Debut or Die - Chapter 490

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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 490
Kim Rae-bin recalled his profession ability once more.
Security Official.
If he identified the culprit before the game ended, he could eliminate them…!
‘Then I can catch the culprit and save the sacrificed member!’
The rules of this game were simple.
-Participants could exchange cards to pass the sacrifice marker to one another.
-If they correctly deduced who the culprit—the black sheep—was at the end, both the culprit and the sacrifice would die.
-If they failed to deduce correctly, everyone except the culprit and sacrifice would die.
A death match team battle.
In other words, the culprit and sacrifice automatically formed one team of two, while the remaining five members formed the other team. Only one side could survive.
But if the Security Official successfully eliminated the culprit, the situation changed.
Instead of both the culprit and sacrifice dying, only the culprit would be sacrificed instead, and the game would end.
In other words, the sacrifice could live!
Minimal casualties!
It was the best possible outcome.
However, there was a condition.
-If the Security Official eliminates the wrong ‘culprit’, that innocent person is immediately burned as an offering.
If Kim Rae-bin mistakenly eliminated someone who wasn’t the culprit, that person would die.
Burned offering—consumed by flames atop that coffin-shaped altar.
So he had to identify the correct culprit on the first try.
‘I’ll do my best!’
Kim Rae-bin clenched his fist inwardly.
Meanwhile, the situation in the room spiraled deeper into shock and chaos.
Sun Ah-hyun’s revelation!
“Wait, you’re the Detective?”
“…And when you exchanged cards with Park Moon-dae, you think the sacrifice marker was passed on?”
“Yeah.”
The two Sae-jins, for the first time since reasoning began, didn’t argue with each other and simultaneously questioned Sun Ah-hyun.
Both wore enigmatic expressions.
“Then, if what you’re saying is true….”
===================
1. Sun Ah-hyun ↔ Park Moon-dae
2. Cha Yu-jin ↔ Ryu Chung-woo
[Checkpoint]
3. Ryu Chung-woo ↔ Bae Sae-jin
4. Cha Yu-jin ↔ Park Moon-dae
===================
Based on this sequence, after exchanging with Sun Ah-hyun, the person Park Moon-dae exchanged with was….
The final exchange, number four.
4. Cha Yu-jin 【-】 Park Moon-dae
Everyone turned their heads.
“Cha Yu-jin.”
One hour before the card exchange ended.
Cha Yu-jin, who had discovered a new coin near the Entrance, exchanged just a few words with Park Moon-dae before completing the trade right then and there!
Kim Rae-bin swallowed hard.
‘Really…?’
But the person in question, Cha Yu-jin, wore an indifferent expression.
“I’m not the sacrifice. Because I’m not a scholar.”
“…!?”
“I can swear. I swear.”
He seemed perfectly composed.
The members were somewhat taken aback.
“Then, what profession are you?”
“I’m a doctor.”
“…?!”
At Cha Yu-jin’s straightforward words, the members began to murmur.
“Well, right after it’s revealed that Moon-dae isn’t a doctor but an undertaker? The timing feels a bit suspicious~”
“I didn’t know hyung was a doctor! I just stayed quiet. I was trying to observe what the members said and figure out the answer.”
Bae Sae-jin asked carefully.
“Can you prove it?”
“No one can prove their own profession. But I’m definitely a doctor! If there’s anyone here who’s a doctor, come out and say so.”
“….”
“No one’s saying anything. You know why? Because the doctor is me!”
Cha Yu-jin shrugged his shoulders. That confidence certainly seemed genuine….
‘Is it true?’
If so, I had to deduce again.
Who exactly was the scholar, and who was the criminal? Kim Rae-bin tried to think it through once more.
That’s when it happened.
Park Moon-dae fell silent as if lost in thought for a moment, then rested his chin on his hand and spoke.
“…You said Ah-hyun was a detective, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then… even if you being a detective is correct, there’s another possibility.”
“What… possibility?”
“The first sacrifice chosen by audience vote might not be a detective—it could be a jester.”
“…!!”
That’s right.
What if the starting point of the spinning sacrifice indicator wasn’t a detective but a jester?
“If that’s the case…, I’m thinking something like this.”
Park Moon-dae turned his head.
“Among the suspicious candidates who still seem to be lying about their profession, there’s only one person with a card exchange record.”
And he naturally turned his gaze toward that person.
Bae Sae-jin.
“…!!”
“Hyung, you exchanged cards with Chung-woo after the midpoint check.”
Bae Sae-jin’s eyes widened.
“And there’s no journalist among the professions, but Kim Rae-bin claims to be a journalist, right? But Kim Rae-bin has no card exchange record.”
“….”
“You claimed Lee Sae-jin isn’t a lawyer but a jester, but Lee Sae-jin also has no exchange record either.”
So, among those whose professions are still contested and unclear, Bae Sae-jin was the only one with a card exchange record!
‘This can’t be!’
Kim Rae-bin stared at Bae Sae-jin with his mouth agape.
“Wait.”
Bae Sae-jin responded with the utmost composure.
“Cha Yu-jin is just speaking confidently, but there’s no evidence, right? Someone else could be the doctor and staying silent because of the profession mission.”
“Hmm.”
“And… yeah! Cha Yu-jin exchanged cards with Ryu Chung-woo before Park Moon-dae too. If Chung-woo was the jester, and like you said, the jester was the sacrifice in the initial viewer vote….”
Ryu Chung-woo raised his hand with a troubled expression and answered.
“Well… but ultimately, Eugene exchanged cards with Moon-dae at the end. Then wouldn’t the sacrifice mark transfer from Eugene to Moon-dae?”
It was precise.
“Then Moon-dae should be the sacrifice, but Moon-dae’s profession is an undertaker, not a scholar, so it’s impossible.”
“Ah.”
It was ultimately a contradiction. The final professions didn’t match.
‘It’s impossible.’
Kim Rae-bin swallowed hard.
“Even if Eugene was the jester and originally held the sacrifice card, it would be strange. The mark would pass to you through me, who exchanged cards.”
“….”
“Sae-jin, are you the scholar? The final sacrifice?”
At Ryu Chung-woo’s question, Bae Sae-jin’s face hardened.
“That can’t be! And if that’s true, it means you’re the culprit! You were the last one to exchange!”
“Yeah. So that’s not it. We’re on the same team, so we wouldn’t be interrogating each other like this.”
Ryu Chung-woo continued calmly.
“And Sae-jin. Weren’t you just insisting that Lee Sae-jin is the jester?”
“….”
It was a fair point.
Bae Sae-jin had been fiercely arguing with Lee Sae-jin this whole time, each calling the other the jester over the lawyer profession….
It was awkward to suddenly suspect someone else of being the jester.
In the end, Bae Sae-jin fell silent.
“Seriously… Hey Lee Sae-jin! Tell us your profession honestly! We can’t deduce anything!”
“…Phew! Hyung, you’re really good at acting! Come on, why don’t you be honest too?”
“Ugh!”
Lee Sae-jin’s forehead was also tensing as if veins might burst through. He explained with a chilling smile.
“From the start, hyung, even if I were the Clown, it would be impossible for me to pass the sacrifice marker mid-exchange~ I never exchanged, after all.”
“….”
That’s right. Lee Sae-jin was one of the only two names absent from the card exchange record table!
‘The other one is me….’
Kim Rae-bin swallowed hard.
Lee Sae-jin’s helpful explanation continued.
“But right now, the final sacrifice profession is ‘Scholar’, isn’t it?”
It wasn’t the Detective or the Clown—both professions likely to be voted for.
The final sacrifice’s profession was the Scholar!
“Whether the viewers voted for Detective or Clown, the person with that profession isn’t the sacrifice right now, is it? That means the marker was passed through card exchange.”
“….”
“I don’t know how it circled around… but ultimately it ended up with the Scholar.”
Lee Sae-jin’s logic had no flaws whatsoever. Even Kim Rae-bin found himself nodding unconsciously.
‘I see.’
Then truly, Lee Sae-jin and I—with no exchange records—are innocent!
“Then… Cha Yu-jin is the Scholar, and Park Moon-dae passed it to Cha Yu-jin, right!”
“I’m not the Scholar. There’s definitely another possibility.”
“So I’m not the culprit either….”
“….”
Silence fell.
No one seemed to be lying.
Even Park Moon-dae said this.
“…Could it be the viewers chose the Scholar from the beginning?”
“Did the Production Team pull some trick?”
“Hmm.”
The members in thought now looked like their heads were splitting.
Because the professions were misaligned, no matter what, the possibilities didn’t fit together.
But Kim Rae-bin knew one more piece of information about the professions.
Information no one else knew.
Himself.
‘I’m the Security Official!’
From there, I began filling in the blanks.
Kim Rae-bin clasped both hands together.
Two people with the same name fighting over one profession—each claiming the other was the Clown and that they were the Lawyer.
‘Let’s assume that whichever one is correct in their reasoning and telling the truth.’
Then the chart could be completed simply.
Slowly, I recalled everyone’s testimony and matched people with professions.
By process of elimination, erasing as I went….
“….”
One slot remained.
He understood.
“…!”
Kim Rae-bin took a deep breath. Then he called out one person’s name.
The last remaining person.
“Chung-woo hyung.”
“Huh?”
Kim Rae-bin turned his head toward him, recalling the chart he had created.
He had matched each member with their profession.
===================
1. Ryu Chung-woo – ?
2. Bae Sae-jin – Lawyer (or Jester)
3. Sun Ah-hyun – Detective
4. Lee Sae-jin – Lawyer (or Jester)
5. Park Moon-dae – Undertaker
6. Kim Rae-bin – Security Official
7. Cha Yu-jin – Doctor
===================
Filling it in this way, there was ultimately only one question mark.
And… only one profession left over.
Putting it there would result in this.
===================
1. Ryu Chung-woo – Scholar
===================
‘Ah.’
This way, there were no contradictions in the profession testimonies!
The first contradiction-free profession information to emerge.
‘I have to start my deduction from here!’
Now I had to speak.
Kim Rae-bin opened his mouth with conviction.
“I am the Security Official.”
“….”
“Which means you are the Scholar, hyung!”
“…!!”
“I’ve matched all the profession testimonies. And… you’re the only one left.”
Kim Rae-bin eagerly explained the chart he had created. He could feel the members listening intently to every word.
“…That’s all I have!”
“….”
Kim Rae-bin steadied his breathing.
‘Will they believe me?’
He glanced around with desperate eyes.
And then… Park Moon-dae raised his hand.
“Wait, what’s the probability that Bae Sae-jin or Lee Sae-jin isn’t the Jester?”
“That would be….”
“It feels a bit imprecise to me. There’s no evidence.”
This couldn’t be happening.
Kim Rae-bin was about to sink into despair when—
“Hold on.”
“…!”
Bae Sae-jin narrowed his eyes and interjected.
“Park Moon-dae, you’re… covering for Ryu Chung-woo, aren’t you? That’s how it feels.”
“Pardon? I’m not sure what you mean….”
“No, that’s right.”
“…!”
Sun Ah-hyun calmly joined in as well.
“Normally, Moon-dae would have said something like, let’s think about this once more… since Rae-bin worked up the courage to speak.”
“Right. He could be trying to deceive us.”
“Rae-bin…?”
“….”
Everyone fell silent.
‘Huh?’
Kim Rae-bin was slightly flustered, but Bae Sae-jin nodded emphatically.
“Yeah. If Rae-bin is the Security Official, then he must have been hiding his profession as a Reporter because of some mission or ability. Actually, this makes more sense to me too.”
“Sae-jin hyung….”
“Security Official sounds like a respectable profession anyway. He probably hid it because it’s like a police role.”
Kim Rae-bin was deeply moved!
But Park Moon-dae remained composed.
“Yes. I was hoping this would be correct too… but if Chung-woo hyung is the Scholar, then based on the exchange records, the culprit becomes immediately obvious.”
“What…?”
“You, hyung.”
“…!!”
3. Ryu Chung-woo 【-】 Bae Sae-jin
“Chung-woo hyung’s last exchange record is with Bae Sae-jin hyung.”
Bae Sae-jin’s face drained of color.
And Kim Rae-bin understood as well.
‘If we assume Bae Sae-jin is the Jester….’
The Jester Bae Sae-jin was the sacrifice initially, and he passed it to the Scholar Ryu Chung-woo!
Everything fit together perfectly!
‘My goodness.’
He was in the midst of deliberating whether he should prepare a counterattack against this bewilderment.
Someone raised their hand and shouted.
“That doesn’t make sense!”
“…!”
It was Cha Yu-jin.
He spoke with measured precision.
“If that were true, Bae Sae-jin would have opposed Kim Rae-bin’s story. He couldn’t risk being exposed.”
“….”
“But Sae-jin brought up trusting each other first. However, Park Moon-dae opposed it. So Park Moon-dae is more suspicious.”
“….”
“Did Park Moon-dae secretly exchange cards without telling anyone?”
“…!!”
Ah!
‘That’s right—if he exchanged cards in secret without alerting anyone….’
Kim Rae-bin was about to entertain that thought when reality struck him.
‘…Wait?’
And then came a small laugh.
It was Park Moon-dae.
“Impossible.”
“…!!”
“As you all know, the Entrance door is positioned exactly between the two Dormitories. It would be impossible for people attempting an exchange to approach it without being spotted.”
That was true.
The Entrance door sat precisely in the center.
If two or more people approached it, they would inevitably be witnessed!
Turning to Cha Yu-jin, Park Moon-dae added kindly.
“If you tried to exchange there, you’d stand out. And honestly, everyone was watching whenever multiple people moved.”
“…Hmm.”
Then Park Moon-dae delivered the decisive testimony.
“Besides, I never went near the Entrance door at all.”
“What…?”
“After the midpoint check, I stayed in the Dormitory where I started. You saw that too, Sae-jin.”
That was correct.
After the midpoint check, each person had confirmed alone in their starting Room whether their card bore the mark of sacrifice.
-Bae Sae-jin, Park Moon-dae, Kim Rae-bin.
The Dormitory where these three had awakened.
Park Moon-dae had remained there and continued his search without leaving.
“…Hmm, but why did you do that?”
“I was wondering if there was a way to get rid of the Bathroom ghost.”
Park Moon-dae’s explanation was smooth—he’d wondered if his undertaker ability to communicate with the dead might be useful there.
“Since my profession is an undertaker, I thought maybe I could talk to ghosts.”
“Wow.”
So the conclusion is this.
-Park Moon-dae has not approached the Entrance door since the midpoint check, and he has no coins.
Which means….
‘Moon-dae hyung never attempted an exchange…!’
“In conclusion, circumstantially speaking, I’m someone who couldn’t have exchanged cards.”
“….”
“I believe you all understand my innocence now.”
It had only been suspicion from the start, but Park Moon-dae added that with a shrug of his shoulders.
‘…There’s no refuting that.’
Kim Rae-bin glanced to the side.
Standing there was the person who had revealed their profession as a detective.
Their eyes were wide open as if they’d been struck by shock.
‘This can’t be happening.’
Kim Rae-bin hurriedly spoke up, deliberately trying to encourage them.
“Um, Ah-hyun hyung. Then we really should suspect the other people who attempted the exchange….”
“Ah, no.”
“…!!”
“It’s possible. Moon-dae too…!”
Sun Ah-hyun muttered firmly, his face pale.
Park Moon-dae asked without any sign of agitation.
“How?”
“….”
“You’re not going to say he used a walkie-talkie or something like that, are you? The Production Team isn’t stupid, and they wouldn’t put something so unfair into a deduction variety show.”
Sun Ah-hyun quietly shook his head.
And he spoke.
“Moon-dae doesn’t need to go to the Entrance.”
“…?”
“Only Moon-dae’s card needs to go to the Entrance…!”
“…Ah!!”
Bae Sae-jin let out a sudden exclamation. He understood what it meant.
And Sun Ah-hyun explained precisely.
“The person trying to exchange could take Park Moon-dae’s card and go to the Entrance…!”
“…!!”
“Right! And by pretending to pass through the Entrance while using both cards alone, they could exchange them quickly…!”
“Aaah!”
The atmosphere heated up instantly. Kim Rae-bin’s face flushed as he gave a thumbs up.
“Exactly right!”
“Th-thank you…!”
Sun Ah-hyun smiled softly, having found the loophole—that neither of them needed to go directly.
However, Park Moon-dae… nodded his head.
“…?”
“That could be possible.”
‘He’s admitting to it just like that?’
Of course, that couldn’t be right.
“Then anyone could have done it.”
“…!!”
“It seems like any of us could have managed it by just handing over the card to the opponent—not just me.”
He was right.
“….”
Silence fell once more.
Lee Sae-jin suppressed a sigh and asked.
“…Does anyone remember which members were lurking around the Entrance?”
“….”
From here on, everything became murky.
And truthfully, even if someone did testify, it wouldn’t matter.
Anyone could have lied.
Everyone emotionally suspected Park Moon-dae was the culprit, yet they all acknowledged there was nothing more to discuss.
Park Moon-dae was exceptionally skilled at rebuttal.
‘I see.’
That’s when Kim Rae-bin realized it.
‘Without physical evidence, I need to use the Security Official’s ability even more.’
Only then could I avoid the greatest risk of all—the complete annihilation of the remaining five members during the culprit deduction.
‘I’ll verify it once using the Security Official’s ability.’
Of course, the risk was substantial. If I targeted the wrong culprit, an innocent person could die.
And in fact… in that case, the Security Official dies too.
Kim Rae-bin recalled the next line from the rule explanation.
-If the Security Official shoots an incorrect ‘culprit’, that innocent person is immediately incinerated.
-And the Security Official is also incinerated together.
In other words, the Security Official’s bullet… was fired at the cost of one’s own life.
Still, it was better than everyone dying because I’d identified the wrong culprit!
‘It’s time to try now.’
Kim Rae-bin steeled his resolve.
And he raised his hand.
“…?”
“Kim Rae-bin?”
He cried out.
“The Security Official shoots participant Park Moon-dae!”
“…!!”
At that moment, a brilliant flash of light erupted from the massive casket placed in the center.

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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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