Debut or Die - Chapter 501

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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 501
Spacer, a concept as comfortable as T-Holic.
ĭter, a concept as intense as Testa.
Articles about junior groups with similar concepts from different entertainment agencies flooded in, and they were immediately used as fuel on SNS and online communities.
It was a provocative article that presented counterarguments while remaining visually apparent.
Naturally, many people wanted to add their own comments, which drew attention.
[The journalist crossed the line… (link)]
[What do you think about Spacer being compared to T-Holic this time?]
I can see this text contains significant corrupted characters and unclear portions (marked with X and irregular spacing) that make a complete accurate translation impossible. The text appears to be informal Korean commentary with slang, but the corruption prevents me from providing a reliable translation.
At first glance, it may seem that both junior groups are on the same line, but in fact, there was a crucial difference.
Could you provide a clearer version of the original text?
At first glance, both junior groups might appear to be on equal footing, but there was actually a decisive difference.
The question was whether a layer existed that harbored intense resentment—or whether it didn’t.
For reference, the latter was Spacer.
-These guys resemble the senior idols? Let me go check
I miss you so much.
Spacer’s current position resembled T-Holic’s concept from their early debut era.
In other words, it was ancient history—more than a decade in the past.
Moreover, T-Holic had already passed their peak and repositioned themselves anew, so there was no direct comparison as contemporary artists.
Rather, with decent quality, they evoked a subtle nostalgia and reaped promotional benefits from it.
But ĭter?
Here we go again lol
-Isn’t this boring? Now, get out of the way of Testa and articles like that will appear haha.
The senior idol group they supposedly inherited from in the article was Testa.
Last year’s award-winning idol group, the one who hit a career-high album sales figure just a couple of months ago—an idol group in their prime.
The notion that they inherited from a living, breathing powerhouse with less than half the buzz was absurd.
Park Moon-dae smiled and handed over his smartphone.
‘Besides, fans have already discussed how ĭter resembles Testa.’
Now that ‘Spacer’ appeared as a proper comparison group, the general public was learning about it too.
-You’re right, this rookie idol group does seem conscious of Testa~
Of course, the article didn’t proceed with an overtly accusatory tone that ĭter had benchmarked and copied Testa’s concept.
It simply and cleanly stated that both groups were following the path of these senior idol groups respectively.
‘It can’t be too blatant.’
It was a necessary choice to avoid giving the impression that ‘Testa and Spacer’s sides are driving public opinion.’
But even with all this care, it was impossible to suppress the ridicule and controversy that would naturally arise.
-Was Spacer’s performance really comparable to an all-time legend in album sales
-There are no jokes. Where is your conscience?
-It’s just an article making a fuss because they’re junior idols debuting at the same time, don’t be so sensitive
Either Spacer or Eter, I couldn’t dare compare them in terms of performance with the senior idols mentioned.
└At this point, it seems like you just want to curse and aren’t reading the context
Whether Spacer or ĭter, neither could dare compare their performance to the senior idols being mentioned.
And here, the flow of public opinion shifted slightly.
Right away, people started comparing Spacer and ĭter, who had taken on similar positions.
‘Still, they’re trying to draw a line and say one is better than the other.’
The psychology of wanting to rank comparative advantages and establish hierarchy—which rising star had more promising prospects!
The VS game.
It was an endlessly entertaining fantasy.
And naturally, based purely on performance averages so far, ĭter had won on points.
-Spacer seems like they just lucked into this one, and Wonderhole’s rookie came prepared, so honestly ĭter?
-At least ĭter has potential lol look at the performance of the idols who debuted now
The problem was that as each side made their claims, the conversation tended to escalate—becoming increasingly extreme, sensational, and attention-grabbing.
For example, like this!
-Honestly, bringing up public appeal for Spacer is kind of embarrassing lol isn’t it shameful to do this with a CF song
└Comparing them to a god-tier group like ĭter makes it even more sobering…
Looking at ĭter’s performance with their debut song, there’s a real possibility they could catch up to Testa.
The moment the logic leaped forward in a jump.
It became prey instead.
Haha, you got me there.
└What are you saying lol honestly right now ĭter is a worse version of Testa both in capital and skill
└A group copying a current award-winning idol is already saying that lol even as a non-fan it’s funny
└Are you perhaps living in a different South Korea than me
└ĭter fans really don’t know their place
Ridicule poured in.
It was different from being mentioned alongside Testa at debut, positioning them as rivals and dark horse risers.
This wasn’t ‘did they compete with Testa?’
It was ‘did they inherit Testa’s legacy?’
When judged by that standard, the evaluation criteria became extremely stringent.
Because the benchmark became: they had to perform at Testa’s level!
Selling millions of albums, dominating the music charts, ranking first in the year’s idol voting—a first-tier group with insane recognition!
-Is this possibly a Wonderhole publicity stunt? That would be a failure lol
Ultimately, those defending ĭter had no choice but to change tactics.
-ĭter fans don’t think that way it’s just trolling…sigh
-Mentioning senior idols is off-limits all of this is trolling~
-ĭter just released one album as a rookie please don’t talk about inheritance or whatever already
ĭter fans took the lead in insisting ‘Testa and ĭter are different.’
They had no choice but to draw a line unconditionally.
Of course, beneath the surface it was like this.
-These washed-up idols are really annoying ugh
-It’s not like there are one or two concept-obsessed idols they were just the representative of Chem1 Star honestly so sensitive
Anyway, as public opinion management took effect, the situation seemed to settle down.
Moreover, as another controversy erupted and days passed, this topic also seemed to gradually fade away.
But the following week.
When ĭter’s new music video was released, gasoline poured onto the flames once more.
-???
Hahaha

Testa!
The night I returned to Korea after the first tour ended.
* * *
The night I returned to South Korea after the first tour ended.
I sat at the Dining Table in the Dormitory and logged into YouTube.
ĭter’s new song, “Shut Out,” was playing with promotional ads running.
[Shoot it rough, Yes BAMM
Can’t catch me]
The sleek Eastern aesthetic was complemented by impressive choreography and stunning visuals.
They’d pulled it off convincingly again.
But here’s the thing.
Hahahahaha
-It’s like a procession
-Looks like they mixed procession with Saber
Damn, is he being this blatant about it? lol
‘You’ve been exposed, you bastards.’
Once a frame of similarity was established, people would deliberately hunt for more parallels.
But these guys had genuinely benchmarked Testa, so it was impossible not to see it.
The Four Celestial Guardians concept, camera work, album photos, costumes, and choreography—the similarities were overwhelming.
As a result, the critics descended en masse.
[Wonderhole copying some random other agency’s idol instead of legendary T-Holic]
[Major Entertainment Agency’s Rookie Boy Group with their foundation completely exposed]
Haven’t you seen how once a celebrity starts getting criticized, even past facts that were never problematic get re-examined and criticized anew?
This was a similar phenomenon.
Even their previous albums were being dissected thoroughly.
-Now that I look at it, the chord progression is basically copy-paste
-Couldn’t have made this song without Kim Rae-bin
– Didn’t Byeolbyul Song participate? Haha.
Right. That’s worth calling out.
I nodded and cracked open the can I’d been holding.
Pop.
My first beer in nearly a week.
With a reason to celebrate, it was worth drinking.
Glug, glug.
The carbonation went down my throat. Nothing beats a cold beer.
‘This is it.’
I set down my wheat beer can with a chuckle.
By the way, Spacer also benefited from this situation.
[Inheriting T-Holic’s Legacy? We’ve compiled a 5-minute summary of what Spacer’s latest song is all about.]
When Lek attached himself to it, it became controversial, which turned into viral marketing.
So the music chart ranking climbed even higher.
-Spacer Kwon Hee-seung : Hyung…
Actually, I was satisfied here.
At that moment, Spacer was said to have celebrated with tears and snot running down their faces, regardless of the criticism they received. They even cried when they won first place on the music broadcast.
Honestly, I was satisfied here.
‘I’ve landed a blow on Wonderhole, so that’s enough.’
Everything was flowing as planned, and with Spacer’s success securing the company’s finances, I was thinking of stepping back.
Truthfully, the Wonderhole rookies just trained hard and debuted—there’s nothing wrong with that. After some time passes, even the people who were attacking them will become aware of that fact.
Like this.
-Aren’t people ashamed… Honestly, ĭter just trained hard, there’s nothing wrong with them, it’s not plagiarism, this is too much
So I needed to end it while the agency with clear culpability was taking the brunt of the criticism.
‘Actually, that’s fair. I mean, what would rookies who just debuted even know.’
If the agency took the hit and corrected their direction to avoid getting entangled with Testa further, that would be enough.
-Congratulations
I was sending a reply to Kwon Hee-seung’s message, intending to end it at that. Really.
But then… unexpected reinforcements came out of nowhere.
“…Sigh.”
Check out this YouTube video.
[These guys are our Millennial version…? We’re Gen Z too! (fire emoji) 【T-Holic’s Show Business】 Clip]
That’s right.
T-Holic themselves had mentioned Spacer on their own variety show…
And in a very positive tone at that.
‘I thought they were crazy.’
But soon I remembered a logical reason and checked.
-Are you guys not planning to renew your contracts with T-Holic?
-VTIC Senior Shin Chung-ryeo : You want to know?
That meant yes.
It turned out T-Holic’s contract renewal had exactly three months left.
In other words, while they were on their way out, they took a small jab.
‘They must have had it pretty rough…’
Come to think of it, seeing how they invested massive money into ĭter and even created a dedicated planning team to change direction, T-Holic probably had plenty of frustrations while they were in decline.
T-Holic members’ schedules have been focused on individual activities for quite a while now. Soon they’ll probably each sign with places they want and only gather for group activities.
‘That’s not a bad ending either.’
I nodded.
Actually, these guys had even contacted us.
[Senior Ha Jin-tae from T-holic: Mr. Moon Dae, would you like to appear on our entertainment show one more time? Haha, artists from the agency can also appear as a group!]
“….”
Honestly, I’m not sure if they should be going this far.
‘Wonderhole won’t just sit back and let them get away with this.’
I don’t understand why they’d risk releasing rumors about dating or club visits—whether to tank their market value or as retaliation.
They must have some confidence backing this move… but regardless.
“I decline.”
A group appearance from the entire agency? What kind of spectacle are they trying to create… We’re already swamped with work as it is.
‘This is just the groundwork finishing up.’
Suppressing ĭter was merely the first step.
Now, no matter what these guys do—even simultaneous releases with Testa—if they fail to surpass us in even a single metric, they’ll be branded as ‘falling short of expectations.’
The frame shifted from ‘versus Testa’ to ‘Testa’s successors.’
ĭter will be measured by how much they’ve matched a senior idol’s success, and they’ll be compared to Spacer instead of us.
Meanwhile, they can’t use that blatant benchmarking of our references anymore.
‘Good luck with that.’
I’m curious how those competent bastards at Wonderhole will navigate this hellish difficulty right now.
‘Well, even if not immediately, time will naturally carve out an escape route eventually.’
As much as I hate to admit it, Wonderhole’s too skilled an agency to miss their chance.
And they could even weave this moment of criticism into the group’s narrative, but…
‘It’ll take at least a year to make it feel natural.’
By then, we’ll have climbed to a level they can’t possibly compete with.
Besides, with T-Holic making this move, public opinion might take even longer to swing back in their favor.
I shrugged my shoulders.
Anyway, that’s why after dealing with ĭter, what Testa was trying to do next… I should explain that first.
Everyone knows this, but Testa had one nickname they used to go by.
-T1’s son.
It was meant sarcastically, but it was also a straightforward factual metaphor.
They debuted through a survival show backed by T1, and they received full support from that network’s broadcasts.
But now, it’s as good as a severed relationship.
There’s no more son, no more benefits, nothing.
‘In fact, they’re in an awkward position where they can’t attach themselves to any broadcast platform.’
LeTi’s platform? That’s still in its early stages, and they already have their direct heir—VTIC.
So.
‘It’s time we found a new family too.’
I checked the message that came to the management staff at my agency.
-Yes. We have a meeting at MBS tomorrow. (greeting emoticon)
It wasn’t for nothing that I appeared with Chung-ryeo on that old MBS program.
‘I was building connections the whole time.’
That’s what I offered him as a deal.
-There’s a PD I’d like you to introduce us to.
Now there’s nothing holding us back.

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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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