Debut or Die - Chapter 51

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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 51
‘A participant who stands out.’
Chung-ryeo smiled as he finished filming with the Ajusa participants, yet remained skeptical about their long-term success.
The current top contenders of that program were indeed thriving on the strength of the audition entertainment format. However, their competitiveness once thrust into the actual market was an entirely different matter.
‘They might just appear talented within the program’s narrative.’
After all, most were cases of those who had failed internal agency competitions and were subsequently cast into audition programs as a last resort.
Chung-ryeo was about to continue discussing lunch menu options when a participant who had casually crossed his mind slipped from his lips.
“Park Moon-dae?”
“Oh, chicken feet?”
Even as he heard the younger member’s laughter, Chung-ryeo did not laugh.
“His survey answers matched mine completely.”
“No way! Really? That’s interesting. Do you two have similar personalities?”
“…To some extent.”
“Seriously?”
Chung-ryeo ignored his astonished junior while feeling a twinge of regret.
‘It would be nice to have someone like that on the team.’
Park Moon-dae clearly thought the survey options were foolish. It was evident he had deliberately chosen neutral answers with broadcast considerations in mind.
“Hmm, if you have a similar personality to hyung, you’d be quite… cold-blooded?”
“You mean realistic?”
“Y-yeah, that’s right.”
The type who doesn’t immerse themselves in others’ circumstances and struggles with unrealistic thinking. A talent profile better suited to general corporations than to entertainers.
Most idol aspirants, especially talented young ones, possessed both the strengths and weaknesses inherent to the performing arts industry.
In both positive and negative senses, it meant they were less emotionally detached.
Yet the reality these still-young individuals would face was an adult society governed by capitalist logic.
“Well, it’s good that someone like you is the leader.”
“Yeah? Thanks.”
Some might call it gilding one’s own face, but Chung-ryeo agreed with his junior’s words.
‘It’s better when someone with a clear head sets the atmosphere.’
Just like how he himself led VTIC.
In that sense, Park Moon-dae was quite a promising candidate for the next debut group.
‘Give him a year or so, and his dancing will come together too.’
And with that personality, even if he were older with less seniority, his voice would naturally carry weight in the team. Chung-ryeo could vouch for this from direct experience.
‘Then working together would become easier.’
It would be beneficial for both the team and the company.
However, just because VTIC had renegotiated with the company and received some equity stake didn’t mean he had the obligation or capacity to pay more attention to the next male idol group.
Once they debuted, they would be competitors regardless.
He had already done his conscience a favor by offering a single piece of advice.
‘If he’s serious, he’ll reach out.’
With that brief conclusion, Chung-ryeo mentally drew a line through ‘already finished schedule’ and set it aside. It was a busy season.

* * *
Not long after the ranking announcement ceremony began, inside the Idol Stock Company Filming Studio.
The format remained the same. However, the number of participants had drastically decreased.
Only twenty could advance.
That alone created a palpable tension in the venue.
And within this cramped roster, one more factor remained that could shift the balance.
“The leaders of the two finalist teams from the third team competition, please stand up!”
It was the team competition victory benefit—a survival pass guaranteeing one member chosen by the winning team’s consensus an automatic spot in the next round.
Our team had naturally already agreed on Gold 1. We’d even submitted it during the pre-interview before filming.
“Our Moon Rabbit team has selected… Ha Il-jun.”
But even after Big Sae-jin finished speaking, Ryu Chung-woo, the leader of the Husky team, remained silent for quite some time.
Something clearly seemed wrong.
“Husky team, please announce your selected member.”
The MC’s urging sounded excited, though that was probably just my paranoia talking.
Ryu Chung-woo slowly opened his mouth.
“Our team had selected Choi Won-gil.”
“…!”
Well, he really went through with it to the end.
‘Was he actually that unexpected?’
Honestly, I hadn’t expected him to pull this off. Which meant Choi Won-gil had boldly abandoned his fifty-percent free pass and switched it out.
And regardless, his move had muddied the situation.
They’d already submitted their selection to the production team before filming.
From the looks of it, when Choi Won-gil defected and they tried to hastily change their pick, the production team hadn’t approved it.
But now the production team seemed flustered, quickly going through the motions of a discussion before signaling the MC.
The MC glanced at the production team’s cue card and slowly completed his lines.
“An unexpected situation has arisen. According to protocol, when a participant voluntarily withdraws, their benefits naturally forfeit. However, considering the special circumstances of the Casting Call, we’ll grant the Husky team an additional three minutes for discussion!”
“…Understood.”
Ryu Chung-woo bowed respectfully and gathered his team members.
And internally, I clicked my tongue.
‘…It’s over.’
That team’s first place without question.
‘If they set up the narrative like that and don’t give them the benefit, the story doesn’t work.’
The production team wasn’t stupid, and they wouldn’t have structured it this way otherwise.
In the end, it meant Gold 1 had to survive on our own merit.
‘The free pass is gone.’
Looking at Gold 1’s face as they tried not to appear tense, they seemed to be feeling the subtle pressure too.
And sure enough, first place wasn’t the Moon Rabbit team.
“Congratulations! First place is… the Husky team!”
“Thank you.”
But the absurdity didn’t end there.
“According to the additional agreement of the 【Husky】 team, the participant who receives the unconditional survival benefit is… Cha Yu-jin!”
Those lunatics had given the benefit to Cha Yu-jin.
‘It had to be one of two things.’
Either the agreement fell through, or Cha Yu-jin had made an inexplicably bad impression.
Either way, that was their problem to sort out—the 【Moonlit Rabbit】 team’s atmosphere had turned decidedly second-place.
“That’s a bit disappointing.”
“Y-yeah, it really is.”
“No no, that’s not it! We’ll get our ranking fair and square!”
Gold 1 was shouting cheerfully enough, but it wouldn’t have been surprising if he was silently cursing the 【Husky】 bastards with every fiber of his being.
‘I already did.’
The team ranking announcement wrapped up there.
And then the real individual rankings began.
“18th place is… Kwon Hee-seung!”
The relaxed atmosphere from the 【Casting Call】 evaporated like a lie the moment the rankings started being announced, and the air grew tense.
“Th-thank you….”
Gold 2, called early, climbed onto the stage with an openly relieved expression.
‘That guy’s quietly making it through again.’
I hadn’t expected him to make it to the finals. Though it was by the skin of his teeth.
The rankings continued to be announced up to 10th place without any major surprises. The expected people had made it through.
The only somewhat surprising thing was that Lee Sae-jin had climbed slightly.
“11th place is… Lee Sae-jin! Participant!”
For someone who’d openly fought in the previous team competition, it was a decent result. Probably he’d received some mysterious adjustment bonus from fighting against Choi Won-gil, who’d been cast as the villain.
Beside me, Big Sae-jin was wiping his chest in relief and applauding Lee Sae-jin.
“Ah, I’m jealous.”
Big Sae-jin murmured wistfully, as if worried he might fall out.
“….”
Wasn’t that just momentum?
By all appearances, he was clearly going to make it through.
He was definitely chanting prayers under his breath: ‘Please call me late.’
It was truly professional camera awareness.
“Congratulations~”
The MC on stage deliberately built suspense, methodically announcing the rankings one by one.
Most of the participants I had connections with had their names called and climbed onto the stage.
And Park Moon-dae’s name was called no later than before.
“Thank you.”
I took my seat in 6th place.
It was a slight decline from last time.
‘My ranking really did drop.’
It wasn’t that my vote count had decreased. It was simply that my votes hadn’t grown as much as the inflation in the upper ranks.
The reason for the inflation was simple.
Fans could vote as much as they spent, so the more conscious they became of negative votes, the more anxious they grew—and the more they spent on votes.
And this tendency only intensified the more desperate a participant appeared.
‘If you’re scared, spend more.’ That was the message.
In any case, the Production Team had mastered the art of squeezing wallets with remarkable ingenuity.
However, compared to other top-ranked participants who carried baggage—whether in screen time, rankings, or past controversies—Park Moon-dae had recently given them nothing to latch onto.
‘There’s nothing I can do about it.’
But creating controversy would be insane. The Production Team controlled the editing, not me.
‘I wish I hadn’t just passed on the Casting Call.’
It was a minor regret, but the ship had already sailed. Once VTIC emerged, there was no way to secure Park Moon-dae-centered screen time anyway.
“Congratulations~”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Big Sae-jin, who had climbed slightly to finish in 7th place, grinned widely and requested a high-five. It was a textbook reaction from a fellow participant.
‘By the momentum he’s got, he’ll probably debut too.’
Excluding the negative votes he’d received during the school violence controversy, Big Sae-jin actually had more votes than me.
The voters had consolidated exactly as expected.
Good deeds threatening to stab me in the back.
‘So it really was foolish of me….’
We’d been on the same team at the time, so there wasn’t much choice. Still, I couldn’t help feeling a bit bitter about it. I clicked my tongue quietly to myself and turned my attention back to the MC.
First place was Cha Yu-jin.
“Wow!!”
Cha Yu-jin laughed excitedly as he received the 1st place badge, then suddenly composed himself and delivered his remarks with genuine sincerity.
“Being here… I’ve learned so much and thought so much. Going forward, I’ll work harder and become stronger to show you something amazing. Thank you so much for 1st place.”
His grammar was still peculiar, but his voice carried a gravity I’d never heard from him before. It synergized perfectly with his recent screen time.
‘So that’s why he got first.’
The fact that it didn’t seem calculated—that was exactly what you’d expect from the participant with the highest charisma stat here.
“The number one stock chosen by our shareholders, participant Cha Yu-jin! Congratulations once again~”
Amid moderate applause, Cha Yu-jin took his seat in the 1st place position.
The remaining survivors were the bottom two spots.
And Gold 1 still hadn’t stepped onto the platform.
‘At least I made the candidates.’
Four candidates for 20th and 19th place appeared on the scoreboard, and the situation remained hopeful until Gold 1’s face was visible. The odds were 50-50, after all.
And the moment Gold 1’s name was called….
“20th place! The final participant to advance to the finals of Idol Stock Company is… Seo Tae-moon!”
…never came.
Just like during the team competition for 1st place, the 50% probability had betrayed Gold 1 once again.
It felt like I’d made an enemy of the very concept of 50-50 odds.
“I’ll return home with pride in having come this far. Thank you so much to all the shareholders who voted for me!”
In the end, Gold 1—Ha Il-jun—finished his audition participation in 21st place.
“Hyung!!”
“Hey, stay in touch!”
The moment the MC’s closing remarks ended, the eliminated contestants had a farewell that was less formal than before. After spending months together, most of them had made at least a few close friends.
I said goodbye to Gold 1 after Gold 2 and Sun Ah-hyun, both streaming tears.
With the camera rolling and coming right after those two so emotionally charged, the pressure was immense.
I figured a simple handshake would do.
“Moon-dae~”
But he’d built up his own emotional momentum and started with a hug instead.
‘I can’t exactly pull away from this.’
Just as I was feeling awkward, Gold 1 spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
His words carried a hint of suppressed regret.
“I think you’ll debut. Hang in there.”
“….”
If someone had told me—fresh as I was in Park Moon-dae’s body—that I’d feel such complicated emotions hearing an aspiring idol’s blessing just months later, I’m not sure I would have believed them.
‘Funny how things work out.’
Instead of sighing, I returned the blessing.
“You too, hyung.”
“What?”
“I think you’ll debut soon too.”
Gold 1, Ha Il-jun, released me from the hug and grinned.
“Right? I’m ready to make it big.”
Who knows if he could actually deliver with that ambiguous final ranking of twenty-first place.
But I simply nodded.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t just a perfunctory gesture for the camera’s sake.
“Thank you for everything.”
“I should be thanking you!”
Fifty-seven contestants eliminated, twenty remaining. Now all that awaited was the finals.

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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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