Debut or Die - Chapter 65

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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 65
It was commonplace for groups debuting through survival shows to film reality programs.
After all, they could leverage the character and buzz gained from the Audition Program to some degree.
‘…Still, I never expected we’d jump straight into filming after just one meeting.’
We barely heard anything substantial during the meeting itself.
It was mostly just interviews asking the members what we wanted to do.
‘At least the Dormitory is nice.’
Whether it was for the cameras or not, the Dormitory turned out far more luxurious than expected. This was my first time staying in such a spacious, newly built apartment with excellent security.
Of course, there were cameras mounted at every corner.
“Ah, cameras!”
“Hello…?”
The guys who had rushed from the entrance into the Living Room suddenly acknowledged the cameras upon spotting them. It was something we’d been instructed to do beforehand.
‘They said it would look unnatural if we seemed too unaware of the cameras.’
With this many cameras, it was probably harder not to be aware of them.
As we entered the Living Room, there were cameramen and several Production Team members waiting in the blind spots of the unmanned cameras.
From what I heard, they’d only stay for today to capture the opening cuts of the reality show, then leave behind only the unmanned cameras.
“First of all… congratulations to everyone on passing~”
“Woo~!”
“Our proof shot!”
The successful candidates gathered in the Living Room applauded and took a photo together, then began the reality program.
“Man, with things like this, it feels like a new team competition is starting.”
“That would be accurate, except for the part where the team competition lasts five years.”
“Oh~ Kim Rae-bin’s handling this well?”
Fortunately, everyone seemed natural.
‘I guess this is the benefit of living with cameras every day at Ajusa.’
Moreover, the atmosphere was warm with the joy of passing.
The guys, three times less tense and far more generous than during the audition filming, exchanged words of encouragement and jokes, laughing away.
“You all worked really hard.”
“That’s right. I think we can enjoy pretty much anything from here on out!”
“L-let’s enjoy ourselves…!”
Then, at an appropriate moment, a robot vacuum suddenly shot out from the Production Team’s blind spot.
It was the mascot and major PPL for this reality program.
“Huh?”
“What’s that thing carrying!”
A card covered in glittering stickers dangled from near the vacuum’s head.
Quick-handed Cha Yu-jin swiftly lifted the vacuum and pulled out the card.
“What does it say?”
“Yeah!”
Cha Yu-jin, still holding the robot vacuum under his arm, excitedly read the card’s contents.
“Mm-hmm, ‘You will… receive missions through cards from now on! Clear the missions so you can become a true group!'”
“Oh.”
“M-mission.”
The atmosphere grew slightly solemn. There was no particular sign of trauma.
Ryu Chung-woo laughed as if he’d achieved enlightenment.
“Haha, we passed the audition but the missions never end, huh….”
I felt a vague sense of unease.
‘…If we’re going to become a true group, the Agency needs to get its act together first.’
I recalled Tnet, which until just four days ago had been repeatedly notifying us of affiliation changes and then canceling them—three times a day.
I had a bad feeling about this.
‘Looks like I’m just getting worked up over nothing.’
With the program doing so well this time, it seemed T1 wanted to create a new directly-owned Agency from scratch and run Testa through it.
But since there were existing contracts with Tnet’s subsidiaries, it appeared difficult to simply take us away.
So they were too busy fighting among themselves to pay attention to the group, which was left in limbo.
In fact, I only learned this morning from an article that we’d be releasing a debut track within a month. But we haven’t even met our manager yet.
‘I’m going to lose my mind.’
I held back a sigh.
Then Cha Yu-jin raised his hand high.
“Oh? There’s more! ‘Today’s mission is… free time’!”
“Ohhh!!”
The atmosphere instantly lifted.
I also played along, accepting high-fives from those around me as if to say, ‘I’m very pleased to have earned this rest time today.’
‘Don’t think about it.’
Moving to T1’s new Agency was practically a done deal at this point.
A rookie with no seniority has no authority. I just had to accept it.
‘…Please, just don’t stuff the planning department with relatives.’
I just hoped the higher-ups would handle sales, accounting, and operations themselves and not touch planning. I desperately hoped they’d hire experienced professionals.
“Let’s check out our room! Let’s claim a room!”
The successful candidates stood up with their ‘free time’ cards and began touring the house.
Three rooms and three bathrooms. It was a nice layout with plenty of space to share.
And there were numbered signs attached in front of each bedroom.
“Testa’s first mini-game! The theme is choosing your room!”
“It’s the same.”
“Yeah, really.”
Kim Rae-bin, who volunteered to do an impression of the Ajusa MC, was so eerily similar that it triggered PTSD rather than laughter, and the mood grew solemn again. Still, the game proceeded without issue.
Through several board games heavy on random elements, we drew slips of paper from a box in the order determined by the results.
“This has that weird sense of déjà vu too….”
“Tell me about it….”
Every time Ajusa overlapped, the guys got nostalgic.
Anyway, I drew my slip second, right after Cha Yu-jin.
It was number 1.
‘I dodged room three.’
The master bedroom, room three, was structured for three people to share. Two was obviously far better than three.
‘I wish I’d ended up with someone quieter.’
At least I’d avoided Cha Yu-jin.
‘As long as I don’t get Big Sae-jin, I’ll be fine.’
The moment that thought crossed my mind, Lee Sae-jin, who drew next, pulled slip number one.
“….”
Just before my turn, Big Sae-jin and Ryu Chung-woo rushed in.
“Oh~ Moon-dae and Sae-jin hyung in the same room~”
“Both of you have such sharp, decisive personalities—you two will get along great.”
“Right?”
I was grateful there were perceptive people here.
“Thank you for having me.”
I quickly extended my hand, and Lee Sae-jin slowly reached out to shake it.
‘The filming is going to be a bit concerning though.’
From what I could tell, the fact that she seemed quiet was a plus.
But the cameras would be rolling for two to three weeks, and the real question was whether she’d at least pretend to be pleasant during that time.
‘The Production Team will handle it.’
This wasn’t an audition—it was reality content, so I figured the editing would take care of things naturally.
Any controversy wouldn’t benefit the Production Team anyway.
“Come on, let’s draw quickly~”
The remaining room assignments ended up being complete opposites.
Kim Rae-bin and Sun Ah-hyun in one room.
“Well, I look forward to working with you.”
“I likewise look forward to our time together going forward.”
Watching those two unfamiliar guys exchange pleasantries, I thought they’d find it awkward too.
Of course, their situation was far better than mine. At least neither of them had a personality like Lee Sae-jin’s.
“Oh~ our room’s going to be really fun, right?”
“I love the big room!”
“Yeah! Let’s get along.”
And room three, shared by three people, ended up being Big Sae-jin, Cha Yu-jin, and Ryu Chung-woo.
It was already loud. But Ryu Chung-woo looked reasonably satisfied.
‘Now that I think about it, Ryu Chung-woo’s position is interesting.’
Among the successful candidates, Ryu Chung-woo had no one he met privately except Cha Yu-jin.
It would be better for him to enter a room with more people and quickly adapt to the situation. With Big Sae-jin there—someone personable and respectful to his seniors—it was ideal.
Following the Production Team’s signal, we immediately moved to the bedrooms to unpack and rest.
“Which bed would you prefer?”
“Either one is fine.”
“Is that so?”
If that’s the case.
I immediately went to the left bed and began unpacking. It was positioned opposite the living room, so I figured it would be less prone to noise echoing off the walls.
Lee Sae-jin was also eyeing this bed, which meant the silence between us had returned.
“….”
This wasn’t a survival show, and I wasn’t about to spend my time reading her moods and catering to them.
As long as I didn’t get caught, I planned to do things my own way.
Lee Sae-jin watched me silently for a moment, then went to the opposite side and began unpacking.
I started organizing my belongings with a calm mind. Though honestly, I didn’t have much to organize in the first place.
Well, I had barely any clothes, so I bought some. It was prize money my team earned from winning the finals with a simple arrangement.
I heard the production team caught some flak online for announcing the results after the program ended due to time constraints in the finals, but whatever—they paid me, so that’s settled.
As for the kimchi refrigerator… I still haven’t received it. Those scammers really outdid themselves.
‘This is getting annoying.’
Just as I was folding the last piece of clothing while holding back a sigh, the quiet room suddenly filled with voices.
“Ta-da!”
“Room 1 really is the best. Must be because the first-place winner is staying here.”
They were from Room 3.
Since Ryu Chung-woo had experience from his national team background, he apparently knew the tricks to unpacking efficiently, and it seemed Cha Yu-jin and Big Sae-jin were happily tearing through the room.
“What do you want to eat tonight?”
Ryu Chung-woo sat on the edge of the bed with a smile.
“Ribs!”
“Pig’s feet!”
I could understand Cha Yu-jin’s enthusiasm, but Big Sae-jin seemed to be deliberately hamming it up for screen time.
…At that moment, I had an ominous feeling that I wouldn’t be able to escape this chaos for the entire duration of the reality show.

* * *
Dinner required us to cook together, so I ended up preparing more than two servings for the first time in a while.
‘Cooking is better than going shopping.’
Once we left the Dormitory, I’d have to talk more. With fewer people, the silence would be more noticeable.
Besides, entering a Large Mart with three cameras required considerable courage.
In any case, the cooking turned out rather successful. Surprisingly, I received good assistance.
Except from Sun Ah-hyun.
“I-I’m sorry…”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
Though he probably owed an apology to his own hands.
I’d banished Sun Ah-hyun from the Kitchen after he nearly cut himself for the third time.
Once I assigned him the task of setting the table, his anxiety finally eased.
‘…So a housekeeper visits his self-catering place.’
I wondered why they’d assigned a helper to someone who was generally competent at housework. Ah, it was because he was catastrophically bad at cooking.
In any case, the braised chicken turned out beautifully. It was Ryu Chung-woo’s pick after winning rock-paper-scissors.
‘I tried this on my birthday back when I was making money from data sales, and now I’m using it here.’
I shrugged my shoulders, recalling my first birthday after earning money from data work.
“It looks delicious.”
“Right?”
…
Lee Sae-jin didn’t offer any particular response to Kim Rae-bin’s comment, but she was surprisingly cooperative with the cooking.
‘Maybe it’s because I was holding the knife.’
I set down the kitchen knife I’d been holding. In the meantime, the braised chicken was carried to the table by the shopping team.
“Wow, this braised chicken is really delicious!”
“The soy sauce marinade has soaked in well, and it’s tender.”
The meal was a success.
“Maybe I should learn to cook too.”
“I’m good at cooking.”
“Oh? Then cook!”
“But I prefer shopping.”
With Cha Yu-jin’s cheerful remark, the reality show segment wrapped up.
“Thank you for your hard work~”
The Production Team packed up and left behind a claw machine in the Living Room.
All the plush toys inside were positioned with their backs of their heads facing upward.
‘It’ll look a bit eerie at night.’
Anyway, tomorrow we’d see it in the Living Room, get startled, and then ask to win one of those plushes.
‘Content material.’
Tomorrow I’d meet my manager and finally start the Agency and album meeting, so getting early sleep was out of the question.
With nothing but the resolve to sleep well tonight, I quickly headed to my Room.
Lee Sae-jin was already in bed, scrolling through her smartphone.
“Good night.”
“…You too.”
Perhaps because I’d eaten well, the tension in the room had eased somewhat compared to this morning.
I immediately put on my earplugs and settled in to sleep. In my last glimpse of the room, a camera sat alone in the corner, still recording.
‘I really hope the people I meet tomorrow don’t talk complete nonsense.’
And that wish would only be half-granted.

* * *
The manager turned out to be a decent person.
“Just let me know if you need anything!”
He seemed easygoing with a high tolerance threshold. At first glance, he didn’t seem like the type to lay hands on trainees.
‘Well, I’ve already made too much of a splash to be treated like a rookie anyway.’
“Once the album activities really kick off, another manager will be assigned to you, so don’t worry!”
“Got it!”
Since the atmosphere would likely be set by whoever arrived first, I decided not to overthink that particular matter.
And then came the Agency meeting.
This was….
“We’re thinking of having Testa, who has excellent capabilities, handle the song composition and arrangement?”
“…? Yes?”
In short, things had gone south.

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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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