin?’
That same guy who had smiled alone and brushed past Ajusa’s negative voting when everyone else was dying, who managed his own mental state even when he was being criticized for the camera violence rumors?
‘That Cha Yu-jin is feeling “extreme stress and tension” over something this trivial and losing his mind….’
No, was this even the face of someone who had fainted?
‘He seems… asleep.’
I looked again at Cha Yu-jin’s expressionless, peaceful face as he breathed shallowly.
No matter how I thought about it, something felt unnatural.
“…! We’ve arrived at the hospital, so right away….”
“Yes!”
The car, which had been speeding frantically, arrived discreetly at the Emergency Room near the Company not long after, and Cha Yu-jin was immediately transferred to the Hospital.
As I rushed into the Hospital with the employees who had arrived in the Company vehicle that followed, Big Sae-jin muttered quietly.
“Let’s contact the others… a little later.”
….
He meant after the test results came back.
“It might not be anything serious. Actually, I have a feeling it won’t be.”
“Yeah.”
But I had no way of predicting how those results would turn out.
Cha Yu-jin had collapsed without any warning.
And I still couldn’t figure out what was strange about it!
‘…Damn it.’
I leaned against the wall and began turning over this unnaturally strange situation in my mind.
However, an even stranger event was waiting for me next.

* * *
“The results came back, and it appears to be a temporary loss of consciousness.”
“What?”
“In cases like this, it’s usually stress-related, and they mentioned we could do further brain scans for a definitive diagnosis, but… the tests they’ve run so far show no other abnormalities.”
“….”
Roundabout as the explanation was, the meaning boiled down to one thing.
The cause remained unknown.
“In any case, they said consciousness should return soon!”
“Phew.”
“Yes, thank you.”
At least it didn’t seem to be the worst-case scenario, which was something to be grateful for.
Up to this point, fine—we could proceed with further tests.
The problem came after.
“I need to contact the members now.”
“…Yeah.”
Big Sae-jin and I planned to split the calls and inform the members about Cha Yu-jin’s current condition. It seemed better than having them hear it from the company.
But that’s when we discovered it.
“…You experienced it too, hyung?”
Most of the other members we contacted had experienced similar, though milder, symptoms.
-No, I didn’t completely collapse, but I felt dizzy, so we paused filming for a bit. More importantly, what about Cha Yu-jin!?
-…I thought I just dozed off in the car for a moment, but now that I think about it, that might not have been it. Looking back, I definitely wasn’t drowsy.
-I assumed it was a side effect from excessive caffeine consumption recently, but… I-I’m not sure. I’m going to the hospital right now!
‘What is this.’
I’d left a text for Sun Ah-hyun, who was still filming a fishing show on a boat, so he hadn’t confirmed it yet, but that made three members already.
I faced Big Sae-jin, whose expression had grown grave.
“You,”
“I’m fine. What about you, Moon-dae?”
“Me too.”
But at this point, it became a different problem entirely.
“They’re saying we should get tested since it could be food poisoning or some kind of infection.”
We underwent comprehensive testing before the other members arrived.
“Hyungs!”
“Rae-bin.”
And Kim Rae-bin, who came rushing in looking like he was about to cry, also underwent testing immediately after.
But all our results came back clean.
“…We don’t need to call the members who are still on schedule right away.”
“….”
Nothing leaked to the press either.
After all, Cha Yu-jin hadn’t had an accident or fallen ill.
He had simply lost consciousness, just like that.
“….”
“Hey, hyung. This.”
I lifted my head at the sound of his voice.
Kim Rae-bin had returned at some point, a black plastic bag in his hands. He pulled out a drink and offered it to me.
It was a golden ginseng beverage—the kind commonly found in convenience store warmers.
“I know it might seem odd to drink something hot in summer, but you’ve been sitting in heavily air-conditioned rooms for so long, I thought this would be better for you….”
“…Thanks.”
I quietly accepted the ginseng honey tea he offered and took a sip.
Then his steady voice continued.
“Cha Yu-jin should be fine. Back when we were trainees, we talked about family medical history, and he even mentioned having no health issues….”
“….”
He was trying to comfort me.
Seriously.
I smiled faintly.
“Yeah. Like I said earlier, the doctor also thinks Cha Yu-jin will wake up soon. Don’t worry too much. He’s always been so healthy.”
“…! Y-yes….”
Kim Rae-bin barely nodded, then quietly sat beside me and began sipping his own drink. I caught a glimpse of Big Sae-jin patting his back.
“….”
I leaned my back against the wall and thought.
Right. Cha Yu-jin is a healthy guy.
Someone in the top 1% physically and mentally, yet he suddenly collapsed without warning….
‘And of all things, more than half our group nearly lost consciousness around the same time.’
Yet everyone says there are no health issues. Even Cha Yu-jin’s tests so far show nothing.
So among the remaining possibilities… what’s the most suspicious?
‘Supernatural intervention.’
I twisted my head toward the empty air.
[‘Company System’ updating]
“….”
Come to think of it.
Didn’t this all start the moment I absorbed the ‘Fragment of ■■■’ from Kwon Hee-seung?
And this loss of consciousness….
‘It seems similar to the symptoms that appear when I enter the virtual world created by the System.’
I still remember it clearly. That damned status window popup that appeared back then.
-Enjoy your daydream 🙂
-Enjoy your reality 😀
A daydream made with coins, and the System’s world.
Of course, the former was more like an opportunity Big Dal created to save me when he was a status window….
‘Wait.’
In that moment, I realized I’d found someone who could answer this situation.
‘Big Dal.’
It was none other than the System itself—the very entity that had created the daydream state window.
And moments later.
[Yes, hyung! What’s going on?]
Fortunately, the response came back without delay.
‘Phew.’
[Tongue, bro, are you really in the hospital right now? There’s some problem, right?ㅠㅠ]
‘Nothing’s wrong with me, but something happened to the others.’
[Huh?!]
I gave Popup a brief rundown of everything that had transpired.
Glossing over Popup’s frantic responses filled with alarm and concern, I cut straight to the point….
‘So, what I’m asking is—could Cha Yu-jin’s consciousness be trapped within the System?’
That was it.
I didn’t understand the mechanism, but the timing was far too coincidental.
And once Popup grasped the gravity of the situation, a swift response came back.
[Let me check your status window right away, hyung!]
Right.
I nodded eagerly.
But moments later.
[Um, hyung. This status window—and the System itself—it’s not responding at all right now….]
Popup brought unexpected news.
‘Not responding?’
[Yes! The functions appear to be completely frozen….]
[See how it says “Updating” right now? It seems like it’s in the middle of a complete reconstruction. It’s like when we update an app and can’t use it—the System is in a non-operational state.]
“….”
So that means there’s no possibility that Cha Yu-jin’s consciousness was trapped somewhere by the System’s machinations?
Because the System itself has completely shut down?
[Yes!]
And Popup offered one more hypothesis.
[If there really is a connection, I’d guess some kind of error occurred during the update process.]
But that, in turn, meant that Testa was somehow affected by updating this ‘Company System’.
In other words, it could sound rather ominous when you think about it.
‘…Could it be that they’re treating Testa as part of this Company System?’
[R-rather than that… since this System has only ever handled Testa’s album so far, I suspect they’ve unilaterally assigned excessive significance to it….]
“….”
Somehow… that feels rather pathetic.
[Anyway, I didn’t detect anything particularly suspicious, hyung!]
‘Alright.’
If that’s the case, then it’s probably nothing serious, which would be a relief.
‘Thanks anyway. I’ll contact you when he wakes up.’
Yes! Please don’t worry too much!
After finishing my conversation with Big Dal, I noticed the update popup still floating on the screen.
I held back a sigh and asked.
Hoping that maybe I’d get an answer.
‘How long will it take?’
Surprisingly, something did appear.
[※Service is restricted during updates.]
‘Damn it.’
I already knew this.
‘So you’re just telling me to wait, huh?’
If there really was a connection and Cha Yu-jin had been unconscious this entire time because of the update, I was seriously considering ripping this cursed System out the moment the update finished.
“Hey, guys. Chung-woo hyung just finished his schedule and is coming right over, and….”
“…ugh,”
Big Sae-jin’s words trailed off.
And the sound that stopped his speech didn’t come from me or Kim Rae-bin.
It came from the hospital bed.
“…!!”
“Cha Yu-jin…!”
We bolted upright immediately.
“Call the company, no—call a doctor…!”
“Wait!”
Big Sae-jin, standing near the door, quickly rushed out to call someone. Kim Rae-bin and I immediately headed for the bed.
There was….
Cha Yu-jin, his brow furrowed, twisting his body to the side.
He had woken up.
“Cha Yu-jin!”
Cha Yu-jin, writhing slightly, was rubbing his face with his hands and groaning.
[This damn headache….]
“….”
English?
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
At that moment, Cha Yu-jin stopped moving.
As he lowered his hand, his bare eyes—without contact lenses—were revealed.
Our gazes pierced into each other.
[Korean? I don’t remember calling 911, so who the hell are you and how did you bring me here….]
…What?
But Cha Yu-jin turned his gaze further and recognized someone else.
“Rae-bin?”
“C-Cha Yu-jin! Are you okay?”
But he looked confused again this time.
“Kim Rae-bin, why are you in America?”
“….”
“What are you talking about! This is South Korea!”
“South Korea? [You think I got internationally kidnapped or something….] …Wait, Kim Rae-bin, did someone give you a brownie or something? Chocolate chip cookies?”
“What are you saying?!”
Kim Rae-bin was utterly bewildered.
And in that moment, Cha Yu-jin muttered a few colorful English curses under his breath before letting out a sigh.
Then he continued muttering to himself.
“Ah… fine. [Once is enough. Just clear the drug out of my system before we head back to South Korea. We’re not a K-pop boy band anymore anyway.]”
At this point, Kim Rae-bin was genuinely frightened.
He grabbed my arm and shouted.
“Park Moon-dae, sir. Something’s wrong with Cha Yu-jin!”
I know.
“The one who’s wrong is you, Kim Rae-bin.”
But Cha Yu-jin responded firmly, as if dealing with someone who was genuinely intoxicated.
Then he turned to look at me and scratched the back of his head.
[Maybe Park Moon-dae… ‘Park Moon-dae, sir’? You brought me and this clueless Kim Rae-bin to the hospital after he ate cannabis without knowing what it was?]
And Cha Yu-jin laughed.
“Thank you.”
“….”
“Well, you won’t mention this to South Korea, right? [STier’s finished anyway.]”
In that moment, I realized who this ‘Cha Yu-jin’ sitting here really was.
-STier.
Not Testa. STier.
It was the name of the group that originally debuted from Ajusa before I participated in Ajusa in Park Moon-dae’s body.
‘…Damn it.’
And beside the face of ‘STier’s Cha Yu-jin’, the popup updated in the empty space.
[‘Company System’ updating]
-D-30 until completion

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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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