Debut or Die - Chapter 499

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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 499
The broadcast program featuring Chung-ryeo’s stage, “First Meeting,” was scheduled without delay and aired swiftly.
And on the day of the broadcast.
Naturally, the part that aired first wasn’t the stage itself, but rather the introduction of the singers preparing for it.
[Rom Jay: I’ve been interested in pansori for a while now…]
[MC: Oh, this is the first time we’ve had a rapper interested in pansori on this program. Let’s see if a true pansori master actually showed up!]
They introduce themselves, talk about what genres interest them, and that’s how the collaboration teams are formed.
In that segment, it was nearly the final part.
Finally, the guy who shared the stage with me appeared.
[Who is this In-young getting out of the car…?]
[Chung-ryeo: Hello.]
Artificial cheers were layered in as background, and they even added light stick effects all around.
And a massive caption on top of it all.
[This guy… is handsome!]
“…”
‘Is this real?’
I’d believe it if the person who made this caption came from ten years ago via time machine.
‘This program would’ve flopped long ago if the stage wasn’t entertaining.’
I stood up from my seat with a dissatisfied expression.
“Huh? Where’s Moon-dae going?”
“Just grabbing something to drink.”
For the record, I wasn’t monitoring this alone.
Right now we’re in the middle of preparing a new album and touring, and today happens to be our weekly team group training session.
So we’d rented out a suite room and were all gathered there.
And I was watching this program on my smartphone…
-Moon-dae, what are you doing? Oh, wow~ so this is the broadcast today?
-…Yeah.
-Ah! This hotel’s TV can access South Korean terrestrial broadcasts through the internet! How about we use the TV for a bigger screen? If the other hyungs are okay with it…
-Of course we’re okay with it~
-Oh, Moon-dae’s broadcast is today? Then should we watch it too?
-OK!
…After going through that process, we were all sitting together watching this old-fashioned program.
[The King of K-pop, VTIC!]
[Leader Chung-ryeo]
“…They’re really pushing him hard.”
“Tell me about it.”
If you’re going to complain that much, why turn on the TV in the first place?
‘Well, I was thinking something similar anyway.’
Either way, no one objected and the program continued unfolding.
Chung-ryeo’s brilliant career was introduced, and soon a scene appeared where Chung-ryeo talked about his ‘desired collaboration genre.’
Of course, normally this is all scripted. The Producer typically recruits renowned masters beforehand and matches them based on experience and popularity.
However, this time Chung-ryeo genuinely collaborated with someone from a ‘genre he personally chose’.
More precisely, he was the one who insisted on this broadcast appearance.
[Chung-ryeo: I’d like to… collaborate with an idol.]
[!!!!]
[MC: Chung-ryeo, you do remember that you’re an idol yourself, right…?]
[Chung-ryeo: Of course. (laughs) But actually, I’ve had quite a few opportunities to perform on stage with artists from different fields. It’s just that I’ve rarely done anything with fellow idols.]
The MC, feigning bewilderment, pressed further.
[MC: So perhaps… with a female idol?]
[Chung-ryeo: Not at all. With a male idol in my position.]
Chung-ryeo laughed and casually brushed past the MC’s question, then shifted the focus elsewhere.
[Chung-ryeo: And since my members aren’t here right now, performing solo feels a bit lonely, you know. That’s the reason.]
I could hear VTIC fans expressing their admiration.
‘His image management is flawless.’
His experience shows.
I tore my eyes from the subtitles and walked back toward the refrigerator near the Hotel Suite Room entrance.
I reached for the bottled water inside, but then… I saw it.
Dark beer.
“….”
Now that I thought about it, it had been several years since I’d touched alcohol.
“….”
And tomorrow there was no Concert scheduled.
‘Just one can wouldn’t be so bad…’
“Park Moon-dae.”
“Yes.”
Well, I should have seen this coming.
It was Bae Sae-jin, who had followed me to the entrance. Did he have some kind of alcoholism sensor?
I pulled my gaze from the beer and grabbed a plain water bottle instead.
Besides, I needed to monitor things anyway, so I might as well drink cold water.
The moment I thought that, Bae Sae-jin suddenly asked.
“Is something bothering you right now, or are you feeling frustrated?”
“…? No.”
He wouldn’t think that Park Moon-dae’s condition fell apart just because I stopped drinking.
“Right. …Or rather, I thought maybe it would be okay to drink just one can sometimes… casually.”
“…?!”
Wait.
‘Is he serious?’
This guy who had disposed of every last drop of alcohol from the Dormitory until now?
I looked up, and Bae Sae-jin continued with a somewhat embarrassed expression.
“I realize now that I was being too controlling about it too. But I was just trying to stop you because it seemed like a bad habit of becoming dependent on alcohol.”
That’s right.
“But if I don’t have that habit anymore, then I’d just be meddling for no reason, wouldn’t I?”
“….”
“Of course! I’m talking about when you’re certain you don’t want to drink because of stress.”
I paused, releasing my grip on the water bottle, and reflected.
‘Now that I think about it….’
At some point, the habit of craving alcohol to relieve irritation had largely faded.
‘Every time I passed by the refrigerator or convenience store, he seemed to bring it up a few times.’
And right now, I definitely don’t want to drink for stress relief.
I let out a small laugh and nodded.
“Yes.”
“Good. I understand.”
Bae Sae-jin nodded cleanly, as if acknowledging something.
‘Seriously.’
It felt like I’d just received some kind of addiction recovery certification.
‘Yeah, thanks to that guy, I gave up the cost-effectiveness of using alcohol to feel better.’
I acknowledged it too.
“You weren’t just meddling, hyung. I actually benefited from it.”
“…Hmm, yeah.”
He couldn’t hide a hint of satisfaction. Well, that’s fine.
‘How long has it been.’
I reached out my hand.
And finally, I grabbed and pulled out a familiar brand of dark beer can from the refrigerator—one I used to drink years ago.
‘They changed the design.’
I opened it immediately and took a sip.
Gulp.
The carbonation was crisp and refreshing.
The cold barley beer, which I hadn’t had in ages, went down my throat.
It was refreshing.
‘Oh.’
I returned to my seat with the beer can in hand.
“If I think something’s off with you, I’ll stop you again.”
“Ah, yes.”
I took another sip from the beer can.
Bae Sae-jin watched me drink and seemed to have something else to say, but he deliberately didn’t voice it and turned his head away.
‘Good call.’
I settled comfortably into my seat.
On the TV screen, some slick-looking guy was opening his mouth.
[Rom Jay: But the fact that you chose the same genre for the collaboration artist too… I really respect your commitment to being an idol.]
[Chung-ryeo: Haha… Yes. Thank you. I’ve dedicated my life to being an idol.]
[VTIC Chung-ryeo, Truly Devoted to Idols! So Which Artist Will Collaborate With Him?]
“….”
The cast members’ delighted laughter rippled across the broadcast.
They had no way of knowing this wasn’t a figure of speech—it was literal fact.
‘His talent for deception is truly exquisite.’
I accepted it graciously and quietly drained my beer.
“Popcorn?”
Sure.
I munched on the popcorn Cha Yu-jin offered as a snack, but….
“….”
“Have more! It’s fine.”
It’s not fine.
‘Too sweet.’
I had no idea how this guy maintained his composure eating this stuff. Was this what they called muscle training or something?
But instead, Cha Yu-jin observed my arm as I reached for the popcorn, then his eyes brightened as he spoke.
“Oh! Hyung, you’ve got muscles now.”
“…? I guess so.”
“What did you eat?”
“Nothing special.”
I hadn’t eaten anything different.
No matter how I thought about it, there was only one variable.
I gestured toward the screen.
“Looks like it came from practicing.”
“Ah.”
Right on cue, my appearance finally came on screen.
[VTIC Chung-ryeo’s Collaboration Artist!]
[??? : Hello.]
Soon my image appeared on screen, my enthusiasm scraped together and forcefully dragged up.
[Park Moon-dae : Main vocalist of Testa, Park Moon-dae.]
[TeSTAR!]
All manner of dazzling effects flashed across the screen as my Testa career was introduced in succession.
Then Chung-ryeo and I feigned surprise at each other, shook hands once, and began preparing the stage in a friendly manner.
[Chung-ryeo : It’s nice to see you like this. I’m really glad.]
[Park Moon-dae : Yes, senior. Thank you for having me.]
[Chung-ryeo : Ha. Ah, I think we can just be comfortable, right? The vibe is good.]
[Park Moon-dae : Then please speak comfortably with me.]
[Two people who already had a connection…?]
Watching it this way felt a bit nauseating, but the screen made it look quite heartwarming nonetheless.
Of course, the internet comments were screaming.
The comment section’s shrieks—plastered with things like ‘Doomed’, ‘Insane’, ‘So it was real’—were something I’d have to accept.
‘I’m going to profit from this.’
I crunched popcorn between my teeth while staring at the television.
[Chung-ryeo: I got to know Park Moon-dae around the time he debuted. Seeing it like this, I’m really looking forward to the stage.]
Then the footage cut to me receiving choreography instruction in a heartwarming manner, followed by Chung-ryeo matching harmonies and looking satisfied.
‘He’s completely scrubbing away the good senior image.’
When in reality, he was literally pounding choreography into someone else’s head.
No matter how I think about it, I definitely built muscle from that. The choreography movements he forced into me required serious power to control.
It meant he was compressing everything tightly and putting in maximum force.
Though on screen, it all looked warm and friendly.
[Chung-ryeo: Park Moon-dae has a good grasp of dance, so things are progressing smoothly.]
“Is that really the reason?”
“Don’t be fooled. We did it seven hours every day.”
“Oh.”
[Park Moon-dae: To Moon-dae…? No, I’m asking for your support for the stage.]
[Natural idol aegyo??]
“Ahahaha!”
“….”
‘They even kept that.’
And with the interview footage that even preserved my verbal slip-up from exhaustion, the stage finally aired.
[Starting now!]
“Hey, is Moon-dae coming on right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh~ let’s see.”
The Testa guys leaned in closer to the TV in a relaxed posture, ready to comment every three seconds.
But after the stage ended.
“….”
“….”
-He’s insane
-Why is he so good
-So this is what first-tier K-pop tastes like so good
-Ah… couldn’t you have waited until the kids were discharged? Jaehyun… a stage like this… ㅠㅠ
I’m crying / Wahhh / Boo hoo
Both the people around me and the internet went silent.
“Park Moon-dae, so that’s why you practiced so hard….”
“Yes.”
And I finally understood what effect Chung-ryeo was aiming for.
‘The sophistication stands out ridiculously.’
Because this program had been running for so long, it had a classic stage format that appealed emotionally to its core middle-aged audience demographic.
That wasn’t necessarily bad, but the problem was that everyone was using the same approach.
‘This stage stands out alone.’
That’s why the stage presence of Chung-ryeo and Park Moon-dae, who had distilled early 2000s K-pop into the very essence of contemporary K-pop, was doubled in impact.
When you insert one completely different color among a palette of similar tones, doesn’t it stand out starkly to the eye?
‘Of course, if they couldn’t pull it off, it would only create dissonance.’
They had suppressed that risk with extraordinary stage composition and experience.
And the reason they chose me… well, aside from those already in the military, they needed someone who could grit their teeth and deliver quality according to their direction.
‘They were also looking to secure public opinion for building up the company.’
As I had admitted last time.
I already caught wind of LeTi’s viral campaign to boost their image.
-Oh, so when Testa became independent, LeTi invested a lot, so now the company isn’t cutting ties and they’re getting entangled lol
└Seriously?
└What? So they’re in the same boat?
└Not quite the same boat, more like next-door neighbors lol
└Still, that’s interesting
They’d probably probe all night and release articles by tomorrow solidifying the narrative that ‘Testa is riding LeTi’s wave.’
That way, they’d lower the confusion and resistance to Testa appearing on LeTi’s platform in the future, smoothly expanding their own platform’s influence.
A successful mid-to-long-term plan to elevate the Entertainment Agency’s weight class.
‘If I hadn’t gotten something out of this, honestly, I wouldn’t be thrilled about the situation… but.’
“Hey, Moon-dae… did you have fun…?”
“….”
To Sun Ah-hyun’s question, I shrugged my shoulders.
Well, even if the other side seemed to have gained quite a bit from this.
“It was rewarding.”
That much was true.
“Learning a different choreography style like this is valuable.”
Sun Ah-hyun smiled at my answer.
“Yeah. I’m glad. Ah! The stage was really amazing….”
“It was! The arrangement and composition were interesting, but above all, the stability in the harmonies and the proficiency in the choreography made for an incredibly impressive performance.”
“Thanks.”
I nodded my head at the rather heartwarming atmosphere.
“If you ever want to try this kind of choreography more… I could teach you…!”
That’s a bit much.
“Thanks. Let’s do it sometime when we have a chance.”
For now, I’ll just accept the sentiment.
Honestly, I do wonder if doing more would raise my dance stat, but the cost-effectiveness is… questionable.
At a point where I can’t allocate stat points, struggling to raise my dance stat now isn’t efficient time-wise.
There are more than one or two other guys on the team who dance well, and from a group activity perspective, other areas seem more attractive.
Maxing out the core abilities that are already my strength.
So….
‘If anything, it’d be vocal ability.’
I’m curious what would happen if I pushed vocal ability to ‘EX’.
…Like STier Cha Yu-jin’s charisma stat.
I recalled that guy flying around during Water Bomb, watching Cha Yu-jin beside me dump an entire handful of popcorn into his mouth.
“Hmm? Is something wrong?”
“No.”
“OK. Oh, your stage was amazing, hyung.”
Right.
I turned my head back and thought about it.
…Actually, Cha Yu-jin’s charisma stat had returned to S+ again.
‘Maybe my memories from the STier period have gotten fuzzy.’
Or perhaps it manifests as EX again when certain conditions are met on stage… but it does bother me a bit.
‘There’s even a scene I witnessed.’
-…Sigh.
That guy watching STier Cha Yu-jin’s Water Bomb stage on his smartphone in the living room late at night.
Cha Yu-jin’s furrowed brow made it unclear whether he was analyzing or frustrated.
‘He’s the type who figures things out on his own anyway.’
Though I do wonder if a hint might help….
[Survey Available!]
[Help: You can customize 【System】 functions through feedback from surveys.]
Not you.
I said no.
‘This bastard’s persistent.’
Are you desperately trying to get me to add a stat-raising function? I dismissed the status window without even waving my hand.
“By the way, Moon-dae.”
What.
“You’re holding a beer in your hand?”
“Oh, I can drink now apparently.”
“Who said?”
“Sae-jin hyung.”
“Oh.”
I naturally finished the beer can quickly and set it down, thinking again.
‘Anyway, I got what I needed, and preparations are going smoothly.’
Recalling what I obtained by putting this featuring stage on the line as a deal, I actually feel like opening another beer to celebrate.
I want to execute it right away, but….
‘There’s some groundwork I need to lay first.’
ĭter.
That rookie group that ‘benchmarked’ Testa.
It would be good to handle things so that rookie group can no longer compete with Testa.
‘And while I’m at it, it would be nice to strengthen the company’s finances a bit more.’
I switched my smartphone screen and chuckled.
A text message that arrived this morning was visible.
Spacer Kwon Hee-seung: Hyung, we finished our practice haha
Spacer’s comeback preparations were complete.
The proxy war was beginning.

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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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