Debut or Die - Chapter 59

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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 59
The participants’ first stage featured a brand new theme song.
As the season continued its endless commercial success, the Production Team hastily inserted a second theme song as filler to round out the lineup.
‘I feel like I’ve heard this somewhere before.’
Park Moon-dae desperately hoped he’d encountered this song in the future. Otherwise, it would mean plagiarism.
Regardless, even though it was an unfamiliar track, the live audience’s reaction was tremendous. Simply witnessing the participants moving and performing in person was enough to captivate them.
Of course, the viewers watching through their screens had a different reaction entirely.
-? What song is this
-Why’d they take this weird one when they could just do “It’s Me” again, that’s the real banger
-Guys, let’s debut ㅠㅠ
-Sun Ah-hyun kills it no matter what song it is, that’s just a fact you can’t argue with
-Sae-jin center forever
-Oh, I’m so nervous, my heart feels like it’s going to burst out.
-Moon-dae, debut and be even happier
Comments cheering for their favorite participants cascaded down the page, refreshing so rapidly they became nearly impossible to read.
“Haaah.”
“I’m sweating.”
The participants, having just performed on stage before several thousand people for the first time, caught their breath while beaming with joy.
‘I have no idea what I even did.’
Park Moon-dae’s eyebrows twitched as he realized he’d concentrated entirely on not making mistakes during the hastily-learned finale.
There seemed to be a lot of people, but the distance from the stage made it feel almost like a hologram. The experience hadn’t felt real.
Before the participants could fully regain their composure and let the tension settle into their bodies, they were already rushing around changing costumes to stay on schedule.
Meanwhile, the MC had taken the stage and was driving the show forward.
“Ah, that was truly a magnificent opening performance!”
Since this live broadcast would run for over three hours, different MCs handled each segment to minimize fatigue as much as possible.
“We still have many prepared stages ahead! Please keep your channel locked in!”
The MC, experienced from hosting numerous Audition Programs, skillfully improvised ad-libs while stretching the time until the VCR would play.
“The team stage performances the participants prepared for this finals—I wonder what order they’ll go in?”
Soon, a lighthearted video of the participants determining their order through a mini-game was broadcast.
‘We filmed that at midnight and I couldn’t sleep afterward.’
Park Moon-dae, catching the audio from below the stage, recalled that moment.
Everyone had chosen such a primitive method—chicken fighting—that Ryu Chung-woo had won decisively.
‘You could call it a predetermined result.’
What was surprising was that Sun Ah-hyun had performed well. By staying until just before Ryu Chung-woo, he’d secured second priority for Park Moon-dae’s team.
Of course, they didn’t get to simply choose an empty slot comfortably. The Production Team inserted the lowest-ranked team first and made them push out their position.
It was that cruel method that inevitably appeared in every survival competition.
Of course, the participants who’d already become seasoned skillfully avoided that trap. They reacted exaggeratedly and laughed, carefully controlling the atmosphere to keep it light.
[Park Chan-joo: Uh, uh-uh?!]
[Big Sae-jin: Oh my~]
Park Moon-dae heard Big Sae-jin’s snickering laughter as he pushed the order, the sound echoing down from above.
Because of the earlier delay, I could hear the opposing team members—those who hadn’t wanted this position in the order—making confused sounds.
“Wow, that’s intimidating.”
Big Sae-jin, who happened to be adjusting the microphone on my costume right next to me, heard the sound and clicked his tongue.
Even though we were on an upward trajectory, we weren’t at the level of having our debut confirmed yet, so the team stage ahead made us even more nervous.
Big Sae-jin’s hands were trembling—a rare sight. I clicked my tongue.
“I heard Kim Rae-bin has some herbal medicine for calming nerves.”
“No thanks~ I’ve never even tried it.”
Behind Big Sae-jin, who waved his hand dismissively at me, the other team members who had finished changing into their stage outfits came running.
“Park Moon-dae’s Team is heading up~”
A staff member shouted while running to the side. Because staff were needed both on and below the Stage, their numbers were stretched thin, leaving gaps here and there.
“We’re going too, right?”
Just as the participants were about to follow on their own, Sun Ah-hyun suddenly raised his hand.
“Wait, just a moment—let’s do a fighting cheer before we go, yeah?”
“Sure.”
I extended my hand without hesitation.
Then the team members quickly placed their hands on top of mine. Lee Sae-jin reluctantly added hers as well.
“Fighting!”
The cheer—brief enough not to be caught on broadcast—ended quickly.
“I wanted to say something profound, but there’s no time, so let’s just run~”
At Big Sae-jin’s playful remark, we let out hollow laughs and ran eagerly down the Corridor.
And at the same moment in the Concert Hall.
After the VCR ended without revealing the final order, the MC finally moved the broadcast forward.
“After the fierce battle over the performance order, I present to you the first performing team….”
Instead of the VCR footage, the participants’ profiles appeared on screen.
[Sun Ah-hyun(2), Kim Rae-bin(5), Park Moon-dae(6), Lee Sae-jin B(7), Lee Sae-jin A(11), Kwon Hee-seung(18)]
“Team 【Challenger】 takes the Stage first!”
The profiles disappeared, and the screen showed a staged scene of the participants high-fiving as they saw their team name attached to the number one position.
-???
-Why are you guys already out
-You guys? You guys?
-You guys, why the opening?
Fans who had been thinking of typical competition programs were quickly confused, but soon grasped the situation.
-You idiots, going first is definitely an advantage
Since voting was already happening rather than occurring after the Stage performance ended, going first was absolutely beneficial.
Of course, only if you were confident you’d do well!
The viewers’ reactions changed in an instant.
-Right. Going early is the answer
-Lol you should’ve known, didn’t you guys?
-Wow, they’re smart
-These kids are clever, I’m just gonna trust them ^^
-I already believed in you!
Besides, making the decision to start fresh was definitely a gutsy move, no matter how you slice it.
The audience watched with anticipation as the Stage preparations unfolded.
[Team Members: We humbly receive this meal~]
The broadcast first showed the participants sitting inside the Franchise Cafe—a PPL placement—chatting while sipping their drinks.
-Park Moon-dae drinking a strawberry shake… I want to see those cheeks go puff puff so badly, he’s so cute
└Reported. (Reason: Pervert)
└It’s too much. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
└PPT acquired. Please present
Those crazy bastards lol
The relaxed atmosphere on screen had loosened the tension in the comments as well.
The participants were having a casual conversation in the video.
[Park Moon-dae: First, does anyone have a concept in mind?]
[Kwon Hee-seung: Me, me! I want to try something we haven’t done yet!]
[Big Sae-jin: Me too!]
[Sun Ah-hyun: Me too!]
[Park Moon-dae: Mm… alright.]
A caption reading 【Rabbit Team Teacher Park】 flashed across the screen.
hahaha
-The kids are so innocent, it’s comfortable to watch
Who’s Lee Sae-jin? lol Who’s Lee Sae-jin? lol Who’s Lee Sae-jin? lol Who’s Lee Sae-jin? lol
└Even the veteran got dragged in, they sent Choi Won-gil away
“You and Won-gil should stop too, you hypocrite lolol”
-The kids are innocent, but the viewers aren’t, and that’s the problem
Of course, they looked even more innocent on screen because they’d already decided on the concept and were re-filming for the PPL segment.
[Kim Rae-bin: I think a concept that suits the working title 【Final】 would be nice.]
[Big Sae-jin: Wow, that’s good too!]
[Lee Sae-jin (Actor): So what kind of concept do you think would fit?]
A brief silence followed. A caption reading 【Team Members Lost in Thought】 appeared.
It was Park Moon-dae who broke the silence.
[Park Moon-dae: Among the images of ‘final,’ what if we captured the feeling of the ‘final stretch’… the last moment?]
[Big Sae-jin: Ah, like only one thing left. That kind of vibe?]
[Park Moon-dae: Yeah, but without making it too heavy. It’d be better if the viewers don’t take it too seriously and can just enjoy it.]
Then Sun Ah-hyun raised his hand. By the way, Sun Ah-hyun’s stuttering had finally been removed from the captions after the Production Team took flak for several episodes.
[Sun Ah-hyun: Then… what about something like ‘■■’?]
Exclamation marks appeared above the participants’ heads in various spots on screen.
[Kim Rae-bin: I want to do it…!]
[Big Sae-jin: Oh, me too! It sounds fun.]
[Kwon Hee-seung: That sounds amazing?]
Even Lee Sae-jin, nodding in agreement, appeared on the broadcast.
[Park Moon-dae: Then our theme will be decided as… ‘■■’.]
The screen cut to the smiling faces of participants applauding and exclaiming in wonder.
And the theme keyword was never mentioned again.
Only a few clips of the participants practicing and receiving praise during recording appeared in the video.
[Eagler (Composer): Your voice is absolutely wonderful!]
[Sun Ah-hyun: Thank you….]
Sun Ah-hyun’s ears flushed red as he bowed his head repeatedly and returned to his seat, and when Park Moon-dae came out next, his part was approved on the first take.
The composers exchanged glances and chuckled softly, then made a request of Park Moon-dae.
[Eagler (Composer): Would you be able to sing through the entire song from beginning to end once more?]
[Park Moon-dae: Yes. I’ll give it a try.]
Of course, they didn’t show him singing through from the beginning again—instead, an interview cut with the composers was inserted.
[Eagler (Composer): I love everything about it. This team is really talented. The song arrangement too—it’s like ‘Oh, this is so good,’ you know?]
[Eagler (Composer): There’s barely anything to revise. If we just go with this as is, (it should turn out well.)]
A few warm recording scenes of the other team members were also interspersed.
Because it was the finals, they didn’t force in any strange cuts, so the editing felt free of malice.
However, by eerily selecting only the most unremarkable lyrics from the recording section, the theme remained impossible to guess.
As a result, viewers were rolling around curious about the word marked with ‘beep–‘.
-what is it
-what is it tell me too
-show me what you showed them…!
-I’m curious about Egong, so I’ll have to watch the performance.ㅠㅠ
-what kind of groundbreaking opinion did they give that they edited it all out
-feels like they cut that prep footage to hide something annoying
If it turns out to be nothing special after all this, it’ll be hilarious lol
While viewers chattered away, the 【Challenger】 team, which had somehow decided on the main dancer without any conflict, was shown in fast-forward endlessly practicing choreography, and then the VCR abruptly ended.
Along with the text 【Please confirm on the Stage now!】.
-?
-is it over
-just the stage like this?
-stage is coming
When viewers were slightly taken aback by the abrupt ending, the screen returned to the Concert Hall and caught the stage screen behind the performance area.
The black screen crackled, and blue and red glitches flickered as white text appeared.
[Challenger]
: One who challenges.
: A person who seeks to defeat the previous champion in a competition, fight, or sporting event.
A moment later, the screen cut off sharply with a mechanical sound.
And the theme melody of the song began to fill the Concert Hall.
Transformed into 8-bit.
Beep- beep beep- beep- ding!
The blatant electronic sound started with one melody and gradually developed, layering harmonies upon it.
Like a classic game evolving into a modern console series, the melody transformed into something multidimensional in an instant.
The moment that thematic melody completed its cycle, the screen behind the Stage opened.
Whoooosh—
The participants walked out from the darkened Stage, accompanied by blue and red lasers.
As they took their positions, the 8-bit melody shifted into variations before fading into subtle accompaniment.
“….”
The audience reflexively stopped their cheers and fell silent.
The performers on Stage slowly formed their formation.

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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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